"As a University of Mississippi graduate excited about the progress of his alma mater in the past decade, a strong distaste for the likes of Richard Barrett is interwoven into my DNA.
For the many of you who have no idea who I'm talking about, Mr. Barrett—who for the remainder of this article we will refer to simply as "Dicky"—is an old, crotchety Learned, Miss.-based white supremacist...
...Our school is at risk of losing "From Dixie with Love" because a fringe group of students and alumni use the last five notes to scream "The South Will Rise Again," a phrase racist in most contexts and ignorant in all the rest..."
...The Associated Student Body Senate, with good reason, has publicly asked for the chants to stop. Chancellor Dan Jones, just four months into his new job, is backing up the students, and has threatened to cease playing the song if the chants don't stop. The testing ground was Saturday's North Arizona game. I couldn't hear anything when watching the game on television, but friends of mine who attended the game did hear some saying it.
Now, "From Dixie with Love" is only a song, and the sun will still rise over the hills of north Mississippi if it's never played at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium again. But it is a mistake to give this fringe group power by removing it. Instead of expending all this energy devising ways to shame the chanters into submission, we should instead consider why they use the language in the first place, and come up with reasonable ways to discourage the act.
We should launch an education initiative to treat the cause and not the symptoms.
It's true: Some of the chanters are just troublemakers and immune to all reason -- the Richard Barretts; the Elmer Fudds -- but most are rational people who simply don't know any better. My good friend Roun McNeal, former Associated Student Body President, used to join in years ago, and recently related to the Associated Press why he stopped.
"I said the chant one day, and there was a black family sitting in front of me, and they turned around and gave me this look like I hurt them," he said.
(Continued)
John F. Kennedy believed that being passed over for vice president by the Democratic convention in 1956 saved his political career. That year, Adlai Stevenson, the presidential nominee, had left the selection of his running mate to the convention delegates—the last time a nominee did so. The choice came down to Kennedy and his Senate colleague Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, who had lined up too much early support even for the attractive young war hero to overcome. In the end, Kennedy had it both ways. He benefited from the television exposure and was spared the blame—which as a Catholic, he would have shared—for Stevenson's walloping by President Eisenhower that November. As for Estes, except for crossword puzzlers, nobody much remembers him.
Running and losing for vice president has never been a promising route to the Oval Office. Yet Sarah Palin, even before this week's book tour mediathon, has been touted by some as the heir apparent of the Republican Party, if not its de facto leader. Right-wing devotees cheer her on, liberals writhe in fear lest she come within 3,000 miles of the White House, and the news media lavish her with attention that's out of proportion to her actual chances of a political future. In fact, only one defeated vice presidential candidate ever achieved the feat that Palin would like to duplicate, and to date she shows no signs of resembling Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Je joue au rugby depuis environ vingt ans mais sincèrement quinze minutes ainsi je ne les avais jamais vues. Samedi passé, le 14 novembre au Stade San Siro à Milan s'est disputée la Cariparma Test Match Italie entre les Azzurri de la nationale italienne de rugby et les Néo-Zélandais All Blacks. En théorie, un après-midi qui n'a pas précédents dans l'histoire sportive italienne, avec un temple du football comme San Siro à Milan aussi plein et aussi différent. Tous du même côté, comme lors d'un grand concert. Et peut-être étais-ce vraiment ainsi, quatre-vingt mille personnes, venues pour les rock star en noir, et dans le fond tellement décevants.
Lire la suiteJe joue au rugby depuis environ vingt ans mais sincèrement quinze minutes ainsi je ne... more
Some people seem to think illegal immigration isn't a problem, not to sound like a bitch but you wouldn't if you or your parents were illegals and if they weren't your grandparents. And what's with everyone saying that this country was built on the backs of immigrates, i didn't know slaves migrated to this country it was built on slavery and free labor that's the truth. Wanting a better life is great but it's hard to say i want better life and can't get to where i come from and then claim you deserve to be a citizen because all you want to do is work and have a life for your family and kids. What about the guy who's family knows nothing else besides America and also wants a better life but can't achieve that because someone says i'll do the work cheaper and longer with no health coverage and no benefits, cash only.
In no other country can illegal immigrates demand anything, only in the great USA, so i say give them their citizenship, you want to claim to be true American citizen then pay taxes, you believe you have a right to the same health care and rights then you should pay for it. If we registered every illegal immigrate and then taxed them out the ass, set in place laws that had harsher penalties like actual jail time instead of a free trip home, i bet you people would think twice about running across the border or coming to America for vacation and staying. I'm just wondering why people feel if you say "you don't deserve shit and the fact you get taken advantage of is your own fault", their a racist and that America and should be open for any and everyone.
But it is your fault you get paid low wages and have no health care and get taken advantage of, since when is anything in this world for free..? why do you think that what you go through in your country gives you a right to come to another and make it hard on another man. Mexico's president even stated to the world "that illegals take the jobs that not even blacks want"
and he's damn right we've worked them since 1506 for FREE and the little bit of minimum wage blacks fought and died for won't go up cause someone with no papers will work for anything. Rules are set in place for a reason, they might suck but you can't make a change if your willing to be happy eating shit all you do is make it stink for the rest of us.
Not only would it help us out with our hugh debt, create jobs and force us to over haul the entire system cause you know someones gonna get mad and swear a great injustice but wheres the justice for us actual tax paying, social security card carrying citizens...?
i love George Lopez but he's an idiot to think that illegal immigration only upsets white people as if AMERICANS don't need a job. He represents his country to the fullest yet we as Americans don't have the same right?. If we flooded his country and under cut his fellow men,push them out of jobs then tell them you really don't want to work this job let me do it as well as stressed the medical system and basically did what we wanted in Mexico they claim the capitalist Americanos were destroying his homeland and we'd just continue to be the big mean super power.
i think any time people think it's OK for any group of people to break the law to better your self, at the expense of others.....your the true capitalist, liar, cheat and thiefSome people seem to think illegal immigration isn't a problem, not to sound like a... more
In the wake of the massacre at Fort Hood Texas , two principal theories have emerged to explain the conduct of the accused shooter, identified by the U.S. Army as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist of Jordanian-Palestinian ancestry. One of these theories is embraced by left liberals and other supporters and acolytes of the Obama regime, and argues that Major Hasan is a sincere and devout Muslim who was the victim of a tragic contradiction between his religious faith and the logic of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, both the heritage of the odious Bush-Cheney regime. According to this version, Hasan must be viewed as a troubled and tormented individual who "snapped," breaking down psychologically under the stress of his awful predicament. Here is how Obama summed up this approach: "Even within the extraordinary military that we have -- and I think everybody understands how outstanding the young men and women in uniform are under the most severe stress -- there are going to be instances in which an individual cracks." (New York Times, 10 Nov and ember 2009) Calling Major Hasan a terrorist amounts, in this view, to racism and vindictive prejudice.
The other theory is the one advocated by assorted neocons, reactionaries, Islamophobes and others generally hostile to Obama. This account maintains that Major Hasan was a homegrown, self-starting Islamic terrorist, trumpeting his devotion to jihad and suicide bombing, seeking to make contact with "Al Qaeda," and generally filled with hate for America , for freedom, and for his fellow soldiers. In this view, it is only the pervasive political correctness and multicultural obsession of the subversive-riddled and soft on terrorism Obama regime that prevented Major Hasan from being neutralized before he could act, and which prevents Obama and his Democratic allies from telling the truth after the fact.
These views are both superficial, naïve, and inadequate.[1] They amount to two prongs of an articulated campaign of media hysteria and mass manipulation designed on the one hand to prod the dithering Wall Street puppet Obama who is having second thoughts about his own political survival -- into an early decision in favor of massive escalation of the war in Afghanistan for the purpose of hastening the breakup of Pakistan, and thus threatening China. On the other hand, the delirium of Islamophobic hatred being ginned up against Major Hasan by the usual cast of reactionary radio ogres (Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, Levin) seeks to accentuate and strengthen the racist and xenophobic elements in the militant anti-Obama opposition, in particular among the Tea Party movement. The decision to put the infamous Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his confreres on trail in New York City, plus the recent government seizure of numerous US mosques and other buildings on the grounds that they are Iranian assets, also contribute to a growing mood of anti-Moslem hysteria. This atmosphere is accentuated by the reckless and irresponsible actions of some Moslem groups which happen to be foundation-funded, and must thus be considered as part of the apparatus of US domestic social control.
(more at link:http://www.rense.com/general88/trp.htm)http://www.rense.com/general88/trp.htm
In the wake of the massacre at Fort Hood... more
The recent string of layoffs have me wondering what exactly is the master plan here, and how will that plan affect the future of Current Media. Was this just another necessary cost cutting strategy to weather the economic storm? Or is Current slowly changing into a corporate machine. How much can be cut before the river goes dry?
There needs to be more Current, not less.
I wish the best to all the talented, creative, and now jobless ex-staffers. We will notice your absence.The recent string of layoffs have me wondering what exactly is the master plan here,... more
It now seems clear why the staff to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin didn't want anyone to bring recording devices or cell phones to her speech Friday night.
Even news outlets like Politico -- which have prominently featured Dick Cheney's terror jeremiads -- would have been likely to lampoon her.
But the ban on recording devices didn't stop them. Politico says they bought three tickets to Palin's Wisconsin speech and then penned a write-up. Their review was somewhat grim, taking aim at Palin's frequent use of the words "bogus" and "awesome" and delivering a strange anecdote about dollar coins.
"Palin had remarks prepared but frequently wandered off-script to make a point, offering audience members a casual “awesome” or “bogus” in discussing otherwise weighty topics," Politico's Jonathan Martin wrote in his review.
He quotes Palin as saying, “It is so bogus that society is sending a message right now and has been for probably the last 40 years that a woman isn’t strong enough or smart enough to be able to pursue an education, a career and her rights and still let her baby live.”
"Other Palin touchstones included: praise for the military, jeers for the “the liberal media” and a general manner of speaking that often veered into rhetorical culs-de-sac," he continued.
Palin didn't draw supporters to their feet: "While she drew applause during her remarks, Palin’s extemporaneous and frequently discursive style was such that she never truly roused a true-believing crowd as passionate about the issue at hand as she. Not once during her address did they rise to their feet."
They did stand at the end, however.
She then got a standing ovation from most of the crowd, but a few had begun to leave before she even finished and within seconds of her concluding, scores more got up and put on their jackets as they walked away.
In addition to the suggestion that government officials would consider hastening the death of the infirm or handicapped, she began her remarks with a puzzling commentary on the design of newly minted dollar coins.
Noting that there had been a lot of “change” of late, Palin recalled a recent conversation with a friend about how the phrase “In God We Trust” had been moved to the edge of the new coins.
“Who calls a shot like that?” she demanded. “Who makes a decision like that?”
She added: “It’s a disturbing trend.”
The decision to put "IN GOD WE TRUST" on the edges of presidential dollar coins has received little attention from the press, but was reversed in 2007, before President Barack Obama took office. Sens. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Robert Byrd (D-WV) sponsored legislation to move the motto back to the front face of the coins.
"It is important that our national motto, 'In God We Trust,' is prominently displayed on all of our currency," Brownback said. "We should not relegate our heritage to the side."
Some of Palin's recent speeches have also received lackluster reviews. At a recent speech in Hong Kong (which also banned the press) some delegates purportedly "walked out in disgust."http://rawstory.com/2009/11/palin-speech-abortion-opponents-mocked-describes-weighty-to... more
Taxing medical marijuana sales is an idea worth considering, not because it is a potential cash cow for fiscally constrained governments, but because it could raise revenue needed to cover the services the flourishing businesses will require.
But caution is in order. There are some dominoes that need to fall first.
The topic came up again last week, as Denver City Council members Chris Nevitt and Charlie Brown publicly expressed support for imposing a city sales tax on medical marijuana sales. "We've got to tax this damn thing at the city rate, which is 3.62 percent," Brown told us. "We're talking millions of dollars here."
And that may be. But some questions about legality of taxation and the future of medical marijuana have to be answered first. And we think that overall, cities such as Denver ought not look to the emerging industry as a windfall that could close budget gaps.
First, the legality of taxing the commodity is up in the air.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers is researching the issue, and his decision will turn on whether the substance is deemed a prescription or something more like an herbal remedy.
The latter seems more likely, since marijuana isn't a drug that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And herbal remedies are already taxed.
Second, we don't think governments ought to take advantage of the medical marijuana laws in the way that so-called "ganjapreneurs" have been doing.
Meaning, governments would be just as wrong to reap great wads of cash from back-door legalization efforts as are the mass dispensaries, some of which are just barely pretending to be serving the most infirm among us.
Amendment 20, which passed in 2000, did not approve the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, despite the wishful thinking of some.
Furthermore, legislators are poised to address the medical marijuana issue in the upcoming session, which begins in January, and their decisions could seriously affect how medical marijuana is delivered in Colorado. (See Alicia Caldwell's article from today's Perspective section.)
If their decisions shrink the number and reach of distributors, then a basic sales tax should be enough.
But if lawmakers create a structure that encourages a broader distribution model — with attendant regulatory and service requirements — then other fees and taxes would be worth contemplating.
It would seem prudent, we think, to wait until the shape of medical marijuana is more clearly defined before settling on a taxing structure.
It's smart to get ahead of the game and contemplate the tax and revenue-generating alternatives. But we hope governments will exhibit some foresight and restraint before they make decisions they might have to revise once the medical marijuana landscape is clearly defined.
A clear, concise and comprehensive case for socialism, written by Albert Einstein in 1949. He discusses our nature as both solitary and social beings, simultaneously conditioned by biological and cultural constitutions, and what this means for the individual's role in society. He then asks "how the structure of society and the cultural attitude of man should be changed in order to make human life as satisfying as possible." The final passages prove particularly poignant in presaging the greatest atrocities committed by Soviet tyranny. The challenge: How is it possible, in view of the far-reaching centralization of political and economic power, to prevent bureaucracy from becoming all-powerful and overweening? How can the rights of the individual be protected and therewith a democratic counterweight to the power of bureaucracy be assured?
Part of the answer may reside in bypassing the power of large bureaucracies through a decentralized system of democratic planning directed by workers' and consumers' councils. Moreover, with today's information communication technology, the capacity for mass collaboration and self-government/self-management has never been more viable and effective. Your thoughts?
An Excerpt:
"The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence. Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.
The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor—not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules. In this respect, it is important to realize that the means of production—that is to say, the entire productive capacity that is needed for producing consumer goods as well as additional capital goods—may legally be, and for the most part are, the private property of individuals...
(The) crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society."A clear, concise and comprehensive case for socialism, written by Albert Einstein in... more
Almost every time a gun is used in a homicide, a chorus of special interests calls for gun control. These calls happened after the shootings at University of Texas in 1966 and in Columbine, Colo., in 1999 and more recently at Virginia Tech University where a student rampaged through the campus killing 33.
There was an organized outcry at Virginia Tech for banning guns. This was farcical since Virginia Tech, like most college campuses, was already a gun-free zone.
On March 22, a prison parolee and felon, 26-year-old Lovelle Mixon, shot and killed four police officers in Oakland, Calif. The officers were upstanding citizens leaving behind families. The incident was predictably followed by a call for banning guns. Even if California had total gun control laws, it would not have prevented the killing of the four officers. Felons already are banned from acquiring weapons.
Felons are antisocial beings who do not follow laws. Not surprisingly, when they want a gun they obtain it illegally. Criminals use the underworld, not legitimate businesses to obtain guns. The Cato Institute has noted that since 1978, when the Washington, D.C., gun ban went into effect, violent crimes rose 55 percent. The same phenomenon has been reported in Australia in 1996, in England in 1997 and the Canadian 2003 gun bans. Preventing citizens from having guns increased violent incidents.
Please read article at link and discuss-Almost every time a gun is used in a homicide, a chorus of special interests calls for... more
"Policies that ignore the realities of the world we live in are doomed to fail. This is true for just about all the biggest issues that we confront, from energy and climate to criminal justice, health and immigration. I'm not arguing that science dictate policy; considerations such as cost, practicality and morality also have a role. But scientific evidence should never be brushed aside from the political debate."
Get out of Afghanistan now, Mr. President. And here’s why.
I’ve lived in Washington since 1981 and have been a faithful reader of The Washington Post ever since. I think I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I have seen the word “resign” in a front-page headline. So when that word does appear, it’s a true “bacon-cooler” moment, to use the industry term for a story so arresting that your hand pauses en route to your mouth and the bacon goes cold while you read, spellbound, to the end of the story.
If you have not seen Karen DeYoung’s Oct 27 story, “U.S. Official Resigns Over Afghan War”, you owe it to yourself, your country, and our soldiers over there to read it. But even more powerful than Ms. DeYoung’s stunner of a scoop is the accompanying letter of resignation itself of Matthew P. Hoh, the 36-year old Marine-turned-Foreign Service Officer. It is a cry of conscience and an indictment of our continued presence in Afghanistan.
[full article at link]Get out of Afghanistan now, Mr. President. And here’s why.
I’ve lived in... more
If your best friend is a guy from "The Office" or a young doctor on "Grey's Anatomy," you may be relying too much on TV shows to fill a social void in your life.
A new study from the University of Michigan says lonely people may use television characters to cope with solitude and to feel a sense of belonging.
The study examines how social and emotional tendencies—social inclusion needs and solitude experiences—are related to people's imagined intimacy with media characters and emotional connection with television programs.
"Media programs are, after all, inherently social and may offer individuals a soothing if temporary replacement for genuine social interaction," said Dara Greenwood, assistant professor of communications studies who co-authored the study with Christopher Long, an assistant professor of psychology at Ouachita Baptist University.
More than 300 participants completed a questionnaire that looked at how the need to belong and different experiences of solitude (such as inspiring self-discovery, diversionary activities, or loneliness) contributed to increased emotional connection to TV characters and programs.
Solitude was defined for participants as time spent alone—or, if in the presence of others, without any social interaction. Participants rated the frequency with which they experienced different types of solitude as well as the importance they placed on these experiences.
After participants identified a favorite character or personality and the show they are featured on, they responded to 15 items to determine what imagined friendship and affinity for a media persona. Items include "My favorite TV personality seems to understand the things I know," and "My favorite TV personality keeps me company when his or her program is on television."
Results showed that increased affiliation needs (e.g., "I try hard not to do things that will make other people avoid or reject me") and lonely solitude experiences predicted increased emotional involvement with media characters. Engaging more intensely with media may be one way that individuals with unmet intimacy goals cope with loneliness, the research indicated.
Solitude experienced as self-discovery also predicted increased involvement with TV characters and programs.
"This underscores the emotional versatility of entertainment media and suggests that the alternative realities of movies or television programs may provide opportunities for imaginative and emotional processing that facilitate personal growth," she said.
This study found that, not surprisingly, the most popular characters were drawn from successful TV programs like "Grey's Anatomy" and "The Office." Most participants (218 people) selected fictional characters; the next most frequently chosen characters were real people, such as Oprah, reality show participants, and Jon Stewart (53 people); followed by cartoon characters (20 people).
"However, there may be a downside to this kind of attachment if the viewer in question idealizes the character and consequently holds her or himself up to unrealistic standards of physical attractiveness, romantic, or professional success," said Greenwood, whose research focuses on emotional well-being and media involvement and on young women's media affinities and self/body image.
Future research will continue investigating the conditions under which media involvement may be more or less beneficial to emotional well-being over the short and long term.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Facebook as a clever guise; truly, the genius marketing ploy of the 21st century if not of all time.
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facebook is as it would lead you to believe, "a social networking site," as we have seen this has potential to be really very misleading (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/18/facebook.reversal/index.html). although, as well as allowing you to keep in touch with your friends, however, they collect information deemed valuable and sell it to third party companies which in turn proceed to advertise and solicit products to you, the individual–a target audience of one. whereas we would normally be organized into a few target audiences for corporations to pursue, instead facebook provides a platform for corporations to "pigeonhole" the individual into "niche markets" at the same time to maximize profit while reducing ad placement campaign failures losses and expenditures.
these arguments, including but not limited to the previous, are shallow and vacuous in light of what is really going on, i.e. the willingness in participation of individuals to voluntarily submit private information that can be recorded and stored for later use in favor of the interested parties. whether it be primarily third party small business groups and corporations or ultimately the government (as all of our average time spent and position of mouse clicks are also documented and can be viewed by D.A.R.P.A. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA) holding anything you say or do can be used against you in the court of law (see also: http://current.com/items/91135668_facebook-poke-leads-to-woman-s-arrest.htm) as well as digitally documenting a paper trail tied to your name local access point, address, mail, e-mail, phone number banking account and credit cards etc.
we've most definitely entered an age of accountability, where the individual is responsible for their transactions and/ or interactions as well as whatever else may transpire on the internet. where upon certain occasions it has caused certain individuals to lose their jobs or otherwise prevented them from getting one. pending the abolition of the net neutrality act(source available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_neutrality), the internet is more or less a democratic medium in that it can either be used for or against the private individual whom so ever over indulges themselves in it.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------... more
