Prometheus 6

As U.S. Rebuilds, Iraq Won’t Act on Finished Work
By JAMES GLANZ

Iraq’s national government is refusing to take possession of thousands of American-financed reconstruction projects, forcing the United States either to hand them over to local Iraqis, who often lack the proper training and resources to keep the projects running, or commit new money to an effort that has already consumed billions of taxpayer dollars.

Obama Rises in New Era Of Black Politicians
Most Have Similar Résumés, Ideology
By Alec MacGillis and Perry Bacon Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 28, 2007; A01

In the next few months, TV spots in New Hampshire will start promoting an African American candidate described as a rising star of a new generation, with Chicago roots, Ivy League credentials and a message of hope and idealism.

But Sen. Barack Obama's ads won't be the first such appeal heard in New Hampshire. Just one year ago, many voters who watch Boston television received a similar message from another youthful-looking black Democrat on the rise, Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Deval L. Patrick.

"To some extent, [Patrick] has laid the groundwork for Obama and the way he campaigns," said Dan Payne, a Boston-based Democratic strategist who briefly advised Patrick.

There's seven more pieces of this on YouTube. I'm going to watch them before the copyright police catch up to it. It's the weekend so the dirty language shouldn't be a problem.

Hainstock's lead attorney, Rhoda Ricciardi, told jurors in opening statements there's no dispute Hainstock killed Klang. But he didn't mean to, she said.

Witnesses: Teen said principal would die

BARABOO, Wis. (AP) — A 16-year-old charged with shooting his high school principal to death didn't mean to kill him, and had brought two guns to school only to scare people, his attorney said Friday at his murder trial.

The prosecution, however, said during opening statements that Eric Hainstock's anger at Weston Schools Principal John Klang had been building. Two teenagers testified that Hainstock told them that Klang wouldn't survive homecoming.

Hainstock is charged with killing Klang on Sept. 29, the morning homecoming festivities were set to begin. Investigators say Hainstock took his father's shotgun and a revolver to school because he was upset Klang and teachers hadn't stopped other kids from teasing him.

Two months ago, Mr. McClellan said, he was more or less run out of Washington State, where he lived off and on with his parents, after the news media there and various Web sites drew attention to his activities, making him worry about his safety and that of his family. He had been posting nonsexual pictures of children on a Web site intended to promote the acceptance of pedophiles, and to direct other pedophiles to events and places where children tended to gather....

“If you look at things he has posted, he clearly is a pedophile,” said Lt. Thomas Sirkel, who works in the Special Victim’s Unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“Has he acted on it? I can’t say,” Lieutenant Sirkel said. “But I’ve been in this business for 20 years, and I have never seen one who has not.”

Parents’ Ire Grows at Pedophile’s Unabashed Blog
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

LOS ANGELES, July 27 — The search for the self-described pedophile in the large-brimmed black hat commences nearly every day here, with findings posted on chat rooms frequented by mothers.

He was spotted at a fair in Santa Clarita. He recently emerged from the Social Security office on Olympic Boulevard. He tapped away on a computer at the library in Mar Vista. Warnings have gone out. Signs have been posted.

And yet unlike convicted sex offenders, who are required to stay away from places that cater to children, in this case the police can do next to nothing, because this man, Jack McClellan, who has had Web sites detailing how and where he likes to troll for children, appears to be doing nothing illegal.

There you stand, an entity that actually exists, worried about how the definition of a word affects you.

The student's question speaks to the larger issue of how to define blackness at a time when our gains in the United States are fragile. We are suspicious of interlopers reaping the fruits of a long history of labors in this country. But now we have to talk about new ways to be black. We have to talk about standards other than ancestry and slavery.

I'm not annoyed at the article. I just need to point out that you are not a word, and therefore not subject to being defined.

What Kind of Black Are We?
By Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs
Sunday, July 29, 2007; B02

CLEVELAND

A few weeks ago, I saw part of the Pan Africanist dream come true.

It was during the closing ceremony at an African dance conference. To a man -- and they were all men -- the drummers and teachers came from Africa. To a woman -- and we were all women -- the dancers were African American. Among the spectators sat a Trinidadian; her Senegalese husband and his twin led the class. As we circled, I realized that Africa's children had been reunited.

Then the circle broke, and the class ended. As we drifted away, I wondered: "What kind of black are we now?"

That used to be an easy question for Americans to answer.

Bread May Contain Metal Pieces
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sara Lee Corporation is recalling 27 brands of whole-wheat bread products because they could contain small metal pieces, the company said. A recent routine inspection of a bakery in Meridian, Miss., uncovered problems with a flour-sifting screen, said a company spokesman, Mark Goldman. The problem was isolated to the Meridian bakery, which continued production using bagged flour that did not require the sifting system, Mr. Goldman said. The recall involves EarthGrains, Publix, Sara Lee Delightful, Sara Lee Hearty & Delicious and several other brands that were stamped “best if purchased by” July 25, 2007, to Aug. 7, 2007, and included the code “222.” The products were sold in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. Consumers can return the bread to the store where it was purchased for a refund, said Sara Lee, based in Downers Grove, Ill.

Wis. Grave Robbers' Sex Assault Charges Dropped

(AP) Madison, Wis. Three men who dug up a young woman's corpse to have sex with it after seeing her obituary photo cannot be charged with attempted sexual assault because Wisconsin has no law against necrophilia, an appeals court ruled Thursday.

A judge was correct to dismiss the charges against twin brothers Nicholas and Alexander Grunke and Dustin Radke, all 21, because lawmakers never intended to criminalize sex with a corpse, the District 4 Court of Appeals said in a 3-0 ruling.

This is going to be in the Sunday Times magazine this weekend.

Who's a Nerd, Anyway?
By BENJAMIN NUGENT

What is a nerd? Mary Bucholtz, a linguist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has been working on the question for the last 12 years. She has gone to high schools and colleges, mainly in California, and asked students from different crowds to think about the idea of nerdiness and who among their peers should be considered a nerd; students have also “reported” themselves. Nerdiness, she has concluded, is largely a matter of racially tinged behavior. People who are considered nerds tend to act in ways that are, as she puts it, “hyperwhite.”

by Earl Dunovant
Copyright © 1995

Introduction
We've been having trouble with our white people recently. After over 350 years of trying to civilize them they are resisting the limited changes we've induced for their benefit, to teach them to be fully and compassionately human. Though this is frustrating in the extreme, we must remember that only rarely is the road to higher consciousness well paved. Bumps, potholes and blind corners abound, so it's only natural that our white folks should slip up now and again in their progress. Still, though we must be understanding, we must be firm with them as well, because we are their only hope.

YOUTUBE, TAKE TWO Few GOP Candidates Commit to Debate

Four days after the Democratic debate in Charleston, S.C., more than 400 questions directed to the GOP presidential field have been uploaded on YouTube, as Republicans are scheduled to take their turn at video-populism on Sept. 17.

But only Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) have agreed to participate in the debate, co-hosted by the Republican Party of Florida in St. Petersburg.

"Aside from those two candidates, we haven't heard from anyone else," said Sam Feist of CNN, which is co-sponsoring the debate with the popular video-sharing site.

via Pursuing Holiness, which goes beyond reaction to analysis of this one.

Forum may ease tension in Jena
By Abbey Brown

...In the Justice release about the meeting, the agency said officials are hoping to address the racial tensions in the small community that have built and escalated since last fall with the hanging of nooses in a tree on Jena High School's grounds, interracial off-campus fights and then in December the attack of white student Justin Barker that resulted in six black students being charged with attempted murder.

The essay has become such an important part of applying to college that affluent students may turn to $200-an-hour writing coaches to help them produce the 500 perfect words that they hope will separate them from the pack.

One staple of the affluent students’ essays is the service trip to Latin America. “It’s the first time they’ve seen this wrenching poverty,” said Lee Coffin, the director of undergraduate admissions at Tufts University. After a while, however, the trips sound the same.

“My colleagues nod and say, ‘It’s the typical Costa Rica essay,’ ” Mr. Coffin said. 

But the lives of Antoine and the other 36 students at the workshop, which is run by College Summit, a nonprofit organization, are defined by struggle

Making a Hard-Life Story Open a Door to College
By SARA RIMER

WASHINGTON — Antoine Tate, 16, was sitting in a courtyard at Howard University in the heat of a July morning. He was holding a pen, and staring at the blank page on the step beneath him.

He began to write: “Do you ever wonder about where you may end up in the future? At least I know I have. I thought about the worst and best things. I have worried about living half my life in jail. I worried about having a child at a young age. I have worried about living life in poverty, but worst of all, I have thought about accidentally giving my life to God at a young age.”

Antoine, who is African-American, will begin his senior year in September at his large, predominantly black and low-income high school just outside Washington. He had come to Howard for an intense four-day workshop in the complex process he will have to master if he is to fulfill his aspirations of upward mobility: applying to college.

...well, you know the rest.

Obama Says Clinton Is ‘Bush-Cheney Lite’
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and MICHAEL FALCONE
Published: July 27, 2007

Senator Barack Obama continued to press his case against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday, calling her “Bush-Cheney lite,” which prompted her to fire back — on camera — that the escalating dispute with Mr. Obama was “getting kind of silly.”

“I’ve been called a lot of things in my life,” Mrs. Clinton said on CNN, “but I’ve never been called George Bush or Dick Cheney, certainly.”

She then took a swipe at Mr. Obama’s campaign theme, which promises a different kind of politics. “Whatever has happened to the politics of hope?” she asked.

Astronauts Have Flown While Drunk, NASA Finds
By JOHN SCHWARTZ

NASA’s astronauts have flown while intoxicated on at least two occasions, according to reports of an internal NASA investigation, and the astronauts involved were warned that their drunkenness constituted a safety risk to the flight. But it is unclear whether this is a current problem and whether the incidents involved space shuttle flights.

The report, which has not been released, was described in an article published yesterday on the Web site of Aviation Week and Space Technology. According to the article, the panel investigators reported “ ‘heavy use of alcohol’ by astronauts” within 12 hours of flying.

According to people who have seen the report, it is a 12-page document with a single paragraph that deals with the accusations of alcohol and flying. It gives no details or specifics on the astronauts or the circumstances surrounding the incidents.

...it allows a family to use a voucher as a down payment on a first-time home purchase

Help With Housing
A bill aims at getting more poor families into affordable homes.
Friday, July 27, 2007; A20

AMERICA is suffering from an affordable-housing crisis. One in seven American households spends more than half its income on housing, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, and the vast majority of them have low incomes. Federal programs meant to alleviate the burden don't suffice.

Cannabis 'raises psychosis risk'

Cannabis users are 40% more likely than non-users to suffer a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia, say UK experts.

A team from Bristol University, writing in the Lancet, said young people needed to be made aware of the dangers, which they said increased with heavier use.

In an additional article, experts said up to 800 schizophrenia cases a year in the UK could be linked to cannabis use.

The Bristol team looked at 35 studies on the drug and mental health, but one expert urged caution over their study.

They said the most frequent users of cannabis have twice the risk of non-users of developing psychotic symptons, sush as hallucinations and delusions.

But the evidence for a link with depression and anxiety was less clear, they said.

Always Bet On Black

Having been invited to discuss solutions, I aim to summarize some of the experiences that have given rise to what I call an "open source business model". I should be able to accomplish this in three installments.

1. The power of cultural production.

2. The power of open source culture.

3. The power of creative collaboration.

I'll be damned...Sen. Dodd has a health care proposal!

Comparison table, goniffed from Sen. Dodd himself , after the jump.

If you hit the NAACP site, you'll see this big "Justice for the Jena 6" splash page, which is cool. And you'll see this big "Donate " link that takes you to the donation page for the National NAACP. Which page is captioned as follows, by the way:

We are a 21st century advocacy organization that fights for the advancement of minority groups by bridging the gaps in seven advocacy areas including education, economic empowerment, healthcare, criminal justice, civic engagement, international affairs and poverty issues.

I have a suggestion. Color of Change has been running a defense fund for the Jena 6 for a little while now. Just for now...the NAACP will be around for a while, they can stand this...just for now, those inclined to click that splash page button should donate to the existing defense fund. Let them decide how much of the remainder after expenses the NAACP has earned. That would prove the value of gap bridging to doubters as well.

What do you think? Reasonable?

Prof. McKee is cracking me up with this talk of "inadvertantly  [drawing] on what RFK learned from Johnson". He so obviously doesn't believe Edwards had any of this in mind. Still, we end with some good points, so if everyone takes them to heart it's all good.

Learning from past poverty wars
By Guian A. McKee  |  July 26, 2007

Building on RFK's legacy makes sense politically, but it also inadvertently draws on what Kennedy learned from Johnson's War on Poverty.

First, do not evade the difficult issues of good jobs and economic structure. Many communities remain economically isolated or confined to low-wage, low-benefit job opportunities. RFK's approach shows that targeted federal aid can help community groups develop viable economic sectors and institutions. Education and opportunity alone are not enough.

I must confess to mixed feelings about it, though. On balance, I think it's an option to keep on the table.

If the current five-man majority persists in thumbing its nose at popular values, the election of a Democratic president and Congress could provide a corrective. It requires only a majority vote in both houses to add a justice or two. Chief Justice John Roberts and his conservative colleagues might do well to bear in mind that the roll call of presidents who have used this option includes not just Roosevelt but also Adams, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln and Grant.

Stacking the Court
By JEAN EDWARD SMITH

Huntington, W.Va.

WHEN a majority of Supreme Court justices adopt a manifestly ideological agenda, it plunges the court into the vortex of American politics. If the Roberts court has entered voluntarily what Justice Felix Frankfurter once called the “political thicket,” it may require a political solution to set it straight.

Orcinus:

Something kept popping up while I was researching Bill O'Reilly's remarks comparing DailyKos to the Klan and neo-Nazis. It was kind of a repeating theme, the kind of note that keeps popping up enough to create a pattern -- in this case, a very telling one.

While I was cruising through far-right racist websites -- something I do with some regularity anyway -- I kept running across a familiar theme: white male Christians are under siege, an "endangered species," and "white culture" is likewise on the brink of vanishing in a swamp of brown people.