BigBlackBlog

Road Kill Road Warrior

2005-09-15T07:44:00.000-04:00

This was too bizarre for me not to post. A German man has created a biofuel which contains, of all things, dead cats, giving legions of car owners fed up with high gas prices a new reason to visit their local animal shelter.

Straight, But Not Narrow

2005-09-15T07:20:00.000-04:00

Editors of a San Diego paper take up arms against their less evolved heterosexual colleagues on the issue of gay marriage in California.

Poo Poo-ing the Pledge

2005-09-15T06:28:00.000-04:00

A federal court in Indiana rules the pledge of allegiance is unconstitutional. Could this end up being a case Judge Roberts will preside over as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?

Mass. Legislature Soundly Defeats Bill to Ban Gay Marriage

2005-09-15T06:24:00.000-04:00

Recognizing that the political landscape has changed, many legislators who were fearful of supporting gay marriage in the past, change their positions.

Roberts Dodges Gay Rights Question

2005-09-15T06:15:00.000-04:00

Septemember 15, 2005 From Advocate.com

During Senate confirmation hearings on Wednesday, U.S. Supreme Court chief justice nominee John Roberts demurred from answering a gay rights question posed by Sen. Russ Feingold. The Wisconsin Democrat asked Roberts whether he thought the Constitution gives Congress the power to ban employment discrimination against gays and lesbians. Roberts replied, as he has many times in this week's confirmation hearings, that he can't express an opinion on matters he might have to rule on. "Personally, I believe that everybody should be treated with dignity in this area, and respect," he said. "But the legal question of Congress's authority to address that, though, is one that could come before the courts."

Feingold also grilled Roberts about a memo he wrote when he was a White House lawyer in 1985, suggesting that a note saying the AIDS virus is not transmitted through casual contact be dropped from briefing materials for President Reagan. Roberts said Wednesday he did not "want the president giving out medical advice if it was a subject of some uncertainty." Feingold retorted that the mode of transmission was fairly well understood in 1985 and that the suggested change represented a lost opportunity for "presidential leadership and reassurance." (Sirius/OutQ)

Zulu King Gets Raked For Homophobic Remarks

2005-09-14T07:29:00.000-04:00

King Goodwill is apparently lacking in his namesake's department.

Judge Roberts On Racism

2005-09-14T07:25:00.000-04:00

Apparently the future Chief Supreme Court Justice feels It's alright...as long as you don't get caught, and nobody can say that your actions, or lack thereof, had a racist result. Convenient, isn't it?

It's Open Season On Young Black Males In NOLA If You're A Sheriff's Deputy In Katrina's Wake

2005-09-14T07:22:00.000-04:00

New England national guardsmen are startled at the racism they observe by law enforcement against blacks in Katrina's wake

The "Broke" Little Movie That Could

2005-09-11T08:47:00.000-04:00

Filmed on a shoe string budget in Canada to save money, director Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, a love story between two cowboys spanning 20 years, has become the most celebrated indie film since Hustle And Flow.

Pentagon Seeks Preemptive Use Of Nuclear Weapons

2005-09-11T08:39:00.000-04:00

I suppose as the world's only super power, we may need them to bomb the next Katrina.

Halliburton Subsidiary, Bechtel Get Katrina Contracts From FEMA

2005-09-11T08:32:00.000-04:00

Surprised? You shouldn't be! Now we know why the Bush administration made it possible for contractors to hire employees below the going wage in areas hit by Katrina. Do these people have even an iota of compunction?

Judge Supports CNN Request To Cover Katrina Death Toll

2005-09-10T13:42:00.000-04:00

After some legal rangling, the federal government decides not to enforce its "zero access" policy for reporters covering recovery efforts for the bodies of victims killed in the aftermath of the storm.

Bush Allows Contractors To Pay Below Prevailing Wage In Areas Hit By Katrina

2005-09-10T07:42:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how this is supposed to help the rebuilding effort- would you want to work for less than you know you should be getting, especially if you knew your contractor boss was getting a fat check from the government that would add to their bottom line? Maybe this is part of the trickle- down-voodoo economics the neo-cons love so much, and that benefitted so many poor people in New Orleans so tremendously that they couldn't afford to evacuate before the storm.

Conservatives Place Schwarzenegger Between A Political Rock And A Hard Place

2005-09-10T06:22:00.000-04:00

Once the darling of conservatives everywhere, and the brightest star in the Republican Party, the Govenator's patina is wearing off, and the honeymoon appears to be over. Whether he vetoes California's gay marriage bill or not, conservatives in his base aren't going to be happy. If he doesn't veto the bill, he will be accused of supporting the "gay agenda". On the other hand, if he vetoes it and lets the courts decide, he will be accused of encouraging "judicial activism"- a big no no in the conservative camp. With an election year coming up next year, poor Arnie's ass is being baptised by political fire.

FEMA Leaders Lack Disaster Experience

2005-09-10T04:38:00.000-04:00

FEMA's incompetence has led to the deaths of untold numbers of people who waited in vain to be rescued after Hurricane Katrina struck the gulf coast. The Bush administration and its policies have led to more needless, unwarranted American deaths at home and abroad since his 2000 coronation by the Supreme Court than any U.S. President since Nixon. I think its time to start a grassroots Presidential recall effort.

Gore Airlifts Katrina Victims To Safety

2005-09-10T04:24:00.000-04:00

Three days into the aftermath of Katrina, the former U.S. Vice President managed to do what the current President couldn't or wouldn't do: organize and execute a successful mission to rescue survivors

I Can't Get This Bush Parody Out Of My Head!

2005-09-10T01:23:00.000-04:00

Kanye West, you've really started something...ya little stinker! LOL

Tight Constraints Placed On Pentagon's 9/11 Commemoration

2005-09-09T23:27:00.000-04:00

Security will be tight, and those who aren't registered will be arrested if they refuse to leave, according to officials.

Mozilla Adds Another Chink To Microsoft's Armor

2005-09-09T22:59:00.000-04:00

Mozilla has announced and released the new (but incomplete) beta version of its Firefox web browser. I gave up using Microsoft's Internet Explorer when I discovered Mozilla's Firefox web browser over a year ago, and haven't looked back since. Aside from the fact that Firefox is incredibly powerful, flexible, customizable, and FREE, there's the fact that Microsoft has gotten way too powerful, takes its customers for granted, and has mediocre products that are WAY too expensive and full of security issues. I've also always been one to root for the under dog.

If you haven't given Mozilla a try, or you're a brainwashed slave to the Microsoft monopoly's blustery chest beating, and you want to break free (at least in part) from the stranglehold this behemoth is placing on the industry, you should definitely give Firefox by Mozilla a look see. It does things that Internet Explorer can't even DREAM of doing, and it's much more secure. Since using it, the amount of spyware, spam and viruses on my pc has fallen to virtually nil, because Firefox doesn't accept scripts from the internet the way Internet Explorer does. Although the completed beta version won't be available until around the end of the year, the current version is still preferrable to Internet Explorer- especially if you want to heighten your pc's internet security. Free downloads are available in my links.

Bush, Advisors Show What They Lack In Effective Desire To Assist Poor Blacks In La., Is Made Up For With Political Savvy

2005-09-09T22:28:00.000-04:00

"By elevating Roberts to Chief Justice, Bush now faces only two confirmation hearings rather than the three required if he named an existing justice to the chief post. He avoids a contentious battle, yet assures himself of a conservative heading the court."

The Storm Heard Round The World

2005-09-09T21:58:00.000-04:00

How can the Bush administration's policies to spread glittering democracy and capitalism overseas be taken seriously at home or abroad, in light of the administrative incompetence and abject poverty exposed by Hurricane Katrina?

O'Connor Quiet On Rhenquist, Roberts

2005-09-09T21:52:00.000-04:00

The Associated Press
Friday, September 9, 2005; 8:49 PM

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor steered clear of directly discussing the big issues facing the nation's highest court while visiting the University of Florida's law school Friday.

O'Connor spoke before a crowd of 500 but did not mention the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the nomination of John Roberts to replace him, or her own delayed retirement plans.

What she did address was political influence on the judiciary.

"I am against judicial reform driven by nakedly partisan, result-oriented reasons," O'Connor told the group. "The experience of developing countries, former communist countries and our own political culture teaches us that we must be ever vigilant against those who would strong arm the judiciary into adopting their own preferred policies."

Without naming names, she faulted politicians from both parties for not understanding judicial independence.

"We have the power to make the other branches of government really angry," she said. She spoke at the dedication of a new university law library named for Lawton Chiles, a former Florida governor who died in 1998.

O'Connor, 75, announced her retirement in July but promised to remain on the court until her replacement is confirmed.

Bush initially nominated federal appellate judge John Roberts to succeed O'Connor, but on Monday nominated him to succeed Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Roberts' confirmation hearings are to begin next week.

Black Katrina Refugees Ask If Utah Will Really Accept Them

2005-09-09T21:49:00.000-04:00

CAMP WILLIAMS, Utah, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Asked whether he would relocate permanently to Utah after being brought here as a refugee from Hurricane Katrina, Larry Andrew rattled off a series of questions on Friday on the delicate issue of race.

"How do the adults really feel about us moving in?" he asked at Camp Williams, a military base 21 miles (34 km) south of Salt Lake City housing about 400 refugees from last weeks disaster. "What if I find a Caucasian girl and decide to date her?

"Will I have to deal with whispering behind me and eyeballing me?" asked the 36-year-old black man.

For the mostly poor, black refugees evacuated from New Orleans, few places are as geographically remote and culturally alien as this corner of Utah, where 0.2 percent of the population in the nearest town is black.

Still, some refugees, especially younger adults, say they are ready to make a new start in the region even though they did not know they were coming until the doors shut on the airplane evacuating them from New Orleans.

"I'm planning a whole new life," said Phillip Johnson II, 23, who has already arranged an apartment in Salt Lake City. "It's an opportunity knocking for me out here."

He said even though the population of New Orleans was two-thirds black, his appearance with dreadlocks and a goatee still worked against him. "In New Orleans, being a young black man, you get harassed a lot, stereotyped a lot," he said.

Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. said he expected about half of the 600 refugees who arrived here to remain permanently and said they would do just fine.

"It's different perhaps than many would think who rely on the old stereotype of Utah being homogeneous," he told Reuters. "We've evolved so rapidly in recent years."

One of the volunteers at the base, Newton Gborway, who moved to Utah from Liberia in West Africa five years ago, shared his first-hand impression of life in an economically prosperous state with a less than 1 percent black population.

"Don't be shocked and surprised if you meet someone who is mean to you or doesn't want to associate with you because you are black," he told Darisn Evans. "You don't worry about the negative stuff."

JUST A MATTER OF TIME

"Everything is going to be okay, but it is just a matter of time."

Evans said he would remain in Utah, and would like to work either as a handyman or as a highway patrolman.

His ex-wife Tanya Andrews, 44, said race played a part in their escape from flooded New Orleans, an adventure which she said included looting food, a television and a boat to get to higher land. She said rescuers picked them up only after a lighter-skinned black woman waved down a helicopter.

So far the local community has welcomed the refugees with open arms, although they say they face an adjustment to life in Utah, stronghold of the socially conservative Mormon Church.

"Any time you go in where you are in the minority -- and I'm experienced in this -- it's going to be more difficult," said Wayne Mortimer, mayor of Bluffdale next to Camp Williams.

He cited his past missionary work in Canada when he was a relatively rare Mormon. Mortimer said his town of 6,500, a well-to-do bedroom community of Salt Lake City, had 20 low-income housing units available for the refugees.

"When you are an affluent community like we have, the greatest blessing we can have is to lift someone else," he said in an interview.

Larry Andrew's brother Adrian and sister Tanya, despite initial shock about being sent to Utah, say they will remain in Utah. Even Larry, despite his doubts, says the state is offering him a unique chance.

"According to what I see, it will be beneficial to me economically, even socially," he said. "But how would they adapt to me?"

Laura Bush Wants Woman Nominated For Supreme Court

2005-09-09T21:46:00.000-04:00

WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) - U.S. first lady Laura Bush said on Friday she hopes her husband will select a woman as the replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

"Of course, as a woman myself, I hope it will be a woman," Mrs. Bush said in an interview with American Urban Radio Network.

President George W. Bush in July nominated John Roberts to replace O'Connor. But after the weekend death of Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Bush changed his plans and named Roberts as his selection to succeed Rehnquist.

Roberts' confirmation hearing is to begin on Monday. The president has said the field is "wide open" for his pick to succeed O'Connor. Laura Bush said she did not think a nomination for that position will be made until after Roberts is confirmed.

In an interview with the same network on Thursday, Mrs. Bush rejected criticism of her husband's response to the devastating hurricane Katrina, including remarks by rapper Kanye West who said the president does not care about blacks.

"I think all of those remarks were disgusting, to be perfectly frank, because of course President Bush cares about everyone in our country," she said.

But she said the hurricane was a wake-up call that showed how poor people were more vulnerable to natural disasters. "We need to address the effects of poverty," Mrs. Bush said.

Fema Head Removed From Katrina Operations

2005-09-09T21:41:00.000-04:00

Is it me or does it seem as though incompetence is a prerequisite for working in this Bush administration?