March 31, 2008 archive

Out in the streets inspiration comes hard

The joker in the deck keeps handin’ me his card

Smilin’ friendly he takes me in

Then breaks my back in a game I can’t win

Monday’s Headlines:McCain Faces Test in Wooing Elite Donors: Remains found of U.S. soldier captured in Iraq: Shia cleric orders followers to end Iraq clashes: Israeli play makes link with Palestinians:  Killing Fields photographer Dith Pran dies: Violence in Nepal as Tibetans protest Olympics: Turkey court mulls party ban case: Putin critic disappears in Berlin: Farc’s prize hostage is ‘ill and losing will to live’: Steep price for a free trip to Peru: Mugabe: the writing’s on the wall

Who Are We? New Dialogue on Mixed Race

Jenifer Bratter once wore a T-shirt in college that read “100 percent black woman.” Her African-American friends would not have it.

“I remember getting a lot of flak because of the fact I wasn’t 100 percent black,” said Ms. Bratter, 34, recalling her years at Penn State.

“I was very hurt by that,” said Ms. Bratter, whose mother is black and whose father is white. “I remember feeling like, Isn’t this what everybody expects me to think?”

Being accepted. Proving loyalty. Navigating the tight space between racial divides. Americans of mixed race say these are issues they have long confronted, and when Senator Barack Obama recently delivered a speech about race in Philadelphia, it rang with a special significance in their ears. They saw parallels between the path trod by Mr. Obama and their own.

Chip Litherland for The New York Times

Eric Hall, an Iraq war veteran, disappeared last month after having a flashback.

The following needs no commentary, Visit the article and Read the whole report, Absorb and Learn!

Well, Richard Gilmore will not be so happy about this and neither am I since we’re both Formula 1 fans.

Actually me not so much, since I’ve really always been partial to American open wheel road track racing, especially during the glory years of CART when their turbocharged 8s kicked the ass of the effete normally aspirated 10 and 12 cylinder sewing machines that powered the effeminate aerodynamic computerized robo-cars of Formula 1.

Those days are gone and all that remains is turning left bumper cars to amuse the tailgating brain dead beer drinking NASCAR bozos who think professional wrestling is a real sport.

Well goodbye dinosaurs and your petroleum polluting global warming antics.

Gone the way of polar bears and penguins you no longer amuse me.

(h/t Atrios)

cross posted from The Dream Antilles

The beautiful game

This isn’t about America’s so-called pastime, major league baseball, which begins tonight with the Braves playing the Nats and Commander Codpiece McFlyboy throwing out the ceremonial first ball. No. This is about something smaller, more intimate, and in many ways, much more a game of the People.  It’s about futbol, soccer, and how anti-immigrant local legislation in Northern Virginia has destroyed the local leagues.

It’s an infuriating story.  I’m angered not just because I love to play this game, but because of the important role it plays in the community.  I doubt you’ve heard about this before.

Please join me in the goal box.

Kinks

You Really Got Me