It’s pretty clear that Republicans are taking shots at Hillary Clinton in lieu of her possible presidential run in 2016. I know it’s only 2013 and we’re a long way away from the next presidential election. But, when you’ve lost two election cycles back to back as Republicans have, to a black guy with a funny-sounding name. You spare no moment to sling mud at another minority — this time a woman — who could quite possibly clean your clock. Yes, and as the politics of desperation would have it, Hillary Clinton appears to be the worst fear of the Republican party. As such, she is being derided by right-wing talking heads and politicians alike, for the sole purpose of securing a Republican presidential victory in 2016.

Yes, and this is what the Benghazi fuss is all about, folk. It isn’t because Republican politicians are concerned with the death of four Americans at a U.S. Consulate at Benghazi. Hell, if they truly cared about the safety of Americans at U.S. consulates and embassies, they would’ve never blocked legislation to provide extra funds for security at said facilities overseas. But don’t tell that to any right-wing asshat with a conscience or a soul. For them, the simple fact I just stated means nothing in their quest to regain power in 2016. As such, this is why Mrs. Clinton is their main target. And to that point, here’s what conservative radio host, Pete Santilli, said in a recent broadcast.

This from Right Wing Watch:

I want to shoot her right in the vagina and I don’t want her to die right away; I want her to feel the pain and I want to look her in the eyes and I want to say, on behalf of all Americans that you’ve killed, on behalf of the Navy SEALS, the families of Navy SEAL Team Six who were involved in the fake hunt down of this Obama, Obama bin Laden thing, that whole fake scenario, because these Navy SEALS know the truth, they killed them all. On behalf of all of those people, I’m supporting our troops by saying we need to try, convict, and shoot Hillary Clinton in the vagina.

Santilli hosts his show on his website, but says he’s “ready to take my show to national syndication; that is, of course, if the FCC regulated AM/FM radio stations can handle my truth & honesty.” Well, since we’re being honest and truthful: Is it any wonder why there has been a spike in military sexual assaults of late given the mindset of men like Santilli, who are willing to shoot innocent women in their vagina? Don’t worry about answering that question — yep, no need to complicate the issue. But at any rate, listen to one of your beloved patriots below.

Clearly, he has small penis issues.

The post Right-Wing Radio Host Wants to Shoot Hillary Clinton in Her Vagina appeared first on Madness & Reality.

It’s spring. As temperatures continue to rise, I’m impelled to think about the crude comments women are assailed by, as they walk down the street in the summer finery they waited all season to wear.

Street harassment is a daily occurrence experienced by women all over the world who navigate open, shared spaces with men. According to Stop Street Harassment, between 70-99% of women experience street harassment at some point in their lives while trying to simply walk down the street safely, by men who will say the most inappropriate things and make the most dictatorial demands of us, as we wind our way around their abuse. And often, the street harassment and gendered violence experienced by black women is especially troubling; given that black women face the highest instances of street harassment and sexual assault, and are often silenced or dissuaded from speaking out about it. Even worse, the infractions committed against black women often go unnoticed and unopposed because we, somehow, asked for it or brought  it on ourselves.

It’s not uncommon for me to scan either of my social networking timelines, and come across some Bitches Be Like… “Dear Black Women…”picture meme or missive by a  segment of men who love to flex their entitlement under the guise of ‘constructive advice’, when it really amounts to nothing more than backlash, taking women to ask over some perceived slight against their ‘manhood’. The primary issue seems to be the expectation that black women should speak when spoken to by strangers on the street, and smile on command lest we present ourselves as “bitter” or bearing a grudge against black men. The comments provided by the brigade of men who love to wax indignant about how ‘uppity’ black women supposedly are and voice their growing disdain for us, are generally par for the course. The internalized patriarchy displayed by other women who seem more than happy to throw their sistren under the bus for the favor of that male gaze, never ceases to disappoint, however. I won’t even bother dissecting the surge of ‘life coaches’ and relationship gurus, offering up advice to fledgling sociopaths, on the art of coercion and matters of the like, when a woman says ‘no’.

I’m sick and tired of this culture of misogyny and patriarchy that dictates it’s somehow my job to placate some man’s ego, for fear of being berated, stalked, attacked, or looked upon unfavorably because I’m exercising my right to do whatever and emote however I see fit. As an adult woman in her mid-30s, I feel no sense of obligation to speak or smile on cue just because some stranger I’ve never met or interacted with, will feel slighted.  On any given day, a woman can be in the throes of some experience that has her distracted or under distress, or just not feeling particularly social.

Recently, I was watched (unbeknownst to me) and then stalked into a wine bar, where I was then  told by the perpetrator that he “had the right” to basically invade my space and rattle off a list of unsavory and crude things. Specifically, he vehemently said that he “deserved a woman like me” after I was vocal about my discomfort and asked him to leave me alone before being saved by the woman tending bar that day.

Listen, my humanity– if and when it’s acknowledged at all– has been relegated to a binder’s worth of fucks. Having to navigate a predominantly male political landscape that wants control of my reproductive rights and thinks rape is legitimate, with any resulting pregnancies considered a gift from G-d, is treacherous enough; when I’m prompted to lament a culture that champions the blueprint for date rape, or the prospect of having to walk on eggshells around a subset of men who’re more than willing to defend the right to be able to stomp the shit out of me , because I won’t say “hi” or smile, is too much.

When you tell me to smile or insist that women need to speak when spoken to,  as if this isn’t a democratic society, the short answer is NO, I won’t and don’t. Your response should be to move on without incident.

To besiege women with verbal or physical assault, or wade deep in your feelings via some hateful online manifesto, because of  a woman  has refused to comply with your demands or advances (benign or otherwise) is sick. If you’re a man whose treatment of a woman is contingent upon whether or not she smiles and bats her eyelashes at you… a stranger… on the street, and it has that much of an impact on your ego you, then it speaks volumes about you more than it does about whatever perceived, negative dispositional affect, men love to diagnose black women as having.  It’s not a matter of black women being incorrigible… it’s a matter of consent and recognizing a woman’s agency over her own person. Men shouldn’t have to be encouraged to stop harassing women on the street with pleas that they think of their mothers, sisters, nieces, girlfriend, or wives to humanize women, and as a way to underscore behavior that’s just wrong. Period. Regardless of personal relationships.

Here’s the official MEMO: I will speak if I feel like it and reserve the right to smile if a situation warrants me to crack one. I will, under no pressure or obligation to do so, or just to put you at ease. All women have the right to that very same entitlement without the threat of vitriol, push-back, or hate. You’re not automatically guaranteed a date , a smile, or my time to exchange  pleasantries with you on the street,  just because you’re a man or because you’re “being nice”.

The post Street Harassment: It’s Not a Compliment appeared first on Madness & Reality.

President Barack Obama gave a historic commencement speech at Morehouse College today. If you know anything about anything, you’d know that Obama is America’s first black president; and, that Morehouse College is an all-male, historic black college founded just two years after the American Civil War. As an institute of higher learning that caters to black men that was founded on the backs of former slaves, the historic significance of a commencement speech by the nation’s first black president in 2013 should not be lost on anyone.

That said, as sure as I predicted in one of my tweets today, the media didn’t spare any opportunity to dissect his words and his message. And as just as I had predicted in a separate tweet during the speech, the media didn’t waste time in focusing on what they perceive to be Obama’s daddy issue. That would be, Obama’s projection of the pain felt in growing up without a father, relative to the issue of absentee fathers within the black community.

In his speech, President Obama said, “My whole life, I’ve tried to be for Michelle & my girls what my father wasn’t for my mother and me.” He went on to encouraged Morehouse’s Class of 2013 to become good husbands and fathers. In doing so, he singled out one young man who became a teen father, who in spite of being an eventual father of three, he managed to stay committed to his children and obtain a degree from Morehouse College.

This from Obama’s speech:

When I talk about pursuing excellence, and setting an example, I’m not just talking about in your career. One of today’s graduates, Frederick Anderson, started his college career in Ohio, only to find out that his high school sweetheart back in Georgia was pregnant. So he enrolled in Morehouse to be closer to her. Pretty soon, helping raise a newborn and working night shifts became too much, so he started taking business classes at a technical college instead – doing everything from delivering newspapers to buffing hospital floors to support his family. Then he enrolled at Morehouse a second time – but even with a job, he couldn’t keep up with the cost of tuition. So after getting his degree from that technical school, the father of three decided to come back to Morehouse for a third time. As Frederick says, “God has a plan for my life, and he’s not done with me yet.”

Today, Frederick is a family man, a working man, and a Morehouse Man. And that’s what I’m asking all of you to do: keep setting an example for what it means to be a man. Be the best husband to your wife, or boyfriend to your partner, or father to your children that you can be. Because nothing is more important.

The issue of absentee fathers is a point Obama has echoed on many occasions in speeches during his presidency — yes, it’s nothing new. In fact, throughout the black community, Obama’s mention of absentee fathers and single motherhood has been an ongoing debate since his Father’s Day speech in 2008. As inspiring as Obama’s speech at Morehouse College was to me — considering the audience — it’s sad that the take away for some, motivates vitriol like the following excerpt from Yvette Carnell. In a piece titled “At Morehouse Graduation, Obama Blames Kenyan Deadbeat Dad, But What About His White Deadbeat Mom?”, Carnell writes what I see as the most piss-poor argument that passes as yet another critique of Obama.

This from Breaking Brown:

No matter the circumstance, or how unrelated the topic, Obama reverts back to the theme of Black male abandonment, but why isn’t there any blame for the mother who dumped young Barack with his grandparents so she could build a new life?

What criticism does Obama have for the mother who first dragged him to Indonesia, where he was relentlessly bullied, and then dumped him to live with his grandparents? Not much. Even though Obama professes to have adored his grandparents, he revealed during his Jeremiah Wright speech that they both harbored racist resentments. This was no life for a young Black man to live, being abandoned by his mother, left to be raised by racist whites.

But Obama’s life with his mother was no better. Once when Obama was being mercilessly brutalized and pelted with rocks by his racist peers in Indonesia, a friend of Obama’s mother offered to intervene: “No, he’s OK,” replied his mother. “He’s used to it.”

It was devastatingly uncaring for a mother to allow such a thing, but she’s still heralded as a strong single mom. Only Obama’s Black father is maligned as a deadbeat. Why the double standard? Why can’t Obama ever have the gumption to acknowledge the woeful fact that both his mother was painfully indifferent to his needs. Why is it only Black men who are deserving of the label ‘dead beat’?

I’m sorry, but I think I’ll need more than this anecdote to characterize Obama’s mother as a deadbeat mother. To be honest, it’s a very weak and ill-formed argument. Why? Because I’ve read accounts of Obama’s upbringing aside from his mention of it on the campaign trail, and I can’t recall any accounts which suggest that Ann Duncan abandoned her son. From all accounts, Obama’s mother was simply a struggling single-mother (like most single mothers irrespective of race) who had her passport stamped more than normal. Ann Dunham may have “dragged,” her son to Indonesia like Canell said, but as someone born in another part of the world, I struggle to see how this is a bad thing. If anything, as has been my experience, it broadens one’s worldview. But I suppose this is something foreign (pardon the pun) to folks in the black community, like Carnell.

I don’t know if Carnell is a mother or not, or whether she knows a thing about raising children. Not that it matters, but I always find it funny when people without children feel the need to give advice on parenting. What I do know, however, is that what she is suggesting sounds very much like comparing apples to oranges. Why? Because Obama’s daddy issues are very real. Too many of our homes are broken and riddled with dysfunction as a result of absentee fathers. And guess what? There aren’t too many black men from single-parent homes occupying residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C., USA. Maybe if there were, Carnell may have a point; but I seriously whether anything she says matters.

More from Obama’s speech:

I was raised by a heroic single mother and wonderful grandparents who made incredible sacrifices for me. And I know there are moms and grandparents here today who did the same thing for all of you. But I still wish I had a father who was not only present, but involved. And so my whole life, I’ve tried to be for Michelle and my girls what my father wasn’t for my mother and me. I’ve tried to be a better husband, a better father, and a better man.

It’s hard work that demands your constant attention, and frequent sacrifice. And Michelle will be the first to tell you that I’m not perfect. Even now, I’m still learning how to be the best husband and father I can be. Because success in everything else is unfulfilling if we fail at family. I know that when I’m on my deathbed someday, I won’t be thinking about any particular legislation I passed, or policy I promoted; I won’t be thinking about the speech I gave, or the Nobel Prize I received. I’ll be thinking about a walk I took with my daughters. A lazy afternoon with my wife. Whether I did right by all of them.

In the comment section of her post Carnell says, “This pervasive idea that black men are somehow pathological and dysfunctional is used as a tool for subjugation. I felt the need to call it out.” She’s correct to an extent; however, I’m not sure if she made a case as far as Obama’s mother being a deadbeat. But hey, what do I know. I’m just a married father of four who sees nothing wrong with the promotion of family values.

Watch the video below:

The post Obama, Morehouse College, & His Deadbeat Mom? appeared first on Madness & Reality.

If a well-known Klan leader wanted to adopt a black baby, I wouldn’t have a problem with the government giving him extra scrutiny. Yep, and that’s how I view this IRS scandal. Sure, it may have been a threat to democracy; but, a black baby was saved in the process. I’m sorry, but that’s exactly how I see this media-driven IRS scandal that currently has Republicans chomping at the bit and tossing around talks of impeachment. All of this while it has been revealed that some of the Tea Party groups involved in the IRS scandal had direct ties to Republican politics.

If you listen to the noise, what you’ll hear is that the IRS egregiously “targeted” Tea Party groups attempting to gain tax exemptions by registering as 501c(4) nonprofit organizations. What you’re not hearing — aside from an opportunity to bash President Obama — is the real reason why they’re exploiting what I refuse to see as a scandal. But today, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee spoke to the real issues (video below). That would be, the lack of evidence to support the idea of a grand conspiracy with ties to the White House. The truth not being heard and promoted by the mainstream media, is that given the current statute, there’s nothing wrong with scrutiny of groups who allegedly act in the interest of “Social Welfare”. Last night on The Last Word, Lawrence O’Donnell broke this all down.

Tea Party groups have quickly lined up this week to tell reporters about receiving intrusive questions from the Internal Revenue Service after applying for tax-exempt status. But some of those same groups have close ties to Republican politics. That reality underlines what a growing number of good government advocates and others are saying: The problem isn’t too much scrutiny from the IRS, it’s too little.

Karen Kenney, the coordinator for the San Fernando Valley Patriots, told The Washington Post this week that after applying for nonprofit status, her group received “pretty much a proctology exam through your earlobe.”

But that (very) up-close look may have made sense: Kenney is active in Republican politics in southern California. She ran in 2010 for an internal GOP position, and has spoken at least twicesince 2011 at the San Fernando Valley Republican club, in her capacity as a local Tea Party leader.

Kenney didn’t respond to a request for comment, but it’s not just her. The president of the Greater Phoenix Tea Party, Chris Rossiter, told Politico that after applying, his group received an inquiry from the IRS with 35 questions, and he described a phone conversation he said the group’s founder had with an IRS agent.

That founder was Kelly Townsend, who last year was elected as a Republican to the Arizona statehouse. A post on the Tea Party group’s website congratulated Townsend on her win.

In spite of what Republicans and other members of the “Obama Hate Machine” may say, there’s no evidence pf criminal wrong-doing on the part of the IRS that can be linked to Obama. But hey, don’t tell that to the noisemakers with nothing substantive to offer by way of policy to fix this slow-crawling economy. Leave it to them, everything is Obama’s fault; and this IRS scandal is yet another example of his heavy hand of government that’s akin to tyranny. The real truth is that while this is promoted, Republicans are continuing to do everything to screw “we the people”.

What the media and others are calling a scandal, I call bullshit. Hell, last time I checked, “Scandal” is the name of a very popular show on television. This Benghazi, IRS scandal, and the AP phone record thing? As much as the media — and right-wing knuckle-draggers — say they are, and would like them to be, those aren’t scandals. Yep, call me when Barack’s semen is found on a dress that doesn’t belong to Michelle. Until then, have a hot cup of STFU and miss me with this nonsense. What we really need to be talking about is more economic stimulus and job creation. But I’m sure doing so is antithetical to the interest of Republicans and Tea Party groups who are only interested in “social welfare” and not politics.

Listen to Rep. Doggett below:

The post IRS Scandal: Tea Party Groups Had Ties to GOP Politics appeared first on Madness & Reality.

If my neighbor slaps me in the face while telling me to cut my lawn, I seriously doubt whether said neighbor will be in physical shape to burn my house down. Okay, so I’m frontin’. Yes, I wouldn’t hurt him in any way. I know that’s probably not what would do (or at least say you would do). But, the truth is that real negroes — you know, people from the hood like me — press charges. That’s right, folks; I said it: real “niggas” press charges. And yes, it’s the best way to resolve a conflict.

As much as my old ass dreams about knocking a fool out on occasional, I prefer to let “the man” handle certain situations. Yes, and to me, getting slapped in the face for not having my lawn cut is one of ‘em. It’s too bad that Georgia resident, Marty Corbitt, didn’t think like me. If he did, chances are, he’d still have a house to live in with his family. Unfortunately for him, turning the other cheek didn’t work out too well. I’m not blaming the victim, but had he called the cops, there would’ve probably been a good chance that his neighbor wouldn’t have set his house on fire.

This from Fox Atlanta:

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – Authorities say a man who allegedly set a neighbor’s yard on fire in Cartersville on Wednesday has turned himself in to authorities in North Carolina. Cartersville police say 58-year-old Phillip Roger Bennett is a suspect in an arson that occurred on Boatner Avenue in Cartersville.

Police said that Bennett had been involved in an apparent feud with Marty Corbitt, who lives across the street from Bennett. Corbitt said that he’s lived at the home about four years and had gotten along with Bennett until last week. Corbitt said that Bennett starting complaining about the length of his grass.

“My grass is too tall for him. I was going to cut it today when he set it on fire,” Corbitt said.

Corbitt said that he was watching cartoons with his 3-year-old daughter, Kylie, when Bennett came over with two gas cans and a lighter.

“And then he grabs the gas can, starts pouring it into the kitchen. As he’s pouring, he takes his lighter and lights it. Flames were everywhere,” Corbitt said.

As flames erupted around him, Corbitt grabbed his daughter and got out of the burning home that belonged to his grandmother. Corbitt said he lost everything in the fire. His daughter was most worried about losing her tricycle, but within hours, some neighbors went out and bought her a new one.

Police called Bennett armed and dangerous, and said he has an extensive criminal history, including serving time for aggravated assault and voluntary manslaughter. The 58-year-old turned himself in to U.S. Marshals on Thursday morning in Murphy, North Carolina.

The Marshals were able to make contact with Bennett by phone, and they talked him into surrendering, according to Cartersville police.

Bennett was taken to the county jail in Murphy, N.C., and will be transported back to Cartersville as soon as possible.

Bennett faces charges of arson and aggravated assault. The police chief says he may also seek an attempted murder indictment against Bennett.

Watch the video below:

The post Georgia Man Sets Neighbor’s House On Fire Because Lawn Wasn’t Cut appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Man Arrested Soliciting Prostitute While on Honeyoon

I could think of a lot of things to do on a honeymoon vacation in Florida; and having a lot of sex would be one of them. However, I don’t think said sex would involve a prostitute. That’s unless your newlywed wife is in fact a prostitute; then I guess it would be acceptable, and expected. But, soliciting a prostitute while your wife is back at the hotel? Yes, that would be a definite no. But don’t tell that to 21-year-old, Mohammed Ahmed, who was recently arrested for doing just that, and here’s the police report. Oh, and as hypocrisy would have it. also caught up in the same bust that netted 92 arrests, was a youth minister in town for a church convention who arranged to have sex with a 14-year-old.

This from NBC 6:

Mohammed Ahmed

A man looking for a prostitute during his honeymoon and a youth minister expecting to have sex with a 14-year-old girl were among 92 people arrested in a Polk County Sheriff’s Office undercover prostitution investigation.

The four-day undercover investigation targeted prostitution websites on which men and women advertising prostitution or soliciting prostitution, the sheriff’s office said.

Mohammed Ahmed, originally from Illinois, was on his honeymoon when he answered to an ad from an undercover detective posing as a prostitute, authorities said.

When the 21-year-old did not return to the hotel, his wife reported him missing, the sheriff’s office said. His wife was later notified that he had been charged with prostitution and possession of marijuana.

Samuel Yoon, a youth minister at the Holy Cows youth ministry, New Community Mission Church in San Leandro, Calif., was in Orlando for a youth conference when he responded to an ad posted by an undercover detective offering women for sale, authorities said.

Yoon, 45, was expecting to meet a 14-year-old girl, the sheriff’s office said. He now faces including traveling to meet a minor and using a two-way communication device to commit a felony.

The really jacked up thing about this, is that it wasn’t just a random act. No, he wasn’t out and about on the prowl looking for some spur of the moment booty. Instead, Ahmed pre-aranged the episode with what he thought was a prostitute, online. So yeah, not only did he go to Florida for his honeymoon. He also made arrangements to exchange money for sex with what turned out to be an undercover police officer.

As for the pedophile? Yeah, I got nothing.

Watch video below:

The post Man Arrested Soliciting Prostitute While On Honeyoon appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not feeling these new movies where the White House gets taken out by terrorists. When the POTUS was white, the only people who could take out the White House were aliens or the occasional tidal wave produced by a meteor. But now that the president is black and Will Smith is too busy fighting with Jaden Smith. It appears that any terrorist armed with ambition and a pocket knife is able to waltz into the Oval Office and take over the world.

Case in point, I just saw a trailer for a new movie staring Jamie Foxx and some white dude Channing Tatum called White House Down. Now I’ll admit that I don’t know the story-line. However, from what I saw flash across my TV screen during last night’s NBA playoff game, it looked like one of those summer blockbusters that’s destined to fail (I’m sorry, but I can’t stand Jamie Foxx). But then again, maybe White House Down will be successful since “certain people” are of the belief that Obama is incompetent. With all the silly talk about Benghazi from my right-wing friends, it’s not beyond reason to think that they’re of the opinion that Obama is a failure when it comes to keeping Americans safe. Yep, because of him there was a bombing in Boston, no?

At any rate, whether you believe Obama is responsible for the death of four Americans in Benghazi; the IRS targeting Tea Party groups; or, for whatever failures you have in your life. I guess taking the time to see a movie this summer that makes him look even more incompetent, un-American, and out of his league might give you comfort. Especially when the savior in the movie happens to be a white guy (of all people) and Jamie Foxx plays the president. Surely, there’ll be no Oscar nod for this movie; which I’m sure would be something that Spike Lee could be happy about.

Watch the trailer bellow:

The post White House Down: Good Ole Hollywood Racism? appeared first on Madness & Reality.

I don’t know what it what it’s like to be white. I could be wrong, but speaking as a person of color, I’d say that it’s relatively a lot easier. But like I said, that’s just me comfortably speaking in my privileged black skin. Of course I could be totally wrong, but according to la Dawn Cutaia, a lawyer who wrote in the York Daily Record, “Being white is pretty awesome.” In her piece Cutaia continues, “Don’t get me wrong, if I were a white male instead of a white woman, my life would be even more awesome, but being a white female is still powerful.” Yep, there goes that pesky white privilege thing that is often denied like anything in range of Dikenbe Mutumbo in a GEICO commercial. You know, that mythical unicorn upon which the “certain people” in America (and around the globe) rides hard like the closing furlongs of the Kentucky Derby?

More from Cutaia:

You don’t have to be a member of the KKK to be racist, but not being a member of the KKK does not mean you aren’t racist. Slavery may have been outlawed 150 years ago, but the Civil Rights Movement was less than 50 years ago. Fifty years ago blacks were still sitting in the back of the bus, drinking out of separate water fountains, being sprayed by fire hoses for peacefully protesting, and living in extreme poverty with substandard education.

To this day, there are still a lot of negative stereotypes about blacks. I can’t think of any negative stereotypes about white people, other than we can’t dance. When you are the people in power, negative stereotypes roll right off your back. But for the people who are not in power, even stereotypes we think are harmless can have terrible consequences.

Ever hear whites make fun of black names? Names like Lakeesha and Jashon? Did you know that when potential employers are presented with two identical resumes, one with a white name and one with a black name, the white person gets the interview, hands down. Not so harmless now. And when “undercover” black and white employees interview for jobs, when they both have the exact same qualifications, guess who almost always gets called back? Yeah, that’s right, the whites.

So with the obvious advantage of being white in America, it’s be puzzling to me as to why there’s a need for an organization to secure and protect, well, whiteness in America. *I suppose it may have something to do with the challenges of being white in a post-racial America. After all, when the black voter turnout for the first time in history is overshadowed by that of black voters in 2012, I suppose there’s a cause for concern. So much so that there’s a need for commercials to promote whiteness.

Enter the National Policy Institute:

From African-Americans to illegal immigrants—from lesbians to left-handers—every ethnic and interest group has its own lobby or cultural foundation.

The exception is White Americans—our country’s historic majority and founding population—the people that bears [sic] the unique heritage of Europe, Christianity, cultural excellence, and the scientific awakening.

And there are our peculiar folkways—holidays, traditions, and customs—that make us both uniquely European and uniquely American.

Only we are who we are.

So why isn’t there an organization that has our interests at heart? Or maybe the question should be, Why isn’t there an organization that has our children’s interest at heart—as well as those of our grandchildren and generations yet to be born.

Don’t they deserve to live in a country akin to that of their ancestors’?

The above screed is from the following NPI commercial:

Jason Richwine, the co-author of a controversial immigration study released this week by the Heritage Foundation, tells Post Politics that he has resigned his position with the organization.

“Yes, that’s right,” Richwine wrote in a brief e-mail. Heritage confirmed that he resigned.

The study written by Richwine and Robert Rector argued that the immigration reform bill would cost $6.3 trillion, but it was widely panned by conservative groups pushing for immigration reform as not accounting for the economic benefits of immigrants.

Complicating matters were a series of revelations about Richwine, including that he had written a doctoral thesis at Harvard University arguing that the United States shouldfocus its immigration efforts on those with high IQs and that he had written for a Web site that describes itself as “nationalist.”

Richwine’s departure was first reported by Slate’s Dave Weigel.

Watch the video below:

Why is being white so powerful? It probably has something to do with the whole slavery thing. Yeah, I said it. Slavery. Why can’t blacks just get over it, right? I mean it was such a long time ago. And the minute that slavery was declared unconstitutional, former slave owners and former slaves had a great big party, where the former slaves invited their former owners over for dinner in the houses that the former slaves owned. Oh wait, that doesn’t sound right . . .

Whites don’t like to talk about slavery because we think blacks blame us for it. Unless you actually owned slaves, and I’m pretty sure that you haven’t, no one is blaming you for slavery. However, if you turn away from the racism that still exists today as a result of slavery; if you promote that racism; if you argue that it does not exist, you should absolutely feel guilty, because you are guilty — not just of hurting your fellow citizens, but hurting our entire country.

The post National Policy Institute: Privilege, Politics, & Protection of “Whiteness” appeared first on Madness & Reality.

So, did you hear the one about the Saudi student seen walking around with a pressure cooker? Yeah, word is that he couldn’t get flight lessons. Okay, I know that was wrong and that I’ll probably burn in the VIP room for racists in hell. I know, but I couldn’t resist. What can I say? Sometimes racism is funny. That is, when it’s a joke not being told by a white person and not a real life situation reflective of our obsession with race.

That said, I’m sure there’s at least one Saudi national who doesn’t find this particular joke to be funny. His name is, Talal al Rouki, and he was recently given the third degree by the FBI, after he was seen walking with a pressure cooker. Of course in our hyper-vigilant “see something-say something” post-Boston culture of awareness, it’s good to see this happening. Yes, it’s great to see that someone was paying attention.

This from Gawker:

FBI agents were called to the Michigan home of a Saudi student who was spotted walking around with a pressure cooker — only to learn that he was using it to bring food to his friend’s house.

Talal al Rouki told the Saudi daily Okaz he was visited by several FBI agents last Friday after a neighbor apparently called in to report his “bullet-colored” pressure cooker.

“They asked me about my major, when I arrived in the US and what I do in my spare time,” al Rouki is quoted as saying.

He then showed the agents his cooker, which he had just used to cook kabsa, a traditional Saudi dish consisting of rice, meat, and vegetables.

Satisfied, the agents withdrew, but not before one of them told al Rouki to “be more careful moving around with such things.”

Yep, apparently it’s hard out here for dark-skinned men and cooking utensils. Lord forbid that a person decides to deliver a pot of beans, stew, or whatever terrorists eat anymore. It would appear that our freedom has been compromised. And why? Because two white boys (yes, they were white) decided to perform a terrorist act in the city of Boston recently. I know one thing: This young man better be lucky he wasn’t tackled or shot by one those do-gooder patriots in Michigan.

Which is a good thing because ironically I haven’t heard of any Muslims catching a beatdown since the Boston bombing. But I guess the homie was lucky he pulled that stunt in Michigan. Hell, if he was in Florida, I’m sure George Zimmerman would’ve shot him and sprinkled Skittles all over him.

The post FBI Investigates Saudi Student Seen Walking With Pressure Cooker appeared first on Madness & Reality.

I have five siblings, and if any one of them did what Ariel Castro did, I’d be done with them just like Onil and Pedro Castro has their brother. The two Castro brothers were released and were not charged in connection with the kidnapping, rape, and torture of three Cleveland women held captive for ten years. In an exclusive interview with CNN, the Castro brothers explained that they had no idea that their brother had anything to do with the disappearance of the three women. For some, this is hard to believe. But as heinous as this crime alleged to be committed by their brother Ariel, surely they would be sitting in a jail cell along with their brother at this stage of the investigation. Quite naturally, however, I imagine for “certain people” their words will be met with skepticism. Why? Quite fankly, because they both speak with funny accents.

This via CNN:

(CNN) — Ariel Castro‘s brothers no longer refer to him as kin. Instead, they call him “a monster” who should rot in jail after being accused of kidnapping and holding three young women hostage in his home for a decade.

“I had nothing to do with this, and I don’t know how my brother got away with it for so many years,” Pedro Castro, 54, said when he and brother Onil Castro, 50, sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN’s Martin Savidge this weekend.

When the story first broke, the world saw all three brothers as suspects after Cleveland police arrested them last Monday and released their mugshots. It was not until Thursday that Pedro and Onil Castro were freed and investigators said the brothers had no involvement in the kidnappings.

[....] The first sign of trouble for Onil came last Monday night as he was riding with his brother after dinner at their mother’s home. Ariel suddenly turned into a McDonald’s parking lot. A police cruiser pulled his car over.

“I said, ‘What did you do, run a stop sign or a red light or something?’” he said. “He says, ‘No, no. I don’t know.’”

When Onil asked the police officer about why they were pulled over, he said, “All I can tell you is that you’re in for some serious allegations.”

“Maybe he wanted to get caught,” Onil later speculated. “Maybe time was up. Maybe he was inside too much; he wanted to get caught. But if he did it that way, he shouldn’t of went to mama’s house and picked me up and put me in a car, if he knows that was going to happen.”

Pedro was asleep at home when police woke him up.

“I was thinking because I had an open container warrant,” he said. “So, I didn’t, I didn’t know what — I thought they was taking me in because of that.”

The brothers were held in separate cells at the jail. It would be more than 36 hours before Pedro and Onil learned the real reason they had been taken into custody.

After helping a correctional officer interpret for another Spanish-speaking inmate, Pedro asked for more details about his own case. The officer wrote the word kidnapping on a piece of paper.

“I didn’t have my reading glasses, I looked and I said, ‘Oh, open containers.’ She said ‘No, read it again.’ And I said ‘Oh! Kidnapping! What’s this? Kidnapping?’” he said. “I’m thinking kidnapping. Who did I kidnap?”

[...] Onil, in a separate cell and still unaware of the gruesome details, was able to see his brother Ariel briefly when Ariel walked by on the way to the toilet, he said.

“When he walked past me, he goes, ‘Onil, you’re never going to see me again. I love you bro.’ And that was it,” he said. “And he put his fist up for a bump.”

Ariel spoke again as Onil was on his way to be questioned by a detective, he said.

“He goes ‘Onil, I’m sorry. You didn’t know nothing about this, Onil. I’m sorry, Onil.’ And that was it. And then that’s when I broke down on my way over there. I said, ‘What did my brother do? What did he do?’”

Minutes later in an interrogation room, Onil got his answer from a detective, and it floored him.

“When he showed me the pictures of the girls, he asked me: ‘Do you know these girls?’” Onil said.

He was familiar with DeJesus and Berry since their photos were posted throughout his community after their disappearances. “I told him ‘They don’t look like the girls who have been pinned up and posted up” and he said ‘Yeah, that’s how malnourished they are.’”

“Oh, it was just heart-dropping,” Onil said. “Just terrible when they said that, when he said that, ‘It’s Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, and they were in your brother’s house.’ I just couldn’t believe it because, you know, there was no signs of anything like that. I’ve seen no signs.”

Pedro’s interrogation followed the same course.

“The detective said, ‘Well, these three girls are in your brother’s house.’ And I just, what, say that again. ‘These three girls are in your brother’s house.’ ‘What do you mean in my brother’s house?’ ‘He kept them captive.’ ‘You mean, they’re alive and in my brother’s house?’ ‘Yes.’”

[...] They were not allowed past the kitchen of his house in the past 10 years.

“I didn’t go to his house very much, but when I did, he would let me in not past the kitchen,” Pedro said. “The reason why we would go in the kitchen, because he had alcohol. And he would take me in the kitchen, give me a shot.”

His brother would cook for him sometimes, “but I would eat out on the steps,” he said.

Curtains blocked the kitchen from the rest of the 1,400-square-foot house. Ariel explained it away as an energy-saving setup, Pedro said.

“He says ‘Have you ever seen this girl?’ and I said ‘No, I’ve never seen that girl.’ And then he showed me the other one. ‘Have you ever seen this girl?’ and I said ‘No, I’ve never seen that girl.’ And he says ‘That’s Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry,’ and my heart fell. I just dropped, not physically, but I just, I just hit the ground.”

“He said he wanted to keep the heat in the kitchen because the gas bill,” Pedro said.

His brother’s home was also always filled with background noise whenever he visited, he said. He couldn’t hear what was happening in other rooms because “the radio was playing all of the time,” he said. “If not the radio, the TV. Something had to be on at all time in the kitchen. So, I couldn’t hear nothing else, but the radio or the TV.”

When asked whether that ever raised any questions for him, Pedro explained that his brother often did “strange” things.

“No, because Ariel, to me, he was a strange dude,” he said. “I mean, it didn’t faze me none because when he said keep the heat because he gets cold real quickly. He’s always wearing a lot of coats and stuff, so I figured well, he wants to keep the heat in.”

Onil said he saw “absolutely nothing” unusual in his brother’s backyard, and he hadn’t been inside the house in years. “The last time that I was in that house, it was in the kitchen.”

Ariel was “a little apart” from the rest of the family and “strange to me all through our lives,” he said.

“He always stayed to himself with his music,” he said. “And like I said, there would be times when we wouldn’t see him for a month, two weeks. Mama use to say ‘Check your brother, check on your brother. He lives alone in that house. He’s a loner. You don’t know if he’s OK or what’s going on.’ So I would text him and he would text me back. ‘What are you doing?’ ‘I’m fine.’”

[...] The brothers agreed on what they would’ve done if they had discovered the captives.

“I would have went straight to the police if I seen anything,” Onil said. “If I seen a curtain move or if I heard anything because there’s nobody there inside that house. Why do, why am I seeing this? Who is that? I would have said something.”

“If I knew, I would have reported it,” Pedro said. “Brother or no brother.” He would’ve “grabbed him by the neck” and asked “What’s up with this man?” he said.

“Yes, I would have grabbed him by my neck myself,” Onil said.

Onil considers Ariel to be a “monster,” not a brother. “The monster is a goner,” he said.

“I hope he rots in that jail,” he said. “I don’t even want them to take his life like that. I want him to suffer in that jail to the last extent. I don’t care if they even feed him. What he has done to my life and my family’s.”

“I feel the same way,” Pedro said. “I loved him so much. I loved him so much. As a matter of fact, the second time I seen him going in to use the toilet, when he finished, I was by the rails and he said ‘I love you’ and we, you know, we touched fists.” (source)

Watch the interview below:

The post Castro Brothers On Ariel Castro: “I Hope He Rots In That Jail.” appeared first on Madness & Reality.