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Showing posts from December, 2007

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