Clarafied Words

Dog the Bounty Hunter uses racial slurs in call to son

2007-11-02T18:26:00.000-04:00

I Thought I Was The Only One . . .

2007-04-17T02:12:00.000-04:00

Nappy Headed Hos & Senile Old White Men

2007-04-06T18:01:00.000-04:00

So you're a student-athlete at one of the most prestigious schools in the country, nay world, but to Imus you're just a nappy headed ho.

Click to Play

Disney's First Black Princess?!

2007-03-16T04:18:00.000-04:00

Words fail me. Read about it here.

Sick Sick Sick . . .But Funny

2007-03-03T00:13:00.001-05:00

Days of Glory

2007-02-22T17:05:00.000-05:00

Last year I mentioned the film Les Enfants du Pays which is about African soldiers who fought for France during WWII. Well I'm happy to report that a film on the same subject Days of Glory is up for an Oscar as the year's best foreign language film. Check out the audio report at NPR. It talks about how Africans were given 1/10 the pension as French soldiers and basically used as canon fodder. Brings to mind this quote:

The first "unknown" corpse exhumed at Verdun turned out to be Senegalese, so he was reburied and replaced by a white body.

Take a look at the preview--

GOLLUM & SMEAGOL SING BARRY WHITE

2007-02-18T05:42:00.000-05:00

Add Video to QuickList

GOLLUM & SMEAGOL SING BARRY WHITE.BLUE VERSION. AMDSFILMS

Hines Ward

2007-02-15T01:59:00.000-05:00

Though Lovers Be Lost

2007-02-14T01:22:00.000-05:00

Death Shall Have No Dominion

Remember that line? Just in time for Valentine's Day. I couldn't wait to get my greedy little hands on it!

Madea

2007-02-12T10:58:00.000-05:00

Have you seen Tyler Perry's movies? Since he has a new one coming out I looked at some of his old stuff this weekend.

Best of Web 2.0

2007-01-26T08:37:00.000-05:00

VideoJug: How To Give A Homie Handshake

I'm Back . . . Sorta

2007-01-15T17:10:00.000-05:00

Since it's MLK day, I thought I'd point you to a couple of good links. I'm going to try to start posting again. Don't want to let my readers down--both of you that is :)

First 55 Secret Street blogs a great post about Coretta Couture.

Then head on over to Youtube to hear the man himself--Happy MLK day!

Boys of Baraka

2006-09-12T19:36:00.000-04:00

I was listening to PBS at lunchtime and heard this interview about a group of troubled youth who were given the opportunity to go to the Baraka School in Kenya. I could have titled this post "The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease." See one of my pet peeves is that our society rewards bad actors. There's a gazillion programs out there for troubled youth, but what about middle of the road youth? You see, while these boys come from bad situations, they are also the trouble makers in school, the class clowns, the disruptive element. Somewhere in the Chicago school system are kids that do what they're supposed to do, don't make trouble, and are not standout scholars--probably because the educational system is too busy paying attention to the squeaky wheels--the Boys of Baraka.

US Senate panel finds no prewar Iraq-Qaeda link

2006-09-08T23:08:00.000-04:00

US Senate panel finds no prewar Iraq-Qaeda link
By David Morgan. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein had no relationship with al Qaeda, including Iraq-based guerrilla Abu Musab al Zarqawi, despite claims by President George W. Bush and other administration ...

Kiva

2006-09-07T20:01:00.000-04:00

Have you heard about Kiva? It's a way for you to make microloans to people in the developing world. This idea really appeals to me because it's helping people where they are and not being filtered through some less than honest bureaucracy. Here's a video about the organization.

Transracial Adoption

2006-09-05T15:45:00.000-04:00

Being interested in adoption (at some point I hope), I was all over Rachel's excellent post about it. I had this bookmarked from a few years ago. As far as I know, it's the only case of a black family adopting an Asian child. Now, I know social workers can steer you in a certain direction but how hard can it be to find a black child to adopt? Harder than adopting one from the other side of the world? Don't misunderstand me--I'm not against transracial adoption but the reasons given in this particular case don't ring true for me.

I Should Have Stayed Home

2006-09-05T15:06:00.000-04:00

I think many people believe that since apartheid is officially over, things are looking up for black folks in that country--au contraire. Read this post by Archer about his experience in a South African night club.

African Americans Fuel Broadband Growth

2006-09-05T13:58:00.000-04:00

Internet penetration among urban African Americans could grow from 45% to 62%, according to the new "FOCUS: African-America" study by Horowitz Associates. The study also projects strong growth in high-speed Internet penetration in this segment, from the current 28% to 46%. . . continues

Cheerio Mate

2006-09-05T00:48:00.000-04:00

Australia mourns 'colourful son'

First Black Female POW Tells Her Story

2006-09-01T23:05:00.000-04:00

Former Iraq prisoner of war Shoshana Johnson has signed a deal with Dafina Books to publish One Wrong Turn, The Story Of Shoshana Johnson, The First American Woman Of Color To Be Taken Prisoner Of War

Shoshana was one of five soldiers in the 507th Maintenance Company captured when the caravan of armored vehicles in which she was traveling made a wrong turn into a deadly ambush by Iraqi insurgents that killed nine members of her unit in March 2003. . . c0ntinues

Another Sister in Need of Prayer

2006-08-30T20:57:00.000-04:00

This was Nicole Ritchie three short years ago.

Nicole Ritchie now. This is what living in Hollywood and reading Vogue will do for you.

Katrina Redux

2006-08-30T11:17:00.000-04:00

I'm getting angry about Katrina all over again. I watched the Discovery Channel last night and learned about Gretna for the first time. This show was particularly interesting because there was a foreign couple (Australian maybe?) that were trapped in a hotel with their three children. They observed how the police were only helping white folks. Even when they left, the woman had to put her arm out the window of the bus to show she was white so the bus would be allowed through.

I digress--back to Gretna. Apparently the Sheriff (that would be Sheriff Lee smiling at you up there to the left) in this Mississippi town stood on the Louisiana side of the bridge and barred people from crossing. What I want to know is why James Dobson isn't protesting? I'm sure those people were Christians--after all it's the Bible Belt. Why isn't the ACLU filing law suits en masse against various and sundry police departments and officers that acted illegally? Where's the NAACP in this? Am I missing something cause from where I stand it looks like The Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Civil Rights Act were used for toilet paper?!

OMG

2006-08-24T23:03:00.000-04:00

Pray for Whitney

disGrace

2006-08-24T21:10:00.000-04:00

I made the mistake of watching CourtTV last night. I thought I'd catch up on what's going on with the the JonBenet case. Big mistake. Nancy Grace screaming about the poor dead child's HYMEN over and over and over was not how I wanted to drift off. This is one sick chick. She lingers on the gory details with far too much enjoyment. I generally make a point of not watching when she's on and last night I remembered why. For the record, I never believed the Ramseys killed their daughter, and I'm glad more people are coming around to that conclusion--however slowly. I imagined poor Mr Ramsey, having lost his daughter and wife casually flicking channels to hear this demented cow screaming about HYMENS and forensic evidence. Jeez.

So I figure I can't be the only one who finds this chick detestable, and sure enough she has quite a fan club of haters out there:

Nancy Grace Should be Thrown Off the Air

Nancy Grace Rips Her Own Eyeballs Out

Nancy Grace v. the American Way

At least I know I'm not alone.

A Racy Twist for "Survivor"

2006-08-23T20:51:00.000-04:00

A Racy Twist for "Survivor"
Wednesday August 23 7:21 PM ET

By Gina Serpe

Some may call it exploiting racial tensions. CBS calls it darn good television.

Jeff Probst popped in on The Early Show Wednesday morning, confirming the reports that the 20 castaways for Survivor: Cook Islands will be grouped by race, with competitors divided into four tribes consisting of whites, blacks, Asians and Hispanics.

Apparently, "separate but equal" holds only the warmest of connotations for Mark Burnett. continues here . . .

What Happened to the Electric Car?

2006-08-22T19:40:00.000-04:00

Female Muslim Preachers

2006-08-18T19:39:00.000-04:00

The BBC has an interesting profile on female Muslim preacher Magda Amer.

Meanwhile, in Uzbekistan

2006-08-17T12:47:00.000-04:00

BBC Podcast

Monica Whitlock investigates the massacre at Andijan, Uzbekistan, which took place when troops opened fire on a large anti-government demonstration.

George Allen's Macaca Remark

2006-08-16T12:20:00.000-04:00

ABB has a great post about it here

Geriatric Gold

2006-08-14T17:52:00.000-04:00

This elderly gentlemen is video blogging about his life which sounds like it's been well lived. I've become addicted to him--

Widgets

2006-08-14T17:03:00.000-04:00

I've run across some nice widgets lately so I'll share--

As reported in Time, Meebo is one stop shopping for all your IM needs. Put it on your web page and talk with visitors.

Pandora - you tell it a song/artist you like. It then plays the full song by the artist, and then makes a "station" out of similar songs. It saves up to a 100 stations per account, and it's free to create an account. It's a great way to find new music.

Bestaudiocodes let's you pick out tunes for a playlist and put them on your website/blog. You don't have to have the video screen. If real estate if valuable just have the player bar. Lots of good current music.

PodTube v1.0 Downloads and transcodes YouTube videos for your iPod.

Pollhost - host a poll on your website or blog

Former Wal-Mart Executive Sentenced to Home Confinement

2006-08-14T16:03:00.000-04:00

From the White Collar Crime Prof Blog

Former Wal-Mart executive Tom Coughlin, who was with the company from its founding by Sam Walton and served most recently as vice-chairman of the board of directors, received a 27-month term of home confinement after pleading guilty to defrauding the company and tax evasion. Coughlin admitted to taking gift cards for use at company stores and submitting bogus invoices to pay for personal expenses, totaling over $300,000. Wal-Mart initiated the prosecution when it turned over information to the U.S. Attorney's Office that it developed in an internal investigation. Among the items purchased with one gift card was a cooler and two cases of beer. Coughlin's salary for his last three years he worked at Wal-Mart totaled approximately $2.9 million, and when he left the company he owned almost 700,000 shares (see 2005 Proxy here), which at the current price would be worth approximately $30 million. What is missing in this type of case is an explanation for why one would put so much at risk for an amount less than the annual dividend on Coughlin's shares. . . continues here

More Anti Rice Sentiment

2006-08-12T13:44:00.000-04:00

Lebanon Gripped by Anti-American Sentiment
by Leila Fadel

BEIRUT, Lebanon - In trendy central Beirut, a large banner looms over the now nearly empty streets of downtown: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stares intently, with piercing fangs and blood dripping from her lips. continues here

Skeleton Man Street Performer

2006-08-12T00:21:00.000-04:00

More on Search Engines & Privacy

2006-08-11T12:15:00.000-04:00

Search Engine Privacy

By Lauren

Greetings. Web site privacy issues in general, and search engine privacy concerns in particular, are turning into a three-ring circus of ironies. I discuss these issues until I'm figuratively blue in the face and yet it's deja vu over and...

De nigger woman is de mule uh de world

2006-08-11T10:58:00.000-04:00

I keep running across this theme lately. It seems black women are generally catching hell where ever I look--

Honey, de white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tub find out. Maybe it's some place off in de ocean where de black man is in power, but we don't know nothin’ but we see. So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don't tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so far as Ah can see.

Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston

Stephanie's Journal
Sharon's Muse
Expat Jane
Rachel's Place

Landis Loses Title

2006-08-10T16:32:00.000-04:00

The BBC reports that his team, Phonak, has sacked him and it only seems a matter of time before the International Cycling Union (UCI) announces that Landis will lose his Tour title.

Inside a Drugs Test

2006-08-10T16:23:00.000-04:00

I just thought this was funny as hell. Check out photo number 4.

Ideas for Using the Web to Get a Book Published

2006-08-10T14:51:00.000-04:00

From The Information Literacy Land of Confusion

Ideas for Using the Web to Get a Book Published

By Michael

I was talking to one of my colleagues today at the library. She was telling me about a relative who has written a manuscript but is having trouble finding a publisher. Apparently, there are thousands of want-to-be writers out there and getting attention is hard. continues . . .

A Face Is Exposed for AOL Searcher No. 4417749

2006-08-10T11:28:00.000-04:00

The New York Times writes about Thelma Arnold, a 62-year-old Georgia widow who was identified, despite a random anonymizing number, within AOL’s accidentally released search history ....

Buried in a list of 20 million Web search queries collected by AOL and recently released on the Internet is user No. 4417749. The number was assigned by the company to protect the searcher’s anonymity, but it was not much of a shield.

Erik S. Lesser for The New York Times

Thelma Arnold’s identity was betrayed by AOL records of her Web searches, like ones for her dog, Dudley, who clearly has a problem.

Condoleeza Rice under racist attack by Palestinian media

2006-08-08T20:16:00.000-04:00

via Stephanie's Journal

I just saw an interesting thread on the ‘Net about how the Palestinian media have been using racially charged images and words to describe and vilify Condoleeza Rice. Although I have issues with her political stances, the use of racist imagery is appalling. The Palestinian media refer to rice as a “raven,” “the Black Spinster,” (wow, what does her marital status have to do with anything?!) “the Black Lady,” and doing damage to the view of “Black Americans.” Rice may be a lot of things but to summarize her because of her “race” like this is horrible. I can’t imagine any white world leader being attacked and caricatured because of her/his race. . . continues here

Children arrested, DNA tested, interrogated and locked up... for playing in a tree

2006-08-07T16:03:00.000-04:00

To the 12-year-old friends planning to build themselves a den, the cherry tree seemed an inviting source of material.

But the afternoon adventure turned into a frightening ordeal for Sam Cannon, Amy Higgins and Katy Smith after they climbed into the 20ft tree - then found themselves hauled into a police station and locked in cells for up to two hours.

Their shoes were removed and mugshots, DNA samples and mouth swabs were taken.

story continues here . . .

Custom Ketchup Labels

2006-08-07T15:31:00.000-04:00

From the Pittsurgh Tribune:
Capitalizing on the 130th anniversary of its most famous product, the H.J. Heinz Co. has created a special Web site allowing consumers to create their own ketchup bottle labels. At myheinz.com, users can show off their wit, be sentimental or use any wording for a unique tag to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, weddings or any special occasion.

“We realized our consumers have really enjoyed the many witty phrases and catchy quips that appeared on the Heinz keystone-shaped labels in recent years,” said Wendy Joyce, senior brand manager for Heinz ketchup. “Now, we’re giving consumers a chance to create their own, one-of-a-kind phrase on Heinz bottles for a unique and surprising way to say something special.” (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW)

Writely and Google Spreadsheet Invitation

2006-08-04T16:22:00.000-04:00

Have you been waiting to sign up? Your wait is over--

http://www.webprohost.nl/

Kompetenzkompetenz

2006-08-04T15:42:00.000-04:00

From A Fistful of Euros

Kompetenzkompetenz

by Alex Harrowell

The Onion: Bush Grants Self Permission to Grant More Power to Self. Funny, but also the best definition of the Kompetenzkompetenz I'v ever seen.

When Families Kill

2006-08-04T15:36:00.000-04:00

From A Few Euros More

Denmark - Jyllands-Posten

Honour killing trial in Denmark

The newspaper comments on the sentence passed by a court in Denmark in the trial of a so-called "honour killing". This is the first time in the history of northern Europe that an entire family has been found guilty. The jury considered it proven that the father had ordered the murder of his 18-year-old daughter after she married the man of her own choosing, and that subsequently all nine defendants had together planned and committed the murder. "In this way, the family will be seen not as a family of honour, but as a group of cowards who talk about honour and shame while trying to deny any involvement in the deed that was supposed to save the family's honour. The sentence is a clear message that we won't accept parallel societies with their own rules… The case also serves as a warning to a society that ignores people in need because of a misguided political correctness and the fear of dealing with the crazy rules of foreign societies regarding honour and shame."

U.S. Army "redefines quality"

2006-08-04T11:41:00.000-04:00

U.S. Army "redefines quality"

By Sedulia on War, conflict

Stephen Green, the U.S. soldier who allegedly raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killed her, her little sister, and her parents, had not graduated from high school and had several arrests. He would not have been allowed as a recruit under pre- Iraq war standards.

A reporter asked the U.S. army spokesman if there had been a decline in the quality of U.S. army recruits since the standards were changed.

"We have redefined quality," the spokesman said.

--National Public Radio interview broadcast 15 July 2006

Massacre @Qana

2006-07-31T16:20:00.000-04:00

From the Moorish Girl's site--

In the spring of 1996, the Israeli army bombed the Lebanese village of Qana, southeast of Tyre, killing more than 150 civilians and injuring 4 UN soldiers. Now, only ten years later, the brutalized people of Qana have had to pay again for crimes they didn't commit: On Sunday, the IDF bombed a three-story building in Qana in which refugees had taken shelter, killing sixty people, among them 37 young children. . .

Yahoo Launches Video Show

2006-07-31T15:03:00.000-04:00

From trendhunter.com

Aimed at the young and web savvy, Yahoo has launched a beta of a TV-like online video show called “The 9” – it’s a daily video compilation show featuring the nine top “Web finds” of the day. The requisite tanned, blonde presenter reveals how the show promises to pull together the…

Disowning Conservative Politics Is Costly for Pastor

2006-07-29T23:36:00.000-04:00

Finally, a pastor who doesn't tickle the ears of his flock. From the NY Times--

“America wasn’t founded as a theocracy,” he said. “America was founded by people trying to escape theocracies. Never in history have we had a Christian theocracy where it wasn’t bloody and barbaric. That’s why our Constitution wisely put in a separation of church and state.

“I am sorry to tell you,” he continued, “that America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”

Mr. Boyd lambasted the “hypocrisy and pettiness” of Christians who focus on “sexual issues” like homosexuality, abortion or Janet Jackson’s breast-revealing performance at the Super Bowl halftime show. He said Christians these days were constantly outraged about sex and perceived violations of their rights to display their faith in public. read the full story. . .

Sorry Ass 'Baby Daddy'?

2006-07-27T22:27:00.000-04:00

Put him on blast for the whole world to see.

A Joke

2006-07-24T22:55:00.000-04:00

Here's a joke I thought was funny--

Jim and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital. One day while they were walking past the hospital swimming pool, Jim suddenly tripped and fell into the deep end. He sank to the bottom of the pool and stayed there.

Edna promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled Jim out.

When the Head Nurse Director became aware of Edna's heroic act she immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as she now considered her to be mentally stable.

When she went to tell Edna the news she said, "Edna, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you're being discharged because you were able to rationally respond to a crisis by jumping in and saving the life of another patient. I have concluded that your act displays sound mindedness.

The bad news is that Jim, the patient you saved, hanged himself in the bathroom with his bathrobe belt right after you saved him. I am so sorry, but he's dead."

Edna replied, "He didn't hang himself, I put him up there to dry. How soon can I go home?"

Cuter Than a Prairie Dog

2006-07-24T14:28:00.000-04:00

The world is finally catching up to my luv of meerkats. They are soooo cute.

Interesting Post About Immigration

2006-07-24T11:59:00.000-04:00

VDARE.com: Today's Letter: A Los Angeles Unified School District Teacher Says The Scamming Never Ends

Koreans & the Black Hair Care Industry

2006-07-22T03:20:00.000-04:00

You won't see this on Oprah--

Gollum Rap - preciousssss isss my bling bling

2006-07-22T01:28:00.001-04:00

Hysterical. I got this from Where the Hell Am I?

click here to download

Israel Has the Right to Exist

2006-07-21T23:53:00.000-04:00

and apparently kill children with my tax money

Merkel & Bush Mixed to Ludacriss

2006-07-21T23:49:00.000-04:00

It's Official: Podcast Users Outnumber Bloggers

2006-07-19T16:58:00.000-04:00

U.S. ADULTS WHO DOWNLOAD PODCASTS now outnumber those who publish blogs, according to new data by Nielsen//NetRatings. More than 9.2 million Web users, or 6.6 percent of U.S. adult Web users, have downloaded an audio podcast in the last 30 days, compared to 6.7 million users (4.8 percent) who published blogs in that time, according to the research company. Nielsen//NetRatings also reported that around 5.6 million online adults (4 percent) have downloaded a video podcast in the last 30 days. read more . . .

Bush Sexually Harasses Merkel?

2006-07-19T14:34:00.000-04:00

You be the judge--

Librarian Humor

2006-07-19T14:17:00.000-04:00

15 Year Old Survives Racist Rape and Attempted Murder

2006-07-18T21:21:00.000-04:00

I got this from Rachel's Tavern--

"She lay in the bathtub where they’d left her to die after stabbing her repeatedly.

When the teen thought the coast was clear, she darted out of the trailer — a naked, bloody blur — to the safe haven of a neighbor’s house." read more

Fat Is Good

2006-07-18T12:57:00.000-04:00

Apprarently weight loss can herald dementia. Researchers find weight loss can be a sign that a woman will develop dementia in the future, so go ahead and have that banana split. Think of it as a preventive measure.

India Imposes Ban on Blogs

2006-07-18T01:57:00.000-04:00

Everything you wanted to know about the recent ban on popular websites in India

Washington Post's Mensa Invitational

2006-07-17T12:15:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing of one letter,and supply a new definition. Here are this year's {2005} winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

11. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

12. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

13. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

14. Glibido: All talk and no action.

15. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

16. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

17. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

18. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

Hilarious Obituary

2006-07-17T11:52:00.000-04:00

"During his life he excelled at mediocrity. He loved to hear and tell jokes, especially short ones due to his limited attention span. He had a life long love affair with bacon, butter, cigars and bourbon. You always knew what Fred was thinking much to the dismay of his friend and family. His sons said of Fred, "he was often wrong, but never in doubt". When his family was asked what they remembered about Fred, they fondly recalled how Fred never peed in the shower - on purpose." read more . . .

Spying on College Students

2006-07-15T01:31:00.000-04:00

Full report here

Cat Massages Puppy

2006-07-02T21:42:00.000-04:00

L'or de Nos Vies

2006-07-02T20:51:00.000-04:00

Flag-burning amendment fails by a vote

2006-06-29T17:24:00.000-04:00

The Senate defeated by one vote a constitutional amendment banning desecration of the American flag.

The scary thing is how close the vote was. To quote Sinclair Lewis, "When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross."

Get Rich and Die Lying Part Deux

2006-06-24T05:44:00.000-04:00

Get Rich and Die Lying

2006-06-21T16:37:00.001-04:00

He started his career off by smashing somebody else's, and my credo is 'mean people suck'. Apparently Rafi isn't impressed with the super nigga either.

Charles Taylor

2006-06-20T19:12:00.000-04:00

Charles Taylor arrives in the Netherlands
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor arrived in the Netherlands on Tuesday for a war crimes trial on charges accusing him in the death, rape or mutilation of hundreds of thousands of people in West Africa. . .

Doesn't he look recalcitrant?

Blog blew up

2006-06-11T19:51:00.000-04:00

ok, uploaded that pick from within flickr and all my customizations went away. !@(*&^@%#^! dammit! blog 2.0 will be skinned by a professional. don't you luv technology? Somehow I don't think this is what is meant by 'going viral'.

Shimmering Wings

2006-06-11T19:41:00.000-04:00

Shimmering Wings, originally uploaded by KathyWas.

Found the most beautiful collection of collageson flickr. It was never like this in kindergarten.

Writer's Block

2006-06-07T22:53:00.000-04:00

You may have noticed I have a lot of links that have to do with writing and France. Well, that's because I'm writing a book that takes place in France. Being that this is my first book, I hate everything I've written. I need inspiration. So, Peace College, here I come!

It's A Girl!

2006-06-04T07:55:00.000-04:00

See a family resemblance? Prince Albert is a father for the second time. That's his son Alex Coste, the bonny Prince as an enfant, and daughter Jazmin Rotolo, now age 14. Royal bastards can't use the family name. You think since sister Stephanie heads an AIDS charity, she'd give her brother the occasional condom.

Sex For Asylum Scandal

2006-05-27T01:50:00.000-04:00

A 'sex-for-asylum' scandal at the UK's largest immigration processing centre has been uncovered by an Observer investigation, piling more pressure on a government already reeling from a series of Home Office bungles.

Scientists Create Artificial Penis

2006-05-25T19:37:00.000-04:00

Ok, now I see the logic behind these sudden 'breakthroughs' in women's health. I mean, what's he gonna do with that new penis? It won't be much fun if all the women are menstruating and have cervical cancer, now will it?

No More Periods?

2006-05-25T18:31:00.000-04:00

Lots of news on women's health lately. Supposedly menstrual periods are rapidly becoming passé. Also, there's a new vaccine against the HPV virus responsible for cervical cancer. I have to ask the obvious question, 'why didn't they invent a vaccine for men so they wouldn't infect women with the HPV virus?' I'm sorry, but after the last dirty trick the medical community played on us, I'm not rushing out to get either. With some luck, menopause will overtake me quickly.

"A Black Person Doesn't Feel Safe Everywhere"

2006-05-25T18:19:00.000-04:00

I love the Green Party.

"...SPIEGEL ONLINE: Germany's Africa Council this week wants to name specific areas where dark-skinned people shouldn't venture during the World Cup...

Two Die in Race Killings

2006-05-21T15:00:00.000-04:00

This is pretty depressing.

A woman of African origin and a young white child in her care have been shot dead in the Belgian city of Antwerp by a suspected right-wing extremist.

Mexico Works to Bar Non-Natives From Jobs

2006-05-21T14:29:00.000-04:00

Earlier this year we had the Memín Pinguín situation. Nevermind the fact that blacks have been in Mexico a loooong time. Now more proof that our neighbors to the south are quite xenophobic.

"Even as Mexico presses the United States to grant unrestricted citizenship to millions of undocumented Mexican migrants, its officials at times calling U.S. policies "xenophobic," Mexico places daunting limitations on anyone born outside its territory."

Dillard's says 'ethnic' hair harder to clean in response to discrimination suit

2006-05-21T14:18:00.000-04:00

Why do we continue to shop at Dillards? Do a Google search and you'll see Dillards has a problem with black folks. I have a problem giving them my money so I don't shop there. I wish more people would do the same.

Almost three years after Vaughan Thomas says she paid an inflated price at a Montgomery, Ala., hair salon simply for being black, lawyers for Dillard's beauty salons went to court Tuesday to defend the department store from allegations of what Thomas and others call "race-based pricing."

2006-05-13T20:46:00.000-04:00

I found this cute little doohicky that let's you make your own news headline. The possibilities are endless with this one.

UK Podcasters Association Launches

2006-05-13T19:58:00.000-04:00

You know, I lamented the death of AM radio. Nowadays the only thing on it are right wing extremists and Disney. When I discovered podcasts, I felt like I'd found nirvana. I guess they're being proactive so that podcasts don't go the same way--

The first national membership organisation for UK podcasters, the UK Podcasters Association (UKPA), has opened its doors for membership.

We're Down Under Too

2006-05-11T23:09:00.000-04:00

I was casting about looking for podcasts about fiction writing and found this. Author Cassandra Pybus was interviewed about her book Black Founders: The Unknown Story of Australia's First Black Settlers. I don't know why I'm surprised. Another piece of missing history. I've ordered my copy.

Dignity Period

2006-05-11T22:46:00.000-04:00

Seems unbelievable in the 21st century, but sanitary pads are worth their weight in gold in Zimbabwe.

South African Leader Acquitted of Rape

2006-05-09T19:22:00.000-04:00

He also apologized for having unprotected sex with the woman and for suggesting that taking a shower afterwards was adequate protection against contracting HIV.

Allusions

2006-05-08T20:32:00.000-04:00

Once I saw an episode of Saturday Night Live where Garrett Morris sang Danny Boy. He didn't just sing it, he sang it perfectly with an Irish lilt so that if your eyes were closed you just knew the person singing it was Irish, but if you opened your eyes it was just a black man in a leprechaun suit. The spell was broken and your all your beliefs were questioned.

Foreign Films

2006-04-30T03:09:00.000-04:00

I've always loved foreign films. Now that Bollywood films are popular I can smugly brag I was into those at least 10 years before everyone else. It might just be me, but it seems there's hardly as many foreign films getting publicity. I don't really go for blockbuster type films. I have to really search for good foreign films, and good foreign films with black folks are harder to find than hen's teeth so I'm lucky Black Girl in Paris blogs about them. In my neck of the woods, my only hope of seeing Les Enfants du Pays is Amazon France.

May the Gods Help Us

2006-04-29T14:11:00.000-04:00

Apparently, I'm not the only person who thought the people over at the Sci-fi channel were smoking herbal cigarettes this month. I'm a major Battlestar Galactica devotee, but lately the Sci-fi Channel has weirded me out. First they do this mastodon-possessed-by-alien-movie. The writers must have had serious writer's block. Little did I know that was going to be the high point this month. That little gem was followed up with Rottweiler --the story of a killer dog with titanium teeth.

I was about ready to blow them off until the Fall, when the Lords of Kobol heard my prayer and offered me a ray of light--Caprica. Yes, that bright and shining star will be luminesing in my living room come September. Sci-fi channel, you are redeemed.

Information and Access

2006-04-20T21:07:00.000-04:00

I want to talk about bit about access to information. It's one of the reasons I became a librarian. Jack Anderson was an 'old school' journalist. He went truth hunting in the highest places without fear. He stood his ground against the best the government could throw at him, including J. Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy. He was the kind of journalist who would have used Nancy Grace and her ilk to run errands until they learned how to do something significant like get the facts straight. Now that he's gone, it's not surprising the government is seeking to do a eminent domaintype grab of all his papers.

It's ironic that the biggest and most important library in the country is government owned because traditionally librarians and government have a rocky relationship. Librarians believe in access to information. The government believes in The Patriot Act. And again, not so surprisingly, we learn of a secret list of prisoners being revealed for the first time today. Even our allies didn't know they had prisoners being held there--not officially anyway.

Another example from this week is the McCllelan debacle. According to an NPR interviewer, the feeling in the white house press corps is that McClellan was fed the wrong information. For those of you who don't know, McClellan was the Bush mouthpiece that repeatedly told the press corps that Rove and Libby had nothing to do with leaking Valerie Plame's identity. Of course we know that to be a lie now. There's so many correlations you can draw between the lives of these two men. Both newsmen, yet diametrically opposed in their career paths. How can two people be in the same field but do such different work? Do you see the irony also?

Even more ironic is it that a government which seeks to prevent access to information at every turn, wants full access to Jack Anderson's papers, and that given the right information, ex press secretary McCllelan might still be employed.

Arrest in Duke Case

2006-04-18T13:01:00.000-04:00

From The Smoking Gun--

Duke Rape Indictment
Lacrosse players charged with sexual assault, kidnapping of dancer
APRIL 18--Two Duke University lacrosse players have been charged with the rape and kidnapping of an exotic dancer who claims that she was assaulted last month at a team party. Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, both sophomores, were named in indictments unsealed today. Copies of the felony charges can be found below. Seligmann and Finnerty were arrested early this morning and subsequently released on $400,000 bond. According to the dancer, a 27-year-old North Carolina Central University student, she was sexually assaulted by a trio of men in the bathroom of a home shared by three of the lacrosse squad's captains. Her account of the March 14 incident is contained in this detailed search warrant application. The 19-year-old Finnerty (left) and Seligmann, 20, are pictured above in booking photos snapped this morning at the Durham County Detention Facility. A North Carolina grand jury voted indictments against the athletes during sessions last Wednesday and yesterday. A judge ordered the indictments sealed after District Attorney Michael Nifong filed motions arguing that there was a "substantial risk" that Seligmann and Finnerty would flee if given advance notice of the charges. If convicted, Nifong noted, Finnerty, from Garden City, N.Y., and Seligmann, from Essex Fells, N.J., would each face a minimum prison term of between 12 and 15 years. (8 pages)

continued at The Smoking Gun

Mother, dancer, accuser

2006-04-17T15:08:00.000-04:00

News & Observer
Mother, dancer, accuser
Duke scandal peels back layers of Durham woman's identity
Samiha Khanna, Staff Writer

She is a 27-year-old mother of two who married young, served in the Navy and was once in serious trouble because of an episode of drunken driving and assault that left her with a criminal record.
On the campus of N.C. Central University, where she is a full-time student, few people know her.

Today she may be the nation's best-known unnamed person. She is the woman whose report of rape at a Duke lacrosse team party, where she had been hired to dance, has riveted people here in her hometown and far beyond.

The accusation in the early hours of March 14 launched a police investigation. Defense lawyers say they expect the case to go before a grand jury Monday.

Although there are no formal charges, the allegations have prompted a vigorous defense by lawyers for lacrosse team members and have divided the Duke campus and the Durham community over nearly every aspect of the case, including the credibility of the woman who brought the accusation.

continued here

Natalee Again

2006-04-16T23:52:00.000-04:00

Maybe if Olamide Adeyooye had received half the attention that Natalee Holloway has she might still be alive. What's even sadder is her MySpace page is still active.

Ethnic Cleansing by Inaction

2006-04-16T17:15:00.000-04:00

More and more I feel like Canada should be my 'go to' country.

The Editors at The Nation write:

New Orleans has long been pivotal in the struggle for black voting rights. During the Civil War, free blacks there demanded suffrage; their efforts resulted in Lincoln's first public call for voting rights for some blacks in the final speech of his life. Once these rights were won, New Orleans blacks took an active part in politics, leading to the establishment of the South's only integrated public school system. But rights once gained aren't necessarily secure; after Reconstruction, blacks in New Orleans lost the right to vote. As Thomas Wentworth Higginson wrote at the time of the Civil War, "revolutions may go backwards."

This is what we are seeing now, as New Orleans prepares for municipal elections on April 22. These elections are set to take place even though fewer than half the city's 460,000 residents have returned and the vast majority of those displaced outside Louisiana are African-Americans--the result of what Representative Barney Frank calls the Bush Administration's policy of "ethnic cleansing by inaction."

How did this happen? How did New Orleans become the most obvious symbol of the "backwards revolution" in voting rights that's been going on for at least twenty-five years?
read more

WTF! Hassidic Reggae?

2006-04-16T08:21:00.000-04:00

Have you seen this? Is it the 7th sign? Are black folks about to be obsolete?

Trailing Edge vs. Leading Edge

2006-04-15T21:30:00.000-04:00

You can tell from looking at the design of this blog I know just enough HTML to be dangerous. I was able to find a graphic I love and massage it to fit in with the color theme, but I wasn't able to figure out how to place it exactly where I want it. Also, I wasn't able to change the text in the title to stand out more. Ahh, the mysteries of cascading style sheets.

At the school where I work, we offer many technology courses, but there's no vehicle for staff to get continuing education. Let me rephrase that, on paper we offer many technology workshops for staff, but there is a caveat. These workshops require a minimum number of people to attend and the minimum is almost never reached, therefore the classes are often cancelled. I usually find myself surrounded by a stack of dummies books.

A co-worker and I often talk about the trailing edge vs. the leading edge. Let me illustrate with a typical occurrence--for me anyway. One evening our computer tech was out so I found myself helping a student with her spreadsheet homework. She had been to class that day, had her textbook spread out before her, but couldn't solve the problem. Now, keep in mind my much older brain hadn't attended a an Excel class in at least 10 years. I didn't know the answer but, I knew right clicking would give me some options. So that's what I did. I right clicked and kept trying different options until I found the right one--process of elimination. I told her this. Explained this. Asked her if she understood. She said she did. Five minutes later she stood in the doorway of my office asking me to show her how to do that again. What's scary is, this is the generation that will be in charge of my nursing home care.

There's buzz about Web 2.0. Every time I hear that phrase I chuckle because I get a mental image of an Amish horse and buggy driving down the information highway. Seriously, young people may have one or two tricks in their technology bag, but they're missing a lot of needed skills. For every student that asks me why we don't have the latest and greatest on our public computers, there's ten that ask how to delete a blank space from a document. I don't make this stuff up. It's my life--unfortunately.

My Inaugural Post

2006-04-12T23:47:00.000-04:00

So this is my inaugural post in my inaugural blog. I feel I should say something really deep and thoughtful that will set the tone for however long I keep this blog going. What I really hope is that this is a baby step toward writing the books I know I’m capable of writing. Let’s hope. Blogging is just a networking tool, but maybe if someone finds my blog interesting or helpful, it will boost my confidence in the authorship area. Maybe I can help myself by paying it forward.

I have a lot of interests and one of them is instructional technology. The great thing about technology is that you don’t miss anything by waiting. It just gets better and cheaper. When I was a student, computers were crazy expensive. Then you had to buy software. Now they have these great web-based programs that look just like the popular Microsoft apps–for free. First off, there’s Num Sum. It’s an Excel doppelganger. On the word processor front there’s Writely–an MS Word lookalike that was just purchased by Google. Currently they’re not allowing new users to sign up for Writely while they transfer over to Google servers, so in the meantime you can give Zoho, another word processor, a try. For presentation software, take a look at Thumbstacks. It works a lot like–you guessed it–Powerpoint. Although it doesn’t have all the features of Powerpoint, it’s a good alternative. For a database alternative Lazybase allows anyone to design, create and share a database of whatever they like. All the programs I’ve mentioned are stand-alone products but Thinkfree is a whole suite of familiar looking office-type products.

Keep in mind that all I’ve mentioned are collaboration tools. They’re designed so you can work on a project with another person halfway around the world. They’re also web-based so if you lose Internet access, there goes your productivity. Of course there are many more than what I’ve mentioned here, but this is a good representation of the new Web 2.0 products.