Woman Indicted in Missouri MySpace Suicide Case

LOS ANGELES — A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a Missouri woman for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against a 13-year-old neighbor girl who then committed suicide.

Lori Drew of suburban St. Louis was charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress on the girl.

Drew allegedly helped create a MySpace account on false premises to contact Megan Meier, who thought she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans, who turned out not to exist.

Megan hanged herself at home in October 2006 after receiving cruel messages, including one stating the world would be better off without her.

Drew has denied creating the account or sending messages to Megan.

MySpace is based in Beverly Hills. The indictment noted that MySpace computer servers are located in Los Angeles County.

Due to juvenile privacy rules, the U.S. attorney’s office said, the indictment refers to the girl as M.T.M.

Each count in the indictment carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Well, it must be catching attention if Neil Gaiman would blog about the foolishness that the BBC is up to now. They are going after a knitter who created some Dr. Who patterns and was not selling them. Some fool put them up on Ebay as sales and now the Beeb has gone after the pattern maker. Thanks to whatever dickwad reported the patterns on Ebay, Mazzmatazz has had to remove their works from their site.

Mazz does have a note up on their homepage about this whole thing. Thanks to LJ’er RoblingT I know know about the Who_Knits and Crafty_Tardis LJ communities. At Who_Knits the following bit was posted:

The recent copyright issues
As the maintainer of who_knits, I probably should have spoken up about the Doctor Who/ BBC/ mazzmatazz/ eBay/ knitting pattern fiasco much earlier.

I thought the whole situation was unfortunate and unfair but also a bit silly and assumed it would blow over and we’d have our patterns back up before the kerfuffle got to the point where Neil Gaiman might blog about it.

I don’t think who_knits should have an official policy about the privacy level of pattern posts (but if you are nervous, feel free to friends lock your entries), but I will be adding something to the userinfo/ F.A.Q. regarding profiting from patterns or knit items based on Doctor Who characters or props. That stance being: no profiting allowed.

The reason the BBC’s reaction to the patterns is strange and unfair is that the person punished was not the person asking for money. To maintain our righteous indignation, it’s important that there not be another example of an individual profiting from the sale of a Doctor Who pattern or finished item. I know no one reading this would think of doing such a thing, particularly at this time, but I thought the community’s stance should be stated nonetheless.

I realize this is a confusing issue. People sell Tom Baker scarves on eBay constantly, and I’ve never heard of the maintainer of the (disappeared) doctorwhoscarf.com dealing with issues of copyright. I’m not certain where the BBC draws the line. Is new-Who is off-limits but classic-Who free game?

My bottom line is this: be careful, use your own judgment, if you’re going to try to profit from a Who related knit item, don’t do it in who_knits.

Furthermore, although the BBC is within their rights to complain or request removal of patterns, doing so is not a smart way to encourage their fandom. I think they may need to be reminded of this in a playful, friendly way.

What do you think about who_knits holding an emergency knitalong that results in many knit Adipose being mailed to the appropriate BBC office?

As someone who values folks being able to share information freely, and also a big believer in fans being able to express their joy for a particular show, movie etc this seems to be such a boneheaded move on the part of the BBC. They went after the person who created patterns out of love for the show, not to make a profit. Go after the dipshit who was selling the patterns, without the creators consent after all.

Guess I’d better try and find the patterns now and pdf them before the Beeb gets its claws into other folks who enjoy the show enough to want to show their Dr. Who love.

Please send a note of complaint to the BBC!

Literary Scholar Indicts Some Black Thinkers for Shallow Works by Ronald Roach May 14, 2008, 22:25

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In his new book Betrayal: How Black Intellectuals Have Abandoned the Ideals of the Civil Rights Era, Dr. Houston A. Baker Jr., a leading scholar in African-American and American literature, takes a number of well-known Black intellectuals to task for published works that he deems as either lacking in substance or ideologically detrimental to Black American interests. Identified as either centrists or neoconservatives, these thinkers come under heavy criticism and their works, in Baker’s estimation, represent a betrayal to the legacy, largely established by Dr. Martin Luther Jr.’s leadership of the Civil Rights Movement. Late last month, Baker talked about his new book. Click here to listen to the audio of Dr. Baker’s interview with Diverse. Click here to read the transcript of his interview with Diverse.

Snagged directly from lwood’s LJ

Nordic Knitting Conference II: 13-15 March 2009

Well, thanks to lwood, I can tell you that a second conference has just been announced!

They’ve posted a PDF of the press release, but here’s the nitty gritty dates to put into your calendar:

10 November 2008:

Class descriptions will be posted on the museum’s website for your drooling pleasure.

01 December 2008

Registration opens!

13-15 March 2009

Dates of the Conference!

Hope to see some of you there!

Notes:

1. Last time, registration was by postal mail only, that may also be the case here.
2. There will be no pre-registration. BAH!
3. I have already marked all of these dates on my calendar. Mwahahahaha!!!
4. Parking at the Museum is good, but there’s little lunchable food within walking distance. Unless you have a Friendly Native Guide willing to shuttle you around places, I suggest the catering option.
5. Classes are for all skill levels. None of this “oh, poor me! I am not a studly enough knitter!” business.
6. Purchase books before leaving home: last time, the Museum didn’t have much on-hand, although they may well rectify that for obvious reasons.

Hope to see some of you there!

Everyone knows someone affected by heart disease or stroke. For those I love, I will be walking in this year’s Start! Heart Walk. I have set a personal goal to raise funds for the American Heart Association and need your help to reach my donation goal. We are raising critical dollars for heart disease and stroke research and education.

You can help me reach my goal by making a donation online. Click on the link below and you will be taken to my personal donation page where you can make a secure online credit card donation. The American Heart Association’s online fundraising website has a minimum donation amount of $25.00. If you prefer to donate less, you can do so by sending a check directly to me.

Your donation will help fight our nation’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers—heart disease and stroke. You are making a difference. Thank you for your support.

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support American Heart Association-Metro Chicago, IL

******************************************************************************
Some email systems do not support the use of links and therefore this link may not appear to work. If so, copy and paste the following into your browser:
http://heartwalk.kintera.org/metrochicago/tdepass
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Tanya DePass

Best and worst of L, subway stops

The Ride goes distance — to check out every station

May 12, 2008

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BY MARY WISNIEWSKI Transportation Reporter/mwisniewski@suntimes.com

The CTA has been asking riders to be “Mystery Shoppers” and tell the transit agency what it’s doing well — and not. To do our part, The Ride rode the entire length of the CTA rail system — 242 miles of L and subway track. Here are 10 “bests” and “worsts” that stood out:

1. Scariest platform

» Click to enlarge image

The prettiest spot on the L has to be the Conservatory/Central Park Drive platform on the Green Line.
(Chris Sweda/Sun-Times)

PHOTO GALLERY

The ‘L’ Awards

RELATED STORIES

Loop trains shut down for hours after fire The Ride: Updates from our blog Which stop deserves an award?

State/Lake — with Clark/Lake not far behind. It’s the combination of the really narrow platforms with so many riders crowding onto them. At its deepest, the State/Lake platform is just eight feet front to back. In some spots, though, commuters have just 3½ feet to maneuver because of posts. An elderly woman was killed after she walked off the platform in 2003 — witnesses said she seemed distracted by something to do with her purse. The station, built in 1894, is the oldest in the Loop.

2. Ghastliest station

Tough category. This one could go to North/Clybourn on the Red Line, where stalactites caused by dripping water dangle from the filthy ceiling. Or, a little farther south on the Red Line, Grand and State, which is cold and dank — except in the summer, when it’s sweaty humid — and currently has all the tiles ripped off for remodeling.

But, no, our winner — er, loser — is the Division Street platform on the Blue Line, for the mush of garbage and water between the tracks, the bad lighting, filthy walls, noise and general sense of claustrophobic urban gloom.

3. Garden spot

The prettiest spot on the L has to be . . . the Conservatory/Central Park Drive platform on the Green Line. The Queen Anne-style station house originally was part of the 1890s Lake Street L. It was reconstructed at Garfield Boulevard in 2001. From the platform, this isn’t your usual L view — vacant lots, expressways, fast-food rooftops. Instead, this time of year it’s Garfield Park in springtime.

4. Coolest art

The 18th Street station on the Pink Line is covered with colorful Mexican folk designs — dancers and gods, saints and flowers.

At the next stop, near the entrance of the Damen station, is a glass mosaic by Juan Chavez depicting scenes from Pilsen. Chavez, along with artist Corrine Peterson, created the “Hopes and Dreams” mosaic in the transfer tunnel between the State/Roosevelt subway and the Green/Orange Line L station.

Washington U. Set to Honor Anti-Gay Activist
Washington University in St. Louis is giving an honorary degree to anti-gay activist Ms. Phylis Schlafly founder of the Eagle Forum a right wing group opposed to LGBT equality and feminism. This woman has fought tirelessly against marriage equality even though her own son is gay, and she has said women should not work and believes they belong in the kitchen.

Take action by clicking to email the university on the post below:
http://queersunited.blogspot.com/2008/05/ding-dong-witch-is-getting-honorary.html

Q+A: John Cho

Our favorite half of ‘Harold & Kumar’ tells all about the sequel four years in the making

By Jiyeon Yoo

Some movies are so successful that sequels are rushed into production to cash in as fast as possible. That was most definitely not the case with “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.”

The stoner comedy earned a measly $18 million when it was released in 2004—hardly the kind of numbers that give studio executives contact highs. But the reviews were good and word of mouth was even better, and slowly but surely “Harold & Kumar” built a loyal following on DVD.

Now the pothead buddies, embodied so inimitably by John Cho and Kal Penn, are back to prove their box office prowess with “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.” The sequel, written and directed by the original film’s writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, finds H&K at the mercy of Federal agents who believe the happy-go-lucky duo are terrorists after they’re caught trying to smuggle a bong onto a plane.

Dear Monica Grenfell STFU

This is the comment I left there:

I found this post via Kate Harding’s blog. You horrible woman should be ashamed of yourself for your thinly veiled attack on this lovely young lady.

She is doing a wonderful thing by not being a pretentious wench who is obsessed with body image and making other young women of her age aware you don’t need to be a toothpick to attractive, vibrant and gorgeous. Kudo’s to her for making it this far.

You have no shame attacking a 17 year old girl who has more moxy th

an you ever will, you wench.
Hurrah for Miss Surrey 08!

The Daily Mail article w/comments thread

The article text after the cut.

JKR: Snape and Dumbledore Two of the Most Important Characters in “Deathly Hallows”

Snape and Dumbledore two of most important Deathly Hallows characters, according to JKR interview.

JKR Interviews

Posted by: Sue

April 03, 2008, 11:10 AM

Back in February, we told you Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was a guest at the James Joyce Awards in Dublin, Ireland. Thanks to La Gazetter du Sorcier there is a new report online containing a many of her remarks at this event. Answering a range of questions, Jo again says she intends to “write an Encyclopaedia which would hopefully incorporate a lot of back story I couldn’t… or flesh out back story that wasn’t in the books.” JKR was also asked if she thinks of the actors when she writes. Jo said “to be honest no, the only actor or actress who has ever, ever intruded while writing was Evanna Lynch, who is absolutely perfect as Luna. And I must admit I have heard her voice in my head when I wrote the book.”

Via Heather C:

Vegan Knitting Cupcakes

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

My first intentional project, following a pattern

I need to get more of the yarn but its off to a great start!

LeBron James’ Vogue cover called racially insensitive

• 
• The cover of Vogue’s April Shape Issue features Lebron James and Gisele Bundchen. (AP Photo / March 13, 200

By Megan K. Scott |The Associated Press

10:57 AM CDT, March 25, 2008

NEW YORK - When Vogue announced its April cover starring LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen, the magazine noted with some fanfare that James was the first black man to grace its cover.

But the image is stirring up controversy, with some commentators decrying the photo as perpetuating racial stereotypes. James strikes what some see as a gorilla-like pose, baring his teeth, with one hand dribbling a ball and the other around Bundchen’s tiny waist.

It’s an image some have likened to “King Kong” and Fay Wray.

“It conjures up this idea of a dangerous black man,” said Tamara Walker, 29, of Philadelphia.

While chatting with mister_bitters the following q&a took place. Reposted for posterity and because well, its my journal and I think its worth posting dammit.

I havent had a chance to watch his speech yet, but I am impressed by the text that I’ve read. I’m saddened by those who would demean his great words and twist them into a parody of hatred and classicism that isnt even mentioned in this speech. I think no matter the results of this election, this speech will be remembered as other great oratories of our history are now oft repeated and used to teach lessons to those of us who will listen.

I hope that the politics of hate will cease and that this election can be salvaged before we wind up with another 4 years of fear mongering.

“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”

A great place for well thought out, interesting and thought provoking blog posts concerning Senator Barack Obama. Good stuff! Go read I say.

Bloggers for Obama

Good stuff, I snagged the link from comments in a thread at Karnythia’s LJ and here’s the article that Bloggers for Obama linked to that Karnythia wrote:

Karnythia’s Editoria

Full Article below:

Racism in my feminism? You don’t say… 
By Karnythia

Hillary Clinton: Bow to the man, and take the vice presidency. Let our country heal. You will run in eight years and be unstoppable as a visionary world leader. You must pass through this filter first though: bow to the man.

Now, I’ll bet reading that made you want to reach for a hammer right? You’re thinking “What kind of sexist BS is this?” and possibly questioning my sanity. You’re right. It is sexist and I would sound insane if I were typing something like this with any serious intentions behind it. Of course it would be even more ludicrous if this was actually being widely disseminated and had people agreeing with it, but that’ll never happen right? Right. Except…something like it is being disseminated and people are agreeing with it. The message is a little different though. It actually reads

Barack Obama: Bow to the woman, and take the vice presidency. Let our country heal. You will run in eight years and be unstoppable as a visionary world leader. You must pass through this filter first though: bow to the woman.

This has got to be the stupidest thing I’ve seen yet in this election. Its not from an official source but its still unbelievably stupid that anyone could come up with this shit.

Really, who sits around thinking black folks are just waiting for the chance to enslave white folks in retribution for slavery?  Not to say there’s not a small sense of poetic justice of entertaining the fantasy, but really who could think this shit up and really give it more than 10 seconds of thought?

Stupid ass people, I swear.

Swiped from LJ’er Karnythia

Snagged verbatim from hey_its_michael I agree whole heartedly. [iconage too!]

Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan formally denounced Thursday the Tennessee Republican Party’s use of Barack Obama’s full name in a recent press release questioning the Illinois senator’s commitment to Israel.

“The RNC rejects these kinds of campaign tactics,” RNC Chairman Mike Duncan said in a statement. “We believe this election needs to be about the critical issues confronting our nation.”

The statement in question, which was released Monday, said the state party is joining a “growing chorus of Americans concerned about the future of the nation of Israel…if Sen. Barack Hussein Obama is elected president of the United States.” It also included a photograph of Obama from a 2006 trip to Kenya in which he is dressed in traditional attire worn by area Muslims.

From CNN.COM

It’s great to see the RNC is actually calling out the Tennessee Republican Party’s pathetic attempts at fear-mongering. It is absolutely sick the way some in politics think innuendo and manipulation of certain segments of American society through fear is acceptable. How about sticking to the actual issues?

Of course, I think many in the GOP fear that will only increase their losses in both branches of government come November…

Live By the Code

The Wire’s Michael Kenneth Williams on the end of Omar.

By Shana Naomi Krochmal

[Contains spoilers through the February 24 episode of The Wire, "Clarifications."]

When the chat is live got here.

 

I’m reading Richard Wright’s Native Son for our quarterly book club at Uni. We’ve had one meeting so far and it was pretty good. We touched on topis such as Bigger’s lack of emotion, sense of responsibility, the way he lives in a dream world where everyone has all the stuff whites do. Or rather where he has all of the things that whites do, there’s no mother or sister who is harassing him to take a relief job, and there’s no one to keep him down. The fight he gets into with Gus when they are “late” for their planned robbery etc…

We meet again in a couple weeks, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the discussion. If you’ve read the book, what are your thoughts on it?

This is interesting… considering what happened in the field after the MI Law school ruling on quota’s and now this news. It makes me wonder what this means for minorities trying to get into college. Will affirmative action bans be rescinded? Does this give proof to the stereotypes about Asian students as well as Black & Latino students? 

 Your thoughts?

From Diverse Online
Current News
Affirmative Action Bans Hurt Male Student Enrollment

By Michelle J.Nealy
Feb 18, 2008, 22:47

According to a new study, released by the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA), college admission rates of Asian American students at select public universities have thrived in the absence of affirmative action, whereas the admission rates of Black, Hispanic and White students have declined.

In a review of enrollment statistics from three states where affirmative action bans are in effect — California, Florida and Texas — the report also revealed that across all races, the male population drops in schools with blind admissions processes. Researchers examined admissions at five select institutions — the University of California, Berkeley; UCLA, the University of California, San Diego; the University of Florida; and the University of Texas at Austin.

The results of affirmative action bans such as Proposition 209 in California, which prohibits university admission offices from considering race, sex or ethnicity in its decisions, varied from state to state.

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mahvote, originally uploaded by bleu_woulfe.

 

Objects of Suspicion

Love a man, love a woman, either way they distrust you. What is it about bisexual women that lesbians hate so much?

By Jennifer Baumgardner

After Look Both Ways, my rah-rah book about having a love life with men and women, was published last year, I was pummeled by dating rejection from folks I had never met (and probably never would), as in these choice words responding to a review: “I offer a warning to anyone who finds himself or herself the object of Ms. Baumgardner’s attentions: She appears to be incapable of sustaining any relationship,” and “I don’t presume to know whether Baumgardner is bi or gay, but based on this review of her book I wouldn’t date her.” One person just came right out and said, “Steer clear of bisexuals.” The prevailing biphobia was almost charming in its retro-ness, prompting me to wonder, Is it 1980? I mean, really, do people, especially gay women, still think it’s OK to hate bisexuals?

“Yes,” said my ex Anastasia at the time. “Next question.”

Someone explain to me how in the bloody fucking hell the government can take two years to claim money they say I owe them and just do it with little notice, no way to really resolve it (I was on the phone for 40 minutes before I got to speak with a live person) and its perfectly fucking fine?!

I can’t take two years to send someone a bill for money they supposedly owe our department. If I did, I’d have been fired or at the very least written up. The only notice I’ve gotten is that I had’nt sent in that online signature form for my 2006 tax filing.

What the fuck man…I’m still at the office since I tried to call the other 800# I was given and I still didn’t get a fucking answer from a real live human being.

I want to burn down the fucking IRS office downtown now, or at least put my foot up the ass of the next person who even thinks to give me any shit for anything.

I’m so angry right now… so fucking furious I’m in tears. I need that money, I was going to buy my ticket to visit GW in San Jose so I wouldn’t be ass broke until next payday. FUCK this ruins everything. And to think that its perfectly acceptable for our motherfucking government to take however long they feel like to do their jobs but for us regular twits who don’t work for the government and actually have to perform in their fucking jobs or else.

Must be really fucking nice to work for the MAN since you can do what you god damned well please and get away with it.

Fuck this I’m going home. Fuck this bullshit and the government too

This is a total no-brainer to me that is once again touted as something new and shiny for people to go, really? I would have never have thought that! Poor black folks don’t like middle class black folks usually. The rest of us don’t like those uppity negroes who ahve the gall to be upper class and in some cases pretend as if they arent black any more.

No matter how much green is in your pocket dear friends, if someone sees your blackness first and your bank account second they won’t care how much you’ve got or not. You’ll be the poor/not broke as those welfare shuckers and jivers (aka doing alright)/ or bourgeoisies.

There’s no happy medium when it comes to black folks and class I’ve found in my 35 years on this earth. If someone is out of work, and you have a steady job then of course you must have spare money to give them right? If you work your ass off everyday, you do so to be rich… not wealthy mind you, but rich. There is a difference. (See Chris Rock’s Bigger & Blacker routine) You’re never happy cause you don’t have what that rich brother or sister has … and you eventually hate them for it, becoming poisoned against someone who came into money by hard work or luck… and then you scheme to take them down via word or deed.

Keep in mind that my opinions are my own and if you come here looking for a fight you’ll get one.

Skin, bits, issues and voting at Angry Black Woman.  By the most awesome Karnythia

Karnythia is guest blogging at ABW. She has summed up my feelings on the election madness much better than I ever could.  full text of the piece under the cut.

One of the worst spam email scams I've gotten in a while.   Almost as bad as the spam email warning me about spam emails  selling fake viagra.

Dear ethereals who dictate WHAT TO WEAR, HOW TO WEAR IT, and WHY  WE SHOULD PAY $$$$$ for the IT fashion of the week.  Please take the following things in consideration the next time you sit around and decide the fate of the fashion slaves of the world.

• Every woman who works does not wear 2-4″ heels to work, so please stop making pants so long I’m in danger of breaking my neck if I don’t wear heels.
• Not everyone should wear low rise pants, especially if they don’t believe in wearing a belt
• Thongs are not meant for everyone, stop making them
• Tell retail clerks that making the sale isn’t worth inflicting the reality of white spandex pants over dark undies on a rotund individual on the rest of the world.
• Fat ass women who wear spandex leggings with slits cut in the side should be dragged to the nearest plus sized clothing store for a makeover stat. Stop making clothing that makes people who don’t have the sense to buy things that are attractive instead of things that come in their size.
• Orange does not suit 95% of the population. It should never be used for coats, boots or other major clothing items
• If you are going to make things in sizes larger than 12, keep in mind that larger people have asses, chests and curves. Don’t just make things in a larger cut, make it to fit.
• Goth fashion should not ever be made mainstream. It’s subculture for a reason, stop exploiting it.
• Animals come in enough colors naturally. Stop dyeing animals to match clothing, its sick.
• Stop charging 400 % markup for fugly clothes just because they came from Italy, Europe or elsewhere. coming from across the pond does not mark up the value.
• Scrawny bitches who look 12 years old will not entice me to buy your clothes, instead it makes me wonder what kind of pedophiles are running your marketing department.

Thats all I have for now… readers feel free to add on to it.

I’m not sure who remembers X-Com UFO defense *… but this game UFO Aftermath made me think of what X-Com ** could have been if it had remained a viable title past Win98.

I loved X-Com and wish I could find a copy of it for the Playstation. I have it for PC still, but it won’t run under Windows XP [I haven't been able to get it to run anyway].

But I think I’m back in the alien killin business! And I’ve found that there’s a sequel to Aftermath, called UFO Aftershock.

Now off to kill some alien scum. Edit: Found X-Com UFO Defense for download =) if anyone was interested

/nostalgia flashback

Snagged from Brian. In respectful proximity… Westboro nutjobs actually have the bloody gall to ask Heath Ledgers family where they are hiding their sons body so they can protest his funeral. These bastards are so fucking sick… I wish they’d all just fucking die already.

Anti-Gay marriage petitioners come up short on the signatures they need.

Marriage Opponents Scramble for Petition Signatures

Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Florida must gather 27,000 more petition signatures by February 1 to submit to the state’s election supervisors. The measure also seeks to ban polygamy and group marriage while defining marriage as an institution between a man and a woman.

Florida4Marriage has taken on the cause in hopes of getting the measure on this November’s ballot, the Associated Press reports.

The group felt confident it had already obtained the necessary 611,000 signatures needed, but two weeks ago a miscount by Miami-Dade County election officials was uncovered that left the group with too few signatures.

As a result, Florida4Marriage has now declared a “constitutional emergency.” The groups is requiring all signatures be delivered by overnight mail or in person to its headquarters in Orlando. Under a new law, petitions can no longer be delivered to local county supervisors of elections by individual voters, according to a press release by the group. Petitions can only be delivered by the official sponsoring committee of the amendment. (The Advocate)

Simple questions, probably no easy answers:

Why do you blog? What keeps you coming back to Livejournal/WordPress/InsaneJournal, etc…?

What do you get out of it?

What prompted you to do it?

Think you’ll ever get tired of blogging?

… now before you get all twisted up listen. In the last couple of days I’ve had either Comedy Central or BET (yes, I know why am I allowing BET to stay onscreen longer than 10 seconds) during Russell Simmons Def Comedy Jam at night.

The reason I have come to this conclusion is that most black comedians take the following routines and beat it into the ground:

1.) How blacks are so inherently different than white folks in every aspect of everyday life.

2.) How blacks are different than [insert ethnic group here] and how blacks do it better

3.) Living in the ghetto

4.) How living in the ghetto has made them so much better equipped for life than their white/other ethnicity counterparts.

5.) Drug culture [both selling and using]

6.) The differences in black men/women and their white/other ethnicity counterparts

7.) Baby daddy/baby momma, going to the club to get laid, and skanky women/stupid men

8.) My man’s in jail/he’s a pimp etc

and the list goes on

And liberally saturated among these “jokes” are the words nigger, ho, bitch, motherfucker, etc. I guess I’ve either outgrown this stupid shit that passes for comedy or I’m just not into comedians being forced into a niche’, i.e: you’re a black comedian so you are relegated to the above list and cannot stray from that sphere of material or else you are no longer a black comedian.

Or if you talk about other topics you are *amazing gasp* just a comedian who is funny. There is such a broad range of humor to be exploited, used, and manipulated for laughs instead of just race based “humor”. I guess I just don’t get the humor since I didn’t grow up in the “hood” as it were so about half the list I just put up is eliminated in terms of what I’ll find funny.

The other part of why I’ve just called it quits is that I abhor the N-word and to hear it fall from the lips of people whose job it is to amuse me, so liberally and with no shame hurts me. It makes me weep for the future of black folks when the power of that word means nothing to them but a punch line or an accent.

For them, I leave this video… think on it people. Think about what you are doing when you drop the N-word like its nothing, when you pigeonhole yourself into being a black comedian whose only worth is to give the “black experience” to the audience.

Julian Curry on Def Poetry Jam… My people, my niggas

I was remiss in doing one thing in my last post about Dinner with Jen. I forgot to mention FlatStanley!

Here’s his travelpod profile:

Hi! My name is Flat Stanley! I come from a book about a kid named Stanley whose bulletin board fell on him during the night and made him two-dimensional.
My seven-year old friend Alex drew me as part of his second grade class project and then sent me to his Aunt Jen to take care of for two months. Aunt Jen took me with her to Palestine and Israel and boy did I have an adventure unlike any other Flat Stanley in Alex’s class–in the whole world,I bet!
Hope you enjoy seeing my pictures and hearing my stories!
Your friend,

Flat Stanley

Start of travels: Dec 10, 2007
End of travels: Jan 10, 2008

Check out his travels to Palestine and accompanying photos

I’m looking forward to reading about his trip to Chicago

So Wednesday we had Jen Marlowe speak on her both her works in Sudan and Darfur and her new film, Rebuilding Hope, a documentary film about South Sudan She is the co-author of The Darfur Diaries which was actually a film first then worked into a print format.

Ms. Marlowe is a wonderful woman who speaks with such depth and conviction about her works. But most importantly she gets “it”. She understands the interconnectivity of not just the situation in Sudan, Darfur, Iraq, etc but that these are not compartmentalized pockets of unrest that don’t exist in their own little silos and once one problem is “fixed” you just move on to the next and eventually things are good once again.

We were shown a clip from her upcoming film and then I was invited along to dinner with Jen, my boss Joe K, one of our AVP’s Carol M and my International Admission Colleague Toni C. It was a great night, because there was no pretense, but great conversation on topics from Jen’s ongoing work, how she got into the countries she’s been to film etc. On Joe’s work in Zimbabwe and experiences he’s had along the way.

All in all it was a wonderful evening, with great people. I’m glad I’ve met Jen Marlowe and even more glad that we were able to give her an evening with our students, staff and faculty to talk about the important issues she’s documenting, and helping to show people. I’m glad we had a good turn out and that people asked such good questions.

The first and most important question was “What can I/we do to get involved, to help?” and I loved Jen’s answer on this. I just wish I could remember it verbatim. But I do leave you with a link to the Blog that she and David kept while in South Sudan, filming “Rebuilding Hope”

More about Jen from the Darfur Diaries site:

Jen Marlowe is currently directing “Rebuilding Hope”, a documentary film about South Sudan and is writing a book and a play about Palestine and Israel. She is on the board of directors for Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theatre, and is a founding member of the “Rachel’s Words” initiative. From 2000-2004, she coordinated and directed a conflict transformation program in Jerusalem, creating and implementing co-existence programs for hundreds of Palestinian and Israeli youth. In addition, she worked in conflict resolution with youth in Afghanistan, and facilitated dialogue groups between youth from Bosnia-Herzegovina, India and Pakistan, and Turkish and Greek Cypriot youth. Her writing can be found online in The Nation, Alternet and Counterpunch

A follow up post just on the Rebuilding Hope project in a bit…

White House Has No Comprehensive E-Mail Archive
System Used by Clinton Was Scrapped
By Elizabeth Williamson and Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, January 22, 2008; A03

For years, the Bush administration has relied on an inadequate archiving system for storing the millions of e-mails sent through White House servers, despite court orders and statutes requiring the preservation of such records, according to documents and technical experts.

President Bush’s White House early on scrapped a custom archiving system that the Clinton administration had adopted under a federal court order. From 2001 to 2003, the Bush White House also recorded over computer backup tapes that provided a last line of defense for preserving e-mails, even though a similar practice landed the Clinton administration in legal trouble.

As a result, several years’ worth of electronic communication may have been lost, potentially including e-mails documenting administration actions in the run-up to the Iraq war.

Ok… so supposedly Rachel Ray doesnt even like Dunkin Donuts Coffee… why the fuck does anyone care though?

I snagged this link from Urban Bohemian’s del.icious links post of the day yesterday and I must say after reading the comment trail there (and contributing myself) I am so fucking fed up with the weight that celebrities have on what we say, do, eat, drink, wear, drive, listen to, who we fuck, what movies to see… I am tired of the deification of these people who have one or two talents above and beyond regular old people like you and me.

So, Beyonce can sing and is pretty… that does not make her a better human being than me, it does not make her worthy of dispensing advice to the masses, I don’t want to buy a cellphone with her name or “branding” either. She’s a regular person once you strip that voice and looks away what does she have? The same thing anyone other woman walking around does.

My favorite example of the deification of celebrities is…

At least I’m not the only one who thinks Huckabee’s latest antics are terrifying. All over the blogosphere, people have been shocked and appalled at how he has blatantly stated he wants the US to become a Theocracy. Or in his own words “Make the Constitution to God’s standards not mans”

Why, oh why is this nutter still even a viable candidate? My friend G thinks he’ll win. I hope to all the Gods that he doesn’t or I’ll be filing for Canadian citizenship. I didn’t sign up to live in a Theocratic union… he’d probably have anyone executed who didn’t join up with his little army of crazed fundie fanatics.

When you vote, please don’t allow this man into office… its the last thing this country needs.

I got the email below from my District rep. touting how he voted for the State Bailout of the CTA. Gov Blagoyevich almost fubar’d the whole thing by tossing in free rides for seniors at the 11th hour. This is all well and good for some folks; but I don’t want to wind up paying $5 each way so everyone else can ride for free. It’s bad enough I can barely get to work on time with transit the way it is, but if the doomsday scenarios had occured I’d probably have to leave 2 hours early just to be on time.

I’m tired of this fine line our government walks with getting a budget settled for transit needs of the city. Privatize the damn CTA and be done with it. The City and State have shown without a shadow of a doubt they cant handle running Chicago’s Mass Transit system efficiently and at a reasonable cost to riders.

Palatine man accused of collecting $470,000 in pay, benefits from New Jersey firm for job he never took

How do you get paid for a job you never accepted, in a different state? Someone tell me cause I could use that kind of money!

By Ray Quintanilla and Liam Ford

Tribune reporters

8:50 PM CST, January 17, 2008

 

A Palatine man is awaiting extradition to New Jersey after he was arrested on charges that he collected about $470,000 in pay and benefits for a job he was offered but never accepted, authorities said Thursday.

I’ve been saying for a while that this cat is pretty damn cool. And there’s a lot more to him than “Read a Book” Go check him out at:

http://www.myspace.com/knotarapper

His Punch Line Smarts
Hip-Hop Parodist Bomani Armah Juggles Sense of Humor and Identity
By Kevin Merida
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 22, 2007; C01

Bomani Armah (”I’m not a rapper, I’m a poet with a hip-hop style”) hops into a bar chair at the ultracool Artmosphere Cafe in Mount Rainier. It is a Wednesday night, we have the bar to ourselves, we are having a splendid conversation. You may be thinking: Dude, this is such an unextraordinary scene. Except that Armah is simultaneously hosting an open-mike talent show, toggling from bar to stage in five-minute intervals and proving how fluid the mind can be.

He’s fixated, at the bar, on what has happened to him over the past four months, how he somehow became a symbol of the coarsening culture. All because he wrote a crunk song, “Read a Book,” that traveled the Internet, that was discovered by