randomWalks

What it always feels like to me is that while I always know my ancestors were slaves at some time, the slave masters, the slavers, the captors, and everyone else involved were these mysterious white people that have no connection to white people today.

I’ve been using Jen’s “post this” Movable Type bookmarklet for Safari for a couple weeks now and it’s quite refreshing. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a working bookmarklet and getting it back reminds me just how quick and easy it makes things. I have a slight improvement to share – this version puts any text you have selected into the ‘Entry Body’ field of the pop up window. (Be sure to check out the link above for good instructions on customizing the code to suit your needs.)

[post this]

I remember a sociology professor who worked at my university for a time. As a woman of color, she confronted her predominantly white classes with the admonition that white people can't say they're not racist until they compete against a black person in the job market. I thought it was an odd statement. Now I understood what she meant.

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originally posted by xowie

The Underground War in Gaza by Joe Sacco.

originally posted by xowie

He left behind an army of imitators and a catalogue of songs that people will be dusting off and singing for as long as they make guitars. For me personally, Woody is my hero of heroes and the only person on earth that I will go to my grave regretting that I never met.

originally posted by xowie

Frustrations became so bad recently at Fort Stewart, Ga., that a colonel, meeting with 800 seething spouses, most of them wives, had to be escorted from the session. "They were crying, cussing, yelling and screaming for their men to come back," said Lucia Braxton, director of community services at Fort Stewart.

originally posted by xowie

The tree grows in rich, moist, well-drained soil. The tough, fibrous inner bark has been used by Native American Indians and settlers in making rope, mats, and thongs. The wood is light and soft, and is well suited for working. Although rather weak, it has been used for cheap furniture, containers, beekeeping supplies, and various woodenware. Honeybees feed on the flowers, producing what is reputed to be a choice grade of honey. Birds eat the buds, small mammals eat the fruit, and several species feed on the bark and sprouts.

For the past few years, gullible American parents have unknowingly sent their “hard-to-handle” children to expensive offshore “behavior modification centers” where they are beaten and tortured.

• The last resort (part one)
• The last resort (part two)
• Life’s a beach when you’re bad
• Parents, shopping for discipline, turn to harsh programs abroad

originally posted by xowie

originally posted by xowie

“Instead of working, I spent the better part of a week reading over 15 different web comics in their entirety. What follows are the fruits of my labors, with a link to the comic, a rating (out of 5 stars), and a short review and description of the comic. Before we get to The List, we’ll take a brief look at the history of web comics, and provide some tips on finding those rare web comics that are actually good.” Web Comics Reviewed, Kuro5hin.org.

“William Burroughs, author of Junkie, Naked Lunch, and Cities of the Red Night, talks to Don Swaim in 1984 about his drug addiction, living in Tangiers, working as an exterminator, and his memories of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg.” [link]

I like to imagine it was the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence and Gardner v. Texas that drove Lester Maddox and Strom Thurmond over the edge.

The mainstream press, after an astonishing two years of cowardice, is belatedly drawing attention to the unconscionable level of administrative deception. They seem surprised to find that when it comes to Iraq, the Bush administration isn't prone to the occasional lie of expediency but, in fact, almost never told the truth.

originally posted by xowie

According to a National Opinion Research Council poll taken in 2000, about half of whites in the United States believe that racial inequality is caused by a "lack of motivation and willpower on the part of blacks."

That just restates a centuries-old racial stereotype: that blacks are lazy and not too bright. An additional 25 years won't make it go away, either.

"The problem is not race; it's white supremacy," Paul Butler, a professor of law at George Washington University, said in an interview. "When most white people evolve to the point where race does not matter to them, we can start talking about ending affirmative action."

There is a certain xenophobia operating within the United States, and this is just a part of it.

"She crawls her way or stumbles or whatever to the fridge," Pauly said. "She doesn't want anyone there. I mean, last night I finally had a conversation with her, and she finally agreed last night, because she's mentally fine, even though she's Mitzi Shore — I mean Mitzi Shore's a little nuts, everyone that knows her knows that — but mentally she's actually sharp, when she's on, she's still that same person. So legally they can't take her away."

originally posted by xowie

"The next morning Dick came to class & in his coat he conseled a machedy," the boy wrote. "When the teacher told him to shut up he whipped it out & cut off her head. When the sub came 2 days later she needed a paperclip so she opened the droor. Ahh she screamed as she found Mrs. C's head in the droor."

originally posted by xowie

Judith Lewis hangs with the world’s next rock-girl idol, Brody Armstrong of the Distillers.

originally posted by xowie

Elliott of Elliott’s Amazing Juices dishes the dirt on his competitors in the beverage business.

Because Jews are afraid, and the institutions that should be helping them conquer their ignorance are instead stoking it to further solidify their grasp on Judaism’s future. The darker picture they paint of Judaism’s plight — the further synagogue membership dwindles, the greater Israel’s peril — the more money they raise. Every suicide attack on Israel and each negative report on intermarriage statistics lead to a surge in donations.

originally posted by xowie

VV: Regulars by Alison M. Rosen.

originally posted by xowie

Let's say you're in a crowded cafeteria, and you buy a cup of tea. And as you're about to sit down you see your friend way across the room. So you put the tea down and walk across the room and talk to your friend for a few minutes. Now, coming back to your tea, are you just going to pick it up and drink it? Remember, this is a crowded place and you've just left your tea unattended for several minutes. You've given anybody in that room access to your tea.

Why should your mind be any different?

Moroccan weavers use a multitude of designs. Sometimes they are of things from everyday life, such as a car or an animal. More often, they are geometric shapes -- stars, diamonds or zigzags. Weavers are very clever and imaginative in using patterns to decorate their work.

Elderly inhabitants recount that when Che was laid out in the hospital, campesinos who passed by and saw him affirmed that it was the figure of Christ. Today, people living in the area pray to Che and ask for miracles when they have personal problems, if they have lost an animal and, if there is a drought, for rain.

originally posted by xowie