Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Rush Limbaugh in NFL = Modern Slavery

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Right wing Radio talk show blowhard Rush Limbaugh wants to own at least part of the NFL's St. Louis Rams and has joined St. Louis Blues owner and former Madison Square Garden CEO Dave Checketts to do so.

But with Rush Limbaugh comes baggage and a lot of it in this case. Given his statements about African Americans, Rush Limbaugh's even partial ownership of any NFL team is akin to (deliberately capitalized) Modern Slavery.

Rush Limbaugh's record ads up to a view of blacks as alien, second class citizens that are to be feared, held in check, and watched. So imagine Rush owning a team mostly black? What would he say if the St. Louis Rams drafted a black quarterback in the 1st round of the NFL Draft? Would he complain that 'while the league's desirous to see a black quarterback do well, I'm not'?

Rush, with all due respect to his incredible business acumen in securing a $400 million radio contract, has made a ton of statements that put blacks down. For example, he twice used the term "spade" in talking about President Barack Obama in 2008, even though he thought he could get away with it because then presidential candidate and now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used the term "spadework" in a talk about Obama.


NFL and Rush?  No!

Rush is quick to point to a crime where (sadly) black youth were beating up a white young man on a bus (and it wasn't even because he was white), but turns a blind eye to any news of a hate crime against blacks.

He's compared NFL players to the gang members the crips and bloods, using the time worn code words for "black gang member".

Rush has made so many anti-back statements, there's a "top 10" list complied by Casey Gane-McCalla of Newsone in 2008:


1. I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.


2. Zennie's note: There is some question over whether Rush actually said this comment but it's all over the Internet. This entry is mine, not that of the original blogger.


3. Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?


4. Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela — who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing.


5. Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.


6. The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.


7. They’re 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?


8. Take that bone out of your nose and call me back(to an African American female caller).


9. I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn’t deserve.


10. On Obama : a ‘halfrican American’, an ‘affirmative action candidate.’ Limbaugh even has repeatedly played a song on his radio show ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ using an antiquated Jim Crow era term for black a man who many Americans are supporting for president.


It's obvious Rush Limbaugh doesn't like any African American person save for Bo Snerdley, who works for him. If working for Rush is the price blacks have to pay to gain respect from him, I say forget it. Please don't let Rush Limbaugh own any NFL organization.

Jamie Foxx right about Roman Polanski

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Jamie Foxx has the right idea about Roman Polanski, who's in a Swiss prison as of this writing after being on the run from U.S. authorities for 27 years for raping a 13-year-old girl who's now a 45-year-old woman.


Jamie Foxx

According to MSNBC and Parade, Foxx said that had she been his daughter, Polanski would have been "missing". And..

“If it had been my daughter who was barely a teenager — my daughter is 15 — Roman Polanski would be missing ... period,” Foxx stated in an interview with Parade magazine. “It wouldn’t even get to the court case. But, that’s me and I wouldn’t want anyone else to follow that because you should let the justice system work it out.”


Foxx went on to explain that while his perspective might have been different had he known the director personally, as do many of his Hollywood peers, ultimately he believes “this whole issue is bigger than Roman Polanski.” So big, it forces Foxx to confront his own complex sense of revenge.


Same feeling for me; awful is the term for Polanski's actions and I'd have certainly took some action against him if she were my kid. The legal issues around Polanski are a Gordian knot; the victim should have final say on his fate.

Some people don't read or listen; I wrote and said that the victim's rights and wishes were being ignored. She - who's name or photo I will not use or present - said repeatedly she did not want to be contacted by the media or have the matter brought up again. 

Someone wrote that is was because she got a $500,000 payout.  It's not clear she ever saw that money at all.  When I read her heartfelt request to be left alone I took it to heart and didn't think about money; others should to.

But to then even think I sympathize with Roman Polanski in any way is the musing of a total nut case.

I'm thinking about the victim; I'm not one who sides with mob rule or crowd desires. I just believe the masses are just a little beyond the pale at times. It's about them and what they want and not the victim; that's the reason for my reaction.

In my view, if the victim wants him punished, then do it. If not, then we go with that. A hard call it is, but again, that's the victim's right in my view.

But that said, Polanski's in jail. I'm sure the victim feels some measure of relief from that news.

Someone wrote that it's not the victim's call in general. That's wrong. If I'm hit in the jaw by a pissed off stalker and the police asks me if I want to have my assailant arrested for assault, the ultimate say is with me as the victim.

Look at Oakland Raiders' Head Coach Tom Cable's situation. If now-former Assistant Coach Randy Hanson had said he didn't want to file a complaint in the alleged assault case, that matter would have been over.

But the Raiders fired Hanson with pay (well the team gave him that option) and so he's retaliating by going ahead with the legal charges. (Read my Cal Buddy Mike Silver's incredible interview with Hanson at Yahoo! Sports.)

The Marin County District Attorney's going to determine the next move soon.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Sand sculpture celebrating Obama's 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

Jimmy Kimmel says he didn't joke about David Letterman

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As some of you may know I blogged that Jimmy Kimmel, the host of the talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC" has been dating Molly McNearney, a co-head writer for the show for over a year.


Jimmy Kimmel

The Associated Press originally reported that, prior to the now widely spread news of his relationship in the wake of the David Letterman / Stephanie Birkitt sex scandal, Kimmel made a joke about Letterman on that matter.

Jimmy Kimmel says this isn't the case. In fact, he contacted SF Chronicle TV expert Tim Goodman via email - with whom he has a personal relationship - to explain that.  Then Goodman emailed me.

While research indicated conflicting reports, and finding a good show transcript is hard as heck to do, there was nothing to explain directly in a title that Kimmel himself said he didn't tell a joke about Letterman.

I can understand why Kimmel would take time to clear the air on the matter; it's good he did.  This blog post should clear the air for him.  It also means that Kimmel wasn't talking against Letterman as some other talk show hosts, with the exception of Craig Ferguson who works for Letterman, have done.

That's why Tim Goodman's "the man" when it comes to television in the Bay Area and Northern California! Follow him on Twitter at BastardMachine.

Healthy Manning & Giants Rout Raiders, Head To New Orleans 5-0




Healthy Manning & Giants Rout Raiders, Head To New Orleans 5-0
By Jon Wagner
Sr. Writer at Large Football Reporters Online
(photo: Steve Smith had another big day, while only catching 3 passes, one was his carer long of 43 yds. By Tomasso DeRosa
At a perfect 5-0, the New York Giants have begun 2009 on the right foot.

However, it was a certain right foot -- or more specifically, a right heel -- which concerned the Giants most on Sunday.

That is, the sore right heel of Giants’ star quarterback Eli Manning, who made his 83rd consecutive start.

As if following a script that Giants’ head coach Tom Coughlin couldn’t have written better himself, Manning tossed two touchdown passes while leading New York to touchdowns on each of its first four offensive possessions.

The fast start allowed Coughlin to pull and rest Manning for precautionary reasons before halftime, with the Giants very comfortably ahead of the woeful Oakland Raiders at The Meadowlands on Sunday.

Manning said, “It was just a… team domination from the start, and it gave us a big lead, and that’s what we wanted to do.”

Big Blue wasted no time in sending a clear message to the rest of the National Football League that with their offensive leader of sound health, the Giants intend to remain a legitimate Super Bowl contender this season.

On the first play from scrimmage in the Giants’ 44-7 rout of Oakland, Manning took a normal drop from under center, made a routine plant on the right heel that he injured in the Giants’ win in Kansas City last week, and off a play-action fake, completed a solid pass to tight end Darcy Johnson for a 9-yard gain.

As Johnson was tackled, 79,012 fans in attendance plus millions of other Giants’ fans watching on television or listening on the radio, breathed a collective sigh of relief.

With Manning’s plantar fasciitis question apparently answered on the game’s initial play, the Giants used more than half of the first quarter during a 14-play, 77-yard game-opening drive which took 8:03, to grab a 7-0 lead. Manning completed four passes to four different receivers in five attempts, for 36 yards on the drive, immediately quelling any doubts about the condition of his heel.

Manning later confirmed that he felt fine, saying “It felt great during the game, it felt like I could do everything, run the offense… I could do everything we had to do.”

New York capped the possession with a 4th-and-1 touchdown plunge by running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who led the Giants’ rushing attack with a game-high 110 yards on just 11 carries. Coughlin evaluated Bradshaw’s performance with high praise, saying, “He’s run the ball very tough, very physical, he makes a lot of people miss. He had a very, very good game.”

For further convincing, after an Oakland three-and-out, Manning began the Giants’ next possession placing the ball over the shoulder of Raiders’ cornerback, seven-year pro Chris Johnson, hitting wide receiver Steve Smith, who led all receivers with 70 yards on three catches, for a 43-yard pass to the Oakland 36 yard-line. Bradshaw then finished the three-play, 79-yard drive, which took only 1:37, with a rush of 17 yards, before going untouched on a 19-yard touchdown run, putting the Giants up 14-0 with 3:15 left in the first quarter.

After another Raider three-and-out, Bradshaw turned a Manning screen pass on third-and-24 into a 55-yard romp to the Oakland 30 yard-line on the final play of the opening quarter, a period in which the New York outgained Oakland 219-18 while controlling the ball for 11:07 to the Raiders’ 3:53.

On the next play, Manning threw a nice 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mario Manningham in the far right corner of the end zone, giving the Giants a 21-0 lead just seven seconds into the second quarter.

Only three plays later, the Giants got the ball back on the first of three Oakland fumbles, all by quarterback Jamarcus Russell, who was just 8 of 13 for 100 yards. Cornerback Terrell Thomas sacked Russell, the first of six New York sacks, forcing the ball loose. Defensive end Justin Tuck recovered at the Raiders’ 13 yard-line. After two rushes, Manning threw a 3rd-and-6, nine-yard bullet in the end zone to wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (4 receptions, 49 yards) for the rookie’s second career touchdown (Nicks made his first career touchdown reception last week). The Giants led 28-0 with 12:37 remaining in the half, and the rout was on.

The Raiders’ only points came on only their fourth touchdown of the season -- as many touchdowns as the Giants had in Sunday’s game alone, to that point –- after Sinorice Moss fumbled a punt which Oakland recovered at the New York 15 yard-line. Running back Michael Bush cut the Giants’ lead to 28-7 on a 5-yard touchdown run with 2:19 to go in the first half after it appeared that the Raiders got a break when a Giants’ fumble recovery was negated on a questionable forward progress ruling on the previous play.

At that point, having completed 8 of his 10 passes for 173 yards (49 more than the total yards Oakland managed for the game), Manning was lifted for the remainder of the day in favor of backup David Carr.

Russell’s second fumble set up a Lawrence Tynes 25-yard field goal with two seconds left in the half, as the Giants took a 31-7 lead into the break.

On the Giants’ opening possession of the third quarter, Carr capped a six-play, 53 yard drive with a 12-yard run into the near left corner of the end zone, for a 38-7 Giants’ advantage with 10:01 left in the third quarter.

Tynes added a 33-yard field goal with 6:52 left in the third, and closed the scoring with 11:38 remaining in the game on a 37-yard kick.

The Giants’ dominance of the Raiders was of an equal opportunity variety for both the running and passing games. New York, which outgained Oakland 483-124 yards overall, held advantages of 220-64 on the ground and 263-64 through the air.

The win marks the third time the Giants have started a season 5-0. The previous times, they lost in the 1941 NFL championship game, and the 1990 Giants won Super Bowl XXV.

In a showdown of arguably the top two teams in the NFL right now, the Giants, who have beaten up on a soft schedule of Tampa Bay (0-5), Kansas City (0-5) and Oakland (1-4) over the past three weeks, will travel to New Orleans to face the 4-0 Saints on Sunday, at 1:00pm EST.

Though Sunday’s game will foremost be a big regular season matchup with possible big playoff seeding implications, it will also be an emotional homecoming for Manning, who was born in New Orleans. For the first time ever, Manning will be playing in The Superdome, where his father, Archie Manning, a former two-time pro-bowl selection who still makes his home in New Orleans, played for the Saints from 1971-1982.

Tom Hayes: Will the next wars be fought over water?

WaterOver two billion people do not have adequate water to address basic sanitation needs (according to the World Health Organization/UNICEF report, “Meeting the MDG drinking water and sanitation target: the urban and rural challenge of the decade,” Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment, [World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund, 2006].)

    Here are three questions:
  1. Do you know how much water it takes to put a pound of beef on the table?
  2. Is there much difference in the water content between a cup of coffee and/or a cup of tea?
  3. How many people don't have access to clean drinking water?
answers below



In the United States and elsewhere a number of local governments now rely on "privatized" water systems.  The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy [IATP] has produced a map and a report on the impact of water privatization in the U.S.  Links to those documents and other related materials can be found at "Helping Local Communities Thrive" at the henoticworld blog.

Water "Remunicipalization"

Nonetheless, some communities have insisted on returning water and sewage treatment services to public management -- "remunicipalization" -- forcing water multinationals to pull services out of communities world-wide. Do you know how many communities in your state are buying their water from for-profit multi-national corporations?  Is it the end of water as we know it? I know this: it's enough to make Lewis Black curse. (The following clip contains strong language that may not be appropriate for some readers.)

The answers:

  1. It requires 1500 gallons to raise and deliver a pound of beef to your kitchen (over six times more than a pound of chicken!)
  2. It takes roughly 4 times as much water to make a cup of coffee compared to a cup of tea.
  3. Over 1 billion people do NOT have access to clean drinking water.

Columbus Day in America - I'm so confused!

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Today's Columbus Day and for that I'm, well, kinda pissed off because my bank's closed by state government offices are open and I need to go to both. So, considering that I work seven days a week the idea that this is a holiday's almost meaningless but even more so because the State of California doesn't see it as a day of relaxation but the Feds do!

I remember when I was little we learned "Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492" and had to say that again and again and again. But no one told me there were no black folks working as crew on the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria (see, I had to memorize that too).

If you asked me as a small boy was anyone that looked like me sailing with Columbus, I'd have said "yes" because we were learning about him. That's how it goes when you're a kid: you think the subject matter has something to do with you in some way and that, in this case, there's no way Columbus would reject me.

Oh, how wrong I learned I was latter in life.

Discovering that Christopher Columbus was just another racist butthole who's first idea would be to enslave me was jarring. The first awakening to the fact that nothing is as it seemed to me as a boy. It also really caused me to take a second look at how we as a people seem to denounce critical thinking, but far more so then than now.

Today, we have blogs and vlogs!

The reality is Columbus Day is a celebration of the discovery of the new world for Italian Americans, and since I'm one step from joining Oakland's Columbo Club, I will certainly celebrate that, just as these folks are having a good time in New York City.




But Columbus Day also a time when all of us should take moment to reflect on how wonderfully diverse America has become and how we take steps to insure the development of a more perfect union.