Monday, October 1: Here’s another from the smart and brave Heather Mac Donald, responding to this op-ed by Orlando Patterson. An excerpt (emphasis added):
“Patterson’s discussion of black crime rates and family breakdown is anti-climactic. But just to make sure that his standing with liberal elites is unassailable, at the end of his piece, Patterson lets fly a few swipes at conservatives. He blames the black incarceration rate on, inter alia, the ‘hypocritical refusal of conservative politicians to put their money where their mouths are on family values.’ This charge, like so much else, is made up out of whole cloth. The only politicians and policy makers who have tried to programmatically strengthen family values are conservatives; the marriage movement, spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector, seeks to channel a portion of federal welfare dollars into marriage counseling for the poor. If any liberal politicians have gotten behind this idea, they are keeping quiet about it. And Patterson’s call for ‘greatly expand[ed] social services for infants and children’ –as if the last 40 years of poverty policy haven’t proven the futility of such money sinkholes — is a pathetic diversion from the only effective social service for children: two married parents.”
Saturday, September 29: I try not to blog on weekends, but I wanted you to see an op-ed by Carol Swain on Jena Six. She writes:
“Black crime is a serious problem that stereotypes all black youth. And it must be dealt with by a united black community that stands up and says enough is enough. Unfortunately, too many of our media-appointed leaders have failed to vigorously condemn the attack of the six against the one. This is unfortunate.”
9:02 p.m.: OK. I’m here. There’s a decent showing in the media center, but it’s not as packed as it was at Howard. I have a feeling this is going to be boring. Tavis is on. I wish bloggers could sit in the debate auditorium. So Tavis is talking about the Little Rock anniversary. Two of the “Little Rock Nine” are here: Terrance Roberts and Jefferson Thomas.
Tavis is supposedly hot about the top four Republican candidates not being here. It’s important to “reach out to communities of color,” he says.
Former MD Lt Gov Michael Steele just got a standing O. I saw him in the hall and didn’t try to meet him. He looked busy. He says “we” have the opportunity to change the course of the nation, or some such.
Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo (my guy!), Duncan Hunter, and Alan Keyes in the house. Tavis says missing candidates are represented by empty podium. Huckabee says he’s disappointed in missing candidates. Something about “African Americans” and “we” need to work through issues. He’s honored to be here. Blah, blah, blah.
That was fun! The ad hominem-laced e-mail is rolling in already. Keep it coming. I love it. The only thing you’re doing is confirming the stereotype that black people don’t know how to think or express themselves without calling people names. Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not going anywhere. As long as CNN producers invite me on the show, I’m going on. Ain’t America great? Free expression, baby.
I asked someone to capture my CNN segment. I hope he got it. I’ll let you know…
Update: Here’s the clip. And this is what started it all. Bill O’Reilly and black journalist Juan Williams were discussing the vileness of the rap subculture, and O’Reilly was trying to make the point, albeit awkwardly, that whites who don’t know blacks or aren’t exposed to blacks may get the impression that the rap subculture represents black America. I was putting his remarks — “There wasn’t one person in Sylvia’s who was screaming, ‘M-Fer, I want more iced tea’” — in context. I’m no Bill O’Reilly apologist, but come on.
O’Reilly also said he couldn’t get over the fact that people in a black-owned restaurant behaved no differently than people in any other restaurant. Again, I believe it’s the same awkwardly expressed idea about the rap subculture. Whatever he meant by it, I promise you this: the sky will not fall.
However, some blacks see it differently. It’s a shame that certain black Americans, circa 2007, are so darn sensitive. With no more klansman to defend against or whites-only signs to knock down, they look for racism under cable news rocks. But hey, this is what cable news and the “civil rights” industry are all about.
Wednesday, September 26: Ha! A part-time musician e-mailed to say he heard me on KSFO last week, was “impressed,” visited the blog and was “horrified” by my “near obsession” with “washed-up boy band” Hanson. First of all, I’m surprised it took so long for someone to e-mail something negative about my Hanson blogging. As I mentioned before, when I get excited about something, I tend to take it to the extreme. It’s dedication, not obsession.
Second, a lot of people confuse Hanson with being a 90s boy band because that’s when “MMMBop” hit its peak. Anyone listening to Hanson now (they write, sing, and play their own music) wouldn’t call them a boy band. Anyway, I thought the e-mail was hysterical. The reader/musician says he’ll strive to “increase awareness of music of substance, and attempt to resist mindless pop culture.”
Hey, you say “tomayto”, I say “tomahto.” My blog, my topics. Anyway, gotta jet for this TV thing, which has been bumped to 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday, September 25: Coasting through Alpha Centauri. Just wanted to check in with this. (Zef insisted we bring a laptop, so…)
Later… Going on the Tammy Bruce Show now (1 p.m. EDT). Might be on CNN tomorrow. I’ll let you know. Broadcasting from space! Talking about politics, not music.
Even later… CNN tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. with Tony Harris (maybe) to talk about this. I don’t see the controversy (when heard in context), but you know cable news shows.
King Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun. All that has come before will come again. Whenever we think we’ve uncovered something new about ourselves or the world, all we need do is look to history to set us straight.
Ken Bazyn, editorial director of the Religious Book Club, offers an insightful look at history in The Seven Perennial Sins and Their Offspring. In this readable, yet intricate work, he gives us a literary, religious and philosophical perspective on the seven “perennial” or “root-sins”: pride, envy, anger, avarice (greed), lust, gluttony and sloth (apathy). While the very idea of sin has fallen out of fashion — as pointed out to me by a colleague who once remarked that “sin is a Western concept” — we see it in action every day.
It seems that America’s so-called crackdown on illegal “immigration” (which I’m still convinced is just for show on the federal government’s part – it’s up to the states now) is causing a crisis in Canada. Our illegal aliens are rushing the Canadian border, claiming “refugee” status. (Source)
As you may be aware, a refugee is “one who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution.” A nation’s attempt to enforce its own immigration laws is akin to a time of war, oppression, and persecution, eh? Interesting.
Adios! Come back when you have the proper papers and some respect for the rule of law. Without it, America wouldn’t be a very cool place to live.
The time I spent worrying about my segment on “The Daily Show” (filmed last month) was wasted. Yeah, I sound a little silly (hated my voice, liked my hair, but my face looked fat – this photo I like…but not because of the way I look…OK, moving on), and the editor sliced and diced sound bites. But overall, it’s much better than I expected. (And my expectations were quite low.) Whew!
In other breaking news, it’s been determined that oxygen deprivation can lead to death…
Unrelated Update (9/19): Thanks for the shout-out, John in Carolina. I blogged about the Duke “rape” case because I wanted to challenge mainstream media’s “drunk white frat boys with rich fathers rape poor black woman forced to strip to feed her children” narrative. When the gang-rape story first emerged, I knew it was just her fantasy, one that would end up costing people a lot of money and a lot of heartache.
Now give yourself a hand for the work you’ve done, John.
Also see Professor Bill Anderson’s review of Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case.
Update II (9/20): Interesting HuffPo piece on how “black Republicans” are reacting to leading candidate no-shows at the Morgan State debate. Notice the surprising and refreshing absence of “African American” in the article. Considering that HuffPo is a leftist publication, I’m quite PLEASED! Is this a trend? I hope so. Remove “African American” from the lexicon!
Update (9/19): OK. I’m going anyway, thanks to a couple of cool readers. Here’s a great idea: I can turn this into a story and get students’ reactions to Republicans in their midst. Has the debate changed or confirmed their opinions about Republicans, that kind of thing. And Ron Paul’s people saw this post, e-mailed, and encouraged me to come. I’ll be there!
I’m old enough to be a mother to all three, but this “old head” was rocking out last night/this morning at the Hanson concert with the teens and twentysomethings.
I’m writing a concert review, a companion to this piece, and the brothers were kind enough to answer a few of my journalist-fangirl questions backstage after the concert. Boy, oh, boy. I must decompress. And get some sleep!
(Pictured: Isaac Hanson, Taylor Hanson, ME!, and Zac Hanson)
Now see, this is why I have problems with women who have newborns and go back to work.
I’ve got the inside scoop. When some people say they want “equal treatment,” they’re not being truthful. Take it from a “double minority.” I know what I’m talking about. What they want is accommodation and special treatment. Like this woman.
She’s taking a medical licensing exam, which allows a total of 45 minutes for breaks. This chick, nursing her four-month-old, is suing the National Board of Medical Examiners for extra time to feed the kid and pump milk. This woman has already received special treatment. She’s allowed to take the test over two days, while everybody else gets only one day. Now she wants to expand break time.
The previous two GodBlogCon’s were held at Biola University in La Mirada, California, where professor and blogger John Mark Reynolds teaches. This year, it’s in Vegas (woo hoo!) at the Blog World & New Media Expo on November 8 and 9.
This is the third year in a row I’ve been invited to speak at GodBlogCon. Gathering with Christian bloggers (especially ones whose doctrinal beliefs are the same as mine, but others, too) is a joy. If you have the means and the time, come out to Vegas and hang with us. There will be lots of non-GodBlogCon stuff going on, too.
Global Islamic terrorism is an affront to Western Civilization, and we’ve got to fight it with everything we’ve got. Forget weak “surges” and sending our men and women to fight a rag-tag bunch of thugs. Bomb them out, smoke them out, hold public executions — whatever it takes.
Forget jets crashing into buildings. That’s not the worst. Remember global Islamic terrorism. Think about living under sharia. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be dead. That’s how strongly I feel about my freedom.
Victory over Islamic terrorism won’t take place in a desert battle zone but in our hearts and minds. We need a strong will and zero tolerance for weakness and apathy.
The time I spent worrying about my segment on 
Now see, 
