The Whole Foods Conundrum

So now I can't shop at Whole Foods?

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, spouts off in the WSJ.

The recent ("activist") Heller decision to apply the 2nd amendment to individuals,shows how the definition of "rights" evolves - even for supposed strict constructionists. The majority's reasoning is based on "historical background" and not on a strict reading of the Constitution itself.

So when Mackey writes that

Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That's because there isn't any. This "right" has never existed in America

- it just makes me want to scream.

Based on the "historical background" surrounding the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, would Mackey support repeal of every amendment that granted "new" rights... to Blacks? to women? etc.? Because by "historical background" the majority concluded

What Congress did in drafting the Amendment, the Court said, was “to codify a pre-existing right, rather than to fashion a new one.”

By that standard, all but a sliver of American society - white male landowners - have any legitimate Constitutional rights to be ascertained by Mackey's "careful reading" technique.

The mind reels. Back to law school assignments...

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi convicted; sentence commuted.

From the New York Times:

“The outcome of this trial has never been in doubt,” Jared Genser, her international counsel in Washington, said Tuesday after the verdict was announced. “The real question is how the international community will react — will it do more than simply condemn this latest injustice?”

The charge against Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi was prompted by a strange incident in early May when an American intruder swam across a lake in central Yangon, Myanmar’s main city, and spent two nights in her villa, saying he wanted to save her from assassins...

According to news agency reporters allowed inside the courtroom to hear the reading of the three-year sentence, a five-minute recess was called after the verdict was given, and the country’s home minister, Gen. Maung Oo, entered the court and read aloud an order of commutation issued by Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the leader of the junta.

The 18-month term will ensure that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi will be confined during a parliamentary election due next year. Many analysts have said they believe the case against her was intended to keep her from participating in the election.

Gates-gate coda in the offing

Since this has been the main subject of my recent posts, I might as well relay the latest... by way of The Root, which links to the Post piece about Lucia Whalen, the 911 caller.

Reports of her actions - and supposed racist motives - are just wrong. Instead of catching a case of alarmism from the elderly woman who asked Whalen to call the police, she went and took a quick look at the situation before giving a an arguably careful report.

It's incredibly sad to know the situation devolved from her description of events to "disorderly conduct" and handcuffs.

Oh, well. It'll all be taken care of shortly...

Gates and Crowley will gather for a beer and chat with President Obama at a picnic table outside the Oval Office as the sun sets Thursday. The president has called the incident a "teachable moment," but the trio is no expected to discuss the details in their meeting.

Off the agenda: Gates's and Crowley's dueling accounts of the professor's arrest outside of his home on July 16, and the accusation that Crowley allegedly racially profiled Gates.

On the agenda: A tour of the White House with their extended families. Gates will be accompanied by his fiance, two daughters, father and brother. Crowley will travel with his three children and wife.

And, of course, both men will bring their lawyers.

(from same Post piece linked above)

All's well that ends well... or so I've heard.

More on Skip Gates

Nice piece by Yale Ph.D candidate Brandon M. Terry...

(h/t to Huffington Post)

Charges dropped against Skip Gates

I guess it was all just a misunderstanding...

(h/t to Huffington Post)

Skip Gates arrested in his own house

I heard this on Al Sharpton's radio show today. He was interviewing Professor Charles Ogletree. Of course, when I got home and did a quick search for this post, Ta-Nehisi Coates had already beat me to it...

Adam Yauch diagnosed with cancer

#iranelection

For those interested in the latest events in Iran, check out persiankiwi's Twitter feed.

May the Iranian people's voices be heard.
May the powers-that-be exercise restraint.
May peace return to the streets.
May democracy and justice prevail.

That's what's up!

Marta showed me this picture a while ago.

After reading the background (h/t Bossip) - that li'l man wanted to know if the President's hair felt like his own - my snarky, earlier impression and immediate comment on the historical practice of rubbing Negroes' heads for good luck seems, shall we say, to have slightly missed the point.

Point taken.

Introducing Judge Sonia Sotomayor

President Obama's message:

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

Late-night, couchified thought: some people like Omelas just the way it is, thank you very much.

Am I really a PC?

Of all the wi-fi networks I've tried connecting to while waiting on Greta's door cable to get fixed, the "Apple Store" broadcast is the only one that actually works.

Go figure.

Mikiphone... portable phonograph

(h/t to Boing Boing)

Carlos on Tavis

for Carlos (haiku)

black magic shaman
eighteen inches mind to heart
journey of the soul

Haiku for a busy mind

white noise

pause white noise rewind

rules bending pulp to wood stand

wind filtering stone

Today in tech history...

From Wired:

1975: The pioneering computer-hobbyist group, The Homebrew Computer Club, holds its first meeting in a Silicon Valley garage. From its ranks will emerge industry pioneers like Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and hacker John Draper, aka Captain Crunch.

It started with a flyer just for geeks posted on bulletin boards (the cork kind). "Are you building your own computer? Terminal? TV Typewriter? I/O device? Or some other digital black-magic box? If so, you might like to come to a gathering."

Who knows - maybe some of this Facebook-friending or Twitter-following will revolutionize society years from now.

Guess I should update more often!

after commenting on PJ's blog...

...I really needed to check my memory against the video evidence.



Yep. Still holds up.

"Brand New Funk" is one of my suggestions for PJ's mixtape project. Go check out his post and leave suggestions in the comments.

Dr. King swats away 40-year prediction

We're ready now: BBC archive

It's been a long time...

An interesting article by Jay Rosen I stumbled upon while scrolling through Huff Post takes a look at journalism's soft underbelly.

Audience Atomization Overcome

It's helpful to see an alternate model to journalistic "objectivity" used to analyze the inherent politics of news-making.

(...I shouldn't have kept you)

Alec on the Internets

Marta's former colleague, our friend, and a father of 3... I present: Mr. Ross.


(Today's word - agita - makes an appearance at about 1:50).

Ballin' with the Best

In case you missed it, Marta's working on the Transition Team! Gettin' face-time on the change.gov website, too!

Trudat

I told some friends this weekend I'd have to buy Ebony magazine for the first time in my adult life.

Why?

Why ask why?

The Takeover!

(h/t to Ta-Nehisi Coates)

In Our Lifetime!!

President. Barack. Hussein. Obama.

No, no, I'm gonna vote!!

Easily the best form message I've ever received:

Dear Jomo,

You're in this video. Check it out!



Remember Florida in 2000--the election was decided by just over 500 votes. Imagine what it would feel like if you didn't vote, the election went the wrong way, and, well--it was actually your fault?

With the help of our friends at MoveOn.org, we've prepared a video that paints that picture, with you, Jomo, in it. It's a funny and scary reminder of how important voting is. After you watch, it's easy to send to your friends and family with their names in it, along with a simple email from you saying "hey, looks like you're in this video." They'll be surprised; they'll think it's funny, and most of all, it'll make them think twice about the importance of their vote.

Thanks and Peace,

-- James, Gabriel, Clarissa, Andre, Kai, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org PAC team
October 27th, 2008

The Obama Effect?

As a subscriber to Modern Jackass, I'm glad to see the Bradley Effect explained and examined in this post by Daniel Okrent.

His five points seem reasonable enough to me. But racism confounds reason, so I guess we'll have to wait and see how this all plays out.

One more thing, Mr. Nutjob... about your paper's candidate

Setting aside for the moment who's to blame for this mess, what about getting us out of it? Your paper endorses the senior citizenSenator from Arizona. What's he doing these days to resolve the fiscal crisis? Let's check in on that real quick:

And so, a bailout proposal that once seemed likely to pass now is back to negotiations. In the process, Secretary Paulson was reduced to getting on his knees to beg House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not to have her party members bail on the proposal; President Bush was forced to ponder a market meltdown on his watch; and Democrats were left fuming that in a bid for the leadership spotlight, John McCain may have simply gone and fouled things up.

"Bush is no diplomat," said a Democratic staffer, "but he's Cardinal freaking Richelieu compared to McCain. McCain couldn't negotiate an agreement on dinner among a family of four without making a big drama with himself at the heroic center of it. And then they'd all just leave to make themselves a sandwich."

Smooth move.

A wee bit of wonkery

On WTOP this morning, some nutjob from the Washington Times said the current fiscal crisis is the fault of overregulation, specifically the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977.

A primer:

The Community Reinvestment Act (or CRA, Pub.L. 95-128, title VIII, 91 Stat. 1147, 12 U.S.C. § 2901 et seq.) is a United States federal law that requires banks and thrifts to offer credit throughout their entire market area and prohibits them from targeting only wealthier neighborhoods with their services, a practice known as "redlining." The purpose of the CRA is to provide credit, including home ownership opportunities to underserved populations and commercial loans to small businesses. It has been subjected to important regulatory revisions.

Now, explain to me, Mr. Nutjob, how did a law to prohibit financial institutions from "redlining" force Wall Street whiz kids to create sophisticated credit default swaps and leverage themselves out of business? That's (CRA is, according to Mr. Nutjob) a magic bullet with an incredibly slow velocity, taking fully 31 years to pierce the heart of global finance. No less a personage than the estimable Warren Buffet criticizes these pieces of hokum as "financial weapons of mass destruction". But, again, Mr. Nutjob says it's not the whiz kids and their FWMDs, it's the poor folks who used CRA to get a house, that are to blame for this mess.

But that's not the point of this post. The point is when I pointed all this out to my wife, who was driving me to work, she asked why I don't do political work instead of political armchair quarterbacking.

Good question.

I holler at the TV a lot. Maybe one day I'll be on TV hollering instead. I dig this wonkery stuff.

Hanna who?

We thought Hanna was supposed to be some kind of storm. I actually bought a tarp, finagled it into the gap between our porch and the Nicholson's porch, and set up an elaborate system of towel rotation-to-spin cycle water damage prevention in our leaky basement.

For what? A little bit of a trickle? It's been an hour and my towels aren't soaked through. Hanna, you disappoint.

P.S.,
Not to disregard the very real damage done. It just didn't happen so much at our house.

P.P.S., The tally:
$ 5.97 >12 towels
$ 9.27 >200 'rags-in-a-box'
$22.98 >9'x12' tarp (flammable!)
$ 2.20 >sales tax
$40.42 >total earned by Home Depot #2583

Post-euphoria, still can't beieve it

It's Saturday morning. Luz is asleep and Marta's off to Babies R Us. I, for the first time since the historic acceptance speech Thursday night, am taking a moment alone to let it all sink in:

I am about to celebrate my 5th wedding anniversary
Luz turned 8 months yesterday
On the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington, Barack Obama spoke to more than 38 million viewers - plus the rest of the world not gauged by Nielsen - and brought the ruckus!

Mo' Houses, Mo' Problems

I smell a new theme song in the air!

Margaret Atwood

Since her book inspired the poem in my last post, I thought I'd feature some of her work directly. Here goes:

from Variation on the Word Sleep

I would like to be the air
that inhabits you for a moment
only. I would like to be that unnoticed
& that necessary.

Margaret Atwood (b. 1939)

"Variation on the Word Sleep" from Selected Poems II: 1976-1986 by Margaret Atwood, published by Houghton Mifflin. Copyright © 1987. Reprinted by permission of the author.

haiku

handmaidens

objectivity
treats spin as truth's rebuttal
...carborundorum

Milestone? An apology from Congress for U.S. slavery

As told by the Washington Post:

The House yesterday apologized to black Americans, more than 140 years after slavery was abolished, for the "fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow" segregation.

The resolution, which passed on a voice vote late in the day, was sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), a white Jew who represents a majority-black district in Memphis. Cohen tried unsuccessfully to join the Congressional Black Caucus this year.

"I hope that this is part of the beginning of a dialogue that this country needs to engage in, concerning what the effects of slavery and Jim Crow have been," Cohen said. "I think we started it and we're going to continue."

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is considering introducing a companion measure in the Senate, he said.

Now for those 40 acres and that mule...

Participants said that the while the issue isn’t exactly capturing attention from Congressional leaders, it is getting attention in scholarship and in classrooms. “Most white Americans view the idea of reparations as a new or strange idea, but in fact it isn’t new or strange,” said Ray Finkenbine, a professor of history and director of the Black Abolitionist Archives at the University of Detroit Mercy

It's proven in fact/ it takes a nation of millions to hold us back (Public Enemy)

Lyrical distillation of expansive article on Timberland's green bona fides

Article
Good corporation - not an oxymoron.

Distillation
Timbo's on my toes.../I like the way it's goin' down... (Q-Tip of ATCQ)

Solidarity

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! The media need to stick together. Big up to Vanity Fair!

Alright, break's over. Back to work.

Sanctuary, borders, justice, salvation

For the people in Prince William County, VA and the anti-immigrant lobby...

What!

But the memory of the Holocaust has a way of making the world feel smaller. People of different nations can imagine they share a single human drama. Salvadorans have been as surprised as anybody to rediscover their part in it. To have been on the side of the angels at one of the darkest moments in history, when other countries stood by, is something a small, relatively poor, geopolitically minor nation can be proud of.

It would be no surprise to me if my wife reads this post, sends word to her mom, and we find out this Col. José Arturo Castellanos was a family friend.

Go, Elissa!

Elissa (and some other reporter) wrote a great piece on DC's illustrious mayor. Seems he has a penchant for forging ahead, imperial-style like that other DC-based executive branch guy. You know the one.

Gotta love those Stanford Zen Buddhists

Trey Ellis on Obama 'moving to the center'.

I've had some head-scratching moments the past few weeks watching the Obama camp switch up the game for the general election - most recently with the swift dis of Wes Clark and the faith-based initiative pledge.

All this makes me want to dig out that old Harper's article about how Obama isn't some new-style politician. Hope we didn't toss it out with the rest of the spring cleaning!

"The Not-For-Much-Profit Company"

I just happen to work there. Dave's a good guy, and I'm glad to see him published.

O in '08

Oprah at Stanford Commencement. Lots of multimedia content in the right-side nav bar.

Mugabe and Mbeki

Joe Lauria's got an interesting piece on Thabo Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy". It's hard to fathom how Mbeki makes sense of his position, given this exchange:

I asked him: "Do you feel you can be objective about Robert Mugabe, given his legendary status as a fighter against colonialism and the loyalty you might feel towards him that may make you unable to see what he is today, 30 years later?"

Mbeki scoffed at my question. "No, I've heard that story told. I think that one thing that could happen is that the people might credit us with the capacity to think. I know as much as you do," he said, "that when something is wrong, it is wrong. The fact that I came from the liberation struggle doesn't mean I can't recognize a wrong thing. So this argument, that because all of us come from liberation struggles, when something goes wrong, even in our own movement, we won't recognize it because of some loyalty to ourselves ... We are perfectly capable of recognizing something that is wrong."

Mbeki defended his "quiet diplomacy" to the hilt, widely denounced as enabling Mugabe. The furthest he would go with my question was: "There are many things wrong with the politics of Zimbabwe, otherwise why go mediate something that is right?"

Jeff Chang on Obama, Muslims, and identity politics

Another thought-provoker, Jeff Chang, writes today:

The most frustrated surrogate of all is Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison, the nation's first Muslim congressman, who has seen efforts to bring the Muslim communities in greater contact with Obama stopped dead by the campaign.

It's hard not to notice that this is where the "change" message gets run over by the still largely white mainstream Democratic party operatives who control Obama's campaign. Again, to all those who want to complain about allegedly coalition-fragmenting "identity politics", here are the real identity politics at work.

Mugabe kills opposition; clears path to "re-election"

One day the people of Zimbabwe will be free of Robert Mugabe. Unfortunately, today is not that day.

Background reading for those interested:
1. a network of Zimbabwean activists has a site and a blog.
2. Human Rights Watch puts out great reports

Or, if you just want the prophetic Bob Marley take...


(Verse 3)

To divide and rule could only tear us apart;
In everyman chest, mm - there beats a heart.
So soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionaries;
And I don't want my people to be tricked by mercenaries.

As long as I'm big uppin' my friends...

Here's my man, Sami Miranda, founding member of the Tres Raices collective.

As seen on Kristop's blog

I'm digging Raul Midon. Do you? Leave a comment with Top, the music lover who put me on to "Sunshine".

More from Ta-Nehisi Coates

If he writes it, I'll read it. You should, too.

via TPM.

Cool music on a scorching day

It's H-O-T!!

But Ali Farka Toure is cool. PJ graced me with a double-CD a few years back. Luz is sleeping in the sling, just got off the phone with my man, Jaasi, and the fan is on energy save mode. Not a bad way to spend the morning.

Beats being outside.

Another reason to pass on the North Face

From Tim's El Salvador blog:

"Women in El Salvador sewing $165 jackets for North Face and $54 shirts for Eddie Bauer cannot afford milk and other basic necessities for their children as their wages fall behind soaring food costs. Some mothers report they will have to take their children out of school.

The women are paid just 94 cents for each $165 North Face jacket they sew—meaning that their wages amount to less than six-tenths of one percent of the jacket’s retail price."

In my lifetime

A proud day for my country. Long overdue, but right on time!

Obama. Barack Obama. Democratic nominee for President, Barack Obama. Next President of the United States, the Senator from Illinois - Barack Obama.

Say Word!

sweaty haiku

luz and papi, a
mid-morning stroll, maya slung
nap while i mop sweat

or

luz and papi stroll
maya slung mid-morning, shade
sweat like dew-moist leaves

Black Man's Burden

(h/t to a 'friend of a friend' who emailed this link)

From the Boston Globe

Big Thanks

I just applied to law school thirty-eight minutes ago.

Big thanks to everyone who helped me with my personal statement: Marta, Marian, Omar, Jaasi and Debbie.

Big thanks to Rey, Ariana and Pam for their letters of recommendation.

Big thanks to everyone who encouraged me from day one.

Let the waiting begin!

A Lovely Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

First day as a Project Manager at CITI.

Obama - "Yes We Can" video

Props to Americablog. Props to the producers of this video.

Morsels

Courtesy of the U.S. State Department's america.gov site:
> the restored Lincoln Cottage, situated up the street from our home, is opening in February 2008. Years ago, I took an "1860 - 1960" tour of DC monuments led by Ed Smith of American University/the Smithsonian. At the Soldiers' Home, and Professor Smith told us how Lincoln's ideas on race were shaped by his discussions with Frederick Douglass at the Cottage. Basically, Douglass' rise from slavery to international abolitionist proved the lie of Black inferiority.

> Out of the mud blooms the lotus.

So there you have it: my hopeful nature shining through on a beautiful Saturday in January.

Toni Morrison Endorses Obama

I've been wanting to go back and read Morrison's original "Clinton is the first Black President" thing after the recent South Carolina debate and the whole SC primary bullsh*t. I never read it back in the day, and I'm tired of the moniker being bandied about seriously, when she could only (in my non-having-read-it-estimation) have been making a point metaphorically. Anyway, here's the relevant /snip/:

African-American men seemed to understand it right away. Years ago, in the middle of the Whitewater investigation, one heard the first murmurs: white skin notwithstanding, this is our first black President. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime. After all, Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas. And when virtually all the African-American Clinton appointees began, one by one, to disappear, when the President's body, his privacy, his unpoliced sexuality became the focus of the persecution, when he was metaphorically seized and bodysearched, who could gainsay these black men who knew whereof they spoke? The message was clear "No matter how smart you are, how hard you work, how much coin you earn for us, we will put you in your place or put you out of the place you have somehow, albeit with our permission, achieved. You will be fired from your job, sent away in disgrace, and--who knows?--maybe sentenced and jailed to boot. In short, unless you do as we say (i.e., assimilate at once), your expletives belong to us."

For a large segment of the population who are not African-Americans or members of other minorities, the elusive story left visible tracks: from target sighted to attack, to criminalization, to lynching, and now, in some quarters, to crucifixion. The always and already guilty "perp" is being hunted down not by a prosecutor's obsessive application of law but by a different kind of pursuer, one who makes new laws out of the shards of those he breaks.
/snip/

So now I have this to chew on: Morrison's Obama endorsement - which poetically and pointedly rejects the Clintons. (For extra measure, let's let Christopher Hitchens chime in on the myth of Bill's affinity for Black folk).

What this means for me is something closer to home. I have a picture of me and Bill Clinton - the coup de grace: he's wearing a Stanford t-shirt - that I've kept for years. Until we had painting done recently, it hung upstairs in the hall. What to do? I dig the photo. But I'm increasingly down (have been since he was in office) about the actual policies and politics he pursued. And the prospect of him back in the White House makes my skin crawl.

Caroline Kennedy Endorses Obama

W.W.B.D.?

(What Will Billary Do?)

icy-hot

it was supposed to be a quick rub-down;
calves salved - not menthol fuming

your gas-taut lungs.
nor a fuming wife

sending me to shower and change
the sheets, lest we asphyxiate.

A restful, wakeful moment

Luz on my chest, slung Maya style;
Marta taking a well-earned nap.

Quote of the Day

About this: "These kids make Robert Downey, Jr. look like all he had was a little cold."
- Marta

Luz Antonia Graham Urquilla

Born December 29, 2007 at 10:40pm.

Amazing!!

Sista Souljah Redux

From Jack and Jill Politics

Nights like this

Me and my Boo, laid up...
D'Angelo docked, croonin' over
belly-rubs. talkin' to Baby Girl,
Urquilla-Graham

We have 23 days to go, folks! All the books and advice and doctor's visits and therapy have us at least a little prepared for what awaits. But little B.G.U.G. will show us what's up.

Excited, anxious, happy, together. Marta and I are enjoying this last phase of the next phase of our lives. Everything is everything!

Mortified

Apparently, I don't know how to use the spell-check function.

So...

B-a-t-t-l-e-s-h-i-p.

I stand corrected.

Fresh-squeezed orange juice

My wife and I are "playing Batteship" this morning; laptops back to back: Facebook, Huffington Post (yikes!), and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Thirty-two days till baby-girl "to be named" is due. Life is beautiful :)

Now that that's over...

I took the LSAT this morning at Howard University. (Not in Ernest E. Just Hall, as advertised, but in the Dental Building, as re-located). I chose a seat in the front row, right corner, figuring it would offer me less distractions.

In a bold violation of test center rules, I stowed my jacket, gloves, scarf and (black brushed wool) Kangol on top of the piano in the corner rather than under the desk with the gallon-sized Ziploc holding my pb&j, carrots, nuts-n-berries, and Penland water bottle. Unlike other, bolder violators, I left the cell phone at home. I have yet to ascertain whether Marta is at High Tea with the ladies (as scheduled) or at Virginia Hospital Center (as re-located). Now that I've both called and texted, I hope to find out soon.

The test itself came off as well as I could expect. My front row-right seat kept me from fixating on everyone else. Hewing close to the LSAT prep book strategies, I prioritized the questions that made sense to me in order to increase my score. I hit my targets

• 20 questions on each logical reasoning section
• 3 passages in reading comprehension
• 2 of 4 games
  

for each of the first four sections - I even got through part of the third game in Section III! Writing came naturally. Too bad it's not scored.

The reading comprehension at the end of the day was harder than at the beginning. Still, I finished three of the passages and "bubbled in" answers for the fourth. Not bad.

I am thankful for all the love, support and advice that prepared me to sit in the re-located test center this morning with an open heart and mind. I feel good.

Marta - I love you. We're gettin' there, baby!

The LSAT is Coming

Saturday, December 1, 2007 - the countdown is in effect.

The Truth

Was it Eddie Murphy who did a sketch about "President Jesse Jackson's Inauguration" - wherein he ducked and dodged throughout the speech to confound would-be snipers?

The truth ain't too far from fiction.

Downward Mobility

Depressing realities statistically confirmed. Thanks, Pew!

/lede/
Nearly half of African Americans born to middle-income parents in the late 1960s plunged into poverty or near-poverty as adults, according to a new study -- a perplexing finding that analysts say highlights the fragile nature of middle-class life for many African Americans.

/snip/
"That's a stunner," said Orlando Patterson, a Harvard University sociologist, when told about the Pew finding. "These kids were middle class, but apparently their parents did not have the cultural capital and connections to pass along to them."

Another reason so many middle-class blacks appear to be downwardly mobile is likely the huge wealth gap separating white and black families of similar incomes. For every $10 of wealth a white person has, blacks have $1, studies have found.

"We already knew that downward mobility was much more likely for blacks," said Mary Pattillo, a Northwestern University sociologist who studies the black middle class. "But this is an even bigger percentage drop than I have seen elsewhere. That's very steep."

Foreign Corporations, si! Foreigners, not so much...

Northern Virginia welcomes foreign-owned companies while Prince William County is up in arms about the foreigners in their midst.

Put up or shut up!

Benazir Bhutto has an excellent op-ed in today's New York Times, challenging the world - particularly, Western democracies - to act against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's Martial Plan.

Much can be - has been - said about Bhutto's own bona fides, but she is correct to call the question: do promoters of freedom and democracy actually believe what they are saying?

Aaaah... now I'm thinking of Sweet Honey in the Rock:
"Ella's Song"
We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes

I believe.

Last night I spent a few hours driving to and from Prince William County, VA. My wife and I went and had a celebratory meal with Aracely Panameno, her brother and his two daughters. Aracely mounted a write-in campaign for County Supervisor against a 26-year incumbent and really shook some people up.

Election workers had to rediscover the laws and poll duties they have taken for granted. The larger electorate had to face the truth that "a change go'n come."

Big up to Aracely for Upsetting the Setup!

Really Ready?

Astounding.

Ta-Nehisi Coates does it again

Rev. Al Sharpton gets the business this time.

Remember Cosby?

Aracely Panameno for County Supervisor

A worthy candidate at a critical juncture.

Genarlow Wilson - Free at Last

Genarlow Wilson - freed from jail. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that his sentence violated the Fourth Amendment.

Obama - WTF?

From Americablog:

One + One = Two

Interesting

What can I learn from Tyler Perry?

Home Fires are Burning

My family isn't evacuated yet, but the bags and cars are packed just in case.

My alma mater, Mira Mesa High School, has been converted into an evacuation shelter.

Worried. Very worried.

Do you like saving online articles?

Check out Times Files - a service of NYT online that lets you save articles to their server.

The cooler trick is putting the Times File button on your toolbar. Presto! You can archive all the stories you like and empty out that 'Articles' folder you've set up in your e-mail account.

Constitution? Not so much...

Quaintly, the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution asserts:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Yet, and still...
/snip/

Verizon Says It Turned Over Data Without Court Orders

Yesterday's 13-page Verizon letter indicated that the requests went further than previously known. Verizon said it had received FBI administrative subpoenas, called national security letters, requesting data that would "identify a calling circle" for subscribers' telephone numbers, including people contacted by the people contacted by the subscriber. Verizon said it does not keep such information.

Who Am I...? The MC!

Is it a battle if one side doesn't have any weapons?

How to Engage Your Reader

Lesson One - Write a strong opening sentence.

Another 10-miler done!

Over 26,000 people entered the 23rd Army Ten Miler.

I had a good race. Although the official results haven't been posted (actually, the race site is down as of this posting), I clocked my Self at 01:41:41:48.

This time around, I ran two miles, then walked, then ran two miles... It was different than last April's Cherry Blossom 10-miler, which I ran in one long stretch. The more I run, the better I am at gauging what my body and mind and spirit need to get from start to finish.


Much love to Marta for getting me to the starting area this morning, and for making me an egg-and-cheese bagel sandwich this afternoon!

Much respect to the veterans and Missing Parts in Action racers. Seeing double-amputees out there brought up plenty of emotions and some anger. But I put that aside and just clapped and said, "Thanks..." as I passed by. After all, most of those kids were kids. I mean baby-faced 18-21 year olds.

Whatever I think about why they were in a position to lose their limbs is ancillary. Today they were out there among the 26,000 completing a longer 10-miler than I ever will. I hope they had a good race. I'll look for them again next year.

Free Burma!

Sign a petition. It's not that hard.

A chance encounter

From another blog via another blog.

Fascinating story about India outsourcing outsourcing

/snip/
Some analysts compare the strategy to Japanese penetration of auto manufacturing in the United States in the 1970s. Just as the Japanese learned to make cars in America without Japanese workers, Indian vendors are learning to outsource without Indians, said Dennis McGuire, chairman of TPI, a Texas-based outsourcing consultancy.

Good Morning, DC

walking through Petworth
Upset the Setup t-shirt
Fleet Feet sneaks; DC

Wiki-How

How to Draw Graffiti Names

!

a head-scratcher

Free the Jena 6!

Justitia omnibus

Monday (haiku)

up the steps feet drag
wet sand in burlap over
concrete: back to work

XX

It's (gonna be) a girl!

Bernice Drazin

Rest In Peace

Why'd they have to go and dis my show?

This American Life Completes Documentation Of Liberal, Upper-Middle-Class Existence

CHICAGO—Producers have documented every single existential crisis or self-congratulatory epiphany that has been or could be experienced by a left-leaning agnostic.

Taxation Without Representation

Something's fishy. I agree with a Washington Post editorial.

Back on the Vineyard

Our second week-long vacation on Martha's Vineyard is coming to a close. We didn't bike all over the place this year. Instead, we maxed, relaxed and took the car all over the place.

Either way, the island's beautiful, and we had a great time together before Marta heads off to Penland to re-connect with her Muse, via Clarissa Sligh's workshop, for the next 2.5 weeks.

I'm gonna miss her somethin' terrible, but it's all good. Git yer art on, Chitta!

I feel like crying, too

Courtesy of the Washington Times:

/lede/

A question for President Bush on immigration rose up like a ghost from the grave this afternoon in Ohio.

Only the questioner was a 13-year old blonde-headed girl, Jessica Hackerd, from Brecksville, Ohio, who immediately broke into tears after making her inquiry.

Suchitoto Water Protest

From Tim's El Salvador Blog.

/snip/
Those arrested have been charged with “Creating Public Disorder,” and lawyers who have been in contact with the police headquarters in Cojutepeque confirm that their case will be designated under those charges to the Cojutepeque departmental attorneys and court system. Under Salvadoran law the departmental prosecutors have 72 hours to present charges at a hearing, which will most likely be held in Suchitoto.

Despite the charges of “Creating Public Disorder,” the CRIPDES leaders arrested never came close to the protest activities being carried out in Suchitoto. News footage shown on the Salvadoran Tele-Corporation (TCS) channels clearly show a the police vehicle overtaking the CRIPDES truck on the paved road between Suchitoto and San Martín, swerving in front and stopping the CRIPDES leaders. The video also shows the police forcefully removing the passengers from the pick-up truck, and taking them away in handcuffs, several kilometres away from where the protest was staged.
/snip/

Still, the protest leaders and others arrested at the protest are being charged under anti-terrorism laws

A time warp

I agree.

/snip/
To the candidate, the debate says more about America's state of mind than it does about him. "I think America is still caught in a little bit of a time warp: the narrative of black politics is still shaped by the '60s and black power," he tells NEWSWEEK. "That is not, I think, how most black voters are thinking. I don't think that's how most white voters are thinking. I think that people are thinking about how to find a job, how to fill up the gas tank, how to send their kids to college. I find that when I talk about those issues, both blacks and whites respond well." (Barack Obama, Newsweek July 16, 2007 issue)