The vultures are circling.

Let me start tonight's post by wiping a little egg from my face. I said that the vultures in the media would leave Tiger alone; I was wrong. This story, as they say in the business, has legs.

I also want to say for the record that I really did not want to blog about the salacious nature of this incident tonight. I believe that Tiger, in spite of all his fame and wealth, is entitled to his privacy. At least when it comes to his family. So there.

But....having said, that there are some places with this story that I have to go. First, let's acknowledge that big old elephant sitting in the middle of the room: The racial component of this story. I have been hearing it from some of you sisters at the water cooler, today: Field I sure hope you blog about Tiger and his white woman. If he had stayed with Tyra (I didn't even know he dated Tyra) this wouldn't have happened. He is going to end up like O.J. Just watch.

I will admit , this story does have some *eerie similarities to a certain Brentwood case. The star athlete of color; the blond wife; rumors of affairs; possible domestic violence; and it goes on. There is even -what one Orlando reporter described as- the "Johnny Cochran of Orlando" representing Tiger. So I guess, as A-merry-cans, we have to ask ourselves collectively; would we even care as much if Tiger was in fact married to Tyra and not Elin?

The fellows have been talking to me as well: Yo field, what was your boy thinking? Tiger knows that he is too famous to creep. Or, field, why would your boy risk everything for some outside tail? Home boy better zip it up next time.

All this, of course, while Tiger is still chilling by a river in Egypt. TMZ says otherwise, and they even have the other woman's name and her picture to back up their story. And the real culprit in all of this where Tiger is concerned, just might be The National Inquirer. (These guys have been on a roll lately.) They have been reporting this story all along. Tiger, I have a little advise for you: You have lots of loot. Get a nanny to do your grocery shopping. You don't need Elin to be standing at the check- out counter and reading about you getting your driver on with some other woman.

Oh well, let's hope that this is the end of the drama with Tiger. I still love to see the man swing a golf club, and I sure don't need to see a slow police chase in South Florida anytime soon.

Killing season.

I am too depressed to do a lot of writing tonight. And you can thank the animals living among us masquerading as human beings for my mood. You can also blame the holiday season and the NRA lobby for A-murder-ca becoming a literal killing field over the past few days. For example:

In Florida, a man goes on a killing spree allegedly murdering four family members after a Thanksgiving meal.

In Washington state a man ambushed and allegedly killed four police officers while they were getting ready to start their day in a coffee shop.

In Paterson, New Jersey, a man chased down and shot his wife and their two young sons. Fortunately -if there is such a thing as a silver lining in this tragedy- he allegedly only killed one of his intended targets before being shot and killed himself.

In Madison, Wisconsin, four people were shot in a domestic dispute.

And finally, in Kansas, the former director of a utility service allegedly shot and killed his estranged wife and two teenage daughters to death.

Are you starting to see a pattern here?

Oh well, back to my local killings here in Killadelphia. I am sure my local murder count needs updating. It is, after all, the holiday season. There is nothing like a little holiday cheer to bring out the killer in some of us.

The cover up.

I am going to surprise and upset some of you with this post. (Gee field, what else is new?)

I don't agree with Google removing that image of the first lady. It's one of the first images that appeared because of the amount of hits that the blogger blog that posted it was getting, and Google, after a tremendous amount of pressure, removed it from their image search. I still think you can still see the image on Google (See the pic with this post) but they have chosen to run a disclaimer with it.

Now here is the thing: As reprehensible and repugnant as that picture is, it still should not be removed. Why? Because where an image appears on google depends on the demand for the image on the Internet. The more hits and requests for the image via the blog the further up the Google chain it goes.

Obviously this vile image of the first lady was in great demand. To pretend that it wasn't and to try and censor it now would be the equivalent of putting a band-aid on an open festering sore. I say let's see the sore and how bad it is and deal with it. A-merry-ca is too good at covering up stuff.

If we did, maybe we would get more thoughtful posts like this one, -which was inspired by the episode- and people would actually start talking to each other. (Not that I would want to do much talking with the type of person who takes the time to do these types of photo shop jobs.) Hey at least we would know they are out there and where to look for them. I hate it when this type of ignorance is close to me and I don't even know that it's there.

Oh field, stop whining, they had chimp pics of Bush and no one made this big of a deal over it. I didn't see the folks at Google scrambling to put disclaimers on those pics. That, of course, is your standard [right] wingnut response. And if you are like me you don't even try to educate and teach by explaining the difference. You just kind of let it go and chalk it up to the law of averages playing itself out on the human intelligence scale.

But you see the problems that this type of censoring can cause, so why do it? Hey, when we see it we will blog about it and point it out, and I am sure that the [right] wingnuts will defend it. But at least it will be out there in all its ugliness for us to see. A fitting simulacrum of what lurks in their vacuous minds.

Couples and another "Magic Negro".

A friend of mine went and saw The Blind Side, and he was going on and on about what a tear jerker it was. Sorry, I will pass. I am not ready for yet another Magic Negro story. I know it's the Christmas season and some of us want to feel good about ourselves, but this is one feel good story I can do without. Been there done that. Remember The Green Mile ?

Tonight I am thinking about couples. One in Washington D.C. and the other one in Orlando, Florida..

Let me start with the Orlando couple, first: It's been a slow news day so I am sure that you have all heard about Tiger Woods doing like the crash test dummy with his Cadillac SUV. (Why doesn't he drive a Buick?) His publicist has been in full spin mode ever since the mishap. It's a minor accident, Mr. Woods has been released from the Hospital; and he is fine. The spin- master had better be in full spin mode because the rumors are flying really fast. I am not a real journalist guided by the punctilious nature of that profession, so I can repeat one of them here: Tiger and Mrs. Tiger were in a heated fight and he tried to roll in the middle of the night. Not so fast. Seems Mrs. Woods is pretty good with the clubs as well and took an iron to the back of the SUV causing Tiger to- using a golf analogy- hit a sand trap.

Now what is not in dispute is that Tiger was leaving his spot at two thirty in the morning; he was involved with a one vehicle accident; and Mrs. Woods did take the irons to the back of the SUV. It will be really interesting to see how the press treats this story. Tiger is an icon and he is loved. Will the vultures start to circle to get to the bottom of this, or will they leave him alone?

The other couple that intrigues me are the two reality show wanna be clowns in D.C. Crashing a state dinner is no easy thing to do, and yet they did it. How? What the hell is up with the Secret Service? Field, they did not pose a threat to the president. Maybe not this time. Although isn't that one of the crashers I see shaking hands with his O ness in the pic? Is it me or does it seem like it's so much easier to get next to this president? Ahhh stop it field, what about the Iraqi who threw the shoe at George Bush? Yes, but that happened on Iraqi soil. This happened in the White House for crying out loud!

Another fascinating aspect of this story is the lengths A-merry-cans will go through for their 15 minutes. (Think "Balloon Boy's" parents). Are we that obsessed with face time as a culture that we would risk fines and imprisonment to get in front of the camera? Of course we would. That was a rhetorical question.

The irony of these two couple stories is that one couple is trying to stay out of the news while the other one is desperately trying to get in it. In the end, they will probably both get their wish.

Only in A-merry-ca.

Junk in your trunk? If so, you just might not graduate.

*

I am sure that we have all gotten our turkey and mac and cheese on by now. If you live anywhere in the continental United States you had a very big meal today and you are probably just sitting around letting the calories soak in.

So this is a perfect time to blog about this story.

It seems that Lincoln University, an HBCU here in Pennsylvania, has decided that if you are not healthy and watching your weight you could jeopardize your chances of graduating. The folks at Lincoln are tired of obese students not taking care of themselves and they have decided to take the knife and forks into their own hands.

"We know we're in the midst of an obesity epidemic," said James L. DeBoy, chairman of Lincoln's department of health, physical education and recreation. "We have an obligation to address this head on, knowing full well there's going to be some fallout."

Well hell yes Mr. DeBoy, you best believe that there is going to be "some fallout". You can't stop black folks from getting their grub on. And college students at that. Ain't gonna happen.

And I agree with honor student Tiana Lawson-who happens to be a senior- who says (and I am para-paraphrasing here) that she didn't go to Lincoln to be told about her weight; she went for an education. Let's just be glad that kids like Ms. Lawson are in college holding it down and hitting their books, instead of burdening them with the added pressure of having to watch their weight. If Ms. Lawson chooses she can worry about her weight later. Besides, how do we know that she isn't just as healthy as a size six freshman with a coke bottle shape?

"In an interview Friday, Lawson said she has no problem with getting healthy or losing weight. But she does have a problem with larger students being singled out.

"If Lincoln truly is concerned about everyone being healthy, then everyone should have to take this gym class, not just people who happen to be bigger," she said.
The mandate, which took effect for freshmen entering in fall 2006, requires students to get tested for their body mass index, a measure of weight to height.

A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. Students with one that's 30 or above -- considered obese -- are required to take a class called "Fitness for Life," which meets three hours a week."

Great. I wonder if they teach the kids to skip Thanksgiving in "Fitness for Life" classes?

Props to Mrs. Field and her sister who threw down in a way that is sure to make my BMI inch towards that 30 mark.

*Pic courtesy of The Grio.

Just being thankful.

*

Field, I know you are Jamaican, and you people aren't really into the whole Thanksgiving thing. But are there some things that you are thankful for?

Hell yes, I can think of a bunch of things:

I am thankful that A-merry-cans did not select the McCain/Palin ticket.

I am thankful that the Eagles didn't draft Ricky Williams.

I am thankful for "Saved By The Bell" reruns.

I am thankful for Mrs. Field's Uncle David and his Louisiana deep fried turkey.

I am thankful that I live in one of the greatest-if not most underrated-cities in the world.

I am thankful for black women.

I am thankful for my elders who give me knowledge.

I am thankful for Jamaican food.

I am thankful for other bloggers and people who comment on this blog.

I am thankful that I recognize injustice.

I am thankful that I lived to see a black president get elected.

I am thankful that I lived to see Tiger Woods play golf and Roger Federer play tennis.

I am thankful for Usain Bolt.

I am thankful that I got a chance to meet two of my heroes. (Bob Marley & Michael Manley)

I am thankful for my parents who taught me the importance of an education.

I am thankful for my sister who taught me how to use it.

I am thankful for the men and women who volunteer to fight in the armed services.

I am thankful for Michael Kors.

I am thankful for the state of Louisiana.

I am thankful that I live in a country where I can vote for who I want to lead me.

I am thankful for the Internet.

I am thankful for Brazilian soccer and American football.

I am thankful for the freedom of staying home on Sunday mornings.

I am thankful for real journalist.

I know that I am fighting with them; but I am thankful for google.

I am thankful for my family and friends.

And finally, I am thankful that I am not a turkey.

HAVE A HAPPY TURKEY DAY EVERYBODY!

*Thanks for the pic Felix. That is too funny.

George's Wars....for now.

*

I would like to start tonight's post with a letter to the editor penned by a reader named Roy Lehman in my hometown paper.

"John Yoo continues to live in a fantasy world of the Bush administration that he had a large part in creating ('No clear benefit to holding 9/11 trial in New York', Sunday)

He continues to frame the actions of what would be more accurately described as a gang of civilian religious fanatics as an "act of war". Bush administration members labeled the terrorism an act of war in order to expand the powers of George Bush and cover their behinds for what they were about to do.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. seems to have decided that the actions of these religious fanatics were, in reality, crimes. I agree and will not live in fear , demanded by the right wing, of a band of disjointed religious fanatics, when the real threats to my family are job insecurity and a health catastrophe that may bankrupt me and my family. "

Citizen Lehman I loved that letter!

My friends, as we all get ready to get our turkey on, let's not forget our troops in harms way on two different fronts and who caused them to be there in the first place. George W. Bush and his neocon friends.

The war rages on, and A-merry-cans are stuck with paying for it with both precious lives and dollars. (BTW, I agree with David Obey, let's put an added tax on everybody to pay for the wars.) The phony patriots will give us all kinds of reasons why these wars are necessary, but don't believe any of it. They are not. A few religious fanatics hell bent on kicking it with some virgins in their other life is not a foreign threat. They have no country, just a sick twisted ideology. The biggest threat to A-merry-ca comes from within not in the deserts of Iraq or the mountains of Afghanistan.

The brilliance of the neocons and the right-wing in this country is that they have hoodwinked everyone into thinking that in order to protect our country we must attack someones else's, and if we don't wipe them from the face of the earth they will come again for us like they did on 9/11. The problem with that, of course, is that we don't know who they are, and we sure as hell don't know where they live or where they will be coming from. -The Ft. Hood shooter was in our military for crying out loud! Where will the next fanatic come from? Even if we bomb everyone of these countries into nothing it won't guarantee that some sympathizer living in Dearborn, Michigan won't strap on a bomb and decide to become the half time show at a Red Wings game.

Thank goodness a bunch of Rastafarians didn't decide to blow up the World Trade Center. Because if they did, and George Bush was in power, Jamaica would be nothing but a memory.

That's how twisted the neocon logic is, and that's what got us into this mess.

The problem now of course is how do we get out. Here is hoping that his O ness, unlike the guy before him, actually uses his brain and not his bible.

*Pic courtesy of Phtobucket

The Butler Did It.

You know what I hate about that SOB racism? I will tell you what I hate: Sometimes he will do sneaky shit to instigate me into chasing him and then when I catch his ass he tries to act like he wasn't the one messing with me in the first place.

Take this latest brouhaha over a Wall Street Journal article. Have you all heard of this? Seems the Journal is pissed off about one of the O man's appointments to the federal bench. They think that the guy is way too liberal and shouldn't be given a federal judicial appointment. So far so good, right?

Yes, but then in their article decrying the pick, the Journal let their inner "R" show by referring to the nominee as "the White House Butler." Nice. I love their play on words. The guy's name is Butler, and he does happen to be black. So was the Journal using their cute play on words because of the guy's race? Or was it just a play on his name? Wait....let me look at the actual article. It was the headline? And here I thought it was just a line buried deep in the op-ed piece. Oh yeah Mr. R, I have your ass now.

Oh field, there you go again, you must be really desperate to find racism if you are going to accuse a fine paper like The WSJ of being racist. So a bunch of tree hugging white liberals in Wisconsin see racism, it doesn't mean that it is there. Field, not everyone is a racist, some people don't even think of such things. News flash, field, this is a "post racial America." You know who is a racist, field? The tree hugging liberals in Wisconsin who just naturally associate a black man with a butler.

"The headline was a play off of his last name, and to suggest anything otherwise is absurd," said a statement from Wall Street Journal spokeswoman Ashley Huston."

OK field, that ought to settle it. Once again you are chasing racism when there is nothing there to chase.

I swear the next time he comes around I am going to tell racism to go and play with someone else. His ass is way too slick for me.

Tipping and the Klan.

I found the following story involving Mrs. Field's alma mater and Ole Miss interesting. [Oh my, this can't be good for recruiting all those black athletes.] I wasn't in the least upset, because I happen to agree with Dr. Boyce Watkins whose article you are about to read.

"I was intrigued by recent reports that the Ku Klux Klan had a rally on the Ole Miss Campus recently. It might surprise you to know that I am essentially unconcerned by their presence on campus. Don't get me wrong, Klansmen are incredibly ignorant. Also, we cannot deny their historical reign of terror over people of color in America. But I can also give you a list of reasons that we should stop paying attention to the KKK.

1) They thrive off of attention: The KKK has very little power. They don't do very much anymore, and even in this rally, it appears that there were only a few members present. The truth is that the klan only has power because we give it attention. They are like a grease fire: The more water you put on it, the more it grows. But if you starve the fire of oxygen, it eventually dies out. The klan must be starved of attention, and then they will go away. They only remain relevant because we want them to be.

2) The KKK distracts us from real racism: While Ole Miss can proudly brag about how they ran the KKK off their campus, they then turn around and face a college campus that doesn't hire very many African American Professors and doesn't graduate black athletes at a very high rate. But they are not alone in their campus segregation. According to a survey we conducted on YourBlackWorld, over 1/3 of all black college students have never had a single black professor, and over 60 percent of them have only had one or less. That should embarrass our universities and be the source of absolute outrage among African American students. Rather than fighting against Klan members they will probably never see again, the Ole Miss students should focus on dealing with the professors in the classes that they attend every day. Also, we are allowing the campus to brag about something that is not worth bragging about. For campus administrators to fight against the KKK and simultaneously support systemic racism via the lack of campus diversity is like them saying, "I am completely against rape, but I plan to molest you every single day."

3) The KKK has freedom of speech just like everyone else: Whether we like it or not, the KKK has the same liberties that most of us have as Americans. As long as they are not out encouraging people to kill African Americans, they are protected by the constitution. I want to protect the klan's right to speak because that also gives me the right to speak. The last thing we want is to live in a country where the government decides whose opinions should be heard. The Klan has a right to exist. I don't support the KKK, but I also have major problems with Ole Miss. The university was built on a foundation of racism and like most campuses, they are probably not being very progressive in terms of fighting it. But in order for us to accurately fight against the disease of racism in America, we must be intelligent about our targets. The KKK should not be a meaningful part of that dialogue." [Story]

I agree 100%. So take that all of you people who think that all I do is chase racism. I could care less about a few Klansmen on the Ole Miss campus. (BTW, the guy in front under the white sheet looks rather portly. Are they sure that's not Haley Barbour?) I am more concerned about all of their secret sympathizers in state houses across the country and in the halls of congress, than I am a few marchers in Klan costumes.

Hell I am more pissed off about a story from my home state, where it seems that it's cool to lock up people even after you give them lousy service.

Oh come on field, you are a lawyer, the restaurant's policy is that there is a MANDATORY 18% gratuity. It is a built in cost, you have to pay it. Why? As my man Lamont Hill said, that is incredibly oxymoronic. -Kind of like intelligent conservative- How can something be a mandatory gratuity? I mean why should the actual cost of the goods that I am purchasing not be enough? And what if the service really did stink? Wait.... "You can't give us terrible, terrible service and expect a tip," said Pope, a 22-year-old Moravian College senior who's a Pottsville native, according to the Lehigh Valley Express-Times. They had to find their own napkins and cutlery while their waitress caught a smoke, had to ask the bar for soda refills, and had to wait over an hour for salad and wings, they told NBC10. " See, the service did stink. Why add the cost of the service that stunk and tell me that I have to pay it? Remind me never to go to the "Lehigh Pub" in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Oh field, you are just saying that because you black folks don't like to tip. No, us black folks, like white folks, and all other kind of folks, don't like to get ripped off. Having the cops run down this couple and arrest them after giving them lousy service in your establishment, smells like a rip off to me.

That's where the Klan should have been marching; in front of the "Lehigh Pub". Unlike those poor patrons, I am sure that they wouldn't have been arrested.

Another American tragedy.

I'm baaaack.

My man racism is on the loose again but tonight I am going to leave him alone. There is just too much going on within my community right now to even trip. There will be plenty of time to chase his ass later.

Tonight I want to blog about a very sad story from Motown. (No, not the Lions.) And I want to thank fellow field hand, Tokeya, for sending it to me.

Imagine, for a minute, that your name is Lazette Cherry, and you have reason to believe that your son molested his three year old half- sister. Do you now call the little girl's father and tell him of what might have transpired? I think most of us would probably say yes. Unfortunately that might have been the wrong answer. Because after telling the little girl's father of the alleged sexual assault, the enraged man beat and gun butted the boy (his own son) and shot him execution style on his front lawn.

Now Lazette is not only mourning the loss of her son but she is no doubt having to deal with the added guilt of knowing that she caused his death by telling his father of the alleged assault.

Without getting into too much detail, I will say that I represented a parent in a similar type of case in the past, and I vowed after that case that I would try my best never to do it again. These types of cases tear at you emotionally, and they are the hardest to put out of your mind.

"Jamar, 15, had confessed to her that he had inappropriate contact with his 3-year-old half-sister in his father's home on Newport on Detroit's east side.
"I called and told his father this isn't something you sweep under the rug," Cherry said Wednesday.

Jamar Pinkney Sr. showed up at Cherry's house in Highland Park on Monday afternoon with a gun, she said.

"He started beating him right here," Cherry said from her living room. "I said, 'No, please stop!' "But the father marched Jamar, a sophomore at King High School, outside.
“He got on his knees and begged, ‘No, Daddy! No!’ and he pulled the trigger,” Cherry said from her home on North Street in Highland Park. “There wasn’t nothing that my son wouldn’t do for his father. He loved his father so much.”
Jamar was shot once in the head."

As is always the case with these types of stories we want so much to find someone to blame. Should we blame Jamar the son? Should we blame Lazette? Or should we blame the father?

"Cherry said the 3-year-old's mother took the girl to a hospital to be examined Sunday. But she said her son claimed he didn't rape the little girl and kept his clothes on.
The exam showed no physical evidence of sexual trauma, Cherry said. Still, she added, he knew he was wrong."He told because he knew it wasn't right," she said."

I would love to hear what Ms. Cherry said to Jamar the father when she called him on the phone to tell him of the assault. I think that would help me to understand everything a little more and make more sense of yet another tragedy from urban A-merry-ca.

[Story here]

I am into something.

So I am not posting tonight. I will catch you in the a.m.

Here in Mississippi we don't need our blacks educated.

So they invited me to attend the Minority Broadband Summit hosted by ADE down in D.C. this past week, (Shout out to the ADE staff and the great work they did. I keep telling these people that I am not a real journalist) and I got a chance to meet and hang out with some cool people. Props to Roland Martin from CNN. Dude is alright but he has got to let me hook him up with my clothes guy....let me stop. I met and chatted it up with folks like the former mayor of Houston, Lee Brown, and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson from Texas. I also have to give props to all the people who attended and to the man who organized the entire thing, Julius H. Hollis.

Still, one of the real reasons I went was because I knew that my best friend from law school would be there. Antonio Clayton is the chairman of the board of the largest HBCU in the country and he ran a Jedi on these folks as well because they thought he was important enough to invite.

We met and hung out a little bit and got caught up on all the happenings. When it was time for him to speak my man actually broke some news which is what I really want to blog about tonight.

Seems the governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, has decided that it would be best for the folks in Mississippi to merge some of the HBCU's into one school. I guess he has been channeling his inner Wendell from Get On The Bus. Remember Wendell? He hated those "nigger schools" didn't he?

Well, I have news for Haley Barbour and the Wendell's of the world; those "nigger schools" educate more than half of the black professionals in this country, and schools like Xavier in New Orleans produce more successful African American medical school applicants than Harvard and Johns Hopkins combined. So no doubt that it is important to keep these schools alive for the purpose of educating our children. I think on that we can all agree. The key is that they don't fall prey to mismanagement and poor fiscal policies that has plagued some of these schools in the past.

So now, I ask you, why would the governor of Mississippi want to close some of the HBCU's in his state? Well, after listening to Tony's speech, I actually looked up the story to try and find the reasoning behind Barbour's position, and here is what I found:

"Under Barbour's plan, no campuses would close but Alcorn State and Valley would be merged into Jackson State. Each of the smaller schools is roughly 100 miles from Jackson. Barbour said the merger would save money by reducing administrative costs and eliminating academic duplication. He also wants to consolidate Mississippi University for Women with nearby Mississippi State University. The governor said the restructuring could save the state $35 million out of a nearly $5.5 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.The black university presidents have made clear they want to remain independent."The governor's proposed budget cuts will change the face of higher education in Mississippi for decades," JSU President Ronald Mason said in a statement. Alcorn State President George Ross said the university leaders didn't find out about the plan until Monday."

Damn! He even wants to close down Mississippi Valley? Does he realize that's where Jerry Rice played ball? And does he realize that Steve McNair played at Alcorn State? And doesn't he realize that an HBCU produced his states most famous football player, Walter "Sweetness" Payton? His ass ought to be shipped off to Abu Ghraib right now. In all seriousness, what are all those proud alumni of these schools going to do? I sure hope they don't take this lying down.

And here I thought republicans wanted blacks to be educated. Why doesn't he merge Southern Mississippi into Ole Miss? I am just saying.

"Barbour said a state with about 2.9 million residents can't afford eight universities. He said Monday he's not worried about appearing racially insensitive with his proposal."

Of course not, republicans never care about such silly things as racial sensitivity. I sure hope the O man himself will have something to say about this, I know he prefers the Ivy League types, but the Ivy isn't for everyone.

Oh well, here is hoping that old Haley has a change of heart and drops this silly idea. Segregation and racism created the duel system of higher education in many southern states. And, unlike other aspects of racism, the end result of this has worked out just fine. Barbour should just leave it alone. He should try to find other ways to raise money for his state. And he could start by giving himself a pay cut.

How did it come to this in the first place?

So, like the rest of you,I have been reading this Alexis Hutchinson story. Poor woman. The Army has arrested her for refusing to deploy because she has no one to take care of her baby. Seems she did submit a "care plan" to the Army, but her mother had problems with taking care of the little guy at the last minute.

So I have a couple of thoughts: First, where the f&*k is the child's father? Why can't he take care....wait, change that. Why shouldn't he be made to take care of the little guy while mommy goes over sees to defend her country? I have read this story in a few different places and not a word about daddy. Daddy, if you are alive, shame on you.

The other thing that bothered me about this story is that, once again, it's a grandparent [usually grandma, because more often or not grandpas sorry ass got up as well] that is being depended on to raise a grandchild. Come on folks, that stuff is getting old.

Maybe it's because of what I do for a living, but I am sick and tired of seeing plaintiffs who are grandmothers having to hold it down because mommy and daddy aren't doing what they have to do to raise their child.

Alexis, believe me, this is not personal to you, because I don't know enough about your situation to pass judgment. But your situation seems all too familiar to me. It's just that unfortunately for you, unlike with so many others, your situation has serious consequences attached.

And finally, I have to get on Uncle Sam a little bit: Why did they have to arrest this woman and take her to jail, forcing her infant son to go into the foster care system if only for just a couple of days? I mean maybe someone familiar with the way the military does things can help me with this. Couldn't they have put her under house arrest or something? At least that way she would have been with her child.

"Kevin Larson, a spokesman for Hunter Army Airfield, said he didn't know what Hutchinson was told by her commanders, but he said the Army would not deploy a single parent who had nobody to care for his or her child. "I don't know what transpired and the investigation will get to the bottom of it," Larson said. "If she would have come to the deployment terminal with her child, there's no question she would not have been deployed."'

Yes, and part of the investigation should be to find daddy's sorry ass.

Guess Who Came To The Television Studio.

"Conservative radio and television talk show host Glenn Beck has made his reputation and fortune in part by taking innocent if not strictly professional relations and turning them into major political scandals. His crusades against Obama administration advisers Patrick Gaspard and Van Jones, who has since resigned, stand out as crowning achievements of the guilt-by-association game.

What happens, however, when one looks closely at the people Beck has chosen to invite onto his show, and to whom he has lent his megaphone?

The Huffington Post took a look some of the bombastic host's past guests and found names steeped in controversy. Beck has hosted, and even occasionally praised, a renowned white supremacist, a devout southern secessionist, a defender of slavery, and a 9/11 skeptic.

On October 4, 2007, for instance, Beck had on his CNN/Headline News show Michael Hill, the founder and president of the League of the South, and Thomas Naylor, a secessionist who is head of the Second Vermont Republic. The conversation, which centered on dissolving the government, was at times, contentious. But Beck - for all the pushback he offered - did acknowledge that he was kind of intrigued. "Don`t get me wrong,"

he said. "There`s part of me that says, mm-hmm."

Hill's League of the South (LOS) group is a decidedly white supremacist organization, arguing that the "Anglo-Celtic" culture of the South must be protected and insisting that "white men" must "shed the guilt heaped upon them by their opponents and defend their interests." The group has questioned "what sort of ammunition is being given to black 'racists' by the media's skewed coverage of interracial crimes." Hill himself has been quoted as saying, "Let us not flinch when our enemies call us, 'Racists;' rather, just reply with, 'So, what's your point?'''

Now now now Huff-Po, just because Mr. Beck chose to have those people on does not necessarily mean that he sympathizes with their extremist views.

Still, I wonder if he buried them on a Friday night like he did my black conservative friends?

I bet if most of my black conservative friends knew about Mr. Beck's previous guest list they would not even have gone on his show.

Ain't that right folks?

Bad people!

A couple of stories have me seeing red tonight. I will start with the two pictures that you are seeing with this post. Tell me, what is wrong with these two pictures? If you noticed the omission of the black folks on the poster set for a UK audience of the movie "Couple's Retreat", please go to the head of the class.

Like honestly, WTF is wrong with these movie execs? I mean this shit is getting just a little pathetic. I know that I am supposedly one of your faster racism chasers, but I am here to say that I doubt seriously if folks in the UK are so racist that they would stay away from a movie like this because it had a black couple.

Mr. Movie Executive, why cast black actors in movies if you are afraid to market them to certain audiences? And did you really think that people wouldn't notice this? Unbelievable!

"... a Universal spokesman said the altered poster aimed "to simplify the poster to actors who are most [recognizable] in international markets.""

Bullshit!

Vince Vaughn, you are my man, but if you don't get with the producers and the studio responsible for this movie I am going to have to put you in my diss category. They are, after all, putting you front and center out there. I am sure that you don't want to be associated with this crap.

The second story that has me upset comes from North Carolina. Some stories just won't leave you alone, even when you try to ignore them. I actually stumbled on this story four times today, so I think the blogging Gods were trying to tell me something.

The last time I saw it was over at an excellent site called "Whose Shoes Are These Anyway?" and the author was as outraged as I am that this could have happened to this little girl.

Some of you Negroes I swear. Oh yes, it's time, once again, to attack black.

Antoinette Nicole Davis what the hell is wrong with you? Prostituting a five year old child?

"Police have charged the girl's mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis, with trafficking and other offenses, authorities said. Davis was "prostituting her child" ... ... The mother told police last week that the child vanished from their mobile home in Fayetteville. Hotel surveillance video taken around the same time Shaniya was reported missing showed the girl with a man identified as Mario Andrette McNeill. He was charged with first-degree kidnapping.(CNN)"

Ironically, I just saw the movie "Precious", and like the other blogger alluded to, the similarities are way too eerie. Some Negroes are beyond help, and the rest of us just have to cut their sorry asses loose. Nicole Davis and her poor excuse for a man are two such Negroes.

This story is sad and tragic, and it needs to be talked about. We can't run away from this kind of shit folks. If we don't confront it and talk about it, other children suffering under similar conditions will be overlooked by the rest of us and who knows what kind of fate awaits them.

I am just sorry that it was too late for this poor child.

Is America afraid of black conservatives? Glen Beck seems to think so.

"And for my peeps I truly care Cause without some of them I wouldn't be here And they all know how I feel Cause suckers be like playin themselves to have mass appeal" ~Gang Starr~

A lot of my conservative cousins were on Glen Beck's show this past Friday seeking mass appeal. (They called it "Friday The 13th Nightmare for Liberals: Black Conservatives." Honestly, Beck scares me every time I hear or see him. He didn't need a bunch of black conservatives to be frightening.) I am sure they got it, too. But who was the masses that they were appealing to? And why would they even want to appeal to these people?

Now don't get me wrong, (And this is going to surprise some of you left leaning black folk.) but I have nothing but love for some black conservatives. Contrary to popular belief I do not consider them all "Toms" or House Negroes. I understand, as much as anyone, that black folks are not monolithic, and my ideas and way of thinking is not necessarily by itself the paradigm for how success should be achieved within the black community. So when I hear conservatives -be they black or white- with what they think are real and meaningful solutions to solving some of the problems within the black community, I am usually all ears. Their stance on school vouchers and education, for instance, is closer to mine than you would think. I am also all for economic empowerment and a lightening of the tax burden in certain economically deprived neighborhoods. Not to mention tax incentives for companies who invest their money and resources in poorer urban communities. I could go on, but I think you get the picture. There just might be more that unites us than separates us.

Now, having said all of that, I still have to take issue with some of these conservative Negroes.

I like analogies, so I will use one here. Imagine, if you will, that Colin Powell is the republican president of these divided states of A-merry-ca. Imagine he has some very bold programs which are pissing off left wingers and progressives. Left wing commentator, Keith Olbermann, has built his entire schtick on tearing down president Powell, and he has gone as far as to call him a self hating Uncle Tom on his program. Olbermann is now catching heat from his sponsors and various folks in the main stream for his daily vituperation about Powell and his overall vitriolic tone. To show the world that he is not a bad guy and that he really loves black people, he asks a bunch of black progressives to come on his show and take a stand with him against the current path of the Powell administration. Now I ask you, how many left leaning black folks do you think would appear on his show? Take a minute and think about it, and try to be honest with yourself when you come up with your answer.... Here, let me help you; Keith Olbermann would have more camera men than he does people in his studio. Unlike my friend Mr. Beck who had a studio full of you conservative folks- with probably as much lined up outside- Olbermann would find very little if any takers.

And this is the problem I have with some of you black conservatives; you are just so quick with the massa good the rest of dem Negroes bad rant that it's hard to be serious with you when you try to talk policy. I just keep hearing that music over your voices. The one with the catchy tune that makes me want to jig.

Still, I am glad for you folks and the fact that you got your shine on. Just be careful where that shine is coming from. (I once represented a guy who was on an episode of Cops. I am just sayin.) If you think Glen Beck is really your friend and that he really has your best interest at heart, go on and represent on his show. It might make you famous. Hell, you might even get a gig on Radio Rwanda. If, on the other hand, you are just trying to get your shine on, there has to be a better way. You don't want to be just props to further someone's agenda. Where did I hear that before? Oh yeah, I think it was "Gump" over at Crooks & Liars. Gump doesn't sound so scared to me.

"Let's bring in a bunch of blackies as props to further an agenda. It really doesn't get much more racist than this segment. What's even worse is these people willing to sell out their culture for conservatism. They know history and the truth when it comes to conservatives. I wonder how much cash Murdoch gave these people to stage this disgusting display.
This would be like me appearing in a segment about the mafia supporting conservatism because my ancestry goes back to Sicily. Fucking pathetic."

Stop it Gump, those are my cousins you are talking about. You pick on one of us, you will have to pick on us all. They were not "props", they did it for their people. They did it for America.

Why don't we just stone him to death in Times Square?

*

My man Cal Soldier actually commented on this next topic and made me decide to blog about it tonight. I am talking, of course, about the upcoming trial of alleged 911 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Yes it seems that his O ness has decided to put my man on trial just blocks from where he allegedly slaughtered over two thousand people. Folks, if you think the O.J. trial was a circus, just wait until this one gets going.

I can't say I blame his O ness. This is, after all, a country of laws. At least the last time I checked it was. The folks over at Radio Rwanda and on the right are proclaiming that this is a civil trial, -as if we were suing the guy for money or something- but it's actually a civil-ian trial. Which means it will not be in secret or in a military court. But it's funny how some people play with words. "Civil" trial sounds so much softer.

But field, think of all the security that will be needed to try this guy, why even go through with all of this? Yes, you are right, maybe we should have just taken him out and shot him like Glen Beck recently suggested on his radio program. I guess that's the right wing way of doing things. It worked pretty well for them back in the day when those "strange fruits" were hanging from trees. Or, maybe we could just stone him to death like they would do in some of those countries where his Muslim brothers reside.

Over at Radio Rwanda they are terrified that Mohammed could actually be found innocent. And, that somehow the trial won't get the correct result that we are all seeking. (??????) Wait, it's a trial, which means that if there is a possibility that he is innocent he should be found not guilty. I mean that is how A-merry-can jurisprudence works, right?

But field, why should this guy be treated like any other ordinary criminal? He is a terrorist. We don't need a show trial to fire up the terrorist. This guy wants to die.

Because he is an alleged criminal and a murderer, and, if convicted, he will be put to death. Besides, if he wants to die [as some are suggesting] maybe he will confess to the whole thing and save us all the trouble of a trial.

"Mr. Holder said he would instruct prosecutors to seek death sentences for Mr. Mohammed and four accused Sept. 11 co-conspirators who would be tried alongside him."

Yep, I would say that if found guilty he would suffer the same fate he would if he was tried in a military court and found guilty. Unless, of course, the military has some other way of administering the death penalty that would make him even more dead.

"We should not be increasing the danger of another terrorist strike..."

So says republican Peter King of new York. And how exactly, Mr. King, is having a trial in new York going to do that? You mean as opposed to invading a country [that had nada to do with 911] and killing a bunch of Muslim women and children? Look, I know that my republican friends lost interest in verisimilitude a long time ago, but Mr. King, that is one hell of a reach.

Still, I get it, it's politics as usual. We always have to score cheap political points at any cost. Even at the expense of one of the tenets on which this country was built: The rule of law.

*Pic courtesy of the AP and lifted from The NY Times.

The persecution of Carrie Prejean.

People are always accusing us black folks (especially the field Negroes) of playing the victim card. But I have some news for you; no one plays the victim card more or better than conservatives. No one.

Tonight I am thinking about another example of conservative victim hood. This time it's my blond friend from California, Carrie Prejean, who has been making the rounds for truth freedom and the good book, lately.

Poor Carrie, it seems that she just can't buy a break. First her hopes of becoming Ms. U.S.A. ends up dashed because of an ugly question from some liberal blogger who set her up. "I felt as though Satan was trying to tempt me in asking me this question. And then God was in my head and in my heart saying, "Do not compromise this. You need to stand up for me and you need to share with all these people . . . you need to witness to them and you need to show that you're not willing to compromise that for this title of Miss USA."And I knew right here that it wasn't about winning. It was about being true to my convictions." That's how she described her experience to her brother in Christ, James Dobson. And, if you will recall, she got into some more problems with the pageant due to some nude photos. But she explained that away in typical conservative fashion by saying "the wind blew her dress open..."

And then, just when she is getting her life back together and spreading the word about freedom and love of God and country, another ugly little scandal comes out with allegations of...ahem...some rather racy self exploration on her part. (Carrie, if you think Larry King is a tough interview, you might want to get out of the spotlight.)

Field, she did 8 sex tapes and there are at least 30 nude photos of her. EIGHT? Oh my! I wonder if she told Dr. Dobson and her right wing friends that there were eight tapes?

But, Carrie is smart, when all else fails she did what any good conservative would do; she blamed the ugly left wing media. "There is this double standard that conservative women are fair game to be attacked and it's not right..."

Of course it's not Carrie, I feel you girl. Us victims have to stick together.

The Governor and the S word.

I would like to take this time to apologize to all my friends from Texas for this next post, but your governor is really getting on my nerves.

Finally, the man who wanted to take his state and secede from our great union is telling us why: It seems he thinks we are becoming a socialist country. Imagine that, A-merry-ca, Socialist.


Folks, I know a little bit about Socialism, and believe me,we are nowhere near there just yet.

Of course if you let Governor Hair tell it, any day now all good A-merry-cans will be rounded up by the Obama patrol and their land confiscated for government use. (Actually, there is a lot of land just sitting there in Texas, maybe we could put it to better use. ) He fired up a crowd in the heart of the loon star state by telling them that his O ness is "hell bent on taking America towards being a socialist country." (Given how the system of justice works in some of those Texas towns maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea if the feds did step in.) O man, I hope you don't have any trips planned for Texas anytime soon, because I am guessing that they won't exactly be rolling out the red carpet for you.

Do you see him Billy Joe? Yep I got him right dead in my sights. Well pull Billy Joe, pull. what are you waiting for? We will show that Muslim not to mess with Texas... Let me stop. I don't want to give my new found "tracist"(That's a troll and a racist) friends any ideas.

So we know that Governor Hair is somewhat of a crackpot, but why the sudden "hateration" for the Obama people? Well, it seems that Governor Hair thinks Obama is punishing Texas by dropping off illegal immigrants in one of his towns.

"The first part of Perry’s remarks focused on what’s called the Alien Transfer and Exit Program, something that he has been talking about for more than a week. Perry describes it as a plan where illegal immigrants who are captured in Arizona are sent to the small Texas town of Presidio and set free. It’s a sign that the Obama administration is trying to punish Texas, Perry said, adding that members of the state’s congressional delegation, as well as his office, weren’t given any warning of the administration’s plans for Presidio."

But not so fast. As is always the case with these wingnuts such as Governor Hair, he got his facts mixed up. Well, that is being kind. Let me try that again: He lied!

"But there’s more to the program than Perry described.
According to a story by the CBS affiliate in Odessa, the illegal immigrants are returned to Mexico via secured buses. The station also reported, “last year 4,500 illegals were sent back through Presidio. Now 94 will be bused across this bridge 7 days a week.”
In addition, Brandi Grissom of the Texas Tribune reported last month that Bill Brooks, spokesman for the Border Patrol Marfa Sector, where Presidio is located, said the plan would not create any burden on the local community"

Ahhh those inconvenient truths. I bet that's one thing Governor Hair hopes that the new Socialist government will do away with. We know that would work for him just fine.



Story here.

Bye for now Lou. We will see you again really soon.

Lou Dobbs finally got tired of the liberal weenies over at CNN and decided to take his mike and roll. (Have you seen Lou lately? I am guessing that he literally rolled out of the CNN offices.)

Yep, it seems that he is going to be working with the folks over at Telemundo.....OK, sorry my Hispanic friends, that was a lame attempt at a joke, but the guy really is leaving CNN.

Now, apparently, Lou is weighing his options. fox news I wonder where he will end up? fox news It must be really hard for him fox news with all these options out here. fox news But I am sure somebody will pay him fox news to go on the air and make a fool of himself fox news and a mockery of the truth.

I guess now that we are in the age of niche news, (I think they call it "advocacy journalism" these days) if you are a cable news personality you go where your ideological soul mates are. fox news I just hope that wherever Lou goes he will try to take the truth with him this time. Because he sure didn't like it very much when he was at CNN. Whoever takes Lou fox news will have to be able to work with an on air personality who doesn't mind stretching the truth a little bit fox news.

"CNN President Jon Klein in a statement hailed Dobbs' "appetite for big ideas, the megawatt smile and larger than life presence he brought to our newsroom."
"With characteristic forthrightness, Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere," Klein said. "We respect his decision."'

Wait, did he say that he has an "appetite for big ideas"? That was a Freudian Slip, right?

No, but seriously, it should be interesting to see where Dobbs ends up fox news. I am sure that his ego -not to mention his twisted view of the world that he wants to share- won't allow him to be off the television for very long.

Lou, we can't wait to have you back.

In Sarah We Trust.

As I sit here typing the words to this post, my hands are actually trembling at the thought that Sarah Palin could have been a heart beat away from leading this great nation.

Sarah Palin, at a recent speech, declared in no uncertain terms that there might be a coin conspiracy afoot led by none other than the bi-racial man in the oval office. See folks, Sarah believes that the words "In God We Trust" has been removed from the top of the new dollar coins to the edge for a reason. It's that damn Muslim president of ours and his "new world order" friends. (They should have been shopping for straight jackets instead of dresses for her during the campaign)

"Noting that there had been a lot of “change” of late, Palin recalled a recent conversation with a friend about how the phrase “In God We Trust” had been moved to the edge of the new coins....“Who calls a shot like that?” she demanded. “Who makes a decision like that?”
She added: “It’s a disturbing trend.”'

Actually Sarah, it was the republicans who called that "shot" back in 2005. But hey, those are just facts, why let them spoil a good political rant.

Now this story, in my opinion, has not been getting as much traction as it should. Maybe it's because most of us A-merry-cans are embarrassed that we almost elected the woman. And maybe it's because a major political party still has pie on their very red faces because they put her on their ticket. But this bad boy should have led the evening news and instead it's relegated to bloggers and the left wing media.

Sarah, I don't know who you have been hanging with, but you might want to consider getting some new friends. The "black helicopter crowd" is not going to cut it if you want the rest of us to start taking you say seriously.

No wonder your peeps didn't want cameras or tape recorders at your latest speech (h/t Politico) I guess they know you much more than we do.

Which begs the question: If Sarah Palin does run for president again, who exactly will vote for her knowing what they know now? That was a rhetorical question, because I already know the answer: The same folks who voted for her the last time. Every dumb comment she makes only hardens their support for her.

"It's the liberal media, they can't stand her because she is a threat to them. She is not one of those East Coast elites. She is one of us."

And you can have her. You deserve each other.

A strikeout for Sammy.

I know that steroids can have an adverse effect on the body, but I sure as hell didn't know that it can mess with your brain as well.

When I first heard about Sammy Sosa going all Clorox on his skin, I have to admit that I though it was a joke. -Too many leaps into the Wrigley Field Ivy. Too much time in the Dominican son- But then I saw the pictures and,well, yeah Sammy pretty much went and did his best MJ imitation.

Field, you are a hypocrite, why didn't you rip Michael Jackson? Didn't he do the very same thing? I bet you were one of the people defending him and saying that he has vitiligo. Why aren't you willing to give Sammy the benefit of the doubt? I hear that steroid use can cause vitiligo. There might be an explanation for all of this.

Sorry, that might be true, but I am not giving Sammy the benefit of the doubt. I was never a Cubs fan. And I sure as hell never liked his little coon dance as he jigged his way to smashing home run records with his partner in steroid crimes, Mark McGuire. Michael got a pass because he was, well, Michael. Sammy never moon- walked around the base path and couldn't sing two bars of Ben or Human Nature if his life depended on it. So, unlike Michael, he gets no love from the Field.

"The Chicago Tribune speaks with Rebecca Polihronis, an acquaintance of Sosa, who claims that that "he is going through a rejuvenation process for his skin."

"Rejuvenation process"? Look, if he really does have vitiligo, I am sorry and I hope he gets the treatment that he needs. But if, on the other hand, he just has a case of the I wish I was white disease, he needs to get his [used to be] black ass in the house before he starts tanning up again.

Come along little children, let's play slave.

Where is Wazhaw, North Carolina and why is the local NAACP at odds with a local historian?

Well, it seems that the man who is also a tour guide at a local plantation, had the black students of an area elementary school pretend to be slaves while their white classmates looked on. Now, understandably, the parents of that school -I would imagine both black and white- are protesting the man's actions.

Field, this is an outrage! It's just like "the man" to do things like this to belittle and degrade our children.

Well, not exactly..... It seems that the tour guide/ historian in question is black, and he said that he had his reasons for doing what he did.

"I am very enthusiastic about getting kids to think about how people did things in 1860, 1861 -- even before that period," said Campbell, who added he has been a historian for 15 years.
"I was trying to be historically correct not politically correct,"

Yes, but Mr. Tourguide we are talking about elementary school aged children here. Your little show and tell is a bit much for them to handle don't you think? I am guessing that it might have been a bit much for their white class-mates as well.

"Kojo Nantambu, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, criticized the lesson.
"There is a lingering pain, a lingering bitterness, a lingering insecurity and a lingering sense of inhumanity since slavery. Because that's still there, you want to be more sensitive than politically correct or historically correct," he said."

Mr. Tourguide, you better kiss and make nice with the local NAACP, or Rev. Inc. will be in the Tar Heel state before you know it. Altough you might luck out, because you happen to have the right skin tone. I think Rev. Inc. just might leave you alone. I am just hoping that the parents of the kids involved, don't.

[Story here]

I want it too, but......

I see his O ness was doing his best James Brown imitation today as he said "please, please, please" to dumbocratic members of congress while asking them to vote for this historic health care reform bill. Now, I must admit, I am no wonk when it comes to these things. I hate reading voluminous documents, -I am a trial lawyer, not a corporate one- and I sure as hell hate the byzantine way in which folks in Washington legislate. What I do know is that I want this health care reform bill to pass, because I have a fundamental belief in every citizen having the right to have affordable health care. And I really do believe that insurance companies care more about profit margins than they do people. And, unlike what conservatives and their minions would have you believe, I believe that more government is actually a good thing. I elected them, they use my money to do things, and they provide services that I would rather not do without.

Now, having said all of that, someone sent me an e-mail today that has me a little troubled. I am blogging about it because I am hoping that some of you folks -who might have actually read all of the bill- who are smart enough to have the goods on how things really work in Washington, can help me to understand the following:

"Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

In response to the JCT letter, Camp said: “This is the ultimate example of the Democrats’ command-and-control style of governing – buy what we tell you or go to jail. It is outrageous and it should be stopped immediately.”

Key excerpts from the JCT letter appear below:
“H.R. 3962 provides that an individual (or a husband and wife in the case of a joint return) who does not, at any time during the taxable year, maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for himself or herself and each of his or her qualifying children is subject to an additional tax.” [page 1] - - - - - - - - - -
“If the government determines that the taxpayer’s unpaid tax liability results from willful behavior, the following penalties could apply…” [page 2] - - - - - - - - - -
“Criminal penalties Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses. Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual: • Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.
• Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.” [page 3]

When confronted with this same issue during its consideration of a similar individual mandate tax, the Senate Finance Committee worked on a bipartisan basis to include language in its bill that shielded Americans from civil and criminal penalties. The Pelosi bill, however, contains no similar language protecting American citizens from civil and criminal tax penalties that could include a $250,000 fine and five years in jail.

“The Senate Finance Committee had the good sense to eliminate the extreme penalty of incarceration. Speaker Pelosi’s decision to leave in the jail time provision is a threat to every family who cannot afford the $15,000 premium her plan creates"

Now I know that the rethugs are getting desperate, and that they are going to spin this thing in a way most unfavorable to Pelosi and company. But if it is a fact that this provision is in Pelosi's bill, and this portion of the bill is not amended in the Senate, it would be very troubling for the kid. "$250,000 in fines and five years in prison is a bit much. I love the government except when they are being draconian on everyday people. Fines? Maybe. Prison? No.

Get at me folks and let me know what you think of this.

I know what I think, but then again I am not as smart as some of you when it comes to this stuff.

*h/t Hugh O.

Throw away the key!

I have been wanting to post about this story for awhile now. I am talking about the one from Cleveland where Anthony Sowell is doing his part to give black folks equal billing even when it comes to serial killers.

But sorry Anthony, you are not exactly a trail blazer, we have had others like you before. What you are is a monster, one who should have been locked away from the rest of society a long time ago.

No need to go over this story again; we all know the dreadful and unspeakable details by now:

Eleven women murdered; rotting and decaying bodies found in a portion of his home; a rape and strangulation of a pregnant woman many years ago; and officials from an entire city who dropped the ball.

The neighbors complained about the stench coming from his home. So why didn't his probation officers notice the stench inside his damn house when they went to check on him? And, if they did notice, did they think that shit was normal? ( Ahh Anthony, what's that smell bro? Oh that, it's nothing, just some leftovers on the stove. ) WTF?

And when families reported -1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-(!) loved ones missing to the authorities, did they think they were just making shit up? I mean after five women wouldn't trained law enforcement officials start to notice a pattern? Yep, I would say five missing women from the same neighborhood is a pattern.

"Now, the families of some women who have been reported missing in Sowell's neighborhood are coming forward. One of them, Kyana Hunt, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that her mother, 43-year-old Nancy Cobbs, lived one block from Sowell and has been missing for seven months. "She always comes home. It's not just like her to disappear," Hunt said."

Well at least now Anthony Sowell will finally disappear from the rest of society, unfortunately for eleven women and counting, it's way too late.