'Dog' says he doesn't want to forget racial slur

Of course Dog the Bounty Hunter wants us all to forget his use of the "N" word in a call recorded by his own son, Tucker.

My position on this is that people are always sorry when they get caught. The bottom line is that Dog wouldn't have apologized if his entire career wasn't on the line.

A the end of the day I'm not gonna loose sleep over this another piece of trash that probably still uses the "N" word in private:

"HONOLULU, Hawaii (CNN) -- It's been more than a year since a racial slur threatened to end the television career of Duane 'Dog the Bounty Hunter' Chapman. But the incident still weighs heavily on his mind.

A&E briefly suspended his top-rated reality show in late 2007, and his reputation was on the line.

Now, with his show back on the air and at the top of the network's ratings list, Chapman insists that he does not want the controversy to be forgotten.

"They said, 'It'll pass,' and I said to the guy, 'You know what? I won't let it.' "

Chapman, 56, spoke candidly about accusations of racism on a recent windy Saturday afternoon on the sidelines of 8-year-old son Garry's baseball game.

It was his other son, Tucker, who recorded a profanity-laced conversation with his father and reportedly sold the recording -- which included Chapman repeatedly using the "n-word" -- to the National Enquirer in 2007.

Some African-American leaders called for the cancellation of his show.

Chapman said he was advised to lay low for several weeks, but he refused." Source: CNN

Ark. Senate OKs ban on sale of toy guns that look real

I remember when I was a kid growing up in the Eighties, there never seemed to be an issue with kids playing with toy guns. Even the local convenience store sold those little cap guns. However, people have become increasingly concerned about kids playing with toy guns.

Most of the outcries are the result of accidental shootings involving kids shooting other kids. However, an increasing number of children have been shot by the police while yielding these toy guns.

Thanks to my friend, Sean, I've learned how Arkansas is attempting to do something about this:

"LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas' Senate has approved a ban on the sale of realistic-looking toy guns after stripping from the title the name of a West Memphis boy fatally shot by police.

By a 20-6 vote, the Senate approved the measure to prohibit the sale of play guns that are designed to look like the real thing. Sen. Tracy Steele, the bill's Senate sponsor, said the measure merely mirrors what's already in federal law.

The House had approved the measure, which was originally named the DeAunta Farrow Imitation Firearms Act, after the West Memphis boy who was fatally shot by a police officer who said the boy was holding a gun. But the bill's sponsor agreed to remove the boy's name from the bill after complaints from the family, who dispute police accounts that DeAunta was holding a toy weapon.

The boy was shot to death in 2007 and a civil lawsuit is pending." Source: KSMF

Sentencing a 14-year old to life without parole: Do you know who Quantel Lotts is?

Quantel Lotts is a 23 year-old man who was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole in the accidental killing of his stepbrother when he was only 14:

"Lotts, who was sentenced to life without parole when he was 14 years old -- one of the very few people in the world to get such a punishment. [...]

A group called Equal Justice is fighting to get Lotts' sentence changed, calling it a case of cruel and unusual punishment. Even Charles Manson gets a shot at parole, CNN notes." Source: Crime Scene Kansas City

First of all I cannot understand how on earth it could ever be justifiable to send a 14 year-old child to prison for the rest of his life with no parole!

This case is yet another example of how the justice system unfairly treats minorities. If Quantel was named Johnny, and didn't have dark skin, would he have seen the same fate? I think not!

I am glad that the group, Equal Justice is fighting on behalf of Quantel and other youth like him:

"Lotts is one of at least 73 U.S. inmates — most of them minorities — who were sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison for crimes committed when they were 13 or 14, according to the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit organization in Alabama that defends indigent defendants and prisoners.

The 73 are just a fraction of the more than 2,000 offenders serving life sentences for crimes they committed as minors under the age of 18." Source: Broken Spectrum of the World-Delivered

NAACP, civil rights groups seek to ban Confederate flag in Homestead FL

This story is one reason why I wonder whether the NAACP's usefulness has come and gone. This civil rights organization always seems to be focusing on the wrong things. They are handling today's issues of race and diversity like they did half a century ago, proving that they seem unable to change with the times.

I'm sure I'll ruffle a lot of feathers with my comments here, but the NAACP has yet to prove their usefulness in the 21st century. Instead they serve more as an organization that exists to serve the black political machine in various chapters around the country.

Why on earth are they seeking to ban a flag?

The flag is a mere symbol of the hate, but I must ask is the removal of the flag going to make these ignorant groups hate minorities any less?

People need to learn not to be distracted by this type of silliness. Instead, I would personally like to see more focus on the issues that are destroying the community from within. These are the problems that are truly affecting the community. Let's focus on education, violence, and the apparent systematic destruction of the family.

Progress can be made if we turn our attention to the things that we can affect. These ignorant fools will be marching and waving their flags from now to kingdom come. And it's unrealistic to allow ourselves to be so distracted by what they are doing that we fail to focus on what we should be doing.

Let's face it. Crime and other internal issues within the black community have destroyed far more lives than a bunch of hicks waving Confederate flags!

More from the story:

"HOMESTEAD -- The NAACP and other civil rights groups have joined black Homestead residents in seeking to ban the Confederate flag and groups that support it from city-sanctioned festivities.

''That flag is flown to strike fear in people, and it's no different than a swastika being displayed in front of Jews,'' said Brad Brown, vice president of the Miami-Dade NAACP.

The issue came to a head on Nov. 11 during the 2008 Homestead/Florida City Chamber of Commerce parade, when organizers allowed Confederate army organizations to participate in Veterans Day ceremonies and display Confederate flags.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) marched in the parade. Some rode atop vehicles emblazoned with Confederate states' banners; others walked with Confederate battle flags.

The demonstration outraged black residents.

City officials said they did not organize the parade. Parade organizers, who are linked to the local chamber of commerce, defended their right to display the flag." Source: Miami Herald

Author Richard Wright honored by U.S.Postal Service

With fellow South Side of Chicago roots, I could not ignore the opportunity to tell you about the new stamp honoring, author Richard Wright.

As a young adult, I read his books, Black Boy and Native Son. His writings are a timeless window into the the effects of racial prejudice; a must read for anyone who dares to learn more.

I am proud that Wright has been chosen to be honored with a stamp by the U.S. Postal Service. And if I was a stamp collector, I would promise to get one. However, since I'm not, I will settle for the pride of knowing that a well-deserving individual has been honored:

"Mississippi made him, but Chicago made him a writer. It was Chicago—with its bright churn of possibilities and its darker realities—that transformed Richard Wright from a shy Southern kid into a popular and internationally acclaimed author.

Chicago broke his heart, but it gave him his mission: to illuminate the dehumanizing effects of racial prejudice in 20th Century America.

That is why, according to officials at the U.S. Postal Service, when a new stamp honoring Richard Wright (1908-1960) was commissioned, they decided that the stamp's background simply had to be the South Side of Chicago, where Wright lived and worked during a crucial, formative decade.

And when a location was needed for the public ceremony Thursday at which the stamp will be unveiled, that was a snap: Again, it had to be Chicago." Source: The Chicago Tribune

Be Outraged!!!! Secret illegal drug experiments on people in the U.S!

Given the history of secret government experiments on Americans, this story comes as no surprise to me. The real question at hand is whether it's ethical for the government to conduct these experiments in the so-called "name of science?"

Supposedly the people who participate in receiving illegal drugs for experimentation sign consents. Are you serious?

How can a drug addict give informed consent to participate in a study? Are they really of sound mind and judgment to make that call?

The bottom line is that the government sees these addicts as expendable, which allows them to justify this practice:

"The federal government is giving crack and powder cocaine, morphine, and other hard-core drugs to taxpayer-funded researchers for testing on addicts, The Examiner has learned.

For decades, the government has authorized, funded and lobbied for studies in which otherwise illegal drugs were given to addicts in cities such as Washington, Bethesda, Baltimore, New York, Minneapolis and San Antonio. The studies continue today and have an array of aims, from documenting the ways cocaine warps the brain to the intensity of pain from morphine withdrawal.

Government records obtained by The Examiner show that the researchers gave test subjects:

* Morphine at the Veterans Administration in D.C.
* Cocaine injections at the U.S. military’s Uniformed Services University in Bethesda.
* Crack cocaine in several major cities.

Most government officials are not aware of the experiments, even though they have been going on since at least the 1970s. [...]

The subjects of the tests signed consent forms before engaging in the studies and were paid.

Most of the studies have been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a government agency based in Washington that is part of the National Institutes of Health. Officials there declined to be interviewed for this story and have not responded to requests for documents relating to the studies. Records show the studies date back to at least 1979.[...]

“The question is whether the results justify using these individuals as disposable subjects,” Walters said. [...]

According to NIDA’s Web site, researchers in New York still are looking for “volunteers.”" Source: The Examiner

Do you think that the government should be giving people illicit drugs in the name of scientific research?

Slump Is Putting New Stresses on Libraries and Librarians - Jobless and Homeless Pour in Off the Streets!

Being back in Chicago now, I've woven weekly visits to the library into the fabric of my life. A couple of weeks ago I happened to be returning a few DVDs about 10 minutes before closing. It was a Saturday, and the patron ahead of me had extra questions about items she had checked out.

Well the librarian (I think she was actually the hear librarian) had such a nasty attitude, and proceeded to complain about people coming in at the last minute to check items out. Mind you it is 10 minutes before closing.

She continued to talk loudly about how "we" (the library workers) want to go home too. I was actually appalled at her lack of professionalism, and continued to observe her ranting until it was my turn.

I told her that I thought the library closed at the top of the hour. She proceeded to apologize and told me how tired she was and how she was ready to go home. Aside from the fact that I was thinking that it wasn't even closing time, yet she was complaining about getting out of there, I heard her out.

After reading the following article, I began to put two and two together on what could be happening at my local library branch. I had observed that the library was packed on most days and there was a high population of what appeared to be homeless people there each time I visited.

More from the article:

"Like libraries across the country, Arlington Heights Memorial had strived to keep pace with the changing times, ensuring its relevance in the digital age by becoming something of an indoor town square, and emphasizing that its money-saving services catered to the community’s needs.

These days, however, community need reaches far beyond reference help — and in many libraries, it is turning a normally tranquil place into an emotional and stressful hotbed.

As the national economic crisis has deepened and social services have become casualties of budget cuts, libraries have come to fill a void for more people, particularly job-seekers and those who have fallen on hard times. Libraries across the country are seeing double-digit increases in patronage, often from 10 percent to 30 percent, over previous years." Source: New York Times

I want to hear from you on this one. Have you seen a similar occurrence at you local library?