Once again Anderson Cooper takes another Republican to task: Facts matter especially when you're talking about slavery.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Noteworthy: In the news today
"It's not really about Republican or Democrat. It's about the black community. The minority vote has been misused and manipulated by people for so long,'"
I am not sure If I blogged about this or if I was just talking about this to some followers... But this idea or concept of what minority voters could do to turn the next elections on their head? Voting out of their own self-interest... I know what you're thinking? Doesn't everyone vote out of their own self interest normally? Well kinda, African- Americans tend to vote Democratic consistently, almost to a fault. Oddly enough, recently some believe that if the DNC would have actually focused more on getting out the "Black Vote" in the last mid-term elections the Dems would have faired better. The numbers that I have seen seem to indicate that most of the elections were extremely close; add that to the fact that the"Black Vote" usually is lower in mid-term elections. The point being that had the Dems actually spent time and money on their most loyal voters that would have had a better out look in the 111th congress.
However, many believe that the Tea Party movement had a significant influence on the last election cycle. Placing their issues, too many taxes, less government, etc. , front and center. Enough to cause long term Dems and Republicans to lose their seats to these radicals.
What I am talking about is different and the same as what the comments are in the article. What if minorities started acting like conservative Tea Party does? Would taking a stand so bold and decisive that elected representatives would pay closer attention to the wants and needs of minorities? More on this topic to come...
Friday, January 14, 2011
Noteworthy: In the news today
Broad Racial Disparities Seen in Americans’ Ills
¶Babies born to black women are up to three times as likely to die in infancy as those born to women of other races.
¶American Indians and Alaska Natives are twice as likely to die in car crashes as any other group.
¶More than 80 percent of all suicides are committed by whites, but young American Indian adults have the highest suicide rates by far — 25 per 100,000 population at age 21, compared with 14 for whites, 10 for blacks and 8 for Asians and Hispanics.
¶Overdoses of prescription drugs now kill more Americans than overdoses of illegal drugs, the opposite of the pattern 20 years ago. Overdose death rates are now higher among whites than blacks; that trend switched in 2002, after doctors began prescribing more powerful painkillers, antidepressants and antipsychotics — more easily obtained by people with health insurance.
¶Blacks die of heart disease much more commonly than whites, and die younger, despite the availability of cheap prevention measures like weight loss, exercise, blood-pressure and cholesterol drugs, and aspirin. The same is true for strokes.
¶High blood pressure is twice as common among blacks as whites, but the group with the least success
in controlling it is Mexican-Americans.
¶Compared with whites, blacks have double the rate of “preventable hospitalizations,” which cost about $7 billion a year.
¶People in Utah, Connecticut and North Dakota report the most “healthy days” per month — about 22.
People in West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee report the fewest, about 17.
¶Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians, whether gay or straight, all have higher rates of new infection with the AIDS virus than whites, and the situation is getting worse for blacks and Indians. Asians have the lowest rate.
¶Binge drinking — defined as five drinks at a sitting for men and four for women — is increasing. In a switch from the norm for health problems, it is more common among the better-educated and more affluent, including college students. But poor people, and especially American Indians, drink much more heavily when on binges.
¶Teenage pregnancy is holding steady or falling for all ethnic groups, but is still three times as common among Hispanic girls as among white girls, and more than twice as common among black girls as among whites.
December 2010: State of Unemployment for Minorities:
Overall Unemployment Blacks: 15.8%
Latino Unemployment: 13%
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Black Men 16.5% 16.9%...12/09
White Men 8.5% 9.3%
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Black Women 13.2% 13.1%...12/09
White Women 7.3% 7.4%
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Black Teens 44.2% 48.4%...12/09
White Teens 22.5% 23.6%
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Under-employment rate for December was 16.7% --
slight fall from 17% in November.
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State Unemployment Situation for November
In state unemployment data for November (December is not available yet), payroll employment increased in 20 states and the District of Columbia, decreased in 28 states and was unchanged in 2 states. 21 states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month unemployment rate increases, 15 states recorded unemployment rate decreases and 14 states had no change in unemployment rate. The largest gains in payroll employment occurred in Texas (+19,000), New Jersey (+10,000). The states with the most job losses were North Carolina (-12,500), Massachusetts (-8,600) and Ohio (-7,800). Nevada again recorded the highest unemployment rate (14.3%). Nevada was followed by Michigan and California (each at 12.4%). Florida then followed with 12% unemployment rate. North Dakota continued to register the lowest jobless rate at 3.8%..
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Thursday, January 13, 2011
And this guy wants to be President?
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Exclusive - Tim Pawlenty Extended Interview | ||||
| ||||
What I found interesting about this clip is that Jon stewart Looks and sounds more Presidential then Tim Pawlenty. I guess what I am saying is that when I watch the interview I see Jon stewart attempting to have a discussion about the issues and where and how do we get to compromise in our politics of today, however Tim Pawlenty apparent objective was to be a good guy, a funny guy, instead of showing the American people that he is a different politician. Every-time that Tim Pawlenty attempts to show where he differs versus the other guy he fails in this format. I don't want you to be a clever funny guy i want you to pull up the chair and discuss the issues, no politics. Just talk...
Most important question was when Jon Stewart asked if are we playing, or they, the Republicans, to real fears or are we inventing fears to create that don't ultimately address what people are legitimately afraid of.... we should use every tool in the tool box to fix these problems?
"...more government does not mean less liberties..." Jon Stewart
Thursday, January 6, 2011
P 2the C: Politically Correct?-take 2
Huck Finn and the N-word:
So, last night I received 10 texts after the post about HUCK FINN being PC-ified. I was done with this story, I had moved on. When our local news came on at 10pm, I was interested in seeing how they would cover the story. Keep in mind last night it was everywhere and on everything. When I was driving home it was on NPR, but I am done with this story, I took a stand or at least said where I stand.
I don't usually watch this particular channel but, my cousin was texting me to turn to channel 4 news. In the newscast they have a section called "Good Question?" And you know what the question was, "should a new version of Huck Finn be edited? Or something to that effect. So, as I am watching the story they interviewed 5 or 6 people, one was white and the others were all black. Now, the when the media wants to get around being or appearing racist they get a lot of African-Americans to basically say the same thing that any white person would say but, by having a African-American say it's some how less offensive. So, I now know what direction the story is headed based of the comments made by the six people being interviewed. There was this hallmark moment early on in this piece when they had two young African-American gentlemen outside a corner store, dressed in their full winter grab, looking seriously urban. So, the reported ask them what they think and then... wait... the male said "I use the word." All of them almost in unison saying "Leave it alone," "it's fine," then a clip of Anderson Copper, from CNN, saying that changing the book to be more sensitive would be like changing the the title of the book "War and Peace" to just "Peace." For real?
I remember this book in elementary school and nobody pulled it off the shelves then; So, I have to say that I was quite surprised to hear that many schools across the country did not allow the book in their schools. With that being said, this edited version of the book is intended for elementary and middle school students, this is the core audience. A edited version allows teachers to bring the book into the classroom and expose this literary classic to them, an opportunity they have not had in a long time. The original version is not being pulled off the shelves and hidden away. The new normal is that we are more PC and that is because we are now a more diverse society. We censor and edit content all the time and content is being edited for us, whether you know it or not. I am editing myself right now!
At the end of that story, they cut to the reporter and the news anchors all agreeing that this new change was silly and smiling. I am now in-sensed. First of all they are all white, so what the hell do they know about being called a "nigger?" They may have used the word but, they have never been called one. I could not help but think about my Elementary and Middle school years and being called a "nigger" everyday of the week from the grades 4 till 9th grade. Sometimes I even forgot my own name because I knew they don't SEE me as a person, just this word. Kids can be cruel, especially in High school. As an adult we instinctively protect kids from many things until they the maturity to handle it. However, this is a call that each parent must make at home, but while this book is on our school shelves we need to protect those kids who cannot protect them themselves. It's as if everyone forgot about all the news stories a couple months ago about all these kids being bullied in school and kids killing themselves because they did feel like they fit in or were not welcome in their schools. Words have power, even the wrong words.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
P 2the C: Politically Correct?
Not sure if you heard Huck Finn is getting a Makeover...
‘Huckleberry Finn,’ Minus the N-Word
"The new book will also remove usage of the word Injun. The effort is spearheaded by Twain expert Alan Gribben, who says his PC-ified version is not an attempt to neuter the classic but rather to update it. “Race matters in these books,” Gribben told PW. “It’s a matter of how you express that in the 21st century.”Do we want kids reading this book today to think that the usage of that word is ok?
... I think it's a good thing
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