Ann Coulter: More of Kerry's Retroactive Campaign Promises

MORE OF JOHN KERRY'S RETROACTIVE CAMPAIGN PROMISES
July 26, 2006

On Sunday, John Kerry said of Israel's war against Hezbollah, "If I was president, this wouldn't have happened," adding, "we have to destroy Hezbollah." But wait a minute — Hezbollah didn't attack us on 9/11! Wouldn't fighting Hezbollah distract us from the urgent task of finding Osama bin Laden? Democrats can't come out and admit that they refuse to fight any war in defense of America, so they utter the "Where's Osama?" incantation to pretend that they'd be doing something. To wit: dedicating the entire resources of the U.S. military to locating Osama bin Laden. Thus, in the third presidential debate, Kerry complained about the cost of the war in Iraq, saying the war was "the result of this president taking his eye off of Osama bin Laden." After making the capture of Osama bin Laden their sole objective in the war on terrorism, now Democrats expect us to believe they would have been fighting every other Muslim jihadist on the planet like mad — just not one of the main sponsors of Islamic terrorism, Saddam Hussein. But they'd be merciless with every other mass-murdering, Islamic terror-sponsoring lunatic. Israel's recent tussle with Hezbollah reminds us how absurd the Democrats' fixation on Osama is. America has been under attack from Muslim extremists for nearly 30 years. Not just al-Qaida and certainly not just Osama bin Laden.

Here's the highlights reel for anyone still voting for the Democrats: —

November 1979: Muslim extremists (Iranian variety) seized the U.S. embassy in Iran and held 52 American hostages for 444 days, following Democrat Jimmy Carter's masterful foreign policy granting Islamic fanaticism its first real foothold in the Middle East. —

1982: Muslim extremists (mostly Hezbollah) began a nearly decade-long habit of taking Americans and Europeans hostage in Lebanon, killing William Buckley and holding Terry Anderson for 6 1/2 years. — April

1983: Muslim extremists (Islamic Jihad or possibly Hezbollah) bombed the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 16 Americans. —

October 1983: Muslim extremists (Hezbollah) blew up the U.S. Marine barracks at the Beirut airport, killing 241 Marines. —

December 1983: Muslim extremists (al-Dawa) blew up the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait, killing five and injuring 80. —

September 1984: Muslim extremists (Hezbollah) exploded a truck bomb at the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut, killing 24 people, including two U.S. servicemen. —

December 1984: Muslim extremists (probably Hezbollah) hijacked a Kuwait Airways airplane, landed in Iran and demanded the release of the 17 members of al-Dawa who had been arrested for the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait, killing two Americans before the siege was over. —

June 14, 1985: Muslim extremists (Hezbollah) hijacked TWA Flight 847 out of Athens, diverting it to Beirut, taking the passengers hostage in return for the release of the Kuwait 17 as well as another 700 prisoners held by Israel. When their demands were not met, the Muslims shot U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem and dumped his body on the tarmac. —

October 1985: Muslim extremists (Palestine Liberation Front backed by Libya) seized an Italian cruise ship, the Achille Lauro, killing 69-year-old American Leon Klinghoffer by shooting him and then tossing his body overboard. —

December 1985: Muslim extremists (backed by Libya) bombed airports in Rome and Vienna, killing 20 people, including five Americans. —

April 1986: Muslim extremists (backed by Libya) bombed a discotheque frequented by U.S. servicemen in West Berlin, injuring hundreds and killing two, including a U.S. soldier. —

December 1988: Muslim extremists (backed by Libya) bombed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 on board and 11 on the ground.

(Then came an amazing, historic pause in Muslim extremists' relentless war on America after Ronald Reagan won the Cold War by doing the opposite of everything recommended by Democrats, depriving Islamic terrorists of their Soviet sponsors. This confuses liberals because they don't understand the concept of terror sponsors, whether it's the Soviet Union or Iraq.) —

February 1993: Muslim extremists (al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, possibly with involvement of friendly rival al-Qaida) set off a bomb in the basement of the World Trade Center, killing six and wounding more than 1,000. —

Spring 1993: Muslim extremists (al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, the Sudanese Islamic Front and at least one member of Hamas) plot to blow up the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the U.N. complex, and the FBI's lower Manhattan headquarters. —

November 1995: Muslim extremists (possibly Iranian "Party of God") explode a car bomb at U.S. military headquarters in Saudi Arabia, killing five U.S. military servicemen. —

June 1996: Muslim extremists (13 Saudis and a Lebanese member of Hezbollah, probably with involvement of al-Qaida) explode a truck bomb outside the Khobar Towers military complex, killing 19 American servicemen and injuring hundreds. —

August 1998: Muslim extremists (al-Qaida) explode truck bombs at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 and injuring thousands. — October 2000: Muslim extremists (al-Qaida) blow up the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole, killing 17 U.S. sailors. —

Sept. 11, 2001: Muslim extremists (al-Qaida) hijack commercial aircraft and fly planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 Americans.

America's war with Islamic fanaticism didn't start on 9/11, but it's going to end with 9/11 — as long as Americans aren't foolish enough ever to put a Democrat in the White House.

Another Boycott Call (Repfanz23)

Yesterday on the Steve Harvey Morning Show, it was announced that something happened to Comediene/Actress Mo'Nique Imes Hicks, Ms. Hicks is known for starring in "The Parkers" and was part of female counter to the "Kings of Comedy" as the "Queens of Comedy." Apparently in route to New York to tape two shows of The View. Ms. Hicks got into a tiff with one the United Airline's flight attendants in regard to a hair dryer.

Let me repeat that, Apparently in route to tape two show for The View. Ms. Hicks got into a tiff with the flight attendants in regard to a...Hair dryer. According to Hicks, her hair stylist placed a hair dryer in a first class storage box and went to her seat in coach. Ms. Hicks who was in first class was near the dryer when a United flight attendant inquired as to whom the dryer belonged to. Hicks claimed the item and basically told that the dryer should be with the stylist or somewhere else. To make this story short, things were said and eventually Hicks and her party were told to disembark the plane and wait for authorities. Also according to Ms. Hicks, Alfred "I still believe Tawanna Brawley" Sharpton was listening to the exchanges. So, having said all this, according to Ms. Hicks and what was reported in the NY Post. We, as black folk, have to boycott United Airlines for discrimination. I didn't read anything in the Post that alleges the incident happened because of Ms. Hicks' race, which is black. No, we're boycotting United, because of a freakin' hair dryer. A hair dryer.

When will this nonsense stop? I imagine Ms. Hicks has flown United, hundreds, probably thousands of times and I going to assume that beside this one flight, she had no problems. I'm assuming because, if she did, she wouldn't be flying United at all.

Next, lets examine Ms. Hicks' destination. She was flying to New York to tape two episodes of The View. The same View, who, just last month fired Star Jones. Jones was basically fired from her last remaining days, for disclosing her departure earlier than was discussed with producers. It was discussed and implied that blacks should stop watching The View, based on the alleged treatment of Jones by Barbara Walters and the non-stop verbal attacks on her by Rosie O'Donnell. The View essentially hired O'Donnell to replace an another panel member who was leaving to host a early morning television show. That action by producers and Walters caused an accusation of betrayal by Jones and allegations by ABC that Jones was not helping the ratings. Jones in turn countered that the ratings were up in five instances in which her weight loss and wedding was the subject.

Nevertheless, blacks sided and was/is angry that Jones was basically fired, and vowed to not watch The View. I guess with Mo'Nique possibly replacing Star Jones, black folk ain't gonna be angry no mo,' and we'll have permission to watch the show, cause we gotta support us black folk.

I'm sorry, but I've flown on United and had no problems with the airline or it's crew, as a matter of fact, the flight was smooth and the crew was a courteous as can be. There's no way, I'm gonna boycott over a damn hair dryer. Tell me some flight attendant made Mo'Nique give up her first class seat to a white or hispanic person and was made to sit in "Negro Only" section..You'll have something. Meanwhile, I will continue to drink Pepsi, shop at Target, wear Tommy Hilfinger on a United flight.

I personally think Ms. Hicks has more to worry about and more to talk about than being removed from a plane over a damn hair dryer. You know like teen age pregnancy amongst black girls and HIV/AIDS among a high percentage of Black American women in this country.

Huh? Can we talk about that?

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/437919p-368914c.html

Another Boycott Call (Repfanz23)

Yesterday on the Steve Harvey Morning Show, it was announced that something happened to Comediene/Actress Mo'Nique Imes Hicks, Ms. Hicks is known for starring in "The Parkers" and was part of female counter to the "Kings of Comedy" as the "Queens of Comedy." Apparently in route to New York to tape two shows of The View. Ms. Hicks got into a tiff with one the United Airline's flight attendants in regard to a hair dryer.

Let me repeat that, Apparently in route to tape two show for The View. Ms. Hicks got into a tiff with the flight attendants in regard to a...Hair dryer. According to Hicks, her hair stylist placed a hair dryer in a first class storage box and went to her seat in coach. Ms. Hicks who was in first class was near the dryer when a United flight attendant inquired as to whom the dryer belonged to. Hicks claimed the item and basically told that the dryer should be with the stylist or somewhere else. To make this story short, things were said and eventually Hicks and her party were told to disembark the plane and wait for authorities. Also according to Ms. Hicks, Alfred "I still believe Tawanna Brawley" Sharpton was listening to the exchanges. So, having said all this, according to Ms. Hicks and what was reported in the NY Post. We, as black folk, have to boycott United Airlines for discrimination. I didn't read anything in the Post that alleges the incident happened because of Ms. Hicks' race, which is black. No, we're boycotting United, because of a freakin' hair dryer. A hair dryer.

When will this nonsense stop? I imagine Ms. Hicks has flown United, hundreds, probably thousands of times and I going to assume that beside this one flight, she had no problems. I'm assuming because, if she did, she wouldn't be flying United at all.

Next, lets examine Ms. Hicks' destination. She was flying to New York to tape two episodes of The View. The same View, who, just last month fired Star Jones. Jones was basically fired from her last remaining days, for disclosing her departure earlier than was discussed with producers. It was discussed and implied that blacks should stop watching The View, based on the alleged treatment of Jones by Barbara Walters and the non-stop verbal attacks on her by Rosie O'Donnell. The View essentially hired O'Donnell to replace an another panel member who was leaving to host a early morning television show. That action by producers and Walters caused an accusation of betrayal by Jones and allegations by ABC that Jones was not helping the ratings. Jones in turn countered that the ratings were up in five instances in which her weight loss and wedding was the subject.

Nevertheless, blacks sided and was/is angry that Jones was basically fired, and vowed to not watch The View. I guess with Mo'Nique possibly replacing Star Jones, black folk ain't gonna be angry no mo,' and we'll have permission to watch the show, cause we gotta support us black folk.

I'm sorry, but I've flown on United and had no problems with the airline or it's crew, as a matter of fact, the flight was smooth and the crew was a courteous as can be. There's no way, I'm gonna boycott over a damn hair dryer. Tell me some flight attendant made Mo'Nique give up her first class seat to a white or hispanic person and was made to sit in "Negro Only" section..You'll have something. Meanwhile, I will continue to drink Pepsi, shop at Target, wear Tommy Hilfinger on a United flight.

I personally think Ms. Hicks has more to worry about and more to talk about than being removed from a plane over a damn hair dryer. You know like teen age pregnancy amongst black girls and HIV/AIDS among a high percentage of Black American women in this country.

Huh? Can we talk about that?

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/437919p-368914c.html

Ben Stein

http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Morton/Archive/2003/031220.html

Richard Prince - Cosby Challenges Wash Post.

Cosby Challenges Washington Post
July 19, 2006
Activists Say "Black Man" Portrayals Ignore a CrisisBill Cosby, the star speaker on a panel of experts, lambasted the Washington Post Tuesday for its continuing "Being a Black Man" series as painting too upbeat a picture.
Kaiser forum came complete with logo.
"I'm not interested in hearing that things aren't as bad as they seem. They're horrible," Cosby said at "Paths to Success: A Forum on Young African-American Men," sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Post and Harvard University.
The three groups jointly conducted a survey that, in June, began the Post series.
Among other findings, eight in 10 black men said they were satisfied with their lives, and six in 10 reported that it was a "good time" to be a black man in the United States.
That sentiment – and an opening series of video sound bites from black men in Washington – first drew Cosby's wrath.
"The Washington Post ran a clip and then they edited it and they had in what they wanted us to see these men saying," he said. "Unless I missed it, I heard not one black man say anything about being a father. I heard not one black man say, 'my responsibility,' not one. The edited version of these people with a camera on a drive-by – I'm looking to media. I don't like people who see and can't tell the truth. . . . A man tells me, 'It's not as bad as it seems.' I don't want to hear that shit."
Cosby, who with the others spoke at Kaiser's offices in downtown Washington in a presentation transmitted over the Internet, also blasted the paper over its initial coverage of his May 2004 remarks that set off his two-year crusade to address black personal responsibility. What wasn't reported, Cosby said, were his comments that "our children were trying to tell us something and we're not listening." He similarly criticized the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The actor, comedian, activist and holder of a doctor of education degree, consistently addressed as "Dr. Cosby" by moderator Charles Ogletree of Harvard Law School, became exasperated when Steven A. Holmes, a Post national news editor, said the series would not resume until the fall.
"How can you take off the summer?" Cosby asked, saying that is when young people can be idle and angry. "Don't you have some junior people who would love to" step in?
"I'm holding the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Washington Post – all the white newspapers – to look at us and take us seriously. You had your Judas who reported Jesse Jackson saying Hymietown," he said, referring to Post reporter Milton Coleman's quoting of Jackson's reference to Jews as "Hymie" and to New York as "Hymietown" in an informal conversation during Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign.
Philip Bennett, the Post's managing editor, told Journal-isms today:
"I think Bill Cosby was confusing our ongoing coverage of issues affecting African Americans in the Washington region, which we are committed to pursuing on an ongoing basis, and the next round of profiles of individuals in this series. He was also making a rhetorical point about the urgent need to cover the problems he was discussing, which we recognize.
"The profiles take months to develop and we are in the reporting phase for the next round. That's why they'll resume in the fall. One of the reasons that we've organized the series this way is to learn as we go. We learned some important things at the Kaiser-Post conference that we'll apply to future stories."
At bottom, the conflict over the series was in large part over which view of black men should be presented. It was a role reversal, considering that activists have long argued that the media choose to emphasize the negative.
Even though most speakers did not mention the Post series, their repeated warnings about an emergency among African Americans contrasted with the assertion that 70 percent of black men said they were doing fine.
"When you have 30 percent of any population group in trouble, it's a crisis," agreed the Post's Holmes. "I have no argument about that. But it gives a distorted picture of black men" to focus only on the 30 percent. "Accuracy is what we should strive for," Holmes told the group. "My responsibility is to present the truth whatever that truth is."
Replied Cosby, "The 30 percent that's not" doing well "could shoot some of the 70 percent."
Mayor-elect Ron Dellums of Oakland, Calif., the former congressman, added later, "What is accurate?" citing varying perspectives on accuracy and the need for context. "Don't just say 'accurate,' but be accurate in a way that mobilizes people to deal with the problems of black males in America, because they're being ground up like glass."
Many of the panelists agreed that the real problem was the black family. Dr. Alvin Poussaint of Harvard Medical School pointed to a Yale study that showed that black males were expelled at twice the rate of others in pre-school, and that "young black males are much more likely to show up with internal problems," such as attention deficit disorder and dyslexia. He said there were "very high levels of child abuse and neglect in the black community," and that produces an early anger.
That speaks to the decline of black families and in appropriate parenting, speakers contended.
Larry Levitt, the Kaiser foundation's vice president for communications, said Kaiser did not yet know how many watched the Webcast, "though we do know that it was more traffic than we've ever had (including for some very high profile webcasts), and enough to overwhelm and crash our servers for a time."
C-SPAN taped the event. A C-SPAN spokeswoman said she did not yet know when it would air.

Only Certain People (Repfanz Op)

Have you ever watched those documentaries in which people do stupid stuff with animals or go places where death is iminent. Don't you just hate turning on your telly and seeing a news report about some biker or hiker who was riding his/her bike on a mountain bike trail, where signs are posted about the wildlife, most noteably rattlesnakes or mountain lions and said person either gets bitten or attacked by these territorial animals. The public goes in shock and the animal is usually killed, so they won't harm the next lackadaisical individual. How about people who swim in our oceans, they go far out and shocked when a shark attacks them. Oh by the way, disregarding the news report about shark sightings and the attack of someone else, I dunno! the day before.

Have you noticed that it's certain people who get caught in these situations. How about these individuals, the State Department as long as I can remember, puts out a list of countries that aren't safe to go. People going there are going at their own risk. So having said that, why in the hell when I turned on my radio, was I hearing reports about people who are basically stuck in Lebanon crying about not having a way out of harms way. Grant it, there was no way they would have foreseen all of this, but then again, this happens all the time in that region. Why now is the Government responsible for getting these people outta of there, when they were forewarned!

Remember this saying: "A hard head makes a soft ass"

That little saying fits so well.

1.3% Doctrine (Scoop Jackson, ESPN Pg 2)

1.3 % Doctrine
By Scoop JacksonPage 2

There's a story I tell whenever I go to a high school or college to speak.
I ask everyone to tell me how many black professional basketball players they know. Depending on the size of the room, 90 percent of the time, the students say they can name most of the players in the NBA.

There are roughly 350 players in the League, about 85 percent of them black. We usually round to about 300 -- therefore, the students claim to know for a fact that there are 300 professional basketball players.
Then I ask them to name 300 black sportswriters.
The room always gets eerily quiet. Beyond mortuary.

Michael Wilbon's name comes up, Stephen A.'s, "that black man with the beard who's on 'SportsReporters' a lot" gets mentioned (for the record, William C. Rhoden), and, if they're seriously official with their sports journalist knowledge, Phil Taylor and Ralph Wiley will get nods.
Past that, more silence.

Then I make a point.
"Do you know why you can't name 300 black sportswriters?" I say to them. "Because 300 of us don't exist."

The room becomes less quiet. Mumbling. Private conversations break out.
Then I make the point: "Which means you all have a better chance to make it to the NBA then you do doing what I do for a living."

I wish I wrote well enough to describe the looks on their faces. Every time.
The story I came to tell received some publicity recently. The story is about a research project initiated by the Associated Press Sports Editors and under the direction of Richard Lapchick (who contributes to ESPN.com) of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida. The study looked at how many black sports editors at APSE newspapers there were in America.

It was a study that came back with these numbers: four out of 305.
Last week, Norman Chad, syndicated columnist for The Washington Post, wrote a column headlined "I'm in the White Business."

Four out of 305. Enough to make a white journalist turn white.
Or write about.

It's a story that the fewer than 300 black sportswriters have been talking about for years, but it took a white writer to bring it to the masses.

And now that it's out, it must be accompanied by substance. Not that Mr. Chad didn't do the story justice, but this study is about just us, the 1.3 percent and those who live with this number every day, the ones who won't get the opportunity to become editors of the pages of sports.

It's a story we've been screaming forever, but no one wanted to hear. One that we've all thought was one of the biggest in sports, but no one wanted to read.
Four out of 305.

Chad said the number was "like Gilbert Gottfried's hit rate at a singles bar." To us African-American sportswriters and editors, it was more like our reality finally coming to life.

When you live in a place where a "skewed" misrepresentation of the balance is your daily existence, you cope. That's what you learn to do, that's where you have no choice.

The sports experience for black people is different. It is one that hasn't and will never be shared by any other race or nationality in the country.

Much of the civil rights and forces of equality we living black in America have achieved have come from accomplishment in sports. Think about that. Serious.
Jack Johnson, Jesse Owens, the Negro Leagues, Jackie Robinson, Curt Flood, Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe, Jim Brown, Althea Gibson, Wilma Rudolph, the Harlem Globetrotters, Wendell Scott, Willy T. Ribbs, Shani Davis, the Williams sisters, Tiger Woods.

Much of what these people stand for and what they represent has nothing to do with sports. But the role they -- and many unnamed others -- have played in shaping African-American history has been told to us by those who do not share what these "sports figures" mean to us  12 percent of the American population (or higher, if you consider the walls broken down for other minorities to participate in sports).

That is why this report is significant. More significant than if the report had come out about any other business in America. Even though the 1.3 percent top management rate reflects almost any other Fortune 5000 business in America, sports, you see, is different. Along with music and entertainment, it has been one of the only places we've been able to find equality.

To us, sports is not a game ... it represents freedom. Always has, always will. But most of America doesn't understand that. Never has, never will.

But because of the makeup of sports, because of the "skewed" number of us who play, because of its history in connection to our emancipation, the fact that only four of us have been given the opportunity to run the pages in which a major part of our history is being told gives an insight into what we black sportswriters have been saying since Pulitzer became a prize.

(Note 1: Take into consideration that that number is probably the highest it has ever been. Note 2: Take into consideration that that number doesn't include television, radio, magazines or Web sites. Note 3: Take into consideration that the number of positions held by blacks of the 128 media staff members of the 30 NBA last season teams was only 14, the most of the four major sports leagues.)

But understand this is not about racism or racist activities in sports as much as it is about a way of life in this country. Yes, there is something racially wrong with four out of 305, but if that's what we concentrate on, then we are missing the raw data inside the study.

As Chad wrote, the excuse for why there are so few black sport editors is because "usually [newspapers] aren't looking for black people or claim they can't locate them." I had that "reason" spun on me once at a magazine. And of course I let it slide, saying to the publisher, "Cool, I'll let you have that. Finding black [writers] is not your job, not your responsibility -- it's mine."
To me, his line of thought was not Mark Fuhrman-ish. But the next comment was.

"But none of them is going to be as good as you," the publisher said.
It is here we must deal with the issue of race and journalism as it exists in sports head-up, mano a mano, white-on-black.

"Why," I asked the publisher, "does a black writer have to be held up to my standards and every white writer that gets an assignment or white editor who gets a job with this magazine isn't?"

He said nothing. Couldn't. And this guy is far from a racist, but I told him, "That's the most racist [expletive] I've ever heard."

And of course it wasn't, but I had to make a point. I had to make them see my Anthony Hamilton, see where I was coming from, see life from the back of the bus, see what it was like to be tar in their game of feathers.

And it is here, inside this mind state -- not necessarily the hiring practices, bogus recruiters and faux search committees -- where we can find the real problem of the results of the Associated Press Sports Editors study.

It's black-on-black competition (crime, if you wish) delegated and controlled by white sports publishers and editors. For every Mike Wilbon, there must be another Mike Wilbon. For every David DuPree, there must be another David DuPree. For every Kevin Blackistone, there must be another Kevin Blackistone. For every Phil Taylor ... There's no acceptance of anything less. No room for anything less.

Only rope.

And yes, using rope as an analogy might be harsh, but again, appropriateness has a byline. As a black writer, former editor and one of the very, very few national sports columnists who is black (the percentage is said to be lower than the percentage of sports editors), existing and trying to find existence inside the trains of thought that run this "white business" is a reality check that will never bounce, but it is one we -- blacks in the business of sports journalism -- can never cash, either.

This is supposed to be on "Outside the Lines." Ya think? How about "Real Sports"? Better yet, "60 Minutes." This is supposed to be the reason ESPN gave Stephen A. a show and Mike & Mike syndication -- to talk about important issues.

But because the story doesn't jump, run, hit, dunk, head-butt in the World Cup finals, use HGH, lie in congressional hearings, melt down in the final round of The Masters, have a $90 million shoe deal or a $250 million contract; because it doesn't call ownership "classless," make phantom calls at the end of championship games, fire coaches, get caught with guns, beat its wife, hold news conferences on its front lawn, have an agent, play for the Yankees; because it involves the right and wrong of what's wrong with the dynamics of journalism and sports; because it deals with race and the evidence is basically irrefutable (and inexcusable, depending on who you ask), this story probably will go no further than what you are reading right now.

The 301 sports editors the report is not about probably won't push it forward; they won't give this bit of info the legs it needs to transfer from print to broadcast.

But the other four -- Leon Carter of the New York Daily News, Larry Starks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Garry Howard of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Alan Whitt of The (Nashville) Tennessean -- they might (Jon Stewart is the sports editor at the Huoma [La.] Courier, a non-APSE paper not counted in the study).

Yes, those are their names. Like the title of John Singleton's last, they are the "four brothers" who are like "Oz" actors on "Lost": the only "brothas" on an island. Trying to survive.

Howard, like all of us who hold him and the others in high regard because of the position they've earned, knows that the numbers don't lie but that they also don't tell the entire truth.

"It's ridiculous, basically laziness of the ownership [of the newspapers] when it comes to identifying talent," he said over the phone. "[Blacks] have proven that we can competently do the job. The onus falls on ownership.

"We have to be given chances to become, first, sportswriters, then copy editors, then assistant sports editors, then deputy editors, in order to increase that number of four. And it can't just be because we are black. It has to be about someone simply deciding to be fair."

Which is why, he says later on, that he's adhering to a new mission in sports editorship. "My goal: Eliminate the B.S. ... I want more of me," said the man who, while an editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, was the first to give Stephen A. a chance at being a sportswriter.

And Garry D. Howard wasn't talking about cloning Garry D. Howard.
But from a sportswriter's perspective, Marc Spears of The Denver Post, the West region representative of the National Association of Black Journalist Sports Task Force, spits a different chorus inside the same song.

"I'm not surprised by the results," he said. "What gets lost is that you automatically think racism, but human nature tells us that people are going to associate themselves with people they are most comfortable with. And if the people doing the hiring at most newspapers are white ..."

He tails off into the other side of the game, the one he has to sell himself on -- as many of us do -- to maintain some form of leverage without turning into Jayson Blair.

"Many black sportswriters are frustrated. We feel as if we continuously have to prove ourselves when other writers don't. It puts so much pressure on one of us to succeed because so very few of us are going to get a shot [at the top position]. We don't have a nest conducive for us to feel comfortable in."

When asked whether he thinks he'll ever get the opportunity to run the sports section of a major newspaper, Spears keeps the real extreme.
"No," he says in a deadpan, you-already-know-the-answer-to that-question voice. "I'd love to get that opportunity. But do I ever see that happening ... no."

And so goes the general consensus of us. Our life in print. Roscoe Nance (USA Today), Lacy Banks (Chicago Sun-Times), J.A. Adande (Los Angeles Times), Terry Foster (Detroit Free Press), Dwain Price (Fort Worth Star-Telegram), Jason Whitlock (Kansas City Star) and every other black writer who covers sports and looks in the mirror every day and sees the same reflection on the playing field but not inside the offices that hand them assignments.
Knowing their day at the top might never come. Knowing there will never be a civil rights movement in sports media.

One time about eight years ago, Michael Wilbon walked up to me during a media event at the NBA All-Star Game and said something to me that now is even sadder than the data learned from this study.

He said, "Do you realize that right now you are the most powerful black man in sports journalism?"

At the time, Slam, the mag I was editor-at-large at (not even editor-in-chief), was just finding its niche, making a little noise and getting a little respect. Circulation might have been about 175,000, while Sports Illustrated's was about 3 million (and it was read by about 20 million).

So when Wilbon sent those words my way, I couldn't understand. I looked around the room, saw every black sports journalist in the business. The pantheon. How was I the ackniculous one?

He said, "Because you are the only black person in the room who can make a decision on what goes on the cover of a national magazine. And that's big."
And the sadness in that is that it's true. As small as the magazine was at the time, the fact that no other person of color had the juice to do what I was allowed to do at Slam was sickening.

It was then I realized how distorted the game was. And eight years later, according to the 1.3 percent doctrine, ain't a damn thang changed.
In the introduction of "My Soul Has Grown Deep," John Edgar Wideman writes, "... the still unresolved question: How should radically unequal, African-descended ex-slaves -- impoverished, landless, stigmatized, disenfranchised, without civil rights, lacking of formal education, with little or no previous experience of citizenship -- be incorporated into a society whose announced creed is democracy, a democracy in theory open and fair that guarantees all its citizens an equal opportunity to compete in the struggle for a decent life?"
Apply that to the results of the Associated Press Sports Editors report, and the question still remains unresolved.

In reality, the situation isn't about race as much as it is about fruit. Strange fruit.

That's why I once told Boston sports radio host Willie Maye, who is a member of the 1.3 percent in his area of sports media, "When I do my memoir about my life as a journalist, I'm not going to call it 'A Raisin in the Sun,' I'm calling it 'A Raisin in a Bowl of Milk.'"

Scoop Jackson is a national columnist for Page 2 and a contributor to ESPN The Magazine. He has a weekly segment on "Cold Pizza" and is a regular forum guest on "Rome Is Burning." He resides in Chicago. Sound off to Scoop and Page 2 here.

War....Rumors of War.

WORLD WAR III Possibilities? (Repfanz23)

When I was in Saudi Arabia serving in Operation Desert Shield and then Storm. The one country we did not want in our operation was Israel. One, because we were in Saudi, in a country that does not take to kindly to the Israelites and for that matter you can throw France Jr., (Kuwait) in that mix too. So all the while Saddam was throwing his SCUD missiles over our heads (we were not in the rear with the gear) and into Israel. You can imagine the powers that run Israel was huffing and puffin' like Hulk Hogan when he had enough of his play opponent. Only problem with that is, that unlike Hogan who punched, flung his play opponent off the ropes to meet his red boot and then hit the guy with a leg drop for a three count. Israel had to be restrained by us, the referee. Well not no more. Israel apparently has had enough of the b/s. Angrily tired from roadside bombs, suicide bombers and threats against her. Israel is now taking the "Popeye" approach and now fighting back with years of anger and years of turning all four cheeks (face and azz cheeks). And the country who is now feeling and seeing the wrath of this now "enoughsk is enoughsk" pissed offed Israel is Lebanon and anyone else who wants to put their camels worth in it.
Folks, what we are looking at, is the possibility of another great World War. The United States this time can't restrain this erupted volcano and hopes of calming it down won't work until every building, cave and training facility of the country or countries are completely gone. Problem with that is now countries who have wronged the United States, by selling weapons to Iraq now have to choose what side they are on.
Countries like Iran, Syria and Jordan can obviously take side with Lebanon and the Palestinians. Russia and China will try to be a restrainer against the United States, but this time it won't work. We are going to battle and finally put Iran in its place with the fifty hostages and all the junk Iran has been talkin in mind.
(You Know it just hit me) The papers discovered with Al Qaeda number two Zarqawi said that an effort to get the United States in another front, The U.S. has to be lured to fight Iran and in turn weaken its effort in Iraq. Meaning if Iran, as reported, has troops in Lebanon. The U.S., may take the bait and attack Iran. China in turn allows North Korea to attack the South, with its troops. Meaning that Japan and the U.S. will be fighting Communist China and North Korea.
The desert in turn becomes WWII's Europe, with the U.S, Britain and Israel fighting in the desert with Soviet Union equipped Iran, Syria and Jordan.
Of course, we all would like to see peace, but peace went out the window with the first missile from Lebanon.
Thoughts or Strategies...

Another Child Tragedy

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/leonard_pitts/14997887.htm

Jason Whitlock: Breaking Win...(ESPN)

By Jason Whitlock
Special to Page 2

Soon, competitive farting and belching will be a televised sport.
Seriously, men of all shapes, sizes and colors will flatulate and belchulate for money, and their ability to do so will be a hot topic on "Around the Horn."
You think I'm crazy, don't you? You think I'm just writing this to be funny?
Not true. Farting and belching is one of the last frontiers for televised sports. I predict the NFBL -- the National Fart and Belch League -- will be formed in the next five years and land its first TV contract before 2015.

Some lucky newspaper sports columnist will earn a six-figure salary and a huge endorsement deal with Van Camp's Pork and Beans for serving as color commentator. Star Jones Reynolds has already agreed to do play-by-play.
You say farting and belching are not sports. I say you're unaware of the new-millennium, HDTV definition of sport. Anything men enjoy doing that is remotely competitive and can produce ad revenue is sport.

How else do you explain the fame and fortune garnered by Takeru Kobayashi, the reigning six-time champion of the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest?
Just this week, on our nation's birthday, Kobayashi set a world record, devouring 53¾ hot dogs in 12 minutes to retain his title. Kobayashi's eating prowess and heavily muscled, lithe and six-pack-abs frame make him the star of the International Federation of Competitive Eating. MTV filmed a documentary of Kobayashi's life.

His ability to earn a living eating any and everything in excess, retain a shirtless-in-public body and acquire a rep as a world-class athlete makes him the envy of every American man.

But I say don't be jealous. Soon, every American man will have the opportunity to become a relatively wealthy sports star/celebrity by competing in a leisurely act we'd normally do every day for free.

Ever heard of Texas hold 'em or dominoes? They're both televised sports, right along with bass fishing, bowling, skeet shooting, auto racing, golf and arguing about sports.

Look, if you can come up with a way to keep score, we'll come up with a way to define it as sport. It's really not that hard. I looked up the definition of "sports" on the Internet: "A physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively."

As a kid, I played football, basketball and track and field at a high level. I dabbled in baseball, bowling, tennis, fishing and golf. I can honestly say that I was far more competitive about farting, belching and eating than I was baseball, bowling, tennis, fishing and golf.

I dominated my older brother in the fart game, the art of breaking wind as loudly as possible, as close to someone's face as possible and escaping without getting punched. Now, we never kept a scoreboard, but I defy anyone to debate me on the merits of the fart game as sport and highly effective cardiovascular training.

If poker can become one of America's hottest sports, why can't belching and eating? Why not anything men enjoy doing?

So Wednesday night, with the help of a couple of female friends, I came up with a top-10 list of potential new "sports" TV shows, things men are competitive about and enjoy doing. If any of these show up on cable TV, I'll sue the network for compensation.

10. Scoring phone numbers in bars: This is easy and a natural. You take 10 guys and set them free in five different nightclubs -- a country bar, a sports bar, a white dance club, a mixed-race dance club and a black dance club -- for an hour each. They work each club for names and phone numbers. The next day, you film the guys calling the numbers, and the guy scores points based on whether the number is legit, whether she returns the call, whether she remembers him and whether she agrees to a date.

9. Shoulder to cry on: It's a game every man plays at one time in his life, but it's mainly preferred by the weak. Men pretend to be the sensitive, warm, caring friend to their buddy's girlfriend, hoping she tires of his buddy's manipulation and lying and chooses the shoulder she's been crying on for months. This is more of a reality TV show.

8. Beer bonging: As impressive as Kobayashi is, I've never seen anything as impressive as my high school friend, Chris, who as a teenager could down a six-pack of Old Milwaukee in a giant bong. Chris was 6-foot-3, 190 pounds and played tight end on the football team. He was the Tiger Woods of drinking.

7. Porn trivial pursuit: I'm always amazed at how many of my friends know the names and detailed résumés of the actresses in the adult-film industry. If ESPN ever wants to do an adult version of "Stump the Schwab," I've got a couple of friends who could easily play the role of Howie Schwab.

6. Quoting scenes from a movie: This could be a spinoff of the "Scoring Numbers" show. You take the most nerdy guys from "Scoring Numbers," show them interacting with women at a bar and just keep a running tally on how many times they use a classic line from a popular movie in an attempt to be funny.

5. Playing the dozens: OK, some network might already be doing this. I might've seen it on BET. But get a group of dudes to square off in a smack-talk contest. I'd put 'em in a ring and let 'em diss each other until someone took a swing. The first guy to throw a punch is the loser.

4. Liar, liar pants on fire: This would actually make a good coed sport, because I'm not sure which sex is the more skilled liar. Guys are indiscriminate about their lying. We lie about everything. Women lie mostly to protect the illusion of virtue and morality. You could pit couples in a lie-off. Let 'em come in and confess the biggest lies they ever told each other and let America vote on which one is the bigger fool.

3. Farting: A good pot of pinto beans and maybe a little con queso dip is all you need for this show.

2. Belching: Really cheap show. You film it at the same time as the beer bong show.

1. Cheap sex: This is a blockbuster. You only let average-looking, non-celebrity guys play this game. You turn 25 guys loose in a Vegas hotel and casino for one month. You give 'em $1,000 and a cell phone with 500 minutes. That's all the money and phone access they get for a month. No e-mail. No text messaging. The man with the most sexual conquests at the end of the month is the winner.


Jason Whitlock is a regular columnist for The Kansas City Star. He can be reached by e-mail at ballstate68@aol.com. Sound off to Page 2 here.

Looks Bad

Damn! all Barry did allegedly was take the cream and some freakin' oil. Yet he has the hate of all of baseball and condemned without a trial. But take Lance Armstrong and all the allegations and accusations and now this newspaper report...

http://www.latimes.com/sports/cycling/la-sp-armstrong9jul09,0,5275381.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Queen of Quips:

It was nice to see The New York Times commemorating Independence Day this week with a tribute to its favorite Revolutionary War hero, Benedict Arnold. Times editor Bill Keller spent the day attending Revolutionary War battle re-enactments, where he passed the Continental Army's secret battle plans to the British.

Ann Coulter

Quote of the day...

"This plot to bomb a tunnel in New York City was uncovered by the foreign surveillance program, the NSA 'domestic spying' program. Democrats want to use this program as a political issue and say, 'Bush is spying on you and me,' but not one of them has suggested canceling it."

Rush Limbaugh

Reaction To CA.Supreme Ct Decision

What came first, the chicken or the egg? That question in my opinion is the king of all debates. Well besides, "taste great - less filling" Miller lite commercials. I recently posted about a California Supreme Ct. Decision that basically gave unsuspecting individuals the right to sue individuals who infect them with STDs, most noteably HIV/AIDs.

Kudos to the court for not making everyone burst out in laughter and further ridicule Californians, for what is wrong about this state. The very mention of California and it's overcrowded prisons, filled with hundreds of individual on death row is like having a "kick me" sign on the back of every legal California resident. And deservedly so, the one state with "three strikes laws" is having a tough time of sending someone to the bullpen down below.

Yet California is looking good and retaining its title as the sue state, cause now victims who bed with individuals who either experimented homosexual activity or stuck on identity purgatory of "either I am or either I ain't" gay can now be sued and either way, money will be taken.

The only issue is the time, when will an individual know whether or not they are HIV positive? The court is going to allow six months for an individual to get to know. Since it takes the HIV/AIDs virus that long for a positive result, the individual is responsible for divulging that information. But this is question. How? remember that king of all debates question?

I got one, which came first? In the mid 80's the nation was struck with a disease that apparently effected gay men, none more damaging was the death of Rock Hudson. Later on, individuals who were not gay were affected. Arthur Ashe died from AIDs due to a blood transfusion and so did ABC anchorman Max Robinson. Eventually this disease reached out to drug users who shared the same needles and epidemic was on, claiming thousands of lives in America and millions worldwide. So how did it get here? I'm told that my opinion, probably along with the majority of Americans is that it originated in the gay community. Others like Will Smith believe the disease was sent in by the federal government meant for black people but some how our genes didn't go for the oakie doke and therefore it bounced to gay people, which by the way is a very diverse group of whites, blacks, asians and others. And lets not forget the mystery man who did the do with a monkey in deepest driest Africa. My opinion and others are viewed as homophoebic and narrow mindedness. Hey whatever. History will show that the very mention of disease started in a community that once was in the closet and gained noteriety for this deadly disease only. My opinion the breakout of AIDs started the liberalism and political correctness era we are living in, had it not for this disease, homosexuals will still be in the closet and not inuadating the rest of the country of it's sexual "happiness". I guess that take will also relate to the fact of how I feel about racism today in comparison to racism yesterday. I don't personally know anyone who died of AIDs. Yet I have to be thankful that the surgical procedure I had, was safe and HIV free and I didn't receive HIV for some drug user that donated blood that HIV positive in which he shared a needle with someone who had AIDs, who in turn performed homosexual acts for money. Do you see where I'm going with this, one way or another its going to start with an forbidden, immoral sexual act between two men.

Ain't This A Blip?

On my way to work this morning on the Metrolink Train from Tustin to Los Angeles. I as usual put on my headphones and turned on my little radio to catch either the Steve Harvey Show or THE HARDEST WORKING MAN IN RADIO!! The Tom Joyner Morning Show. Well as my radio dial would have it, it was on Joyner's show and they were talking about someone dying. I came in, in the middle of the discussion, so I was in the dark for a few seconds, before I figured out who they were talking and joking about.

"This is some Jack Bauer ("24") stuff right here" said comedian J. Anthony Brown. "I think they should kick him, kick him in that spot to make sure he's dead." "I mean he's sentenced to prison and now all of sudden he's dead!"

Those were the comments along with trying to figure out how someone found guilty of securities fraud could be out and around and not in the prison. I'm assuming they are talking about the average citizen, most likely a black person, who, if found guilty of any crime would still be in a local county jail somewhere.

(I won't commit on the fact that Ron Isley, black, is out and about after being found guilty of tax evasion and don't get me started on R-Kelly)

By now you could have figured that the person who died over the weekend, was Ken Lay. Lay was found guilty in May 2006 and scheduled to be sentenced in October. He was looking at thirty years behind bars and having to pay $183 million dollars restitution.

Well, looks like Lay won't be present in October, well not in the physical sense and he won't be paying $183 million. Lay got over once again, at 62 and looking at living the rest of his life in prison. I'm pretty sure he would rather die than die in prison. And based on christian beliefs, and the norm of most inmates, who commit way more heinous crimes, and all of sudden find religion. Lay probably got his spiritual life together and asked for forgiveness of his sins on this earth, therefore skyrocketing him pass St. Peter at the gate and in Heaven.

Ain't that a blip! He along with Jeff Skiiing took away peoples savings and their jobs, which by the way, I still stand by my opinion that those people should not be made whole because they lost money. But Skiing and Lay took those peoples money, took advantage of California's stupidity to not regulate energy and now has to live under the threat of rolling blackouts everytime the temperature reaches 88 degrees.

Lay has got to be smiling...he already kicked over laughing.