Friday, October 26, 2007

To stop you.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

What’s with all this noose s***?

[[This thing in Louisiana, then a teacher in New York, now this. Do people not really remember what black people have been through in this country?? And we’re ALWAYS CENTIMETERS away from insensitivity.]]

Hanging Dummy Removed After Complaints—By DINESH RAMDE (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press—October 16, 2007 6:10 PM EDT

GREENFIELD, Wis. - A dark mannequin hung from a noose as part of a homeowner’s Halloween display drew complaints from members of the local black community, prompting the homeowner to remove it.

The clothed dummy had black gloves and a black head, prompting some to complain it was an affront to black residents. Nooses are racially charged symbols of lynchings in the Old South and have appeared in a number of recent incidents around the country.

Lenard Wells, the director of adult education at Concordia University South Center and a prominent member of the local black community, said a number of people complained to him last week about the display and that he was shocked when he went to see it.

“Sometimes we may forget we may be only a few blocks away from insensitivity,” he said. “The question becomes, why couldn’t they see the insensitivity of this Halloween display?”

A woman who lives at the home refused to identify herself Tuesday.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Rice worried by Putin’s broad powers.

MOSCOW - The Russian government under Vladimir Putin has amassed so much central authority that the power-grab may undermine Moscow’s commitment to democracy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday.

Just substitute “American,” “George W. Bush,” and “Washington’s” in the obvious places here...maybe Condi’s seen the light about how much damage they’ve done...but I doubt it.

Ivana new hairstyle.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Go Little Blue Planet.

[[Hit ’em where it hurts...in the moneybags!]]

WASHINGTON—A $4.6 billion settlement Tuesday by one of the last holdouts among polluting power companies signals the end of a long legal debate over acid rain—and a tougher battle ahead over carbon dioxide and the use of fossil fuels.

The agreement with American Electric Power Co., struck just as the company was to defend itself in court, ends an eight-year battle over reducing smokestack pollution that drifted across Northeast and mid-Atlantic states and chewed away on mountain ranges, bays and national landmarks.

Government officials praised the deal as the largest environmental settlement in the nation’s history.

“Plans change,” said acting Assistant Attorney General Ron Tenpas, announcing the settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus. “And obviously there is a big difference between a company saying it has plans to do something in the future and a company being bound by an order of the court to take those steps.”

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, said the deal shows “clean air enforcement is alive and well despite Bush administration efforts to gut the Clean Air Act.”

Monday, October 8, 2007

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Will there still be sugar?

[[Been re-reading Animal Farm after many years]]

The stupidest questions of all were asked by Mollie, the white mare. The very first question she asked Snowball was: “Will there still be sugar after the revolution?”

“NO,” said Snowball firmly. “We have no means of making sugar on this farm. Besides, you do not need sugar. You will have all the oats and hay you want”

“And shall I still be allowed to wear ribbons in my mane?” asked Mollie

“Comrade,” said Snowball, “those ribbons are that you are so devoted to are the badge of slavery. Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than ribbons?”

Mollie agreed, but she did not sound very convinced.