Obama disingenuous about Israel, just a politician?

Politics: The hell you say, according to this via LGF, Obama just being a typical politician.

How Barack Obama learned to love Israel Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 4 March 2007 ....Over the years since I first saw Obama speak I met him about half a dozen times, often at Palestinian and Arab-American community events in Chicago including a May 1998 community fundraiser at which Edward Said was the keynote speaker. In 2000, when Obama unsuccessfully ran for Congress I heard him speak at a campaign fundraiser hosted by a University of Chicago professor. On that occasion and others Obama was forthright in his criticism of US policy and his call for an even-handed approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The last time I spoke to Obama was in the winter of 2004 at a gathering in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. He was in the midst of a primary campaign to secure the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate seat he now occupies. But at that time polls showed him trailing. As he came in from the cold and took off his coat, I went up to greet him. He responded warmly, and volunteered, "Hey, I'm sorry I haven't said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I'm hoping when things calm down I can be more up front." He referred to my activism, including columns I was contributing to the The Chicago Tribune critical of Israeli and US policy, "Keep up the good work!" But Obama's gradual shift into the AIPAC camp had begun as early as 2002 as he planned his move from small time Illinois politics to the national scene. In 2003, Forward reported on how he had "been courting the pro-Israel constituency." He co-sponsored an amendment to the Illinois Pension Code allowing the state of Illinois to lend money to the Israeli government. Among his early backers was Penny Pritzker -- now his national campaign finance chair -- scion of the liberal but staunchly Zionist family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain. (The Hyatt Regency hotel on Mount Scopus was built on land forcibly expropriated from Palestinian owners after Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967). He has also appointed several prominent pro-Israel advisors. Obama has also been close to some prominent Arab Americans, and has received their best advice. His decisive trajectory reinforces a lesson that politically weak constituencies have learned many times: access to people with power alone does not translate into influence over policy. Money and votes, but especially money, channelled through sophisticated and coordinated networks that can "bundle" small donations into million dollar chunks are what buy influence on policy. Currently, advocates of Palestinian rights are very far from having such networks at their disposal. Unless they go out and do the hard work to build them, or to support meaningful campaign finance reform, whispering in the ears of politicians will have little impact. (For what it's worth, I did my part. I recently met with Obama's legislative aide, and wrote to Obama urging a more balanced policy towards Palestine.) If disappointing, given his historically close relations to Palestinian-Americans, Obama's about-face is not surprising. He is merely doing what he thinks is necessary to get elected and he will continue doing it as long as it keeps him in power.

Ric Flair - Just like that.

Coolness: 80's Ric Flair is hard to beat. Woooooooooo.

Kentucky Democrat refuses vote on illegals bill.

Immigration: Its a wonder any bill trying to clamp down on illegal immigration gets thru when you have worldy know it alls like this Kathy Stein who decides when and where things get done.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The House Judiciary Committee chairwoman yesterday killed a controversial immigration-enforcement bill and has delayed action on a Senate abortion bill. Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, announced that after an extensive series of hearings on House Bill 304, which would have Kentucky take over many of the federal government's immigration duties, she will not hold a vote on the bill. Stein said she was particularly concerned by inflammatory rhetoric in e-mails from some citizens supporting a state immigration crackdown -- some of which she described as threatening, intimidating and disturbing. The sponsor of HB 304, Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville, didn't attend the meeting but said afterward that he was upset that the bill won't get a vote. "We're trying to make a meaningful impact on what we can do with illegal aliens," he said. "I'm very disappointed." Damron said although his bill is dead, he will work to attach some of its provisions as amendments to other bills before the session ends. As for Senate Bill 40, which, among other things, would require doctors performing abortions to first do an ultrasound and show images to the woman, Stein said the committee is "studying it." Stein wouldn't say whether she also plans to kill SB 40, but said she has asked for an attorney general's opinion on whether some of its provisions violate the constitution and federal medical privacy rules. The delay frustrated the bill's sponsor, Sen. Jack Westwood, R-Crescent Springs, who had hoped to speak on behalf of the measure. "I want to have this bill heard," he said. Also upset were supporters on the committee who delayed return- ing home for the Easter weekend to attend yesterday's special com- mittee meeting. "Senate Bill 40 is a very important issue to many of us," said House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown. "We have been trying to get a vote on Senate Bill 40 and were told a vote would take place today." Stein apologized to Hoover and said her plans changed overnight after members had been notified. "I do apologize for the change in course that has occurred here today," she said. Stein wouldn't elaborate afterward except to say that she wants more time to study the bill. Speaking on the immigration issue, Stein, a former American history teacher, said some of the views expressed in hearings, letters and e-mails reminded her of the "Know Nothing" party movement of the mid-1800s, which targeted primarily Irish and Catholic immigrants coming to the United States. "I don't want to turn 2008 in this country into a period that resembles other ugly times," she said.

Publisher blames cowardly India's government for writer leaving.

India: I am still amazed at the lack of heart on the part of the Indian government, talking about being lapdogs.

Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen's publisher andsupporters accused the Indian government on Thursday of forcing the writer out of the country because of fears of a Muslim backlash. Nasreen left mainly Hindu but officially secular India on Wednesday after accusing the Indian government of forcing her to quit the country. "The government is no better than religious fundamentalists," she said. She said the government refused her timely medical treatment and called the safe house where she was kept under federal protection a "chamber of death." "It beggars the description meted out to her -- it was inhuman, she developed severe hypertension and as a result severe heart and eye problems," said Shivani Mukherji, publisher of Nasreen's books in India. "It's shameful for a so-called secular country to behave this way -- they should have stood up to the people who opposed her," she said.

Leftist Jericho gets cancelled by CBS.

Entertainment: Earlier this month, the producers and stars were all about making a statement against the evil America and now they are all out of jobs.

That hard left turn was a great idea, I am sure your hollywood friends loved it.

Obama's church : The white church is the antichrist.

Politics: If Obama sat there for 20+ years and didn't absorb some of this crap, he is a liar or an opportunist who used the church to better his political career among the black elite in chicago. This is not indicative of black churches, anyone who tells you that knows nothing. This is religious radicalism for dummies.

WASHINGTON — Jesus is black. Merging Marxism with Christian Gospel may show the way to a better tomorrow. The white church in America is the Antichrist because it supported slavery and segregation. Those are some of the more provocative doctrines that animate the theology at the core of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Barack Obama's church. ...Wright has said that a basis for Trinity's philosophies is the work of James Cone, who founded the modern black liberation theology movement out of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. Particularly influential was Cone's seminal 1969 book, "Black Theology & Black Power." Cone wrote that the United States was a white racist nation and the white church was the Antichrist for having supported slavery and segregation. Today, Cone, a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York, stands by that view, but also makes clear that he doesn't believe that whites individually are the Antichrist. In an interview, Cone said that when he was asked which church most embodied his message, "I would point to that church (Trinity) first." Cone also said he thought that Wright's successor, the Rev. Otis Moss III, would continue the tradition. Obama, 46, who's biracial, joined Trinity in his late twenties when he worked as a community organizer. He says he'll continue to worship there.

read it.

Trinity Church also publishes op-eds from Hamas members, lovely.

Teachers Who Got in Fist-Fight Arrested

Nation: Welcome to another edition of P.D.B.B(Please don't be black) Where you read a story and pray thats it not black people making fools of themselves. This game can also be played with any group that is considered a minority in America.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WLTX) -- Richland County deputies say two middle school teachers who got into a fist-fight in front of students over a personal matter were arrested Wednesday. Investigators say the original incident happened in the hallway of St. Andrews Middle School between two female eighth-grade teachers on Thursday, March 14. Sheriff Leon Lott says the school's resource officer, who works with the Richland County Sheriff's Department, say the fight happened at 2 p.m. in between classes. Lott says 30-year-old Tawana Horton of Columbia and 28-year-old Cambrella Pickney of Columbia got into a physical altercation in the hallway, after the teachers "bumped into each other." The resource officer says "an ongoing personal dispute" can be blamed for the reason the teachers were fighting, but he didn't elaborate on what the dispute regarded. Horton and Pinckney were each charged with disturbing schools and booked into the Richland County jail.

*looks at picture* Ah, damn it. Two people setting fine examples for today's youths.

No matter the ethnic group, you hate it when its your own people in some small way.

KC Star: Attacks on Obama and Wright are ludicrous

Politics: I always wondered what the mentality was at this rag paper and the constant liberalism pushed down everyone's throat. This little blog post by Charles Coulter pretty much confirms the myopic nature of the people who worked there. I guess this is the enough already move on defense.

So the Rev. Jeremiah Wright made comments that some portray as hate-filled and anti-American. So what? I think that's covered by something called the First Amendment. And some want Barack Obama to distance himself even further from his spiritual mentor. Why? Rev. Wright has not said anything that has not been said or is not being said in bars, poolrooms, barber shops ....Rev. Wright is not leading nor advocating a revolution. He is just venting, and in many ways, preaching to the choir. Shouldn't a man or woman be judged more by his or her actions? Sen. Obama has done nothing to indicate he is anti-American. In fact, his whole life is a testament to the American Dream. And if Sen. Obama were to totally distance himself from every black person over the age of 30 who has at one time or another said or thought God damn America, he probably could hold his next campaign rally in a phone booth. If you don't like Obama, fine. If you don't like his policies, fine. But let's not waste any more time over a made-up issue. Let's get back to the issue of how to make this country a success for all of its people -- black and white, rich and poor, woman and man.

The ludricous angle that Rev. Wright should get a pass for his conspiracy theories and anti-Americanism/Israel rants is an affront to decent people of all colors. He said it, he meant it, now just own it and deal with the fact that many people don't agree and have a very unfavorable opinion about him.

In any case, who the hell are you to decide when everyone should just move on
because this subject upsets you? That sort of pseudo high-minded gatekeeper mentality no longer works in todays environment.

Joe Vento's 'Speak English' signs OK at Philly shop

Nation: I am shocked that he actually won the hearing.

The owner of a famous cheesesteak shop did not discriminate when he posted signs asking customers to speak English, a city panel ruled Wednesday. In a 2-1 vote, a Commission on Human Relations panel found that two signs at Geno's Steaks telling customers, "This is America: WHEN ORDERING 'PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH,'" do not violate the city's Fair Practices Ordinance. Shop owner Joe Vento has said he posted the signs in October 2005 because of concerns over immigration reform and an increasing number of people in the area who could not order in English. Vento has said he never refused service to anyone because they couldn't speak English. But critics argued that the signs discourage customers of certain backgrounds from eating at the shop. Commissioners Roxanne E. Covington and Burt Siegel voted to dismiss the complaint, finding that the sign does not communicate that business will be "refused, withheld or denied." In a dissenting opinion, Commissioner Joseph J. Centeno said he thought the signs did discourage some customers. "The sign appeared immediately above another sign that had the following words: 'Management Reserves the Right to Refuse Service,'" Centeno wrote. Geno's and its chief rival across the street, Pat's King of Steaks, are two of the city's best known cheesesteak venues. A growing number of Asian and Latin American immigrants have moved into the traditionally Italian neighborhood in recent years. Vento had threatened to go to court if he lost. His attorney, Albert G. Weiss, said he was "pleasantly surprised" by Wednesday's decision. "We expected that this was not going to go our way," Weiss said.

Osama threatens the EU over Muhammad cartoons.

Terrorism: It seems out of date but could be a signal for attacks.

Osama bin Laden, in a new audio message posted Wednesday, condemned the publication of drawings that he said insulted the Prophet Muhammad and warned Europeans of a "severe" reaction to come. The message, which appeared on a militant Web site that has carried al-Qaida statements in the past and bore the logo of the extremist group's media wing al-Sahab, showed a still image of bin Laden aiming with an assault rifle. "The response will be what you see and not what you hear and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our messenger of God," said a voice believed to be bin Laden's, without specifying what action would be taken.

Another reverend scandal for Obama brewing?

Politics: Sean Hannity was pushing it this afternoon about Rev. James Meeks. Supposedly he is a close advisor to Obama especially during his 2004 Senate run. Only things I can come up with in a quick google search is this CBS story from 2006.

CBS 2's Political Editor Mike Flannery reports on Rev. Meeks and his rough words. Per pulpit video from July 5 Rev. James Meeks states, "We don't have slave masters. We got mayors. But they still the same white people who are presiding over systems where black people are not able, or to be educated." That was only one part of the tough talk State Sen. James Meeks delivered earlier this month in a Sunday sermon at the South Side church where he is pastor. It was broadcast twice on WJYS, Channel 62. On Friday, he stood by every word of it. "Is it fair to compare Mayor Daley, him and the governor, to slave masters?" CBS 2's Mike Flannery asked. "They do the same thing. They preside over systems where they have the control of the lives of African-American and Hispanic people," Meeks replied. While Meeks is a potential challenger to Daley in this winter's city election, he's hoping others will run against African-American members of the City Council who've been close to Daley, attacking them with the "N-word," a racial slur that CBS 2 News chose not to cover with a beep on air. "You got some preachers that are House N-word. You got some elected officials that are House N-word. And rather than them trying to break this up, they gonna fight you to protect this white man," Meeks said in the sermon tape. In his interview with Flannery on Friday, Meeks said, "The "N" word is not in the African-American community a bad word. It's a term of endearment. And I don't see it as derogatory or defensive, offensive." "That is an insult. You weren't using that term as a term of endearment," Flannery said. "And no one will be offended, except an individual that it applies to," Meeks said.

and some other hits about him being anti-gay.

Indian Writer flees Islamic death threats

India: A true black eye on India they allowed her to be run off by hardliners and a victory for terrorism.

BANGLADESHI writer Taslima Nasreen has left India after being hounded into hiding by death threats from Islamic extremists, her publisher and friends say. "Taslima Nasreen flew out of New Delhi this afternoon to Europe for medical treatment,'' her publisher Sibani Mukherjee said. She said Nasreen had asked her not to reveal the author's exact destination. Close friends also told said she had left India, and some Indian television stations reported that Nasreen was headed for Canada. Nasreen was forced to flee Bangladesh in 1994 after radical Muslims accused her of blasphemy over her novel Lajja (Shame') - which depicts the life of a Hindu family persecuted by Muslims in Bangladesh. In a statement on Tuesday, Nasreen said Indian authorities had "constantly pressured me mentally to leave the country". "I was determined I would not leave this country. When they saw it was pointless trying to destroy my mind, they attempted to destroy my body. In this they succeeded by ruining my health, which leaves me with no other alternative but to leave this country,'' she said. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the main opposition, has accused the Congress-led Government of forcing Nasreen to leave India because it is worried about losing Muslim voter support with just over a year to go before national elections.

LeBron James Vogue cover...RACIST??

Culture: Once again I would like to thank all the PC concerned white people for looking out for us negroes. As you know whenever you have a black man on the cover of a magazine yelling = Auto King Kong reference.

LeBron James has stirred up almost as much commotion on the cover of Vogue as he does on the court. The Cleveland Cavaliers’ superstar is on the magazine’s April 2008 “shape” issue, mouth gaping, face twisted in a grimace, muscles bulging and arm slung around supermodel Gisele Bundchen. They’re two of the most beautiful people on earth. But some say the Vogue photograph, shot by Annie Leibovitz, isn’t attractive at all because of the racial stereotype it purportedly evokes -- black beast clutching a white damsel in distress, reflected in French sculptor Emmanuel Fremiet’s 1887 statue “Gorilla Carrying Off a Woman,” and later, in the many incarnations of “King Kong.” “Here you have an image of a black male athlete in an exceptionally aggressive stance, wide footed, bending over, clutching her with his arm,” said Jason Rosenfeld, professor of art history at Marymount Manhattan College. “It’s one thing to have an athlete in that kind of pose and with that kind of expression on a court after he or she has done something miraculous. It’s another thing to couple it with someone who is of an entirely different ilk and gender. That turns it into a racially charged image.” Why the scrutiny? LeBron is the first black man, and only the third man in Vogue’s 115-year history, to grace the high fashion mag’s cover. “When you’re for the first time putting a black man on the cover, and this is the way you’re depicting him, it means that you’re going nowhere,” Rosenfeld said. “Pose LeBron in the pose of a Greek God and pose her as a Venus -- then you’re upping the conversation.” Rosenfeld, in case you’re wondering, is white. Robin Givhan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion editor of the Washington Post and a former associate editor at Vogue, is black. And she doesn’t see what all the fuss is about. “It’s so exhausting that every time people see an image of a black person they work themselves into a tizzy that somehow it doesn’t adhere to the way in which they think a black person should be presented,” she said. “I find it hard to say that Gisele looks like a damsel in distress. She’s 5’11 and quite sturdy,” she continued. “My initial reaction was, maybe the photograph is trying to capture his personality. Would Michael Jordan, James Blake or Tiger Woods have been photographed in the same way?”

You are in trouble when Robin Givhan is the voice of reason.

Brannon Braga is working on next season's 24?

Entertainment: If you need more proof of how next season's 24 is going to suck with a gentler, kinder Jack Bauer led by liberal Harvard showrunner Howard Gordon, here comes this horrific news.

24 (Drama) (7th Season) (Return) FOX, Mondays, 9-10pm - HD (Midseason) Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Cherry Jones, Janeane Garofalo, Colm Feore. Episodes Ordered: 24. Prod. Co: Imagine Television, and 20th Century Fox Television, produced in association with Real Time Productions, filmed in Chatsworth, CA. Executive Producers: Brian Grazer, Robert Cochran, Joel Surnow (creators), Howard Gordon, Jon Cassar, Evan Katz, Kiefer Sutherland, Manny Coto, David Fury. Co-Executive Producer: Michael Loceff, Stephen Kronish, Brannon Braga, Alex Gansa, Brad Turner. Producers: Michael Klick. Show Runner: Howard Gordon. Casting: Debi Manwiller, Peggy Kennedy, 21050 Lassen Street, Chatsworth, CA 91311. Extras Casting: Bruno Gerardo, Central Casting, 220 South Flower Street, Burbank, CA 91502.

Here is a google search on Braga and Berman, they did to Star Trek what Joel Schumacher did to the Batman movies. Star Trek was almost killed off by these two loons and even one of them in the area of 24 is not good news.

Howard Dean Gay Discrimination lawsuit Depo.

Politics: Via BigHeadDC. Howard Dean seems to have pissed off the editor of the Washington Blade.

Those of you keeping up remember that former DNC Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council chair Donald Hitchcock filed the suit after being sacked days after his boyfriend, Paul Yandura’s 2006 open letter criticizing the organization’s lackluster gay policies. Hitchcock alleges that the DNC and Chairman Dean unfairly fired him and later worked to defame his character. In this snippet of Dean’s testimony, the former presidential candidate seems unsure of who he promised what during his Chairmanship. For example, the visibly irritated Dean can’t quite recall whether he spoke to LGBT constituents, nor can he recount making a “specific pledge” on maintaining the gay outreach desk.

BigheadDC:

During a deposition on March 8, DNC Chairman Howard Dean took issue with reporting published in The Washington Blade, Washington, D.C.’s gay newspaper. In fact, he implies that he’s stopped reading the paper altogether. The revelation made Kevin Naff, editor of the publication, pretty angry. Naff offered the following heated comments on Queerty over the weekend: As the editor of the Blade, I challenge Howard Dean to specify the facts/stories the paper supposedly got wrong over the years. The DNC has NEVER called me in the past few years to say we got a fact wrong and needed to run a correction. His disdain for the gay press is obvious in his sneering, arrogant testimony. He cannot question the paper’s credibility like this without offering some specifics. If we got something wrong, we’ll correct it. But the DNC needs to give me specifics. Until then, it’s just more anti-gay rhetoric. I’m waiting, Mr. Dean.

Detroit City Council calls on Kilpatrick to resign

Politics: He refuses but its only a matter of time I think, way too much pressure now by all sides because he has made Detroit a bigger joke.

The Detroit City Council on Tuesday called for the resignation of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who is being investigated over an alleged affair he swore under oath he did not have. He quickly rejected the request. The resolution, passed 7-1, amounted to a "no-confidence" vote because the council lacks the power to force Kilpatrick to step down. Mayoral spokeswoman Denise Tolliver said Kilpatrick has no intention of quitting.

Media in the tank for Obama aka Black Jesus.

Politics: Predictable as the Sun rising and a New York Governor cheating on his wife.

In short, the approach of the networks was as toward a friend in trouble and they wanted to help him put the unpleasantness behind him by focusing on his noble cause. “Barack Obama addresses the controversial comments of his pastor, condemning the words but not the man,” CBS's Katie Couric teased before heralding: “And he calls on all Americans to work for a more perfect union.” On ABC, Charles Gibson announced: “Barack Obama delivers a major speech confronting the race issue head on, and says it's time for America to do the same.” Reporting “Obama challenged Americans to confront the country's racial divide,” Gibson hailed “an extraordinary speech.” NBC's Lee Cowan admired how “in the City of Brotherly Love, Barack Obama gave the most expansive and most intensely personal speech on race he's ever given,” adding it reflected “honesty that struck his rival Hillary Clinton.” On NBC, Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart asserted “it was a very important speech for the nation. It was very blunt, very honest” and so “a very important gift the Senator has given the country.”

New York Times slobbers all over him.

It would be frustrating if it wasn't so predictable. The Media was forced to cover Rev.Wright and they are going to try their damn best to say its over. Wait till the morning shows with Harry Smith bowing to Black Jesus or Ann Curry just marveling at his great speech.

Freedom of speech praised by Iranians over Wilders film.

EU: Another day and another denouncement of Wilders by some interfaith group, but more disturbing is this call by a journalist demanding the media not write about Wilders.

In Nederlands Dagblad yesterday, Arabist Hans Jansen criticised the subservient role he considers the churches and the government are adopting towards Islam. In particular, the Christian democrats (CDA), the biggest government party, are behaving "incomprehensibly" indulgently and naively, he argues. "Don't they even have an intern in the party who could look up what happened with the church under Islam?" Others feel differently. Annette Birschel, for example, has called on the Dutch media not to write about MP Geert Wilders any more. The German journalist was President of the Foreign Press Association (BPV) in the Netherlands until last October. Together with NRC Handelsblad journalist Jowi Schmitz, she is calling on all chief editors to ignore Wilders because "no communication with him is possible," as a result of which "his view is irrelevant," reports website denieuwereporter.nl. Perhaps ironically, ordinary Muslims in Iran seem not to care about the Wilders film. TV programme Nova interviewed Teheranis on the streets and reported that many of them admired the Netherlands' freedom of speech. A rather orthodox-looking elderly woman applauded Wilders' film plan, saying Iran was "more immoral now" than it was under the Shah.

Obama's race hustling speech.

Politics: As Black Jesus came down from the mountaintop to bless with his earthly form today to enlighten us masses about his relationship with the good Rev.Wright. He deemed it important to show us the way out of our divisions and racial anger because you see as being a half/half only he knows the pain and fears of each side.

The speech today to explain it all in common terms for us mere unenlightened flawed human beings was a pandering, sophomoric attempt at glossing over the questions that demanded being answered with sugary platitudes that Black Jesus asked of Americans to join him in his quest for peaceful race relations.

How do you explain Rev.Wright yapping about 9/11 conspiracies, Israel being a dirty word, how the government created AIDS for the black community just makes him a "occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy" that was created by a distorted view where the white racism is endemic in America. How does he explain the fact every Sunday he would look upon the pews in his MEGACHURCH and see the black elite of Chicago sitting in them? If white racism is that bad in America where did the black elite come from?

You can't dismiss Rev.Wright as a part of the old guard when people pointed out that his church and views were considered among the most radical of black churches in Chicago. You knew what he was about more than 20 years ago, you wrote about his radical sermons in your book which you attended, which you said last week in slick move that you never heard "THESE" words utter from him in public/private but now oh yeah I heard this kind of talk before which means you lied to the public.

But all that is good in Black Jesus's world as his followers are so eager to hear from him words of wisdom such as Reagan Dems aka white working class were nothing more than racists with resentment towards blacks who are angry. How conservative commentators whole careers and worldview is built on exposing only fake racism but dismiss racial injustice as fantasy talk. How the real enemy are corporations and people eager to keep the racial division going in America.

Black Jesus spoke words that warmed the white guilt-ridden liberals who populate places like the TNR' blog, Guardian's CIF page and the likes of Andrew Sullivan and race hustlers eager to use strife to enrich their own pockets. Black Jesus's words could even be condensed to a simple paragraph.

To that extent, the speech probably worked. He acknowledged white disadvantage and black alienation. He refused to disown Wright for the same reason he refused to disown his own white grandmother - because good people in bad societies will sometimes say and do bad things. He acknowledged there were problems and then said Kumbaya. He hoped for better times and said everyone had to do his bit.

Black Jesus's solution boiled down to spend lots of money boosting welfare programs, a bad public school system, unionized and government runned health care. He hopes that the media who is praying that they can move on from this debacle will amplify his message while skipping the fact he excused a racist preacher who he listened to for over 20 years and later brought his kids to hear the words of hate.

You could disown him but that would just piss off black voters as you being a sellout and make people think that your church attendence was more calculating than faithful. The implication that Rev.Wright is indicative of black churches all over the country would be like me saying Yusuf al-Qaradawi is indicative of Islamic leaders and Mosques.

It's not true but coming out saying its just "black thang you wouldn't understand" probably wouldn't go over very well with the general public.

Black Jesus wanted to fool the public by promoting his campaign as being post-racial, he is everything to everyone. But now in this time of need, he turns to making everyone a victim, everyone has a grievance, everyone is in trouble and only he can lead us to the promised land.

Now everyone, just forget about the events over the last week. Black Jesus has delivered his commandments that all Americans should strive for in this new Obama era. Everything is going to be alright.

Michigan university paper demands Muslim-female only hours.

Culture: The university of Michigan-Dearborn paper editorial board now wants female Muslim only hours at their gym.

Earlier this month, Harvard University made headlines when they banned men from one of their gyms for a few hours a week to accommodate to women. The proposal was introduced by some of the school's Muslim women. Because of religious and cultural reasons, Muslim women cannot exercise comfortably in the presence of men. We at The Michigan Journal applaud Harvard's decision, and feel this is beneficial not only to Muslim women, but also women in general. There are plenty of women who just want to go to exercise and not be bombarded with overly-horomonal men showing off their muscles and women who only go to the gym to flaunt their assets. We feel that the University of Michigan-Dearborn should follow suit and change their gym policy to allow women to exercise in the company of only other women at certain times during the week. Some might feel that it would be sexist to exclude men, but we feel it's more out of courtesy and respect to allow those who feel uncomfortable the chance to exercise. This move might even increase gym usage among college students. Fitness USA even offers a similar plan. They offer a co-ed fitness area, plus an area that offers men-only and women-only on alternating days. To follow Harvard's plan, the gym wouldn't be shut down to men for days; it would only be shut down for a few hours. At Harvard, men are excluded for six out of the 70 hours that they are open. If men can't deal with not being allowed in the gym for a few hours out of the day, then they should work out somewhere else.

If this Dearborn branch of UM feels familiar, this is the same school that installed footbaths for Muslims. They(Muslim student groups, ACLU and school officials) then tried to pass it off as just as a health and safety measure instead of admitting that it was for a religious purpose first. I have no doubt that more segregated female Muslim hours will be allowed here. You already have the sneering arrogance of "too bad, let men work elsewhere" which comes from a sense of entitlement that the school officials have allowed to go unchecked.

Breaking! The Jews brought down Spitzer!

Politics: I can always count on Arabnews.com to bring in Jews and/or Israel in anything that happens in the world. No matter how fricking off the wall and downright stupid, stuff like this is treated as gospel.

On Defensive, Obama Plans Talk on Race

Politics: Via NYTIMES.

Faced with what his advisers acknowledged was a major test to his candidacy, Senator Barack Obama sought on Monday to contain the damage from incendiary comments made by his pastor and prepared to address the issue of race more directly than at any other moment of his presidential campaign. Though he has faced questions about controversial statements by the pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., for more than a year, Mr. Obama is enduring intense new scrutiny now over Mr. Wright’s characterizations of the United States as fundamentally racist and the government as corrupt and murderous. Mr. Obama, in a speech Tuesday in Philadelphia, will repeat his earlier denunciations of the minister’s words, aides said. But they said he would also use the opportunity to open a broader discussion of race, which his campaign has said throughout the contest that it wants to transcend. He will bluntly address racial divisions, one aide said, talking about the way they play out in church, in the campaign, and beyond. Mr. Obama continued to write the speech on Monday evening, which he believes could be one of the most important of his presidential candidacy, aides said. His wife, Michelle, had not been scheduled to travel with him this week, but hastily made plans to be in Philadelphia. Mr. Obama said Monday that in his speech, to be given at the National Constitution Center, he would “talk a little bit about how some of these issues are perceived from within the black church community, for example, which I think views this very differently.”

MSM is already talking about it as being the Kennedy/Catholic speech variety about race. The problem is if Obama tries to explaning this as nothing more than generational/racial experience gap its going to come off preachy. He can't acknowledge and disavow at the same time because that will come off as wishy washy. He really can't dismiss Wright's conspiracy theories without coming off as a loon. That is the biggest problem, there is a difference between black churches and everyone else but Wright is the more radical of the black churches. Obama choosed him as a mentor/pastor and friend.

Those choices are coming back on him even though I am sure he planned to address, he didn't count on the more controversial and despicable statements to come out.

Update# Oh.. and the stuff about Israel.

Md. Budget Crunch Has Residents on The Ropes

Nation: I feel no pity for Maryland residents, you keep voting in tax and spend liberals, watch quietly as they raised your taxes and now you want to whine? The best thing for those residents is to also stay in Maryland because when you move to Virginia you just screw that state up even more.

Pity the Maryland taxpayers. This year, they've been hit with higher state taxes on sales, cigarettes and cars. Water and electric rates are set to rise, rush-hour commuters are paying more to ride Metro and, in Montgomery County, residents seem certain to face higher property tax bills -- just as the economy slows down. As Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) put the final touches on his fiscal 2009 spending plan last week, he was weighing the cumulative effect of those higher costs, trying to protect government services without maxing out the checkbooks or goodwill of residents with one more higher tax. For Karen Butler of Germantown, it was too late. To save money last fall, the 48-year-old federal government worker moved her son to off-campus housing at the University of Maryland at College Park. But after tuition and mortgage payments, Metro fare and groceries, she has little left each month for clothing, which has become a luxury. "I'm sick of it," she said. "I just can't afford to keep up." So Butler, a 40-year county resident, is packing up for West Virginia. Alex D. Aigner of Rockville religiously checks real estate listings in the District and Tysons Corner for his family's database marketing business. He is reeling from a new state tax on computer services set to take effect this summer, and he figures he could trade his bare-bones office space for granite and marble across the Potomac. "Why would you stay here? It makes no sense," said Aigner, 27, who also grew up in the county. Montgomery's residents have long been known for their high tolerance for taxes when they believe there is a trade-off for such services as high-performing public schools. But homeowners and political observers interviewed last week warned that residents are in no mood to open their wallets to help Leggett and the County Council close a projected $300 million shortfall.

To show how dumb the residents really are, they want relief but you can't do cuts to their personal favorite.

The pileup for taxpayers began in January when Maryland's tobacco tax doubled to $2 per pack of cigarettes, higher rates were imposed on vehicle sales and corporate income, and the state sales tax rate jumped from 5 to 6 percent. Changes in personal income tax rates provided a measure of relief to low-income residents while raising the rates on the state's wealthiest residents, many of whom live in Montgomery. And legislators are still debating whether to repeal a new tax on computer services. Mona Smith, a software analyst from Gaithersburg, said it would be "unreasonable" for local leaders to "even think about raising property taxes" when prices are rising faster than salaries. In January, Smith's round-trip Metro fare from Shady Grove to her job at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, plus parking, increased $11.25 a week, or $585 a year. "They need to find another way," she said. But when Smith contemplates other options, such as trimming personnel costs, she runs into the dilemma facing Leggett and the council. Most county employees are scheduled in fiscal 2009 to receive a raise of 4.5 percent, in addition to a 3.5 percent increase based on years of service. Each percentage increase across all government agencies costs about $25 million. "Teachers deserve a raise," said Smith, the mother of four public school graduates. "I'd prefer that they find other places to make cuts." Michael Thomas, a government contractor from Germantown, has less sympathy for county workers whose raises are on the line. "I haven't had more than a 3 percent increase in the last five years, and I'm in the private sector," he said.

Choke on your high cost of living because you are getting what you deserve.

Obama has heard the harsh words of Wright in person.

Politics: He even wrote it in his book.

“It is this world, a world where cruise ships throw away more food in a day than most residents of Port-au-Prince see in a year, where white folks’ greed runs a world in need, apartheid in one hemisphere, apathy in another hemisphere…That’s the world! On which hope sits!” And so it went, a meditation on a fallen world. While the boys next to me doodled on their church bulletin, Reverend Wright spoke of Sharpsville and Hiroshima, the callousness of policy makers in the White House and in the State House. As the sermon unfolded, though, the stories of strife became more prosaic, the pain more immediate. The reverend spoke of the hardship that the congregation would face tomorrow, the pain of those far from the mountaintop, worrying about paying the light bill…

What irritates me is not even Wright or Obama attending the church, but the incredible specific denial that he never heard these specific lines or knew of Wright's preaching style in the church or in private. He flat out lied.

Geert Wilders vs the Dutch Government roundup

EU: Dutch government still acting the cowards of EU and bracing for a backlash.

Dutch News:

Home affairs minister Guusje ter Horst is to introduce legislation requiring so-called political movements, such as Geert Wilders PVV and Rita Verdonk's Trots op Nederland to make their funding public. Currently, only political parties have to reveal their backers. Both Wilders and Verdonk raise their funding through foundations and are exempt. Ter Horst also wants to lower the threshold for publication from €4,500 to €3,000 and to include private as well as corporate gifts.

Radio Netherlands: Liberal Jewish Producer takes out ad against Wilders, Dutch Muslims happy, other Jewish groups say WTF?

The statements of right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders are on the same level as anti-semitism. That's the thrust of a full-page advertisement that Dutch-Jewish programme maker Harry de Winter has placed on the front page of the newspaper de Volkskrant. Dutch Muslims have reacted with surprise. According to the text of the advertisement, which has also been signed by two Dutch Jewish organisations: "If Wilders had said the same things about Jews (and the Old Testament) as he has now reeled off about Muslims (and the Qur'an), then he would have been ostracised a long time ago and accused of anti-Semitism." Critical of Israeli policy Producer and programme maker Harry de Winter is one of the founders of "Another Jewish Voice", a group of Dutch Jews who are critical of the policy of Israel towards the Palestinians. The climate that is being shaped by Wilders is, according to him, comparable with the rise of anti-semitism in the 1930's. He believes there has been far too little reaction to Wilders in the Netherlands. But especially he believes that a reaction must come from the Jewish corner. ....But the Dutch Jewish community is less united in its view. Ronnie Naftaniel from the Israel Information and Documentation Centre (CIDI) thinks that, in his criticism of Wilders, de Winter is blurring the distinction between Islam and Muslims. "If Wilders says that no more Muslims may enter the country, that indeed is discrimination. But you must be able to criticise a religion. That belongs to freedom of expression. You may also say that Judaism is a backward religion." Misplaced comparison Naftaniel believes the comparison with the anti-semitism of the 1930's is misplaced. "The position of the Jews then is not the same as that of the Muslims now. We now have to cope with a world in which extremist Muslim groups are operating that want to destroy our legal order. You must oppose this, but without tarring all Muslims with the same brush."

DutchNews: People are divided on if they want to see Wilders film.

According to a Maurice de Hond poll published at the weekend, 32% of the Dutch plan to watch Geert Wilders’ 10-minute anti-Koran film in its entirety when it is released on the internet, while 50% say they have no plans to watch any of it.

Juan Williams rips Obama and his Church.

Politics: Williams does hit upon another aspect of this episode that few people are taking an angle on that Obama joined this church for his political ambitions because it is the church of the Black elite. Now he has to spur it a bit because it has gotten too hot for him.


Link: sevenload.com

iPod on the Space Shuttle dashboard.

Space: Something very cool about that Via TUAW.


crop pic via Neo gaf.

Obama's church lashes out over media.

Politics: Here is the problem with this nonsense. This church is considered one of the more radical churches within Chicago. It is not representative of black churches in general and for them to try implying that this is an attack on black churches is arrogant.

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright's former church sharply criticized the media Sunday for recent coverage of his past controversial sermons, saying in a statement that Wright's "character is being assassinated in the public sphere." The statement comes two days after Barack Obama, a longtime friend of Wright and attendee of the Trinity United Church of Christ, formally denounced the sermons that have recently become the subject of controversy, calling them "inflammatory and appalling." "It is an indictment on Dr. Wright’s ministerial legacy to present his global ministry within a 15- or 30-second sound bite,” the Rev. Otis Moss III, the current pastor of the church said in the statement. “The African American Church was born out of the crucible of slavery and the legacy of prophetic African American preachers since slavery has been and continues to heal broken marginalized victims of social and economic injustices," Moss also said. "This is an attack on the legacy of the African American Church which led and continues to lead the fight for human rights in America and around the world.” In the same statement, the Rev. John H. Thomas, the general minister and president of the United Church of Christ — the denomination to which Wright's church belongs — said the media was creating a "caricature" of his congregation. “It’s time for us to say ‘No’ to these attacks and declare that we will not allow anyone to undermine or destroy the ministries of any of our congregations in order to serve their own narrow political or ideological ends," Thomas said. The sermons in question became the subject of scrutiny earlier this week after being highlighted in an ABC News report.