Prometheus 6: June 22, 2003 - June 28, 2003 Archives

June 28, 2003

Long Night

I'm finally getting around to moving my whole life from my laptop to the new desktop machine.

Only somehow I managed to break the spacebar on my keyboard. You have to hit it just so to get it to work, so no more typing, much less blogging, until I get it fixed. I'll start working on the next Racism essay tomorrow.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/28/2003 10:13:28 PM |

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We're getting there, some of us

Natasha at the Watch has a nice post that examines certain components of our identities in search of something substantial.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/28/2003 03:03:31 PM |

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An important note

Daily Kos has a thread going about how the Democratic party can connect with its base via the blogosphere (which term, btw, I hate even more than cyberspace). And folks will actually listen to him because his readers got together $10k in donations via ePatriots. He's talking to Terry McAuliffe, the DNC chief.

Check the thread and add an opinion if yours ain't there.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/28/2003 01:13:41 PM |

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This is stupid

Literally.

Isn't this the sort of thing that made Soviet science fall so far behind the USofA's?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/28/2003 01:03:25 PM |

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On the next episode of Prometheus 6

I still have two pretty major topics/ideas for the Racism series. I want to talk about whiteness studies, and I want to install a negro in the brain of willing readers. At this point both ideas are in a single mental draft, which would be pretty long when written.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/28/2003 12:53:25 PM |

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A parallel thought

I include the whole editorial. On a certain level, all I needed to quote was its title, because it totally encapsulates the reason I'm approaching my Racism series as I am.

Everyone "knows" all about race. In the introduction to "Two Nations," Prof. Andrew Hacker says everyone could write a book about race because we're so deep into it. I note that we're so deep into it that you can't even mention an opinion without people immediately turning it into a reflection on themselves. People seem not to understand there's a difference between talking about race and talking about racism; there's a difference between talking about racism and talking about racists. The result of all the confusion and all the "knowledge" been a lot more suggesting of solutions than determining what the problem to be solved is, and that's both sad and ineffective.

I'm not trying to suggest solutions. I'm trying to provide perspective. I'm trying to do analysis, and looking for folks tell me if the see something new or something I missed. And I don't make shit personal as long as you don't (that may be an error, and if you think so, please explain to me why… which is no guarantee I'll change for you, just that I'll hear it out).

If your first thought when reading this stuff is of self-defense, it's sure sign that you're in it too deep… be you racist or not.

from African-American News&Issues

You shouldnï¿½t criticize until you analyze

By Roy Douglas Malonson

During our weekly Tuesday morning staff meetings, weï¿½re often confronted with Black Americaï¿½s biggest problem. Truthfully, we admit that personality classes oftentimes are as disastrous for African American News & Issues as theyï¿½ve long been for Black Americaï¿½s fragmented leadership. If youï¿½ve already guessed where weï¿½re going with this, you also know that the operative word here is fragmented, rather than divided, as in the biblical proverb, ï¿½Every kingdom divided against itself shall not stand.ï¿½ Whatï¿½s the difference? Thatï¿½s a good question, and weï¿½re glad you asked. A divided house is certainly a big problem, but simply coming together in most cases can easily solve it.

On the other hand, fragmented, translates to being shattered and/or scattered. Much like the nursery school rhyme character, ï¿½Humpty Dumpty,ï¿½ that couldnï¿½t be put back together again. What weï¿½re saying, is that ï¿½bent out of shapeï¿½ isnï¿½t just a clichï¿½ -- used to describe peopleï¿½s attitude when they no longer can agree to disagree, i.e., negotiate, arbitrate, mediate, cooperateï¿½but a fact of life. Do we need a dictionary to explain that itï¿½s very difficult to fix something thatï¿½s fragmented, because the broken pieces can never be smoothly fitted together again? Sadly, thatï¿½s what time it is in 2003 Black America, but letï¿½s not get off course here. Because we have yet to explain what destroys Black organizations, churches, or even families beyond repair.

Perhaps, the best way to break down Black Americaï¿½s most pressing problem is to go back to our weekly meetings. Ideally, we meet to make sure that everybody fully understands our prime directive. Itï¿½s very important that our whole team realizes the enormity of our obligation, now that weï¿½re Texasï¿½ widest circulated newspaper with a Black perspective, thatï¿½s also an uncompromised editorial voice for disenfranchised Black Americans. Moreover, weï¿½re discovering that weï¿½re fast becoming a source for all citizens, with curious minds who want to know the truth that can only be revealed when a newspaper is dedicated to reporting all news without fear or favor. Thatï¿½s why we encourage everybody at the table to speak openly and candidly, regardless of age or status.

Maybe thatï¿½s a mistake; insofar as many post integration African Americans, through no fault of their own, unwittingly express a White middle class perspective. Denial notwithstanding, when Black people are educated from the same premise as Whites, itï¿½s very difficult for them to grasp the concept of a ï¿½Black newspaper,ï¿½ or even a Black perspective. Even worse, they often bring to the table unfounded presumptions, or you could say prejudices. For instance, a young staff member suggested that our newspaper should address issues more relevant to our youth, including the ï¿½Hip Hopï¿½ generation. Thatï¿½s a great idea, as well as good business. Nevertheless, the staff memberï¿½s idea was based on a presumption. Since our most effective writer is a senior citizen she presumed that he couldnï¿½t possibly relate to our youth. She had no idea that the living historian was a certified counselor of trouble youth whose secondary study was socio-psychology. He, of course asked, ï¿½Do you read my column?ï¿½ Like far too many supposedly educated, political astute African Americans, she had to admit that she really hadnï¿½t. Her opinion was based wholly on the fact that ANN&I doesnï¿½t have a specific youth section. The kind of youth section that can easily be found in most publications, insofar as they have kids looking silly (with their caps turned backwards, or sideways), starring out of their pages, or TV commercials targeting our younger generation.

The question left hanging is, how can you criticize something that you have yet to analyze? Then again, thereï¿½s a much better question that Black America should be askingï¿½before buying into educators, social engineers and corporate Americaï¿½s clever marketing ploy. We should be asking, since weï¿½re all in this spiritual war together, why do we think teenagerï¿½s problems differ from the adults theyï¿½re emulating? Thatï¿½s certainly a question that Black America should explore, before asking the thoughtless question, ï¿½Whatï¿½s wrong with these kids today? If you dare analyze what may seem to be a somewhat political correct question (to brainwashed African America parents), the answer should be fairly obvious.

That is unless parents are in denial and refuse to realize that something is terribly wrong with todayï¿½s adults too. Biblical principles aside, when did Black parents start buying into a contradictory concept that kids, should have more common sense than adults, although we donï¿½t teach them nothing? We suspect it was doing the Reagan Years, when former first lady Nancy Reaganï¿½s offered the simplistic solution, ï¿½Just say no,ï¿½ for teenagerï¿½s drug problems? How can we possibly expect kids to have a stronger will and more discipline than world leaders? We Must Understand, itï¿½s good business to target different age groups, by putting diverse labels on the same product to con us to believe it was especially made for an exclusive generation, or population.

Itï¿½s amazing how quickly adults criticize our youth, but never stop to analyze their problems. When analyzed objectively, problems such as the ever-growing high school dropout rate, itï¿½s easy to determine that educators cause the problem. They insist on treating 15-year-old sexually active 9th graders like children, although they have children and are wrestling with the same relationship problems as they are. That simply wonï¿½t work, in todayï¿½s high tech, information age. There is no hiding place from our impressionable kids. What weï¿½re saying is, if our youths have to deal with zero tolerance racial profiling, violent relationships, crime, drugs, etc., the same as adults, their problems are common denominators.

It becomes very obvious that our critics only read ANN&I, rather than analyze our Black perspectives. How many times must we explain that Black newspaperï¿½s mission is unique and must differ with the mainstream media? Consequently, when weï¿½re criticized for being different from all other media, we know weï¿½re doing our job. Thank you critics.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/28/2003 12:12:15 PM |

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from African-American News&Issues

Fear precedes Tyranny
Is the ï¿½Land of The Freeï¿½ a misnomer?
By BUD JOHNSON

Conversely, many of her colleagues scoffed at Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, when she retorted, ``My fear is that we may go to the point of changing the culture of America, the First Amendment protections and the Fourth Amendment protections,'' in response to Attorney General John Ashcroft quest for more power to turn the land of the free into an apartheid nation. Freedom loving Americans, no doubt, find it very difficult to believe that America could ever become a fascist nation. Nevertheless, history certainly records that frighten citizens have made the same mistakeï¿½theyï¿½re currently making to allow our hawkish government to invalidate our constitutional rights -- in the past.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/28/2003 11:48:11 AM |

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Shhhh… don't tell Ashcroft

San Francisco Drops Charges Against Most War Protesters
By DEAN E. MURPHY

SAN FRANCISCO, June 27 ï¿½ The district attorney's office today dismissed infractions against 407 people arrested in March in antiwar protests here and also indicated that it would not pursue charges against all but about 20 of the others who were arrested.

Mike Menesini, an assistant district attorney, said the decision, which lawyers for the protesters estimated would affect about 2,300 people, was made "in the interest of justice."

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/28/2003 10:46:21 AM |

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Reality check

Nice editorial.

Mr. Diversity
By BILL KELLER

… Sometimes ï¿½ as in its broad and blessedly civilized ruling Thursday protecting gay Americans from the invasions of a censorious state ï¿½ the Supreme Court upholds high principle. And sometimes the best it can do is give us the muddle of real life.

"A cynic," protested The Wall Street Journal, "might conclude that yesterday's decisions mean universities can still racially discriminate, as long as they're not too obvious about it." [p6: and, of course, any bunch of rich guys who call the working poor "lucky duckies" most eminantly qualifies for the title of cynic] Yes, just so. The editorial might have added that this is pretty much what the first President Bush did when he appointed a black jurist of questionable distinction to the Supreme Court, insisting all the while that it had nothing to do with race.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/28/2003 10:40:07 AM |

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In case you haven't been by Eschaton yet

G.O.P. Steals Thunder
By ROBIN TONER
The House and Senate have passed the biggest expansion and overhaul of Medicare since it was created, and it was Republicans who pushed it through.

The NY Times, a mainstay of the SCLM, puts this lead out there, and follows up with:

NEWS ANALYSIS
G.O.P. Steals Thunder
By ROBIN TONER

WASHINGTON, June 27 ï¿½ï¿½ Medicare has always been a signature Democratic program, the proud legacy of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society, established and protected by the Democratic majorities that reigned in Congress for much of the past 40 years.

Now, the House and Senate have passed the biggest expansion and overhaul of Medicare since it was created, including a major new drug benefit for the 40 million elderly and disabled Americans covered by the government health insurance program. And it was Republicans, led by President Bush, who pushed it through.

And how did they push it through? By promising bigger deficits: As was said in yesterday's report on this mess:

ï¿½ In an effort to secure conservative support for the Medicare bill, House Republican leaders combined it, at the last minute, with a separate bill encouraging people of all ages to set up two types of tax-exempt personal savings accounts to help pay medical expenses. By a vote of 237 to 191, the House on Thursday approved the new savings accounts, estimated to cost the Treasury $174 billion in lost revenue over the next decade.

and that's the cost of the "savings plan" not the Medicare plan. And we've already pretty much gutted the tax base.

Side note: this

Dr. Frist reflected in an interview six months ago that his party needed to redefine itself on Medicare just as it had on education, with Mr. Bush's promise of "no child left behind."

probably means we'll see new definitions of death and illness under which the Feds will report that no one is sick at all. Anywhere. Ever.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/28/2003 10:30:50 AM |

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In case you haven't been by Counterspin Central yet

Missing U.S. Soldiers Found Dead North of Baghdad
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 8:50 AM ET
News of the deaths came amid a persistent drumbeat of guerrilla-style attacks and sabotage that have marred U.S. efforts to reestablish order in Iraq.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/28/2003 10:16:19 AM |

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Editorial run

Rob Rogers takes a fair and balanced look at affirmative action.
Henry Payne shows Republican extremists can act affirmatively too.
Lalo Alcaraz provides a voice for the oppressed.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/28/2003 10:10:13 AM |

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June 27, 2003

Okay, one more thing

After bitching about the was Cynthia McKinney was railroaded, I see the story is getting some play in other blogs as well. Alas, A Blog does a particularly nice job

Showing once again that when it comes to bashing progressives, mainstream Democrats are pretty much indistinguishable from Republicans, TAPPED and The Wyeth Wire both link to a transcript of Cynthia McKinney's comments on the Flashpoints radio show. TAPPED, in an entry entitled "McKinney is still an idiot," claims that McKinney's comments "could be fairly described" by this statement from the New York Times:

Ms. McKinney suggest[ed] that President Bush might have known about the September 11 attacks but did nothing so his supporters could make money in a war.

Wyeth Wire makes a similar claim, calling Gregory Palast's article defending McKinney "patently false." Just look in this transcript, Wyeth and TAPPED say, and you'll see the statement for yourself.

The funny thing is, neither of these blogs actually quotes McKinney's damning statements. Why? Because - surprise surprise - they're not there.

Ya damn skippy I kept all the links in there. No point wasting all that work.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 12:09:54 PM |

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I have a choice

Correct some spelling, phrasing and niggling little punctuation points, or head uptown to see one of my favorite people and poets (in that order), devorah major.

Not a tough call at all. See ya, probably late this evening.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 11:32:19 AM |

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Mark Fiore time

I've been neglecting you, sorry about that.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 10:45:25 AM |

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Crusing the referral log

Every so often you see something in the logs that catches your eye. The other day I saw a referral from http://maria.thudfactor.com. "Thudfactor" has a new-wave Homer-esque sound to it, and I wanted to see what was on the other end.

What I found Transitions and Poop, not the kind of thing I normally link to, but a pleasant read. I had a couple of "awwww…" moments there.

I'm gonna lift a post from Maria explaining the name:

January 27, 2003
I renamed my blog
I have renamed my blog. I thought about calling it a few different things...

The new and improved housewife (but I'm not so sure that's true)

Maria-- Wife, Mother, and Weirdo (but I'm so much more than just that)

Maria's World (it was just too stupid to consider)

I looked at old entries and started thinking, "What is Maria's world right now?" Then I saw Transitions and Poop. This is truly my world.

I'm no longer employed, but I still think like a statistician. I might be a housewife, but I hate the term and I don't think I fit the traditional role of housewife anyway. I guess that means I'm in transistion. Transition to what? Well, your guess is as good as mine.

And with a baby comes much poop. But it's more than just the baby pooping in my life. I have a husband, dog, and two ferrets-- not to mention myself. So like most lives, mine is full of poop that I have to deal with somehow or another.

As a child and a starry-eyed teenager, I had this plan for a dream life. It didn't include staying at home or adoption or statistics or most of the things that are my life. I'm happy though. I'm so much happier than I ever would have been in my dream life.

I have discovered that a truly happy life is always in transition and alway filled with poop. And hence, the new name for my blog is "Transitions and Poop". It's my prescription for a good life.

Posted by maria at January 27, 2003 05:53 PM

Comments
A follow-up on the naming of my blog...

My husband is good poop, not bad poop

Posted by: Maria on February 4, 2003 02:39 PM

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 10:16:27 AM |

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We're not complete

But with MB posting at Wampum again (hopefully as regularly as before) a significant piece is back.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 08:50:59 AM |

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Absurdity time

TYRA BANKS IN CATWALK CATFIGHT
Catwalk beauty Tyra Banks has been verbally attacked by modeling legend Janice Dickinson after an onscreen disagreement.

On her reality TV show "America's Next Top Model," supermodel Banks branded Dickinson "the problem with America" after she criticized a contestant for being too fat.

When guest judge Steve Santagati agreed with Janice, an infuriated Banks boomed, "I think you are why women are leaning over the toilet at this very minute and vomiting after they've eaten or are taking laxatives after they've eaten. The full-figure market is changing."

But the attack has angered Polish Dickinson, who rants, "I was the world's first supermodel, and Tyra and all the other models owe me at least a Christmas card every year because I broke down the ethnic barrier to begin with.

"Back in the day when the top models were Christie Brinkley and Cheryl Tiegs, I was having doors shut in my face for having [big] lips and being 'too ethnic'. I was real upset about that for a long time, and I'm just upset about this situation.

"Maybe Tyra's hair weave was too tight that night. Maybe that's why she went off on me."

She adds, "Wait till season two. This alpha dog is not going to take it lying down next time. I have this rigorous program of honesty -- and if Miss Thang can't handle that, she needs to have a garden show."

Let me point out that Ms. Banks is right about the "too fat" comment. And I would also like to say that I'm on her side because she is

so

damn

FINE

I searched for a picture of her to insert gratuitously and almost went blind. Rarely has organic chemistry achieved so elegant an expression.

But anyway, what's up with pointing out Janice Dickinson is Polish?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 07:42:19 AM |

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Editorial run

Fighting for Fairness at School
New York's highest court affirmed Thursday that the state is falling short of its constitutional duty to provide sound education.

Toward One-Party Rule
By PAUL KRUGMAN
A forthcoming article in The Washington Monthly tracks the emergence of a national political machine that is on its way to establishing Republican one-party rule.
(Yeah, I linked to it below. I think it deserves a second link. And it's my damn blog.)

Cartoons
Mike Luckovich proposes a memorial for Gulf War II veterans.
Ben Sargent follows up on the career of that lying asshole of a Tulia cop.
Pat Oliphant lets us listen in on an old-fashioned father-son talk.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 07:20:55 AM |

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Of course

In defunding the Federal government, you destroy local government almost as a side-effect.

With Deadline Near, States Are in Budget Discord
By JODI WILGOREN
An unusually high number of states lack budget agreements as they face the end of their fiscal years.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 07:09:17 AM |

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Well, okay, but how do you pay for it?

House and Senate Pass Measures for Broad Overhaul of Medicare
By ROBIN TONER and ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON, Friday, June 27 ï¿½ After a severe test of President Bush's influence on Capitol Hill, the Senate and the House today approved the biggest expansion of Medicare since its creation nearly four decades ago, passing legislation to provide prescription drug benefits to the elderly and give private health plans a much larger role in the program.

The House vote was 216 to 215 in a dramatic roll-call that lasted more than 40 minutes, with the "nays" outnumbering the "yeas," until several Republicans switched their votes. Conservative Republicans joined most House Democrats in voting against the bill in a setback for the Republican leadership and for President Bush, who had lobbied intensely for the measure for months.

… In an effort to secure conservative support for the Medicare bill, House Republican leaders combined it, at the last minute, with a separate bill encouraging people of all ages to set up two types of tax-exempt personal savings accounts to help pay medical expenses. By a vote of 237 to 191, the House on Thursday approved the new savings accounts, estimated to cost the Treasury $174 billion in lost revenue over the next decade.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 07:04:53 AM |

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I… I'm all choked up again

Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100
By ADAM CLYMER
Strom Thurmond of South Carolina was a central figure in the political transformation of the South and the longest-serving senator in American history.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 06:57:49 AM |

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Fiction for the fictive

So they're making this movie, right? And it shows a steely-eyed Dubya battling his way back to the White Hoiuse to take personal command of exterminating those Iraqi, Iranians, uhhhhh…

_{psst. psst! there's a page missing here, asshole. gimmie that fucking thing}

and Libyans responsible for the 9/11 tragedy.

Only we know better. The Memory Hole has a Quicktime movie of G.W. himself at the time he was notified of the attack. And thorswitch of different strings, my homie on the Build-A-Meme thingie, tells you why she is mirroring it.

Got broadband? Got 12.5 megs to spare?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 05:53:35 AM |

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*ahem*

Lambert gets up too damn early in the morning. Before I get a chance to even access the site he points out Mr. Krugman's editorial (having apparently worked out that Atriosian style we all know and love):

Toward One-Party Rule
By PAUL KRUGMAN

In principle, Mexico's 1917 Constitution established a democratic political system. In practice, until very recently Mexico was a one-party state. While the ruling party employed intimidation and electoral fraud when necessary, mainly it kept control through patronage, cronyism and corruption. All powerful interest groups, including the media, were effectively part of the party's political machine.

Such systems aren't unknown here ï¿½ think of Richard J. Daley's Chicago. But can it happen to the United States as a whole? A forthcoming article in The Washington Monthly shows that the foundations for one-party rule are being laid right now.

In "Welcome to the Machine," Nicholas Confessore draws together stories usually reported in isolation ï¿½ from the drive to privatize Medicare, to the pro-tax-cut fliers General Motors and Verizon recently included with the dividend checks mailed to shareholders, to the pro-war rallies organized by Clear Channel radio stations. As he points out, these are symptoms of the emergence of an unprecedented national political machine, one that is well on track to establishing one-party rule in America.

Not only do I want to point out I've pulled together many references of the same sort together for much the same reason, but that I use the handle "the Machine" on my favorite discussion board.

I think we're talking plagiarism here.

No?

Never mind.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 05:32:04 AM |

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What we're gonna do right here is go back. Way back. Back into time.

Mariposa, in the comments to this post let me know the Library of Congress has an exhibit of manuscipts from the Library of Timbuktu which opened June 24^th.

Public Affairs Office
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington, DC
20540-1610
tel (202) 707-2905
fax (202) 707-9199
e-mail [email protected]

June 16, 2003
Contact: Audrey Fischer (202) 707-0022

Library of Congress Opens Exhibition on Ancient Manuscripts of Timbuktu on June 24
An exhibition titled ï¿½Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktuï¿½ will open at the Library of Congress on Tuesday, June 24. The exhibition has been planned in conjunction with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall, which will feature the cultural heritage of Mali.

ï¿½The Library of Congress is pleased to exhibit these important cultural artifacts from Mali as part of a continuing effort to create a universal collection reflecting human endeavor from all geographic areas and historical eras,ï¿½ said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington.

Copies of the manuscripts in the exhibition will become part of the Libraryï¿½s extensive Africana collection, which contains several ancient West African manuscripts similar to those in the exhibition. Among the items on display are ï¿½Kashf al-Gummah fi Nafa al-Ummahï¿½ (Important Stars in the Multitudes of the Heavens), an astronomy text copied at Timbuktu in 1733; ï¿½Arbab al-Khartumi, al-Jawahir al-Hissan fi Marifat Arkan al-Imanï¿½ (A Jewel of Beauty for Learning the Pillars of Faith), a text book for teaching the basic tenets of Islam and ï¿½Said Ahmad ibn Amar a-Raqadi al-Tumbukti al-Kunti, Shifa al-Saqam al-Aridah fi al-Zahir wa al-Batinï¿½ (Curing Defects and Diseases, Both Apparent and Hidden), a study of diseases, their remedies, and medications.

Though known to African communities for generations, the recognition of these texts by Western academics has created a breakthrough in recent scholarship. Once believed to be solely based on oral tradition, African culture has also been passed down through a rich literary tradition as evidenced by the existence of these manuscripts.

The manuscripts address a wide range of subjects such as mathematics, physics, astronomy, secular literature and Koranic teachings. Written primarily in Arabic by local authors, the majority of the works are privately held, often by descendants of the original scholars. The manuscripts in the exhibition are from two of the most noteworthy private collections in the regionï¿½the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library and the Library of Cheick Zayni Baye of Boujbeha.

Situated on the edge of the Sahara Desert in West Africa, the legendary city of Timbuktu, Mali, was founded in 1100 A.D. For more than 600 years, Timbuktu was one of the worldï¿½s most important commercial centers due to its central location on trans-Saharan trade routes. Timbuktuï¿½s universities and mosques attracted scholars throughout the continent, making it a spiritual, intellectual and literary center whose influences reached beyond the borders of present-day Mali to encompass Western and Northern Africa, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Public libraries grew from the original works of these scholars and through importation of books. Remnants of this rich history and culture survive to this day through the ancient manuscripts of Timbuktuï¿½s desert libraries.

The exhibition will be on view in the South Gallery of the Great Hall in the Thomas Jefferson Building through Sept. 3. Hours for the exhibition are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Selections from the exhibitions will also be available on the Libraryï¿½s Web site at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits.

The Libraryï¿½s Africana collection includes materials produced over the centuries by people living in sub-Saharan African and by others inspired by the continent. Encompassing some 50 countries whose peoples speak hundreds of languages, the collection offers rich opportunities for diverse studies. For more information, visit the African and Middle Eastern Reading Room Web site at http://www.loc.gov/rr/amed.

# # #

PR 03-109
06/16/03
ISSN 0731-3527

This, of course, makes me go look for stuff to steal for the site. What I found was an addition to the "Dropping Knowledge" link box, and affiliated stuff some less single-minded than I will appreciate as well.

The Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Reading Room, if you're physically located somewhere around the building, looks like the Schomberg Center of the ancient world.

The African and Middle Eastern Reading Room is the primary public access point for materials housed in the the African and Middle Eastern Division (AMED) which include a variety of vernacular scripts, such as Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish, and Yiddish. Covering more than 70 countries, from Morocco to Southern Africa to the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union, the division's three sections--African, Hebraic, and Near East--offer in-depth reference assistance, provide substantive briefings on a wide range of subjects relating to these languages and cultures, produce guides to the Library's vast resources and cooperate in developing and preserving the Division's unparalleled collections.

Though this alone is da bomb, they've published something that has finally convinced me of the wisdom of a wish list: The Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Collections: Illustrated Guides.

The three-volume set includes individual illustrated guides to the Library's Africana, Hebraic, and Near East collections. They narrate the growth of the Library's extensive and comprehensive holdings of the intellectual heritage of more than 70 countries and countless peoples, lands and cultures of sub-Saharan and North Africa, Israel, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

Check the links, because they're online. Tell me that hard copy isn't worth grovelling for.

Mariposa, thank you.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/27/2003 04:55:46 AM |

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June 26, 2003

from allAfrica.com

French Troops Clash With Lendu Militia
New Vision (Kampala)
June 25, 2003

Kampala

French peacekeepers have exchanged gunfire with ethnic militia fighters in the war-torn town of Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A BBC reporter in Bunia said the French troops rushed in to crush a suspected incursion by ethnic Lendu fighters.

The clash came as a deadline expired for the gunmen to disarm.

Most of the ethnic Hema fighters in control of Bunia have complied, but a small number have remained to protect the leadership, the BBC reported.

The north-eastern town has been wracked by fighting between rival ethnic factions, which has killed about 500 civilians in the past two months.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 07:34:18 PM |

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from allAfrica.com

Rebels Fight Their Way Into Monrovia City Centre
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
June 25, 2003

Monrovia

Liberian rebels fighting to topple President Charles Taylor bombarded the capital city, Monrovia, with heavy mortar and rocket fire throughout the night and punched their way into the city centre on Wednesday morning.

Eyewitnesses said fighters of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel movement, seized control of Monrovia's Bushrod Island, where Liberia's deep water port is situated, and crossed the key Gabriel Tucker bridge into the Mamba Point area of central Monrovia, just before dawn.

Fighting neared the US embassy and UN buildings later on Wednesday morning, pushing the LURD to within four km of the Executive Mansion, the headquarters of President Taylor.

For the first time,the rebels fired rockets as well as mortar shells into various parts of the city. One rocket hit the Health Ministry, a few hundred metres from the Executive Mansion. Two others fell on the beach nearby. Another exploded in the eastern suburb of Sinkor.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 07:32:21 PM |

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from allAfrica.com

Development is Being Destroyed By Subsidies, Mali President Tells Congressional Committee
June 25, 2003

By Charles Cobb Jr.
Washington, DC

U.S. and European subsidies and tariffs "support injustice," Mali President Amadou Toumani Toure told the House International Relations Subcommitteee on Africa, Tuesday, summarizing written testimony that he presented for the record.

Toure said he was representing all African nations and the devastating effect of subsidies on Malian cotton illustrates the harm that agriculural subsidies - now totaling more that US$300bn in the United States and Europe - are causing to agriculture across the continent. "We have decided to pull the alarm bell."

Toure is the first Afican President or head of state to testify before the subcommittee. "We needed to bring some weight to this," said one member of the president's party. Agricultural issues, a key element in the political structure of a small group of powerful legislators, are not usually taken up by the Africa subcommittee.

But there is a crisis, said Toure. Agriculture subsidies that keep prices artificially low contribute significantly to the continued economic deterioration in Mali and other cotton-producers in Africa. There have been "serious consequences on our economies," he told the lawmakers in his written testimony. "Mali lost 1.7 percent of her GDP and 8 percent of her export receipts; Burkina Faso lost 1 percent of her GDP and 12 percent of her export receipts; Benin lost 1.4 percent of her GDP and 9 percent of her export receipts.

And low prices for agricultural products lead to rural depopulation which, in turn, leads to urban unrest and "breeding grounds for terrorism."

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 07:30:34 PM |

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from allAfrica.com

US Terror Warnings and Bush Failure to Visit Anger Nairobi
June 24, 2003
Posted to the web June 24, 2003

By Charles Cobb Jr.
Washington, DC

The travel warning issued for Kenya, the closing of the U.S. embassy and now the decision by President Bush not to visit Kenya during his trip to Africa next month, has left a bitter taste in the mouths of Kenyan officials. "You are not issuing similar warnings for Egypt, Jordan or Saudi Arabia where there are more terrorist cells [than in Kenya]," says Minister of Public Works, Raila Odinga. "President Bush cannot come to Nairobi because Nairobi is unsafe but he can go to Jordan. Are we not applying a double standard?"

Kenya feels "let down and offended" that President Bush will go to Kampala but not Nairobi, said Odinga. "The reason being given is that Kenya is unsafe. If there are terrorist cells in Kenya, Mombasa or whatever, what is there to stop them from crossing the border? There is no "Berlin Wall" between Kenya and Uganda."

Odinga, and his fellow Minister for Provincial Administration and National Security, Dr. Chris Murungaru, spoke to allAfrica.com in Washington, D.C. Monday where they are pressing for the warning to be lifted and for more resources to support Kenya's efforts against terrorism. "Rather than issue a travel warning, [the U.S.] should assist us to protect not just ourselves, but yourselves as well, since you are the primary target," said Murungaru.

There is "no reason" to issue an advisory against travel to Kenya, argues Murungaru, calling the warning "unfair". Both the U.S. advisory issued in mid-May, and Britain's own warning, which prompted British Airways to suspend to suspend flights to Kenya, are "making a bad situation much, much worse."

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 07:27:59 PM |

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First and last time

J:

You have a uniquely creative mind. May my humble efforts here continue to provide you with amusement until such time as the education process is complete.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 01:05:12 PM |

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Prometheus 6 Investigates

Media star and Fox Network totem Michael Savage has been threatening to sue websites that mock him, his attitudes and positions, his name, what he had for lunch or his choice of ties. It stuck us here at Prometheus 6 odd that he wouldn't recognize the "any publicity is good publicity" truism. It seemed odd he'd seek less exposure. His recent ratings seem to reflect this strange-in-a-media-star tendency as well.

It struck us he was hiding something, that he feared greater exposure might expose him to some horror from his past. So naturally, we start digging. We discovered he had two name changes, the second of which was the well-known change from Weiner to Savage. The first was to drop his middle name and change the first from Oscar to Michael.

We attempted to contact his agent to give him a chance to rebut this report, but received no reply.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 12:23:47 PM |

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Okay, you may begin flogging me any time now

Young Son: "Is it true, Dad, I heard that in some parts of Africa a man doesn't know his wife until he marries her?"

Dad: That happens in every country, son.

I'm sorry, I just think that's funny as hell.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 11:15:55 AM |

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Inverse link whoring

I just added a couple of folks to the blogroll. I finally got around to checking pretty much all the blogs the Ecosystem says link to the site as opposed to a particular post and I like most of them.

There's a couple few that didn't get added for random reasons:
The Mudville Gazette is a conservative site, an ovecomable obstacle. Greyhawk sees me as one of three uniters in the last Showcase I entered. I truly wonder if he's following the series and if so what his opinion is so far. If he's open enough to see my intentions haven't changed I can probably give ZenPundit some company in the lonely Conservative outpost, frankly regardless of anything else he might say.

Dog of Flanders is a Belgian blog, which is probably why I can't figure out if it's leftist, conservative or what. Plus I can't find where the damn link to my page is. When I get to my final configurations (hah!) he'll likely go into a "check it once in a while" group.

Tiger: Raggin' & Rantin', who blew any chance of a permanent link here by saying in the comments he found the best source of information about Black folks to be… television shows. Sitcoms, at that.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 10:26:35 AM |

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Oliver Willis

I don't comment on Oliver Willis' site, but I read them.

Mr. Willis gets pretty exercised over David Brooks' latest in the Weekly Standard. His post, and the comments attached thereto, are good reading.

Watch for Aaron in the comments. He has a blog with the motto "I'm not this way because I listen to Rush. I listen to Rush because I am this way." Chilling.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 09:18:16 AM |

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Oh, yeah

Forget what i said about MaxSpeaks being an economics blog. It covers a lot more than that.

Keep reading it, though.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 08:55:32 AM |

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In case it's what you're looking for

Here's where the lastest Racism essay is.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 08:36:48 AM |

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A George Soros quote

Connected, a Corante-hosted blog helped me in my interminable search for substantive quotations (how's that for a fukked up hobby?). In an article commenting on the juxtaposition of the Public Domain Enhancement Act and RIAA trying to sue individuals, they pulled the following from an old editorial he wrote for The Atlantic:

"Every society needs some shared values to hold it together. Market values on their own cannot serve that purpose, because they reflect only what one market participant is willing to pay another in a free exchange. Markets reduce everything, including human beings (labor) and nature (land), to commodities. We can have a market economy but we cannot have a market society. In addition to markets, society needs institutions to serve such social goals as political freedom and social justice."

This is why I find the Republican extremists currently in office to be so dangerous to the future of the nation. "We can have a market economy but we cannot have a market society. "

Excuse me while I go read the whole essay.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 07:56:58 AM |

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Shit, redux

Liberian Rebels Driven Back from Monrovia Port
By REUTERS

Filed at 6:52 a.m. ET

MONROVIA, Liberia (Reuters) - Fighters loyal to Liberia's President Charles Taylor pushed rebels out of the capital's port Thursday after fierce battles that prompted a British call for U.S. intervention.

Military officials said rebels had retreated to the area around St Paul's River Bridge, about 10 km (6 miles) from the heart of Monrovia, and residents said the rattle of automatic gunfire had died down after intense overnight fighting.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 07:43:09 AM |

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This may force me to set up that Amazon wish list

A NY Times review of

ROGUE NATION
American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions
By Clyde Prestowitz
328 pages. Basic Books. $26.

A Superpower Goes Its Own Way, at Its Peril
By GEOFFREY WHEATCROFT
… At this astonishing juncture in history, when the United States has demonstrated overwhelming military might and the ability to act as it pleases, Clyde Prestowitz steps back to try to view his country in perspective. Now president of the Economic Strategy Institute, a research group in Washington, he has had a long and varied career, partly spent outside America, which gives him an advantage most of his compatriots lack. His theme in "Rogue Nation" is American unilateralism, not only in the mainstream of foreign policy but also in various tributuaries. Mr. Prestowitz recites a familar and gloomy litany ï¿½ small-arms control, global warming and Kyoto, the International Criminal Court and plenty of other areas where Washington has thwarted international consensus.

There is nothing new about national egoism, after all; great powers have always pursued their own interests. Yet even when they didn't do so in a decorous way, or with what high-minded earlier Americans called a decent respect for the opinions of mankind, older powers necessarily had some regard for the views and interests of other countries. Even at the apogee of British might 100 years ago, when their neighbors often saw the English as perfidious and hypocritical, Britain pretended to pay some attention to those neighbors and tried to retain some of their good will.

The United States, under the Bush administration, Mr. Prestowitz suggests, is quite different, with a disrespect for the opinion of mankind that verges on the indecent. If its attitude toward its foes is Accius' "Oderint dum metuant" ï¿½ "Let them hate us so long as they fear us" ï¿½ the administration's attitude toward its friends is borrowed from the 19th-century statesman Prince Schwarzenberg: They will be astonished by the magnitude of our ingratitude.

As Mr. Prestowitz perceives, the real trouble with current American policy is not so much that it is unilateral and highhanded as that it doesn't even understand the cynical, older notion of enlightened self-interest. Washington acts on the principle that "they need us more than we need them," a belief that has been encouraged by some of the more simple-minded exponents of globalization as the latest version of the American way. Quite apart from being a little ill mannered, this isn't even true.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 07:39:48 AM |

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Giving the death penalty to a corpse

William Massey says it all. How can you enforce a contract after saying one party was illegally manipulated into it?

Federal Regulators Uphold California Energy Contracts
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.

WASHINGTON, June 25 ï¿½ Federal energy regulators today rejected a request by California to invalidate more than $12 billion in energy contracts signed at the height of the state's electricity crisis, even though they have determined that widespread manipulation helped drive prices higher.

In a series of rulings issued today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also demanded that more than 60 sellers, including some of the nation's largest power companies, justify why they should not be forced to give up profits obtained through improper tactics.

The commission also stripped the Enron Corporation, which is now bankrupt, of the right to sell electricity and natural gas at prices set in the open market. The commission called its action unprecedented and said it stemmed from Enron's "numerous market manipulation schemes."

But the most important action today was the 2-to-1 decision upholding the long-term contracts for electricity that California signed to help bring raging power prices under control in 2000-01. Had the regulators invalidated the contracts, the state could have saved several billion dollars by arranging for alternate power supplies at lower prices, people on both sides of the issue said.

In a separate proceeding at the commission, the state is seeking $9 billion in refunds from electricity overcharges. Commission officials have indicated that those refunds will probably total $3.3 billion to $4 billion. But the state will have to spend $3 billion of that to cover unpaid power bills still owed to electricity generators and traders.

The two commissioners who voted to sustain the contracts, Patrick Wood III and Nora Brownell, both appointees of President Bush, said the state had failed to meet a high standard of proof that would allow for such drastic action.

Mr. Wood said that voiding the contracts was not in the public interest and noted that California officials had said at the time the contracts were signed that they were good deals for the state.

The third commissioner, William Massey, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, sharply dissented, saying it was impossible to square the commission's market-manipulation findings with the ruling that the contracts should be enforced.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 07:31:31 AM |

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Shit

I'll have to got to AllAfrica.com later to get more information on this.

Rebels in Liberia Attack Capital; Shell Refugees in U.S. Annex
By SOMINI SENGUPTA

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, June 25 ï¿½ Fighting between government and rebel factions for control of Monrovia, the Liberian capital, erupted today, and people ran frantically through the streets in search of safety.

An unknown number were killed or wounded while seeking shelter in an American Embassy annex.

Whatever hopes had been nurtured by a cease-fire agreement brokered last week by United Nations officials in nearby Ghana were dashed.

Today, the rebel groups said they would not stop fighting until they had seized the capital, while President Charles Taylor, who last week had said he might step down in the interests of peace, urged his supporters to "fight on."

"Your survival is my survival, my survival is your survival," Mr. Taylor said over the radio, according to an Associated Press report.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 07:26:24 AM |

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Editorial run

Big Media's Silence
By WILLIAM SAFIRE

WASHINGTON
Over the protests of 750,000 viewers and readers, three appointees to the Federal Communications Commission last month voted to permit the takeover of America's local press, television and radio by a handful of mega-corporations.

If allowed to stand, this surrender to media giantism would concentrate the power to decide what we read and see ï¿½ in both entertainment and news ï¿½ in the hands of an ever-shrinking establishment elite.

To the F.C.C.'s amazement, the Senate Commerce Committee said no. A bill put forward by Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, president pro tem of the Senate and defender of local control, would reinstate the limit of 35 percent of market penetration by any one company. A Democratic amendment reasserted the limitation on "cross-ownership" by stations and newspapers. The rollback bill, with bipartisan support, is likely to pass the full Senate this summer.

Tax Cut Casualties
By BOB HERBERT
The City University of New York expects massive dropouts following its unavoidable tuition increase of $800 a year. Meanwhile, President Bush is raking in $4 million and touting his tax cuts.

Championing Children for Whom Reading and Learning Are Difficult
By BRENT STAPLES
The No Child Left Behind Act was supposed to reach out to the learning-disabled. Unlike education lawyer Peter W. D. Wright, the federal government has shown little appetite for the job.

Rudy Park gives Rummy a hard time.
Gary Varvel is worried that you can't get there from here.
Robert Ariail finally finds WMD

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 07:21:40 AM |

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Have we reached the point of absurdity yet?

I will be shocked if Powell stays around for a second Bush administration.

Agency Disputes View of Trailers as Labs
By DOUGLAS JEHL

ASHINGTON, June 25 ï¿½ The State Department's intelligence division is disputing the Central Intelligence Agency's conclusion that mysterious trailers found in Iraq were for making biological weapons, United States government officials said today.

In a classified June 2 memorandum, the officials said, the department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research said it was premature to conclude that the trailers were evidence of an Iraqi biological weapons program, as President Bush has done. The disclosure of the memorandum is the clearest sign yet of disagreement between intelligence agencies over the assertion, which was produced jointly by the C.I.A. and the Defense Intelligence Agency and made public on May 28 on the C.I.A. Web site. Officials said the C.I.A. and D.I.A. did not consult with other intelligence agencies before issuing the report.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 07:08:32 AM |

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The rich get richer, and the poor…

Very Richest's Share of Income Grew Even Bigger, Data Show
By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON

The 400 wealthiest taxpayers accounted for more than 1 percent of all the income in the United States in the year 2000, more than double their share just eight years earlier, according to new data from the Internal Revenue Service. But their tax burden plummeted over the period.

The data, in a report that the I.R.S. released last night, shows that the average income of the 400 wealthiest taxpayers was almost $174 million in 2000. That was nearly quadruple the $46.8 million average in 1992. The minimum income to qualify for the list was $86.8 million in 2000, more than triple the minimum income of $24.4 million of the 400 wealthiest taxpayers in 1992.

While the sharp growth in incomes over that period coincided with the stock market bubble, other factors appear to account for much of the increase. A cut in capital gains tax rates in 1997 to 20 percent from 28 percent encouraged long-term holders of assets, like privately owned businesses, to sell them, and big increases in executive compensation thrust corporate chiefs into the ranks of the nation's aristocracy.

This year's tax cut reduced the capital gains rate further, to 15 percent.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 06:58:15 AM |

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I can't conceivably not use this

This is NOT an exact digital copy. Click the cartoon go to the original, so you can see what the little guys on the lower left are asking. It's a most pertinent question.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 06:30:56 AM |

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Blogger's Back

With interesting-looking changes, like I get a title field. And I don't see a way to republish old archives right off the bat, but if permalinks work I can accept that.

It yelled at me over the value of the style attribute of a <div> tag… if that's going to be a constant it will get pretty annoying

It's a constant. That's pretty annoying.

And it doesn't seem to preview images in the editor correctly.

And the title field doesn't get published with the free accounts

Yet it seems to bug da fuk out if you don't use the title field

And the Bold hotkey uses the <strong> tag, which is actually fine

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 06:09:38 AM |

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Racism or Why We Don't Understand You

I chose this post to comment on because it struck me typical of the kind of statement that Black folks react to in ways that confuse the hell out of white folks. We start with premises that a person who truly desires not to be racist could honorably hold.

People,

That dirty little concept called "race" just won't leave the American public alone. On the same day, one can turn on the television to see images of African-Americans rioting in Michigan while opening up the newspaper to read about President Bush's federal ban on racial profilling. Both stories reveal, regardless of what the average American of European descent thinks, that a great deal of African-Americans have yet to become "white people in black skin." All decent Americans understand that African-Americans lag behind economically and socially because of their history: the combination of slavery and Jim Crow. Improvement has occured, but in relative terms the gap between African-Americans and the rest of society remains extraordinarily large. Yet, most Americans who aren't of African descent see the condition of African-Americans as either improving or equal to the rest of Americans. This means that most Americans of European descent puzzle at the outbreak of a race-riot.

I'd previously dropped a hint about the problem this paragraph exposes. I think everyone, including Grant, got the point of the hint although some may have gotten a little carried away making supplemental assumptions.

That "the average American of European descent thinks, that a great deal of African-Americans have yet to become 'white people in black skin.'" implies the average American of European descent thinks that's what should happen. That is the problem, not whether or not one specific blogger feels that way… and for the record, from this post alone (which was all I knew of him at the time) there's no way to tell if it's the case. A subsequent post made clear he disclaims it, and recognizes the attitude, taken to an extreme, is actually white supremacy.

A significant number of Black folks also see the attitude of "the average American of European descent" as existing on a continuum which has white supremacy on the far right hand side. I appreciate Grant having made the statement; such sentiments are much better received by the mainstream when made by a white guy than by a Black guy.

Another problem is the fact that, though our position has improved in absolute terms, relative to the mainstream it has not. Since CalPundit has already done the work showing that not only has income inequality increased, but income mobility has not increased…which means if you start poor you're pretty likely to stay poor…I'll simply point to his worthy efforts.

Does this mean that African-Americans have no agency? Are they victims of history, a colonized people within America's borders? Answering today, one could easily say no. Beyond the truism that racists exist in America, one must acknowledge that no de jure racism survives in America's legal and political system. Then how do the effects of slavery and Jim Crow persist if they legally disappeared from all American institutions, both public and private? One might point out that surreptitious racism keeps African-Americans from climbing the social and economic ladders. With so many federal and state laws (and departments) dedicated to eliminating all forms of racism this explanation would have little explanatory value. An alternate answer would be that slavery and Jim Crow were successful by socializing African-Americans (pardon the grand generalization) to act in irresponsible ways. We all know the list: single mothers, high drop out rates, dependency upon others (the government), etc.

I had also said I found this post representative of views that must be dealt with. Typical of a top-down approach, it says, in essence "We got rid of one problem, so we should see some results." So we see thing we can only see when we go "[b]eyond the truism that racists exist in America."

Trouble is, we're not beyond racism. Bottom-up, we see that de jure racism is a problem but not the problem. If every racist statute ever passed was still on the books but no one was racist there'd be no problems at all. If someone wanted to be orthogonal about it and wipe out the racists statutes everyone would be like "Hey, no problem. We forgot about them muthafukkas." On the other hand, if every racist statute every passed was eliminated and everyone was a racist, you'd have racist using every legal means at their disposal to discriminate against whichever race or ethnicity gets their particular goat.

A scenario a number of your Black friends would find familiar.

This isn't rocket science, and folks get real suspicious when the public debate constantly overlooks this very simple point.

As for the number of government agencies dedicated to stamping out racism (the number of laws doesn't change the point made above) I will just say that if a person espouses smaller government and tells me to depend on the government, I'm feeling he has as much regard for me as for the government.

Anyway, so far we have white society's attitude about Black folks on a continuum that includes white supremacy, and suspicion because a simple, obvious yet critical point is continually overlooked.

If this is true, then African-Americans should be hopeful because the barrier to improvement lays not in the actions of powerful others but in the choices of African-Americans themselves.

But, of course, it's not true, because after "[b]eyond the truism that racists exist in America" we never came back to it. We've consciously (it seems) excluded relevant data and proceeded to conclusions that we could never reach were the relevant data included.

This is not to say Black folks' actions have no impact on our position in American society. Were that the case, we'd be extinct or chattel. It is to say that white folks' actions also have impact and it really, really looks like white folks would rather not notice that fact.

Now we have white society's attitude about Black folks on a continuum that includes white supremacy, suspicion because a simple, obvious yet critical point is continually overlooked, and a denial of shared responsibility that is only made possible by a conscious decision to exclude relevant facts.

Now, let's flip the script.

Suppose we had a Black society's whose attitude about white folks was on a continuum that includes Black supremacy, that made you suspicious by continually overlooking a simple, obvious point that was critical in understanding you, and justified dening shared responsibility by consciously excluding relevant facts.

What would you think of that society?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/26/2003 05:57:08 AM |

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June 25, 2003

Judgement call

I think I like this two column mode. To me, it gives more emphasis to the posts than the three column design. Though stuff in the people and sites I link to are at least as important as what I write, the point on any given blog is the material the blogger wants to present. Or so my ego tells me…

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 01:21:30 PM |

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Why Mark is on the blogroll

Yeah, he pisses people off in CalPundit's comments, but he's actually got the right conclusion re: "affirmative action"

When we want to get serious as a society about closing the educational gap for minority students we will put our money, effort and political capital into longitudinal, comprehensive, programs that work from the bottom up k-12, if not earlier. There are no shortcuts.

I kept the link he provided because I'll be checking it out. Y'all can see it before I write anything up so you can accurately gauge how full of it I am.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 12:15:51 PM |

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Winners and losers

I came nowhere near winning the Microbes on Parade contest, and that's cool because if you write well you get new readers no matter where you place. At least it looks like that to me… after both of my entries I got a big bump in visits (relative to my normal visitor count) which subsided, but left me with more regular visitors thanI had befor the bump. Same with inbound links.

Speaking of links, I'm in the Ecosystem twice, once as "http://home.earthlink.net/~prometheus_6/" and once a "Prometheus 6". The difference in the registrations is whether or not there's a trailing slash on the URL. The second registration, without the trailing slash, doesn't seem to pick up internal links link the several I put in my response to J.G. so that's the one I look at. The difference is significant, too. I see myself as a "Flappy Bird" but the other registration (with the trailing slash) shows me as an "Adorable Little Rodent."

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 12:08:56 PM |

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Got a late start

Real life has been a mofo recently. Everyone is having these emotional relationship crisises and I'm like "Why y'all asking me? It's not like my track record is all that spectacular…" But there's some folks I'll never turn away.

Anyway, I'll be doing another Racism essay today. What with the SCOTUS making that landmark decision, race talk is going on is several places.

I won't be touching that. In fact, as I sit here I'm not sure what I'll be writing because I need to expand on several issues I've raised. Top-down vs bottom-up is one. I'm having issues giving the top-down approach a fair treatment. And the Maslow thing I posted yesterday is one example of how racism has disrupted Black folks' attempts at normal social development. Another becomes apparent if you look at the migration of Black folks from the south to the cities like Chicago and New York as an emmigration from the CSA to the USA.

Anyway, I'll decide on a topic and continue the series. I should probably look at that Properwinston post and a coouple others I've found and get that out of the way.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 11:39:49 AM |

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Cyborg!

You want to know the truth? I think this is some scary shit.

On the other hand, if the bugs get worked ou so that you can buy this like a hat with batteries, I'd pretty likely be one of the idiots standing on line at midnight to buy one the first day they're available.

Savant for a Day
By LAWRENCE OSBORNE

A series of electromagnetic pulses were being directed into my frontal lobes, but I felt nothing. Snyder instructed me to draw something. ''What would you like to draw?'' he said merrily. ''A cat? You like drawing cats? Cats it is.''

I've seen a million cats in my life, so when I close my eyes, I have no trouble picturing them. But what does a cat really look like, and how do you put it down on paper? I gave it a try but came up with some sort of stick figure, perhaps an insect.

While I drew, Snyder continued his lecture. ''You could call this a creativity-amplifying machine. It's a way of altering our states of mind without taking drugs like mescaline. You can make people see the raw data of the world as it is. As it is actually represented in the unconscious mind of all of us.''

Two minutes after I started the first drawing, I was instructed to try again. After another two minutes, I tried a third cat, and then in due course a fourth. Then the experiment was over, and the electrodes were removed. I looked down at my work. The first felines were boxy and stiffly unconvincing. But after I had been subjected to about 10 minutes of transcranial magnetic stimulation, their tails had grown more vibrant, more nervous; their faces were personable and convincing. They were even beginning to wear clever expressions.

I could hardly recognize them as my own drawings, though I had watched myself render each one, in all its loving detail. Somehow over the course of a very few minutes, and with no additional instruction, I had gone from an incompetent draftsman to a very impressive artist of the feline form.

…As remarkable as the cat-drawing lesson was, it was just a hint of Snyder's work and its implications for the study of cognition. He has used TMS dozens of times on university students, measuring its effect on their ability to draw, to proofread and to perform difficult mathematical functions like identifying prime numbers by sight. Hooked up to the machine, 40 percent of test subjects exhibited extraordinary, and newfound, mental skills. That Snyder was able to induce these remarkable feats in a controlled, repeatable experiment is more than just a great party trick; it's a breakthrough that may lead to a revolution in the way we understand the limits of our own intelligence -- and the functioning of the human brain in general.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 11:22:26 AM |

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Another candidate heard from regularly

Rep. Kucinich has a blog

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 11:12:42 AM |

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Plagiarism alert

Apologies for lifting the whole post, but many blog readers don't follow links.

A Misleading Decision Decides Nothing

There was a lot of misleading rhetoric about the Supremes' decision yesterday on Internet library filtering.

The law, which won on a 6-3 vote, is not absolute. Adults can ask to have the filters disabled. If libraries don't on request, they can be sued.

And that is how to fight this law. If you demand a disabling, and it's not given, you sue. Let 1,000 lawsuits bloom, and the law's impact will be negated. Because the law is so broadly written, so poorly written, with no explicit standards, specifically so it could passe constitutional muster.

It reminds me of Orson Scott Card's old saw about prayer in schools. "If it's strong enough to do good, it will do harm. If it's weak enough not to do harm, it can't possibly do any good."

So it is with this. If you believe the law is wrong, fight it. You have the power.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 11:05:59 AM |

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Da Comics

Tony Auth reveals Dubya is actually Thanos. (In-joke for old school Marvel Comics readers)

Today's "dark horse" entry: Rudy Park.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 10:58:17 AM |

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Pardon me for a minute while I get all choked up

Lester Maddox, Georgia Governor During Rights Struggle, Dies
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 8:25 a.m. ET

ATLANTA (AP) -- Lester Maddox, the restaurateur who became a symbol of segregationist defiance and then Georgia governor in a fluke election, died Wednesday, family members said. He was 87.

Maddox, who had battled cancer since 1983, cracked two ribs when he fell about 10 days ago at an assisted living home where he was recovering from intestinal surgery. He later developed pneumonia and was placed in an Atlanta hospice where he died, the family said.

``Gov. Maddox had the unique ability to connect with everyday Georgians regardless of their background or station in life,'' Gov. Sonny Perdue said in a statement. ``Georgians have lost more than a former governor. We have lost a devoted family man, a dedicated public servant and a prominent citizen who loved this state and her people.''

Maddox became famous in the 1960s when he closed and then sold his Pickrick fried chicken restaurant in Atlanta rather than serve blacks. But fears of racial strife during his 1967-71 governorship proved unfounded when Maddox pursued a policy of relative moderation on race.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 10:53:31 AM |

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I can't think of a clever, snarky or symbolic title

… but the concept behind this photography project is significant in a nation that leads the world in imprisoning its citizens.

The page has a link to a slide show of Taryn Simon's photographs of exonerated prisoners from The New York Times Magazine of Jan. 26.

Exonerated, but Locked in Shadow
By SARAH BOXER

Photography has not been good to these men. Their lives were nearly destroyed by mug shots, perp shots or ordinary snapshots. So once their ordeals were over, why in the world did they consent to having their pictures taken by the photographer Taryn Simon and displayed at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center?

"Taryn Simon: The Innocents" is an exhibition of large-scale, color photographs of men convicted of and jailed for crimes they did not commit (rape in most cases) and later (many years later in most cases) exculpated by DNA evidence. For most of the photographs Ms. Simon posed each man at the scene of the arrest, the scene of the crime, the scene of misidentification or the scene of the alibi.

This seems odd. You would think they would do anything to avoid a camera, especially one that links them again with the crimes. The preface of Ms. Simon's book "The Innocents" (Umbrage), which accompanies the exhibition, reports some hair-raising stories of wrongful identification.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 10:51:03 AM |

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That Toddlin' town

Tribute to Chicago Icon and Enigma
By MONICA DAVEY

DuSable is believed to have been the first non-Indian settler of Chicago, this city's William Penn or Peter Minuit. But even in the Chicago Historical Society's archives, people say they cannot be certain whether he really is the city's sole, true founder. Or when and where he was born. Or how he spelled his name. Or what he looked like.

And in a city that loves its history and has decided finally to give Du- Sable his due, by erecting a sculpture and etching his story in stone, this is a problem.

Most people agree that DuSable, a black man who spoke many languages, moved here and opened a trading post on the river's swampy north bank in the late 1700's, decades before Chicago was incorporated in 1833. There is little, though, in the way of written records, pictures and letters to flesh out DuSable's life. But the bare bones have been enough to make him a symbol, especially among black Chicagoans, who have been fighting since the 1920's to win him recognition as an emblem for the city and its diverse history.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 10:44:21 AM |

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The Gap better watch out

If I recall, the Gap requires its employees to wear Gap clothing on the job as well.

Abercrombie & Fitch Settles Investigation
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

bercrombie & Fitch, the trendy retailer for the college set, has agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle an investigation in which the State of California accused it of illegally requiring employees to buy and wear its clothes.

California officials said Abercrombie had violated a state law that says that if a company requires workers to wear certain clothes the employer, not the employee, has to pay for those clothes.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 10:41:30 AM |

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Lazy ass me

Because this is obvious I didn't read the full editorial.

Doing It Right in Congo
The desperate situation in Congo calls for a stronger military effort by the U.N. as well as a diplomatic push from Washington.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 10:30:17 AM |

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Lawn jockeys

I actively avoid reading Uncle Clarence's decisions because the last time I read one it was just so… weak. Thomas stands as the ultimate indictment of "affirmative action" programs, excessive politics in the judicial nomination process (though I have a feeling his example will be surpasseed with the next one) and the
damage a lack of community causes in the Black population.

Ms. Dowd's editorial doesn't inspire me to dive into that twisted mess of a mind again.

Could Thomas Be Right?
By MAUREEN DOWD

WASHINGTON

What a cunning man Clarence Thomas is.

He knew that he could not make a powerful legal argument against racial preferences, given the fact that he got into Yale Law School and got picked for the Supreme Court thanks to his race.

So he made a powerful psychological argument against what the British call "positive discrimination," known here as affirmative action.

Justice Thomas's dissent in the 5-4 decision preserving affirmative action in university admissions has persuaded me that affirmative action is not the way to go.

The dissent is a clinical study of a man who has been driven barking mad by the beneficial treatment he has received.

It's poignant, really. It makes him crazy that people think he is where he is because of his race, but he is where he is because of his race.

Other justices rely on clerks and legal footnotes to help with their opinions; Justice Thomas relies on his id, turning an opinion on race into a therapeutic outburst.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 10:27:14 AM |

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2030

William Gibson has a pretty good guest editorial at the NY Times, "The Road to Oceania"

It is becoming unprecedentedly difficult for anyone, anyone at all, to keep a secret.

In the age of the leak and the blog, of evidence extraction and link discovery, truths will either out or be outed, later if not sooner. This is something I would bring to the attention of every diplomat, politician and corporate leader: the future, eventually, will find you out. The future, wielding unimaginable tools of transparency, will have its way with you. In the end, you will be seen to have done that which you did.

I say "truths," however, and not "truth," as the other side of information's new ubiquity can look not so much transparent as outright crazy. Regardless of the number and power of the tools used to extract patterns from information, any sense of meaning depends on context, with interpretation coming along in support of one agenda or another. A world of informational transparency will necessarily be one of deliriously multiple viewpoints, shot through with misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories and a quotidian degree of madness. We may be able to see what's going on more quickly, but that doesn't mean we'll agree about it any more readily.

Orwell did the job he set out to do, did it forcefully and brilliantly, in the painstaking creation of our best-known dystopia. I've seen it said that because he chose to go there, as rigorously and fearlessly as he did, we don't have to. I like to think there's some truth in that. But the ground of history has a way of shifting the most basic of assumptions from beneath the most scrupulously imagined situations. Dystopias are no more real than utopias. None of us ever really inhabits either ï¿½ except, in the case of dystopias, in the relative and ordinarily tragic sense of life in some extremely unfortunate place.

This is not to say that Orwell failed in any way, but rather that he succeeded. "1984" remains one of the quickest and most succinct routes to the core realities of 1948. If you wish to know an era, study its most lucid nightmares. In the mirrors of our darkest fears, much will be revealed. But don't mistake those mirrors for road maps to the future, or even to the present.

We've missed the train to Oceania, and live today with stranger problems.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/25/2003 10:15:01 AM |

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June 24, 2003

University of Michigan vs the Supreme Court

Leah at Eschaton and TAPPED hipped me to the time bomb in what is universally hailed as a victory for "affirmative action." If you read the decision starting at page 30, you'll see it for yourself.

The decision set a 25 year limit on such programs.

Think of the condition of the schools in many Black communities. Tie that to the defunding of the government, brutal resistance to the taxes necessary to fix any public school an dthe fraudulent "no child left behind" protocols and it's not a pretty picture.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/24/2003 10:53:04 AM |

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Reverse Ism

In a vein related to the racism series, check out Mamamusings

Every time someone like Shelley, or me, posts about our frustrations with trying to participate in white-male-dominated technical contexts, a whole bunch of white males immediately point out to us that of course itï¿½s not about gender. Of course women are treated exactly the same as men in this brave new gender-blind internet world. And if they arenï¿½t, itï¿½s clearly their own fault. They arenï¿½t trying hard enough to get along, theyï¿½re not ï¿½team players,ï¿½ they donï¿½t ï¿½play well with others.ï¿½

Along those lines, I fully expect that 90% of the comments I get to this post will come from white men, most of whom will want to tell me just how hard they had it, how their dominant status never bought them anything, how women and men face the same challenges, the same problems, yada yada yada. Iï¿½m not accusing those men of lies or hypocrisy. I believe that many of them are genuinely committed to gender equality, and that they believe that theyï¿½re ï¿½gender blindï¿½ in their interactions with others. But like me taking my safe, suburban school for granted, theyï¿½re taking their male-dominated work environments for granted.

And Eric Alterman sums up my view of a recent NY Times article on whiteness studies in "White Is The New Black":

Any story that has to go to David Horowtiz for its first quote from a critic is already in trouble.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/24/2003 10:34:26 AM |

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Why math is important

So that when the rare article like this one appears, you know what they're talking about.

A Mathematician Crunches the Supreme Court's Numbers
By NICHOLAS WADE

…Considering the decisions with another technique known as singular value decomposition, Dr. Sirovich has also found considerably less diversity than might be expected.

It would take nine dimensions for a mathematician to describe the voting patterns of the nine uncorrelated justices. But Dr. Sirovich has found that just two dimensions are needed to describe almost all the decisions of the Rehnquist court.

Although his refusal to draw any political implications from his analysis may disappoint some people, the neutrality of the approach is what makes it appealing to political and legal scholars.

"People typically come up with a single dimension, readily interpretable as a left-right point of view," said Jeffrey Segal, a political scientist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. "He comes up with two dimensions but doesn't label them."

Dr. Yochai Benkler of the New York University Law School said the analysis was important, because instead of starting from some theory about the politics of the court, Dr. Sirovich had used a purely mathematical analysis, yet one whose results fit with common sense observation.

"What you see here is not someone trying to prove a point, but someone who has said, `Beyond the stories, this is the math of how people behave and how they ally,' " Professor Benkler said. "And the interesting thing here is the fit between the mathematical observation and the widely held intuition about the politics of adjudication."

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/24/2003 09:32:04 AM |

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Morning editorial run

Denial and Deception
By PAUL KRUGMAN
There is no longer any doubt that we were deceived into war. The key question now is why so many influential people are unwilling to admit the obvious.

Freeing a Nation From a Tyrant's Grip
By COLIN L. POWELL
If world leaders cannot convince Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to respect the law, the prosperity of the region will be left to ruin.

Ben Sargent looks into the real estate market around the Potomac River area.

Jeff Danziger documents the conversion of our economy from the Capitalist to the barter system. He also has a question for Mr. Cheney that didn't make it to the NY Times editorial cartoon page YESTERDAY—they pick and choose, as is their right.

NEW CARTOONIST!
Stuart Carlson gives us Dubya's view of the economy. And the economy's view of Dubya.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/24/2003 09:16:02 AM |

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Attention

Two column mode activated.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/24/2003 04:00:40 AM |

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June 23, 2003

Interrupting my day

via Counterspin Central. No formatting, and a comment later.

Court Limits Race As Factor in Admissions
4 minutes ago

By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - In two split decisions, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that minority applicants may be given an edge when applying for admissions to universities, but limited how much a factor race can play in the selection of students.

The high court struck down a point system used by the University of Michigan, but did not go as far as opponents of affirmative action had wanted. The court approved a separate program used at the University of Michigan law school that gives race less prominence in the admissions decision-making process.

The court divided in both cases. It upheld the law school program that sought a "critical mass" of minorities by a 5-4 vote, with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (news - web sites) siding with the court's more liberal justices to decide the case.

The court split 6-3 in finding the undergraduate program unconstitutional. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the majority opinion in the undergraduate case, joined by O'Connor and Justices Antonin Scalia (news - web sites), Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas (news - web sites) and Stephen Breyer (news - web sites).

Justices John Paul Stevens (news - web sites), David Souter (news - web sites) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (news - web sites) dissented.

Michigan's undergraduate admissions structure is tantamount to a quota, the majority in that case concluded. While it set no fixed target for the number of minority students who should get in, the point-based evaluation system gave minority applicants a 20-point boost.

Government has a compelling interest in promoting racial diversity on campus, but the undergraduate school's admissions policy is not the way to get there, the court majority said.

The ruling affects tax-supported schools, and by extension private schools and other institutions, that have looked for ways to boost minority enrollment without violating the Constitution's guarantee against discrimination.

The University of Michigan cases are the most significant test of affirmative action to reach the court in a generation. At issue was whether racial preference programs unconstitutionally discriminate against white students.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/23/2003 10:58:22 AM |

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People to do, things to see

I'm still involved in planet-side affairs, so I'll let the rest of the blogosphere point out todays examples of extremist grief… you know where to find them… and personally focus instead on what's really important: editorial cartoons.

Tom Toles: Bush gives you the gas-face.
Ted Rall: Everything is explained by this one.
Tony Auth: Shows Bush sticking pins in an environmental issue he'd rather stick a fork into.
Political Strikes: Would you but a used car from this man (6/23/03 cartoon)

?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/23/2003 07:54:48 AM |

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The old, old story*

This Racism series really could eat my blog.

J.G. at Silver Rights comments on my Microbes on Parade entry, "Why They Don't Understand Us" (among others):

Accurate, I think, as a general statement of how people reason. However, I don't believe the experiment applies to racism very well because people don't enter into it as bare slates or randomly. Indeed, the perceived race of the individual asking for the words or that the words be organized would likely influence what words were given and how they were divided.

So, why would someone submit such a poor example of reasoning about racism when he is capable of better? To be very careful, I suspect. Response to substantive remarks about racism are likely to be quite different than those to pabulum like that in this entry, especially in the blogosphere, where any real attention to racism results in jeremiads of denial.

People will enter into the experiment randomly if you select them randomly. And if you don't, it won't affect the outcome, which will be that the dividers will be able to find a basis for their division when there's none objectively there.

Mac, I don't think you feel this was my complete exposition on the nature of racism or people's reaction to race. The issue is so deeply woven into the pattern on American life, getting at the individual threads of it requires either careful, complete picking and pointing or tearing the fabric which tends to fuck up the threads that aren't involved in the pattern as well. A series specifically on the topic is needed, both for complete coverage and to limit collateral damage.

Here's the full series to date, in chronological order. Judge it as you will:
http://home.earthlink.net/~prometheus_6/archives/2003_06_08_prometheus_6.html#95662820
http://home.earthlink.net/~prometheus_6/archives/2003_06_15_prometheus_6.html#95704789
http://home.earthlink.net/~prometheus_6/archives/2003_06_15_prometheus_6.html#95850678
http://home.earthlink.net/~prometheus_6/archives/2003_06_15_prometheus_6.html#95869905
http://home.earthlink.net/~prometheus_6/archives/2003_06_15_prometheus_6.html#95891273
http://home.earthlink.net/~prometheus_6/archives/2003_06_22_prometheus_6.html#95913630
http://home.earthlink.net/~prometheus_6/archives/2003_06_22_prometheus_6.html#95914790

*tip o' da hat to "The Art of Noise"

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/23/2003 07:26:42 AM |

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June 22, 2003

Max Speaks

If you've registered for the MoveOn online primary, check out MaxSpeaks for a discussion of why you should vote for the most progressive candidates. If you haven't, go do it. Then read Max's article.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/22/2003 09:33:12 PM |

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The rare completely quoted article

Because the headline is unfortunate. Yes, he's best remembered as Blackula, but I play Othello in High School and he was one of the guys I studied.

from the Chicago Tribune via BlackVoices.com

William Marshall 'Blacula' dies
By Simone M. Sebastian
Tribune staff reporter

Some thespians herald William Marshall as one of the greatest Othellos of the 20th Century. Children of the 1980s laughed with him as the King of Cartoons on "Pee-Wee's Playhouse." And most Americans remember him as Blacula in the 1972 film.

But to Mr. Marshall, the hallmark of his career was bringing the lives of historical black leaders to stage and screen.

He was marked by "his devotion and interest in the presentation of great black leaders of the past," said Anita Rutzky, a longtime teacher and friend of Mr. Marshall. "He wanted the world to hear them because they weren't in the textbooks."

Mr. Marshall, 78, a renowned Shakespearean and film actor, died Wednesday, June 11, of Alzheimer's disease in a Los Angeles nursing facility.

He was known for his wide-ranging acting talent and vocal abilities to match. Having played Othello numerous times, from New York's Shakespeare in the Park to the jazz adaptation, "Catch My Soul," Mr. Marshall was called "the best Othello of our time" by The London Sunday Times.

Mr. Marshall fought against the blaxploitation films of the 1960s and '70s and brought more positive black characters and historical figures to the theater.

When producers of "Blacula" offered him the title role, "he thought they were joking," said his companion of 45 years, Sylvia Jarrico. "He didn't want to play this victimized ordinary fellow." Mr. Marshall re-created the character as an African prince on a mission to end the slave trade.

In 1973, he told the Chicago Tribune he was disturbed by the state of black theater and was dedicating his career to portraying "the really heroic history of my people."

He performed a one-man PBS broadcast of abolitionist Frederick Douglass during the 1980s and later adapted the act to stage, performing it across the country for over a decade.

"That was the theme of his work," Jarrico said.

Mr. Marshall was born in Gary, and received a bachelor's degree from Governors State University. In 1945, Mr. Marshall left Chicago for New York, eventually settling in Los Angeles in 1966.

Mr. Marshall returned to the Chicago area many times to perform and give guest lectures to drama students. He produced and performed "As Adam Early in the Morning," a theater adaptation of poetry and literature at ETA Creative Arts Foundation during the 1970s. He also starred in the 1980 production of "An Enemy of the People" at the Goodman Theater.

He appeared on television shows including "The Jeffersons" and "Star Trek."

Mr. Marshall was honored by ETA in 1992 as one of the "Epic Men of the 20th Century."

"He was an icon, a cultural icon," said Abena Joan Brown, co-founder and president of ETA. "You can't make a greater impact than that."

In addition to his companion, Mr. Marshall is survived by three sons Claude, Malcolm, and Tariq; a daughter, Gina Loring; and a grandchild.
Copyright ï¿½ 2003, The Chicago Tribune

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/22/2003 08:27:44 PM |

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Cat blogging

I've been so damn serious recently, I decided I should take a brief break. And since cat blogging is something of a fad or trend, I thought I might try my hand at it.

Of course, not having a cat is something of an obstacle.
Calpundit blogs his cats every Friday. This week he posted a picture of Inkblot taken with a wide angle lens. Many people in the comments thought it was a cute picture, an excellent picture, which made me wonder what the hell is wrong with me. My only thought was, "That would scare the hell out of a baby."

The most impressive cat blogging I've seen though is at Daddy's Girl. I'm impressed.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/22/2003 08:19:40 PM |

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The return of the son of… oh, nevermind…

Here's the fun part; responding to comments on the fly. Generally, I'll respond to comments in the comments.

But sometimes not.

Yvelle has asked how I define race. The literal answer (a social construct) is so general that it's somewhat unhelpful. So:

Race is the first cut in the American caste system. You don't get bonuses for passing, you get demerits for failing. Other points, wealth, education, personal bearing, can affect your final placement but race is the first thing applied.

Race is contextual. A few years ago I worked with two white guys, one born in Cameroon, the other in the Union of South Africa (the folks who introduced him to me expected me to react to him as a South African. The disappointment on their faces of was amusing). They did, however, make the error of running that old saw past me: is a white naturalized citizen who was born in Africa an African American? I told them the only way to be sure who was African American was to ask a cop standing three block away.

Race is self-identifying. A person that says he's Black and means it, is Black. There's no real reason or benefit to claiming to be Black and all the idiots that whine about Black preferences wouldn't trade places with me for ten minutes. Not that I'd offer the opportunity if it were possible.

Ya feel me?

Tiger, the (locally) world famous blog reviewer at Tiger: Raggin' & Rantin', gave me the following grade of "Racism, or, Why They Don't Understand Us":

4.5~Prometheus 6: Racism or Why They Don't Understand Us ~I actually had a hard time trying to peg where this one fit on the rating scale. I loved the test, I loved what the author had to say, but it really did not have as much to do with racism or why we do not understand them or they understand us, depending on which side of the fence you stand on, as it did about what I am always saying: "Truth is relevant to perception." People see and hear what they want to see and hear, and all of us are very often programmed to see and hear things a certain way by how we grew up. I think this author agrees, and attempts to convince people not to do so. I am just not sure it is possible. I finally decided it was not among the very best posts in this week's contest, but was really close. I checked out several of the other posts on the blog, and the writing is consistently good.

In his comments I explained a bit about my scattershot approach to this topic (it would be cheating to tell you here). Then I came back and said

BTW, consider your italicized statement in your review of my post in terms of what "members" of one race "know" about "members" of another.

Tiger posted a response to that suggestion on his page, in regard to which I'd like to make the following points:

My suggestion wasn't a personal challenge. It was an instruction on how to see the relevance of "Why They Don't Understand Us" to the problem of racism

My first experience of intolerance happened when I was about five years old. My daughter, who is a walking incarnation of the U.N. but looks either Latino or Gypsy depending on your preference, caught a lot of "why do Black people" discussion when she was eight to ten years old. You can imagine I had to handle it rather delicately.

Point being, racism and intolerance is not an adult problem except insofar as adults are the primary transmitters of it

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/22/2003 09:45:07 AM |

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Racism

This is not the essay I expected to write as part four. It's even sooner than I intended to write one. But the way to express this idea just gelled.

I've already pointed out that I feel our physical, animal nature is a prime determinant of our needs, capabilities and reactions and that I'm a fan of the way Maslow described what motivates humans. I need to quickly review Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to make sure we're on the same page. The following text has been stolen from Educational Psychology Interactive:

Maslow posited a hierarchy of human needs based on two groupings: deficiency needs and growth needs. Within the deficiency needs, each lower need must be met before moving to the next higher level. Once each of these needs has been satisfied, if at some future time a deficiency is detected, the individual will act to remove the deficiency. The first four levels are:

Physiological: hunger, thirst, bodily comforts, etc.;
Safety/security: out of danger;
Belongingness and Love: affiliate with others, be accepted; and
Esteem: to achieve, be competent, gain approval and recognition.

According to Maslow, an individual is ready to act upon the growth needs if and only if the deficiency needs are met…

Cognitive: to know, to understand, and explore;
Aesthetic: symmetry, order, and beauty;
Self-actualization: to find self-fulfillment and realize one's potential; and
Self-transcendence: to connect to something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment and realize their potential.

That the deficiency needs must be met first is critical to understanding the position Black people find themselves in today.The third and fourth needs are social in nature, the first and second (because we are social) are best fulfilled in a social context; though they are possible to fulfill as individuals, instinct compels us to seek out social means of doing so. This means the primary requirements of living successfully as a human are only (belongingness and esteem) or best (physiological and security) met as an integrated (in the non-sociological sense) part of a functioning society. Only then is it reasonable to expect a human to grow into the pursuit of knowledge, beauty, wisdom and all the higher aspects of human nature made possible by intelligence.

Unfortunately, potential members of a group do not get to simply attach themselves to the group. Africans in America, and their descendant African Americans, have sought to do exactly that and found it outside our power to compel the mainstream to grant us full membership in American society (which, unless you're in absolute denial, you will admit is more than a matter of legal status). Unreasonable people have actively resisted that inclusion… though in strict terms I'm hard pressed to call it unreasonable because that inclusion would change the nature of the social "laws of nature," which would affect them much like changing the rate of gravitational acceleration would change the life of your average bird. Reasonable people (and those who would appear reasonable) place a requirement on membership—Black people must demonstrate proficiency ("be qualified") in exactly those areas Maslow says cannot be approached successfully outside the context of the membership we seek.

This is the crux of the dilemma Black folks find ourselves in, and its repercussions are legion.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/22/2003 08:19:16 AM |

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