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Jesus! “Authorities have fired an official in central China after city inspectors reportedly beat to death a man who filmed their confrontation with villagers, China’s Xinhua news agency reports.”
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Ugh. “Broadcaster Kelly Tilghman has apologized. Tiger Woods has accepted it. But the Rev. Al Sharpton says it isn’t good enough.”
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“it’s probably true that if Barack Obama were a biracial and a woman, he might not be where he is today. But Ms. Steinem neglected to note that if Hillary Clinton were an African American woman, she probably wouldn’t be either.”
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Make of the best eyelash curler ever! “Shu Uemura, the Japanese makeup artist who won acclaim in Hollywood and then built an international cosmetics brand under his name, died on Dec. 29 in Tokyo. He was 79.”
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Wow. “Charities and yet-to-be adopted children stand to benefit the most from the enormous estate, while Stedman Graham, O’s partner for the last 21 years, allegedly won’t see a dime.”
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“Wilson, the Douglasville teen who spent two years in prison for having consensual sex with a teenager, will attend Atlanta’s Morehouse College beginning next week, courtesy of the Tom Joyner Foundation”
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Wow. “Marion Jones, the track and field star who pled guilty in October to lying to federal agents about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and her connection to a check-fraud case, was sentenced to six months in prison”
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“His recently published book, “The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools and Societies” uses mathematical modeling and case studies to show how variety in staffing produces organizational strength.”
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Colin wrote:
Chinese blogger beaten to death: This is why, in part, widespread corruption is bad for a free state or even the possibility of a free state. Do not think this could not or even has not happened here.
Tiger OK/Sharpton ready for battle: It’s unfortunate that Rev. Sharpton has been left out to dry by so many of us. That we’re willing to accept racism just so society doesn’t think we’re politically correct or race-baiting is a sad commentary on the current state of anti-racism. Although he may be an opportunist, he is an opportunist for the righteous causes and against, in most cases, the real and powerful discrimination prevalent in America. Why would one say “Ugh.” about that?
Genarlow Wilson going to school: Go on ahead brother. That was probably my story of the week. Thank you.
I’ve started a blog. It’s still kind of in its beginning stages. I call it Calm Over Calamity because of my frequent angry outbursts and venting. I plan to talk about politics first and foremost, then most anything else that comes to mind, especially in rant form. Tell me what ya think everyone! (Please note it started on Friday, so I’ve not designed it to my liking yet, I’m just posting when I get the chance)
Posted 12 Jan 2008 at 2:30 pm ¶
dnA wrote:
I’m kinda sad you didn’t link to my post about Hillary Clinton using the metaphor of “Chips and Guacamole” in a stump speech to Latino voters.
Posted 12 Jan 2008 at 4:53 pm ¶
merq wrote:
Posted 12 Jan 2008 at 11:48 pm ¶
justin wrote:
Does anyone who is biracial think of biracial as a noun?
Posted 13 Jan 2008 at 12:15 am ¶
Colin wrote:
Merq,
I see what you’re saying. It’s possible to use the word in a “non-racist” way, in a way intended and understood not to be racist. Your comment is valid; I merely disagree.
I, in all honesty, think the context of her using the word is also important and adds to my feeling that Ms. Tilghman is at the least ignorant to other cultures, if not wholly racist. She seems nice enough but the idea of a white woman laughing on national television about having to lynch a talented multiracial golfer just to be able to catch up to him, (and that’s how she treats her FRIENDS no less) is miles beyond how children play with one another.
It would take, at this stage in her life in this country, a monumental lack of knowledge of national history and callous disregard for others to think something like that so quickly and then say it. I am not shocked, only dismayed.
And so, I support Rev. Sharpton here.
Posted 13 Jan 2008 at 10:25 am ¶
Ratrace wrote:
6 months in jail for Jones? Seems rather harsh. I can’t imagine a Mary Lou Retton or other White athlete getting the same in a similar situation.
Posted 13 Jan 2008 at 9:12 pm ¶
tasha wrote:
No, six months in jail isn’t too harsh. Did you feel the same way about Martha Stewart when she went to jail for lying to the feds or when Paris Hilton did more time because of her celebrity status, or when Lil’ Kim went to jail because she wouldn’t cooperate with the police regarding that radio station shooting? Yes, they may not be athletes, but like Marion, Stewart, Hilton, and Lil’ Kim have high media profiles. Marion Jones was beloved and believed, even as the public relations hits (ex-husband’s steroid ban, child’s father’s bad check writing scheme, Victor Conte BALCO interview, etc.) kept piling on. She always led the public to believe that she was merely associated with a bad element, that it was simply a coincidence that she was at the scene of the crime, all the while maintaining her innocence that she wasn’t one of the criminals. She probably won’t do the whole six months anyway. Marion’s going to jail for lying to investigators about her involvement in the BALCO steroid case and a bad check writing scheme. The six months does not seem harsh to me.
Posted 14 Jan 2008 at 10:20 am ¶
bdsista wrote:
If you really want to see what lynching looks like then look up Emmitt Till and the Black Holocaust which includes Rosewood and the Tulsa Race Riots. http://www.blackwallstreet.freeservers.com/index.htm
Ida B. Wells, in her newpaper was run out of Tennessee for writing about lynchings. She reported the lynchings of men, women and children. Let Ms. Tilghman listen to Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit and look at some of these images and understand that the term is no joke. Lynchings and Race riots were a large part of what created the Great Migration of southern Blacks to the north and west. Its not simplistic, or easily dismissed. Postcards were sent with photos of whites at lynchings. People went to lynchings with picnic baskets. Google “lynching” and click on images. I think you will get the message.
Posted 14 Jan 2008 at 10:31 am ¶
Gregory A. Butler wrote:
REALITY CHECK:
If Marion Jones had been a White woman, she would have not gotten that kind of jail time - especially considering she’s a mother of two, who’s still breastfeeding her youngest kid!!
And, if Marion Jones had been a White MAN - she wouldn’t even have gotten convicted!!!!
Posted 14 Jan 2008 at 11:52 am ¶
anna wrote:
Wasn’t the “Ugh” because Woods was brushing off the slur? not because Sharpton protested.
REALITY CHECK:
If Marion Jones was an unfamous black woman who wrote bad checks, she would be in prison for 2+ years.
Posted 14 Jan 2008 at 12:31 pm ¶
tasha wrote:
The six months is lenient. Marion’s ex, Tim Montgomery was looking at 46 months for that money laundering scheme (over 750K in bad checks), and Marion’s sentence also included punishment for perjury in the BALCO case. Not to mention that the case didn’t have to go to trial because Marion confessed. So who’s to say that the feds didn’t have evidence against that would have warranted even more jail time? The sentence couldn’t have been that surprising because Marion knew that’s what she stood to get when she copped a plea. And is it common for women to use the ages of their children to plead for leniency?
Posted 14 Jan 2008 at 1:55 pm ¶
T. wrote:
Give me a break. It comes down to the level of her fame, not her skin color. A totally unfamous white woman would have been slammed harder than Marion Jones was, but if Marion Jones was even more famous, regardless of skin color, she would have gotten off even better. Look at how Brandy just got her manslaughter charges dismissed, how OJ got off and how Halle Berry got a slap on the wrist for hitting someone with her car and speeding away from the scene. Look at how R. Kelly and Michael Jackson beat their cases repeatedly, but white pedophiles are locked up left and right. It’s a fame and money thing, plain and simple, not a race thing.
When you look at everything in life through the prism of race, you miss the bigger picture and more obvious patterns.
Posted 14 Jan 2008 at 3:32 pm ¶