Dr. Ben's remedy.

"I want to plant in people's minds what to do in a situation like this. Because unfortunately this is probably not going to be the last time this happens," he told CBS. Earlier, Carson had said that if he had been present at the Oregon attack, he would "not just stand there and let him shoot me. I would say, 'Hey guys, everybody attack him. He may shoot me, but he can't get us all.'"

????????

No words.

Anyway, keep in mind that this man is polling number two in the republican primary race for president.

Still, apparently Dr.Ben feels that he can speak this way about this issue because he has had his own personal experience to call on.

"Carson also told to SiriusXM radio host Karen Hunter on Wednesday that he was once held at gunpoint at a Popeye's fried chicken fast food restaurant in Baltimore. But his approach was nothing like the one he advocated.

"Guy comes in, puts the gun in my ribs. And I just said, "I believe that you want the guy behind the counter,'" Carson recounted in his usual, laid-back tone. "He said, 'Oh, okay,' and moved on."

First of all Dr. Ben, what the hell are you doing at Popeye's? As a physician,you,of all people,  should know that fried foods are not good for you.

Honestly, the guy holding the gun on Dr. Ben probably fell asleep when the good doctor started talking. When he (the robber) said, "Oh okay",  he was just waking up.

Serious question: Why can't the republican party recruit a serious African American candidate to represent them on the national stage? (Colin Powell where are you?) First Herman Cain and now this guy. It's embarrassing.

Finally, speaking of republican presidential candidates. Now that you can get around South Carolina easier in a boat than you can a car, their senior senator is asking for federal aid.

It's funny how that works. You should never turn your back on others because one day you might be in the same boat. (No pun intended.)

Lindsey Graham thought that it was cool to play politics and vote against Sandy storm relief  for the people in New Jersey. Now his decision is coming back to haunt him, and he swears that he doesn't remember ever voting against getting the people of New Jersey federal funds.

Lindsey, maybe this will help refresh your memory:

"South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is seeking federal aid after his home state was ravaged by deadly floods amid historic rainfall triggered by Hurricane Joaquin.

“Let’s just get through this thing,” Graham said in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room” Monday. “And whatever it costs, it costs.”

But in 2013, Graham was among 36 Senate Republicans who voted against giving similar aid to New Jersey in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. (The bill passed in a 62 to 36 vote.)

Graham told Blitzer he didn’t remember opposing the $50.5 billion Sandy relief bill.

“I’m all for helping the people in New Jersey. I don’t really remember me voting that way,” Graham said. “I don’t really recall that, but I’d be glad to look and tell you why I did vote no, if I did.”

Graham wasn’t the only 2016 presidential candidate to oppose Sandy relief. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also voted against the package.

“Hurricane Sandy inflicted devastating damage on the East Coast, and Congress appropriately responded with hurricane relief. Unfortunately, cynical politicians in Washington could not resist loading up this relief bill with billions in new spending utterly unrelated to Sandy,” Cruz told the Houston Chronicle at the time. “This bill is symptomatic of a larger problem in Washington — an addiction to spending money we do not have. The United States Senate should not be in the business of exploiting victims of natural disasters.” [Source]

And check out the words of Ted Cruz quoted above.

Well, as it turns out, he has a problem as well.

"But as floodwaters raged in Texas earlier this year, Cruz praised the federal support his state was receiving.

“We’re seeing cooperation from state government, the local government and the federal government all standing together at a time of great challenge,” Cruz said".

On second thought, I think that Dr. Ben will do just fine in the republican primary. 

*Pic from blackenterprise.com

   

Dropping dem g's.

You all know by now that I can chase the big R with the best of em. But not everything calls for a racism alert. Take for instance this latest story concerning his O ness:

The Associated Press’s report on President Barack’s Obama’s Saturday speech to the Congressional Black Caucus drew scrutiny from a prominent journalist for foregoing journalistic practices that normally dictate that quotes should be cleaned up by writers and editors.

“Shake it off. Stop complainin'. Stop grumblin'. Stop cryin'. We are going to press on. We have work to do,” AP’s Mark Smith quoted the president as saying to the CBC.

MSNBC’s “Up w/ Chris Hayes” dove into the issue Sunday, and journalist and MSNBC contributor Karen Hunter took issue with the literal transcription used, rather than ironing out the president’s slangy pronunciations.

“I think it’s inherently racist to do something like that,” Hunter said, to the protests of New Republic writer John McWhorter, who argued the AP report was more accurate than other outlets that cleaned the quotes up.
To that Hunter said, “for them to do that in a publication, you know what it is … I teach a journalism class and I tell my students to fix people’s grammar because you don’t want them to sound ignorant.”

Smith said he normally cleans up quotes but in this case thought the president made a point of “dropping Gs.” He told Mediaite “I believe I was respecting his intent in this.”

A standards and production editor told Yahoo! that though the AP Stylebook cautions against using spellings that depict informal pronunciations, in the CBC story the reporter (Smith) thought it “appropriate to convey a particular touch that President Obama appeared to be intentionally making use of.

The headlines for the AP story differed depending on which publication was using the story, it seems some editors were aware of the brewing controversy. The Washington Times cleaned up the quote and went with “Obama to blacks: ‘Stop complaining’ and fight,” though the story still contained the dropped g’s. The Huffington Post chose Smith’s phrasing: “Obama tells blacks to 'stop complainin' and fight.” [Story] 

Sorry, my racism censors aren't picking up anything.  I respect Ms. Hunter, but the president was the one leaving off his g's. She should be blaming the president not the journalist who reported what he said.

So stop the presses; I agree with John McWhorter on this one.

I get what his O ness was doing. My daddy actually taught homiletics to theology students. But Honestly, I never liked politicians who use a particular type of cadence or dialect to fit in with a different audience. I suppose that they all do it, but it doesn't make it right. O does it all the time when he is speaking to his cousins. It's as if he is at a Sunday morning revival meeting and he is the preacher making an altar call. I guess everyone wants to sound like Martin. The thing is,though,brother Martin actually was a preacher.

Finally, I see that Andy Rooney is leaving 60 Minutes after all these years. Folks, let's be honest with ourselves; the miserable old coot should have left 20 years ago.  

"Who is watching 'Black In America'"?

"Field, are you watching[or going to watch] that series on CNN, about being black in A-merry-ca?

If I had a dollar for every time I heard that question, I would be moving into Will Smith's zip code. And guess what? Half the people asking me are white. To them, I always say, "no I am not watching it, I already know what it's like to be black in A-merry-ca". Which always gets a nervous laugh. To the black folks, I always say, "yeah I am checking it out, and I will reserve judgement until I see the last segment."

But then I read an excellent article from Karen Hunter, and I found myself agreeing with her, and getting a little judgemental.

Even though I admire what Soledad and the folks at CNN are trying to do, for some reason I am not quite feeling what the ultimate effects of this series will be. White folks looking from a distance as if they are watching just another reality show. And black folks who care and are already trying to improve their lives and communities, watching to try and understand why our community is always coming up short.

Here is Ms.Hunter's article:

"Who is watching “Black in America” on CNN? I ask the question because it was raging inside of me as I listened to pundits and experts, educators and pastors, business professionals and actors—all attempting to make sense and give shape to what it means to be black in America.
I asked the very same question after Tavis Smiley produced the “The Covenant with Black America” a few years ago. That book sold millions of copies, and was the topic of quite a few talk shows.

And this CNN “special” will probably be one the highest rated shows on the network ever. But I again I ask who is watching?

Is Shaniqua living in a tenement in Brooklyn with five babies by five different “men” watching? Is James, who stands on a corner in Baltimore selling crack cocaine to his community watching? T-Bone, a Blood from South Central and his boys and rival Crips from cross-town, are they watching? Janice, who dropped out of Somerville High School in Massachusetts, will she be tuning in?

I doubt it. And here in lies the problem with shows like “Black in America,” and books like “The Covenant with Black America” they don’t reach the people who need to hear and read it most. The people who need to change, probably won’t be tuning in—which is why years after the Million Man March and years after The Covenant with Black America and years after Black in America, nothing will change. "

I think I agree with a lot of what she said. But are we shooting the messenger once again?

I am watching as I write this, and Soledad is talking about crack. This time it's a has-been actor from the Cosby show playing grown up black man. "If you don't want to go to jail, don't take crack. Gee, I wonder how many crack dealers are listening?

Read more here.