Vision Circle

Random Edness

• This happened during business travel.

  I'm late leaving the office because of administrative issues. I get to the airport one hour before the flight is scheduled to leave. I grab a salad and eat it for lunch.

  My stomach was already.... Uhhh.... Bubbly. So, no cheese.

  I'm on the plane and lower the window shade after it takes off and I fall asleep. Two hours later, the plane is descending and I wake up.

  *Snif*

  OK.... Someone cut a good one.

  *OH DAMN*

  I cut a good one.

  "Oh well, I'm the only one on the row."

  The plane lands, and is at the terminal. I get up to get my bag out of overhead and this Asian woman cuts me a look. The man next to her also gives me a look.

  OH. Well.
  You should have moved.
  

• Hillary Clinton used the term "plantation" in a speech and, of course, set the political opposition off. Well, you can't say jack until you say something about this.

  I find this type of political games to be childish, illogical, and appealing to hard core partisans who are irrational, IMO, any way.
  

• 24 is one of the best shows on television. Overall, I'm enjoying this season, even if it has some major holes.
  
• The implementation of "work ethic" is dying in this country. All you have to do is do a job to meet standards, and you will be seen as a shining star.
  
• The Venus and Serena Williams have lost their competative fire. It's a shame. I hate McEnroe and his comments are turning out to be right.
  
• If Black politicans, on both sides, become adults for 1 year, I wonder what would happen. That's why I think a race between Mfume and Steele would be a good thing for Blacks in Maryland.

  One, they both say they are friends.

  Two, I've seen evidence to support what they both say.

  Three, it would force them, even if not their supporters, to hit on all issues without the race baiting. If Blacks are evenly split, it's a win because Steele should then be looked at as a model. I think he should anyway because he actually talks TO people instead of AT them. If Steele wins the Black vote by a large margin, then he would definitely be a model. If Mfume wins, then you can look at Steele's performance and try to find out why he has done so bad.
  

• Ray Nagin cracked under pressure, real-time. And his melt down is continuing under stress of attempting to rebuild New Orleans on what is now (actually, has been for some time), a toxic waste dump.
  

P.S.

Payton Manning is a punk.

Marion Barry: I Told You So

I told you so:

Barry Tested Positive for Cocaine Use In the Fall
Drug Check Ordered After Tax Case Plea

By Yolanda Woodlee and Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 11, 2006; A01

D.C. Council member Marion Barry tested positive for cocaine use in the fall in a drug test ordered by a court after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tax charges, according to two sources familiar with Barry's case.

Barry, who served four terms as mayor and was elected to the Ward 8 council seat in 2004, has since begun treatment for drug use, the sources said, but Barry's failure to pass the mandatory drug test puts him in legal jeopardy.

Because he violated the terms of his release, Barry, 69, faces an increased risk of serving the maximum 18 months behind bars -- rather than probation -- for his failure to file tax returns for six years. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 8, but a federal judge could jail him or sanction him at any time.

"Mind, body and soul" that!

That reminds me.

If anyone remembers Barry saying that at the press conference, they may have overlooked his surprised reaction when people really responded to that phrase. He KNEW then he had a winning theme and his "come back" started at that moment.

The Media: 01/04/2006

I go to bed last night and the news is reporting that one miner is dead with the fate of the others unknown.

I wake up and I hear that all miners except for one is dead. Then I hear a woman saying that orginally, they were all lived except for one and that they found out the truth hours later. This woman is now saying she's going to sue someone.

WTF?!?!?!?!??!?!

Your "loved one" has just been confirmed to have been killed in a mine accident and the first thing you think of is to sue someone?

Then I get home and my wife is livid because it's being reported that they were all in church praying when an "outsider" came in and said they were all alive except for one person. The people in the church start cheering. Then the pastor of the church asks people to pray for the family of the dead person, and very few people came up to pray for that family. The, later....

Right now I'm doing something dangerous, and that's writing when I don't have all of the facts. That's the blame being put on the media by the standard media critics, but I have to say if a rumor that the people are alive is going around, it's not a surprise that the media will report it, especially in this age of media competition. But they should have tried to fact check.

The media screwed up.

In the Baltimore area, a columnist for The Baltimore Sun resigned because "he had used sentences and paragraphs from other newspapers in some of his columns without attribution."

So another white newspaper person resigns because of suspect reporting/sourcing. What does this say about white newspaper writers?

I guess affirmative action is to blame.

The Depths of Black Boogie Man Thinking?

I really don't like what I am about to do, but this is another moment, to me, where something must be said.


Again, off of this post, in the comment section:

But the question I really have for anyone is this:

Muslims in this country are recruiting blacks to come on board their religion of peace train faster than any other ethnic group. We have people like Mumia, Farrahkan, Muhhammed Ali, etc who have all climbed aboard the peace train in what they believe is a retaliation to whitey. Muslims play on black’s notion’s that whitey enslaved me and puts me down. What I find ironic is that Muslims were about 50% responsible for fueuling the TransAltantic Slave trade - Slaves breed in Western Africa were marched to the ports in the Sudan were they were traded for rum, tobacco and cotton. The Muslims were the ones who put Farrahkan’s ancestors on the boats that went to not only the US, but Cuba and South America. On top of that the Muslims were responsible for the death of over 128 African Slaves in their lands during the height of the Africa Slave Trade. The majority of these Africans who died were young girls and women sold as sex slaves throughout the middle east.

So why do blacks so hate America, but join the ranks of a Religion that did more damage (and is still doing damage today) to their ancestors and country than the US ever did.

Cowgirl

I'm sorry, but this is the sort of race baiting, making the Black Boogie Man garbage that I cannot let stand.

My response:

The supposition is wrong.

If Blacks hated America as you so assume, Blacks wouldn’t “disproportionately” join the armed services.

If Blacks hated America, those who did join the service and/or those who have clearances, would have a higer rate of espionage than can account for the general population of those who hold clearances.

The NOI Muslims make up 0.1%, that’s 1/10th of 1% of Black Americans. Black Americans, overwhelmingly, are Christian. The next largest group of Black Muslims are no more than 1% of the Black population.

So, you just created a boogy man of about 1.1% of the Black population.

So tell me why your comments should not be considered race baiting.

This Just Needs to be Said

The below are comments I put on LaShawn Barber's blog in response to this post.

I just shake my head and wonder how I see positives and negatives while others seem to see just the negative or just want to focus on that, but not both.

In context, there was nothing wrong with what Morgan Freeman said. Those in my circle of the universe who heard the complete comment, in context, agreed with his comment. Most said that when Black history is accurately engrained in American history, then Black History Month, which is just designation, can “go away”. Wasn’t that the intention Dr. Carter G. Woodson creating Black History Week in the first place? Why does that bit of history get removed from the picture? Pun intended.

OK, now a specific comment:

Rarely, if ever, do you hear black people expressing disgust for out-of-control crime rates or lecturing other blacks about their responsibility to stay out of the criminal justice system.

Strange, I hear it on a not infrequent basis. My circle of travel includes poor to well off and I hear it across the boundaries.

But, hey, I’m considered “liberal” by some and thus can be discounted.

BTW, others consider me "conservative", so I think that says A LOT about the definitions.

Honestly, between the negativity coming out of public Black liberals and the comments coming out of public Black conservatives, it’s a wonder more Blacks don’t blow their brains out (drinking, drugging, or literally) in dispair.

Merry Christmas.

Upset About Happy Holidays

I'm really upset about the use of happy holidays instead of Merry Christmas.

This time of year is about Christmas which is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

If you are upset about people saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, I trust:

• that you are upset that the commercialization of Christmas has led to some stores advertising Christmas before Thanksgiving.
• that you are upset about the fights and mayhem that happens on "Black Friday", the day after Thanksgiving.
• that you are upset that many stores need the consumerism of Christmas to stay in business.
• that you are upset of the near deity status of Santa Claus.
• that a mall Santa, coming late from lunch break, can cause a near riot. (I would not have believed it would be possible).
• that you are saddened by the rise in suicide attempts and successes this time of year.
• that you are saddened by the level of stress that results from people running around trying to buy gifts.
• that you are saddened by the debt that families find themselves in after Christmas?

If not...

A Thought About "Saving Christmas"

Well, there are some people out there who seem to be on a crusade to save Christmas in the public square of business. Some want businesses to continue wishing "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays".

Well, if you ask me, those who really care about Christmas should want to disassociate Christmas from the "holidays".

Read this post I did earlier and you should get my point.

Black Intra-Racial Politics: Name Calling

I've written about the alleged name calling against Michael Steele.

I've written about my distaste for the name calling, but questioned the article because of what was directly quoted vs. what was paraphrased.

This is now national news and I'm wondering why:

• When Black Democrat politicians and commentators in Baltimore called Mfume a sellout because Mfume backed Martin O'Malley and refused to get involved in the case of the Baltimore City Public Schools hiding the fact of lead in the drinking water, it wasn't national news.
  
• When Black Democrat politicians and commentators called the Black members of the Baltimore City Council sellouts and Uncle Toms because they were a rubber stamp for Martin O'Malley, it wasn't national news.
  
• When Black Democrat politicians and commentators called Black people on the Baltimore City Public School board sellouts and Uncle Toms because they are useless, it wasn't national news.
  

Actually, I do know why and I have to ask why Michael Steele, someone who, from what I know, I think I like, politically, needs to be protected from normal Black politics?

What I Have Witnessed

I know you don't care, but this is what I have personally witnessed:

• A womb after child birth.
• A cesarean.
• Three "fresh" dead bodies.
• A woman scream, "I got 'em!" when she walked out of the church after just getting married.
• Stonehenge.
• The Eiffel Tower.
• The Mona Lisa.
• Westminster Abbey.
• Pure love.
• Prince.
• James Brown.
• Earth, Wind, and Fire.
• Rick James.
• Eddie Murphy.
• Oprah before she was national.
• Pure hate.
• Jerry Lewis.
• Being "walked" by an Olympic champion.
• Sam Donaldson prove that he is a pompous ass.
• Live fish in the waters of Caribbean islands.
• The wonder of a child after seeing something new.
• Life.

Hate Mail: Redux

The following are samples of hate mail that Colbert I. King received:

Some folks are really touchy these days. Take, for instance, these four readers: D.G., J., W.T. and D.L. They didn't care for my column on Harriet Miers ["The Right, on Fire Over Miers," Oct. 8] and thus availed themselves of the opportunity to tell me so by e-mail.

Wrote D.G.: "Some portly Episcopalian [an indelicate reference to moi ] who condones the systemic elimination of the helpless Unborn styles himself a good heart because he happens to be black and benefiting from the Graham family's quota mania. What a joke!!!"

From J.: "If you weren't Black, you wouldn't get a job in journalism. You are in due to a tacit quota system."

And W.T.: "Reading your article is like watching a black minstrel doing his song and dance with words. Pure buffoonery! Affirmative action writer in action."

Finally, D.L.: "king...your article was biased and fulla[expletive] . . . so pack it up your liberal [expletive] sideways."

I seem to remember Michelle Malkin showing some hate email that set off a round of faux disgust from around the right leaning blogosphere.

I wound up writing:

So, Michelle Malkin gets hate mail. What's the big deal?

Really.

What makes her special?

Since I have time to waste, I decided to check the blogspot.com domain to see if anyone referenced the hate emails Colbert I. King received. I found one reference to the article but it was for the article itself.

I searched the typepad.com domain as well, and saw references to other articles, but not this one.

That's different from Michelle Malkin's situation, isn't it?

It seems, to me, that "minority" conservatives are being given special treatment by conservatives. Some would call that patronizing.