american black

One Liners (Sleep, Soft Porn and Baldilocks Edition)

• One Day Left to help Ian win a new pair of kicks.
• Never sleep again...really.
• Watch the 49er's Training Video.
• We almost got rid of one...

“Obese-sized black lesbian” sues Apple

Everybody loves Apple. It has gotten to the point where one of my favorite bloggers has turned his site into another Apple worship blog. One of the advantages of being a contrarian is that when you end up being right you look like a genius. I have spent a lot of time complaining to music industry friends about Apple. What they are doing is not good for the music industry. Jobs is an egomaniac. And he doesn't like bloggers. Oh, and he hates lesbians...

Shaune Patterson worked as a human resources compensation consultant for Apple and alleges she was suspended for one month and then wrongfully fired, after she complained that her white counterparts, who were junior to her, were making higher salaries than she was.

Patterson alleges that the suspension came one day after she complained of racial discrimination.

Earlier this month, she also amended her original complaint to include claims of sexual orientation and genetic characteristic discrimination. Prior to her one-month suspension, Patterson alleges that one of Apple's managers wrote a memo describing her as a "rather obese-sized black lesbian".

Now I'm sure most Apple worshippers will laugh this off but I think they should take this lawsuit seriously. Why? Because Patterson's San Francisco-based lawyer, Waukeen McCoy was the lead plaintiffs' attorney in one of the largest US racial discrimination suits, Carroll v. Interstate Brands, which ended with a $133 million verdict.

The Real Anti-War Movement

Many of us have been screaming and marching and protesting the war in Iraq. But the ones who are really making a difference in the anti-war movement are the soldiers...Steve Gillard waxes beautifully about Iraq, the soldiers and the real anti-war movement...

...What I think is that there is resistance to the war, widespread resistance, but it isn't in marches and speeches and concerts. It's quiet, one on one, soldiers in Iraq telling their kin to stay home, bitter letters in Stars and Stripes, by servicemen and women who feel betrayed by their country, some who go to schools and talk about the realities of the military.

...The old school anti-war movement has largely been ineffective. So have the hawks. The marches seem nostalgic for an imagined past. The hawks appeal to empire and patriotism seem even more dated, as if they were stuck in 1898.

The resistance to Iraq is quiet, subtle. It is in parents who chase recruiters from their homes, soldiers who disuade their kin from enlisting, schools who discourage recruiters from visiting. Kids who simply choose, now that they know what that choice means, to do something else, even if it means no college and years in Wal Mart. They have the advantage and knowledge kids didn't have two, three years ago....

[read more]

The AB Four (The Sex, Nudity, Gay and Seal Edition)

The lovely Nzyme lists the 10 things she hates about BlackPlanet.com

In the always popular "White girls are crazy archive" is this 19-year old girl who stripped in front of the student body at Atlanten High School in Kristiansund two weeks ago in order to win Russ presidency. What she probably didn’t expect was digital camcorders among the auddience and that the performance would spread like wildfire on the internet. Yesterday even the largest privately owned TV-Broadcasting company TV2 put a link up to the strip-clip. And I'm sharing it with you...

31-year-old German model Heidi Klum and the 42-year-old "Kiss from a Rose" singer Seal tied the knot in a secret ceremony on a Mexican beach Tuesday. a few days after this study was released.

And in sad news Karsh (the only Black gay male contestant) was eliminated in The Ultimate Blogger contest.

The Art Of The Sellout (or How To Make Money With Your Blog)

So I'm standing behind my bar talking to this literate, kinda hot, white chick and I mention that I have restarted this blog. One of the first questions she asked was, "Do you sell ads?"

This, my friends, is the age of the sellout. Missy Elliot in Gap commercials, Companies buying ad space in songs, people selling space on their foreheads. We have sold our souls to corporate and wanna be corporate America in droves.

Great...I think.

Many in the blog world are jumping on the sellout train. Trying to get a few dollars before Microsoft owns the whole thing. Google ads, blogads, banners, Gawker, Drudge. The list of ways and people trying to make a dollar is endless.

Now in order to have ads you need to have an audience and so a small industry to drive traffic to sites has emerged. And even blogs dedicated to that has emerged (with ads from the companies which sell the products.)

I find the ads exhausting. The ads on Baldilocks fuck up my Mozilla browser when the page loads. I must really like her new picture to put up with that crap. Micheal King has a picture of himself wearing a suit and vest. To avoid 80's flashbacks you have to move your eyes to the ads and store  on the other side of the page.

You expect ads when you go to sites run by cheap labor republicans but even cool folks like Ray Garrard and Tyler & Alex keep a "tip jar" on their site asking for donations. Bol at ByronCrawford is in New York right now working on a deal so he can blog full time (no homo). If people are making deals with folks like Bol the bubble is upon us.

Cincinnati Politics Heats Up

If all the action is in local politics then what's going on in Cincinnati right now is another Passenger 57.

At the Cincinnati Democratic Caucus meeting a few days ago  David Crowley and John Cranley started the fight to have Damon Lynch taken off the ticket. Damon Lynch is a Black pastor who's famous for saying the following about Cincinnati:

"Police are killing, raping, planting false evidence, and along with the Prosecutor and courts are destroying the general sense of self-respect for black citizens"

I have never been to Cincy so I don't know if the above statement is true, but Lynch's past bothered Crowley and Cranley enough to try to have him taken off the Democratic ticket. For the most part, white Democrats jumped in line with Crowley and Cranley and took turns denouncing Damon. Blacks defended him. In the end, Damon barely won, but he did win and is now an officially endorsed Democratic candidate.

But you know that's not the end of the story. Despite promising to work with and support all candidates, John Cranley got on 55krc and blasted Damon Lynch, demeaned the Democratic Party's precinct executives, emphasizing his disapproval of Lynch's endorsement, and making clear his belief that a Party endorsement doesn't impact a political campaign.

Even the local bloggers are slinging mud about Lynch as Brian Griffin  (who writes a Cincy blog) wonders out loud if Nate Livingston (who writes a Black-centric Cincy blog) is "just circling the race-based wagons" by supporting Lynch. Joe Hansbauer just wants Lynch to say "he was sorry" for his " 'Outlandish' comments".

From the outside it seems like the Cincinnati City Council races will be fun to watch. I suggest the following  blogs if you want to keep up with it.

Cincinnati Black Blog
Cincinnati Blog
The Nati

What's right with today's hip hop

Ballerstatus has an editorial from Mark Clark about today's HipHop. He thinks it sucks:

...Combining the lack of knowledge the majority of the hip-hop audience has, with the money hungry, C.R.E.A.M.-driven rap stars, the problem with creativity stands firm at a pause. The artists are producing what sells; what we buy, and what sells right now is garbage...

I'm sorry, but I'm disgusted over the lack of demand for quality music. I blame the artis;, I blame the consumer; and I blame the greediness of society. I blame the lack of thought and the short attention span of the listeners. No one wants to think anymore; no one wants to sit in the car and dissect the message that Public Enemy was trying to get across, or what Immortal Technique is trying to teach. They want to go to the club and get Crunk, and continue being as ignorant as the music they buy...

Man, I am kinda tired of all the old heads complaining about today's music. They sound like ...their parents. For some reason we older folks forget that we were blasting Will Smith back in the day. (Not me of course) and other corny shit just like the kids are doing now.

There is only one word to describe what Hip Hop has done is AMAZING. It has filtered into every part of society. And unlike the success of R&B in the past, we are actually running this shit. Not every aspect, but the successful aspects.

I used to work for WEA in the early 90's. The number of Blacks involved in the music business now has quadrupled at least. Especially the number making money. Mark doesn't get it. But the kids are alright.

My Open Letter To Arianna Huffington

Dear Arianna,

I dig you. You were right about the SUVs. I'm sure there are many people who wished they would have listened to you when they have to fill up their tanks.

You were right about the War In Iraq. Ask the mothers of most soldiers.

You were right about California.

But what I really like about you is that you have guts. Strong, cute women with accents, brains , and a shitload of money are rare. I applaud you.

But lets talk about your latest venture, The Huffington Post.

I love the concept. We liberals need a site like it. And having a bunch of celebrities behind you is a good idea. You are right again. But some changes have to made.

1. Bloggers are what will make your site a success. If we like it all the media bashing won't matter. We are the media now. So PLEASE make it that we can comment on the original posts. We had to wait until the former Reprise guy to responded to hand Hillary Rosen her head. Make all your celebrities take the risk of instant attack. People will dig it.

2. You may want to give some of your celebrity bloggers a single topic. Elaine and the SNL guy was a waste. I know they were trying to be short and edgy and funny but leave that to really funny folks like Larry David. I can't beleive it took 2 people to write that!

3.There are too many celebrities. Weed that shit down to a few a day. It's noisy. And the world is already too noisy. Let 3 speak a day and let them fight for entry. It'll make their writing better.

Other than that I think it's cool. The news is good. The look is beautiful (like you!) and it's gives us liberals a nice little boost.

Here's my prediction. You will be bashed by the media  but everyone will read it. Kinda like the NYT. A few months from now everyone will realize you were right (again!) but no one will say anything or give you credit. Except me.

xoxox
PrinceC

P.S.- Will you adopt me?

The importance of T-Shirts

Man, some days I feel like the only person left with any sanity left. I know that isn't true but somedays I really feel like that.

Now this blog I write is not really a personal blog. I write it to spread information about news which effects minorities they may not have heard about. Now I do throw in some personal stuff now and then but I try not to because that is not why I think people visit. I do give my opinion on the news but I am not the news.

That's why I like the site Vision Circle. It's a bit more moderate than myself (I think) but it gives me good info. But one of the writers, EBrown, pissed me off today. He wants people to boycott the store Changes for selling T-Shirts say "Stop Snitchin'". There is a problem with folks coming forward  in crimes in his city and he thinks the shirts add to the problem.

Pa-leeze.

I have spent my life wearing mildly offensive T-Shirts. From "George Bush Is A Traitor" to my latest "Save Paula Abdul". T-Shirt slogans are nothing but bumper stickers. Maybe he should be rallying the police department to better protect it's citizens. Maybe he should be screaming at local leaders to get off their collective asses and help out. But to go after a T-Shirt retailer?

Let people say what they want. Let idiots wear what they want. Censorship of any kind is a bit too Republican-like for me. Next they'll want me to scrape the "Jesus is Black" sticker off my car.

The AB 4 (Expanded Edition)

Page 132 links Anti-Christian Bias, African-Americans and racism

Juan Galis-Menedez answers: Should minorities read John Updike?

Byron Crawford talks about why he likes summertime and turns it into a diatribe on why he hates old people.

Panama Jackson's Guide To Shit You Ain't Doing If You're A Gangsta

The Def Conservative thinks all the support Assata Shakur is getting is misguided. (By the way, here's a little history of the Shakur case. And if you help capture her the US Government will give you 1 million dollars.)

And conservative Micheal King gets another story wrong but fortunately Rhymes With Right corrects him and the rest of the media.