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2012All MARCH POSTS (110)
Travel Prep: Can the G-20 Summit Replace the American Consumer?
It’s encouraging to see that the dynamic between France and the NATO alliance is resuming a military footing. Last week, French troops rejoined the organization, which is currently supporting US-led efforts in Afghanistan—a break with 40 years of policy under president Nicolas Sarkozy’s predecessors. This cooperation with Barack Obama may, however not translate to the economic front.
FBI Probes Anti-Black Vigilante Killings
Score one for investigative journalism.
Back in December, THE ROOT spoke with reporter A.C. Thomspon about his exhaustive piece, published in THE NATION and ProPublica, on the vigilante murders of black New Orleans residents in the wake of Katrina. Thompson’s reporting found, among other things, disturbing signs that local police at least sanctioned, if not participated in some of the most grisly anti-black violence.
Is the Auto Show Over in Detroit?
By now, a Monday morning downer on the front page shouldn’t faze me. But when the White House announced that GM and Chrysler had still not come up with meaningful enough restructuring plans to get tax money, I took it personally. That’s because I’m both black and from the Midwest and, thus, I know a whole lotta people who are in for a whole lot more pain. And yes, I’m going there: The industry’s collapse is a uniquely black problem....
What's the Difference Between an HBCU and a "Huckabee CU?"
Denist Stewart’s piece in THE ROOT today describes the truly difficult and ungainly process of raising coin that is going on at historically black colleges and universities nationwide. Though schools in general, and HBCUs in particular—which tend to have a higher percentage of students on financial aid and suddenly hard-to-obtain loans—are being ravaged by the economic downturn, Morris Brown, based in Atlanta, seems to be the hardest-hit....
Mr. Cali, Cali, Cali, Man...
Interesting piece on THE BEAST this morning regarding President Obama's curt dismissal of marijuana legalization:
[T]he usually long-winded president—who famously admitted to his own youthful inhalations—answered with little more than a dismissive “No”...[saying] he doesn’t think legalization is a good strategy to grow our economy.
Why not, Mr. President? Is our current strategy appreciably better?
Obama Fans on Dakota Flooding Photo-Op
Did President Barack Obama leave his winter coat back home in Chicago?
Saying, “I will continue to monitor the situation carefully,” in his weekly radio/web address, the president listed the comprehensive relief efforts set in motion this week by the federal, state, and local agencies charged with responding to natural disaster in and around Fargo, North Dakota as the Red River swells 122 feet above flood stage....
Police State Inc.
Given my recent reaction to police (mis)conduct in the Ryan Moats incident, I found that I enjoyed Ross Douthat's 'Conservatives, Crime Policy and the Black Vote' piece for THE ATLANTIC, particularly his thoughts on prison reform as an example of a shift in policy without a compromise of belief....
Obama's Second Presser Keeps Progressive Pressure On
Barack Obama’s second prime-time news conference as president, held in the East Room of the White House tonight just six weeks after the first, did not provide new, meaty policy prescriptions, or one-liners that make for good primetime television—but it did further the sense that, in America, there is a man in charge, and he—to paraphrase a zinger he let rip on one nagging reporter—“knows what he’s talking about.”
When it Comes to Cancer, Should Black Folks Think Pink?
An article in today's NEW YORK TIMES suggests that drinkers who turn pink have something serious to be worried about. The phenomenon, known in impolitic circles as "Asian flush," could actually be a precursor to esophageal cancer:
Obama's Organizing Advantage Comes With Its Own Headaches
Amid all of the talk of AIG malfeasance and a pink slip for Timothy Geithner, Democratic organizers have been subtly shilling for President Obama’s budget. Over at MOTHER JONES, David Corn has been consistently asking when and how the Obama administration is going to use its massive grassroots network to flack for this and other legislative priorities. Ari Berman over at THE NATION has the answer: Canvass....
Magic Johnson Shills for Predatory Loans
You’d think by now anybody with sense would feel ridiculous promising fast cash through easy loans. Alas, not Magic Johnson. It’s tax season, and he’s shaking his enchanted moneymaker for one of the oldest, most predatory lending scams in the business: high-priced payday loans.
“It’s money like Magic,” Johnson beams in TV and web ads...
White House Easter Will Be Transparent, Web Driven Celebration
The Obama administration is announcing that this year’s traditional Easter egg roll on the South Lawn of the White House will be run in Web 2.0 style. From the news release:
For the first time, tickets for the Easter Egg Roll will be distributed online....
Crihanna, Again: Is Acting Male as Bad As "Acting White"?
A recent trend piece in the NEW YORK TIMES continued the public parsing of the “Crihanna” debacle. Attitudes toward domestic violence among the teenagers interviewed for the story are disturbingly blasé. From the story:
“[Rihanna] probably feels bad that it was her fault, so she took him back.”...
Is Barack Obama Overexposed? Ask Donny Deutsch
The NEW YORK DAILY NEWS’ Mike Lupica might want to think about sticking to sports.
This morning, Lupica went full metal hatchet on President Barack Obama’s in-progress media campaign. Lupica, whose own "The Mike Lupica Show" on ESPN2 was cancelled after only a handful of episodes, took the president to task for doing a series of talk show appearances last week: an ESPN hit to fill in his NCAA tourney bracket, a sit-down with Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show", and a tour of The White House last night on "60 Minutes"....
Iraq Let America Be America Again
I spent the afternoon that the war in Iraq started in a mosque in Paris. When the news of the invasion broke, my group, taking tea in the café within the compound, fled. We had already tried to shed our American accents—tensions had been running high for the previous months, as a Metro bioterror scare and Colin Powell’s menacing presentation before the UN unfolded, and US plans for war in Iraq took on a dreadful, material heft....
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