"Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks"!

Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!

Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!

Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!

Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!
Republicans block unemployment extensions and middle class tax breaks!

[Link]

Frosty the klansman.

Why are folks bugging out over Frosty the Klansman? Isn't he on private property? I know, I know, it's not exactly in keeping with the Christmas spirit in this wonderful nation of ours, but hey, to each his own. Leave Mark Eliseuson alone. He is just trying to get into the Christmas spirit. (Is that a noose in Frosty's hands? Man that Frosty is some character.)

Actually, if you think about it, a snowman is a perfect metaphor for a klansman: It's very white, it's pudgy looking, and it will melt when the heat is on. Perfect.

Of course, as is usually the case here in A-merry-ca; my man says that he is not a racist.

"The reaction: Eliseuson has the gall to say this isn't racist, says Elon James White at ThisWeekInBlackness.com. Who is he kidding? He even added a noose "just in case you weren't exactly sure what he was going for," or thought the snowman was wearing a "weird, mis-shaped pope hat." As a native Idahoan, says Cienna Madrid at The Stranger, I am ashamed that my state is "mostly known nationally for its potatoes, terrible congressmen, and now, giant racist snowmen." Idaho is getting a bad rep, but "it's really a wonderful state, I swear."

Ms. Madrid, I am sure it is. Mr. Eliseuson is just an anomaly. A bad actor among some very fine people. Wait....

Anyway, relax folks, I think Frosty the Klans man has been destroyed.

"Mark Eliseuson fashioned a pointed hood on his snowman's head, and attached a noose to its stick arm, prompting "appalled" neighbors to complain to the police. Although the Idahoan has since destroyed the snowman, it's not the first time he's rubbed people the wrong way." [Source]

"..For Frosty the snow man
Had to hurry on his way,
But he waved goodbye saying,
"Don't you cry,
I'll be back again some day."

I love the holidays! Don't you?

Julian Assange Doesn't like America. So What?

by Ed Ballard
New Statesman
December 3, 2010

That WikiLeaks itself would come under attack is no surprise. It's happened before, and if the website survives it will happen again. Those who speak truth to power will eventually find power telling them to shut up.

Meanwhile, WikiLeaks' figurehead Julian Assange -- now apparently being hunted by British police -- has become the target of an extraordinary hate campaign from the right.

"Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders," wonders Sarah Palin, adding that he should be hunted down with "cyber-tools" (if you don't know what these are, think Doctor Who's sonic screwdriver).

"I think Assange should be assassinated actually," declares political science professor Tom Flanagan. " I think Obama should put out a contract and maybe use a drone, or something."

Jonah Goldberg of the National Review asks: "Why wasn't Assange garroted in his hotel room years ago?"

For a discussion of what these comments reveal about the attitude towards democracy shown by Palin, Goldberg and co., read Dan Gardner's lacerating column in the Ottawa Post. But in their eagerness to find a scapegoat, these commentators also make the error of mistaking the man for the ball.

Writing in the Telegraph this morning, George Grant of the Henry Jackson Society accuses Julian Assange of releasing the United States' diplomatic files because he hates America, and thinks the world's greatest power is a corrupt regime in need of cleaning up. The idea that Assange is motivated by "anti-Americanism" is the gist of much of the bile levelled at him. But Grant, unlike some of Assange's other critics, isn't foaming at the mouth -- so it's worth looking at his article closely.

Read the rest here.

*****************

Comment: I like that Sarah Palin wants Assange to be hunted down.  Then what?

Well lock him up in Guantanamo or any one of those Black Sites the US runs across the globe.

That will learn him about justice, American style.

A Canadian professor of political science at the University of Calgary, Tom Flanagan, is one step ahead of Palin (must be the cold up in the north).  He thinks it would be a good idea to "put out a contract" or "use a drone" on Assange.

The University of Calgary should fire Flanagan.  He is a disgrace to the academy.

Onward!

Christ, Christians, Capitalism and Karl Marx

"There is need for faith in everyone’s life. But when faith does not provide methods for challenging the power of an unjust social and economic system, or impedes them, it loses its way and becomes a tool of mass repression rather than spiritually liberating. We must recognize that Christ was philosophically and pragmatically closer to Karl Marx than to Adam Smith.

Were he among us today, no doubt Christ, the historical Christ, would have serious reservations about the adulation of capitalism. Capitalism teaches that money is God. It holds that man and nature are commodities to be exploited by capital and those who own it. It is a soul-sucking philosophy that divides and stratifies. It is an aggressive cancer unleashed upon the earth.

Certainly Christ would be appalled by the selfish political conservatism of today that claims him for its own. He would be as much a leftist revolutionary today as he was some two thousand years ago. And no doubt, cheered by a mob of reputable corporatists, the money changers would crucify him again."

Excerpt taken from "Religion as a Tool of Oppression" by Charles Sullivan. (Re)Posted in Countercurrents.org on December 1, 2010.

Mr. Fetchit goes to Washington.

*

I am getting ready to watch Le Bron's return to C-Town. It should be fun. The haters are out and in full effect. I am sure they are going to let my man have it for treating them like the girl he dated all through high school then dumped for the homecoming Queen.

But don't worry Le Bron, you need haters. Haters can serve as a great source of motivation.
-I am with my man Kat Williams. Paraphrasing: If anyone out there is looking for someone to hate on, please feel free to hate on me.- Still, Le Bron looks like he is somewhat of a sensitive guy. Unlike Kobe, I am not sure my man can thrive on the "hateration". He strikes me as a guy who needs love. That is not a good thing. Now if he drops 40 on the Cavs tonight I will change my tune. But until then, I am thinking that Le Bron might be regretting his decision to bolt for South Beach.

Staying with the sports theme: The Eagles are my team, but I have always liked the Ravens. They play with a certain amount of swag and the players on that team have never been afraid to speak their minds. Now comes this shot at the NFL from Terrell Suggs:

"The hottest trends for winter 2010 are prints, jungle themes, chambray and bashing Roger Goodell. One day after Hines Ward.. ripped Goodell's NFL for hypocrisy on a number of issues including player safety, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs... said the league plays favorites with Tom Brady(notes) and Peyton Manning...., and doesn't care about other quarterbacks.

[Related: Star defender threatens to retire over rules]

He made the comments after being asked about the fines levied this season against James Harrison(notes), who will take the field opposite Suggs and the Ravens on "Sunday Night Football":

"I think they are looking at [Harrison] more closely than they are everybody else in the league. In the referee world, they kind of red-flagged him.

"The league has their favorites. One being in Indy and one being with that other team up north. Besides those two, everybody is fair game. Some quarterbacks are getting the calls right away. Some quarterbacks they don't care.

"Like I always said, Carson Palmer(notes) got hit in his knee in 2005 but there was no rule made. Then Tom Brady got hit in his knee and all of a sudden there is a rule and possible suspensions, excessive fines -- it's just getting ridiculous." [Source]

Of course the suits in the NFL have their favorites; and Suggs just named the two biggest ones. Can Manning and Brady ball? Yes, they can. (BTW, what's up with our boy Brady putting plugs in his hair? Is it that stressful hooking up with a "super model"?) But Stevie Wonder can see that they get special protections from the hypocrites who run the NFL.

Finally, I have ripped the CBC in the past, and lord knows I am not a particularly big fan. But if you are a black elected official in Washington, wouldn't you want to be a part of that organization? And, if you think, as I do, that they have some issues; wouldn't you want to become a part of it and try to change it from the inside? Not my man, *Tim Scott, he wants to look forward, and silly things like racial distinctions are a distraction.

"The new Republican representative from South Carolina was the focus of many Congressional watchers after this year's midterm elections in regards as to whether we would be joining the Congressional Black Caucus. His membership would have made him the first Republican in the group since Rep. Gary Franks was defeated in 1996.

While new Florida congressman Allen West who has accepted the invitation to join, Scott has chosen, quite publicly, to decline the invitation extended from the CBC. West promised to "shake up" the group -- whatever that's supposed to mean.

However, Scott, who will represent South Carolina's 1st District, says he won't be joining because "the future is more important than the past."

He says the black community will benefit basically when capitalism fixes everything for everybody and there's no need to look at black folk as special.

"...reducing the tax burden, decreasing government interference in the private sector, and restoring fiscal responsibility, and I don't think those ideals are advanced by focusing on one group of people."

For Scott, apparently, history means nothing, disparities in education, housing, health, crime, economics in the black community are not significant enough to tackle for a politician whose campaign was "never about race." Apparently, in his district, there are no black people, so he really won't have to worry about them.

Indeed, the area votes largely conservative and is almost 75 percent white with only a 21 percent black population, 2.5 percent Latino, and 1.3 percent Asian populations. So maybe what he's scared of is riling up his major voting constituents -- who likely couldn't care less about issues in the black community -- by joining a legislative caucus whose primary focus is the black community." [Source]

Jig Tim, Jig!

Merry Christmas!

It's nice to be back home, but I had to come home to a controversy in my fair city because [right] wingnuts have issues with the word CHRISTMAS [briefly] being removed from our little "Christmas Village". I know that the wingnuts won, and the Mayor caved, but you Christian soldiers really need to do a better job of picking your battles. Honestly, I am kind of sick of this debate every holiday season. (Yes, I said "holiday" and not Christmas. I tend to be PC like that.) Oh, and folks, while you are scouting for your next battle site; please pull out a copy of the constitution and read it.

Great folks those wingnuts, they are fired up over the word Christmas not being used enough but they are voting to cut off unemployment benefits to poor folks who can't catch a break [or a job] in time for......wait for it... wait for it.....CHRISTMAS! But it gets better: They also want to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest among us. Hey, rich folks gotta eat, too.

Finally, there is nerve and there is NERVE! Michelle Bachmann, that nut from Prince country, (h/t Karl for this story) actually ripped the federal government payout to hard working black farmers who were robbed of their just due because of racism.

WASHINGTON - Congress gave the final go-ahead Tuesday to a landmark $1.2 billion settlement compensating black farmers for decades of discrimination, even as Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann and other conservatives charged that the deal is riddled with fraudulent claims.

The long-delayed package, negotiated by the Obama administration, could award some $50,000 each to thousands of African-Americans who claimed they were unjustly denied loans and assistance from the federal Agriculture Department in the 1980s and '90s. Right up until the final 256-152 vote in the House, Bachmann -- along with Iowa Republican Steve King and others -- called for an investigation of the settlement, known as Pigford II.

"This looks like one of the most outrageously fraudulent claims of scamming the federal taxpayers that anyone has ever seen," Bachmann said in one of her first major forays since she tried to win a post in the new House Republican leadership. "It's indefensible."

Remember I said that there is nerve and then there is NERVE? This is why:

"Bachmann's outspoken criticism sparked a war of words with John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, as well as with Minneapolis Democrat Keith Ellison, the state's first and only black representative in Congress.

Boyd, one of the architects of the deal, criticized Bachmann for inserting herself in the longstanding dispute, noting that her family farm received more than $250,000 in farm subsidies over the past decade while the Pigford case was being litigated.

"She got hers, and black farmers have been systematically shut out of the farm subsidy program," Boyd said on his way to the Capitol to witness the historic vote on the measure that passed the Senate earlier this month.

Bachmann responded that she has never received "one penny" from her in-laws' family farm in Independence, Wis., even though she reported between $15,001 and $50,000 in "farm income" on her federal financial disclosure forms this year. She and her husband also list a stake in the farm valued at up to $250,000." [Source]

$250,000 for just a "stake" in the farm? Merry Christmas, Michelle!

Brandon Huntley's Refugee Bid Overturned

Mail & Guardian
November 27, 2010

Canada's Federal Court overturned a contentious immigration ruling that granted refugee status to a white man from South Africa who claimed persecution from blacks in his home country. 

Brandon 'White Flight' Huntley

Brandon Huntley argued that whites are targeted by black criminals in South Africa and that the South African government does nothing to protect them. He claimed he was attacked seven times during attempted robberies and muggings.

A Canadian immigration board panel tribunal found Huntley's fears justified and gave him refugee status in August 2009. South Africa had asked the Canadian government to appeal to the court.

Judge James Russell said this week that the decision was badly flawed and it was clear to him that Huntley came to Canada looking for a job, not to flee persecution.

When asked by the refugee panel why he came to Canada, Huntley said: "I came here to look for work because I can't find work in my country and it's easier finding work overseas."

When the refugee decision came down, the South African government expressed outrage and the case raised a furor in that country's media. The authorities called the decision itself "racist" and "ridiculous" and made diplomatic complaints.

Russell said it's possible some white South Africans could make a case for persecution, but had doubts about Huntley.

"I have serious reservations about why this particular white South African came to Canada and, after a considerable delay, opted to claim refugee status." - Sapa-AP

*******************

Comment: A lawyer for Huntley claims it is unlikely that he will be forced to return to South Africa because his case and resultant notoriety makes him more likely to be a racial target.

Irony?  Dunno but go figure hey?

Huntley has now pitched a new refugee claim and the Immigration and Refugee board will hear that pitch in six or more months.

I hope he gets to stay in Canada.  He has no place in South Africa.

Still, like the post directly below, there are more than enough white victimization claimants floating around in South Africa.

The Pretoria News today (December 1, 2010: pg.4) published a letter on race statistics and violence by Dr. Elim Steyn who is the President of the Trauma Society if South Africa and Dr. Claire van der Westhuizen who is the project co-ordinator of Injury Prevention.

The Drs. (both are white by the way) say that the "age standardised murder rate (64.8 per 1000 population) establishes South Africa as one of the most violent countries in the world."

However, "young black males between 20 and 40 are 17 times more likely to be murdered in South Africa than a white male in the same age group."

Given this statistic, the authors assert that black men bear the brunt of violence as was the case during the apartheid years.

Furthermore, they argue that the statistics makes the average black man between 20 and 40 more "deserving" to be "candidates for Canadian refugee status."

Very interesting huh?  

I would bet my pension though, all R65.00 thereof, that there is not one black man who has tried to secure refugee status in Canada, or anywhere else, on the basis that his skin makes him 17 times more likely to be murdered than the fool Brandon Huntley and the many many white men/folks who share his victim mindset.

Onward! 

Picture Credit