Link Roundup and Breathing Space
Lordy! Yesterday I submitted the Barack post to reddit because I wanted people to witness my funny. About 3 hours after I did that the post had generated something like 500 hits. I get about 350 hits on an average day, and 500 is a good day overall. So it was neat to have one post generate that all on its own. Then it become 12:01am in Greenwich Mean Time and the counter reset to 0. The hits just kept coming. And coming. And… around 8am Eastern today I cracked 6,000 hits. [ETA: as of 12:00pm my counter is threatening to to go past 8,000. Even I find this kind of ridiculous.]
It’s a good damn thing WordPress is hosting this blog.
There are many, many comments on that post. Though I am happy to say that the amount of crazy I got thrown at me is not as much as I would have expected considering the numbers we’re talking. Still, I think a post on the difference between afro-centric and white supremacist is in order.
Just not this week.
I’m going to take a breather. I need to, considering how I flew off the handle completely last night. So instead I’ll amuse you (or piss you off) with this Link Roundup and Open Thread.
First, commenter and Christian healtheland has invited anyone interested in continuing the discussion of Christianity to his blog. Since he was nice enough to create an open post for us, we should take advantage of the opportunity to spread chos for Xenu! Hahaha But seriously, let’s be adult (unlike me).
That Black Stuff
Over on C-SPAN.org you can still watch Tavis Smiley’s State of the Black Union. (You may have to search around a bit to find it, there are no direct links, as far as I can tell.)
I haven’t had a chance to explore it throughly, but the Encyclopædia Britannica Guide to Black History looks like it might be an interesting place to start learning about history you aren’t aware of. It’s not comprehensive, nor exhaustive, nor definitive – just sayin’.
Crazy Stuff White People Do
I don’t give Shannon enough link love, and I really should. She provides many a good link for my education and amusement. This one points to some craziness about ‘reverse profiling‘.
Racist Faces / Reverse Racism appears to be a blog by a white person trying to work her way through some feelings and thoughts on race. I stumbled upon her via StumbleUpon, and I’ve only read a few entries, but the site looks like it might be worth exploring and watching.
Why Does the Truth Hate America?
US military tells Jack Bauer: Cut out the torture scenes … or else!
While 24 draws millions of viewers, it appears some people are becoming a little squeamish. The US military has appealed to the producers of 24 to tone down the torture scenes because of the impact they are having both on troops in the field and America’s reputation abroad. Forget about Abu Ghraib, forget about Guantanamo Bay, forget even that the White House has authorised interrogation techniques that some classify as torture, that damned Jack Bauer is giving us a bad name.
You’ll notice that’s a co.uk newspaper. The New Yorker ‘broke’ the story in the US.
When I saw this on AngryBrownButch I very nearly stabbed my monitor:
From yesterday’s headlines on Democracy Now! –
~FEMA Gives $3 Million to Restore Jefferson Davis’ Home
~New Orleans Public Housing Residents Fight For Homes
I know, that’s messed up. From the blog:
While structurally viable public housing is being demolished (to make way for what, and for whom, we must ask), and while the low-income Ninth Ward still looks much like it did directly after the storm (though I hear the tourist-friendly French Quarter is looking quite well these days), and while thousands upon thousands of people remain scattered and displaced, FEMA is making sure that a monument to man who was at the fore of one of the darkest times in american history is fully restored.
Click the link for more and for the actual articles.
New to the Blogroll
There are a few new additions to my blogroll, including:
Megatrouble
Rachel’s Tavern
The Hathor Legacy
Tiny Cat Pants
You might also find my Technorati favorites interesting. But so far StumbleUpon is my favorite way to find new ways to waste time things to read.
And Now for Something Completely Different
The peeps on LJ Blackfolk had a caption contest. My favorite: Obama/Kent ’08
And finally:
Ben & Jerry’s + Stephen & Colbert =
Heaven
Okay, Open Thread! If we can keep the comments in the Barack Post about the Barack issue at hand, that would be helpful. Want to fling some shit at me about being black and angry, do that here.
I like Obama/Kent ’08. They’d save big bucks on airfare! (Besides, Clark Kent’s fathers/creators were Jewish, so he’d be the first Jewish VP!)
And I am sooooo getting a pint or eight of Americone Dream when it hits the shelves. (And if the Americone Dream Fund ever gets a website, that goes onto my blogroll.)
I think I’ve found my blog alter-ego. This blog is just a trip. I’m going to start promoting Obama/Kent ’08 — I think they’d be the new Supertwins. The question is: What would they use the bucket of water for…?
GranDiva, I must say your hair is fa-bu-lous. I’m getting mine dyed soon and I think I want that color. I’m honored that such a beautiful sister would grace my blog :)
I don’t know any other black people that like sci-fi, in fact most people I know don’t like it. Nice to see there’s more out there that do. BTW, I post here as somebody somewhere (for now) because I just like a bit o privacy every now and then, not b/c I’m ashamed of my views. Too many nuts abound. I’ve put this blog in my favs!
I’ve been reading your blog for 20 minutes now and it’s already my new favorite source for news.
Tucker’s a moron. I don’t care where Obama goes to church. I just want him to be a good man.
Great blog. I’m glad I found you.
I don’t know how many hits you’d receive from this, but I linked to your post from the BlogHer site between 8:30 and 9pm last night, I can’t remember when, it says on the post (Pacific Time). I was rushing a little bit because I was missing the beginning of “Lost” on TV. ;)
You’ve made me curious about reddit, though — I’ll have to go check it out.
Hey Melinda,
I did get quite a few hits from the BlogHer post (which was awesome, btw). I’m obsessive about my stats, so I see everything ;)
Just a quick note on the quote about Katrina and the French quarter of New Orleans. It was actually a big joke on all the southern Christian priests that said Katrina was God’s wrath for homosexuality and general sinfulness. Its not that FEMA cleaned up the French Quarter, the storm actually dodged it pretty well. So much for God hating the homosexuals.
You may be a black woman but I take issue with the angry bit. Anger robs us of intelligence, fairness, good sense, moderation, and eloquence. Your blog has all of these in . . . um . . . great quantities. I think future generations will point to sci-fi geeks as the great saviours of civilization.
ABW, I’m a new fan! Anybody who points out the utter idiocy of Tucker Carlson is okay in my book.
How mad does this make you?
Retired Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway said Wednesday that he hates gay people, but later said he regretted the remarks.
“You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don’t like gay people and I don’t like to be around gay people,” he said while a guest on Sports Talk 790 The Ticket. “I’m homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States.”
The discussion was sparked by last week’s announcement that retired NBA center John Amaechi is gay.
The host asked Hardaway how he would interact with a gay teammate.
“First of all, I wouldn’t want him on my team. And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him because, uh, I don’t think that is right. I don’t think he should be in the locker room while we are in the locker room.”
If he did find out that a teammate was gay, Hardaway said he would ask for the player to be removed from the team.
“Something has to give,” Hardaway said. “If you have 12 other ballplayers in your locker room that’s upset and can’t concentrate and always worried about him in the locker room or on the court or whatever, it’s going to be hard for your teammates to win and accept him as a teammate.”
Amaechi also detailed his life, in his autobiography “Man in the Middle,” which was released Wednesday. He hoped his coming out would be a catalyst for intelligent discourse.
“I’m actually tempted to laugh,” Amaechi told The Miami Herald. “Finally, someone who is honest. It is ridiculous, absurd, petty, bigoted and shows a lack of empathy that is gargantuan and unfathomable. But it is honest. And it illustrates the problem better than any of the fuzzy language other people have used so far.”
Hardaway later apologized for the remarks during a telephone interview with Fox affiliate WSVN in Miami.
“Yes, I regret it. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said I hate gay people or anything like that,” he said. “That was my mistake.”
Hardaway has reportedly been removed from further league-related appearances.
“It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and ours,” NBA commissioner David Stern said in a statement to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
FEMA sucks. This is something I can agree with you on. Six of my cousins lost their homes (two of them brand new fancy custom homes) to Katrina. They’re still in Houston (fortunately one worked for Exxon, who got them out of there and put them up). Between insurance people and FEMA, they pretty much gave up on going back.
I shudder to think of what poor people are going through there.
I’m dying over your 6000 hits. The only time my hits spike up is when I write about sex! Looks like Obama might be the hot new topic of the day. Come to think of it, he’s pretty damned sexy…
Anger can be positive if you can channel it properly. I think Miss Angry Black Lady does a good job of demonstrating that anger does not always equal incoherent rage monsters from the Ig’nantsphere. ;)
And I can’t stop laughing at the first line about Tucker Carlson eating that bowtie. As long as he ditches it somehow, I’ll be satisfied…
thanks for the blog roll add! you’ve struck a chord with the title alone…my classmate was complaining about how she’s always characterized as the ABW if she calls racism for what it is, so I sent her your site :)