Prometheus 6

I started using YouTube like a big fat hard drive. Later, the SOBA clips drew enough traffic to make me look at stats, which made me follow comments...

They just added a video remixer. Pretty basic...anyone with any business remixing videos would likely laugh at it. But I got this copy of Flash 8 laying around...

Just gets you thinking.

Anyway, I uploaded today's video to answer the musical (as in 'musical fruit') question, "Has the Supreme Court has opened the door to segregation?"

Watch how hard it is for both guest and host to discuss race, even when it's the actual topic at hand.

What which nouns are hid Watch how hard it is for both guest and host to discuss race, even when it's the actual topic at hand.

What which nouns are hidden behind a pause and a pronoun.

Howard Kurtz is such a whore I just don't link his crap.

That kind of reaction is to be expected from the lobbyists exposed in my article. But what I found more disappointing is that their concerns were then mirrored by Washington Post media columnist Howard Kurtz, who was apparently far less concerned by the lobbyists' ability to manipulate public and political opinion than by my use of undercover journalism.

"No matter how good the story," he wrote, "lying to get it raises as many questions about journalists as their subjects."

You should read the excerpt of his article at Harpers Magazine. I'll definitely be buying the July issue.

Undercover, under fire
The Washington press corps is too busy cozying up to the people it covers to get at the truth.
By Ken Silverstein
KEN SILVERSTEIN, a former Times staff writer, is the Washington editor of Harper's Magazine.
June 30, 2007

EARLIER THIS YEAR, I put on a brand-new tailored suit, picked up a sleek leather briefcase and headed to downtown Washington for meetings with some of the city's most prominent lobbyists. I had contacted their firms several weeks earlier, pretending to be the representative of a London-based energy company with business interests in Turkmenistan. I told them I wanted to hire the services of a firm to burnish that country's image.

I didn't mention that Turkmenistan is run by an ugly, neo-Stalinist regime. They surely knew that, and besides, they didn't care. As I explained in this month's issue of Harper's Magazine, the lobbyists I met at Cassidy & Associates and APCO were more than eager to help out. In exchange for fees of up to $1.5 million a year, they offered to send congressional delegations to Turkmenistan and write and plant opinion pieces in newspapers under the names of academics and think-tank experts they would recruit. They even offered to set up supposedly "independent" media events in Washington that would promote Turkmenistan (the agenda and speakers would actually be determined by the lobbyists).

All this, Cassidy and APCO promised, could be done quietly and unobtrusively, because the law that regulates foreign lobbyists is so flimsy that the firms would be required to reveal little information in their public disclosure forms.

Now, in a fabulous bit of irony, my article about the unethical behavior of lobbying firms has become, for some in the media, a story about my ethics in reporting the story. The lobbyists have attacked the story and me personally, saying that it was unethical of me to misrepresent myself when I went to speak to them.

Children's TV character killed
From Times Wire Reports
June 30, 2007

A Mickey Mouse look-alike who preached Islamic domination on a children's television program was beaten to death in the show's final episode.

In the skit, the "Farfour" character was killed by an actor portraying an Israeli official trying to buy Farfour's land.

He was killed "by the killers of children," said Sara, the teenage presenter. Israel has denounced the series, broadcast on Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa TV.

I almost forgot, I got some audio for you. This one is from Constance Rice's speech at TBA2007. Interesting stuff, not quite all to be accepted uncritically, and in fact I chopped the first half of the talk so you don't lose patience before getting to the inspiration of the title of this here post.

Download the clip

THERE ARE A LOT of reasons why: lack of a coherent agenda to measure officials against, a romantic belief that black politicians always have the interests of black people at heart, fear of jeopardizing the increasingly tenuous state of black representation by complaining about it and — this is particularly acute in L.A. — a tendency to see politicians as celebrities. There's also the practical impossibility of figuring out exactly who's responsible for what hasn't been done — the old conundrum of proving a negative.

Black isn't enough
Issues, not just a politician's skin color, should matter to African American voters.
Erin Aubry Kaplan
June 30, 2007

THE SENSE OF triumph was almost audible in the giant banner headline that ran in last week's Los Angeles Sentinel, the city's oldest black newspaper: "Laura Richardson Wins".

sagereader at Think On These Things has done a very nice job of showing how Luntz did exactly what we expected . Lists seven ways he screwed with the outcome. My favorite is number six.

6. I found it interesting that many of the non-blacks in the focus group were moderate or non-Hillary Clinton supporters. This would then create a dynamic of everytime they said something and Luntz would ask if they agreed, all the black people would say in unison, “No.” You can’t racially stack a focus group like that. A reputable focus group would not have it such that the racial demographics are correlated with the political demographics.

What's yours?

(heads up by rickyrah) 

Let's not grasp at straws here. While Kennedy kept the court from definitively shutting the door on school integration, it's clear what direction we're headed.

Standing in the Schoolhouse Door
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, June 29, 2007; A21

It's time for those of us who are old enough to remember when the U.S. Supreme Court was a major force for racial integration and justice to stop living in the past. We need to realize that for the foreseeable future any progress our increasingly diverse country makes toward fairness and equality will come in spite of the nation's highest court, not because of it.

A Brief White Folks Guide To Black Separatism

The third Media Matters item in almost as many days regarding accusations of "black separatism" leveled at the Pastor of Barack Obama's Church, Jeremiah Wright, illustrates how both our media and our schools fail to adequately educate Americans about important aspects of their history....

To reiterate, while White supremacist groups intend to restore or perpetuate legalized forms of discrimination against blacks, the primary focus of black separatists is black self-empowerment in the form of black sovereignty and economic independence.

Too often, black separatism and black nationalism are conflated. Doing so is inaccurate.

You know what I want to know?

How long ago did he write this crap that it was ready for publication so quickly? His recap totally excises any sign of the immediate, unending opposition to equal education, much less integration, either mounted, supported or accepted by the mainstream.

It therefore totally misrepresents the truth.

...the decision in Brown v. Board of Education that focused on outlawing segregated schools as unconstitutional is now out of step with American political and social realities.

Though this one bit sounds about right.

Anyway, what do you do, think of horrible things that can be done to Black folk, write something up, file it until it's needed? Does someone call, "Yo, Juan. We're about to jam that thing through, write up something nice, whydoncha?"

Contacts:

CommonCause.org - Susan Greenhalgh 917 796 8782
ColorofChange.org - Clarissa Goodlett 919 889 1011
People for the American Way - Laurie Boeder 202 467 4999

Civic Groups Praise House Investigation into Allegations of Partisan Voter Suppression at the Department of Justice

Judiciary Committee to Explore if GOP Voter Suppression Activities may be tied to Attorney Firings at DOJ

It's Cobb (I was asked to give a warning...)

The Opportunities and Risks of Deracination

This the first of many things I will eventually be writing about the latest Supreme Court decision on matters of school and race. This first essay will be about my reaction and thoughts without having read the decision at all.

Just remember the last line. It's underplayed but important.

Irish immigrant were used to undermine Black economic progress.

Arboleda: One of the things that you can see if you understand the immigration pattern of Irish, Italians, eastern Europeans coming into the United States and the ways in which, let's use the Irish for example, they were pitted against African Americans. The Irish are sometimes referred to as the "blacks of Europe ." When they came to the United States , they moved up in status.

The displacement of African-American workers at the time of the Irish immigration was rampant in the Northeast. Folks who had moved up to the North from the South lost their jobs because the preferred white workers came in. This is a pattern that repeats itself, and we have to understand that history to keep the perspective that we need to come up with some solutions.

And the day after the Supreme Corporate restores the seperate part of seperate but equal, a little town in Ireland elects the country's first black mayor. An immigrant from Nigeria.

Which has nothing to do with me at all. But for a moment there the irony fumes almost got to me.

Losing What We Never Had: White Privilege and the Deferred Dreams of Black America, Part 1
by BAR contributing editor Dr. Edward Rhymes

"An oppressed people without total recall of their history of exploitation cannot craft a new history of liberation." - Manning Marable

As the current field of Democratic and Republican presidential candidates jockey for position, I believe that it is important for Black folk to examine and critically-deconstruct where we have been and where we find ourselves today. It seems that every four years we see our struggle and needs ignored, minimized or denied - additionally, 2000 and 2004 should have shown us that even our votes are under attack.

Say my name.

Let me tell you the Story of the Credentials.

Two sisters seperately asked if I'd like to blog the debate. They shall remain nameless so as not to refocus thy ire. I said yes in both cases, which turned out to be the same case, i.e. they were both asked by MBA to help identify Black political bloggers. On accounta they knew they needed help on that score.

Meanwhile, PBS approached MBA because they have a track record of supporting such efforts successfully. They managed the combined web feeds for the Scooter Libby trial that was the source of some 90% of all media coverage of that trial.

Race card

This old white lady, living among some very tolerant black neighbors, finally got her race card.

OK, I didn't really get a race card. I made a copy of the one on Page 81 of the July issue of Ebony magazine.

The picture is of a black credit card embossed with FOR BLACKS ONLY. And it goes with a story titled, "I can, but you can't: When membership really does have its privileges."

The article's a good meditation on the politics of language and how using words like n - - - - - and h - can make some people rich and get other people fired.

The picture, posted next to the monitor of the computer where I compose this little Web log, is a little reminder to watch my mouth and not forget that I'll never have "membership" in the community, no matter how deep in the hood I live.

We will remember all this when Luntz starts acting like he's credentialled to explain Black folks and spewing nonsense.

Smiley confirms that Luntz -- and only Luntz -- will provide analysis of PBS' Democratic presidential forum

On the June 28 edition of New York Public Radio station WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show, PBS host Tavis Smiley, who was scheduled to moderate a Democratic presidential forum later that day, confirmed that Republican pollster Frank Luntz will be PBS' and the Tavis Smiley program's sole provider of focus group analysis for the forum coverage. Asked by host Brian Lehrer, "Just Luntz or do you have a Democratic pollster there too?" Smiley responded: "[J]ust Luntz."

It's 3 am as I write this...it will be somewhere around 8 am, soonest, when you read it.

This train travel thing is interesting. You can get your tickets whenever you want but you take the chance of them selling out. You can buy them in advance but you have to be sure when you're going to leave and this time I wasn't.

Was actually tempted to stay longer. It was a pleasant rip, actually. I wound up talking to one of the security guards for a while during a cigarette break. There was this excellent ledge they throw a tent over for eating/partying purposes that overlooks a lake. I thought I wasn't one to rant about a scenic view anymore but this one brought out the ol' landscape photographer in me. Mentioned what great pictures it would make and found the guard also had a silk-screening business. FINALLY met Professor Kim, FINALLY met Pam, FINALLY met Terrance. And I wound up being one of the last out of the joint, which was also good. Brother running the shuttle to the Metro spotted me in the middle of the block looking all media-like, took me to Union Station (well deserved tip which cost me half as much as a cab would have). He just had to go back to Howard for his final run. So I'm sitting in the seat right across from the entrance watch ten or so really fine sisters walk up the stairs and smile at me. Shuttle bus had two little video screens playing a tape of Earth, Wind and Fire playing at some edition of the Montrose Jazz Festival. We wuz sangin' on the bus, yo. I could have been convinced to stay.

Maybe I should have...I got to Union Station at 1 am...and as I said, 3 am I'm on the train typing, digesting the stuff said at the forum. I got issues, though.

I am NOT going over there.

Media access means you talk to who feels like being there, IF you can navigate through the crown of cameras, microphones and bodies. There's all manner of spokesmen, and two candidates (Dodd and Kucinich...they already locked Gravel in the basement). The candidates touched on all my questions, and handled them like politicians. And I can't see getting any more data in Spin Alley than I got from the forum.

Interesting seating...I was next to a right wing warblogger who posted at Ace of Spades. Met LaShawn...we were both nice...still won't visit her site because I don't link Christian Conservatives. Getting through politics is deep enough, a talk on religion would just become a catfight.

Um...I think that's it. Late start tomorrow. 

I'll hold off on these...I feel there's some oversimplification going on (though I do like the no-fly-zone over Sudan).

Maybe we should have invaded Darfur for its oil. They got close to as much oil and would have been much easier to defeat than Iraq.

Then again, the Somalis are asking for more American military support right now.

Michele Martin went all United Nations on them, asking if they would support a right to return. Senator Clinton is kinda working around it the way she works around apologizing for voting for the invasion of Iraq. Biden ducked the same way.

Edwards talks such a good game. And Sen Obama oes the embrace and extend thing.

Mr. Edwards agrees that unearned income is privileged over earned income and should not be. Biden says the equivalent. I invite the unified feed readers to check this Blogcritics.org post on the topic (yes, I wrote it).

And Gravel is a pisser! Paul/Gravel 2008! 

Tavis dissed Dodd...watch that hit The Daily Show .

Al Sharpton didn't look happy with Biden.

These statistics are difficult to hear. I'm going to have to look into them.

Dodd: Who wants to hear about Bush? Grasping for the center will not help your campaign, sir.

Edwards did well. Obama co-signs, and adds the need for discussion (shame, homophobia, etc).

Hey, another valid expansion of reference by Sen. Obama! 

Kucinich: Health care is a public good and should be just...provided.

Gravel: I am actually with you on ending the drug war.  You gotta say other stuff, though.

Dodd brings up access, as well as coverage...he ran over

Oh, Senator Clinton! You get your title fully spelled out for your answer here!

Biden: Got a little carried away..."I know Barack got tested for AIDS"??