Michael says:

Although I haven't looked at my writing in a while to see if it accurately reflects it, I am done being a black republican. I'm a republican, period. In other words I've used, it's all about 'do' and not about 'be'.

He's said something like that before and said something like, "Good." And he may have taken it as a swipe but it wasn't. If he could be a Republican rather than a Black Republican, it would mean he's in a position other than Gatekeeper or Scold...it would be going from being a voice to having one. And it would be a first.

Not that I could ever accept their current platform, but when I see Black folks as talented as Michael get past that hurdle into an agenda-influencing position on a regular basis I will consider the possibility of leaving open the option of a contingent acceptance they may have a chance of being honest about racial issues. And frankly, Black Republicans have earned that shit. 

Now that everyone is at least temporarily conscious of the fact that Black folks have a somewhat different set of experiences in the USofA than white folks do, perhaps you will believe me when I tell you a lot of people are arrested for what turns out to be no good reason. I do not think this is a good idea. Honestly, it's not the kind of data I want in the hands of the kind of person that wants it.

Bill Would Permit DNA Collection From All Those Arrested
By Jonathan Krim
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 24, 2005; Page A03

Suspects arrested or detained by federal authorities could be forced to provide samples of their DNA that would be recorded in a central database under a provision of a Senate bill to expand government collection of personal data.

Leak of note:

A government official said the resignation was related to the fact that Dr. Crawford had not fully disclosed information about his finances to the Senate before his confirmation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing Dr. Crawford's privacy.

Leader of the F.D.A. Steps Down After a Short, Turbulent Tenure
By ROBERT PEAR and ANDREW POLLACK

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 - Lester M. Crawford, the commissioner of food and drugs, resigned abruptly on Friday, causing further upheaval at an agency that has been in turmoil for more than a year.

Dr. Crawford, who was confirmed just two months ago, on July 18, after serving as acting commissioner for more than a year, did not say why he was stepping down.

Quote of note:

"I can't even believe it," he said as he tossed a garbage bag full of provisions into the cargo hold. "What happened to those people in New Orleans can happen to you. It's happening to us. It's crazy, man. Crazy."

Yeah. Crazy. "You people" are a lot more like "those people" than they ever imagined.

BEAUMONT, Texas — Timothy Abbott would not describe his life as easy. Decent, maybe. He'll go that far.

His family settled in this working-class town three generations ago, when his great-grandmother ran away from home at age 15. The Abbotts have found work where they could over the years. Timothy, 27, has a job at a car detailer, making $6.25 an hour.

Quote of note:

Where is the march on the media? The media is the front face of the corporate interests who stage-manage the government. 

Time To Also March On The Media?
By Danny Schechter

That time has come again.

There will be a march on Washington this Saturday, a ritual rallying of the anti-war faithful who will come by the busload as they have twice a year, once in the fall, once in the spring, for decades, on issue after issue.

This mobilization promises to be a big one. The war has lost public support, with only a minority of Americans now endorsing it. The outrages we saw on television after the Katrina catastrophe have stirred even more anger.

Quote of note:

The Republican plan would, for example, allow a Catholic church that provides Head Start services to employ only Catholic child-care workers, and to reject equally qualified workers of other religions.

House OKs Faith as Head Start Hiring Issue
By BEN FELLER, AP Education WriterFri Sep 23, 6:28 AM ET

Churches and other religious groups are allowed to receive federal money to provide preschool to poor children. Now, the House says, they should be allowed to hire based on religion.

In a broad update of the Head Start program, the House voted Thursday to let preschool providers consider a person's faith when hiring workers — and still be eligible for federal grants. The Republican-led House said the move protects the rights of religious groups, but Democrats blasted it as discriminatory.

E. J. Dionne Jr.

The cost this year alone of the Bush tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 comes to $225 billion. In other words, the revenue lost because of tax cuts going through this year without any congressional action would more than pay the costs of Katrina recovery.

Fiscal Policy: Why 'Stupid' Fits
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, September 23, 2005; Page A23

Hurricane Rita heads inexorably westward, threatening to add to the human and financial costs of Hurricane Katrina. And when it comes to taxes and spending, Washington acts as if nothing is happening.

True, a group of very conservative Republicans issued a list of program cuts on Wednesday under the imposing name "Operation Offset." The cuts that the Republican Study Committee proposed have won their sponsors praise for making "tough choices." Of course the sponsors won't actually have to live with these cuts, because Republican leaders dismissed most of the reductions, especially in congressional pet projects and the Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Don't believe me? Think about this stuff.

Google Prepares to Launch WiFi Service
September 20, 2005
By Adam Pasick, Reuters

LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters)—Online search leader Google is preparing to launch a wireless Internet service, Google WiFi, according to several pages found on the company's Web site on Tuesday.

A WiFi service, which offers a high-speed connection to the Internet, would take Google even further from its Internet search roots and move it into the fiercely competitive world of Internet access providers and telecommunications companies.

The Google Web site has several references to Google WiFi but provides few details. One page refers to a product called "Google Secure Access", which is designed to "establish a more secure connection while using Google WiFi."

Wolfowitz Wavers on Debt-Relief Plan
World Bank's Financial Viability Cited
By Paul Blustein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 23, 2005; D05

Paul D. Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank, voiced concern yesterday about a plan unveiled amid much fanfare this summer to cancel the debts of the world's poorest nations, saying it could weaken the bank's finances.

Wolfowitz's comments underscored the depth of the controversy bedeviling the debt-relief plan, which faces a crucial test at this weekend's meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The worries he raised also put him somewhat at odds with the Bush administration, which tapped him six months ago to leave his former post as deputy secretary at the Department of Defense to lead the World Bank.

Quote of note:

"Our hope," Ms. Sporkin said, "is that the next chair recognizes the support public broadcasting has from Congress and millions of Americans, and wants to restore the C.P.B. firewall that kept ideology and agenda out of public broadcasting's balance, objectivity and integrity."

Departing Chairman of Public TV Defends Acts
By STEPHEN LABATON

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 - As the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting prepared to announce his successor as chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson defended his tenure on Thursday, saying he had no regrets in trying "aggressively" to balance what he said was overly liberal programming in public television and radio.

Quote of note:

A day after his speech from New Orleans, Mr. Bush ruled out tax increases to help pay for Katrina. That's unrealistic. And in any event, letting temporary tax cuts expire on schedule is not a tax increase. It's the law of the land, which Congress wants to change. Now that Mr. Bush has ruled out new tax increases, he should also tell Congress to rule out new tax cuts for the rich. Taking responsibility for the response to Katrina means taking fiscal responsibility as well.

Taking Full Responsibility

President Bush didn't say the other night how he would pay for his promise to rebuild the Gulf Coast states. Allow us to explain: Every penny of aid approved by Congress so far and all subsequent aid - perhaps as much as $200 billion - will be borrowed, with most of it likely to come from Asian central banks and other foreign investors. That means additional interest of about $10 billion a year indefinitely. The bill will hit current and future taxpayers in the form of higher taxes or cuts in government programs, or both.

Too many free passes
Jonathan Chait
September 23, 2005

NOW THAT all but the most partisan and stubborn defenders of President Bush agree that he screwed up his response to Katrina, and nearly as many agree that he screwed up the occupation of Iraq, it probably seems unnecessary to continue beating up the administration over those failures of the past.

Instead, I say we dwell on some other administration foul-ups from even further in the past that most people have forgotten about by now. You know, in the spirit of magnanimity.

I'm thinking specifically of two controversies. First, the administration's failure to act on intelligence that could have stopped the Sept. 11 attacks. And second, its refusal to commit ground troops to the battle of Tora Bora in 2001, leading to the escape of Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants.

The problem wasn't that the abusers were gay it's that they weren't celibate.

Okay, the problem was the Church was hiding crimes. 

Quote of note:

"I've spoken to gay priests who feel demoralized. I've heard straight priests say that they're embarrassed by it. I've heard priests both straight and gay seriously considering leaving," he said. "They couldn't believe that after centuries of either explicit or implicit welcoming of celibate gay clergy that the church would turn its back on them."

Vatican May Bar Gays From Seminaries
- By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer
Friday, September 23, 2005

Quote of note:

Much as pictures of hoses and German shepherds turned on protesters shamed the nation into confronting racial prejudice in the 1960s, the image of impoverished hurricane victims waiting in vain for government help is forcing a national conversation on race and urban poverty.

Katrina thrusts race and poverty onto national stage
Bush and Congress under pressure to act
- Marc Sandalow, Washington Bureau Chef
Friday, September 23, 2005

...it remains a question whether New Orleans' calamity will become a turning point in the nation's attitude toward its urban poor, or another fleeting moment of concern. Riots in Detroit, Newark and Watts in the 1960s and the post-Rodney King riots in 1992 prompted a similar outcry to remake the inner city, but little action.

Limitation of note:

The administration has been planning to give assistance almost exclusively through FEMA, which has the authority to distribute $26,200 per household in cash, rental assistance and home repairs. If even half of families displaced by the storm collect, the agency could end up paying out tens of billions of dollars. But once the amounts were paid, that would be the end of the government's obligation.

In this case, they should call this amount a relocation allowance. Folks are starting totally from scratch and they don't have jobs so mere subsistence will burn off most of this. This needs an institutional response not merely a financial one. Because by all accounts, whether because of global warming or merely where we are in some grand weather cycle, you can count on seeing more storms like this over then next few years.

If we have to cobble together a response for each storm, you're going to see a lot of unnecessary misery...and the start of a northward migration.

Anyway... 

Limiting Government's Role
Bush favors one-time fixes over boosting existing programs to help Katrina victims.
By Peter G. Gosselin and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
Times Staff Writers
September 23, 2005

Go to ColorOfChange.org, sign the digital petition. You should not opt-out of updates, but you can safely do so if you're a regular around here. I will be posting whatever updates come my way. This reminder stays at the top of the page for about a week.

The email address with which some entity chose to register with the name "niggerhater." 

www.lorraineturner81@hotmail.com

Yes, the account is blocked. No, it is not deleted. I got your IP too.

This brother at Ragged Thots has reached the point with his Republican peers that the majority of Black progressives reached with Democrats long years ago. Not that Democrats were worse, but that we had higher expectations. We thought they were on our side instead on merely not against us (see Moynhan, Patrick). Black Republicans only expect not to be opposed, and to get a little hook-up.

Two posts, the link to the second is at the bottom of the first. I'm watching him gently shake off distrations from his problem like, oh they do it too, and why don't you complain about Black racism, other nonsense. Looks like he's legitimately taking stock, and thats good no matter how it turns out this time.

My comment on his predicament?

Today's linkage has been interesting. Y'all know I'm much deeper into the conversation than the articles that inspire them, and it's been no different with the blog posts I discussed below. You see there's folks who get it, who almost get it, who are trying to get it. And if you're real about it you get the folks that mean well and do badly, or just...misunderstand.

From a purely mechanical viewpoint, all that shows there is the material available to build a rapproachment IF people want it more than they seem to right now. A lot more. And there are several historical misunderstandings you have to let go of. There's no chance of changing reality unless you know what it is.

I have a lens through which I'd like you to view our political system. See, everyone insists they are on one side or another but all the RINOs and DINOs are proof that this particular divisions isn't primary in our political system.

I got caught by that serious hang-dog expression Dubya was wearing at his live news conference.

He'd just come from a briefing on the state of the "global war on Terra." Obviously said briefing held little to inspire joy. I expect all manner of grimness in the news tomorrow and he was here to get out in front of it.

It was a well executed conference, barring that one guy who'll never get anywhere near the White House again. He tried to get the first question, and the second, and based on the very visible attitude Dubya gave him third so he'd shut da fuk up. 

This was an attempt to recast the "global war on Terra." Or maybe just to remind you, try to get those war-mones that gave hime the Presidence for the first time flowing once more. Or something.

Brad DeLong not only sent me a bag of referrals, by making me check to see what the hell blew up my stat counter he pointed me to a number of other interesting comments made all the more relevant by Chris Rock and Jay Leno last night.

Links out the yin-yang, watch out...

Last night on The Tonight Show I witnessed a morality play in four acts.

First some background. Jay Leno has a gimmick where he gets bags of celebrities to autograph this phat Harley, which is auctioned on eBay to benefit a charity. His guests sign, and various additional celebrities pseudo-randomly wander on stage to add to the collectability of it all (Heather Locklear was like, "Hi, Jay...I just happened to be wandering by with my hair and makeup all perfectly done and thought I'd drop in!"). This way when he has one of them dead-ass shows (he just had one where his only guests were animals...like birds and baboons, not Charlie Sheen...) the audience still gets its sequential applause points. In the end some rich guy or corporation buys it for an obscene price, huge bag of money goes to a good cause...all in all, a nice concept which benefits everyone involved. Of course, this one is for Katrina relief.

With the stage now set, I'd like to offer you some sound bytes that I guarantee will never make "The Sunday Funnies" on ThisWeek.

Another day where I got bags of things to do. Fortunately I got enough referrals from Brad Delong to take care of my traffic needs for a week.

I'm going to drop a couple of things on you that ought to hold youfor a while. The normal frenetic posting will return this evening. 

George Bush, says Star Parker, "is either uninformed, which of course is troubling, or willing to bury truth for political ends, which is also troubling."

The rest of the article sets a new record for delusions per square inch.

This woman does not actually exist. I'm sure of it. 

FDA APPOINTED VETERINARIAN TO HEAD OFFICE OF WOMEN'S HEALTH: The Bush administration recently attempted to appoint an "FDA veteran trained in animal husbandry who spent much of his career in the agency's Center for Veterinary Medicine" to oversee the Office of Women's Health. Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock. The Office of Women's Health is charged with working to "improve the health and well-being of women and girls in the United States." Three days after the Food and Drug Administration announced the appointment of Norris Alderson, the FDA press office sent out a new announcement stating another individual, Theresa Toigo, would head the office.

Scalia Goes On Abortion Bender After Being Passed Over For Chief Justice
September 21, 2005 | Issue 41•38

NORFOLK, VA—Saying "Fuck this shit, I'm stopping beating hearts with my bare hands," Justice Antonin Scalia, overlooked for the vacated position of Supreme Court chief justice, went on a spiteful abortion-performing bender over the weekend. "If I'm not going to be permitted a lasting judicial legacy, to hell with law and order," said Scalia, the conservative Reagan appointee who has served on the court since 1986. "I worked my ass off for 20 years, and no one cares. So, who gives a shit? Safe, legal abortions for all. Who wants one?" Scalia added that 2000 presidential candidate Al Gore "totally won that election, any idiot knows that."

GEDs no longer required
By Joseph R. Chenelly
Times staff writer
Army recruiters now have a wider pool to find future soldiers in. The Army is reaching out to a slice of America’s youth long ineligible to serve: non-high school graduates who don’t have a General Equivalency Diploma.

Recruiters can now go after that demographic through the “Army Educations Plus” option, the Army announced Tuesday.

If an individual has been out of high school for at least six months, can pass a physical exam and the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, he or she may be eligible for help getting a GED.

The program allows recruiters to enlist a high school dropout, according to S. Douglas Smith, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command. But the enlistee must have the GED before shipping off to basic training. The Army will pay for individuals to attend a course to prepare for the GED test and will cover the cost of taking the GED exam.

There are three posts from my archives I'd like you to read, in order.

Come get yer identity politics right here

Atrios and Tapped never read my blog (with comments by Brad DeLong) 

I think I have too many RSS feeds

The point?

1. The issues that inform the posts have never been addressed
2. I have always been difficult-don't expect that shit to change

Robert J. Samuelson sounds justifiably cynical.

We Americans are now supposedly discovering poverty for at least the fourth time since World War II. The first occurred in 1962, when Michael Harrington's classic "The Other America" appeared. To a nation generally dazzled by its newfound suburban prosperity, Harrington described the grim realities of West Virginia shanties and inner-city slums. Then there was Lyndon Johnson's "war on poverty" and later what was often described, rightly or wrongly, as Ronald Reagan's war against the poor. Now Hurricane Katrina has purportedly raised America's consciousness once again.

Quote of note: 

Blind trusts are used to avoid conflicts of interest. Assets are turned over to a trustee who manages them without divulging any purchases or sales and reports only the total value and income earned to the owner.

To keep the trust blind, Frist was not allowed to know how much HCA stock he owned, Call said, but he was allowed to ask for all of it to be sold.

Hence the headline.

Anyway...

Senator Sold Stock Before Price Dropped
Shares Fell Two Weeks Later
By Jonathan M. Katz
Associated Press
Wednesday, September 21, 2005; Page A03

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a potential presidential candidate in 2008, sold all his stock in his family's hospital corporation about two weeks before it issued a disappointing earnings report and the price fell nearly 15 percent.

RedState.org: 

On Disclosure
By: krempasky · Section: Diaries

I've recently taken a position with Edelman in DC, the world's largest independent public relations firm.

Almost every blogger faces a conflict between his or her writing and the day job. So here's my attempt at resolving that...

My work largely focuses on helping companies appropriately shift conversations online, to not only build a better image - but to actually be better online citizens. The first account I've had the pleasure to work on is that gigantic little company based in Bentonville, Arkansas. I can't tell you what an experience it's been over the past two weeks - watching this corporate giant lead the way in response to Hurricane Katrina and helping to tell that story.

Let's pretend George Bush is serious. Do you think that's reason to become a Republican?

Oh. Sorry, let me back up a step. Do you think George Bush's campaign reconstruction promises were made in all seriousness? That depends on how well you think he knows his constituency.

At the moment it seems they're not happy with him. It seems some have other priorities. 

One indicator many Republicans are watching to gauge whether Bush is becoming a liability for the party is in Pennsylvania, where Rick Santorum, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, is trailing state treasurer Bob Casey Jr. by double digits.

I also found out from Abiola that the Opera Browser sans advertisements is free (beer) once more.

Why we're going free

Opera has removed the banners, found within our browser, and the licensing fee. Opera's growth, due to tremendous worldwide customer support, has made today's milestone an achievable goal. Premium support is available.

What makes Opera's web browser unique

The most full-featured Internet power tool on the market, Opera includes pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, integrated searches, and advanced functions like Opera's groundbreaking E-mail program, RSS Newsfeeds and IRC chat. And because we know that our users have different needs, you can customize the look and content of your Opera browser with a few clicks of the mouse. Read the feature list

Abiola at Foreign Dispatches 

Men and Women are Both From Earth

Damn, the Evil P.C. Liberal Scientific Orthodoxy strikes again! Now they're trying to besmirch the good work of John Gray and other scientific eminences!

The popular media has portrayed men and women as psychologically different as two planets -- Mars and Venus -- but these differences are vastly overestimated and the two sexes are more similar in personality, communication, cognitive ability and leadership than realized, according to a review of 46 meta-analyses con

Like an idiot I lost track of an article in the Boston Globe wherein a Republican Senator accused Democrats of trying to use Katrina to pass legislation that wouldn't stand a chance of passage otherwise.

Contractors Get Affirmative Action Exemption

Bush Proposes Vouchers for All Displaced Students

Senator wants EPA rules eased for Katrina

Bush Suspends Pay Act In Areas Hit by Storm