Saudi's Say We Don't Need You Or Your Stinking Money

We decimated Iraq over the prospect of controling our oil interests in the Middle East but we cannot even coax a deal out of Saudi Arabia - our ally?

President Bush has gone to Riyadh once again to beg the Saudis to increase oil production, and once again he's been rebuffed. Here's the explanation:

Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, told reporters, "What they're saying to us is" that "Saudi Arabia does not have customers that are making requests for oil that they are not able to satisfy," The Associated Press reported.

That's a lovely tautology, isn't it? Needless to say, there's always a price at which the demand for Saudi oil is no greater than what they happen to be putting on the market. Today it's $127 per barrel. If they cut production in half and the price went up to $500 per barrel, they still wouldn't be getting any requests they couldn't satisfy.

That would mean ... we're screwed!

Obama Says Bring It!

George Bush showed his perpetual lack of class by going all the way to Israel to bash Barack Obama (while John McCain chimes in like a flunky) but Barack was quick with a response. He's ready, willing and able to take them on!

“I want to be perfectly clear with George and John McCain….If George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting the United States of America, that is a debate I’m willing to have anytime, anywhere because that is a debate that I will win because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for.”

Hee Hee! Ha Ha! Ho Ho!

The Huckster is such a yuckster!

During a speech before the National Rifle Association convention Friday afternoon in Louisville, Kentucky, former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee — who has endorsed presumptive GOP nominee John McCain — joked that an unexpected offstage noise was Democrat Barack Obama looking to avoid a gunman.

“That was Barack Obama, he just tripped off a chair, he's getting ready to speak,” said the former Arkansas governor, to audience laughter. “Somebody aimed a gun at him and he dove for the floor.”

Ah, good ole NRA humor!

The "Cracker Ass Cracker" Vote

Though I love Eugene Robinson's and Bob Herbert's commentaries, I didn't agree with them so much on Hillary's regurgitation of the AP stats which showed that white, working class whites were not feeling Obama. I think they took it someplace it didn't need to go and someplace that wasn't her intention. I tend to agree with
DeWayne Wickham.

It was the political equivalent of a roundhouse punch — a blow that was easy to see coming, but one that its intended target knew would do great damage if it landed.

During an interview with this newspaper last week, Hillary Clinton uttered the unspeakable. In explaining why she continues to campaign for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination when it appears that Barack Obama has an insurmountable lead, Clinton said his support among white voters is weak.

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said. Clinton cited a recent Associated Press poll that found 53% of whites who have not completed college have an unfavorable view of Obama, who is on the verge of becoming the first black to win the presidential nomination of a major political party.

That's exactly the kind of talk Obama supporters and Democratic Party officials don't want to hear — at least not publicly. But while Clinton was accused of playing the race card for what she said, she actually exposed the soft underbelly of Obama's masterful White House campaign.

The whole witch burning that ensued and Hillary being called racist was just stupid. She didn't make up the numbers. I heard them, ad nauseum , every morning and every night on every cable news program. The Obama campaign needs to pay attention to this core group of democrats who seem to have been forgotten with all of the focus on the 90+ percent of blacks who support him along with the whites who make more than 50K/yr. Having grown up in Chicago, I am quite familiar with the white, working class types who take issue with Obama and most other people who don't look like them. The late Mayor Daley was about as staunch of a democrat as you could get but he hated Martin Luther King with a passion. I have vivid memories, stories and experiences reflecting what happened to people who ventured into their neighborhoods with more than a summer tan.

Yet, the "cracker ass cracker" vote is still pivotal. I'm not sure how Obama can win them over or even if people like John Edwards can help change hearts and minds. It's going to be a challenge for sure but now that he is the apparent nominee, we're going to have to figure something out or we will end up with four more years of the mess that Bush made.

Ironically, if Obama weren't the eloquent and ultra educated black man that he is, he wouldn't be where he is. Yet, that education and presence seems to be his biggest obstacle with these people - racial undertones or not.

Change is In The Air

Morehouse College is a 141 year old historically black college in Atlanta. While over the years whites and other non-blacks have been trickling there and at other HBCUs, this is the first time they've had a white valedictorian.

Change is in the air. We may soon elect the nation's first black President and a white man is graduating at the head of the class as a distinguished Morehouse "brother."

Here are some other distinguished Morehouse graduates:

In 1867, William Jefferson White, Edmund Turney and Richard Coulter, a former slave, would serve as Founder and Associate Founders of Morehouse College.

In 1906, President John Hope would return to Morehouse as the first African-American President of Morehouse College.

In 1911, Morehouse graduated Mordecai W. Johnson, the first African-American to serve as President of Howard University.

In 1923, Morehouse would graduate James Nabrit, co-counsel for Brown vs. the Board of Education case and a noted philosopher and theologian, Howard Washington Thurman.

In 1940, President Benjamin E. Mays became the College's 6th President and literally saves the nation's premiere institution for African-American Men

In 1948, Morehouse would produce Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Samuel Dubois Cook and Harvard's Charles V. Willie.

In 1954, Morehouse would produce Dr. Louis Sullivan, former Secretary of Health and Human Services and co-founder of the Morehouse School of Medicine.

In 1956, Morehouse would produce a Atlanta's first African-American Maynard Jackson, Civil Rights legend Otis Moss Jr and defense attorney Willie "Flash" Davis.

In 1958, Morehouse would produce noted physicist and Morehouse's 9th president, Walter E. Massey.Spike Lee

In 1963, Morehouse would produce Dr. David Satcher, the nation's first African-American Man to serve as U.S. Surgeon General.

In 1972, Morehouse would produce acting pioneer Samuel L. Jackson and attorney Gordon L Joyner, whose son will graduate as Salutatorian with an impressive 3.99 GPA.

In 1975, Morehouse would produce Robert M. Franklin, the 4th Alumnus to serve as President of Morehouse College.

In 1978, Morehouse would produce a three-time Olympian, Edwin Moses.

In 1979, Morehouse would produce the world-class filmmaker Spike Lee.

In 1983, Morehouse would produce the first MD/JD graduate, Rod Edmond.

In 1994, Morehouse would produce Nima Warfield, the first African American Rhodes Scholar from an HBCU

In 2002, Morehouse would produce Chris Elders, the College's 2nd Rhodes Scholar and Harold Martin, the College's first Class President/Valedictorian graduating with a 4.0

In 2004, Morehouse produced Tope Folarin '04, the College's 3rd Rhodes Scholar

In 2006, Morehouse would graduate its largest class (over 600 African-American men)

In 2007, Morehouse made history by producing two Valedictorians, Ruben Alexander and Darryl Bennett both graduating with a 4.0.

You Are A Crazy Country

I wonder what terrorist watch list Desmond TuTu will be placed on for stating the obvious.

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu weighed in on the presidential campaign Tuesday in Chicago, praising America's ability to produce the first viable African-American presidential candidate while describing the nation as haunted by a racial divide that still offers blacks what he called only "the illusion of equality."

"You are a crazy country," Tutu, 76, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, said in an interview with the Tribune. "You're a country that has I think some of the most generous people I've ever come across in the world."

But he chided Americans for getting "very, very upset" with the pastor of Sen. Barack Obama, noting that Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. "may have said more crudely what, actually, almost every African-American would have wanted to say. I mean that is how they feel in your country, that race ... is a very, very real issue."

"And I think on the whole you keep trying to pretend it isn't," he added, noting the issue will haunt Americans until there is a way to talk honestly about race, such as holding a reconciliation forum.

Can Someone Define "Won?"

Technically, we won the war once we toppled Baghdad. Seriously, if you are occupying a country, you are the winner. So, someone explain to me what John McCain means when he says won.

Republican John McCain declared for the first time Thursday he believes the Iraq war can be won by 2013, although he rejected suggestions that his talk of a timetable put him on the same side as Democrats clamoring for full-scale troop withdrawals.

The Republican presidential contender, in a mystical speech that also envisioned Osama bin Laden dead or captured, and Americans with the choice of paying a simple flat tax or following their standard 1040 form, said only a small number of troops would remain in Iraq by the end of a prospective first term because al-Qaida will have been defeated and Iraq's government will be functioning on its own.

"By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won," McCain told an audience of several hundred here in the capital city of a general election battleground state.

Can A Sistah Get A Break?

How in the hayell is a black woman taking the heat for fallen Gov. Spitzer's whore mongering? He's the one purchasing illegal services. Aside from losing his job (regular folks lose jobs every day for less scandalous reasons), what price will he pay for his crimes?

A woman accused of booking clients for a high-priced call girl ring pleaded guilty Wednesday to money laundering and promoting prostitution in the federal probe that brought down former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Temeka Rachelle Lewis, who worked as a booking agent for the Emperor's Club VIP, is the first defendant to admit guilt in the case that led to Spitzer's resignation.

She made a brief court appearance in a plea bargain that obligates her to turn over records, testify before a grand jury if asked and answer any questions investigators may have about her role in arranging dates between Emperor's Club working girls and the agency's deep-pocketed clients.

[...]

Asked why his client pleaded guilty, Agnifilo said Lewis, who majored in English at the University of Virginia and has never been in trouble with the law before, just wants to put the case behind her.

"She's basically a very good person. Sitting at a defense table in a federal courthouse is the last place she imagined she'd be," he said. "I have no doubt she'll never be in trouble again."

Lewis, with her mother and sister looking on, appeared calm in court, then left without speaking to reporters. Under federal sentencing guidelines she could face around 16 months in prison, or less, depending on the level of her cooperation with prosecutors, Agnifilo said.

What price will the "hooker" pay? She ended up making a tidy sum by selling her music online. I swear, black folks always end up taking the fall ...

Them West Virginians Sure Are Different ...

'Cause this is a bit much!

I wouldn't have even worn a Michael Jackson pant suit in the 70s when I LOVED him.

Beyond Epic Crazy !!!

Whoosah! And Whoosah again!

We have some epic Crazy right here. This is the "anti-Wright," Rev. James Manning, famous for calling Obama a "mac daddy" and a "pimp" in a variety of highly comical YouTubes. In this one he describes the Trinity of Hell: Oprah Winfrey (a "struggling actor and radio talk show host" and "suspected lesbian"), Rev. Jeremiah Wright ("a closet homosexual"), and Barack Hussein Obama (also "a closet homosexual" and "a long-legged pimp"). Why did Barry stay in the church for 20 years, Rev. Manning? Well, you can probably guess his answer.

The Deal With Appalachia

Barack lost big there and, jokes aside, those folks are definitely a different breed. So what is it about this region?

From TPM:

"Let me offer a series of overlapping explanations. First, some basic demographics. It's widely accepted that Hillary Clinton does better with older voters, less educated voters and white voters. These demographics perfectly match West Virginia -- and, more loosely, the entire Appalachian region. A few key points from tonight's exit polls demonstrate the point: 4 out of 10 voters were over 60 years of age. 7 out of 10 lacked a college degree -- the highest proportion of any electorate in the country. And 95% of the electorate was white.

Basically you have a state that is made up almost exclusively of Clinton's voters. But there's a deeper historical explanation that we have to apply as well -- one nicely illustrated by the origins of West Virginia itself.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, in the middle Atlantic and particularly in the Southern states, there was a long-standing cleavage between the coastal and 'piedmont' regions on the one hand and the upcountry areas to the west on the other. It's really the coastal lowlands and the Appalachian districts. On the other side of the Appalachian mountain range the pattern is flipped, with the Appalachians in the east and the lowlands in the west.

These regions were settled disproportionately by Scots-Irish immigrants who pushed into the hill country to the west in part because that's where the affordable land was but also because they wanted to get away from the more stratified and inegalitarian society of the east which was built by English settlers and their African slaves. Crucially, slavery never really took root in these areas. And this is why during the Civil War, Unionism (as in support for the federal union and opposition to the treason of secession) ran strong through the Appalachian upcountry, even into Deep South states like Alabama and Mississippi.

As I alluded to earlier, this was the origin of West Virginia, which was originally the westernmost part of Virginia. The anti-slavery, anti-slaveholding upcountry seceded from Virginia to remain in the Union after Virginia seceded from the Union. Each of these regions was fiercely anti-Slavery. And most ended up raising regiments that fought in the Union Army. But they were as anti-slave as they were anti-slavery, both of which they viewed as the linchpins of the aristocratic and inegalitarian society they loathed. It was a society that was both more violent and more self-reliant.

This is history. But it shapes the region. It's overwhelmingly white, economically underdeveloped (another legacy of the pre-civil war pattern) and arguably because of that underdevelopment has very low education rates and disproportionately old populations.

For all these reasons, if you're familiar with the history, it's really no surprise that Barack Obama would have a very hard time running in this region."

I'll Bet Obama Girl Would Like It

I'm not sure there's any ill or dismissive intent but, depending on the woman, this might not come off so hot.

Barack Obama passed off a reporter today in Michigan, and she seemed less than amused by his name for her.

"Hold on one second there, sweetie," he says.

The reporter signed off: "This sweetie never did get an answer to that question."

A newer co-worker who sits across the wall from me has used the terms "gal" and "old lady (to refer to his girlfriend)" and because he's not old enough to be from that "era," I was little taken aback.

Barack is going to have to watch it. A sweet old lady might like it. Michelle might love it. But since this apparently isn't the first time he's done it, he's going to have to be careful that he doesn't get labeled (among other things) a sexist pig. I'm kinda tickled that the reporter shot back as if to say: "I've got your sweetie!"

Edwards Gives Obama The Nod

It took long enough but I guess we knew it was coming.

Democrat John Edwards endorsed former rival Barack Obama on Wednesday, a move designed to help solidify support for the party's likely presidential nominee even as Hillary Rodham Clinton refuses to give up her long-shot candidacy.

Edwards made a surprise appearance with Obama in Grand Rapids, Mich., as the Illinois senator campaigns in a critical general election battleground state.

The endorsement came a day after Clinton defeated Obama by more than 2-to-1 in the West Virginia primary. The loss highlighted Obama's challenge in winning over the "Hillary Democrats" - white, working-class voters who also supported Edwards in significant numbers before he exited the race in late January.

Edwards, who received a thunderous ovation when Obama introduced him to a crowd of several thousand, said, "brothers and sisters, we must come together as Democrats" to defeat McCain. "We are here tonight because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I."

He said Obama "stands with me" in a fight to cut poverty in half within 10 years.

Edwards also praised Clinton, saying "we are a stronger party" because of her involvement, and "we're going to have a stronger nominee in the fall because of her work."

He said Clinton is a "woman who is made of steel. She is a leader in this country not because of her husband but because of what she has done."

His wife, on the other hand, seems to be on a different page:

When he made his decision, Edwards didn't even tell many of his former top advisers because he wanted to inform Clinton personally, said the person close to him. Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, who has said she thinks Clinton has the superior health care plan, did not travel with him to Michigan and is not part of the endorsement.

Such Humor!

More "post-racial society" jokes.

Some Barack Obama supporters want a Bakersfield radio station to fire a host who posted graphics on the station's Web site that linked the presidential candidate's campaign to the phrase "Kill Whitey."

KNZR 1560 AM host Jaz McKay posted a version of an "Obama '08" logo followed by that phrase, as well as other fake slogans including "Hope. Change. Dead honkeys." and "Yes we can. Kill white folks."

McKay says he didn't create the graphics, but posted them on his Web page as a joke after finding them elsewhere on the Internet.

The station's general manager says McKay won't be disciplined, and that his listeners understand his "tongue-in-cheek humor."

Obama pledge delegate Uduak Ntuk calls the slogans hate speech.

She's Scared Of The Other Race

Whew! Do you laugh or cry?

Cuba Embargo Makes No Sense

So says Brent Scowcroft.

Brent Scowcroft, the dean of George H. W. Bush's foreign policy brain trust, was, as you likely know by now, in favor of the first Gulf War and the war in Afganistan but was opposed to the Iraq War from before it began. Though a Republican, he has shown the flexibility and disdain for ideology that comes from being a true adherent of the realist approach to foreign policy.

That doesn't just apply to the Middle East. Here he is talking to Steve Clemons about the long-standing Cuba embargo

If you couldn't hear the soft-spoken Mr. Scowcroft, here's what he said: "My answer on Cuba is Cuba is not a foreign policy question. Cuba is a domestic issue. In foreign policy, the embargo makes no sense. It doesn't do anything. It's quite clear we can not starve Cuba to death. We learned that when the Soviet stopped subsidizing Cuba and they didn't collapse. It's a domestic issue."

What he's saying is that domestic politics, embodied in this case by the powerful and hard-line Cuban exile lobby in Florida that no politician with national ambitions can alienate, is keeping the embargo in place. Common sense, on the other hand, suggests that decades of the embargo have not produced any results in the island nation, other than a less prosperous and less healthy Cuban people. After all, Castro is leaving on his own terms and has hand-picked his successor.

You never know. With Scowcroft and Obama on board for reform, common sense may pull off a come from behind victory.

Condi used to be a "student" of Scowcroft and still chose to follow the insanity of the inept neo-cons who hijacked Dubya's administration. I'd hope that either Obama, Clinton or McCain would seek counsel from Mr. Scowcroft.

The Monkey Card

Funny, the post-racial candidate is still a monkey to some folks.

Marietta tavern owner Mike Norman says the T-shirts he's peddling, featuring cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with "Obama in '08" scrolled underneath, are "cute." But to a coalition of critics, the shirts are an insulting exploitation of racial stereotypes from generations past.

"It's time to put an end to this," said Rich Pellegrino, a Mableton resident and director of the Cobb-Cherokee Immigrant Alliance. It was among the organizations planning to gather outside Mulligan's Bar and Grill Tuesday afternoon to protest the "racist and highly offensive" shirts.

"There's no place for these views, not in this day and age," he said.

Just down the street from Marietta's famous Big Chicken, Mulligan's has carved a provocative niche in an increasingly multicultural area, thanks to its owner's ultra-conservative political views. If you live in Marietta, it's impossible not to know what's on Norman's mind, as he posts his views on signs in front of Mulligan's.

Among his recent musings: "I wish Hillary had married OJ," "No habla espanol — and never will" and the standard "I.N.S. Agents eat free."

"I'm saying out loud what everyone in this town whispers," Norman said.

Whatever residents think of the signs, organized opposition to his blunt commentaries — ongoing for 16 years — had been nonexistent. No longer, says Pellegrino, who, though familiar with Norman's politics, said he was still surprised by the stark imagery of the Obama T-shirts.

"There's a lot of people hurt by this," he said.

Norman said those offended are "hunting for a reason to be mad" and insisted he is "not a racist."

Why picture Obama as Curious George? "Look at him . . . the hairline, the ears, he looks just like Curious George," Norman said.

Hmmm ... Don't see the resemblance. I'm also put out by the INS comment and the Hillary comment. But he's "just saying what everyone else in town is whispering". Guess these folks will be voting Republican ... or Libertarian now that Bob Barr has jumped into the race.

Bill The Perpetual Bully

I totally forgot that Bill O'Reilly used to be an "entertainment" hack. I'll bet most folks didn't know that he was a foul mouthed blowhard and a bully even back then.

This early footage of Bill O’Reilly from his previous gig at “Inside Edition” captures the future Fox pundit letting fly with a few F-bombs when he doesn’t approve of—or understand—the copy written for him to read during the show’s final moments. Hey Bill, there’s no “I” in ... oh, never mind.

No Hoochies Allowed

This will definitely be one making the "hot ghetto mess" rounds. This dress, or lack thereof, cost this young lady her prom night and all of it's memories.

Marche Taylor’s prom night experience wasn’t quite the norm. That’s because a night of dancing and hanging out with friends ended in a confrontation with school officials over her choice of apparel.

The Madison High School senior was escorted out in handcuffs because school officials said her revealing gold dress was inappropriate for the school prom. See it for yourself!

While I agree that the dress was hoochie, ghetto, stank and inappropirate, someone is going to have to come up with the documented dress code for proms and dances. She probably got arrested for getting belligerent but I guess I would have been mad too. Some girls spend an inordinate amount on custom dresses (no matter how skimpy) and her night was ruined. I'm assuming her mother let her out of the house looking like that. I wouldn't have.

W. Virginians Looking For a Full-blooded American To Be Prez

I've just listed a few tidbits from this article on why Obama is going to have such tough time in West Virginia. Hillary might win this state but, I certainly wouldn't be basking in the glow of winning over these kinds of folks. Does that mean I'm an elitist? I'm embedding comments because these clueless people have me stupefied.

“I heard that Obama is a Muslim and his wife’s an atheist,” said Mr Simpson, drawing on a cigarette outside the fire station in Williamson, a coalmining town of 3,400 people surrounded by lush wooded hillsides. -- Where did this fool hear that? Isn't it simple enough to verify ... assuming they read around those parts. But maybe not:
[...]
West Virginia is hostile territory for Mr Obama because it has few of the African-Americans and affluent, college-educated whites who provide his strongest support. The state has the lowest college graduation rate in the US, the second lowest median household income, and one of the highest proportions of white residents, at 96 per cent.
[...]
“If he is the nominee, the Democrats have no chance of winning West Virginia,” said Missy Endicott, a 40- year-old school administrator. “He doesn’t understand ordinary Americans.” -- Ordinary Americans? What's ordinary about a state that is 96% white yet fewer graduate from college than any other state. I'd hardly call that ordinary!
[...]
Most people questioned said they mistrusted Mr Obama because of doubts about his patriotism and “values”, stemming from his cosmopolitan background, his exotic name and the controversy surrounding “anti-American” sermons by Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor. Several people said they believed he was a Muslim – an unfounded rumor that has circulated on the internet for months – despite the contradiction with his 20-year membership of Mr Wright’s church in Chicago. Others mentioned his refusal to wear a Stars and Stripes badge and controversial remarks by his wife, Mich­elle, who des­cribed America as “mean” and implied that she had never been proud of the US until her husband ran for president. -- So, Michelle is about to be Hillary Clintonized as the mean, opinionated wife?
[...]
Conservative commentators have questioned Mr Obama’s patriotism for months and the issue is expected to be one of the Republicans’ main lines of attack if he wins the nomination. “The American people want a president who loves their country as much as they do,” said Whit Ayres, a Rep­ub­lican strategist. Obama supporters believe patriotism is being used as code to harness racist sentiment. -- Uh, I think Obama has professed his love of this country on more than one occasion. Does he need to sign an oath of some sort in blood.
[...]
Josh Fry, a 24-year-old ambulance driver from Williamson, insisted he was not racist but said he would feel more comfortable with Mr McCain, the 71-year-old Vietnam war hero, in the White House. “I want someone who is a full-blooded American as president,” he said. -- Full blooded American? Wasn't he born in America? Isn't that what full-blooded American means?

Yeah, I'd be gnawing my leg off to get away from that crowd. I don't know if Obama needs to be down there shaking hands with them varmints. He might catch something ... like a shotgun bullet.

Spoiler!

If the left has to endure another Ralph Nader run for POTUS, the right will have to endure Bob Barr.

Saying that none of the other presidential candidates are talking about the most important issues -- including what he sees as the need to "re-shape this country in the image of our Founding Fathers" -- former Republican Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia just officially he is entering the race for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination.

…Barr was asked whether he might be a spoiler and contribute to a defeat for Republican John McCain in November -- much as many analysts believe third-party candidate Ralph Nader cost Democrat Al Gore the White House in 2000 by siphoning away votes in Florida.

Barr said such talk doesn't concern him. It will be McCain's fault, not his, if the Republican loses in November, Barr said. "The American voter deserves better than the lesser of two evils," he added.

Bob Barr of questionable lineage running for President. This should be quite a race! Pun intended.

Oh No He Did ... nt!

Punk! F' the Po-lice AND the flag!

Obama is campaigning in West Virginia, where he will lose by 80 points because he is black, and he is wearing a flag pin.

ROTFL!!!

Coyotes Gone Wild!

I'm sorry! This is ri-damn-dicuous! Coyote's trying to eat children!

The coyote was limping as it approached a girl in a sand box at a public park - but it was still dangerous. It snapped its jaws on the girl's buttocks, and her nanny had to pry the toddler from the wild animal.

Less than a week later, a coyote in a mountain resort town about 35 miles away grabbed a girl by the head and tried to drag her from a front yard until her mother scared it away.

A spate of coyote attacks in the fast-growing suburbs east of Los Angeles have left parents on edge and puzzled wildlife officials.

"Their aggressive behavior seems to be on the upswing," said Steve Martarano, a spokesman with the state Department of Fish and Game. "They just seem to lose their fear of humans."

Coyotes normally avoid contact with humans and hunt rabbits and rodents. But scientists said some that live near suburban developments are becoming bolder, raiding garbage or even attacking pets and humans.

An increase in coyote attacks on humans in the past decade is most evident in Southern California, where bedroom communities have quickly pressed into wilderness, allowing the canine scavengers to roam backyards for food.

Since the 1970s, more than 100 coyote attacks on humans in Southern California have been recorded, with half the incidents involving children age 10 and younger.

"If they see a young child and they have a chance, yeah they'll take it," said Kevin Brennan, a state wildlife biologist.

Post Racial Society Exhibit C

I'm really saying "Ahhhh" now. In this post-racial society people certainly couldn't be burning KKK into the new black neighbor's lawn ...

Shortly after moving into their new home, an African American family was welcomed by someone burning "KKK" in their yard.

In a bustling neighborhood off Bonnabel Boulevard – near Lake Pontchartrain – one that was everything that this couple was looking for. Last Saturday, they moved in. They were proud to be on the block.

Video: Watch the Story
“it's a beautiful area, that's what we wanted," said the mother who wanted her name withheld.

Four days, later they were welcomed to the neighborhood with “KKK” and crosses littering the yard.

“In awe, in shock, I can’t explain it,” the husband said.

The letters were carefully shaped into the ground and easy to read, sending this African American couple in a predominately White neighborhood a clear message.

“I feel like I've been disrespected. Not just me, but my family. I feel like I'm being threatened, and those markings in our history, it's known for a marking of territory, to let you all know don't come back here,” the husband said. “You're not welcome.”

Yes, if we elect a man with a white mother and an African father, we will be truly post-racial.

Post Racial Society Exhibit B

What do you call a black police officer who is not in uniform? Take a guess!

At least one cop has been disciplined for ordering the NYPD's highest-ranking uniformed black officer out of his auto while the three-star chief was off-duty and parked in Queens, the Daily News has learned.

"How you can not know or recognize a chief in a department SUV with ID around his neck, I don't know," a police source said.

Chief Douglas Zeigler, 60, head of the Community Affairs Bureau, was in his NYPD-issued vehicle near a fire hydrant when two plainclothes cops approached on May 2, sources said.

One officer walked up on each side of the SUV at 57th Ave. and Xenia St. in Corona about 7 p.m. and told the driver to roll down the heavily tinted windows, sources said.

What happened next is in dispute.

In his briefing to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Zeigler said the two cops, who are white, had no legitimate reason to approach his SUV, ranking sources said.

After they ordered him to get out, one officer did not believe the NYPD identification Zeigler gave him.

Post-Racial Society Exhibit A

Ah, the marvel of the post-racial society that some people think Obama represents ...

In an item related in many fundamental ways to the protests yesterday, the New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the NYPD for its “stop and frisk” practice on behalf of a New York Post reporter, Leonardo Blair (pictured here, photo from NYPost). In an ironic twist, the New York Post, a conservative rag owned by Rupert Murdoch, the same day ran an editorial in favor of the NYPD’s “stop and frisk” policy, asserting that any decrease in this racially biased practice would result in “crime and chaos.” The reality of living in a police state - and make no mistake, New York City is a police state - is that you never leave home without ID. If you don’t have state-issued ID on you, then you’re subject to being detained by the police until they can “verify your identity.” And, once they stop you, even without probable cause, they collect your name, address and date of birth for their database. But of course, it’s a policy that doesn’t get applied equally. As a white woman that frequently passes for straight, I often skate past those sorts of searches. My fellow New Yorkers who are black and brown, like the reporter in the NYCLU’s lawsuit, are not so fortunate. Leo Blair, a Jamaican immigrant and graduate of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, tells his own story of what happened when he was stopped by the police

[...]

Most black men, and many black women and Latino men and women, in New York have a story similar to Blair’s. Very few white people have similar stories. And, there is data that gives a fuller picture to the racial disparity of “stop and frisk” racism. According to data released earlier this week, New York City police officers stopped more people on the streets during the first three months of 2008 than during any quarter in the six years the Department has reported the data.

In 2007, the NYPD stopped about 469,000 New Yorkers – almost 1,300 people every day. Eighty-eight percent were completely innocent. Though they make up only a quarter of the City’s population, more than half of those stopped were black. Another 30 percent were Latino. Though whites make up more than 35 percent of New York City’s population, they were only 11 percent of those stopped. In 2006 and 2007, blacks and Latinos were the target of about 90 percent of the nearly one million stop-and-frisk encounters.

This victim of this injustice, recalls the account ...

Breeding Again!

So, I got hate mail (from a couple folks from the south) on one of my yahoogroups when these hyper-breeders had their last child. I said something about the world getting another hillbilly. They thought it was a dig at the south but it was actually quite racist if I must call myself out. I still don't agree that having all of these children is a good thing and she's pregnant again!

It's a happy Mother's Day for an Arkansas woman — she's pregnant with her 18th child.

Michelle Duggar, 41, is due on New Year's Day, and the latest addition will join seven sisters and 10 brothers. There are two sets of twins.

"We've had three in January, three in December. Those two months are a busy time for us," she said, laughing.

The Duggars' oldest child, Josh, is 20, and the youngest, Jennifer, is nine months old.

They need to thank the rise of reality shows into mainstream television because I'm sure the series that Discovery Health is doing on them will help pay the bills. I'm sorry, this whole thing just ain't cute to me. Jon and Kate Plus Eight, on the other hand, are totally cute and totally a riot ('cause that mess was an "accident").

Slutbucks?

Have you ever really looked closely at the logo? I didn't even know there was a lady in it until the last time someone brought the logo up. I think you have to be a pervert to stare at a label enough to get all worked up about it.

In order to compete with less expensive varieties of coffee, Starbucks recently introduced a new roast in order “to shift toward emphasizing brewed coffee.” As part of the campaign, the Seattle-based company re-introduced its 1971 brown-and-white logo that features a two-tailed mermaid. Apparently, the mermaid has caused an uproar because one Christian group has now called for a Starbucks boycott:

“The Starbucks logo has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute,” explains alarmist Mark Dice, of a Christian group called The Resistance. “Need I say more? It’s extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves Slutbucks.“

Just stop it!

Just Pay The Ho!

Okay, I'm totally kidding. I still like Hillary despite the fact that she is going to have to throw in the towel sooner or later. I don't know that she needs Obama to pay her debt but it sure would be a nice consolation prize as she goes back to the senate.

The latest rumor making the rounds is that maybe Barack Obama will pay off Hillary's $11 million loan to her campaign if she quits the race. I suppose that makes some kind of sense — and it would be a gracious and unifying gesture from Obama — but I'm not sure why Hillary would really be moved by this. She and Bill have earned over $100 million in the past few years and Bill obviously has tremendous earning capacity in the future. $11 million just isn't a big deal to them.

Give Somebody A Little Power ...

The manager who did this should feel totally stupid. I'm sure he's probably popped a Timbit or two in his mouth when no one was looking! Dude, get over yourelf!

An attendant at a Canadian restaurant who was sacked for giving a bite-sized doughnut, worth 16 cents, to an agitated toddler was given her job back on Thursday after the case received wide media attention.

Nicole Lilliman, a single mother, said she was dismissed from a London, Ontario, outlet of the Tim Hortons coffee and doughnut chain after video cameras captured the 27-year-old giving a Timbit to a toddler.

"It was just out of my heart, she (the toddler) was pointing and going 'ah, ah...' I should have gone to my purse and got the change, but it was busy," Lilliman told the Toronto Star newspaper.

Tim Hortons said on Thursday that the firing was a mistake.

"It was the unfortunate action of one manager who unfortunately made an overzealous decision, and thankfully we were able to rectify the situation," said company spokeswoman Rachel Douglas.

If she'd gone into her purse while on the floor and put money in the register, they would have accused her of stealing. This was just silly!

Your Arms Are Too Short To Box With Barbara

I saw Oprah's interview w/Barbara Walters and will probably buy her book (at Costco) when I get a chance. She's led a really interesting life. Naturally, since Star Jones' dramatic exit from The View took up many news cycles a couple of years ago, she commented on event in her book (as she commented on the turbulent times with Rosie O'Donnell). I guess Miss Star didn't take too kindly to the cameo.

Nearly two years after Star Jones left "The View" on rocky terms, the 46-year-old TV personality has criticized former boss Barbara Walters for writing about her.

In Walters' new memoir, "Audition," she discusses how Jones wouldn't acknowledge her gastric bypass surgery on the air. She also writes about Jones' lavish wedding, which wound up alienating viewers as Jones accepted gifts in return for promotion.

"It is a sad day when an icon like Barbara Walters, in the sunset of her life, is reduced to publicly branding herself as an adulterer, humiliating an innocent family with accounts of her illicit affair and speaking negatively against me all for the sake of selling a book. It speaks to her true character," Jones told Us Weekly magazine.

I disagree with Star. Her snide comment speaks to her character as well. I think it is a good thing to get to an age where not only can you say whatever the hell you want, but you can admit to all of your dirt/faults/mistakes, not feel bad about them and line them up right up next to the accomplishments. To me that is truly being in the "sunset" of your life.

I hope Star is able to get another job in TV if that is still where she thinks she belongs but if she keeps opening her mouth about Barbara, she may end up on cable access like this crazy chick!