Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2005

Why Not a "Dazzling Offense"?

It has been a while since I've published anything in an actual newspaper. I'll call the Chicago Defender to see if I can get a copy of my rant about Michael Eric Dyson's book. Maybe next I'll be in the Detroit Upside Your Head paper. The article has also been linked by BlackAmericaToday and Politopics . Here's the version published in Black America Today on Christmas Day, 2005, and reposted now because of an Internet discussion. CASEY LARTIGUE: Black youth must think bigger By Casey Lartigue December 25, 2005 Known for his outspoken tough love, Bill Cosby once publicly admonished a young black student from the University of the District of Columbia.  The young man hoped for a promotion at his Drug Enforcement Administration job after he got his degree, but he was worried.  He told Cosby, "It just gets scary sometimes.  But if I'm put on a pedestal... I'm afraid I'll fail.  It's scary." "What is so scary is that you
Deliver directly to undertaker! According to AP : "Worshippers at black churches in 20 states will be urged this weekend to consider organ donation. The program, Linkages to Life, is aimed at raising awareness about organ donation among blacks, who suffer higher rates of diseases that damage the liver and kidneys." This is not going to work. And it isn't because the religious leaders and others aren't trying or don't care. 1) Altruism motivates some people, but not enough to donate their vital organs. Thankfully we don't rely on altruism to motivate people to get up every day to go to work, to sell food to us, to play pro basketball or football, or for medical breakthroughs. We know that altruism doesn't work in most endeavors in life, but for some reason we believe (or foolishly hope) that it will work when it comes to people agreeing to have their bodies cut up after death or loved ones having to make that decision shortly after that loved one has expire

Scam? Yo Momma!

Note: This was originally posted shortly after Jesse Lee Peterson's book was published, reposted in 2005, and now because of a fight between black customers and a Korean merchant in Dallas, Texas. Scam? Yo Momma! During the summer of 2002 I was an observer to a dispute between the Asian owners of a Chinese takeout and some of their black customers in Washington, D.C. The month-long boycott began when a local activist accused a cook at a Chinese takeout of attempting to cook a piece of chicken he had allegedly dropped on the floor. Despite the best efforts of human rights activist Dick Gregory, popular talk-show host Joe Madison, and Rev. Walter Fauntroy, the protestors were unable to coax any media to report on the protest. On some days there were, by my unofficial count, as many as 100 people chanting songs and marching. But one key person was missing: Rev. Jesse Jackson. It was important to the foot soldiers at the boycott that someone from the media report on
SOUTH KOREA VIDEO GAME DEATH STORY IS AN URBAN LEGEND!!! CREDIT CASEY LARTIGUE !!! Link to this post This not exactly the Drudge Report , I know. But here's another example of a non--journalist having to do the work of reporters, fact-checkers, and others in journalism. Back when I was a cub reporter on the Harvard Crimson, I was taught the journalist creed: "If your mother says she loves you, check it out." That is, always be suspicious of what you hear. Unfortunately, it is readers who must "check out" so much of what is reported. There's a story in the news about a South Korean man who alleged died while he was playing video games. The story looks a lot like a story from 2002 also about a South Korean man passing away while playing video games. Here's a version of the 2002 story : Game over - 86 nonstop hours later October 09 2002 at 10:53AM Seoul, South Korea - A 24-year-old South Korean man died after playing computer games nonstop for 86 hours, sai

SWING!

SWING! June 9, 1999 by Casey J. Lartigue Jr. Casey J. Lartigue, Jr. is a staff writer at the Cato Institute. Could there be a better means than altruism for organ donation? A recent proposal from Pennsylvania plans to pay the relatives of organ donors $300 toward funeral expenses. Such a plan acknowledges, finally, that altruism isn't enough. Hearing about that plan brought back memories of a college friend who was from Pennsylvania. Terri Mullin, a self-described "country girl from Pennsylvania," was a fantastic reporter at my college newspaper. But as good as she was, she never had a legitimate shot at an executive position on the paper. She had cystic fibrosis. The senior editors were worried because she was often in bad health, missing days at a time. Because she acted as if she didn't have the disease, I wasn't surprised when she asked me if I could teach her how to play softball. Softball was the sport that everyone on the paper could play. Everyone, that is