Maybe Condi's Black After All

When I read this item over at POLITOPICS, I had to smile.

Here's the Condi Dish:

Rush & Molloy

When Condi went nuclear
Wednesday, August 29th 2007, 4:00 AM


Condoleezza Rice may be willing to compromise at a Middle East negotiating table - but not at a jewelry counter.

Coit Blacker, a Stanford professor who is one of the secretary of state's closest friends, recalls going into a shop where Rice asked to see earrings. The clerk showed her costume jewelry. Rice asked to see something nicer, prompting the clerk to whisper some sass under her breath.

Blacker remembers Rice tearing the woman to shreds.

"Let's get one thing straight," he recalls her saying. "You are behind the counter because you have to work for minimum wage. I'm on this side asking to see the good jewelry because I make considerably more."

A manager quickly brought Rice better baubles.

BWA HA HA HA HA HA

Never thought I'd cheer for Condi, but, um, I can relate. Is there a Black woman alive who can't relate?

FBI Spied on Coretta Scott King

FBI Spied on Coretta Scott King

As per AOL.com:

FBI Spied on Martin Luther King's Widow
By ERRIN HAINES,
AP
Posted: 2007-08-31 15:52:35

ATLANTA (Aug. 30) - Federal agents spied on the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. for several years after his assassination in 1968, according to newly released documents that reveal the FBI worried about her following in the footsteps of the slain civil rights icon.

In memos that reveal Coretta Scott King being closely followed by the government, the FBI noted concern that she might attempt "to tie the anti-Vietnam movement to the civil rights movement."

Four years after Martin Luther King Jr.'s death, the FBI closed its file on Coretta Scott King, saying, "No information has come to the attention of Atlanta which indicates a propensity for violence or affiliation of subversive elements," according to a memorandum dated Nov. 30, 1972.

The documents were obtained by Houston television station KHOU in a story published Thursday. Coretta Scott King died in January 2006 at the age of 78.

The Rev. Joseph Lowery, who served as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference - which King co-founded in 1957 - said the documents illustrate the FBI's pattern of "despicable and devious" civil-rights-era behavior against the organization and those affiliated with it.

"The FBI kept a microphone everywhere they could where the SCLC was concerned," said Lowery, who said the agency had a member of the SCLC's staff on its payroll.

"Since we had nothing to hide, it was no great problem for us. But we don't put it past the FBI; (then-FBI Director) J. Edgar Hoover hated Martin Luther King and everything that the SCLC stood for."

Andrew Young, a lieutenant of King's during the civil rights movement, agreed. But he said he was surprised that the government would focus on Coretta Scott King.

"I didn't know it and I don't think she knew it," Young said. "If ever there was a woman that had the makings of a saint, it was Coretta. I don't know what they were looking for, I don't know what they were expecting to find. I don't know why they wasted the government's money."

Rest of article at link above.



This can't come as much of a surprise to anyone. After all, the FBI spied on her husband and husband's family for DECADES. I'm sure Betty Shabazz and Myrlie Evers were spied on too. So, anyone who is shocked by this doesn't understand the history of the United States of America.

Bush to Help Mortgage Holders in Crisis

Bush to Help Mortgage Holders in Crisis

From Politico.com

Bush unveils mortgage crisis first steps
By: Mike Allen
Aug 31, 2007 12:09 AM EST
Updated: August 31, 2007 01:50 PM EST

President Bush has unveiled his first detailed steps to intervene in the subprime mortgage crisis that threatens to throw hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes and send financial markets into a tailspin.

"We will deliver help and hope to American families who need it, we'll help guard against future problems in the housing sector, we'll reaffirm the vital place of homeownership in our nation," Bush said.

"The recent disturbances in the subprime mortgage industry are modest -- they're modest in relation to the size of our economy," Bush said. "But if your family is -- if your family's one of those having trouble making the monthly payments, this problem doesn't seem modest at all. I understand these concerns."

"The government's got a role to play, but it is limited," Bush said. "A federal bailout of lenders would only encourage a recurrence of the problem. It's not the government's job to bail out speculators or those who made the decision to buy a home they knew they could never afford. Yet there are many American homeowners who could get through this difficult time with a little flexibility from their lenders or a little help from their government."

Well, as they say usually, and ESPECIALLY with this group...

the devil's in the details.

And, I just don't trust him or anyone near him. Until I hear it from credible people that this is actually help for HOMEOWNERS, I'm not going to believe it.

Because, it would be the first time, EVER, in his Presidency, that Shrub has EVER helped ' the little man'.

So, I will reserve any congratulations until the details are revealed. The cynic would say that it will be a figleaf for the Homeowner, and the meat of anything he's proposing is going to 'the big guys'.

This has been his pattern. Let's see if it continues. And, if it actually does help 'the little guy', then I will know for sure that this mortgage crisis is indeed as bad as James Cramer wrote about in this week's New York Magazine.


Update: Bush reveals his plan, and not 24 hours, here's someone telling us that the plan isn't 'all that'.
Bush's plan for aiding homeowners is less than it appears

Iowa Court Rules Same-Sex Couples Can Marry

Iowa Court Rules Same-Sex Couples Can Marry

From CNN.com:

(CNN) -- An Iowa district court ruled Thursday that same-sex couples can marry based on the state constitution's guarantee of equal treatment, court documents show.
An Iowa district judge ruled in favor of same-sex marriage.

The ruling was in response to a December 2005 lawsuit brought by six same-sex couples seeking to wed. They were denied marriage licenses and claimed such treatment violates equal-protection and due-process clauses in the Iowa constitution.

The court also struck down a state law declaring valid marriages are only between a man and woman.

The Iowa District Court for Polk County advances the case to the Iowa Supreme Court which will make a final decision on same-sex marriage, according to Lambda Legal, a gay and lesbian legal organization representing the couples.

The 63-page ruling, written by Judge Robert Hanson states: "Couples, such as plaintiffs, who are otherwise qualified to marry one another may not be denied licenses to marry or certificates of marriage or in any other way prevented from entering into a civil marriage pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 595 by reason of the fact that both persons compromising such a couple are of the same sex."
The law describing marriage as between a man and a woman, "constitutes the most intrusive means by the state to regulate marriage. This statute is an absolute prohibition on the ability of gay and lesbian individuals to marry a person of their choosing," Hanson wrote.

This is news the Democrats did NOT need to come their way. Nothing can energize a demoralized GOP Evangelical base more than a judge forcing same sex marriage upon them. This could become a big issue in a state like Iowa in the general election, and that just does not bode well for the Democrats in states like Iowa. This isn't New York, California or New Jersey; this is Iowa, the middle of the ' Heartland', and this is an issue that just won't play well with the rank and file Iowan voter, irrespective of political party.

Jesse Jackson Really Needs to Read a Book... explaining what satire is

Just over a month ago, I posted the video of "Read a Book" by poet, activist and not-a-rapper Bomani "D'Mite" Armah. The video has been blowing up on YouTube (over 800,000 views) and BET (debuted on July 20 and is one of the few BET airings to make me proud). Tomorrow, Saturday September 1, Bomani will be on CNN at 10:30pm, and the video will hit BET's 106 & Park again on Tuesday September 4. You can vote for the video to be number 1.

"Read a Book" has been garnering much-deserved praise and mainstream attention for the biting satire that it is, shining light on the sadly misplaced priorities of black popular culture, especially in pop rap music. The song is average length at just under three minutes, but the lyrics basically come down to 10 lines (warning, some explicit language)

Read a book! Read a book! Read a muh'fuckin book!
Not a sports page (what) not a magazine (who)
But a book nigga, a fuckin book nigga (YEAHHH~!)
Raise yo' kids, raise yo' kids, raise yo' God damn kids
Your body needs water - so DRINK THAT SHIT
Buy some land, buy some land (what) FUCK SPINNIN RIMS
Brush yo' teeth, brush yo' teeth, brush yo' God damn teeth
Wear deodorant nigga, wear deodorant nigga
It's called Speed Stick (bitch) it's not expensive (bitch)
Read a book! Read a book! Read a muh'fuckin book!

Yes there is explicit language and lotsa booty shakin in the video, but satirists must use the tools and techniques employed by the subject of their satire. Sure we could listen to another angry lecture from Bill Cosby, or we could hear, in these 10 short lines to a catchy beat, Bomani challenge rap artists and the consuming public to use our resources in a more reasonable fashion. Seriously? "Buy some land?" When is the last time you heard a black leader talk about the importance of real wealth accumulation? How many preachers are advising their flock to do more than contribute to his Cadillac fund? (I know I'm generalizing but I'm just sayin).

I get the message in the video, and I know my friends do as well, but poor Reverend Jackson and the folks over at Rainbow PUSH are unsurprisingly out of touch. Rather than praising the video for its effort to challenge the pop cultural images that are literally killing black America by supporting unhealthy eating, unsustainable consumption and a threatening image that tightens the trigger finger on an already gun-happy, black-bashing law enforcement community, Jackson & Co went out of their way to condemn the video.

You've got to read it to believe it.

CHICAGO and ATLANTA (August 23, 2007) The following is a statement released on behalf of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, from Attorney Janice Mathis, Vice President and Executive Director of Peachtree Street Project, Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Mathis's commentary comes after the release of a rap video, "Read a Book" on YouTube and BET. If Benjamin E. Mayes challenged us to reach for the stars, the not-a-rapper video "Read a Book" on YouTube takes us into the abyss. Billed as a satirical look at popular culture, a viewer is left with the distinct impression that nothing matters, that life is futile, knowledge fruitless, manners meaningless.

Wrong!

A common definition of satire is witty language used to convey insults or scorn. The video is plenteously scornful and insulting, but not of crassness. The video insults reading, personal hygiene, family values and frugality. "Read a Book" heaps scorn on positive values and (un)intentionally celebrates ignorance. The narrator is obviously illiterate, unkempt and disrespectful. So who takes his advice seriously?

Apparently, Rainbow PUSH does. How do you go about giving a definition of satire and then interpret art literally, all in the same paragraph? That takes a special kind of incompetence for which the word "incompetence" does not suffice.

The be