links for 2009-07-07

"Framing his argument as the tale of a fan who simply wants to see women's tennis succeed, FOX Sports columnist Jason Whitlock instead uses tennis champion Serena Williams latest win to blast her for her looks, weight and being an "underachiever," despite her 11 grand slam wins."

"My older brother told me something about profit being the number one goal for every business. I’m not sure I understand what that means, but I do know that your shows have to be entertaining enough to generate viewers, which is how you make your money. But surely our culture is rich enough to entertain without anything extra to “boost” ratings; why the over-the-top foolery? I listen to classmates talk about Baldwin Hills like it’s the Manhattan Project. It doesn’t take much effort to produce a throng of degenerative reality shows, nor does it take much to eliminate socially conscious shows off the air. MTV isn’t much better, but since when does two wrongs ever make a right? It’s one thing for white television shows to depict us in a particular way, but for black television shows to do it is just baffling."

"Chaos and panic spread throughout the capital of the far western region of Xinjiang on Tuesday, two days after ethnic clashes between the region's Muslim Uighur minority and the dominant Han Chinese in the city's bazaar left over 150 dead and more than 1,000 injured. "

"Finally, Tanveer Ahmad died after a few weeks in prison, apparently of a heart attack. The only really “actionable” event leading to his death was the neglect by his prison guard, who ignored his requests for medical attention when it was urgently needed. (It’s not the first time. Read this story from 2007 for several more instances of severe neglect of immigration detainees leading to possibly preventable death.)"