The last week gave us one of the most entertaining audio/video clips to ever grace the HTML code of YouTube. We saw a scrawny little fellow stand on the corner, screaming about killing crackers, their babies, and hollering at a black fellow who was/is dating a white woman. We saw his General, lawyer, and Chairman defend him and the idea of killing white babies (in certain contexts) in an interview that was almost equally hilarious. These two men have sent millions of people into a state of stunned disbelief, followed by riotous laughter and great mirth.

Why?

[Read more →]

Tags: race & culture by Mike McGowan
8 Comments »

Sorry for exposing some of you to Glenn Beck. He is a bit fire and brimstone in a Paul Revere – Joe McCarthy sort of way. If you watched the first 10 minutes of Monday’s show you saw him imply that America is in deep peril, and that only a spiritually inspired revolution would revive America. He even asked, “where is our next George Washington,” referring to Peter Lillback’s Sacred Fire, a book about Washington’s faith and it how it seeded a nation.

However, in suggesting that someone (like Washignton) or something (like a religious awakening) needs to jumpstart American prosperity again, Beck perpetuates a misperception that he would probably prefer not to. This misperception is that Americans are the beneficiaries of America and its politics and not the other way around, and it has lead to American mediocreism over the last 20 years. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, race & culture by Robert O'Hara
4 Comments »

I’m sick and tired of reading about liberals attacking Rand Paul as a racist ( 1, 2, and 3 ) when his views could just as easily be seen as advocating for the freedom and the rights of Morehouse College, and other historically black colleges and universities, to serve whomever they wish to serve. It’s the kind of hypocritical political nonsense I think we’ve all come to expect from the Two Main Parties. It really makes me want to vomit.

So I’m going to discuss some thoughts I had that were generated by a quote from a book that came up in conversation. It’s from Edward “Father of PR” Bernays’s Propaganda (1928).

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized.

[Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, race & culture, television by Mike McGowan
No Comments »

10. “My money’s on Wolfman to win the Palme d’Or.”

9. “I wonder if Tim Burton had any influence in creating that new category, Best Weird Johnny Depp Movie.”

8. “Look, it’s Jabba The Hutt!… Nope, just Kevin Smith.”

7. “I’m confused. I thought all these films were supposed to be about cans.”

6. “I hear that new movie, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, is very derivative.”

5. “Our flight was almost cancelled due to the plume of smoke over Woody Harrelson.”

4. “Is Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience being shown out of competition this year?”

3. “Uh-oh, Woody Allen’s headed for the nude beach!”

2. “I was hoping some Na’vi would show up this year.”

1. “All About Steve– c’est magnifique!
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: art & entertainment, Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, movies, race & culture, travel & foreign lands by Bob Sullivan
No Comments »

There’s so much going on in the world of Mixed Martial Arts these days. When I watch my monthly UFC bouts on PPV, I always think about how interesting the sport is and how lucky I am to live in these times. The last generation that got to watch anything like this actually knows When Fell the Coliseum. If MMA is a symptom of the downfall of our society, than I say burn baby burn, because it’s a great watch, and MMA is destined to stand in the pantheon of popular sports.

[Read more →]

Tags: race & culture, sports, television by David Alfreds
1 Comment »

Sitting, as I am, at ground zero for the modern know-nothing movement — that’s Arizona, the Grand Canyon state to you non-news-junkies — I have a certain less-than-impressed perspective on the latest wave of jingoism. For starters, while the state’s recent directive to law-enforcement agencies to drop everything else they’re doing and focus on harassing brown people draws wide support, it strikes me that it enjoys an especially enthusiastic reception among all the snowbirds who settled here after they got tired of waiting for global warming to creep its toasty way north and finally render Minnesota more habitable than the surface of Mars. They upped stakes, bought houses in Phoenix, and woke up one morning with the disturbing sensation that everything around their new domiciles is a little spicier, more colorful, and suntannier than it really ought to be.
[Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, race & culture by J.D. Tuccille
2 Comments »

China is rapidly becoming a world superpower, if it hasn’t achieved that ranking already.  But with around 1.5 billion people, it is inevitable that you’re going to find a few short bus riders amongst the group…

[Read more →]

Tags: race & culture by Mike McGowan
1 Comment »

So someone left a car bomb in Times Square. The immediate questions that come to mind are who, why, what was its capability, how can such things be prevented from happening again?

[Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, politics & government, race & culture, religion & philosophy, technology, television, terror & war by David Alfreds
2 Comments »

Well, first of all, it would be “Imagine if the Tea Party Were Black,” because the verb would be in the subjunctive mood.  But leaving that aside for a moment, imagine if someone took the punchline from a pulp legal thriller that was treacly and hackneyed ten years ago and turned it into a way-too-long post about how Tea Partiers are a bunch of racist redneck rubes.
[Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, race & culture by Dooley Womack
1 Comment »

Charlie Crist’s having a rough stretch. Florida’s governor is seeking the Republican nomination for the Senate and finding opponent Marco Rubio much tougher than expected in a race that isn’t volatile so much as manic-depressive, with Crist having both led and trailed by over 30 points in the polls. Crist has been deemed too liberal by much of the party base, putting a man who once fancied himself a future President on the verge of a likely career-ending defeat. Oh, and many people believe he’s secretly gay. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, race & culture by Sean Cunningham
No Comments »

I enjoyed the first episode of HBO’s The Pacific, but my enjoyment was somewhat marred by hearing Tom Hanks, one of the miniseries’ producers, state that the war with Japan was based on racism, which he then compared to the current war on terrorism.

[Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, race & culture, terror & war by Paul Davis
2 Comments »

10. “No, that’s my shillelagh, but I’m still glad to see you!”

9. “But I love the taste of Bailey’s Irish Cream!”

8. “Every time I see you, somethin’ starts Dublin in size!”

7. “What’s this I hear about Meredith Baxter practicing her Gaelic?”

6. “Because of you, my Irish thighs are smiling!”

5. “I’ll show you who’s hung like a leprechaun!”

4. “They don’t call me Lord of the Pants for nothing! ”

3. “You’ve made my sham rock hard!”

2. “It’s those two Irish smoothboys: Patrick Fitzgerald and Gerald Fitzpatrick!”

1. “Oooooooooooooooooo! Danny Boy!”
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, ends & odd, race & culture by Bob Sullivan
No Comments »

As we draw closer to that special time of year — readying ourselves for parades from Peoria to Paris, why don’t we take a closer look at the real scope of influence that emanates from this Celtic island about the size of Maine . . .

5. Ever wonder why so many kids have Irish surnames as their first names? I personally know multiple Logans, Ryans, Shannons, Dylans, Kennedys, Finns, Connors, MacKenzies, Barretts, and even Rowans. They’re everywhere. Why? Why are those names umpteen times better than Hans or Neville or Snur? How come nobody wants to cuddle a little Vlad? Sad little Vlad.

[Read more →]

Tags: race & culture, travel & foreign lands by Ari McKee
1 Comment »

I have been more than a little slack in my blogging in recent weeks. But, sometimes, the actual world will do that … make demands upon the time you would normally spend in the virtual world. Such was the case with me for the better part of two weeks this month. Sure, at times, it was tiring and annoying … but it was also educating and inspiring … and it reminded me that the best way to shut out the hectic hustle of the holiday season might not be shutting one’s self into a darkened and sound-proofed room but, instead, to go out into the world to serve, to accept added tasks and responsibilities.
[Read more →]

Tags: race & culture by Jeff McDonald
2 Comments »

The article screams “Obama wants stimulus projects to hire more minorities, women”.  One quick glance at that headline tells you pretty much all you need to know about the information presented in the article.  For the people who only read headlines, it’s a pretty good one at communicating the message.  [Read more →]

Tags: money, politics & government, race & culture by Mike McGowan
No Comments »

Saw this bumper sticker here in Houston this week, and I cannot help but applaud that sentiment. Over the last decade or so, Americans have felt increasingly threatened by Christianity. You would have thought the September 11^th attacks were masterminded by Jack Van Impe, or that we had a few hundred thousand troops in Vatican City, by all the bias and mockery of Christianity in pop-culture and media. [Read more →]

Tags: race & culture, religion & philosophy by Robert O'Hara
9 Comments »

If you’re like me and consider watching reality television a full-time job, then you’ll be setting your TiVo for the second installment of Jersey Shore tonight on MTV. It’s arguably the worst that television has to offer these days, which is why I love it and cannot wait for tonight’s episode. In fact, it’s so bad (and by “bad”, I mean brilliant) that I’m considering skipping the TiVo and watching it in real time. [Read more →]

Tags: race & culture, television by Nancy DeGregorio
No Comments »

This New York Times story caught my eye today because of the the linguistic choices in the headline — “US Agrees to $3 Billion Deal in Indian Trust Suit” — as well as many within the story’s body. Some examples of the latter:

The tentative agreement, reached late Monday between Obama administration negotiators and lawyers for some 300,000 individual American Indians[…]

“This is an historic, positive development for Indian country[…]” said Ken Salazar, the Interior Department secretary[….]

Under the settlement agreement, the government would pay $1.4 billion to compensate the Indians[…]

[Read more →]

Tags: language & grammar, race & culture by Calvin Pollak
3 Comments »

Until Thursday, I was perfectly happy to be the tail wagging the very, very end of the Baby Boomer dog. But, apparently, I am in reality part of the lamest-ass generation since Generation Y (how sad are those afterthoughts?)

That’s right, Generation Jones. What does it mean, you ask? How is it that one surname can so succinctly encompass the dreams and lives of those born between 1954 and 1965? [Read more →]

Tags: race & culture, television by Ari McKee
3 Comments »

I feel more than a little sympathy for President Barack Obama when it comes to the criticism he has received over ‘the bow’ and what it represents to a new generation of virtual, international Miss Manners out there. [Read more →]

Tags: race & culture, travel & foreign lands by Jeff McDonald
No Comments »