Vision Circle

Marion Barry

Marion Barry got mugged.

He says he got out of his car and some teens helped him with his bags to his apartment.

They talked for awhile, he gave them candy and cash and then they left.

They came back and he let them in. They then put a gun to Barry's face and robbed him.

Barry doesn't want the people prosecuted if found

1. They knew who he was and still robbed him. Obviously they have no respect, which is obvious because they are out robbing people. To rob Barry takes balls.
2. Chances are this is not the first time.
3. If it were someone unknown, chances seem high to me that they would have killed the person they robbed.
4. Since those criminals are out making his neighborhood unsafe, it would seem he would want them off of the street.

Barry is on crack again:

Or maybe it's meth. As Whitney said, everyone knows "Crack is whack!"

"Why Didn't They Leave New Orleans?"

On an email list that I am on, someone asked why people in New Orleans didn't leave when they had the chance.

This is the reply from someone who lived and New Orleans, who has/had family in New Orleans, and who plans to go back to New Orleans.

Please continue reading behind the fold.

Thank you.

There were a series of circumstances that caused so
many people to delay leaving or try to hunker down

1. The city had evacuated twice. Neither storms hit
the city and no damage occurred. Remember each time
you evacuate it costs MONEY.

2. It was a non-pay week. The hurricane came on a
weekend that hourly workers would not be paid. You
need MONEY to evacuate.

3. People who were afraid to ride it out at home and
could not evacuate were told to go to the Super Dome.
They did just that. NO provisions were made for them
at the Super Dome because the City did not want ANY
shelters in the city but did very reluctantly allow
the Super Dome as a shelter of last resort.

The City decided NOT (even after the racist Times
Picayune Newspaper asked, no begged them) to use its
city buses to move them and residents out of the city.
Nor did the city insist that the school board use its
fleet of buses to do the same. ALL city and school
buses flooded in the very neighborhoods (where the bus
barns were located) that could have used them.

4. Very little damage occurred to the city from the
hurricane. My sister who did stay said other than roof
and awning damage nothing much happened. It was the
FLOOD that cause the massive amount of damage which
made the majority of the city homeless and a serious
drain on tax dollars.

5. Even the people who left early (Friday) did not
believe that they would not be in their homes on
Monday cursing about no electricity, getting a spot in
the roofing line, sweeping leaves, gathering tree
branches and calling their extra car's auto insurance
company for a namby pamby amount of damage.

We left on Sunday. One hour ahead of the beginning of
the storm with three days worth of clothes, few
documents and the full expectation of being back in
our homes by Tuesday at the latest. It was on our
experience with storms that EVERYONE made the best
judgment for themselves to leave, stay or wait and
leave later. Other than a few nuts on tv most people
would rather not experience a storm if they could
avoid it.

There were examples of what little help was needed:

1. a black man in the Lower 9 ward saw a 18 wheeler
track abandon on the side of the road. Hot wired it
loaded of as many people who wanted to leave and took
off for Houston. They made it. When asked how they got
gas to get there the young man replied: "We pooled our
money."

2. A young man in the city saw an abandon bus on the
interstate started it up and drove along the highway
picking up folks as he went toward Houston. With
himself counted 51 lives were saved. They too pooled
their money for fuel.

My point is this given a way to leave people would
leave they very best way the could. Not everyone is
brave enough to risk jail to live.

Some people who did go to shelters in the city (opened
later) were still flooded out at the shelter.

For the ignorant self-hating Jesse Lees most people
did what they were told to do. It was government that
can provide massive evacuation assistance who tried to
pass the buck on to private entities.

It was a systemic failure and callousness on the part
of all levels of government that caused so many people
to be in such a vulnerable position.

B.T.K.

Evil.

Happy Mother's Day

For the mothers, adoptive mothers, people standing in for the mothers, have a Happy Mother's Day.

Friction Between the Soul and the Outside World

May everything come true, may they believe and may they laugh at their own passions. For what they call passion is not the energy of the soul but merely friction between the soul and the outside world.

But above all, may they believe in themselves and become as helpless as children.... for softness is great and strength is weakness. When man is born he is soft and pliable. When he is older he is strong and hard. When a tree grows, it is soft and pliable but when it is dry and hard it dies. Hardness and strength are deaths companions, flexibility and softness are the embodiment of life. Andre Tarkovsky

Outsourcing not all it's cracked up to be

Outsourcing not all it's cracked up to be

Just when the zealots would have us believe that outsourcing was on the verge of steamrolling IT departments and leaving far fewer employees in its wake, Deloitte and Touche issued the results of a study that indicates myriad twists in just such a plot.

The list goes on and on. Literally. More than 80 percent of respondents have either limited or no transparency to a vendor's pricing schema, 73 percent are working to reduce outsourcing vendor dependancy, and nearly 50 percent lack a corporate-wide methodology to evaluate the business case for outsourcing.

More at the link provided.

"Security": AOL and AIM

From eWeek:

America Online, Inc. has quietly updated the terms of service for its AIM instant messaging application, making several changes that is sure to raise the hackles of Internet privacy advocates.

The revamped terms of service, which apply only to users who downloaded the free AIM software on or after Feb. 5, 2004, gives AOL the right to "reproduce, display, perform, distribute, adapt and promote" all content distributed across the chat network by users.

"You waive any right to privacy. You waive any right to inspect or approve uses of the content or to be compensated for any such uses," according to the AIM terms-of-service.

Although the user will retain ownership of the content passed through the AIM network, the terms give AOL ownership of "all right, title and interest in any compilation, collective work or other derivative work created by AOL using or incorporating this [user] content.

Casey Calls Me Out

LaShawn told me to check out Casey's blog entry Dirty Attacks., so I did.

Having said that: I took a second look at the nasty attacks on Malkin and Margaret Cho, and the response from someone named EBrown.

EBrown, who seems to be the editor or a regular poster on a site called Vision Circle, had a callous, ignorant and "everyone does it, deal with it" type of response:

Actually, it wasn't callous. Nor was it ignorant when what I wrote is true. But I continue...

It is pretty clear from Malkin's column that she is writing that she expects the attacks to get worse, in light of the controversy with Armstrong Williams. As she wrote in her column

If it gets worse, who is to really say it gets worse because of Armstrong Williams' error?

Malkin writes about immigration issues. If she writes something supporting the House GOP's desire to tighten immigration and she recieves hate mail about it, is it her stance on the issue of immigration that generates hate mail? Suppose they mention Armstrong Williams in it. Is it her stance on immigration the issue or is it Armstrong Williams?

Malkin writes about affirmative action. If she writes something on the Mich. situation and she gets hate mail that mentions Armstrong Williams, is it her stance on affirmative action or is it Armstrong Williams?

My point? She's going to get hateful mail, no matter what she does. If she gets more hateful mail, it could be because of the topic she chose to go after, it could be because of sexism, or it could be because of racism, ORRRRRR...... it could be because Mrs. Malkin is getting a wider distribution which would likely cause more hate mail to be sent to her.

What does Armstrong Williams' errors have to do with anything? What does Armstrong Williams have to do with more hate mail being generated?

It comes with the territory when you write on hot button issues of the day.

Casey continues:

He mentioned those Washington Post columnists receiving e-mail that "wasn't pretty." I did something EBrown didn't do. I actually looked up what the Post columnists have written about their hate mail. I'm not the least bit surprised that columnists and journalists get crank, angry, and hate mail.

I added the emphasis to point something out.

Earth to Casey! THAT WAS MY POINT DUDE!!!!!!. I'm also not surprised that they get crank, angry, and hate mail.

Next, I didn't "look up" the columnists columns, I have read them over time.

Casey continues:

But those Posts columnists haven't presented in print anything nearly as dirty as the e-mail Malkin has received. And even if people called them knucklehead and other names, they haven't presented ANYTHING that has been of the nasty sexual nature aimed at Malkin.

Here, what is presented by Casey is a straw man.

1. I never said they presented hate mail, be it voice, e, or postal that equals or exceeds what Malkin presented. I wrote What they presented wasn't pretty. And it wasn't.

2. If they had something equal to, or worse than, those presented by Malkin, I would suspect that the editors would not allow those comments to make it into print media. Malkin presesnted excerpts on the internet. There are no "decency" rules that she has to live by.

Casey continues:

It is pretty clear from Malkin's column that she is writing that she expects the attacks to get worse, in light of the controversy with Armstrong Williams.

I've addressed this already. I find the argument specious.

Casey wrote:

Again, attention, EBrown. She wrote: "Over the past few months."

Malkin ended her blog entry by writing this:

You think it's going to get any better now?

I'm sorry, but that's putting some blame on Williams' action. Again, suppose the hate mail gets worse? Is it because of what she wrote, wider distribution, or the combination of the two?

Casey continues:

EBrown goes on to write: "She's whining. She's playing victocrat/victim/victimology."

Yep. I sure did.

Casey continues:

At this point I will speculate that EBrown is attempting to give Malkin, as the saying goes, "some of her own medicine."

Nope.

Casey continues:

Conservatives are constantly trying to catch liberals being racist and liberals are constantly trying to catch (minority) conservatives complaining about being discriminated against.

At last he write something to which I can agree and to which I find wasteful of time. But like I've written numerous times, I want consistancy.

Casey continues:

Unfortunately, there are people like EBrown with the poor reasoning skills he has just demonstrated who have trouble distinguishing among degrees.

Sorry, but Casey set up a straw man and is now arguing the straw man. In fact, I'll say Casey's reasoning is suspect when he argues something I never stated.

Casey continues:

In this case, Malkin is saying, look at what these idiots have been writing to me, and EBrown attempts to lump her in with anyone making up or exaggerating stories about racism.

I never mentioned racism. In fact, I included Richard Cohen so that no one would think I was just pointing out Black commentators. Cohen has written that he has received nasty mail based on some positions he's taken against Israel's actions. He has referenced being called a "self-hating Jew."

Casey continues:

Upon being challenged by one of his readers, EBrown somewhat revised his comments, saying:

"The comments are foul. But she's not the only one. So what if Armstrong Williams' actions cause a spike in commentary directed towards her?
Others deal with it."

Ummm....
Casey can't read.

Here's the full blog entry.

Here's what you need to see from it.

The email is foul, but still...

That was the original blog entry. So, in other words, I didn't restate anything. I wrote it was foul from the start.

Now, if you read the full entry, you will note that I put the blog entry up on January 12, 2005 11:10 PM.

The comment entry to which Casey refers was on January 14, 2005 10:11 PM. All comments on that blog entry start on January 14.

So, now, who has to apologize?

Gee... I feel like I'm back on USENET. ;-)

This Is A Big Bridge

Now, this is some bridge.

My first thought was that I would like to cross this. My second thought was that the fog on that bridge must be constant.

My wife's first thought was that it's another terrorist target.

This is some bridge.

My Soul?

The quiz was too short and definitely should be multiple choice. Many fit for the same question.

I'm not too sure about this one at all.

You Are an Old Soul

You are an experience soul who appreciates tradition. Mellow and wise, you like to be with others but also to be alone. Down to earth, you are sensible and impatient. A creature of habit, it takes you a while to warm up to new people. You hate injustice, and you're very protective of family and friends A bit demanding, you expect proper behavior from others. Extremely independent you don't mind living or being alone. But when you find love, you tend to want marriage right away. Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul and Visionary Soul

Techno-Babble

The SAT website crashed

SAT Glitch Leaves Anxious Students Waiting
Thousands Unable to Get Results After College Board Web Site Crashes

Hundreds of thousands of students waiting for their SAT results were left in agony today after the Web site for the organization that owns the test crashed because of too much traffic.

Kristin Carnahan, a spokeswoman for the College Board, said that technicians were working on the problem and hoped to get it fixed later today or during the weekend. Failing that, she said, students and colleges would receive the results by regular mail toward the end of the month.

More than a half a million would-be college applicants took the Oct. 9 test, one of the last of the old-style SAT tests before a radical overhaul planned for next spring. Most of the test-takers are high school seniors who have taken the test several times before, but want to improve their scores in order to get into the college of their choice.

Possible ID theft in Cali?

The state of California has warned residents that their personal data may have been stolen from computers at the University of California, Berkeley, after a database used by researchers there was compromised by hackers.

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) issued a media advisory on Tuesday, saying that the agency was working with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate an intrusion on a computer at Berkeley that contained personal information on around 1.4 million recipients and providers of In Home Supportive Services (IHSS), which provides home-care services to low-income elderly and disabled Californians. Names, addresses, telephone and Social Security numbers, as well as the birth dates for IHSS participants, could have been stolen by the malicious hackers, according to Carlos Ramos, assistant secretary at CDSS.

Upcoming Elections and Afrocentricity

La Shawn Barber links to an article by conservative Juan Williams telling the Democratic Party not to take the black vote for granted. As Kerry really hasn't given us a taste of what his domestic policies would be like it might be a bit early to make this critique. But on the other hand, given the DNC's history of igging the black vote it is never too early.

(as an aside, just because the dems shouldn't take the black vote for granted, doesn't mean the republicans have a shot in hell. unless they listen to my advice they can give that idea up!)

....

While checking out Barber's site I run into this article on Afrocentrism.

First things first. Mary Lefkowitz and D'Nesh D'Souza wouldn't know an argument from a hole in the wall. As far as I can tell D'Souza barely has a bachelor's degree, and I've never seen Lefkowtiz' name in any peer-reviewed journal. In comparison Asante (who has his own issues to be sure) has published more peer-reviewed articles than a little bit, and Martin Bernal's tomes were also peer-reviewed. Granted, this is an elitist stance, but I've defended it before.

Secondly, let's get rid of the red herrings. Here is the central Afrocentric argument, taken from Asante's own words:

On these facts we stand: 

*Ancient Egyptians were black people. 

*Egyptian civilization precedes Greece by several thousand years 

*The pyramids are completed (2500 BC) long before Homer appears (800 BC) 

*Philosophy originates in Africa and the first Greek philosophers (Thales, Isocrates) studied in Egypt 

* A discussion of the wise, wisdom, (sb) appears on tomb of Antef in 2052 BC 

*Thales of Miletus is not a philosopher until 600 BC 

Among Greek historians and others who wrote about what the Greeks learned from Egypt are Homer, Herodotus, Iamblicus, Aetius, Diodorous Siculus, Diogenes Laertius, Plutarch, and Plato. Who were some of the Greek students of Africans, according to the ancient records? They were Plato, Solon, Lycurgus, Democritus, Anaxamander, Anaxagoras, Herodotus, Homer, Thales, Pythagoras, Eudoxus, and Isocrates and many others. Some of these students even wrote of their studies in Egypt as well. 

Barber is right to question whether an Afrocentric curriculum works. Social science will tell the tale, and I'm not familiar with the literature enough to even give anecdotes. I'm thinking we're better off going this route though than either the Creationist route, or the voucher route.

Clearer thinking is needed.

And again, while I'm not all that smart, it looks like Professor Kim came to the same conclusion. Maybe a Clear Thinker's Society would be in order.

The Black Slate

I've recently all but finalized a deal to be a columnist at Africana.com. I've been interested in speaking to larger publics for a while now. I am not jetting...but I suspect my writing will be sparser here. Thanks and shout outs to Mike for putting me down, and to the various crews I've rolled with over the last 12 years or so: Gravity, Utne Reader, Table Talk, Brainstorms, the Afrofuturists, the Family, AFAMED, and of course the Ques.

Class Matters

What does class mean for black folk? As my thoughts about the state of young black men imply, it is very difficult to think about the state of black America without also thinking about matters of class and caste. I say class AND caste, as opposed to class (marxist) OR caste (nationalist), because I think both matter simultaneously.

There are a number of ways to think about class. In order to flesh out these conceptions I'm going to use a number of pop culture referents in order to give folks a handle on what I'm saying.

The Ellisonian notion...which probably encapsulates the old school way of thinking more than any other is simple. Class isn't your relationship to the means of production, or your occupation, or your bank statement, it is how you act. Put another way...class is something you either have or don't have.
Marsalis? Class.
Nelly? Nope.
Grant Hill? Class.
Allen Iverson? Nope.
Class is a mode of being, a way of interacting with the world, a sense of savvy, and discretion in the face of adversity. (As an aside, Cobb's got a list of old school core values. Discretion has GOT to be in there somewhere.) Doesn't matter how broke you are, or how broke your PEOPLE are. If you know that you aren't supposed to be out there with your backend hanging out, you've got class. To a certain extent, this is democratic. Everyone can learn how to carry him/herself right?

Sanity and Sanitization

If you go to Google today and search for 'Black Republicans', you will not find this website. That is because I have used some choice words that Google doesn't accept for its paid advertisers.

In order to meet the greater good of spreading the good word, I am going to redact the bad words here. I will continue to publish orignal stuff over at Cobb, and then print sanitized versions here. So if you swear that you've seen a more peppery version of the same idea somewhere else, you aren't going crazy. Google is the reason.

How do I feel about this kind of censorship? I have no idea what kind of algorithm Google is using, but I know that it is a computer algorithm. So I do not believe that there is some ideological filter on my speech, rather a spell-checker on steroids. It's a reality I can endure.