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Thursday, August 1, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Larry Wilmore (@thelarrywilmore) lets us know why we can NEVER have a conversation on race...
This is the best, funniest, most honest, most insightful...and in it's own way...the angriest statement on our Race relations in the U.S.A.
The President's OTHER speech on the Economy from July 24, 2013 in Warrensburg, MO
The main speech will post at 2:30pm, today.
Monday, July 15, 2013
America can be smart, but instead it chooses to be dumb, panicky and dangerous...even to its own.
The worst thing that has ever happened to me, legally speaking, was driving in California with a Maryland License. I had to go to court for that, for which the penalty was...gasp and shock...to go take and pass the California Driver's Test.
That's it. That's my grand "criminal" past. Traffic Citations.
Yet, I have no doubt...ZERO doubt...that if I ever wound up dead, killed by someone of the Caucasian Persuasion, I would be turned into some sort of raving Drug User sometime before my body was cold.
If I wind up dead...it is automatically my fault. I must've done something to deserve it, is how the logic will go. This is how the groupthink, be it from Media, from the Legal Authorities, be it from my friends and neighbors. This is what you'll do to me in death, and you won't think twice about it.
That's the way it works in this country. It doesn't matter what you did. If you are a black male in this country, and you wind up dead at the barrell of someone else's gun, and that person happens to be white, at least one person in this country will twist themselves into knots to retroactively justify that black male being dead.
This is your America now.
The sad part is...going back to another young black male, one Emmitt Till, this was your America back then as well...and nothing's changed. Nothing.
It's also time for America to come to grips with the fact, that the lives of black males, young or old, are just not valued in this country.
Mind you. I didn't say not valued "as much as" whites. Not valued...Period.
This is a not a call to action, or a demand for something better, this is a statement of surrender. I've given up on expecting better from America. America is just not capable of doing better, at least not when it comes to race.
This is a racist country. It is just who this country is.
When someone tells you who they are...believe me.
America has told me time and time and time again who it is. I'm way past believing them
Now, when I say that "I know America is a racist country", I say that knowing not only in my heart, but in actual fact, the majority of its citizens individually themselves are not racist.
But like Tommy Lee Jones said in Men In Black: "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it."
Well, where does racism come from, if not the dumb, panicky and dangerous parts of our collective nature?
But look what happens when collective action is taken, when any measure of groupthink is applied, the outcome pretty much is guaranteed to be racist...or at least racial in nature.
Don't agree. Fine. Not that I care...but then again, maybe you can explain to me why Marissa Alexander is sitting in jail right now. Don't know her? I suggest a quick Google search, or clicking on the link I just left you.
Tell me why juries seem incapable of prosecuting White Defendants when they have Black victims? I mean, I'm sure it's happened, but the safe money bet every time to bet against that happening, no matter what state you live in.
What's possibly even more insulting than the current cries of "Yes, African-Americans are the vicitims of racial injustice in the supposed land of the free" is the dead-cinch CERTAINTY, as in 100% guarantee that come this very hour two weeks from now, you'll have moved on without doing one damn thing to address the problem that ultimately took Trayvon Martin's life.
Not...one...damn...thing.
Like I said...America is incapable of fixing this problem. This County lacks the ability, the heart, the intellect, and most obviously the will to fix this problem.
You've had 70 years, and you're just not interested.
My only comfort comes in the fact that one day, this will boomerang. One day, when the Whites are the minority in this country, you will be bleating and crying for racial protections from the majority.
And I hope they stiff you like you've stiffed us.
I hope the Latino and Asian majorities in this country treat you with the same contempt, same disregard you've treated us these last 300 years. You'll deserve it.
That's it. That's my grand "criminal" past. Traffic Citations.
Yet, I have no doubt...ZERO doubt...that if I ever wound up dead, killed by someone of the Caucasian Persuasion, I would be turned into some sort of raving Drug User sometime before my body was cold.
If I wind up dead...it is automatically my fault. I must've done something to deserve it, is how the logic will go. This is how the groupthink, be it from Media, from the Legal Authorities, be it from my friends and neighbors. This is what you'll do to me in death, and you won't think twice about it.
That's the way it works in this country. It doesn't matter what you did. If you are a black male in this country, and you wind up dead at the barrell of someone else's gun, and that person happens to be white, at least one person in this country will twist themselves into knots to retroactively justify that black male being dead.
This is your America now.
The sad part is...going back to another young black male, one Emmitt Till, this was your America back then as well...and nothing's changed. Nothing.
It's also time for America to come to grips with the fact, that the lives of black males, young or old, are just not valued in this country.
Mind you. I didn't say not valued "as much as" whites. Not valued...Period.
This is a not a call to action, or a demand for something better, this is a statement of surrender. I've given up on expecting better from America. America is just not capable of doing better, at least not when it comes to race.
This is a racist country. It is just who this country is.
When someone tells you who they are...believe me.
America has told me time and time and time again who it is. I'm way past believing them
Now, when I say that "I know America is a racist country", I say that knowing not only in my heart, but in actual fact, the majority of its citizens individually themselves are not racist.
But like Tommy Lee Jones said in Men In Black: "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it."
Well, where does racism come from, if not the dumb, panicky and dangerous parts of our collective nature?
But look what happens when collective action is taken, when any measure of groupthink is applied, the outcome pretty much is guaranteed to be racist...or at least racial in nature.
Don't agree. Fine. Not that I care...but then again, maybe you can explain to me why Marissa Alexander is sitting in jail right now. Don't know her? I suggest a quick Google search, or clicking on the link I just left you.
Tell me why juries seem incapable of prosecuting White Defendants when they have Black victims? I mean, I'm sure it's happened, but the safe money bet every time to bet against that happening, no matter what state you live in.
What's possibly even more insulting than the current cries of "Yes, African-Americans are the vicitims of racial injustice in the supposed land of the free" is the dead-cinch CERTAINTY, as in 100% guarantee that come this very hour two weeks from now, you'll have moved on without doing one damn thing to address the problem that ultimately took Trayvon Martin's life.
Not...one...damn...thing.
Like I said...America is incapable of fixing this problem. This County lacks the ability, the heart, the intellect, and most obviously the will to fix this problem.
You've had 70 years, and you're just not interested.
My only comfort comes in the fact that one day, this will boomerang. One day, when the Whites are the minority in this country, you will be bleating and crying for racial protections from the majority.
And I hope they stiff you like you've stiffed us.
I hope the Latino and Asian majorities in this country treat you with the same contempt, same disregard you've treated us these last 300 years. You'll deserve it.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Why I'm not in full-throated celebration of the justified downing of both DOMA and Prop. 8
I am not celebrating today. I am not celebrating an obvious good decision in the DOMA and Prop. 8 cases before the Supreme Court because yesterday was so bad.
And let’s repeat that. Yesterday was bad. Hyper bad. Disastrously bad, is-this-a-country-worth-saving bad.
Let’s be clear about a couple of things. I am a Straight Black dude in California. I was never going to see any direct benefit from Marriage Equality. But my neighbors were. That was good enough for me.
So, when these same neighbors asked me to support their cause, I did. I gave money. I signed petitions. I supported the cause. I did the work that got LGBT Friendly Politicians into office to get the result we got today.
Now, I’m expecting the same force to be brought to bear for my cause, restoration of the Voting Rights Act...and to be real honest with you, I’m not optimistic I will.
And let’s repeat that. Yesterday was bad. Hyper bad. Disastrously bad, is-this-a-country-worth-saving bad.
Let’s be clear about a couple of things. I am a Straight Black dude in California. I was never going to see any direct benefit from Marriage Equality. But my neighbors were. That was good enough for me.
So, when these same neighbors asked me to support their cause, I did. I gave money. I signed petitions. I supported the cause. I did the work that got LGBT Friendly Politicians into office to get the result we got today.
Now, I’m expecting the same force to be brought to bear for my cause, restoration of the Voting Rights Act...and to be real honest with you, I’m not optimistic I will.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Charlie Rose is a great interviewer, but his Website sucks.
If there is a major media figure that frustrates the hell out of me, it's Charlie Rose, who provides exactly zero embeddable video on his website.
Thanks for nothing, Charlie. You can't even share the links to the video you want for two days after the event.
So if you want to see his Interview with President Obama, go to CharlieRose.com. It's on the home page, without a way of sharing that link with any one else.
UPDATE: 11:47am Pacific: Of all the...
The White House has published a link...to the transcript. Not the video, even they couldn't figure out how to do that. Just the transcript.
Your website is a piece of crap, Mr. Rose.
Thanks for nothing, Charlie. You can't even share the links to the video you want for two days after the event.
So if you want to see his Interview with President Obama, go to CharlieRose.com. It's on the home page, without a way of sharing that link with any one else.
UPDATE: 11:47am Pacific: Of all the...
The White House has published a link...to the transcript. Not the video, even they couldn't figure out how to do that. Just the transcript.
Your website is a piece of crap, Mr. Rose.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
In two videos, @Lawrence O'Donnell breaks down the REAL "IRS Scandal"...
Day 1: May 13, 2013:
Day 2: May 14, 2013:
Day 2: May 14, 2013:
Monday, May 6, 2013
Before anyone starts panicking too much over 3D Printed guns, ask yourself one thing...
...how are the Gun Manufacturers going to take this?
Because if the Record Industry vis-a-vis any File Sharing Service in existence, it ain't gonna be pretty.
Yeah, these knobs are reaching in and leaving them with empty rice bowls this Christmas. They're showing the world how to make their own guns, and putting the plans up on in the internet.
If you're Smith and Wesson, you can't be happy about this. Even if you get into the game yourself, you still are seeing a segment of your market walk out your front door.
Don't be surprised if the NRA (our normal enemy in these matters) takes a very dim view of these 3D Printed guns, because after all...who do they really work for??
Via TPM:
Because if the Record Industry vis-a-vis any File Sharing Service in existence, it ain't gonna be pretty.
Yeah, these knobs are reaching in and leaving them with empty rice bowls this Christmas. They're showing the world how to make their own guns, and putting the plans up on in the internet.
If you're Smith and Wesson, you can't be happy about this. Even if you get into the game yourself, you still are seeing a segment of your market walk out your front door.
Don't be surprised if the NRA (our normal enemy in these matters) takes a very dim view of these 3D Printed guns, because after all...who do they really work for??
Via TPM:
The world's first 3D-printed gun, called "the Liberator," was successfully fired in Texas this weekend, according to Fox News.
Defense Distributed, an Austin, Texas-based company led by 24-year-old law student Cody Wilson and several others that market 3D printed firearms and firearm components, or “Wiki Weapons,” on Thursday posted a new video online showing a plastic gun being fired. A blueprint file is expected to be available for download today.
"I recognize that this tool might be used to harm people," Wilson said, according to Fox News. "That’s what it is -- it’s a gun. But I don’t think that’s a reason to not put it out there. I think that liberty in the end is a better interest."
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the development "stomach-turning" on Sunday, according to CNYcentral, saying it means anyone "can open a gun factory in their garage."
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Roger Nicholson's Confrontation with Info Wars Conspiracy Reporter Dan Bidondi. #BostonStrong
I'm not a fan of Alex Jones, so...of course...I found this video endlessly entertaining:
Once again, the people are left in the position of standing up to the charlatans in media.
Once again, the people are left in the position of standing up to the charlatans in media.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
The White House Correspondent's Dinner Complete Speeches... (VIDEO)
The President's Speech:
And Conan's:
And bonus video:
And Conan's:
And bonus video:
Saturday, April 20, 2013
From Boston's darkest day, to their finest hour...
Looking at the tape, in the aftermath of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s capture, it reminds me of the night Osama Bin Laden was captured, with joyous College Students yelling out: USA, USA, USA!
Still, in the tape from the makeshift memorial taken tonight, you also can tell Boston has finally given itself permission to grieve. Thus, we can finally take a moment to really feel the loss of Krystle, of Lu...and Martin.
Only now, Sean joins them.
This was unquestionably Boston’s finest hour. This was bigger than the Red Sox in 2004. Bigger than the actual Boston Tea Party. In a time when, in response to the worst of humanity, the people of Boston had every right to do the same to the people who did this crime.
Somehow Boston didn’t fall into that trap.
Even though I was watching the whole time, I’m still not certain how they did it. They probably don’t know how they did it either.
We just watched in Los Angeles, during the Christopher Dorner fiasco, a city totally lose it’s @#$%. Cops fanning out in a panic, chasing pink rabbits down invisible holes, chasing bad clues, shooting unarmed innocent civilians who looked nothing like Dorner.
Boston when through something a hundred times worse...and they didn’t lose it. They kept their cool, because for five straight days...all they wanted, all they thought about was finding these guys.
Not finding them, and then they gonna--...like the LAPD would do.
No. Just...find them.
Find those bastards.
Then the moment came. The moment came because it was earned through leg work, shoe leather, sweat equity, not might, brawn or overwhelming firepower. The Police closed down what they needed to close down. They sifted through what they needed to sift through. They talked to who they needed to talk to, and when the moment came, they even asked for help.
Granted, not everything was perfect. The cordon they set up to catch Dzhokhar was a block too short, allowing him to stay hidden most of the day. But when the moment came, when they were needed most, the people of Massachusetts got their man. They got him alive, and got him on his way to jail.
The Boston PD, the Watertown PD, the Massachusetts Staties, the FBI, didn’t hurt any innocent people along the way. They only people they hurt were the people who committed a massive crime. The people they arrested, they talked to, and when found they had nothing to do with the crime, were let go.
As an African-American, I so want to love the Police. I try. I always look out for them. I always want them to be well paid, and their families taken care of. But what inevitably happens, they do something stupid, like a Diallo, or shoot up innocent people chasing Christopher Dorner, or shoot nine people in New York City trying to get one guy...and I lose faith in them all over again.
But Boston restored it.
Monday there was a crime.
Wednesday they solved it.
Friday they arrested the people responsible.
God love you glorious Irish Bastards.
See you next Patriots Day, when I have the distinct feeling it’s going to be a National Holiday, for at least one year.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Part 1 of Joe Biden's Interview on Morning Joe for April 11, 2013 (VIDEO)
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Thursday, March 14, 2013
@RuthMarcus, Villagers and the evolution of media bull@#$%...
My distaste for Ruth Marcus goes back a while. So I guess I shouldn't have been completely surprised when yet again decided to act as the Chief Villager for a Newspaper run by nothing but Villagers when she wrote her latest (cough-cough) column.
After listing through some of the nasty comments House GOPers were tweeting as the President was speaking to them about reaching a Budget Deal, she quoted the President calmly assessing the situation with George Stephanopoulos:
One would think after all the Filibustering and insults (some of them actually racist) that have been hurled at this President from the start of his administration, a columnist might react with shock and surprise that the sitting President managed to keep his cool.
Instead, Ruth Marcus offered this:
Excuse me, but...I did not think it was anatomically possible for one's head to get that far up one's...--never mind.
I don't know how to tell Journalists this, because...I really thought they would have covered it in Journalism school, but...it's not your job to balance the argument.
I know you think that's your job. But let's be clear about what your job really is.
Your job is to present both sides of a story...
Your job is not necessarily to lend them equal weight, particularly when they don't deserve it.
Again, you don't elevate both sides into equality. We don't need you to do that. In fact, it's a really bad idea if you do do that.
If you're a columnist, as Ruth Marcus is, this is even more tricky. Why? Because, a columnist offers nothing but opinion. They don't do any actual reporting. They don't go digging around for facts anymore...they've been excused from that particular activity. In fact, they are paid a substantial salary to say only what they think. Even if what they think has no basis in reality, as Ruth Marcus clearly demonstrated today.
One would think that some measure of journalistic integrity would matter in a circumstance like this, but again...you'd be wrong. The Washington Post is more than capable of publishing utter complete bull@#$% so long as it fills column inches. After all they employ Jennifer Rubin, Marc Thiessen, Robert Samuelson, Richard Cohen...and Ruth Marcus.
(Hey, at least Ezra Klein -- and I know me some Liberals who hate him for some reason -- no idea why -- does actual work to preparing his pieces.)
One would think it would matter to the folks at the Washington Post that their own readers can smell this line of crap a mile off, but we don't matter of the folks at the Washington Post. Ruth Marcus has proved...once again...that the Villagers are talking only to other Villagers.
Which could explain why most newspapers are in trouble.
We need Newspapers and Magazines and Media in general, advocating for their audience, and not entertaining their damn selves.
For example...if someone...say like the President...presents something that is backed in fact, and his opposition presents something that is cloaked in bull@#$%...we kinda need Media to call out the bull@#$%.
But they're not.
They used to. But they're not.
I mean it happens...sometimes, but it sure as hell didn't happen today with Ruth Marcus.
Let me quote something a columnist said not too long ago:
That was from August 10, 2010. My goodness who wrote such a prescient piece?
C'mon, this is easy. This was Ruth Marcus...in a piece backing Robert Gibbs when he called out the Professional Left.
So what happened?
Apparently, Ruth Marcus...still employed by the Washington Post...has lost the ability...to count.
Ruth Marcus got lazy. She and the paper needed column inches to fill, and bull@#$% magically transpired.
When you say the President isn't showing leadership after showing in just a few short paragraphs that there's no one who's willing to be lead, we do wonder why the President is to blame, and not the Congress. And if you can't make that elementary of a call, it calls into question your ability to observe things...or any thing, for that matter.
I mean, I don't meant to tell Ruth Marcus in particular how to do her job, but I figured someone ought to.
After listing through some of the nasty comments House GOPers were tweeting as the President was speaking to them about reaching a Budget Deal, she quoted the President calmly assessing the situation with George Stephanopoulos:
Obama: “You know — I think whatever I’m for, it’s very hard for a Republican to also be for. I think they always have to be a little bit — you know, maintain some distance.”
One would think after all the Filibustering and insults (some of them actually racist) that have been hurled at this President from the start of his administration, a columnist might react with shock and surprise that the sitting President managed to keep his cool.
Instead, Ruth Marcus offered this:
The president has made this point before, and maybe he’s right. Yet this analysis leaves him in a distinctly unpresidential posture — not leaning in, but holding back.
Excuse me, but...I did not think it was anatomically possible for one's head to get that far up one's...--never mind.
I don't know how to tell Journalists this, because...I really thought they would have covered it in Journalism school, but...it's not your job to balance the argument.
I know you think that's your job. But let's be clear about what your job really is.
Your job is to present both sides of a story...
Your job is not necessarily to lend them equal weight, particularly when they don't deserve it.
Again, you don't elevate both sides into equality. We don't need you to do that. In fact, it's a really bad idea if you do do that.
If you're a columnist, as Ruth Marcus is, this is even more tricky. Why? Because, a columnist offers nothing but opinion. They don't do any actual reporting. They don't go digging around for facts anymore...they've been excused from that particular activity. In fact, they are paid a substantial salary to say only what they think. Even if what they think has no basis in reality, as Ruth Marcus clearly demonstrated today.
One would think that some measure of journalistic integrity would matter in a circumstance like this, but again...you'd be wrong. The Washington Post is more than capable of publishing utter complete bull@#$% so long as it fills column inches. After all they employ Jennifer Rubin, Marc Thiessen, Robert Samuelson, Richard Cohen...and Ruth Marcus.
(Hey, at least Ezra Klein -- and I know me some Liberals who hate him for some reason -- no idea why -- does actual work to preparing his pieces.)
One would think it would matter to the folks at the Washington Post that their own readers can smell this line of crap a mile off, but we don't matter of the folks at the Washington Post. Ruth Marcus has proved...once again...that the Villagers are talking only to other Villagers.
Which could explain why most newspapers are in trouble.
We need Newspapers and Magazines and Media in general, advocating for their audience, and not entertaining their damn selves.
For example...if someone...say like the President...presents something that is backed in fact, and his opposition presents something that is cloaked in bull@#$%...we kinda need Media to call out the bull@#$%.
But they're not.
They used to. But they're not.
I mean it happens...sometimes, but it sure as hell didn't happen today with Ruth Marcus.
Let me quote something a columnist said not too long ago:
Excuse me, but can these people not count to 60? Have they somehow failed to notice that Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have not exactly been playing nice? That while the left laments Obama's minor deviations from party orthodoxy, the right has been portraying him, with some success, as an out-of-control socialist?
That was from August 10, 2010. My goodness who wrote such a prescient piece?
C'mon, this is easy. This was Ruth Marcus...in a piece backing Robert Gibbs when he called out the Professional Left.
So what happened?
Apparently, Ruth Marcus...still employed by the Washington Post...has lost the ability...to count.
Ruth Marcus got lazy. She and the paper needed column inches to fill, and bull@#$% magically transpired.
When you say the President isn't showing leadership after showing in just a few short paragraphs that there's no one who's willing to be lead, we do wonder why the President is to blame, and not the Congress. And if you can't make that elementary of a call, it calls into question your ability to observe things...or any thing, for that matter.
I mean, I don't meant to tell Ruth Marcus in particular how to do her job, but I figured someone ought to.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
"These aren't the cuts you're looking for..." (VIDEO)
Here is the President's brief Press Conference on the Sequester:
That's right. He went with Jedi Mind Mend.
I was entertained no end. The rest of the Geek world was not, preferring instead to chastise my President for getting his franchises confused. (Yeah, like that's never happened to them.)
Leave it to the Geek Godather, Leonard freakin' Nimoy to put it all in perspective:
Yeah, baby, YEAH.
Also. It seems that the White House has chosen to OWN it (OWN IT, I say!!):
That's right. He went with Jedi Mind Mend.
I was entertained no end. The rest of the Geek world was not, preferring instead to chastise my President for getting his franchises confused. (Yeah, like that's never happened to them.)
Leave it to the Geek Godather, Leonard freakin' Nimoy to put it all in perspective:
Only a Vulcan mind meld will help with this congress. LLAP
— Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) March 1, 2013
Yeah, baby, YEAH.
Also. It seems that the White House has chosen to OWN it (OWN IT, I say!!):
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