Hey, that's my rooftop!

Have you tried out Google Maps? Maybe I'm late to this one, but I don't mindlessly surf the way I used to in school. As a matter of fact, I got tired of the internet a couple of summers ago. I was at a dead-end job, and did nothing but surf the Net 8 hours a day. I went to the end of the Internet, and yes...there is a site. Don't believe me? Click here...

Anyway, I digress, the address is www.maps.google.com. If you click on satellite, you can get an overhead view of whatever physical address you've entered. Should stalker technology be that accessible? I typed in my parents' address, and could see the sign in front of the community, and the neighborhood gates. In these days of "homeland security" (and the previous days of school shootings), should this information be not only so easily/readily accessible, but free?

~ Red State Hostage

Death = Dollars

Did you hear about D'Angelo's crash in Va. last week? It sounds pretty bad, but there aren't many details. They say that the 2003 Hummer he was riding in ran off the right side of the road, then crossed the road, ran off the left side of the road, hit a fence and flipped over. The Hummer was totaled and D'Angelo was thrown from the vehicle. There was also a lady in the car, but all they know about her is that her name is Lynne Sellers. D'Angelo had to be taken to the hospital by helicopter and his family isn't releasing any info on his condition. But it just doesn't sound too good.

Of course, every article mentions D'Angelo's cocaine conviction a couple of weeks ago. He was sentenced to three years in prison and got all of them waived so he didn't have to do time. My coworker was saying that it's a shame that the judge gave him such a big break when he was clearly on a downward spiral. I agree with that. He also had a DUI and marijuana possession earlier this year and a suspended license. I think that D'Angelo's label [or someone] should step in and say, "Clean up, Junkie! Lose weight! You were a sex symbol five years ago!" Now he's like Fat Elvis. But I remember staring at the "Untitled" video just wishing the camera would drop a lil' lower... mmmm hmmmm [ahem, sorry] I just don't want to see someone so talented flush his life away like so many r&b stars before him. It's a classic tale. Reminds me of the 5 Heartbeats. He probably thinks he's "still got it."

But this leads me to think about the power of death and near-death experiences. B.I.G. said it best, "You're nobody till somebody kills you." Look what happened to Kanye West after his accident. I didn't even hear about his accident until he released "Through the Wire." And I haven't talked about D'Angelo since the day we found his mug shot online and gathered around the computer in disgust. Remember Gloria Estefan's bus accident? That was big, but her comeback was even larger. It was like a real-life drama to see her dance again. Who else? Bob Marley.. way bigger after death. Same with Pac. I dug him, but didn't have as much respect for him until he died.. then it was like- "You don't think Pac was one of the best ever?!"

I can't help but wonder if nearly dying would make any difference in regular people's lives? Would my job feel sorry for me and give me a huge raise at my annual review if something crazy happened to me? Of course, I'd probably be out on disability, huh? It's not like I sing and can make a huge comeback album. Would people sit around saying, "Wasn't MBT that hottest blog ever?" I doubt it. Nearly dying is worthwhile only for the rich and famous. D'Angelo won't be in debt when the bill for the helicopter comes in the mail.

That said, I hope he feels better soon and gets his shit together.

-Atsui_Gal

Homecoming

Where I come from homecoming is an exciting time of year. The clubs clear out about two weekends before NC A&T's homecoming (similar to the way the tide recedes before a big wave) because everyone's saving money for new outfits, rental cars, hotel rooms.. stupid shit. It's kinda silly, but it's exciting nonetheless. I think the event has declined in recent years, either that or I'm just not into that shit anymore.

Anywho, all of this comes to mind because my own college homecoming is this weekend. Here's what I'm wondering:
1. Why is homecoming so non-eventful at white schools?
-This isn't me being racist, it's factual. I went to a black high school where homecoming meant a big football game that sold out before Friday, fish fries, pep rallies that people would sneak on campus to attend, a parade and crazy after parties- maybe even a performance. And the college ones are WAY more exciting. Think of how many rappers have dropped Howard's Homecoming in their rhymes. People who never even went to college travel for miles to party at HBCU homecomings.

2. Since homecoming is basically lame, is everyone who attends lame?

3. How many homecomings should one really attend?
- I think your first - fifth year homecoming is understandable, but you should definitely not attend every year. Then I think you should return every five years after that.

4. Is it better to be phony and speak to people you disliked in undergrad or keep it real, and risk being childish, by continuing to ignore and talk shit about people you don't like?
- I think you should follow your heart in this situation. I personally try to remember why I didn't like that person in the first place. Usually I can't recall, and when that's the case I just say hi. But, I don't ask how they've been because that's taking it too far. I like to ask "Where do you live now?" because I think that's interesting info to know. But I hate to answer that question-- another reason why I shouldn't attend homecoming.

5. Is there a specific mile radius that determines whether or not you should attend homecoming?
- I believe that there is. I think if you're within 100 miles of campus you should stay home. I mean, you obviously haven't gone anywhere, right, so how can you come home?

Overall, I think I love homecoming about as much as I loved undergrad. And perhaps that's true for everyone. But that doesn't explain the HBCU homecoming phenomenon.

- Atsui_gal

Mandatory Strip Searches for Arabs

Not sure how many of you have heard about Jillian Bandes, a student at UNC Chapel Hill who wrote a very insightful opinion column in their daily student paper suggesting that all Arabs be strip searched when they reach the airport. She's been "fired" from her free newspaper writing job, but celebrated and thrown into the national spotlight at the same time. She's appeared on radio talk shows and talked to newspapers and Web sites.. basking in the glory of her offensive, ignorant rant.

Here's what they published on Sept. 13, 2005:

"I want all Arabs to be stripped naked and cavity-searched if they get within 100 yards of an airport.
I don't care if they're being inconvenienced. I don't care if it seems as though their rights are being violated.
I care about my life. I care about the lives of my family and friends.
And I care about the lives of the Arabs and Arab Americans I'm privileged to know and study with.
They're some of the brightest, kindest people I've ever met.
Tragically, they're also members of an ethnicity that is responsible for almost every act of terror committed against the West in the recent past."

She finished up with these qoutes and thoughts:

"You can debate a lot of things about post-9/11 foreign policy, but one thing you can't debate is that taking out terrorists- or blatant human-rights violators- is a good thing.
You also can't debate that of the 19 hijackers on those planes, all 19 were Arab.
And you can't debate that while most Arabs are not terrorists, sadly, most terrorists are indeed Arab.
Given this combination, I want some kind of security.
Done in a professional, conscientious manner, racial profiling is more likely to get the bad guys than accosting my 12-year-old pipsqueak of a brother on his way to summer camp.
When asked if she had a boyfriend, Ann Coulter once said that any time she had a need for physical intimacy, she would simply walk through an airport's security checkpoint.
I want Arabs to get sexed up like nothing else.
And Arab students at UNC don't seem to think that's such a bad idea.

"Racial profiling really doesn't bother me," said Sherief Khaki, a first-generation Egyptian-American and representative of the UNC-CH Arabic Club. "So a couple of hours are wasted. Big deal."
Said Muhammad Salameh, a junior biology major: "I can accept it, even if I don't like it. I don't want to die."
Professor Nasser Isleem, a man for whom I have complete and utter respect after merely two weeks of sitting in his Arabic 101 class, said, "Let them search."
"It depends on how I'm stopped, but if it is done in a professional manner..." Then he nodded. "There were Muslims in those buildings, too."
Some people say that racial profiling will make terrorism a self-fulfilling prophecy, or that it's somehow unfair to designate certain individuals as being more likely to commit an act of terror than another.
They're wrong.

If 19 blond-haired, blue-eyed, Caucasian Jews had plowed into the World Trade Center with two jumbo jets, I would demand to be interrogated every time I browsed Cheapflights.com.
After each interrogation, I would offer the official a cup of joe, then heartedly thank him for his efforts. And I would not be any more inclined to blow up innocent civilians as a result of it.
Neither would Sherief Khaki. Or Muhammad Salameh. Or Nasser Isleem.
Nearly every Arab American I've spoken with has done nothing but condemn the evil that was done just four years ago, and at least tacitly recognize that some profiling is necessary.
I have enough confidence in my country's imperfect but steadfast law enforcement systems to carry out such profiling the way it should be done: in a professional and thorough manner, without going down the slippery slope of pointless and disrespectful encroachment on the livelihood or decorum of everyday Arabs and Arab Americans.
Stop, as Coulter advises, treating racial profiling like the Victorians treated sex- by not discussing the topic unless you're recoiling in horror at the practice.
Embrace the race."
- The Daily Tar Heel

I'm not real sure what her closer means...

The writer says that the paper's editor didn't have a problem with her article when she wrote it and that the editor commended her for having the balls to say what she said. She says that he found it to be humorous and that the public outcry from students was the real reason why he dismissed her. But the editor Chris Coletta says he fired her for misleading the Arabs she spoke with in interviews and using their quotes out of context. Of course, if he realizes that now, maybe he could have not ran the story in the first place? I don't know... running a daily college paper is hectic I'm sure.

Either way, I think this chick has a good career ahead of her. Someone in the conservative media will surely sponsor the rest of her education.. We may see her spouting insensitive, misleading and unresearched opinions on Fox news someday!

I can't seriously comment on this article because it's dripping with so much ignorance that I can barely grasp it. But I'll say that she did have the freedom to say whatever she wanted. I'm more worried about her lack of concern for the feelings of her "bright and kind" Arab classmates though. If most Chapel-Hill students were Arabs, let's say 60% and then maybe dumb Jewish chicks with blond hair and blue eyes made up like 10% of the campus (assuming we can find enough blond-haired, blue-eyed Jews), would she be so quick to exercise her freedom of speech? I think a bigger problem is the environment that this paper is fostering by allowing hate speech into their paper.

I also wonder if she's ever been strip searched? I haven't been (at least not by legal authorities...), but I hear it's not so sexy or easy to undergo (...unlike the strip searches I've experienced). What if this Arab has to travel every week? What if they have to delay her flights while every Arab in or near the airport gets strip searched? Carolina should be ashamed of this young lady. It's as if she's majoring in hatred. In fact I think she's an international studies major.

Here's a link to the article and a slew comments from people who've read it. http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/09/13/4326450119685

Jamaican Karaoke

Karaoke is pretty hot. I usually never get up and sing, but of all the cool things that Japan has to offer I'm glad they exported this swell invention. So, this weekend I went to a reggae club in the Bronx with a popular karaoke night. My cousin took me there and promised that it would be funny to hear people butcher songs with their accents and tone-deaf singing, and later the dance floor would open.
There were some really good singers there, and some really bad ones- that's typical karaoke. Of course, every culture has their own way of doing things. In between songs the DJ played dancehall music like Beenie Man which was great! But when people got up to sing the DJ would start the song, allow the singer to get the first few words out and stop the music. I thought maybe the machine was messing up, until the DJ yelled "PULL UP!!!!" and started the song again. And I'm not talking about someone getting up to sing a Lady Saw track, these were songs by Alicia Keys and Destiny's Child. They were pulling up r&b songs during karaoke! I nearly fell on the floor with laughter. It was so unneccessary and so Jamaican to start a song over because it's a "big tune." And none of the singers skipped a beat. You would never know when it was coming because he didn't do it for every song, but they'd just take it from the top. This is why I travel.. for the oddities.

Political Payola

Photo: Columnist Armstrong Williams accepted money from the Education Dept. to support the No Child Left Behind Act in 2003, but insists that his column (now cancelled) wasn't paid for by the Bush Administration.





Remember the uproar over Armstrong Williams being paid $241,000 by the Education Department (and Maggie Gallagher and her $21,000 contract for writing nice things about Bush's "healhty marriage" plan)? Well, USA Today has the followup:

"One Sunday last October, readers of The Dallas Morning News opened their newspapers to an angry op-ed penned by Marcela Garcini, a self-described 'ninja parent' who took the Dallas school system to task for dragging its heels on No Child Left Behind, saying it was 'limiting the future and opportunities for our children.'. . . .

"Garcini wanted readers to know that, thanks to NCLB, students in 'failing' schools now had the right to transfer to better-performing schools. 'It's time to say "basta!"(stop!). Our children don't want, nor does any child deserve, to be left behind.'

"Appearing 23 days before the Nov. 2 election, her piece read like an ad for President Bush's 2002 education reform law, a cornerstone of his domestic policy. But what readers never knew was that, for all practical purposes, it was an ad—paid for, in part, by taxpayers, through a grant from the Bush administration.

"In 2003 and 2004, Garcini's nonprofit group, the Hispanic Council for Reform and Education Options (CREO), received two unsolicited grants, totaling $900,000, from the U.S. Education Department, to promote school choice and tutoring options for Hispanic children. But in two op-eds in the Morning News and a third that appeared in two Spanish-language publications earlier in 2004, Garcini never disclosed, as was required by law, that CREO had received the government grants.

"Federal investigators probing the department's public relations contracts this week say the department has given nearly $4.7 million to groups including Garcini's to promote administration education priorities since 2002, but that in 10 of 11 cases examined, the groups didn't disclose -- in print, on radio or in other media, such as brochures or handbooks -- that taxpayer funds were used."

Give me a moment while I get over my shock.


-Twiz

Hurricane Katrina

I watch the Hurricane Katrina footage on TV all the time mainly because it's so unbelievable. It's also crazy that there's almost nothing we can do. How are they going to get that water out of New Orleans? Where are all of the people who don't have family in other areas or savings going to live? I guess that if you lived in the projects, there are plenty of those around the country. In a way, it could be an opportunity for people to start over and leave an area they may feel trapped in.

How do you feel about the looters? At first I was like, BIG DEAL. I think looting a grocery store or gas station should be allowed, people are hungry and I'd do anything for water in a situation like that. But all of the clothing and electronics.. that's a bit much. I mean, there's no electricity -you don't need a TV or DVD player. And the car jackings and shootings are just wrong. And how about the decision to move the refugees from one stadium to another? One news person asked why the government doesn't just commission some hotels and put people there. But I think there's a concern about putting some of these families in housing that's better than the slums they may come from. Let's not pretend that socioeconomic issues won't come into play here. I guess there are hopes that people can return to their homes after a few months. But living in a stadium for months? Really, how many showers could there be in there?

This morning Diane Sawyer asked the president to compare the way he feels now to the way he felt about 9/11. He was like, it's different, but it's the same.. blah, blah. (I can't quote that clown.) The question made me wonder how the two situations measure up in my mind. They're both hard to believe until you see them, but at least we've seen the graphics on TV every hurricane season. Everyone knew that N.O. was below sea level and would wash away in a major hurricane. I think I feel more depressed about this than I did about the towers. They're both senseless, but having lived through a category 5 hurricane- I understand the terror and strength of these storms. I get that "we're almost out of water" feeling. I won't go on and on because just writing this is super depressing. I just thought people may want to share some thoughts on what's been going down.



photo: AP, Eric Gay