If it bleeds it leads?

People always get pissed at me because they think I am a "racialist". (I still can't believe that's a word) Field, they say, why do you always blog about racial shit? Why is it that you always see race or class in everything? Why can't you just blog about stuff like music and sports like other folks? Well, to be honest, I would love to. I love sports and music, and it would be easy for me to talk about that stuff all the time. But I can't. Not when I hear about stories like the one I am about to write about out in Los Angeles. A story that has me seriously upset tonight, and that was so far below the national radar, that I bet most of you reading this post are hearing about it for the first time.

So here is the story: Out in Los Angeles a serial killer has killed at least 11 (that we know of) poor black women since 1985. And as I write this post the killer is still on the loose, and has probably killed as recently as 2007, again. This serial killer even has a name: "The Grim Sleeper".

Now I ask you, do you think if there was a serial killer on the loose in Belair or Malibu the LAPD would not have caught him or her by now? Of course they would have. But these women are poor, some were in the wrong profession, and they have the wrong skin color. So, as a result, it doesn't lead the evening news, and LA's finest isn't being kicked in the butt to solve the case. Did anybody ever have any doubt that Caylee Anthony would be found? And if she was found dead, that her killer would be caught? And I hope things work out for poor little Haleigh Cummings, but did her story have to lead the national news casts for three straight nights? And just as outrageous is the fact that the L.A.P.D. has failed to notify the very community that this animal is terrorizing.

I wouldn't have to blog about these murders in Los Angeles if rich white women were being killed, or if we were talking about-- god forbid-- pets. It would be all over the news cycle, and I am sure that there would be quite a lot of other people blogging about it as well.

But not this story. It's not sexy enough, and the victims are not people we can relate to. So, as a result, it remained stuck in the L.A.P.D. cold case files, and that's too bad, because these victims were human beings. They had families and people who loved and cared about them. Unfortunately their families didn't have influence or power, and the community that is at risk doesn't have any clout in city hall.

Now I hear that there is a $500,000 reward to help capture the killer, and that there are detectives assigned exclusively to the case. Well that's all well and good, but what the hell took them so long?

"Stand by your man".

Where is Tammy Wynette when you need her?

Obamaholics please pass on this post. I get sick and tired of reading your e-mails and your comments whenever I am critical of your boy, and I am afraid this is going to be one of those times.

So anywhooo, it seems the O man dissed his AG for his A-merry-cans are cowards when it comes to race comments. Yep, while talking to the New York Times the O man found it necessary to chastise his top lawyer.


“I think it’s fair to say that if I had been advising my attorney general, we would have used different language,”


Why? Because he offended some conservatives and sensitive white folks? Come on O man, don't buy into what the drive by media is selling. You knew the full context of his speech and you know that what he said was dead on. So why the apology? Look, I can understand you not commenting on the subject and choosing not to weigh in on the controversy. You are, after all, the president of all the people, we get that. But why not just say no comment? Leave it alone, that news cycle is way behind us. I don't care if the NYT asked you a direct question, the proper answer would have been we have moved on, and I don't want to comment on that any further. I am quite sure that the reporter would not have pressed you. We are talking about the New York Times here, not the Post.

I have been letting his O ness slide with a lot, because unlike Rush and the repubs, I want him to succeed. I let him slide when he announced more faith based programs. I let him slide when he kept the frat boy's cuts on funding for stem cell research. I let him slide when he broke his promise and allowed lobbyist in his administration. I let him slide when he pushed back the timeline to withdraw from Iraq, and escalated in Afghanistan. I let him slide when he announced that he was not pursuing criminal prosecutions for those people who tortured captives. I let him slide when he didn't put an end to the frat boy's rendition program. And finally, I let him slide even after he refused to place windfall profit taxes on Big Oil. See, there is a lot I let him slide with, but I can't let him slide with dissing his AG. Not when the man was telling the truth.

“I’m not somebody who believes that constantly talking about race somehow solves racial tensions,.....I think what solves racial tensions is fixing the economy, putting people to work, making sure that people have health care, ensuring that every kid is learning out there. I think if we do that, then we’ll probably have more fruitful conversations.”


Okay O man, I get it: we will all still be racist, but there won't be any "racial tensions". As long as we have food, shelter, and health care, we all can be content racist. Now that, my friends, is the A-merry-can way.

Here we go again

another case of a man killing those who were supposed to be close to him. The most recent in a growing list of heinous acts took place in Cleveland Ohio, today. (What the hell is wrong with you folks in the Buckeye state?) This animal killed his wife and four other people, --by all accounts three of them children-- and no one knows why. Now I ask you, what would lead someone to do such a despicable thing?

"It's probably one of the worst multiple shootings that I've seen in a long time," said Police Chief Michael McGrath. "I've seen a lot of previous ones, but this ranks right up there at the top."

Most of you who read this blog know that I am not religious, but I swear that there must be some new kind of evil taking hold of us. I know times are hard and the economy is in the tank, but black folks are used to dealing with hard times. Our unemployment rate of 8.1% has A-merry-cans freaking out, but that shit is the norm for us black folks. In fact, in our best year black folks didn't have those kinds of unemployment numbers. (Thanks David) So when I see Negroes freaking out like this one in Ohio, and the one out in California awhile back, I really have to wonder what the hell is going on.

What would cause a man to kill three children? Children! When did our people start killing children? Seriously, let's talk for a minute: We know that black men can do some vile inhumane shit to each other, but we have never been known to kill our young. Even the most depraved and wicked among us had some sense of honor when it came to our children. That shit is not true anymore. Now we are killing our children; our wives; our loved ones; and, yes, even ourselves. (I found this out after I started blogging this story. The animal in Ohio shot himself after being cornered by police) When brothers start taking out themselves you know that things are pretty fucked up. That is as sure a sign that the apocalypse is upon us as you will ever see.

"As they confronted him, he shot himself."

Of course he did, cowards always do.

Earth to wingnuts, earth to wingnuts.

And now I bring you this cut and paste job from my wingnuts watch.

The following piece of drivel is brought to you courtesy of your friends on the right. It seems that they have pretty much run out of things to rip the chosen one for just a little over two months into his presidency.

"Posted by Shawn MallowPublished: March 5, 2009 - 7:30 PM
Camelot it's not.
Upon heads of state meeting for the first time in official capacity, it is customary to exchange gifts as tokens of friendship between the countries involved.

Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of Great Britain seemed to get the sincerity and solemnity of the occasion.

Mr. Brown gave Obama an ornamental pen holder constructed from the timbers of the anti-slavery ship HMS Gannet, once also named HMS President.
He also gave a framed commission for the HMS Resolute. The desk in the Oval Office is itself made from the timbers of the HMS Resolute. The Resolute has symbolic history between the two countries.

Lastly, Mr. Brown gave Obama a first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Winston Churchill, written by Sir Martin Gilbert.
The thoughtfulness and symbolism of these tokens of friendship given by our most treasured ally cannot be understated.

Of course, President Obama would have to reciprocate with something uniquely special to underscore our uniquely special bond to Great Britain, no?
Apparently not.

President Obama's well thought out gesture was a 25 DVD set of classic American films.
Go ahead.. Read that again.

Obama gave the Prime Minister of England something which probably could be purchased from Amazon.com, or found at a flea market.
Now just imagine if George Bush had done this."

Which begs the question: what should his O ness have given the British Prime Minister as a token of good will? If I was his O ness I would have given the guy a Coltrane Box set, and an autographed first edition copy of "The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou." But that's just me. Still, I can't find anything wrong with a 25 DVD set of classic American films. What the hell were these clowns looking for? I mean are these churlish losers on the right (not to mention some of the folks across the pond) actually sweating this gift thing? I guess that's how the repubs roll. They are used to getting real expensive gifts from their foreign friends, and they don't want his O ness to mess that up.

"Now just imagine if George Bush had done this".

Trust me Shawn, we were so busy trying to keep track of all the frat boy's screw ups that we wouldn't even have noticed.

The Tavisted Tenth.

How do I get on the Tavis Smiley mailing list? Sorry Tavis, I missed the "State Of The Black Union" conference again. Damn it! I hear it was out in L.A. this year. Nice. And I hear you had some pretty heavy hitters in the house. Black dignitaries and talking heads getting together to discuss the future of our race and where we stand in A-merry-ca. You can't get any better than that. There was Michael, Cornel, Maxine, Al, and Marc, (still no Obama, but hang in there Tavis, maybe one day) and of course they all had something to say....and say....and say...

Blogger, Faye Anderson, makes good point. Why is Wells Fargo, (one of the banks responsible for the housing collapse) the primary sponsor? Still, I have to give it to my man Tavis, he sure knows how to get those corporate sponsors. I wonder if he could cancel the "State Of The Black Union" get together one year and just ask all those sponsors to donate that money to a black scholarship fund or something? I mean I like to hear Dr. Dyson and Dr. West yap away sometimes too, but I would much rather listen to some poor kid tell me how his first semester of college was paid with money from one of the sponsors thanks to Tavis. Michael (M-Diddy) Steele was there. In between licking Rush's boots Michael has been doing the black tour thing lately. And what better place to see black folks than at the "State Of The Black Union Conference." Michael and Tavis together. What more could black folks ask for? Any day now all of our problems will be solved.

Finally, I hear that Tavis had a segment for bloggers this year. That's not like Tavis. Tavis does not like us bloggers very much. And to be honest, if you judge from this post, the feelings are mutual. But I am not mad at him. Tavis is on to the power of the Internet. He saw it work for the O man, and he wants to tap into some of that magic for himself.

Oh, and one more thing: I need some help with this. (I am serious) Do we have to go to the "State of The Black Union Conference" to be able to sign on to the "Covenant with Black America"? I have been looking for that damn covenant to sign my name to it and I can't find it anywhere. I am so frustrated. I am almost as frustrated as the poor guy who left the following comments on AOL Black Voices:

"State of the Black Union" shows that tremendious [sic]amount of research was done, every year he has the same presenters and they repeat what they said the year. Knowing what the problem is not Blacks problem, we know that black males have a high percentage of school dropout, in jail, unwed fathers and on and on and on.What have the State of the Black Union done to eliminate these problems. You have great panelists but all we get is "retoric" [sic].You did not do anything to get Obama elected, why should he bend over backward to deal with you, you are a black journalist and not considered a black leader. A high percentage of Blacks don't think your forum is necessary. Dr. West and Atty. Ogletree are the only one that discuss issures[sic] with substance.Write a book of your conclusion and make another million." ~Ernie Oglesby~

Ernie, I bet you aren't on the mailing list either.

"Got Milk?"

As Whitney used to tell Bobby: "Ahhh hell to the no!" I swear my cousin done went and did it this time. Will somebody reading this please tell me that this Negro was not breast feeding her baby while driving her minivan. Please tell me it ain't so. And this is how dumb I am: When I first heard this story I thought to myself; damn that woman must have some big ass breasts. Because I could not even fathom the fact that this ignorant Negro would be feeding and driving.

Field, not only was she breast feeding the two year old with the back of its head resting directly on where the air bag would deploy, but she was also talking on the cell phone.

Sometimes I swear you Negroes embarrass the hell out of me. Just the other day I saw a car full of crumb snatchers (the oldest couldn't have been more than five) piled into a hooptie and hauling ass down I-95 here in Philly. I swear I wanted to call 911 and report the license plate. [Mrs. Field blocked me on that one] That is a serious pet peeve of mine; seeing children in cars without child seats. If you can't afford a damn child seat to put in your car you shouldn't have any.

So anyway, back to this backwards ass woman in Ohio. So after the po po pulled her card she had the nerve to get indignant about the shit. As if she wasn't doing anything wrong. "When my baby wants to eat, she wants to eat," Huh? Negro did you ever consider pulling over?

Genine, I know your child has to eat, but we also want the child to live, which is why child services should have taken that little snatcher from you, immediately.

Now the kicker is that girlfriend doesn't think she deserves the ticket because the po po didn't actually see her doing it. Apparently another motorist saw her and called 911.

"I'm following right behind her right now on Far Hills Avenue," the caller said as he spoke to a Kettering dispatcher in a recording of his non-emergency call that was released by police on Friday, Feb. 27... I tried to say something to her. She literally has the little girl on the steering wheel and I said, 'I can't believe you have that kid in your lap...."

Yeah yeah, I know white folks can be nosey, but damn it this time "Bob" is right. I would have done the same damn thing.

"'You want to pop your titty out and breastfeed this kid?' That's what she said to me."

I need a drink.

You Negroes can be so ungrateful.

I guess sometimes even "strange bedfellows" can break up. Poor Michael (M-Diddy) Steele, the new "hip" RNC leader. M-Diddy is trying to reach out to a hipper audience and attract more black folks to his cause, so he found himself on the D.L. Hughley Show Saturday night. (What better way is there to spend a Saturday night than with a "hip" black man?)

But what poor M-Diddy didn't realize was that his republican peeps were watching, and the big Kahuna himself was not too pleased that M-Diddy tried t throw the new leader of the party under the bus. (Wait, there is no way Rush would fit under a bus. Ahem, throw him under the train...no, that wouldn't work either. Throw him under large earth moving vehicle maybe?) Michael, you just can't play both ends anymore, not in this media age. Big brother is always watching you jig.

"My parents taught me when I was growing up that you always stood behind people who defended you, you never abandoned people who stood up for you and who defended you against assault. Michael Steele was a candidate for the Senate in Maryland. Michael Steele was on this program, he got airtime on this program to attempt to refute the lies being told about him by Michael J. Fox in those famous ads way back when that were also run against Jim Talent in Missouri. I personally took time to defend Michael Steele and to rip the substance of those ads, had him on the show..."

See what you did M-Diddy? You done pissed off your benefactor. He helped you raise money, had you on his show, and defended you when you needed defending. You are such an ungrateful Negro. Instead of thanking massa Rush you are out disparaging him on one of dem colored shows.

HUGHLEY: Rush Limbaugh, who is the de facto leader of the Republican Party --STEELE: No, he's not.HUGHLEY: Well, I'll tell you what, I've never --STEELE: I'm the de facto leader of the Republican Party.HUGHLEY: Then you know what? Then I can appreciate that, but no -- no one will -- will actually pry down some of the things he says, like when he comes out and says that he wants the president to fail, I understand he wants liberalism to fail.STEELE: How is that any different than what was said about George Bush during his presidency? Let's put it into context here. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh, the whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it's incendiary, yes, it's ugly --

Tell em M-Diddy, you are the HNIC, not Rush. Why is it so hard for A-merry-ca to understand that? Well, I will give you a hint M-Diddy; it's because house Negroes don't all of a sudden wake up one day and own the house. And when massa plucks them from the fields cleans them up, and gives them all the comforts of living in the house they are not supposed to forget that, or give him their butts to kiss. That's a job for us field Negroes. See we can tell Rush to kiss our black asses, because he never did shit for us. You, on the other hand, owe him so much. And guess what M-Diddy, he will never let you forget it.

This lady, to the GOP, is a tramp.

Never in the history of mankind has one lady done so much damage to a political party. The lady in this particular instance is Katrina, and she is still hurting the republican party. Her most recent victim was one Bobby Jindal, the governor of the great state of Louisiana. It seems Jindal stretched the truth a little when he gave the republican response to his O ness Tuesday night. Bobby bragged about being in the middle of the action during the big storm, and standing shoulder to shoulder with Sheriff Harry Lee while the action went down.

Well, not so fast. It turns out that Bobby, like a certain frat boy, was not exactly in the heat of the action when things were going down, and his recollection of that day was a little shaky at best. And talk about irony. The man and the party who perpetrated a fraud on the A-merry-can people and had us believing that they were competent and efficient were exposed while in office by Katrina. And the man who would be the parties standard bearer in 2012, was exposed as a liar thanks to the big storm as well.

Thanks to Katrina A-merry-ca saw the real George Bush. They saw a man whose presidency was guided by having political control and power, and whose decisions were made for political expediency. Flying over New Orleans and looking down from Air Force One might have made for a nice White House picture, but it exposed a side of the "compassionate conservative" that most A-merry-cans did not know existed. He came across as aloof and out of touch. Just like the party he was leading. The repubs have never recovered from that. The vast majority of independents and middle of the road voters started leaning blue and never leaned back. Now they are left with the likes of Rush to give them marching orders and be the face of their cause. (And what a face! Did you see him in that black outfit yesterday at the conservative [CPAC]convention? He was the rock star, the one they came to see and he didn't disappoint with the red meat. Rush said FOX did a broadcast of the entire thing so it was his first ever "address to the nation") And somewhere in California the gipper is turning in his grave.

Look before you leap.

When a regular reader to the fields sent me an e-mail about the Barnes & Noble Book Store in Florida placing a book about monkeys with the Obama book display, I was fit to be tied. I couldn't wait to jump all over the Barnes & Noble folks. But something told me to chill and learn some more about the situation before I got on the grievance train.

Well I am happy to report that I did. Because as it turns out Barnes & Noble has apologized for what happened, and they swear up and down that they had nothing to do with it. Apparently the hard economic times are getting to those citizens down in Florida. They have to take out their angst on somebody, and right now it looks like the guy in power who they think is closer to the monkey in the evolutionary chain.

Now some bloggers still don't believe that Barnes & Noble weren't aware of the display, and they are still pissed at the large bookstore chain. I am not going to go that route, because I know how our fellow A-merry-cans can be. We can be hard on each other sometimes, and it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to see some customer going over to the display and doing a quick makeover.

But still, this is A-merry-ca, and a part of me wants to agree with the blogger, "Mr. Grey Ghost", when he posted this:

"'This was not a company driven decision," Edgar Chang, the store manager, said in an interview with TheDefendersOnline. “We are not sure how the book got in the window, but we believe it was put there by a customer who didn’t like the fact that Obama won the election.'

I'm not buying this apology. How does a customer get the time to place a book in a store window? Much less, how does the monkey book stay there long enough for people walking on the street to take photos? This sounds like the work of a bigot store employee. This Barnes & Noble store needs to conduct a thorough investigation of its workers, because so far their excuse sounds pretty lame. "

Hmmm, okay, I will buy the fact that it could have been an employee. And it shouldn't be hard to find the culprit. Just watch for the one driving out with the McCain/Palin bumper sticker on the back of their ride.

What's in a name?

Shame on IU. I have never liked that school. (Maybe it's a Bob Knight thing) And I really don't like them after reading the following article:

"BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The chairman of an Indiana University committee says the panel will recommend adding a black basketball player’s name to a gymnasium named after a longtime trustee who advocated racial segregation in the 1940s.

The committee will recommend renaming the Ora Wildermuth Intramural Center the William L. Garrett/Ora L. Wildermuth Fieldhouse, IU vice president Terry Clapacs told the Indiana Daily Student.

Garrett, who died in 1974, was the first black basketball player at IU.University President Michael McRobbie will take the recommendation to the trustees during a facilities committee meeting on Nov. 19, Clapacs said.Clapacs said the panel opted against removing Wildermuth’s name because it would be unfair to judge what he said decades ago by today’s standards.Letters written by Wildermuth in the 1940s came to light last year. He was the school’s Board of Trustees president during 1938-49. He died in 1964, and the Wildermuth Intramural Center was named for him in 1971.Wildermuth was a teacher, librarian and judge during Gary’s first years as a city in the early 1900s. A Gary library branch has been named for him since 1954.Wildermuth wrote in a 1945 letter to an IU administrator that while he had no objections to giving blacks educational opportunities, “I am and shall always remain absolutely and utterly opposed to social intermingling of the colored race with the white.”In a 1948 letter to IU President Herman B Wells, he wrote: “The average of the (black) race as to intelligence, economic status and industry is so far below the white average that it seems to me futile to build up hope for a great future.”

The letters came to public attention in a 2006 book about Garrett, who became the first black to play basketball for IU after being named the 1947 Mr. Basketball from Shelbyville High School."

So the folks at IU didn't know about this racist before? And now they want to appease you Negroes by adding Garrett's name to the building. Well I am with Mr. Garrett's wife, Betty, who told them what they can do with their building. That's field Negro behavior, Betty.

And finally, I want to once again encourage you black folks to choose your battles carefully in our new post racial A-merry-ca. Do not get bent out of shape if a mountain has the name Negro on it. It's just not that deep. If liberal white folks want to change a name to make themselves feel better, let them go at it. At some point we have to just chill and focus on the shit that really matters. Like watermelon jokes from Mayors, for instance.

Spare the rod......

Tonight I am blogging about two stories which are worlds apart in geography and what actually happened, but they are connected and similar in many ways.

I will start with poor Alma Harding of Devon, England, all she did was lay a royal smack down with a church program on some punk who was vandalising city and church property. The lady, as the story goes, had spent countless hours of her time and her own money to spruce up the area in question with flowers and hanging baskets, and these little punks saw fit to play target practice with soccer balls on it. The woman was returning home from church and she must have remembered that if she "spared the rod she would spoil the child". So she let the little punks have it with the church program. And for this the poor woman was charged and convicted of assaulting the little thugs.

Now my next story takes place right here in Killadelphia, Pistolvania, and of course it involves an incident far more tragic. In the middle of the day on a West Killadelphia street, a 16 year old boy walked up to a 12 year old boy while he was sitting in his mother's car and pumped 5 rounds into the child. This happened right across the street from a day care while people (including the victims own mother who was picking up his 3 year old sister) were picking up their children. This little thug was brazen and heartless, and he is typical of the urban predators that we are spawning here on our mean streets. If you thought Philly was known for only having the best cheese steaks you would be wrong. Nope, Philly is known for having the most violent juveniles in the country, and the stories you hear everyday around here justifies the label.

"...Police said the victim was sitting in the front passenger seat of his mother’s car, while she picked up his sister, when an unknown shooter walked up and fired five rounds into the vehicle about 3:30, police said. The youth was struck in the left hand and chest. Moments later, his mother ran after the gunman, who tucked the gun in his waistband, and fled on 60th Street, police said. She lost track of him about a block away, and ran inside a daycare center for help. “The bloodcurdling screams of the mother...I will never forget it,” said Monica Mason, who was inside the center when she heard the gunshots and screams.."

Yes folks this is how we are living here in Killadelphia. (Digression alert!) So field how are these two stories connected? I will tell you how: The little animal that shot the young man is still on the run, and any day now you will hear his mama and all his peeps tell you what a good kid he was. You will hear how he used to help old ladies across the street, and how he was just a neighborhood kid who used to just hang out and play basketball blah blah blah. But what you won't hear is that when he was running wild in that neighborhood if anyone dared to grab his little ass and try to tell him right from wrong his mama would be the first one in line to slap a law suit on them or call the po po and scream child abuse. Like the little punks in England, these punks in Philly are out of control, and there is no one like that good church lady to let them have it with a rolled up church program, or anything else for that matter.

So that's how these two stories are connected; little punks running wild and instead of society putting their asses in check, we are charging church ladies in England with assault. I don't know about society in general, but I know that in the black community we need to just declare open season on ass whopping little juvenile delinquents. And that means anybody can whop anybody else's child. If the little crumb snatcher is acting up, you lay a good old fashion beat down on his ass. We will trust your judgement no questions asked. Pookey, why was that strange man beating you with his belt? He caught me tagging Ms. Chen's store mama. Well turn your little ass over so that I can tear it up again.