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Another surge is working

It shouldn't be news, but in D.C. it is-- nobody got killed last weekend . The headline on the Washington Post article: "D.C. Has Weekend Free of Shootings : Violent Crime Falls As 3,500 Officers Deploy During Blitz" CJL

Shutting Down Unneeded D.C. Public Schools

D.C. Mayor Fenty and Schools Chancellor Rhee have put forth a plan to shut down 23 public schools . As is the usual case, families and activists are fighting back. It doesn't matter how few kids are in a particular school, there are some who never want to see a public school closed. The student population of DC public schools has fallen from about 150,000 in 1969 to less than 50,000 now. Yet, every attempt to shut down public schools has met resistance. If some parents had their way, there would be a similar number of schools open today. Just a few years ago, former city council member Fenty was leading the charge to spend billions renovating schools. Now as mayor Fenty, he is leading the charge to shut down schools. In a briefing paper I wrote for the Cato Institute a few years ago, I suggested that Mayor Williams should appoint an independent commission to recommend which public schools should be shut down. That's because I didn't think a D.C. mayor would ever have the po

Iowa Heartland Presidential Forum....live blogging

This is now the third time I'm live blogging a presidential forum. This one has been the toughest. The previous two times I blogged at the invitation of the Media Bloggers Association. Bloggers were in one room watching the action. The focus was on the candidates. This time, it is at the invitation of TV One. The focus is as much on the questioners as it is on the candidates. What makes this one more challenging is that the "real people" at the microphone tell their "real stories" to the candidates. Such stories apparently aren't meant to be questioned or challenged. One of the points Stephen Carter has made (in his book Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby ) is that when he was a young radical, he and his fellow activists believed that their stories were not to be debated. That explains much of the mindset of community activists today. They will bring out people to tell their personal stories as victims--based on their race, income level, family status

Blacker Than Thou--or American Like You

Fellow TV One blogger La Shawn Barber cites a new book by Shelby Steele about Barack Obama . She mentions that she read in a book review that Obama, who grew up somewhat privileged, must exaggerate black America's oppression so he can appeal to black voters. Obama definitely has been walking a fine line--appealing to Americans in general, but also trying to keep it real with black Americans. And keeping it real with black Americans has meant trying to keep the black talk show hosts, activists, academics, and preachers from attacking him. The best way to do this is to become "blacker-than-thou." That is, he'll become more radical than any other black person in the room so that there will be no question about his race loyalty and identity. Politicians are infamous for appealing to the audience they are with at that particular moment. But in Iowa those two worlds are about to come together in one forum--in the heartland of Iowa, which is 95 percent white, at a forum

Illegal Immigration at Heartland Presidential Forum

Faye Anderson , another TV One blogger for coverage of the network's coverage of the Democrat Presidential Debate, writes that illegal immigration is sure to be one of the issues to come up during tomorrow's talk-fest. Admittedly, I don't pay much attention to debates or politicians unless I'm covering them for an event. Meaning, this is now the third time this year that I've paid attention to the debates. As people often point out to me, I'm almost always in the minority when the issue is illegal immigration. 1) I oppose punishing private employers for hiring illegals. 2) I support taking laws against such hiring practices off the books. 3) I don't oppose laws preventing the various levels of governments from hiring illegals. 4) If the various levels of government are serious about punishing illegals, then they should prevent them from receiving government services or benefits. 5) It isn't the government's job to protect you against competition fo

TV One's Presidential Forum

I am now officially one of the bloggers covering TV One's Heartland Presidential Forum: Community Values in Action. The event will be moderated by TV One and Radio One Chairwoman Cathy Hughes. You can watch the live Webcast at TV One's Website starting Saturday, Dec 1., at 3 p.m. ET. The other superstar bloggers are Faye Anderson , Michael Fauntroy , La Shawn Barber and Megan Cosby . CJL

Cell phones don't kill people. People do.

The shocking story out of South Korea that an exploding cell phone had killed a man has turned out to be fake. Instead, it turns out that the man was killed by a co-worker . Here's the Reuters report , less than 1 mb at Rapidshare.com. The killer must have read a BBC report about a cell phone killing a Chinese welder . What I love is the expert analysis provided by the Dr. Kim Hoon . According to various media outlets: Kim Hoon , a doctor who examined the body, said the death was probably caused by an explosion of the battery. "He sustained an injury that is similar to a burn in the left chest and his ribs and spine were broken," Yonhap news agency quoted Kim as saying. I'd say that Dr. Kim should never again be allowed to provide expert testimony. I suspect that Dr. Kim is one of the Korean doctors who says that " fan death " is real and that South Koreans die from playing video games . Of course, those who enjoy urban legends may not be convinced by th

Black Murder Victims: A National Tragedy

Driving home last night I listened to much of Chris Plante's radio show on WMAL 630 AM about Sean Taylor and the black murder victim crisis. It was a great and engaging show, the type that I hope I occasionally had when I was a radio host on XM . From Plante's show, according to the WMAL site : Chris wants to also know why no "so-called" black leaders like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are talking about or taking action in this area. "Why am I talking about this and not Al." CJL's answer: Sharpton and Jackson DO talk about talk about black-on-black crime, and it hasn't been a recent thing. For example, in 1984, the Associated Press distributed an article titled, "Jackson calls for end to black-on-black crime." According to that 1984 AP dispatch: "I want blacks who kill and maim other blacks ... to go to jail," Jackson told about 250 people at the headquarters of Operation PUSH, the civil rights organization he founded."

NPR Roundtable

Yesterday I was on NPR's Bloggers ' Roundtable Discussion segment on the show News and Notes. I just listened to the show again--of course, while it was going on, I felt that I was stumbling over my words, but listening again, it didn't seem that way. Of course, I didn't make all of the points I had in mind. This is always the challenge with these live shows. As a writer and researcher, I write and revise. But on live radio, that's it! You've got one shot, no time to reflect on things. The other guests were Debra Dickerson and L.N. Rock of African American Pundit . The first topic was a new survey by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies about black voters preferring Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama . It doesn ’t really matter who blacks vote for in the primary. Democrats can count on them during the general election. My former radio co-host, Eliot Morgan, makes the point that the black vote is as mysterious and as unpredictable as who is in G

Thank God for the Atom Bomb

Paul Tibbets , the pilot who dropped the first A-bomb on Japan in 1945, just died at the age of 92. I agree that the dropping of the A-bombs was a proper and effective way to end WWII. The best defense I've read is Paul Fussell's "Thank God for the Atom Bomb." A couple of random thoughts about Paul Tibbets . 1) His certainty is striking. It is now so hip to be a moderate or wishy -washy. The media in particular seems to enjoy stories about American soldiers torn over the need to obey orders to fight. Tibbets would be loved today if he had expressed anguish over what he had done. In today's climate, he might even be Time Magazine's Man of the Year if he dropped the bomb in an ocean rather than obeying orders to drop it on the enemy--except that the environmentalists might then protest glorifying such an environmental hater.. 2) Soldiers who actually do their jobs—that is, eliminate the enemy—seem to play second fiddle to soldiers who get captured and must be

My brother's keeper and NPR

As I mentioned, I was on a Blogger's Roundtable Discussion on NPR's News and Notes, hosted by Farai Chideya . Here's the archive and blog of the show with a link to the audio. Anyway, some random thoughts: And I'm not responsible for the bad checks Megan Williams wrote, either... * If I told you that six people had kidnapped and raped a woman for a week, would you need to know the race of the people involved to know just how outraged you should be? It seems that many racial activists and members of the chattering class need such information... * White people in West Virginia are apologizing for the alleged abduction and rape of a 20-year old black woman by 6 white people. I feel absolutely no responsibility for the actions of criminals and lunatics, regardless of their race. As I said on the show, if I am really my brother's keeper and I am somehow responsible for what he does, then I want him checking in with me every 15 minutes so I'l

NPR Roundtable

I was on NPR's News and Notes again yesterday. The archive and blog about the show are here. I'll try to post some random thoughts later on. CJL

Iraq & Darfur

Senator Brownback just mentioned that we must be realistic about the war in Iraq. Professor Paul mentioned nothing that would lead to something that Duncan Hunter mentioned about Iraq: Victory! Democrats have made it clear that they won't pull the troops out of Iraq...they want president Bush to do it so they can blame Republicans for the disaster that would follow... CJL

DC Voting Rights & National ID cards

Tancredo told it like it is...if DC residents really want to have Congressional representation, then they have their areas become a part of Maryland or Virginia again... Keyes also pointed that DC was created to be a separate area to represent the entire country...if you don't like it, move! Immigration is the one issue Republicans lose me on. I'm often mistaken for being an open borders supporter--I guess it depends on one's definition...I support allowing anyone into the country who can pass basic health tests and a criminal background check. CJL

I ain't never been to jail!!!!

The topic is now the Jena 6. I happened to be in New Orleans the same day that Sharpton and company were there protesting the Jena 6 case. I still haven't quite gotten the details of the case, and based on the informal poll that I took while I was there, black people who are outraged about the case don't know the details either. I guess Sen. Brownback just identified with the black audience...he announced that he has been to jail. I agree with the candidates who pointed to the drug war as a major problem for black Americans. Professor Paul said we must repeal the entire drug war! Excellent! Too bad he'll never be president! CJL

Candidates who won't be president...

I don't even have to look at the polls to know that Ron Paul and Alan Keyes will never be president of the United States. I'll be softer on Paul because he cited professor Walter E. Williams on the minimum wage law. Still, Paul is an example of an academic pretending to be a politician. He'll always be 2 or 3 points ahead of me in the national polls. And I was going to point out that Keyes will never be president of the United States, but I enjoy when he is at the microphone! He may be the Republican version of Farrakhan and he probably won't get a vote from anyone in the audience tonight, but he can energize even an audience that thinks he is a damned fool. CJL

Your legacy

Brownback just mentioned that he would make sure the African American history museum gets built on the mall. As a reminder: Calvin Coolidge signed legislation creating a black history musem his last day in office. That was March 4, 1929. Malcolm X was almost 4 years old. Martin Luther King, Jr., was two months old. The museum still hasn't been built. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would suspect this museum is a rope-a-dope... If the first person who thought of this idea of a black museum had put $50 in the bank every year after the idea was first proposed in 1915, in 1928 when the legislation passed Congress or in 1929 when Coolidge signed it, the interest in 78 years would have been enough to pay for the museum without a dime of government money. I'm not opposed to the museum, by the way. But the reality is that the museum would be get built faster if it were a Jazz Museum. There won't be any of the drama about how much to highlight slavery or white guilt; it would hig

Talking about talking

If any publicity is good publicity, then the Republicans not here at the Morgan State University debate are getting plenty of good pub... Four didn't show up, and they are getting talked about!!! They've all but talked about their mommas making the mistake of having children who wouldn't show up to such a debate... Ron Paul has pledged to attend every debate. He didn't say it that way, but he said he showed up because he was invited. Huckabee apologized and Brownback apologized that the other candidates weren't there...instead of regretting it, I would celebrate that I had more time to talk. CJL

Who says that racism doesn't exist

I'm here blogging at Morgan State University. This time around it is the Republicans discussing black issues. Talk show host Tom Joyner started off the night with a straw man: that some pretend that racism doesn't exist. I hear plenty of people saying that racism doesn't exist, that some pretend racism doesn't exist. But the people who say that the most often are the people who say there are others saying that racism doesn't exist. Is there anyone serious who actually says that racism doesn't exist? The issue isn't whether or not racism doesn't exist--rather, is it still an actual barrier to progress? If you're a student living in a lousy neighborhood attending a lousy school, then the issue of racism is just a rumor as you try to make it through this world... CJL

You are Invited!

This Saturday, Sept 8. I'll be speaking to National Capital Area Skeptics about Memorandum 46. The location is the Bethesda Library, from 2 to 4 p.m., 7400 Arlington Rd. Here's the link to the FLYER . More info HERE . CJL

Walter E. Williams hosting Rush Limbaugh tomorrow

Professor Walter E. Williams will be hosting the Rush Limbaugh Show on August 24, 2007. Here's the archive of Professor Williams getting interviewed by me and Eliot Morgan on the Casey Lartigue Show on XM 169. April 28 and June 9 . We discussed reparations for slavery and the minimum wage mandate. CJL

Radio, speech

In a few hours, Eliot Morgan and I will be interviewed on the Paul Harris Show 3-7 p.m. EST. Here's the archive from Harris's site. On September 8, I will be speaking to the organization National Capital Area Skeptics . I've also been invited to speak at the University of Maryland, but the date hasn't been set yet. CJL

Eliot & Casey are bad guys=Memorandum 46 is True!!!

Rev. Walter Fauntroy has responded to a column that Eliot Morgan and I published in the August 5 edition of the Washington Post. Unfortunately, some people are more focused on me and Eliot than they are on determining whether or not Memorandum 46 is a fraud. I'll concede that we are mean guys with bad personalities...does that mean that Memorandum 46 about black Americans is real? Anyway, a couple of observations and comments about Rev. Fauntroy's response : 1) WHERE'S THE FOIA REQUEST? On June 12 or 13, talk-show host Joe Madison invited Rev. Fauntroy on his show for a discussion about Memorandum 46. At that time, Rev. Fauntroy said that they (apparently the Congressional Black Caucus and colleagues) asked for--and were granted--a Freedom of Information request for Memorandum 46. You would think that, in a commentary of more than 2,200 words, that Rev. Fauntroy would have mentioned the FOIA request that must have been stamped with FOIA on it to prove that Memorand

Media for Memorandum 46

Today I will be on NPR's Tell Me More hosted by Michel Martin from about 3:30 p.m. EST. I'll be on with the programming director who pulled my show off the air after we argued over program content. I will also be doing Paul Preston's Ed Talk from 9 p.m. I've had a few other requests but I haven't confirmed yet... Who would have ever thought that a questionable 1978 Memorandum would be worth discussing in national media? Speaking of conspiracies...I'll be discussing Memorandum 46. If you look at the address for NPR's Tell Me More, you'll see that it is show number 46... I want to thank those of you who have been sending me e-mail messages. Unfortunately, I can't respond immediately but will do so when things slow down. I didn't expect to get so much attention for the article and have some commitments I can't break. CJL Linked by La Shawn Barber , SuperNatural News , Ed News , Beyond the Digital Decks , Common Sense Wonder , Dark Star Spouts

Forgery or conspiracy? Memorandum 46

Here's an article I co-wrote that will appear in the Sunday Outlook section of the Washington Post . We'll be updating this page over the coming days. So check back for updates. Memorandum 46 timeline , as compiled by us. Audio from our last show on XM 169 before we got fired. That audio is divided into segments, this one is one large MP3 . Who says Memorandum46 is true? Former rep. Cynthia McKinney presents Memo 46 to the United Nations and defends it in a speech . Joe Madison presents Memo 46 at the annual Congressional Black Caucus gathering. Former D.C. delegate Walter Fauntroy, on the Joe Madison show on XM 169 (audio available, upon request) and on Michael Fauntroy's site Boyd Graves (see Exhibit 10 of his lawsuit against the government) The Final Call, with Brzezinski's name misspelled . Len Horowitz Blackelectorate.com Millions for Reparations Various discussion forums or discussants, such as: Greekchat , Jahness , Who says Memorandum 46 is a forgery? Brzezi

Random Thoughts

You Can't Take It With You, But We'll Still Send It! According to today's Washington Post : The U.S. Department of Agriculture distributed $1.1 billion over seven years to the estates or companies of deceased farmers and routinely failed to conduct reviews required to ensure that the payments were properly made, according to a government report. In a selection of 181 cases from 1999 to 2005, the Government Accountability Office found that officials approved payments without any review 40 percent of the time. It is good to see our government being so proactive in catching people who are defrauding the government! Can We Retroactively Help Out the Stage Coach Driver and Iceman? According to the Washington Post : Under a Senate bill to be introduced today, computer programmers, call-center staffers and other service-sector workers who make up the vast majority of the nation's workforce would for the first time be eligible for a generous package of income, health and retra

Fairness Doctrine

As I mentioned on Wednesday, I participated in NPR's discussion on the Fairness Doctrine. Kim Pearson has a comprehensive post on the issue. Some random thoughts: 1) Like Pearson, I had expected Prometheus 6 to come out stronger in favor of the Fairness Doctrine. Instead, he said there should be an "Honesty Doctrine." That's all well and good, but I seriously doubt that the government would be any better at enforcing an "Honesty Doctrine" than it would be at enforcing a "Fairness Doctrine." One major criticism of the Fairness Doctrine is that it made stations less likely to air some opinions because they then would have to air opposing opinions. When the result is "damned if you do, damned if you don't" with the government watching, the most logical approach is to do nothing. By doing "something," you give the government a reason to investigate you. But would the FCC investigate a station that aired no opinions. That'

Universal education and its consequences

I've heard numerous speakers and commentators point out that newspaper reporters write their articles so they can be understood even by elementary school students. It often seems that those are elementary school students at a particularly bad elementary school... So I don't mind admitting that I tripped up on the word "paroxysm" in today's Washington Post. What's that doing in a newspaper? In case you were wondering, here is how you use the word "paroxysm" in a sentence, as demonstrated by today's Washington Post : Police officials said that the paroxysm of violence was "very unusual" and that they had no indication that the shootings were related . I wonder--how long have newspapers dumbed down their content? A few years ago when I was doing research I read some editions of the North Star published by Frederick Douglass from 1847 to 1860. As a reminder, Douglass was a former slave who never spent a day attending school. Here is a sampl

Taking crime to the suburbs

According to the Washington Post, "Metro Transit Police have arrested four men for allegedly breaking into more than 50 vehicles in a Fairfax County Metrorail station parking garage, officials said." Some random thoughts: 1) This occurred in Springfield, VA, which is about 17 miles south of Washington, DC. According to the Post: "The two arrested June 25 are Maurice Conyers , 22, of Southeast Washington, and Darryl Walker, 20, of Hagerstown . The two arrested July 13 are Randy Smith, 19, and Kevin Wilson, 22, both of Northeast Washington." Three from DC, one from Maryland. So these guys apparently took the Metro out to Virginia to steal cars? I'll remember that the next time I hear suburbanites getting criticized for opposing the Metro line to their area. 2) I've always thought "parking attendant" was a misnomer. "Attendant" is stretching it since they really just seem to be cashiers who also park your car and leave the door open long en

Saturday Special on Friday Night

"If you miss the first button hole, you will not succeed in buttoning up your coat." --Anonymous Colbert King of the Washington Post goes through some logical gymnastics to compare Barack Obama to an abolitionist. In short, he compares some public policy statements from Obama with the actions of D.C. abolitionist Leonard A. Grimes. A few random thoughts: 1) His entire comparison is off from the beginning. It makes no sense to compare the latest push for a war on poverty with slave abolition. Slaves were being held in bondage. They just needed the law to protect their same right to individual liberty that other law-abiding individuals had. That is different from trying to get people to stop being trashy and violent. If there is a comparison of Obama with abolitionists, it would be to what abolitionists went through after slavery in trying to help the freemen. In both cases, the group in need of assistance is free but not ready to take advantage of opportunities. 2) It mak

From Michael Vick-tory to Michael Con-Vick!

Football star Michael Vick has been indicted by a federal grand jury. Apparently he loves dog fighting. And hanging dogs. And killing dogs. Some random thoughts: 1) Michael Vick is my favorite player in the Madden Football video series. The 2008 version of the game will be coming out next month. I suppose that if he does actually serve six years that Vick will be the best player on the All-Madden Prison Team. 2) The Washington Post article sums it up: "Michael Vick and three other men...." Three other men? Nobody but their momma and perhaps their momma's boo cares who those three other men are. This is about Michael Vick. That's why Vick is such an idiot--he's a celebrity. I bet he was the only one at those dog fights with a $130 million contract. Didn't Michael Vick learn anything from Paris Hilton? The courts, media, talk show hosts, the man on the street were all determined that she serve time. And they'll be determined that Vick serve time. That'