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Showing posts from July, 2008
KNIGHT OR KNAVE? In a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece, Andrew Klavan praises the recent film The Dark Knight , and makes flattering comparisons between the film's superhero protagonist Batman and sitting U.S. President George W. Bush : http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121694247343482821.html Well, God bless Mr. Klavan for enjoying the movie. One of the great things about pop-culture films is that people from "both" sides of the political fence can watch and be entertained. Still, while I am amused by Mr. Klavan's logic model, I would have to disagree. To me, our Commander-in-Chief George W. Bush is less like Batman, and more like one of the Dark Knight movie's villains, Harvey Dent a.k.a. Two-Face . In the film, Harvey Dent is an elected official--a crusading District Attorney who wants to rid Gotham City of its criminal element, especially the Mob. Dent hides a dark side, however, and when he is kidnapped and disfigured in an explosion, he goes mentally o
THE BOSS & THE BADGE Well, let’s see—circa ’95, I was working at a Super K-Mart , in case anyone is thinking about blackmailing me. As revealed in a report at The Smoking Gun , popular Florida-based hip-hop star Rick Ross apparently did an 18-month stint as a correctional officer in the Florida Department of Corrections. So far, Mr. Ross has vehemently denied this, going as far as claiming that a photograph of a younger Ross shaking hands with a D.o.C. official must have been doctored. State of Florida transcripts say otherwise: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0721081rickross1.html?link=rssfeed I will stake my own non-profit agency meager salary that there is not a single rapper in the business who comes from a background of selling dope along the lines of a Tony Montana (people know he was fictional, right?), Freeway Ricky Ross (the real guy from L.A.) or Frank Lucas . There is also not a single rapper who came from a gang background who was remotely touching

Public Enemy @ Pitchfork Festival, Chicago!

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Everything in Moderation… Except When I Don’t Feel Like It Sour Grapes Turned to Whine? “(He’s) talking down to black people… I want to cut his nuts off..” These were the words which shocked the world, African-Americans in particular, when Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke to Fox News journalists concerning a Father’s Day speech made by Senator Barack Obama that revolved about black men taking the initiative to be more involved in their children’s lives and to and turn away from the ills of crime and social nihilism. For reasons which hundreds of barber shops and hair salons are debating as to why, Rev. Jackson’s comments insinuated that speeches which seemingly scold the urban poor give little weight to addressing macro concerns of corporate and government responsibility (or the lack thereof). The Rev. Jackson’s words (which he immediately apologized for—uh, he didn’t tap the mic?) were condemned by virtually anyone with a public platform, from both conservative and progressive circles, inc