Quote Of The Day

“America is the foremost country in the world and by virtue of that has a greater say than any other nation. It may act silly sometimes but I would rather prefer to live in a world dominated by America than one dominated by almost any other large nation.” — Chippla Vandu, Nigerian-born moderate-conservative blogger who lives in the Netherlands

CRAIG BARDO OP-ED: That's Very Un-Buddha-Like

The conservative Republican blogger writes: "But as many times as I’ve heard non-Christians or unconverted Christians ('having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof' – 2 Timothy 3:5) accuse believers of being un-Christ-like, I’ve never heard anyone say that’s very un-Buddha-like or that’s not very Muhammad-like or that’s very un-Jewish of you. This un-Christ-like charge, it seems, is poised on the lips of those who appear to viscerally oppose the moral certitude of Jesus as expressed in the 10 Commandments and elsewhere in the Bible. This includes the anti-clerics, who see tyranny in any form of organized religious expression."

Egypt: Groups Seek Probe Into Refugee Killings

Human Rights Watch calls for an independent investigation into the deaths of more than 20 Sudanese war refugees when Egyptian police yesterday stormed their squatter camp in Cairo - turning water cannons on the black protesters and beating them with batons and sticks. The Sudanese refugees want to be resettled in a third country (such as the United States or Britain) and were protesting the United Nations refugee agency's refusal to consider their case. "President Hosni Mubarak should urgently appoint an independent commission to investigate the use of force by police against Sudanese migrants," said the New York-based group, pointing to Egypt's record of police brutality. Eleven Egyptian groups also called for an inquiry, but the Egyptian foreign ministry said authorities were patient and wise with the protesters. Riot police stormed the squatter camp to remove or disperse 3,500 Sudanese who had spent three months in a public garden. Egyptian authorities said the Sudanese died in a stampede after protesters threw bottles and rocks at the police.

I'm with CaribPundit on this one. The footage reminded me of Bull Conner and the water hoses put on us in Birmingham, Ala. during the civil rights movement Will America's black so-called leaders raise an outcry about how Arabs are mistreating black Sudanese folks over in Egypt? Police brutality? Will Secretary Condi Rice cry foul? Or will they punk out, as usual?

The New Year And Black-Eyed Peas

As a child (partly) growing up in the South, we used to always eat black-eyed peas with rice and greens with ham hock on New Year's Eve. "They are for good luck in the coming year," I was told by one aunt. I didn't care for black-eyed peas then - or now. Some parts of the South apparently substitute turnips for collard greens. I have since read that black-eyed peas are to represent good luck and humility in the New Year. The greens or cabbage are to represent prosperity. I'm not sure what the ham and rice represent though.

Confessions

What If?, a moderate-conservative blog, writes: "Neo-con? Liberal? Conservative? Sometimes I wish we could dispense with all the labels, and focus on ideas and principles. Nevertheless, sometimes I think that the so-called 'neo-cons' of today truly embody what used to be considered the admirable concepts of liberalism."

BOOKERISTA OF THE YEAR, FEMALE: Dr. Condoleezza Rice, USA

I bestow the 2005 honor to Dr. Condoleezza Rice. The world's most powerful woman made a wise (nominated) switch from serving as National Security Adviser to joining the Bush Cabinet as Secretary of State. The year started rocky for the moderate-conservative Republican, with her confirmation hearing. However, she has increased her fortunes as the United States' top diplomat.

Arguably the best thing that Madame Secretary did this year was her hardball effort to provide a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians regarding the Gaza strip with her last-minute, I-ain't-going-anywhere, all-night-negotiations approach (during her 51st birthday, no less). Dr. Rice has also been in the mix working with the Europeans to apply more pressure on Iran. She was a key player behind-the-scenes to prevent the United Nations from taking over the Internet (a good move considering one of its commissions is undermining free speech in Denmark). Most importantly, Dr. Rice has been touting the pro-democracy line around the globe, and her background growing up in the segregated South provides a nice perspective on her passion in this area. Although it took her longer than I would have liked for her to finally visit the African continent, she did so. While conventional, Secretary Rice is also helping to further diversify the number of blacks who choose diplomacy as a career.

She is the only official in the Bush cabinet whose approval rating (60%) is good, and many folks are clamoring for her to run for president in 2008.

Test Your Knowledge About African Events

BlogAfrica and Global Voices and a group of bloggers affiliated with have put together a quiz. Click here to see how much you know about African affairs. They consider anything under 60% to be sub-par, and one should read more African blogs. I scored a 50%, as I got 5 out 10 of the questions correct so ain't quite up to standard. Time to read even more African blogs...

Quote Of The Day

"I agree with much of what conservatives say about how we are our own worst enemy when it comes to what is keeping us behind. The victim mentality is paralyzing and those who embrace it seldom get anywhere. I just think too many conservatives speak as if blacks are all idiots and if we'd just WAKE UP! all our woes will evaporate and the path to success will be revealed. Although our lives are more determined by economic class than race, racism is still a part of daily life for many blacks. It's better to acknowledge that, come up with ideas and solutions to dealing with it (because it is never going away) and put it in its proper place than to either say it doesn't mean anything or they are just imagining it." — Angela Winters, moderate blogger

Tears Of The Sun

CaribPundit comments on how Egyptian police yesterday turned water cannons on Sudanese war refugees (who want to be resettled in a third country, such as the United States or Britain and are protesting the U.N. refugee agency's refusal to consider them for refugee status) and beat them with sticks and batons, seeking to end a three-month protest. The conservative blogger writes: "What if the U.S. treated Mexicans and others seeking refuge like this? Imagine the global outcry. Yet Egypt of the IOP lacks charity for the dispossessed and the weak amongst them. Either these Sudanese refugees are not Muslim, or if they are they're not ethnically Arab (meaning children of Arab fathers). I would guesstimate that they're animist or Christian cuz Sudan used the Darfurians against the animist/Christian south before sending in the Janjaweed against the African Darfur Muslims. If these hapless Sudanese are animist/Christian, then the brutality of Egypt's treatment of them likely has more to do with what they refuse to believe (Islam) than with their refusal to leave the park. The writer of the article states that Egypt can't provide for its own citizenry much less for the refugees. However, that still does not account for the savagery of the Egyptian police in dealing with the Sudanese such that a 3-4 year old winds up dead."

I saw that tonight on television. It reminded me of the water hoses used on us during the civil rights movement. Arabs can treat our people any old kind of way, and no protest? Where is the outrage?

ROBERT A. GEORGE COMMENTARY: Dungy And The 'S'-Word

The moderate-conservative Republican blogger argues that suicide was the elephant in the room that no one seemingly wanted to discuss, in the aftermath of the apparent suicide of the teen son of famous football coach Tony Dungy: "One of the awful aspects of suicide is that some religious denominations consider a major sin -- despair that leads one to turn away from God and end one's precious gift -- and consider that those who commit it can never be in God's presence......[Tony Dungy's] faith tells him that his son is with his God. However, the broader question of a teen committing suicide -- a teen from a successful black family, yet, should have had some context."

The Dangers Of Science And Nationalism

Asserts Freedom Democrats, commenting on a Washington Post article that the tailor-made stem cells produced by Hwang Woo Suk and his team in South Korea - with the apparent silence of the government - were fake. The libertarian Democratic blog writes:"It highlights the pitfalls of state involvement in R&D and the dangers of the science-nationalism relationship. In terms of stem cell and other biotech research, the Korean government has employed many of the state-guided development tactics it used in the 1970 and 1980s to spur industrialization.....An example from Nazi Germany highlights the importance of liberal or 'free-market' R&D that is independence of nationalism."

Black Lawmakers Fight Voter ID Law

In Georgia, which requires voters to show photo identification at the polls. Black Democratic lawmakers know they are in for a battle as Republicans stand determined to defend the law, which requires voters who do not have a driver's license to buy a state-issued ID card for as much as $35. Critics say the fee hurts the poor, the elderly, and minorities, and is an attempt to suppress the votes of these groups. Supporters, including Governor Sonny Perdue (a Republican), argued that the measure would help prevent voter fraud.

In October, a federal judge blocked Georgia from enforcing the law, saying the measure amounts to an unconstitutional poll tax because the state is not doing enough to make ID cards available to those who cannot afford them. In November, a Justice Department memo was leaked that revealed that a team of federal lawyers and analysts initially opposed the Georgia law before it won the department's approval back in August. Sen. Cecil Staton, the legislation's chief sponsor and a Republican, proposes to amend the law. However, black legislators promise to fight any plan that does not repeal the law, with support from the AARP, the League of Women Voters, the ACLU and the NAACP.

A state ID costs $35 in Georgia? It is only $4 in Illinois, at least when I got one a couple of years ago. If they eliminate the ID cost, then I support the bill. Otherwise, it is a federally unconstitutional poll tax in not-so-thin disguise.

Ghana Pushes Aliyah

CaribPundit comments on Ghana's initiative to draw more descendants of African slaves. The conservative blogger wants an apology first for slavery: "I don't know about black Americans, but Trinis retain many Ghanaian (Twi) words in our vocabulary—konkonsa and bassi-bassa come to mind. We also have many people with Ghanian family names, not of recent adoption, but that are historical artifacts of the Middle Passage. All those Caribbeans with family names like Cudjoe (Kwadwo), Quashie (Kwesi), Quamina, Cartey/Carty and so on, should be given lifetime Ghanaian passports without ever setting a foot in Ghana. I mean 'given'. They shouldn't have to pay a dime for it. Conflicting emotions nevertheless, aliyah is a good thing for Ghana, for Africa."

DELL GINES OP-ED: Jay-Z & The Real Reason Liberalism Fails Blacks

The moderate blogger opines: "Liberalism fails blacks, not due to the conservative rhetoric on welfare, affirmative action, etc. Liberalism fails blacks because of the fundamental philosophy that undergirds modern liberalism, post-modernism, which as a general rule says, 'Hey, every moral act, every behavior is relative in whether or not it is good or bad, right or wrong. It is about the context.'.....Until we get to the point where Jay-Z is not considered a ’success’ because of his wealth, but a ‘failure’ because to get to where he is he violated his people and he hustled and destroyed lives in the dope game, and that is the ultimate objective no, no, then we can never create positive change."

BOOKERISTA OF THE YEAR, MALE: James Shikwati, Kenya

This year's honoree is a Kenyan libertarian economist. Mr. Shikwati heads up the Inter-Region Economic Network, a think-tank in Kenya. Whether he is talking about free markets, local communities, and the politics of wildlife conservation or how to increase African intellectual property, Mr. Shikwati brings a different perspective into key issues facing the African continent.

This year there was increased global focus on Africa, with the Live 8 event and British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Commission on Africa. Mr. Shikwati was at the forefront. He is a staunch critic of the "Africans as charity cases" ethic and government foreign aid, which he argues increases corruption and dependency; lowers accountability of governments to their citizens; and stunts citizens' work ethic, and long-term reform. Mr. Shikwati promotes private property rights, rule of law, and lower tariffs to increase intra-Africa trade. He also translates many libertarian documents into Swahili, for citizens of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Mr. Shikwati also gets in the trenches. He works with farmers to encourage them to think like entrepreneurs and develop their methods. He connects agricultural producers to suppliers to help kick off new markets. He works with Kenyan media, university students, and religious figures to promote free-market ideas. Due to requests from younger Africans about how to replicate his work in their countries, Mr. Shitwati has the Africa Resource Bank as a network to promote economic freedom and wealth creation in the Motherland.

Another Leak

Marc Schulman, a moderate blogger, writes: "The Washington Post and the New York Times are competing with each other to see which of the two can more quickly dismantle the Administration’s counter-terrorism effort. There’s a division of labor between the two, with the Post and the Times focusing on the foreign and domestic portions of the program, respectively. Evidently, Pulitzer Prizes are more important than national security. Hasn’t it occurred to the leakers and to the reporters who receive and publish the leaked information that it may be these programs that have prevented another 9/11 (or worse) for more than four years? We are at war; they are sabotaging our defenses."

MARTIN KIMANI OP-ED: What Is English Honour I Wonder?

Asks the Kenyan-born libertarian blogger, who lives in Britain: "It came to me that the English claim to the mantle of an honorable people is based not on their refusal to cheat or murder but because they have been willing to die for the conceit that their kind do not cheat or murder......From the Somme to the Battle of Britain and the many other battlefields that are splattered with English blood, evil is washed clean by this sacrifice of the young. This is why the English hero can be a cad until the very last moment when he pulls off a spectacular save in the honor department. It is only in battle that the English are at their best when offered the opportunity to look away from the hells they have created toward an earthly heaven only reachable by dying."

Quote Of The Day

"We must not be deceived by the mere fact a person can read or write. Unless he has received that broader training which enables him to know the object of education, the uses of education; unless he receives that broader training which will make him realize that book education is useless without character, without industry, without the saving habit, without the willingness to contribute his part toward law and order and the highest and best in the community, his mere book education will in many cases mean little or nothing." — Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), conservative Republican educator and free enterprise advocate

COMMENTARY: My Gripe With The Religious Right

The moderate-conservative Republican blogger opines about evangelical conservatives: "I think that a sizeable percentage of the Christian Right are under the false impression that America is on the verge of moral collapse, and that were it not for their tireless and tiresome efforts, gay men who are pro-abortion would take over the nation and Tony Kushner would replace Shakespeare in the schools. Such people are deluded, paranoid and over-exposed.....If people actually believe that Christianity without movies and television is a failed religion, then perhaps we ought to get rid of all these new Christians and start Christianity over again. Religion is not supposed to be fought in the media, nor in the legislature, but in the mind and in the heart. Unfortunately for us, too many Christians know no other way. Not that the Republican Party minds one bit, because the Democrats are too stupid to make appeals to Christians."

Guest Blogging At BlackProf.com

I've been invited (and have accepted) to guest blog over at BlackProf.com through the month of January 2006. OK, so I'm black but not a professor. However, I did teach a college course once (as a graduate teaching assistant). Close enough. I was surprised at first, given that it is fairly liberal website — although one that I read regularly and like for its scholarly tone, and even link on this blog from time to time. So I'll be putting my moderate-to-conservative-with-a-strong-libertarian-feminist-streak twist on things over there.

A Productivity Story?

Freedom Democrats, a blog for libertarian Democrats, on what may be the most important economic story of 2005 in USA: the average productivity growth rate in the last five years is the highest over the past 50 years: "Of course the impact of events on productivity can be delayed--the investments made during the boom may have enabled post-bust growth. The same goes for the impact of policy, even moreso. As Kling points out, Bush can't properly claim credit, nor can Clinton, nor anyone else. But given the importance of these numbers (and I think the importance of productivity can be appreciated by average voters, if set in the right context), Bush will claim credit. Democrats need to be ready with a productivity story of their own, and not just 'great, productivity growth will take care of [S]ocial [S]ecurity and [M]edicare!'"

Botswana Shows Success In Treating AIDS

In 2002, Botswana became the first African country to offer free treatment. With more than a third of all the country's adults infected with AIDS/HIV, many doubted it could fulfill the promise. But the largely desert nation and one of Africa's most prosperous countries now has half the estimated 110,000 people in immediate need on medicines. Botswana has the advantage of a small population (1.7 million), and most people live within five miles of a clinic. Its pledge drew support from donors such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and major pharmaceutical companies, but the government pays more than 90% of the cost. The initiative is straining limited resources though as development funds get diverted to health, which is a quarter of the national budget.

Dungy Tragedy Begs the Question - Is Suicide Rising Among Young Black Men?

Asks Gregory Kane, a black conservative Republican commentator, in the aftermath of the apparent suicide of the teen son of famous football coach Tony Dungy (pictured in red tie, with wife): "Suicide among young black men isn’t a subject black folks talk about much. But a 1996 editorial in the Baltimore Sun informed readers that 'suicide has become the third-leading killer of young black men, behind homicides and accidents. The suicide rate among African-American males, ages 15 to 19, increased by 196 percent between 1980 and 1994. Compare that to a 24 percent increase among young white men. Among black men ages 20 to 24, the suicide rate increased 25 percent, compared to a 5 percent increase for young white men.' Remember that James Dungy was only 18 years old. If toxicology reports reveal that he did, in fact, commit suicide, then that opens up a critical new area of discussion for black Americans. Why did James Dungy commit suicide? Was it depression? If it was, why didn’t he seek treatment or help? Help is the crucial word here."

The EU's Confusion Of Church And State

CaribPundit, a black conservative blogger, on the European Union's multi-million dollar payment to a Jamaican group opposed to reinstating the death penalty in the country: "Through the bribe, the EU dismisses the right of crime victims and their families to see justice done on murderers; ignores the crime rate in Jamaica and the duty of the state to provide a secure environment for its citizens; and pours contempt on the death penalty as just recompense for the taking of lives.....The state cannot function like the Church with its doctrine of confession and absolution that precedes its declaration of 'go and sin no more' because the imperatives guiding both are vastly different....Memo to the EU: butt the hell out and stop meddling in how the Caribbean handles its criminals."

OP-ED: Los Angeles Liberals: Screw The Homeless...

The conservative Republican discusses a recent Wall Street Journal editorial by Ted Hayes, an advocate for the homeless whose project faces eviction after the landlord allegedly discovered that he was a conservative Republican: "For those of liberals out there who are offended that I continue to use the very words against you that are gleefully tossed by yours at conservatives, please explain how you claim to support the homeless, yet are willing to kick them to the curb because a black man who chooses to feed, clothe, and house them is a Republican. So much for tolerance and inclusion yet again."

As Mr. Hayes notes in his editorial, the landlord can do as he pleases with his private property. Given media coverage about Mr. Hayes (aka the Rasta Republican) and his project in the past, I find it hard to believe that the landlord just found out that he was a Republican. Perhaps other issues are at play here?

MARC SCHULMAN COMMENTARY: Is There An International Community?

Asks the moderate blogger: "Diplomats have been wringing their hands about the ethnic cleansing in Darfur, but have done nothing about it. Despite the obvious dangers that would arise if Iran develops nuclear weapons, it is still far from clear that the Security Council will be willing to authorize economic sanctions against the Tehran regime. UN-authorized military action against Iran is out of the question. It should come as no surprise, then, that I believe that the concept of a single, all-embracing international community is vacuous. Any community that fails to defend itself against its bad apples who attack other segments of the community (aggression) or their own segment (ethnic cleansing) or violate community-imposed sanctions isn’t a community at all."

Quote Of The Day

"Mommy says we don't celebrate Kwanzaa because we are Christian, and Christians don't celebrate Kwanzaa. Only non-Christians do. She says some guy - I forget his name - started Kwanzaa, but he is not a Christian and doesn't like God." — my eight-year-old cousin, as she told me about a "Proud Family" cartoon episode on TV where Kwanzaa candles were lit

A Nonsensical Boxing Day Bloodbath!

Felix Taylor, Jr. on growing gun violence in Toronto, which has now moved downtown. The Canadian black moderate-conservative blogger and public housing resident writes: "A top police official have said Toronto has lot its innocence. I am afraid that it has lost its innocence way, way before this senseless incident. For example, this summer on July 6th, the exact day before the London bombings, I heard three shots take the life of a young 18 year old kid in my apartment building. I have not heard that those perpetrators in that black van who shot this kid are caught. To add insult to injury, building 'officials' (or to be blunt 'socialistic bureaucrats') coldly, callously and condescendingly told a small number of tenants (including myself) at a meeting after the incident 'to get used to this stuff' in a nutshell.....To get back on topic, it is time for Mayor Miller and Police Chief Blair to channel the soul of President Bush and declare a full war on Toronto's gangs and their drugs. All citizens must be told in no uncertain terms, 'You either for the law-abiding citizens or you are for the gangs. Anyone who wants to have a middle ground is for the gangs by default!'....Again, I say to Prime Minister Paul Martin, guns in themselves do not kill people, it is the people behind the guns that kill people. Prime Minister Martin is living in a dreamworld if he thinks a handgun ban will do the trick. I think he knows that this is a bit of a smokescreen on his part. Attitudes to moral relativism needs to be discussed and this silly minded attitude that there is no 'absolutes' needs to be vigorously and mercilessly debated."

My two cents: Canada's liberals are blaming America for the violence - especially the conservative NRA lobby and laxer gun control laws here. They have been ignoring their own country's gang problems...until it moved out of black neighborhoods and into white ones, and now they wanna holler loud. I agree that America must help crack down on illegal guns crossing into Canada's borders (although I noticed that the Canadians that I saw arguing this point on television conspicuously failed to note the Canadian involvement and lack of stronger law enforcement in this trade). Interesting that Canadian liberals won't point to other, more important culprits: growing fatherless families in their inner-cities and the growing love for gangsterism fueled by imported American hip-hop (fueled by liberal values). I even heard one (white) liberal claim on TV that random violence wouldn't happen if European countries bordered them. With the growing gun violence in France and the UK? With Theo van Gogh shot, bladed, and nearly beheaded on a busy Amsterdam street just last year? Puhleeze.

Kujichagulia 2005: Do For Self

The moderate-conservative Republican blogger and Kwanzaa celebrator highlights today, the third day /principle of Kwanzaa: "Of all of the Nguzo Saba [Seven Principles], none resonates for me as much as Kujichagulia [self-determination]. First of all, it's the most fun to say, and it's the one I remember above all. It's not squishy like some of the others and it resonates with talented as well as conservative folks (not that there's a necessary dichotomy there). Of course my boy Ray Nagin got in trouble for putting together an emergency plan in advance of Katrina that employed the value of Kujichagulia. He said, we might be first responders, but your primary safety is in your own hands. That sounds like hard medicine to swallow, but should it be? In perhaps the biggest racial bombshell of the year, Kanye West said George W. Bush doesn't care about black poeple. Had Kanye a bit of common sense and some Kujichagulia he would have understood that George W. Bush's care is besides the point. Do for self means care for self. It means not putting your destiny in the hands of others who may or may not have your best interests in mind. It means having your own plan, defining your own place in the scheme of things."

We Are As Dumb As We Look! But Why?

Eduwonk.com, a moderate-liberal Democratic website, responds to a reader's question about the paradox that more people are going to college but recent adult literacy figures remains discouraging: "ML's idea [about high tuitition costs and classes taught by graduate assistants] is plausible but Eduwonk thinks instead that it might have something to do with course-taking patterns as higher education has increasingly become somewhat vocational. It's now basically possible to get through even a lot of pretty competitive schools without doing a lot [of] writing or reading of non-technical things if your major is anything involving business, science, engineering, etc...Often just one gut class in the humanities, a survey where centuries are compressed into weeks, is all a student gets. So, to the extent that students are not getting this in high schools they're just not getting it really anywhere. Other possible explanations?"

Much high school (& even college) coursework focuses more on self-esteem and diversionary issues than scholarship. As a former teaching assistant in the social sciences, I was appalled at how badly my undergraduate students wrote (and I was at a good public university, not Podunk U).

COMMENTARY: Rising Up

The moderate-conservative Republican blogger opines: "Aha. It looks as if I have found the man who might, in the end, find a way to convince me that there is some way to integrate gay marriage into my list of good things. That would be quite a feat, but Joe Perez appears to have the qualifications. I would say that my greatest difficulty with the idea of same-sex marriage is its threat to the very sacrament of Holy Matrimony. I see the political activism of various queer nations & friends as an overproduction within our democracy which is both arrogant, deceptive and counter to the very liberating aspects of the legacy of Stonewall. I support equal rights for registered domestic partners, such as we have here in California, but I do not endorse any cross of the line between Church and State. I cannot believe that such social and political activism can be contained within a purely secular context and that congregations will force the hand of the clergy and church hierarchs. While I am not so personally vested in the affairs of other sects, I think this is a dangerous precedent for my own Episcopal and Catholic Churches. In fact, in light of the possibility that Episcopalians might change, I have seriously considered joining the Catholic Church in some official way. This is a consequence of my fundamental belief and understanding of religious traditions as well considered and evolved moral frameworks which counter the vagueries and fashions enabled by today's ultra-fast market economies and regimes of information."

CHIPPLA VANDU OP-ED: European Kyoto Protocol Lapse

The Nigerian-born moderate-conservative blogger, who lives in Holland, opines that the Kyoto protocols on global warming are bound to fail without support from the United States and China, and more diligent European commitment: ".A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research, quoted by the BBC shows that most European Union countries (practically all, with the exception of the United Kingdom and Sweden) are not only falling behind on their Kyoto pledges, but may never meet them.....At the very least, George Bush was sincere. He made it clear that he was not going to ratify a treaty that would end up hurting the American economy. Not so with European governments, who promised heaven and earth only to be faced with a different reality on the ground."

Alleged Terrorists Ride To Bush's Defense

Asserts Rick Heller, a moderate blogger, about the domestic spying controversy: "They don't mean to, but alleged Al Qaeda supporters going on trial will hand the Bush administration a valentine if they contest their identification as being possibly through illegal NSA wiretaps. It's not clear if the questionable wiretaps were responsible for identifying these extremely despicable individuals (they have been credited in a couple cases), but if they were, look for the public support for wiretapping to rise. I'm not a lawyer, but I would think that wiretap evidence obtained without a search warrant would not be admissible in court. But it would not taint the whole process to the point that evidence subsequently obtained through orthodox means could be excluded."

WALTER WILLIAMS COMMENTARY: Do We Deserve It?

The libertarian economics professor argues that we should guard against any encroachment on liberty, no matter how small, and points to attacks on religion, on cigarette smokers, and on private property rights as examples: "I fear that too many Americans have contempt for the principles of liberty and opt for solutions that employ the political arena to forcibly impose their wills on others. If that's the preferred game, then those Americans shouldn't whine when others employ the same tactic to impose their wills."

Bob Parks For Congress?

The conservative Republican commentator sent me (and others) an email indicating that he will officially launch his campaign for Massachusetts State Representative, 2nd Franklin District, in early 2006.

Quote Of The Day

“Some or perhaps most unemployed immigrants lay too much blame on [employment]. There is lots of talk about discrimination and much too little discussion about socio-cultural context [about work ethic, social attitudes towards women, etc.] Many politicians and policy makers talk out of their mouths. They must actually talk with employers. I have done so over the past year. I have addressed them on the figures: why do you hire few immigrants, particularly Moroccans? The answer surprised me: it is not that they don’t hire people because of their race, their foreign origin, or because Dutch society is xenophobic, but because a number of immigrants lack an indispensable skill on the shop floor: particularly social and communication skills [in speaking Dutch].” — Ayaan Hirsi Ali, moderate-conservative Dutch parliamentarian and former immigrant

COMMENTARY: Have Yourself A Divisive Little Kwanzaa

The moderate-conservative Republican blogger and Kwanzaa celebrator (whose family was at the original Kwanzaa celebration in the late 1960s) takes on evangelical Christians who argue that the holiday is anti-Christian, racist, and separatist: "The reason Kwanzaa was created lies fairly parallel to why the Afro was created, why ‘black is beautiful’ was created and why James Brown sang ‘Say it Loud: I’m Black and I’m Proud’. It was about evolving a mindset towards independence and liberation. It was about black people doing something for themselves for a change - not demanding that the government, or Jesus, do things for them that they ought to be doing for themselves."

The Best Affirmative Action - Winning!

Craig Bardo, a black conservative Republican blogger, on this year's success by black coaches: "Lovie Smith, Marvin Lewis and Tony Dungy are producing something no government imposed hiring program can - wins! Congratulations to the NFC North Division Champion Chicago Bears, AFC North Division Champion Cincinnati Bengals and this last one is hard - Go Titans! - the AFC South Division Champion Indianapolis Colts."

Da Bears! You know it!

Ghana's Uneasy Embrace Of Slavery's Diaspora

Ghana - through whose ports millions of Africans passed on their way to slave plantations in the USA, Latin America and the Caribbean - wants its descendants to come back. Taking Israel as its model, Ghana hopes to persuade these descendants to think of Ghana as their gateway home: to visit, invest, send their children to be educated and even retire there. Ghana has steady economic growth; a stable democracy; and broad aid support from the West. It is a very poor country, but thousands of black Americans already live here.

Ghana plans to offer a special lifetime visa and will relax citizenship requirements for descendants of slaves. The government is also starting an advertising campaign to persuade Ghanaians to treat black Americans more like long-lost relatives than as affluent tourists. The campaign urges Ghanaians to drop the term obruni (white foreigner) in favor of akwaaba anyemi for black Americans, a phrase fashioned from two tribal languages meaning "welcome, sister or brother." Ghana plans to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., W. E. B. DuBois and others it calls modern-day Josephs, after the biblical figure who rose from slavery to save his people. The government plans to hold a huge event in 2007 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the end of the trans-Atlantic trade by Britain and the 50th anniversary of Ghana's independence.

BARACK OBAMA AND SAM BROWNBACK COMMENTARY: Policy Adrift On Darfur

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) pen an editorial in the Washington Post about U.S. policy towards Sudan, especially in the western region of Darfur: "For two years the Bush administration has made commendable efforts to improve the lives of people in Darfur. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick has become personally invested in the crisis, recently completing his fourth trip to the region in the past seven months. The United States has spent almost $1 billion aiding refugees and displaced persons who might otherwise have died of disease or starvation. And the U.S. military has helped airlift and fund African Union troops stationed in the Darfur region of Sudan. Yet, despite American engagement, Darfur's humanitarian, security and political conditions are deteriorating. If the United States does not change its approach to Darfur, an already grim situation is likely to spiral out of control."

The black liberal Democrat and white conservative Republican continue: "First, the administration must help transform the African Union protection force into a sizable, effective multinational force. In the near term, Washington must pressure Khartoum to allow more advisers from Western nations to embed within the African Union's mission so they support intelligence, logistics and communications. It must work with other nations to provide military assets to African Union forces, such as attack helicopters and armored personnel carriers, so they can respond immediately to attacks. And it must urge the African Union to be more aggressive in protecting civilians. More important, Washington must immediately spearhead efforts to create a larger multinational force.....Second, the administration must keep up the pressure on the rebels to unite their negotiating positions, and it must enlist Sudan's allies to increase the pressure on Khartoum to share power and resources. Third, the United States and other nations must place additional pressure on key nations -- Chad, Eritrea and Libya -- to stop playing a destructive role in the conflict. Fourth, the administration needs to place its weight behind the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, which would impose targeted sanctions on the leading perpetrators of the genocide."

Education Website: Eastside Young Leaders' Academy, Britain

One of my blog's readers recommended this website. Eastside Young Leaders' Academy seeks to nurture the leadership skills of black males - starting at age eight, and targeting kids who previously experienced academic and social problems in school - and instill an ethic of success. It is not an alternative school, but complements school curricula and supplement what it does not provide: Saturday Academy, after-school tutoring program, a summer program, mentoring, community service, and a family support network. Ray Lewis, a prison governor, imported the program from Baton Rouge, Louisiana after a visit to America in 2002. EYLA has gotten good press in Britain for its success, and expects to produce the country's first black Prime Minister!

Christopher DeMuth on Unlimited Government

Thanks to Josh Davenport, one of this blog's readers, for alerting me to this piece. The president of the American Enterprise Institute opines about the loss of the classically liberal, small government ethic and how to revive respect for constitutional limits: "At the same time, a new political principle—'personal autonomy,' or freedom from all external constraints—is making a strong bid for addition to the pantheon of fundamental liberal values. It is telling that today’s conservative politicians are employing concepts such as the 'opportunity society' and the 'ownership society' which emphasize growth rather than limits, the person rather than the institutional context. The difficulty is that individual rights and personal strivings are no match for the growth of state regimentation."

Thomas Sowell on Cheap Politicians

The conservative Republican economist argues for paying each Congressperson a million dollars a year: "Cheap politicians are expensive politicians, currently costing the taxpayers more than a trillion dollars a year.....Since re-election is the key, term limits are effective only in so far as they get rid of re-election. If the limit is three terms, then two of those three terms will be spent trying to get re-elected -- and the third term will be spent trying to get elected to some other office. What term limits need to do is make it nearly impossible to spend a whole career in politics. One term per office and some period of years outside of politics before running again would be a good principle."

MYCHAL MASSIE OP-ED: Congressional Black Caucus' Loyalty To Money

The conservative Republican commentator slams the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation for sitting on all $400,000 of the Hurricane Katrina donations that it has raised so far: "Quite a haul using tax-free dollars solicited for what was described as an urgent need because 'Bush the racist' was intentionally allowing blacks to die – especially if those interest dollars are not dispersed to the victims.....What the CBC apparently does best is race monger and prostitute themselves to the highest bidder, taking money seemingly under false pretenses that appears to never make it to the people intended, while continuing to bastardize and falsely malign conservatives."

Quote Of The Day

"Kwanzaa is a harmless ethnic family-oriented holiday that, in practice, is totally compatible with Christmas. It's not 'authentic' but neither is Christmas — all holidays and traditons were invented at some point. Kwanzaa was founded by someone with wacky '60s nationalist beliefs but the holiday has transcended its origins." — Daniel Aldridge, history professor and moderate-conservative Republican, on the black American holiday that starts today and lasts through January 1

COMMENTARY: On The First Day Of Kwanzaa My True Love Gave To Me

Umoja (Unity), states the moderate-conservative Republican blogger, who is celebrating "Kwanzaa lite" this year: "That means everybody in the family has to agree to do three things together and stick it out to the bitter end. We're going to play that favorite game 'Life' by Parker Brothers. We're also going to finish watching Oliver! the musical and everybody is going to watch it all the way to the end without getting up and going to do something else. We're also going to all do the Kwanzaa thing together tonight before dinner. Since this is the first day, we've got to get the basics in order. We've already got the old kinara and the mkeke still has some wax splatters on it from Kwanzaas past, but it's in good shape. All we have are a few ears of Kwanzaa corn."

Bitter Debate Over 'Birthright Citizenship'

A proposal to change federal policy and deny citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants on U.S. soil ran aground this month in Congress, but it is sure to resurface — kindling bitter debate. Ratified in 1868 with freed slaves in mind, Section 1 of the 14th amendment says: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." Opponents of illegal immigration say the amendment was never intended to automatically grant citizenship to babies of illegal immigrants. Thus they contend that federal legislation, rather than a difficult-to-achieve constitutional amendment, would be sufficient to end birthright citizenship. According to a recent survey by Rasmussen Reports, 49% of Americans favor ending birthright citizenship, and 41% favor keeping it (the remainder don't know).

I strongly favor revoking birthright citizenship when it involves illegal immigrants, for neither they nor their children should benefit from criminal activity. I support automatic citizenship for children born to legal immigrants. An amendment intended to provide equal protection for blacks is leeched onto by apologists for criminal activity. Contrary to the ACLU's claim, guest workers (a la Germany) are not the same as illegal immigrants in America (and racial tensions would be reduced if non-black illegal immigrants went the legal route like the vast majority of black immigrants must do). However, conservatives are constitutionally wrong to argue that only federal legislation can handle the issue.

Powell Backs Bush On Domestic Spying

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said President Bush was right in authorizing a domestic spying program. In an interview broadcast yesterday on ABC's "This Week", the moderate Republican and retired general said there was "absolutely nothing wrong" with the president's actions because he was trying to protect the nation after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. However, Mr. Powell acknowledged that the administration could have secured warrants from a secret federal court that approves various forms of eavesdropping. He also said Congress must determine whether it gave President Bush unlimited authority to conduct the domestic spying program without needing to go through legal channels. Mr. Powell said the program should continue.

Da Bears

Beat the Green Bay Packers 24-17 yesterday in Green Bay, to win the NFC North title and a buy into the playoffs. Yeah, Chicago! One of my uncles (who is a huge Bears fan) even called another one of my uncles (who is a huge Packers fan, although he moved out of Wisconsin not long ago) after the game to brag about the victory. Packers Uncle even tried to change the subject by trying to get Bears Uncle's mom (who was one of the people having Christmas dinner with Packers Uncle and my aunt) on the phone. Unfortunately for him, Bears Uncle had already spoken with his mama earlier in the day LOL. Yeah, the fierce rivalry continues between these two teams and has been since 1921.

Martin Kimani: "The Goosie Goosie Gander Where Shall I Wander?"

The Kenyan-born libertarian blogger, who lives in Britain, on his Christmas Day activities (which he prepared at the last minute): "For dinner we baked the wild goose marinated in tangerines, strawberries, red onions, garlic and clove powder among other spices. Then brown basmatic rice, a sweet potato and leeks stuffing; spinach with mushrooms; a moist carrot cake made with dark sugar; all washed down with champagne. Is that a feast or is it a feast?"

I spent Christmas with 13 other relatives, at my aunt and uncle's home. We opened up Christmas presents early morn, we debated current events, we played fun games with the kids and each other, watched Da Bears-Packers game on TV. Christmas music sung or instrumentally played by famous black folks, coming from my aunt's IPod...connected to the fantastic Bose stereo system that she got as a Christmas present from my cousins. And of course, there was fantastic food cooked by my aunts and two of my younger cousins (I picked a lot of collard and mustard greens by myself on Christmas Eve, and helped clean up after our meal yesterday). We had turkey, ham, dressing, collard and mustard greens, candied yams, turnips, fried chicken, homemade biscuits, corn, baked macaroni and cheese, punch, sweet potato pie, banana pudding, and peach cobbler. A typical black American dinner served on Christmas, with its strong Southern influences. But with a lil' Mexican influence this year, as my cousin's wife (who is Mexican-American) brought these tasty baked goods.

A Zimbabwean Christmas Experience...

This Is Zimbabwe blog, on yesterday's celebration: "We pooled resources and shared food. Presents were irrelevant. I was struck by the oddness of it all several times through the course of the day - every time a complete stranger walked into my kitchen and offered to help with the dishes, or enquired where the fridge or toilet was. The truth is, we all had a good time. Inflation dominated the conversation yesterday, not politics. Normally people steer away from talk of politics when they’re in the company of strangers because no one knows whom they can trust in this country anymore.....It was clear to me that our spirit is far from destroyed by the machine-like unfeeling cruelty that [M]ugabe and his henchmen use to try and control our minds and crush our hearts."

Fitness Industry Aims For Black Audience

Keen-eyed marketers in America's fitness industry are spicing up their workouts with gospel, soul and hip-hop, tailoring the offering in a direct appeal to black consumers. That's because black waistlines are expanding. A 2002 study by the Centers for Disease Control found 78% of black women ages 20 to 74 were overweight, with more than 50% qualifying as obese. Solutions are showing up on store shelves and on television screens. At Wal-Mart, Benita Perkins' "Taking It to a Higher Ground" DVD sets step aerobics to gospel music. On the black-owned TV One network on cable TV, fitness guru Donna Richardson Joyner sets brisk workouts to live R&B. Across the country, hip-hop yoga classes and fitness classes in churches entice a growing number of blacks.

STAR PARKER COMMENTARY: Happiness Is In The Giving, Not The Getting

The conservative Republican commentator writes: "Although there seems to be little correlation between material improvement and increased happiness, there are other factors that do correlate with feeling happier. Easterbrook reports that behavior associated with forgiveness, gratitude and altruism increases an individual sense of happiness. Psychological studies, reported by Arthur Brooks of Syracuse University, conclude that people 'who donate to charity are 40 percent more likely to say they are 'very happy' than nondonors.'....Restlessness and dissatisfaction with the status quo are key to improving our lives and the world. An element of unhappiness drives us forward. But happiness comes when the object of our pursuit goes beyond ourselves."

Abortion: An Environmental Justice Issue?

Yes, asserts the African American Environmentalist Association blog: "Forty percent of abortions in the U.S. are by black women. There are roughly 1.3 million abortions in the U.S. each year. Environmental justice is the equal protection of everybody with respect to environmental issues. There are disproportionately larger numbers of abortions by black women, so it is an environmental justice issue to the extent that black fetuses are not being equally protected. But environmental justice usually speaks to racial disparities in the siting of toxic waste facilities and proximity to sources of pollution. Abortion is a decision by a black woman regarding the environment of her own body and that of the developing person. Thus, environmental racism is not an issue in an environmental justice context. Black abortions also outnumber black-on-black murders by hundreds of thousands each year. The health and welfare of the fetus in the womb is clearly an environmental issue. A woman's right to choose the environment in her body versus the right of the newly conceived to live is a modern dilemma. What is your position on this vital environmental issue?"

I am pro-choice on the abortion. If more black men provided a much better environment for the children that they helped to create instead of the cut-and-run tactic, then so many black women probably wouldn't feel the need to have abortions in the first place. While women certainly play a personal responsibility role here, to totally ignore the role of men's actions is also irresponsible.

JOSEPH C. PHILLIPS OP-ED: Americans Are Winners

The conservative Republican actor discusses the war in Iraq: "Listening to Murtha and the other odd utterances made recently by Democratic leaders, it is clear why Americans do not want the Democratic Party to lead this nation at the beginning of the 21st Century.....Americans may disagree on the wisdom of this war, and the manner in which it is being waged. But the idea of losing is hateful to us. The only thing more hateful is the idea of leadership that is uninterested in winning and thinks us incapable or undeserving of victory."

Self-Help Website: BlackDoctor.org

Blackdoctor.org "is committed to providing better access to quality healthcare for African Americans by delivering targeted, searchable information and dynamic interactive health content for African Americans as well as a unique referral service to find qualified Black doctors." Based in Chicago, it is a health portal on black lifestyle issues in areas such as weight loss, diet & nutrition, fitness, and healthy living options. (hat tip: Politopics)

Kane: "TV's Take On Poverty Is Rich In Foolishness"

Gregory Kane, a conservative Republican columnist, asks: why let facts get in the way of a television drama plot?: "America's poor don't get education? The folks who work at Boston Legal must have been on Captain Kirk's starship Enterprise for the past 40 years. Haven't they ever heard of Title I? Apparently not. But it was passed in 1965 as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It's been funded over the years to the tune of billions of taxpayer dollars... Americans have made efforts to provide health insurance for the poor as well. I'm not sure how many Hollywood types have heard of Medicaid, but it does exist. Not all poor folks qualify for Medicaid, but to imply that all of America's poor don't get health insurance is a reckless misrepresentation of the facts."

COMMENTARY: Workers Confuse Civil Service With Civil Rights

Asserts the moderate-conservative columnist, about the recent transit workers strike in New York City: "Toussaint's rhetoric in leading the overwhelmingly minority union is just part of what has become a norm in our society, where any heated situation involving people who are not white is suddenly thrown into the arena of civil rights or the rights of an ethnic culture......But from Toussaint, who has the honor of an important union to uphold, we should expect and get much more. As Duke Ellington once said, certain situations are not about the haves and the have-nots, they are about the haves and the want-mores. Toussaint represents people in the second category, not an oppressed ethnic minority. He, better than anyone else, should know that."

Merry Christmas!

Booker Rising is taking a one-day hiatus, in order to spend time with family. I will post again on Monday, December 26. Have a great Christmas!

Quote Of The Day

"Madness is rare in individuals - but in groups, political parties, nations, and eras it's the rule." — Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher

Scratching My Head

I've heard about churches who are planning not to hold services tomorrow, because Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year. These churches' argument is that they want folks to spend more time with their families. I just found out from one of my younger cousins that many of my relatives (who are evangelical Christians) near where I live are not planning to attend church tomorrow. Their church is having services, but they have chosen to spend more time with family. I was surprised because this is a churchgoing clan. I thought for sure that I'd be verbally dueling with them as I explained why I would not attend a Christmas Day service with them, but would instead hold down the fort at my relatives' home where we will have Christmas brinner (brunch/dinner).

Now I am a deist and thus far from being a churchgoer, so I am scratching my head here. Isn't the birth of Jesus Christ supposed to be the whole reason for the season to Christians? I asked my younger cousin, and she said that she wasn't listening to her pastor and others who argue that they are cheating Jesus by not going to church on his designated birthday and folks have to worry about cooking and spending time with relatives. Many historians argue that Jesus was probably born in the spring and what is now Christmas was started in order to compete with winter pagan celebrations, but I digress.

I bet my relatives down South will be at church though. I'll find out tomorrow.

Kane: "Can't Go Ape Over 'Kong' Remade As A Chick Flick"

Gregory Kane, a GOP conservative: "Now, clearly some 40 teenage black boys in the 1960s saw, to put it mildly, some problems with the original [1930s] King Kong. For instance, with testosterone surging through our young bodies, we positively drooled when the shots of the black teenage girl who was the original bride of Kong flashed on the screen. We didn't buy at all the notion that Kong would prefer Ann Barrow, Fay Wray's character, to the native girl. A few of the guys didn't appreciate the Chinese cook's 'crazy black man been here' line, either...Remember the premise of the original movie: woman terrified throughout the story by giant ape with serious species-identification problems. In the remake, Ann Barrow is initially terrified. Then she falls in love with the big ape."

Alito's Stumbling Block

AmbivaBlog, a moderate, asserts that Judge Samuel Alito's argument that the nation's top law enforcement official deserves blanket protection from lawsuits on national security issues may pose much bigger problems for his confirmation to the Supreme Court than abortion: "I would add, though, that if there's another terror attack, anxious vigilance about civil liberties in the opinion polls is likely to give way again to anxious vigilance about terrorists.....If and when the other shoe drops, we'll find out who the real civil-liberties warriors are: those who accept that there will be casualties in their cause. A free society cannot be supremely safe. A safe society cannot be supremely free."

Society Website: Warrick Dunn Foundation

A recommendation from Aaron Brown, one of this blog's readers. The Warrick Dunn Foundation was started by a player with the Atlanta Falcons. The NFL player established a program called “Homes for the Holidays” as an effort to keep his mother’s dream of homeownership alive (she was a police officer killed in the line of duty) through other hard-working, single mothers. "Homes for the Holidays" assists them in owning their first home by providing down payment assistance and then filling the home with everything a first-time homeowner would need, including: furniture, food, linens, gardening supplies, appliances, and cooking utensils. The program has helped 57 single mothers and 148 children in Atlanta, Ga., Baton Rouge, La., and Tampa, Fla.

Which Political Stereotype Are You?

Libertarian - You believe that the main use for government is for some people to lord it over others at their expense. You maintain that the government should be as small as possible, and that civil liberties, "victimless crimes", and gun ownership should be basic rights. You probably are OK with capitalism. Your historical role model is Thomas Jefferson.

While my voting habits do lean more Democratic (56%) than Republican (44%), the slave-owning founder of the Democratic Party is certainly not my historical role model. He does not belong in the libertarian camp. Otherwise, fairly accurate as I have a strong libertarian streak (extremely high on economic issues, medium on social issues, but low on foreign policy matters).

Which political sterotype are you?

Snoopgate: It’s Bigger Than You Think

Asserts The American Moderate Party blog, written by a moderate Republican: "I have discussed 'Snoopgate' with many people, and it has become increasingly evident that many are not civil libertarians. They are 100% O.K. with the government listening in and recording their personal conversations. I find this appalling and scary because who will stand up to vote for our liberties?... 'Snoopgate' is larger than we think. Muslim homes, businesses, and mosques have been under surveillance for the makings of a dirty bomb. Most of the monitoring has been done on nearby public property, though according to US News & World Report 'the monitoring required investigators to go on to the property under surveillance, although no search warrants or court orders were ever obtained.'....We all know that the government is going to look at what we are doing from time to time, but procedures exist for this to occur. Warrants, particularly those from the secret FISA court, can be obtained rather easily. It is therefore unnecessary, and illegal, to circumvent."

That's because they know that the government is not zeroing in their conversations with Aunt Beulah Mae down in Alabama, but Khallid Muhammad's potentially shady calls to Damascus, Syria. And in a post-9/11 world, snooping on (mostly Arab) Muslims ain't gonna generate much sympathy from the average American. However, I agree with the point re: the easy availability of getting warrants from FISA (which are even retroactively permissible).

The Message Is Be Medium

Dr. Madsen Pirie, head of the libertarian Adam Smith Institute (UK), opines: "For UK Conservatives the most devastating finding of the last election was that even voters who liked their policies, subsequently rejected those policies once they knew them to be Conservative ones. The name carried such negative loading that it tarnished every policy it touched. That, as the PR men say, constitutes an image problem. New Tory leader David Cameron is not bothering to spell out details of policy yet. What would be the point if electors would promptly reject them? What he and his group are trying to do is to project a different look and feel to the party so they can shed that negative loading. The pruning of the present candidates list, and the insistence on more women and ethnic minority candidates is part of that. Overtures to the Liberal Democrats come under this heading, as does the symbolic gesture of urging us all to spend a 'green' Christmas. He has to project to the public at large that the Tories are not an alien crowd of unpleasant zealots, unrelated to the lives of ordinary people, but a more relaxed and easy-going bunch rather like themselves."

David Cameron is clearly taking some pages from President George W. Bush's compassionate conservatism handbook. One of his first visits as the new Conservative Party leader was to meet with young black boys from disadvantaged backgrounds who attend a youth leadership academy.

Quote Of The Day

"Have you noticed that today's Republicans relate just about everything to whatever Democrats do, or did, or never did, or might do? Most of the rationalizations for their own actions appear to be wrapped around the aura of Bill Clinton. If they cannot draw a parallel to some Clintonesque action, policy or remark, they seem lost. It has long been said that, if you wait long enough, Republicans eventually adopt the platforms and agendas that the Democrats initiate. Whoever coined that cliché knew whereof he spoke. Do blacks need a rehash of the same old story, with a Republican twist?" — Elizabeth Wright, black conservative editor of Issues & Views, in arguing against joining the Republican Party

King Center May Be Sold To Feds

The board of the King Center is exploring the possible sale of the Atlanta civil rights landmark to the National Park Service (hat tip: The Black Informant). The sale would include several buildings at the Auburn Avenue complex and the nearby birth home of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The King family would keep control of his crypt. According to a National Park Service study, the King Center needs $11.6 million in repairs. Center officials have mortgaged Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home and other real estate to pay its bills. However, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Education are looking into allegations that the center misused at least $1 million in federal grants. Most of the center's budget is spent on salaries, utilities, security, etc. In most years, it operated with a deficit but still managed to pay Dexter and Martin King hefty salaries (ranging from $150,000 to just under $180,000).

What's wrong with this picture?!?! And what is up with the funds allegations against the center, and the hefty salaries to the King brothers amidst financial turmoil? Black Americans have a combined GDP of $728 billion, but yet we supposedly can't preserve the upkeep of the King Center on our own? $11.6 million is less than we spend on CDs per year. Dr. King's papers will be sold to the federal government, and not held in a black-owned private trust or something?! Pitiful that we won't even maintain our own historical legacy.

A New Black Statewide Newspaper

Duane Brayboy comments on Tama Broadcasting Inc.'s goal to offer Florida's black communities something they have never had before: a statewide newspaper. The black conservative blogger, on the state's largest black-owned media company's effort: "This should be successful as long as they: #Stick to their stated goal of providing positive solutions #Emphasize black success #Invest in quality (no matter what, invest in great writers) #Writers should be on top of EVERY major story in Florida #Have a serious Internet presence (use a blog-type format to foster interaction from readers) #Do a weekly podcast."

on Fake ID

The moderate-conservative Republican blogger is pleased with the ruling in Kitzmiller v. Dover, which struck down a Dover, Pa.'s policy to teach Intelligent Design alongside evolution in classrooms: "I think that it is also notable that ID proponents are trying to reverse-engineer the educational system to suit their purposes. They pretend to want to be a credible scientific theory, yet they start with public schools for children instead of research universities where their ideas would be subjected to closer scrutiny. If it were to compete as a serious theory it would have the attention of top researchers in evolutionary biology but they reject it out of hand because it simply isn't science. The only people it fools are people who aren't true scientists - they can be bamboozled."

Harold Ford Jr. In Control Heading Into 2006

Asserts the Harold Ford Jr. For U.S. Senate 2006 Unofficial Grassroots Blog, about the moderate-liberal Tennessee Democrat: "What once was thought to be a shoe-in for the Republicans, has now became a real race with Harold Ford Jr. controlling the message and having the momentum. According a recently released analysis from the independent and trusted Cook Political Report, Tennessee's Senate race ranks as only 1 of 4 toss-ups in the entire country.....First, the latest Zogby poll showed Congressman surging in support. According to their tracking poll, back in August, Ford trailed by 17 points. In September, he was behind 11 points. And according to the latest polling, he has cut the lead to within the margin of error to 6 points or a statistical dead heat. Second, a recent Global Strategy Group poll showed Congressman Ford leading all of his opponents in U.S. Senate campaign. Third, a Rasmussen poll released just this week showed showed Congressman Ford either beating or being in a statistical dead heat with each of his Republican counterparts. Finally, Congressman Ford led all his candidates in fundraising for the third quarter and has raised more than any other candidate in 2005."

All things that help Rep. Ford, Jr. However, as one of my political science professors used to tell us in college, take off 10 percentage points in polls where a black candidate is running against a white one. Especially in a statewide race. And in a conservative state such as Tennessee, this is definitely the case.

Caffeine Headache

Eduwonk.com, a moderate-liberal Democratic website, writes: "Kevin Johnson the former point guard for the Phoenix Suns and all around class act has started a charter school in CA. Johnson likes to tell the story of how Magic Johnson convinced a gourmet coffee chain to open stores where he was opening his movie theaters. The coffee execs were at first reluctant believing that black people didn't like coffee. Magic put up money and lo and behold the outfit sold a lot of coffee. The lesson for Democrats is obvious: Black people like good schools too. Yet from the usual suspects we keep hearing how people in urban areas don't want more choice in education. But every time a real choice option springs up there is intense demand. In fact, one of the primary problems with market-based reforms in education is that, at least so far, the market isn't self-correcting (pdf) because even poor quality choice options are proving wildly popular with parents. That's a reason for public oversight and a more charter-like than voucher-like arrangement but it's an issue where Democrats must engage. The general discontent with President Bush is sweeping this tension under the rug for now within the party, but one day Bush will be gone and like a caffeine headache, this issue will reemerge as a big problem."

Polls show 57% of blacks support vouchers. It is even higher for black parents of school-age kids. Eduwonk is right that the issue will reemerge.

Britain: Christmas Under Threat From Political Correctness

A Black Britain article notes that celebrations are under threat as councils and institutions avoid being “too Christian” in their attempts to stop offense to people of other faiths. They have been renaming Christmas, calling Christmas lights to now Celebrity lights and removing Christian symbols. Minister Katei Kirby of the African Caribbean Evangelical Alliance said, “I honestly feel that what’s happening here is there may be those who aren’t that secure in any faith at all and in order to sort of tow a political line are ruling out one thing that they maybe aren’t sure is offensive to other people." She added: "Don’t hijack another holiday, don’t offend people of Christian faith by suggesting we lose Jesus and put winter festivals instead, it’s ridiculous."

Quote Of The Day

"The United States should not withdraw from or withhold funding from the United Nations. Instead the U.S. should push the United Nations toward systemic reform of its financial structure with controls and accountability. The U.S. along with other nations should also negotiate to re-structure and professionalize the U.N.'s peacekeeping forces and humanitarian aid missions. Short of these reforms, the United Nations will experience steady decline. The U.S. should become more involved and seek to play a leadership role in the G-8 Millennium Project commitment to eradicate extreme poverty in Africa. The United States should continue to push for integrating Central European countries into NATO, and expanding NATO's role as a peacekeeping force. The United States must assume a leadership role in the international community to end the genocide in Sudan and work for a more permanent political solution to the conflict. Seek to open a dialogue with Cuba to expand trade relations." — Webster Brooks, moderate independent presidential candidate

COMMENTARY: Fishbone, Sadness & Rebellion

The moderate-conservative Republican blogger writes about rock music and its messages: "Listening to Fishbone is always bittersweet. They are such an awesome and musically gifted band, and they never got their due commercially. People have debated who was better between them and Living Colour.....Rock always needs a more jagged little pill. But after a while it gets hard to swallow. What good is all that rebellion? More importantly what state of mind does it take to preside over an artform that at its best brings forth the raw emotions righteous indignation and contempt for the status quo? This manifest in a social disease of chronic dissatisfaction. There is nothing quite as sad as an old hippie whose revolution never happened. And you cannot listen to 'Give a Monkey a Brain' without feeling the strains of a grand dissolution of society. So many rock bands become the chorus of decay as if they were Nero's own fiddle. For the most part there is no greater calling for Rock and Rap."

I fell asleep at a Fishbone concert, because their performance was boring me. Too much ska influence for my taste. Living Colour was the better band.

Mariah Ties Elvis With 17th No. 1 Single

Mariah Carey moved a step closer to The Beatles' record of 20 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 as "Don't Forget About Us" ascended one rung to the top of the singles chart in its 11th week. With 17 chart-toppers, she now ties Elvis Presley at number 2 on the all-time list, and becomes the only artist to post two No. 1 songs on the Hot 100 in 2005. "Don't Forget About Us" is also Ms. Carey's 16th number 1 song as a songwriter, tying with Barry Gibb for third place. Only Paul McCartney (with 32) and John Lennon (with 26) have more.

Transit Strike & Racism

Angela Winters, a black moderate blogger, opines about the (now over) public transportation workers' strike in New York City: "I've been holding out on this topic because I hate talking about what everyone else is talking about, but I've been reading some interesting things about how quickly this boiled down into racism. For one, I am not on the side of the unions. They were asking for too much. They are not special and although their job isn't easy (might be hard to tell when you see so many of them sleeping on the job), they don't work harder than most people. Who the hell doesn't want to retire with full benefits at 50? Anyways, they held the city hostage and made business and people who have done nothing but pay the taxes for their pretty good salaries. They say they were tired of not being treated with respect? Well, now everyone hates them. Good luck getting respect now. I shouldn't have been surprised when racism reared its ugly head. Blogs and websites, especially the rants and rave at various Craigslist NY-related threads quickly reverted to the n__r, lazy monkey, etc."

Although I have not been convinced that the workers deserve better terms, there is racism at work at well. No surprise there. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had a race-tinged comment, when he referred to the union leaders as "thuggishly" holding the city under siege. I don't recall him using such terminology when mostly white or other folks did stuff of which he disapproved. Hmmm....

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Update

I'm glad that the rider in the annual defense spending bill - to start drilling in this area - failed last night. Folks successfully filibustered it, the U.S. Senate formally removed language pertaining to ANWR from the bill, and the resolution to kill the ANWR language passed 48-45.

The Trouble With Speaking Quickly

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation - the fundraising arm of the CBC, which repeatedly slams the Bush administration for its allegedly slow and racially insensitive response to Hurricane Katrina - has yet to spend any of the $400,000 that it has raised for the storm's victims. Instead, it will continue to collect funds through the end of the year and then administer funds. Mark La Roi, a black conservative Republican blogger, comments: "They have no idea what they're going to do with the money, but they keep accepting more after assailing the government with a barrage of 'too slow' and 'racist' complaints. Seems to me that at this point, the government is far ahead of the CBC. Story here..."

La Shawn Barber, a black conservative blogger, adds her two cents: "The CBC, which railed the loudest against the federal government, President Bush in particular, for its 'slow' response to help the black victims of Hurricane Katrina, hasn’t given away any of the money purportedly raised to help the evacuees.....Why the delay? Don’t be surprised to hear about some lavish, impromptu New Year’s Eve 'charity' bash. But you didn’t hear that from me. Meanwhile, evacuees will be in hotels for the holidays."

As a private entity, the Foundation can do as it wishes (within the law). However, it would have been nice had it started distributing funds as soon as it got them. Especially given how the CBC itself complained so loudly about the government's response? Yet Big Government was speedier than it was? Pitiful.

Tony Sewell: "Control, Precision, Discipline: What Black Boys Really Need"

Asserts the conservative British educator: "Yet as [youth motivator] Ray Lewis has said, the problem isn’t self-esteem. In fact they’ve got too much of that they need to know how to control it.....However there is something lacking in leadership programmes which make them vulnerable. There is too much emphasis on leadership and not enough on management. It is here that us men have collapsed. We know how to get it right with the big vision, the big idea that leads our people out of Babylon but we’re rubbish on the detail. Look at our great leaders Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey. They only lasted as long as they did because women were doing the detailed management that made them look good when they expounded the vision."

ROBERT A. GEORGE OP-ED: Odd Democratic PATRIOT-ic Behavior

The moderate-conservative Republican blogger writes: "A temporary extension of the Patriot Act is a good thing. In theory, it would be nice if the legitimate civil liberties concerns that are, in fact, bipartisan, could be addressed apart from partisan sniping. Yeah, right......However, a six-month extension means that a new Patriot Act will have to be debated and passed in both chambers by July. Given what it is claimed that Bush and the Republicans did to them in 2002 with the Department of Homeland Security, why would Democrats agree to an extension that expires four months before Election Day 2006?"

COMMENTARY: Keep Christmas "Christmas"

Asserts the National Review editor and conservative Republican: "I say this not as a Bible-waving Religious Right-winger, but as a socially relaxed libertarian whose last wisps of faith evaporated in college. Even as a non-believer, I resent the relentless drive to convert Christmas into 'Holiday' and pretend that all those beautifully decorated trees are really Hanukkah bushes, Kwanzaa shrubs, or Solstice topiaries. The Orwellian impulse to hammer Christmas into the generic 'Holiday' is mainly a project of far-Left, militant secularists as well as corporate marketers whose courage can be measured in thimbles. Fearful that 'Merry Christmas' might make someone 'uncomfortable,' they instead antagonize the 95 percent of Americans who celebrate Christmas, according to a Fox News poll."

Growing Population Shifts Political Power

Southern and Western states are growing so much faster than the rest of the country that several states are expected to grab U.S. House seats from the Northeast and Midwest when Congress is reapportioned in 2010. Texas and Florida could each gain as many as three House seats. Ohio and New York could lose as many as two seats apiece. Nevada grew at a faster rate than any other state for the 19th consecutive year, followed by Arizona, Idaho, Florida and Utah. Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts lost population, as did the District of Columbia. The populations of North Dakota, Ohio and Michigan grew, but at a slower rate than others. Overall, the country grew by 0.9% in the past year, to about 296.4 million people.

COMMENTARY: Spoiled Union Sadly Misses The Point

The moderate-conservative columnist discusses the shutdown of public transportation in New York City, due to a union strike: "We know that the MTA's $1 billion surplus is not the result of the labors of the transit workers; it is the result of your taxes. Union members did not put in extra effort to bring about more income. In fact, 45% of that surplus is earmarked for the transit workers' pension fund. Not too shabby. Have we gotten to the point where we should expect unions to ignore the hard facts and seek to make a frail goose into a layer of golden eggs? The troubles had by the Detroit car manufacturers and the airlines show that something new must be done because the weight of pension benefits can bankrupt a company."

Quote Of The Day

"It's a big issue in the black community because it is always put forward as the only alternative to selling drugs. 'What, am I supposed to go flip burgers for minimum wage?' Uhm...yes.....As a community, we need to give due respect to those young men and women that are in McJobs to reinforce the ethic of honest work." — Angela Winters, moderate blogger

Funeral For Williams Draws Overflow Crowd

Hopefully this is my last post about this thug, but I couldn't let this mess slide. No surprise that mostly liberal apologists for crime - including many gangbangers - showed up to big up the murderer and Crips co-founder, who was executed last week. Little if not zero remembrance of Stanley Tookie Williams' victims: the four people he murdered in 1979 and black communities that have been under siege due to the gang that he helped develop. Rev. Jesse Jackson, Min. Louis Farrakhan of the Nation Of Islam, and rapper Snoop Dogg were among those who eulogized Williams yesterday at a Los Angeles church in a four-hour ceremony. Speaker after speaker proclaimed that he was innocent and castigated Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for refusing to grant clemency. "Tookie is dead. We're not safer, we're not more secure, we're not more humane," said Rev. Jackson. "We must kill the idea of killing to stop killing."

My response: Oh yes, Rev. Jackson, we are safer, more secure, and humane. There is now a guarantee that Tookie Williams will murder no more people, or order hits on folks from behind prison bars. I am glad to Gov. Schwarzenegger was - unlike the fools at this thug's funeral - on the side of crime victims.

In a phone message, Bruce Gordon, president of the NAACP, told the crowd that his group would rededicate itself to Williams' message warning of the dangers of gangs. Hey isn't that what it is supposed to already be doing? Snoop Dogg read a poem that counted down the last minutes of Williams' life, and included the passage, "What about the crimes you committed? I forgive it - and furthermore, if you're black like me, you're guilty until proven innocent - and I don't believe he did it." That was done to cheers, by the way.

The most ridiculous statement to come out of the funeral? Min. Louis Farrakhan compared Williams' trial and execution to that of Jesus Christ. Both, the Muslim leader argued, were innocent men executed for political reasons. "Every true revolutionary, every man that will not bow down to the forces of this world, will be rebuked and scorned," he said. Williams "is the patron saint of all those struggling in gang life," he added. My response: Say what?! I am a mere deist, but I don't recall Jesus murdering anyone and causing destruction in communities. At least Min. Farrakhan cleaned it up a tad by urging gang members to put down their guns. No violence at the funeral, but we know that Min. Farrakhan's request won't last even one day. Williams' body will be cremated and the ashes will be scattered at sea off South Africa.

Morgan Freeman Steps On Some Toes

In his recent "60 Minutes" interview on CBS, where the actor stated that Black History Month is ridiculous. Ripclawe, a black conservative Republican blogger, critiques a Baltimore Sun article: "Couple of interesting things about this article, the writer Dang says "growing number of people who believe that designating one month to black history only helps to trivialize it". Where are the quotes from those growing number of people?....I find it telling that Morgan Freeman is now lumped in with Bill Cosby as a traitor for telling the truth."

FISA Judge Quits

The American Moderate Party blog, written by a moderate Republican, writes: "In only the latest turn of events in Snoopgate, FISA Court Judge James Robertson has resigned 'in protest of President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying program.' The FISA court is where President Bush should have requested authorization to tap telephone calls. Such requests could be authorized up to 72 hours after....Instead, the President chose to get no authorization from the legal system and went ahead and personally authorized wiretapping. AMP can easily understand why Judge Robertson would resign. Why serve in a position whose power is meaningless and is usurped by unlawful means?"

HORACE COOPER COMMENTARY: Not A Suicide Pact

The law professor and conservative Republican argues that only the executive branch is fully capable and nimble enough to address the The War On Terror: "To argue in the face of this reality that the response to this challenge must be handled primarily by the legislature or even the judiciary is to unilaterally disarm ourselves against a clear and gathering threat. Even the Supreme Court recognizes that it isn’t capable of taking the lead on national security matters. Twice the Supreme Court was given an opportunity to place limits on the president’s national security authority to engage in electronic surveillance, and twice the Court has declined to do so."

Sweden To Probe Dark Eugenics History

Sweden has launched a probe to understand how eugenics - a theory on improving the human race used by Germany to justify the Holocaust - became broadly accepted in the early 20th century. 60,000 women were forcibly sterilized in 1936 to 1976. In 1922, the National Institute for Race Biology was founded with support from a range of political parties. The first of its kind in the world, the institute investigated whether race was a determining factor in illness or human character traits. The Swedish eugenics research body was merged in the 1950s with a university genetics department. Other negative aspects of Sweden's past have recently come to light. The government this month promised an inquiry into claims by thousands of Swedes of physical abuse and cruel treatment in state children's homes for decades from the 1950s.

Yet white liberals have touted this (virtually lily-white) country as a paradise for quite some time now. Yet they will diss America - which has multiculturalism and has addressed its dark past much earlier - with the quickness. So much so that they imported Sweden's welfare model into black communities - with many black leaders' aid - in the late 1960s, and we've seen how that Eurocentric move wreaked havoc on black families. I know better, because every country has a dark past and most a dark present. Did you know that Sweden also once trafficked in black slaves (although not like white Brits and Americans)?

WALTER WILLIAMS COMMENTARY: The Consumer Rip-Off

The libertarian economics professor discusses price manipulation on consumer goods: "There are hundreds of statutory minimum prices, including gasoline in some states. There are numerous agricultural import restrictions and production quotas. All of these government-sanction market manipulations represent seller collusions against consumers.....Price-fixing is illegal, and you will face fines or imprisonment, but with one caveat: unless you get permission from congress or your state legislator. If you get permission, price-fixing becomes legal and it's non-price-fixing that's illegal."

Quote Of The Day

"Today, trade among African countries accounts for only about 10% of their total exports and imports. One explanation for this is that most of all Africa’s economies are agrarian. Yes, but they do not stand much chance of diversifying or adding value unless they reduce taxes on imported technological equipment....[A]nother ill that plagues Africa is corruption. According to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, corruption alone robs the continent of US$ 149 billion annually -- US$9 billion more than the total benefits if all global trade protectionism were scrapped. This figure seems unbelievably high but in August 2004 an African Union report gave a similar figure, representing 25 per cent of the continent’s gross domestic product. So what we really need is transparent, accountable and decentralized governance in order to pursue a coherent regional trade policy. This would translate into reducing economic intervention, freeing financial markets, removing obstacles to starting businesses, establishing property rights and bringing all Africans under the rule of law. That’s the kind of trade we need and the kind of justice we need." — Franklin Cudjoe, Ghanaian libertarian and head of Imani: The Centre For Humane Education think tank

COMMENTARY: Obligatory Seriousness On Black History Month

The moderate-conservative Republican blogger writes: "The most potent argument in support of Black History Month is that it establishes a sense of knowledge of self in African Americans who would otherwise believe those idiotic and racist things said about them. In that regard and in the spirit of Carter G. Woodson the target of Black History Month is not America nor the rest of the world, but black people themselves. Somehow I think the lesson was lost, perhaps as early as the time it started being called 'Black' instead of 'Negro' History Month. Black History Month is one of those vague traditions that's supposed to be good for everyone but ends up repeating the same thing over and over. There are only so many Ken Burns documentaries we can stomach. There are only so many times watching people attacked by dogs serves as a useful lesson. If we might have some new angle on black history, I think everyone would welcome it. Americans like new. Black History Month is a rehash. But there is so much of American history that we are discovering anew.....After all, nobody asked for Carter G. Woodson in the first place. He saw the need and he filled it, and he didn't work on it only during Februaries."

A Public Goodbye For Williams

2,000 people - many of them clad in Crips blue and some of them flashing gang signs - yesterday turned out at a Los Angeles mortuary to view the body of the murderer and Crips gang co-founder who was executed last week, despite a high-profile campaign to save him. "When I was a kid, Tookie was the most dangerous man in South-Central Los Angeles," said Najee Ali, director of Project Islamic Hope. "Looking at him today, I'm reminded that my childhood has long since passed. "Many of the people who lined up today for a last look at the man didn't know him; never met him. But they came to pay their respects because they have a Tookie in their family, or identify with his struggle." The Los Angeles Times writes: "The public viewing of his body attracted a sometimes rowdy crowd that spilled into the street, backing up traffic. Marijuana smoke wafted through the air as sport utility vehicles with 20-inch rims cruised past, rap music blaring at full volume. Adding tension to the activities in Williams' old Crips neighborhood, members of traditional rival Blood gangs took their place in line under the watchful eye of Los Angeles police officers across the street."

When Macella Hibbler, an elementary school teacher, heard that Williams' body was on public view, she and her three children and hurried to the mortuary. "My only thought has been this: How can I get my children to understand, I mean really understand, why we're here?" she said. "I'm telling them, 'Watch the road you take and make wise decisions. That way you won't wind up in a coffin.'" Standing outside the mortuary and watching the spectacle in the street, Wanda Smith shook her head and said, "I feel sorry for Tookie. It could have been my own brother, or my son. I hope that his death will make gangbangers stop killing each other," she said. "I've been to so many funerals, it's heartbreaking."

The liberal glorification of this thug, murder, and destroyer of black communities continues. Only Ms. Hibbler and Ms. Smith are making sense here.

Impeachment!

Rick Heller, a moderate, on Dubya's approval of wiretaps on U.S. citizens: "Some Democratic elected officials are talking about impeachment because of the domestic spying story which broke on Friday... Democratic activists have been talking impeachment for some time, based on the notion that the President lied to get us into Iraq. That was never going anywhere, because spinning is not against the law. But if a law has been broken here, that brings it to a new level, certainly one that could start with a criminal investigation and go who knows where. Still, I would advise Democrats to downplay the impeachment talk, in favor of a sober investigation of whether laws have been broken. The public wants a change in 2006, but I doubt they are going to install a Democratic congress if the major agenda item is impeaching the president. In truth, I don't understand the administration's logic. I am totally in favor of wiretapping bad guys, and personally, I wouldn't even mind if they wiretapped my own phone. My life is an open book, and I don't commit any crimes. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the public wanted the government to do whatever was necessary to protect us, and worry about the legalities later. But now it is 'later.' They've had four years to get this on a firm legal footing. Why didn't they?"