Living (and dying) in America!

Living in America!

Michael Kinsley says it is time to scrap the Star-Spangled Banner. I'm on board with this. Doesn't sound bad, great historical references and all that, but it is even tough to lip-synch it...

Kinsley makes a couple of tepid recommendations. My choice?

Living in America by James Brown!

Can you get more American than James Brown? Drugs. Women. Jail time. Illegitimate children. Car chases. Mixed race. More women. Battle over his estate.

Not only should the song be the National Anthem, but the video should also be the National Video...

Whistling Past the Graveyard

Last night I picked up the June 6-12, 2009 issue of the Washington Afro-American. A page one article in the paper as well as an opinion piece by George Curry document the recent case of the white woman who claimed she was kidnapped by two black men.

As I recently asked: Why in the world would anyone believe that such a thing could happen? Why didn't she blame Native American Indians?

Looking through the news section, that's the only "crime" story in the news section.

Thankfully, the Washington Post is always on the case to report about crime! There's a story, B4, with the headline, "Despite More Policing, Another Man is Slain."

In this case, the man was shot and killed "just steps away" from a new post where an officer is stationed. There's also a security camera nearby.

Jean Bland, a resident who lives nearby and has "several old bullet holes" in her home from people shooting, says the obvious: "Something has to be done."

Something is right! I'd suggest we spend more time tracking down more white women who make up stories about black men...

* * *

Will he hear this by 2029?

Sherrilyn A. Ifill ties the recent shooting at the Holocaust museum to right-wingers. When I have trouble quickly distinguishing between Jew-hating leftists and Jew-hating rightists then I check with Ifill.

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post joins in today with the type of hackneyed thinking he should be remembered (then, quickly forgotten) one day.

In unrelated news, noted Republican Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. says "Them Jews" won't allow Pres. Obama to meet with him.

Pres. Obama sat in Rev. Wright's church for 20 years without hearing the things he said...perhaps he'll catch up with this story by 2029...

* * *

Eugene Robinson is still a clown

When he first replaced William Raspberry a few years I tried to read his writing. I had read Raspberry's columns on a regular basis for about 15 years. While I often disagreed with Raspberry's conclusions when he reached them, I could appreciate that he seemed to be thinking out loud and didn't mind changing his mind or admitting he had been wrong.

But Raspberry being followed by Robinson is like going from Martin Luther King Jr to Al Sharpton. Whereas Raspberry was thoughtful, Robinson is a hack. There were some days that Raspberry couldn't decide which shoes to put on; Robinson prefers clown shoes.

* * *

How much more Magical could he be in person?

According to Ray Friedman of Vanderbilt University, the scores of black students increased after Obama's nomination and election victory.

If true, then just think what the Obama effect would have been if he had given the commencement address at a black college or university?

According to DeWayne Wickham, the White House refuses to answer his question: "I wanted to know how many black higher education institutions have asked Barack Obama to be their commencement speaker this spring."

CJL
linked by Booker Rising and I stole the great graphic from her...

Helping North Koreans 'strike the blow' (Korea Times)

H ave you ever engaged in action not because you were sure it would change the world, but to satisfy your own heart? That, I emailed to an American friend, is why I have joined the effort to help North Koreans who are trying to escape from their homeland. I can’t change the direction of policy in North Korea or China but I can row the boat I am sitting in rather than lamenting that I can’t steer the yachts somewhere else. So I have tried to do what I can: Attending protests in front of the Chinese embassy in Seoul (and I plan to do so when I visit America in April); donating money to the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights ( www.nkhumanrights.or.kr ); educating myself, writing articles and emailing friends; and, as a member of the board of trustees, I recently submitted a resolution to the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association (FDMHA) in Washington, D.C., to try to call attention to the plight of North Koreans. Our organization’s missi...

Chang Ha-Joon's foolish consistency (Korea Times, January 1, 2013)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. Is the sky blue? Is the ocean water? If you suspect those are trick questions, you are right. The sky isn’t always blue ― it is reddish at sunset, dark at midnight, gray on an overcast day. The ocean isn’t water ― there’s also fish, plant life, submarines, dissolved minerals, surfboards, sunken ships, even people swimming in it sometimes. As Hoover Institution scholar Thomas Sowell wrote in his 1996 book ``The Vision of the Anointed,” people who use “all-or-nothing” reasoning can deny a statement because it is not 100 percent true in every circumstance. Such word games might be fun for college students or debaters, but there are some distinguished people who are respected for making such childish arguments about serious issues. In his book ``23 Things They Don’t Tell you About Capitalism,” Cambridge University economist Chang Ha-Joon argues that 1) “[T]here is really no such thing as a free market” and 2) “The free market doesn’t exis...

2020-04-26 "May I choose more teachers?" TNKR Matching session #102

2020-04-26, TNKR Matching session #102 The Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (TNKR) humbly began in March 2013 with 5 tutors and 5 NK refugees being matched together. We held that first session at a TOZ business center in Gangnam. Seven years later, TNKR has now matched 455 North Korean refugees with 1,027 tutors, coaches, and mentors. Today we held our 102nd Language Matching session at our slightly expanded office near the Sangsu Subway Station. Instead of just being something that Casey and Eunkoo did short-term, TNKR is now an official organization in both South Korea and the USA, we have been featured in media and by other organizations (just yesterday, we were featured by KOTESOL), and we have fans and donors from around the world.

"Yoegi Anjuseyo!"

* I have a short reflection in today's Korea Times about an encounter with an unfriendly looking Korean man on the subway. It was a reminder not to be too quick in judging people in Korea. 09-13-2011 16:47 'Yeogi Anjeuseyo!' By Casey Lartigue Jr. The recent incident in which an American English teacher bullied an elderly Korean man and other passengers on the bus reminded me of a more pleasing incident from years ago. I was on the subway, taking the train outside of Seoul for a work assignment. I have the habit of standing on the subway to strategically position myself near the doors in case my stop magically appears. On that particular day, there was a Korean man STARING at me. Not just looking at me, but intensely staring at me. He had an incredible frown on his face. Not just for one stop, but for several stops the guy just kept staring at me. If I had known more Korean then I would have been able to curse him ...

2020-11-26 My basketball story

This photo was uploaded today by my aunt Annette. This was back in the day, when 1) I had a head full of hair and 2) played basketball a lot. That first year of playing organized basketball, I focused on playing defense. It seemed that everyone wanted to shoot the ball, so I passed the ball and played defense. I probably led the league in steals, rebounds and blocked shots. I enjoyed taking on the best player from the other team, I felt like I would get better, quickly. The second year, I was a different player. I will never forget the first game that second year--we lost 29 to 26, I scored 18 points. I probably led the universe in scoring that second year, although we didn't win much. One thing I learned from that experience is that one great player 9 (at least in his own mind) can't beat a team. An eye injury ended my pro career before it began, to this day I still have floaters in my eyes because of the injury. I started wearing glasses, but the problem never went away. On t...

The Casey Lartigue Show!

Search This Blog