Obama vs. Australia

Prime Minister of Australia John Howard says the terrorists are praying for a Obama win in 2008.
Obama says send more troops or shut up.

The Economist magazine

According to the economist magazine 1.1 million black people make more than $100,000 a year. In the article concerning Black Power they go on to note that ,"The era of affirmative action, or preferential treatment for blacks, seems to be drawing to a close."
Do tell? I was unsure that it had begun, most likely because of my age.
The economist has some wonderful articles but its strengths are also its weaknesses.
Being a foreign publication often allows it to speak with startling clarity concerning US domestic issues but it just as often misses the mark because they do not understand America.

Genarlow Wilson

Genarlow Wilson is doing the right thing and being denied his liberty. In this article by ABC news we find that of the group of men charged with sex crimes he was the only one not to have a previous criminal record.
The article suggests that if the prosecutor had not brought charges or if he had taken a plea agreement he would not have spent the last 23 months in jail.
Perhaps a third option should have been jury nullification. Any jury in the US can decide not to convict, regardless of what the law says. This incidentally, is why and how convictions were never brought in cases involving white defendants and black victims, such as rapes and lynchings. The jury simply nullified the charges.
Lately it has been a suggested strategy in the war on drugs.

Black Bowled

Congratulations to coaches Smith and Dungy for making the Superbowl. They are fine examples of managerial and organizational expertise.
On the surface their accomplishment says that race is no barrier to greatness nor is it an indicator of future success.
They represent the American dream of anything being possible through hard work and perseverance.
The danger is of their accomplishment being viewed not as superficial (it is sport after all) but as a 'given'.
True, social conditions had to change to allow them into the arena, but it is their abilities not preference or affirmative action that effects their successes.

Black Paranoia in America

Unsurprisingly, as government bureaucracy works slowly, we are just now seeing some of the post 9/11 security policies being enacted. New requirements that all who enter and leave the country have a passport and federal standards for drivers license put this post on Black Paranoia in Britain in new context.
Ironically, the biggest problem for blacks isn't what the government keeps in its database but getting into it. Provisions keeping parolees, deadbeat dads and convicted felons from gaining access to passports and licenses will affect blacks.