Saturday, December 29, 2012

Dominique Wilkins' touching tribute for former teammate

We know the drill: Each time a former athlete or current professional athlete falls from grace, his/her story is headline material.

Our 24/7 media monster is forever waiting to pounce on the athlete du jour and their hiccups.

Bad news sells good and salacious news sells even better.

Trending against the norm, here is an incredible (and heroic) story of former NBA star Dan Roundfield who died this year during a successful effort to save his drowning wife. Roundfield's story flew under the media radar until former teammate Dominique Wilkins wrote a touching tribute about "Dan the selfless leader, the husband, the father and the fearless teammate and friend.”


Human Highlight
Now to my youngins, Wilkins -- affectionately called Nique the freak -- was the orginal human highlight reel -- sorry Blake Griffen fans, the template was already established by Nique and co. 20 some years ago. Here's the link for proof: Nique the freak.

That being said, this is no doubt one of  Wilkins' best and classiest move. Read on:

When one looks at this image, they instinctively think of Dan the Atlanta Hawks player, the tenacious defender and the NBA All-Star. He was certainly all of those things, but for those of us who knew him, we look at this image and think of Dan the selfless leader, the husband, the father and the fearless teammate and friend. Dan lost his life this year at the age of 59 saving his wife of 37 years from drowning on the beaches of Aruba while on a family vacation. In his last moments, as he himself was fighting for his life, Dan fearlessly lived and died for his family, which is all he ever really wanted.  source

Link: The Lives They Loved

Friday, December 28, 2012

Lincoln or Django?

The two huge cinematic buzzes this holiday season -- Lincoln and Django Unchained -- were movies dealing with race and slavery.

I saw Lincoln and I was utterly in awe of the acting, dialogue and the authenticity of the setting. Steven Spielberg's master piece has Oscars written all over it. His depiction of the 1800s was so detailed that the viewer felt like a time-traveler.

We saw a cagey, warm-hearted, somber and political realist Lincoln portrayed. The main plot centered on how Lincoln -- in the midst of the Civil War -- used all his folksy willing and dealing skills to ratify the 13th Amendment ending de jure American slavery.

I plan to see this film again.

The other movie Django Unchained, I do not plan to see.

Tarantino has created a black superhero in Jamie Foxx’s Django. He’s a freed slave who is good at killing callous white people, exacting vengeance for their specific folly of brutalizing him and his wife, but also living out the fantasy of being the one black man who couldn’t be dehumanized by slavery. source

Director Quentin Taratino is known for his (excuse the pun) pulp fiction like films. His films are usually very gory and lurid. I am not a Spike Lee type Taratino hater, in fact, Pulp Fiction is one of my all time favorite films.

I just believe that slavery and race period films require a certain sensitivity and scholarship that I have yet seen from Taratino. There are too many unhealed wounds to be glib and sensational in presentation.

Being a history buff, I enjoy Hollywood movies that have both entertainment and educational value. We are definitely lacking movies that push us to think on higher levels. Movies with race issues and slavery imagery are far too often shunned in Hollywood.

Taratino and Spielberg have the courage, clout and track record to have their films green lighted. Both directors have a diverse audiences that support their films. But do diverse audiences support black directors who attempt to tackle these same themes. In other words, if Spike Lee makes the exact same film as Taratino would non-blacks support him? Or, would the film be marketed as just a "black movie"?

Apparently, I am not alone in asking the above questions. David Siroto asks and answers the rhetorical question:


Could a black director have made “Django”?

Tarantino's daring film would have been received differently by the media -- or never made -- if he wasn't white.


He reasons:

Film critic Eric Deggans alluded to White Privilege in his terrific Salon piece on “Django Unchained” earlier this week. Noting that ”studios know white audiences will show up for (Tarantino’s) movies,” he concluded that Tarantino is “a white man who gets to do what black artists should also get to do” — but too often do not get the opportunity to do. Why not? Because of the way films by different directors are inevitably portrayed in the media and interpreted by White America.

The best way to illustrate this form of White Privilege is to imagine ”Django Unchained” being released as a production from an African American writer and director. Under those circumstances, in the media and among white audiences, the film most likely would be perceived not merely as a mass-audience entertainment product with some underlying social commentary by a single director, but as a niche political film allegedly from a whole community with an axe to grind. That is, it would probably be met in the media and among potential viewers not in the way it has been met, but instead as a divisive “black movie” — by, and allegedly only for, black people. read entire essay





Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Payback! Hundreds of Homeowners Associations Threaten Banks with Foreclosure

In the spirit of the holiday, here's a man bites dog story. Read and relish how the big banks are feeling the pinch from the little guy. This story was reprinted from Alternet.com


In Florida, banks who slack on maintaining their properties are getting a taste of their own medicine.
It’s payback time—literally. In Florida, hundreds of homeowner and neighborhood associations are foreclosing on banks that have failed to upkeep their repossessed properties, according to—of all things— a CNN Money report.
Florida is one of the states hardest hit by foreclosures, and there are nearly a half-million foreclosed houses now standing vacant and often slowly deteriorating. When a bank forecloses on a house, evicts the family and then repossesses the property, it also assumes responsibility for maintaining the home and yard and paying homeowner or condo association fees. Yet, some of the nation’s largest and richest banks have been unable or unwilling to upkeep their properties—prompting neighbors across Florida to declare enough is enough.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Blues Cruise By Joe Hagan

The following article in the New York magazine gives valuable insight into the 2012 conservative mindset of self-entitlement. It's this mindset combined with denial and projection that created the artificial bubble that traps them in a time-warp.


T
he whole thing was white, and broken, that much was clear. A week after the presidential election, when the dreams of Republicans were dashed with President Barack Obama’s victory over Mitt Romney, we were snorkeling in the blue waters of the Caribbean. In the distance was a shipwreck. “You could make out the pieces of it,” said Ralph Reed, the right-wing political operator who had bolstered the Evangelical Christian vote for Romney. “It was deep and murky.”


Jonah Goldberg, the National Review contributor and author of Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning, also bore witness to the once-great vessel that foundered off the coast of Fantasy Island and was now sunken and covered in white barnacles. “I saw the silhouette of it,” he says.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

NRA: America needs more guns!

This past Friday, while the country held a moment of silence for the Newtown victims, the NRA -- in the person of spokesman Wayne LaPiere -- crawled out of it's fortified bunker to offer their insane solution to senseless American gun violence.

Their solution: more guns. 

Saturday, December 22, 2012

ESPN Rob Parker and the Black Culture Police

Black culture sheriff
Rob Parker was justifiably excoriated for his inarticulate comments about the lacking authentic "blackness" of Redskin QB Robert Griffin III, aka RGIII. Parker, in a very clumsy way, stated:

"Some people I've known for a long time. My question, which is just a straight, honest question, is ... is he a 'brother,' or is he a cornball 'brother'? He's not really ... he's black, but he's not really down with the cause. He's not one of us. He's kind of black, but he's not really like the guy you'd want to hang out with. I just want to find out about him. I don't know, because I keep hearing these things. He has a white fiancée, people talking about that he's a Republican ... there's no information at all. I'm just trying to dig deeper into why he has an issue. Tiger Woods was like, 'I have black skin, but don't call me black.' People wondered about Tiger Woods early on -- about him." source

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Darden Restaurants Profit Plunges 37 Percent After Bad Publicity Over Attempt To Skirt Obamacare

When President Obama uttered the infamous words, albeit inartfully phrased, “If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen,” he was explaining that business success -- in addition to ingenuity, drive and determination -- requires a great deal of community/government support. 

As factcheck.org stated:

... it’s clear from the context what the president was talking about. He spoke of government — including government-funded education, infrastructure and research — assisting businesses to make what he called “this unbelievable American system that we have.”
In summary, he said: “The point is … that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.”

Saturday, December 15, 2012

AGAIN?! WTF: 27 Dead, Including 20 Children, In Elementary School Shooting

Is this our new norm? I mean really, we can't do better? After all, we already accept nightly/daily killings on our inner city streets:

"That's what those people of color do. Why restrict my right to own an assault rifle?"

Now, apparently, we accept the four time a year mass shootings as the price to pay to allow citizens the right to have high powered killing machines. Now we accept nuts going into our schools and hunting five year old kids.

Fox News's Jesse Watters trashed Obama voters, donated $500 to Obama

Obama hater and supporter?
As if we need more proof that Fox News is a fake, counterfeit, sham, fraud, imitation news outfit: Fox's Jesse Watters, who earns his check by regularly trashing Obama on air, contributed 500 dollars to the Obama campaign fund.

You just can't make this ish up. As one commenter stated:  "It's an act--everything they do over there is an act."


One week after the 2012 election, Fox News correspondent Jesse Watters told Bill O'Reilly that Obama voters were "zombies" who supported the president "as long as there was Obamacare, gay marriage and abortion on demand."  source

Friday, December 14, 2012

ESPN’s Rob Parker says ridiculous things about RG3, takes ‘First Take’ to new levels of depravity

I saw this movie before

RGIII has been thrilling, dazzling and entertaining the Football world. He has charisma, charm, intelligence and composure to match his athletic skills.

 He is very articulate and graduated from Baylor University in three years. Thus far as a rookie he stays out of trouble and by all reports he is very humble and respectful to youth, peers, fans and his elders.

So, of course, to the not black enough police, RGIII has been put on notice. Yes, some fool ESPN on air mouth-piece (Rob Parker) wants to know: "...is RGIII a cornball brother or ...down for the cause..."

In his own ignorance words

"I've talked to some people in Washington, D.C. Some people in [Griffin's] press conferences. Some people I've known for a long time. My question, which is just a straight, honest question, is ... is he a 'brother,' or is he a cornball 'brother?' He's not really ... he's black, but he's not really down with the cause. He's not one of us. He's kind of black, but he's not really like the guy you'd want to hang out with. I just want to find out about him. I don't know, because I keep hearing these things. He has a white fiancé, people talking about that he's a Republican ... there's no information at all. I'm just trying to dig deeper into why he has an issue. Tiger Woods was like, 'I have black skin, but don't call me black.' People wondered about Tiger Woods early on -- about him." source

Negro please: In the aftermath of the last two weeks of NFL back-to-back tragedies involving football players --- Kansas City Chief player kills girl-friend and commits suicide and allegedly drunk  Dallas Cowboy crashes speeding vehicle killing fellow teammate -- players like RGIII are breathes of fresh air.

I am sick of this thugged out, keeping it real and pants sagging image exalted as real blackness and the more intelligent, thoughtful, educated and upbeat brothers being called fake. This upside down ish does not even make a lil bit of sense.


Vince Young keeping it real
Broke azz Vince Young ( VY lost over 34 million dollars in a couple of years) is a former NFL QB and he is currently in football's Wilderness. He was once a star of stars in the football world. Yet he partied himself right out of a job and his savings, but the not black enough police never called out ole VY.

Even my man, Philly QB Mike Vick (and I do think he deserved redemption) after going to jail and losing his money never had his blackness questioned.

So, who was the other QB -- with Hall of Fame stats -- who had his blackness questioned? D Nabb or Donovan McNabb was issued a summons by the not black enough police. His crime: he graduated from college, stayed out of trouble, represented himself professionally on the field and off the field.

Mr Parker, you should be embarrassed for your ignorant comments and you need to have your ESPN microphone privileges revoked -- ASAP!

Story Update:


ESPN has suspended commentator Rob Parker for comments he made regardingWashington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III.
ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said: "Following yesterday's comments, Rob Parker has been suspended until further notice. We are conducting a full review."
Parker, appearing on ESPN's "First Take" on Thursday, was asked about Griffin's role as a black quarterback. Parker questioned Griffin's "blackness."
"Is he a brother or a cornball brother?" said Parker, who is black. source

Trumps Kids go Run DMC on Dad: Shut up!!! You talk too much.

I try my best to not report on that lame -- Mr. Comb-Over -- but this latest nugget was too hard to pass-up. From the reports, his progeny -- the folks in-line to inherit his dough -- told the Donald, "thou talk'st too much."


Just before the election, Trump’s three children reportedly went to their dad’s office to ask him to calm down with the Obama-bashing, because it is hurting his reputation:

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Using African American natural hair care to fight obesity

In a previous post, I applauded the natural hair style movement for African American women. I wrote:

In my adopted hometown, Washington, DC -- Mocha City if not Chocolate City anymore --  it is common to see fly sistas, of all hues, majestically embracing and sporting natural hair styles. These sisters feel liberated to enhance and accentuate their naturally good hair.They wear: locs, twists, fros, braids, buns, updos etc. read more

Beauty, aesthetic cosmetics and vanity aside, arguably, the greatest side-benefit of natural hair care is health related -- and I don't just mean healthy hair follicles: black women cite hair style concern as one of the top reason for abstaining from physical activity.

The Billionaires' war on workers, labor and unions

The NHL season is slowly melting away due to a management lockout . Yet again, owners have unilaterally decided to cease play until they get what they want (an even bigger portion of the pie). 

Many avid sports fans may not have noticed or cared about missing hockey games, but still the lingering question remains: Is it a mere coincidence that all four major sports -- plus the NFL refs -- were locked out by billionaire owners crying poverty? 

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Robert F. Kennedy Jr: Fox News Has Divided Country In A Way Not Seen Since Civil War

Not only has Fox News and the Conservative Entertainment Complex served as Drum Majors in the parade of dumbing down America, according to Robert F Kennedy, Jr., they have dangerously divided our country in a fashion a la the Civil War:

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Republicans are their own worst enemy

At last, a ray of light reaches the dark abyss better known as GOP Fantasy Island. A place where truth, science, math and common sense are viewed as nothing more than a diabolical plot by the Mainstream Media.

The Washington Examiner -- a conservative rag usually to the right of Fox News (yes, to the right) -- wrote an editorial titled, Republicans are often their own worst enemies. And without a doubt, the best line of the editorial was:

But conservatives cannot win the argument in hostile media territory if they keep simultaneously giving a platform to village idiots.

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Conservative Entertainment Complex: The right-wing firewall

In the lead up to the election, many pollsters commented on the resilience of President Obama's battleground state lead. This lead was buttressed by what they labeled as Obama's electoral firewall. 

To be sure, present and future political operatives and strategist will exhaustingly study how Obama's firewall defeated the super-pac rich GOP.

The Conservative Entertainment Complex

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Maureen Dowd: Romney is president of white male America


IT makes sense that Mitt Romney and his advisers are still gobsmacked by the fact that they’re not commandeering the West Wing.
(Though, as “The Daily Show” correspondent John Oliver jested, the White House might have been one of the smaller houses Romney ever lived in.)
Team Romney has every reason to be shellshocked. Its candidate, after all, resoundingly won the election of the country he was wooing.
Mitt Romney is the president of white male America. read entire article

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Condi Rice lectures Tea Party led GOP: Drop the Hate

I strive to write from a balanced, informed and fact-based perspective. I try to maintain an even and reasonable tone. I do not want to come off as being thoughtlessly incendiary -- in other words, a verbal Molotov cocktail tosser.

Take Ann Coulter, for example, there is little amusing, witty, profound or educating in her musings. She writes to provoke pure anger at her targets -- nada mas. What Howard Stern is to shock radio, she is to shock politics. And both get paid well to do such. I want to represent the antithesis of this style.

But sometimes in our modern verbal guerrilla warfare, you have to fight fire with fire. Facing the absurdity that passes for serious political conversation and introspection, sometimes a reasonable tone falls flat.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Election 2012: What happened to Romney and the GOP?

In the final presidential election poll that matters the most -- Obama 332 electoral votes/Romney 206 electoral votes -- the GOP was rendered a good old fashion shellacking.

President Obama practically ran the table on Romney in the battleground states: winning all but North Carolina.

In the aftermath, pundits, party officials and big wallet folks are asking: What the hell happened?

My two cents...

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Four More Years!

Congratulations to President Obama and Vice President Biden!

And again I say, welcome to the New America: more diverse, more dynamic, more accepting, more multi-cultured and more determined. It is not neo-1950's and even the 1980's, decades in which -- as Bill O'Reilly stated -- so-called traditional Americans can unilaterally impose their will.

And to my fellow conservatives, the words of the following Huffington Post commentor sums it up best:

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Barack Obama's threat to America

"His coming is resented as impudence"
I have always felt the buffoons, clowns, court-jesters, bling-blingers, gang-bangers, booty-shakers, and Uncle Toms are always well received and appreciated here in America.

In some shape and form, America has always been very comfortable with this caricatured image of Black America. These characters never pose a threat to the status quo in our society -- on the contrary, they are reassuring to popular and dearly held stereotype beliefs.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Chris Rock - Message for White Voters

To help allay fears on re-electing President Obama among white voters who may endorse Obama's policies but feel a little pigmentation challenged: Rock has hilariously produced a PSA to address their concerns.  Watch and enjoy.


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hurricane Sandy and Mitt's pledge to slash FEMA

Sunday night, with Hurricane Sandy bearing down on us in Washington, DC, I received several calls from friends and love ones checking in on me. One by one, I reassured them of my welfare and explained we were in an eerie calm before the storm.

I took stock of the bare essentials: batteries, candles, water, food etc. And knowing the drill, I hunkered down prepared to bear the brunt force of Sandy's punch.

Sandy arrived as advertised: heavy rain, severe wind, trees falling, streets flooding and power lines swinging like a giant jump rope. I was fortunate not to lose power hence, I could follow news updates on-line.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Republican Lawrence Wilkerson: My party is full of racist!

There is no question that the historical 2008 election of President Barack Obama was a reflection on how far America had progressed on race issues.

But immediately after assuming office, we expeditiously learned how so many so-called patriotic, flag waving Americans had not progressed one iota.  In fact, having an African-American leader of the free world (their term) and a black family in the White House has caused many on the right to flat out lose their minds.

The show doesn't begin until the fat man -- Rush Limbaugh -- sings: "I hope he fails"

On February 13, 2009, Limbaugh told his listeners about the stimulus plan: "I hope it prolongs the failure. I hope it prolongs the recession. Because people are going to have to figure out here that this is not how economies recover. Government is not the central planner." Limbaugh made it clear that he meant much more than wishing for Obama's policies not to pass. Limbaugh said: "Of course I want Obama to fail. And after this stimulus bill package passes, I want it to fail."

Hoping for failure and praying that the Bush Recession would continue to devastate the American economy has been the primary economic policy advocated by Limbaugh and the Republicans for the past 40 months. Limbaugh's so ashamed of his beliefs, though, that accuses everyone of intentionally lying for merely stating what Limbaugh quite clearly said in hoping for.  read entire article

Additionally, we have learned that on the night of Obama's inauguration -- again, while many thought  Great Depression II was imminent -- the entire leadership of the GOP secretly met, not to find bipartisan legislation to bring America out of the Bush created economic chaos, they met in order to devise a plan on how to destroy the  Obama presidency.  

As President Barack Obama was celebrating his inauguration at various balls, top Republican lawmakers and strategists were conjuring up ways to submarine his presidency at a private dinner in Washington.
The event -- which provides a telling revelation for how quickly the post-election climate soured -- serves as the prologue of Robert Draper's much-discussed and heavily-reported new book, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives."
According to Draper, the guest list that night (which was just over 15 people in total) included Republican Reps. Eric Cantor (Va.), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Paul Ryan (Wis.), Pete Sessions (Texas), Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) and Dan Lungren (Calif.), along with Republican Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), John Ensign (Nev.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.). The non-lawmakers present included Newt Gingrich, several years removed from his presidential campaign, and Frank Luntz, the long-time Republican wordsmith. Notably absent were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) -- who, Draper writes, had an acrimonious relationship with Luntz. source
The far right -- now the mainstream GOP -- have broken many presidential protocols: Yelled out You lie! on the congressional floor during a presidential address; circulated racist e-mails among each other in regards to the Obamas; unceremoniously wagged fingers in his face; question his birth certificate; denied that he had the cognitive abilities to attend an Ivy League school; used racially charged terms like shucking and jiving or food stamp president; accused him of being a radical Muslim who wants to bring sharia law to America -- and the list goes on and on. 
As Etan Thomas writes in the Huffington Post:
 Ann Coulter had the audacity to tweet after Monday's foreign policy debate that she approved of "Romney's decision to be kind and gentle to the retard." And Sarah Palin used a racially demeaning phrase, "shuck and jive," to describe the administration's handling of the terrorist attack in Libya earlier this month that exhibited nothing but disrespect toward the president. Despite the fact President Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, Rush Limbaugh has called him an affirmative action candidate. Limbaugh even has repeatedly played a song on his radio show called "Barack the Magic Negro."
Is there an underlying reason why it is so difficult for these right-wing extremists to respect the position of the president of the United States?
Are these examples of far-right fanaticism that do not represent or speak for the entire party?
Is there something else that is keeping them for being able to give the president of the United States the respect that the position itself demands? The president should not have to prove anything to anyone. Yet, he has handled every unmerited insult with nothing but grace and class. He has risen above every act of insolence, and proved them all wrong, but he shouldn't have to. As CBS' Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer said, about Trump last year: "There is an ugly strain of racism that's running though this whole thing." read entire article
But just when we lose all hope for the GOP brand a bright spot of reason emerges -- not Mitt Romney, he lacks the stones to stand up to the crazies in his party.  Republican Lawrence Wilkerson, former Colin Powel aide states: My party is full of racists.
Colin Powell's former chief of staff condemned the Republican Party on Friday night, telling MSNBC's Ed Schultz, "My party is full of racists."
Retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson made the comment in response to Mitt Romney campaign surrogate John Sununu's suggestion on Thursday that Powell's endorsement of President Barack Obama's re-election was motivated by race. Wilkerson, who served as Powell's chief of staff when the general was secretary of state during the first George W. Bush term, told Schultz that he respected Sununu "as a Republican, as a member of my party," but did not "have any respect for the integrity of the position that [Sununu] seemed to codify."

My party, unfortunately, is the bastion of those people -- not all of them, but most of them -- who are still basing their positions on race. Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists, and the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander-in-chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin, and that's despicable.  source
Let the church say: Amen!



Friday, October 26, 2012

GOP to Voters: Can I sell you the Brooklyn Bridge (again)?

George Parker (1870–1936) was one of the most audacious con men in American history. He made his living selling New York's public landmarks to unwary tourists. His favorite object for sale was the Brooklyn Bridge, which he sold twice a week for years. He convinced his marks that they could make a fortune by controlling access to the roadway. More than once police had to roust naive buyers from the bridge as they tried to erect toll barriers. source

"And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you"

Good-ole Georgie has nothing on the Republican party: Every election year cycle the GOP con-men repackage and then resell the same failed economic policy that has decimated the American middle-class. This Brooklyn Bridge is better know as supply-side economics.

President Ronald Reagan's controllers (Ronnie boy just read the script a la the B movie star he was) reinvented supply-side economics as Reaganomics in the 1980's and George W Bush revived Reaganomics -- on steroids -- in the 2000's. The theory: Prosperity and job growth will come if you give more tax breaks for the rich, deregulate the private sector (Wall Street), bust up Unions and let the so-called Free Market run the economy.

The result has been staggeringly catastrophic for the middle-class and conversely a huge windfall for the elite rich. The belief: we need to give huge tax cuts to the super rich to stimulate our economy; and, more cash in the bank for the rich, they will spend more and create more jobs -- hence the trickle down effect (the middle-class, working class and poor are still waiting on the trickle).

This Wall Street contrived con -- Papa Bush called it Voodoo Economics -- just shifted the tax burden to the hurting middle-class, busted up labor unions, lowered real wages, cut government investment in schools, cities, and infrastructural building. Under supply-side the fox was promoted to sheriff off the hen house.

As Malcolm X famously exclaimed:

You've been had! You've been took! Hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led astray! Run amok! This is what they do! 

And true to form: Reaganomics gave us the 1980's Wall Street scandal of Michael "Junk Bond King" Milkan and Ivan Boesky; the 1990's  S&L scandal and bail-out -- yea Main Street always picks up the tab -- involving Neil Bush (W's brother) and Charles Keating; the numerous Wall Street ponzi schemes -- uncle Bernie (Madoff) was not the only one; and the granddaddy of all, the Hedge Fund scandal that just about destroyed the American economy.

Yet and still...

But you know what? At least 50% of the country -- manipulated by corporate owned media -- show up to rallies, town hall meetings and yes the election polls, ready and willing to re-buy The Brooklyn Bridge. 

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Trump’s ‘big’ announcement: $5M in exchange for Obama’s college records

Mr. Comb-Over
How do you spell buffoon?

 T-R-U-M-P. 

Mr Comb-Over, AKA Sir Dumbo informed the country he had a huge October surprise for President Obama. This is the same Dumbo that Mitt Romney held a press conference with to announce with a beam:

Donald Trump, with all his credibility and intelligence (try saying that with a straight face), has decided to support Mitt Romney -- two peas in a pod, for sure.


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Obama destroys Romney in third debate: but is he too smart, too black for too many in American?

After reading the transcript of the third debate -- foreign policy -- and watching video tape highlights, it became painfully obvious that foreign policy is foreign to Mitt Romney.

Saying that Mitt was out of his league is a huge understatement.

Mitt has been so eager to criticize how under Obama our Navy is no longer up to size -- well Obama's retort has

Sunday, October 21, 2012

George S. McGovern, Democratic nominee and proud liberal who lost to Nixon in ’72, dies at 90

HGP salutes George McGovern, the former U.S. senator and 1972 Democratic presidential nominee who ran against Richard Nixon. McGovern, who passed away early Sunday at age 90, was a proud liberal who fought for the under-dog and opposed the war in Vietnam.

As reported in the New York Times:

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Minnesota suffering from Romnesia bans free online education and then unbans it in the face of backlash

Here's some news that will definitely have you head scratching:

As we know, college tuition is very expensive and rapidly becoming pricier. The average student debt load is astronomically rising as student borrow more and more to finance their degrees.

Additionally, in a tenuous -- yet slowly improving -- job market, many workers and work seekers need to learn new skills in order to compete.

And with rising energy/service/food costs matched with stagnant wages, an organization called Coursera -- offering free on-line courses -- has come to the rescue of millions who can not afford a higher education.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Yankees and Cards win: A-Rod is benched

"I'm still getting paid"
I must admit, I am a casual baseball fan. For the most part, I am mostly indifferent to the marathon 162 game  regular season. But come October --similar to the original Mr. October AKA Reggie Jackson -- my passion for the game heats up.

DC Nats give up four 9th inning runs and lose to the Cards 9-7 

My heart sank last night as my second favorite team (remember I am a die-hard fan of all Philly teams) the Washington Nationals had an epic meltdown in their first post-season appearance. The Nats were only one strike away from advancing to the NL Championship playoff series before losing to the resilient St. Louis Cardinals.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Ryan asked for federal help as he championed cuts

This particular exchange between Vice President Joe Biden and Paul Ryan (watch the video) underscores the dishonesty, political opportunism and hypocrisy of the Republican party:

Ryan asked for Stimulus cash then lied about doing so.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Today's Must Read:Why the Obscenely Wealthy Whine When They Have It So Good

This article appeared in the AlterNet.


Romney's 47 percent flip-flop can't hide the fact that rich conservatives perceive themselves as victims




So, Mitt Romney now tells Sean Hannity he was “completely wrong” about the 47 percent.  On the surface that looks like a typical etch-a-sketch campaign pivot. But I think there is more to it than a little clean up in aisle three.
My theory is that after careful research and analysis,  the smartest guys at 1 percent World Headquarters reached a disturbing conclusion. They decided that the whole fiasco needs to be contained as much as possible because it has the potential for serious damage well beyond the November election.
How? Let’s see.
First,  the setting.  This is how they think and talk among themselves.  It’s not just at fundraisers,  but in their churches,  country clubs and board rooms as well.  Their servants hear them all the time.  But they can’t tell for fear of being easily dismissed.  Thanks to YouTube we now get to see and hear for ourselves.
Yes, they really do believe there is something wrong with the people.  What is it?  It’s that our default preference is to be lazy moochers.  As employers this is definitely how they think about us as workers.  This is why there are entire schools devoted to “management”.  We also hear a lot about their true worldview any time we start to talk about forming a union.
The roots of this mindset run very deep.  Did the job creator plantation owners ever want to consider there was anything wrong with the slavery system? Of course not. But they were very eager to talk about all the things that were wrong with the slaves.
That legacy is very much with us  They still don’t want anyone to think there is anything wrong with the system.

Axelrod: GOP had a 'diabolical' strategy to oppose Obama

Once again, when our country was staring into the economic abyss -- even the most conservative economist feared an economic collapse/melt-down that would dwarf the Great Depression -- the country overwhelmingly elected candidate Barack Obama.

His mandate: Fix the economy and save our country from economic ruin. 

Candidate Obama promised not only to restore our economy, he promised to usher in a new era of post-partisan politics. As he frequently campaigned: There are no red states or blue state, there is only the United States.

I have no doubt that Obama meant what he said and intended to govern bi-partisan. However, the GOP leadership and their big money sugar daddies (billionaire Koch brothers and Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch) had other plans:

Saturday, October 6, 2012

It's Time For Obama To Become The 'Angry Black Man'

President Obama has mastered many subtleties, both non-verbal and verbal, on how to not be perceived as threatening to white America -- the Angry Black Man. 

Let's keep it real, if not for this mastery, he would have never achieved the highest office in the land. As president, he had one minor slip up -- the Henry Gates vs Cambridge police confrontation --after the following comment the backlash was immediate:

Friday, October 5, 2012

Shaq vs Howard: Superman vs Superman?

Battle of the Capes?
Comic book lore has it that the invincible Superman had only one weakness: Kryptonite.

Lo and behold, the NBA has discovered yet another Superman weakness: his alter-ego from a not so distant past.

The movie Deliverance gave us battling banjos; and now two mammoth 7 foot something NBA giants -- Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard -- have become the battling Supermen.

Obama's October Christmas gift: Unemployment drops to 7.8%

After a horrendous and dreadfully flat debate performance by President Obama -- Al Gore suggested it was because of the Denver mile high altitude (he loves Global Climate explanations) -- the president was buoyed by a far better than expected September Jobs Report: unemployment dropped to 7.8% -- lowest level in the Obama presidency.

And this was a substantive improvement because the unemployment drop was not a result of discouraged people dropping out of the job market:

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Billionaire Richard Branson: War on drugs or War against African-Americans

HGP November 2011 post 

Drug abuse less likely among black, Asian kids, study says:

Black and Asian adolescents are much less likely to abuse or become dependent on drugs and alcohol than white kids, according to a Duke University-led study based on an unusually large sample of kids from all 50 states.

"There is certainly still a myth out there that black kids are more likely to have problems with drugs than white kids, and this documents as clearly as any study we're aware of that the rate of ... substance-related disorders among African-American youths is significantly lower," said Dr. Dan Blazer of Duke's psychiatry department and a senior author of the study.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Minister Farrakhan to Black Youth: Stop the killing!

In a prior post, I reported the on the Brookings Institute Report regarding the five keys to transitioning from poverty to middle-class:

The formula to being middle-class in America: 

(1) graduate from high school;
(2) don't have children until after you get married; 
(3) don't do anything that will land you in jail; 
(4) don't acquire a drug habit; and 
(5) have a decent work ethic. Americans who are chronically poor typically flunk three or more of these indicators.

With crisis like levels of black-on-black killings in Urban America, USA, another key should be added: 


Avoid gun violence.