Really? He had no Idea He was Being a Racist Jerk!

I saw a story today from Black Snob that just infuriates me. Yet again we have people making racist remarks against Obama and then claim that black people are making more out of it than we should. There was a link to the following article: Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose Emailed His Friends A White House Watermelon Picture. The article explains that the mayor of Los Alamitos, California, Dean Grose, sent around a personal email containing the following picture:

with the caption “No Easter egg hunt this year,” and yes, those are watermelons photoshopped into a picture of the white house. He sent this to a bunch of people as a joke. Out of the 12,000 people who live in that town, I doubt that there are a lot of black people but there is at least one black person on his e-mail list, Keyanus Price. She did what you are supposed to do just talk to the person who offended you. She wrote:

"Hey, that’s not nice at all. Not all black people like watermelon… you should know better than that.”

Grose replied: “The way things are today, you gotta laugh every now and then. I wanna see the coloring contests.”

In other words, no apology so Price went public. Now Grose says:

“It was just poor judgment on my part, and I am deeply sorry. It wasn’t meant to hurt her,” he said.

and

"Bottom line is, we laugh at things and I didn't see this in the same light that she did," Grose told the AP. "I'm sorry. It wasn't sent to offend her personally - or anyone - from the standpoint of the African-American race."

His defense: I didn't know it was racist. I'm sorry. Well at least he is stepping down as mayor. However, he never admitted that it was a racist joke!

I have also seen a quote from another person concerning this incident:

Obviously the email was a reference to certain agricultural policies of the Obama administration and their impact on California melon growers…some people are so touchy. If it makes you feel any better, I’m sure Mayor Grouse will apologize for you being so thin-skinned.

"Thin-skinned"? Serious? This with the monkey cartoon last week shows us that Eric Holder was right last week. Offending others using racist jokes and sterotypes has got to be faced head-on. Americans don't do that. That is why Holder said that we are nation of cowards. We gotta stop proving him right.

Science of "Watchmen"

Here is a video from YouTube that shows the Physics Consultant on the film talk about Dr. Manhattan's powers and the theoretical science beneath the fiction. Very, Very interesting!

Parodying Christian Bale

You may have heard about this already but a few weeks ago, an audio recording surfaced of Christian Bale going ballistic on the set of Terminator 4. Apparently someone made a mistake and he went on a tirade of cursing and belittling and insulting people and threatening to leave the set and never coming back. There are several versions of it on YouTube and there have been a couple of very funny parodies of this.

If you want to hear the original tirade, just type in "Christian Bale" into the search box in YouTube and you can see it, but I won't post it because it's just too much profanity and I could not find an edited version.


Here is the Family Guy parody



Here is the Marvel Comics parody

Black Women and Flight

I received an e-mail this month stating that the only flight where the entire flight crew is black and female it seems that one of the crew started the e-mail chain. It got me thinking about the first black woman to hold a pilots license in the United States and internationally. Her name was Bessie Coleman. She was awesome. I'm going to make sure my daughter knows about her. Read this link to find out all about her life. It is very complete. Bessie's picture is on the upper left of this post and the all-black-female flight crew is on the right. Below is the e-mail as I received it.

VERY COOL!

Possible First All Female African-American Flight Crew

Very Motivating..

Our African-American women continue to demonstrate professionalism, intelligence and unlimited potential as they contribute to our overall struggle for
unlimited freedom, access and opportunity in America. The sisters on Flights 5202 and 5106 (a jet owned by Atlantic Southeast
Airlines) have proven that African-American women can do anything if just given a fair opportunity.

Their aviation success is a very proud moment for us all.

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm almost positive that we might have made history on Thursday, February 12, 2009. I was a part of an all African American female
crew. I'm attaching the photos and you can pass them along to whomever.
We were so excited!

We operated flight 5202 from Atlanta to Nashville and flight 5106 from Nashville back to Atlanta .



The crew included Captain Rachelle Jones, First Officer Stephanie Grant, Flight Attendants Robin Rogers and Diana Galloway!

This was just this month! The pictures of the crew are on this post

New Watchmen Motion Comic on DVD

A few weeks ago, I posted an article about "motion" Comics. It's where comic book art is animated. I am planning to attend the Wondercon Convention this Saturday and I'm planning to see if i can get the Watchmen graphic novel, but this DVD would be another cool way to experience the story. It Comes out 03-03-09 I admit that Warner Brothers and Fox are attempting to milk us for all they can. That being said...I can't wait for the movie, the motion comic, and the animated companion movie called The Black Freighter on 03-24-09. Also I wanna see Watchmen in IMAX. Looks like a movie that must be seen in IMAX.

Comments on Turek/Hitchens Debate

I enjoyed the debate between Frank Turek vs Christoper Hitchens. I blogged about it a few months at the following link. As you probably know Dr. James White has been busy with his own debates but he has finally commented on the Turek/Hitchen debate. It is interesting to hear someone who is an accomplished professional debator comment. I'm amazed. He pointed out something very important that I missed: although Hitchens is an atheist he was able to point out a flaw in Turek's argument: He tried to go from general theism (belief in the existence of some God) to arguing for the existence of God in the view of Judeo-Christianity without explaining how he did it! Here are Dr. White's commentes:

MLK Oratory winner 2009: Gerra Gistand

A little girl gives a speech on the following question: If Dr. King were alive today, what do you think he would say about current events? It is a great answer!

Challenging Islam

Here is a video I saw on YouTube that is very interesting...as well as humorous without being completely irreverent and I hope will not offend anyone. It raises questions as to how if you look at the life of Mohammad and what he taught in the Koran that you can conclude that Islam is a religion of peace? Take a look. All of the information presented I have seen in other sources.

Alan Keyes Warning

There is no love lost between Alan Keyes and Barack Obama. They have been rivals for years. To be honest, had Keyes been running against Obama, I would have voted for Keyes. They are both politicians, but Keyes' is a black man who shares my world views much more closely than Obama. Considering their history I'm not surprised that he disagrees with Obama's economic policies. Listen to what he has recently said



The one thing that stand out to me about what Keyes points out the question about how is a bankrupt government such as ours going to bail out anyone? Where is the money going to come from? I don't agree with Keyes saying that Obama is telling people not to pay their mortgages because the government is going to pay for it. I have never heard that suggested by the Presidential administration. Another problem is that Keyes repeated the lie that Obama cannot prove that he was born in the United State. Unfortunately, instead of offering alternative he really rips into Obama - his character and his abilities to be President. Obama said that he would listen to other opinions. I wonder if the two have talked?

UPDATE: I just read an article from Newsmax in which they report this very same story. One thing that I have noticed about Newsmax is that they are conservative Republicans and have been against Obama since day one. As for Keyes the article does point out that he is wrong about raising doubts about Obama's citizenship. Here is what is pointed out in the article:

Obama has stated he was born in Hawaii. His campaign has released his Certificate of Live Birth - not his actual birth certificate. Hawaii state officials said they reviewed the actual birth certificate and that Obama was born in the state of Hawaii.

Also, Obama's family placed a legal advertisement in a Hawaii newspaper days after he was born.

You can't fake a legal advertisement dated 40 years ago with the intention that one day the boy would be President in a country where his father would have been murdered in some places for race mixing! Let's get real. Newsmax did not have anything positive to say about Keyes either because let's face it some white Republicans are scared by him even more than by Barack Obama.

Marriage Video from West Virginia

Here is a good video framing what is at stake with redefining "marriage". It is good to watch. It's poignant for me in light of what my own marriage means to me and my parents' 51st anniversary which is today.

Malcolm X Assassination: 02-21-1965

Today, 44 years ago, Malcolm X was assassinated. I'm not going to comment much now because his life and legacy deserve more space than I am prepared to make at this time. For now here are some great videos I have found that showcase who he was. You can purchase much of his speeches, video and audio, and transcriptions at http://malcolmxfiles.blogspot.com/

Apologetics 315: Kyle Butt vs. Dan Barker Debate MP3 Audio - Does the God of the Bible Exist?

I think that a debate on "Does the God of the Bible Exist?" is very important. Dan Barker argued "no" and he claims that he used to be a believer. However all his arguments not only were new but boiled down to the idea that he did religion is based on the belief that there is something broken or missing from humanity and he rejects the idea that he needs to be saved from himself and refuses to serve or believe in God that would condemn anyone to hell for thinking for himself or herself. I thought Kyle Butt did the correct thing to not challenge Barker on everyone of his Bible "contradictions". Kyle was right, those "contradictions" can be reconciled and reasonably shown not to be contradictions. This is a good debate to listen to.

Apologetics 315: Kyle Butt vs. Dan Barker Debate MP3 Audio - Does the God of the Bible Exist?

Poll: Is the New York Post's Cartoon Offensive?

This post goes along with the polls in the side bar. I wrote a post yesterday called Eric Holder is Correct where I discussed an editorial cartoon that really angered me as racist. The truth is that I read a post today by an author, Peter David, whom I admire who happens to White. He did not see the same problems with the cartoon.

My response to the cartoon itself is twofold:

First, it's the New York Post. Were they attempting to slam Obama personally, associating him in a racist fashion with a monkey? Possible. Then again, there's the old notion that if you put an infinite number of monkeys in a room with infinite typewriters and give them an infinite amount of time, they could produce the works of Shakespeare. So it could be argued that a dead monkey is an editorial cartoon shorthand for something that anyone could have produced, in a random fashion, and not particularly well.

Second, and more important...it's the New York Post! Why does anyone give a damn what they say about anything? Before they produce the works of Shakespeare, the infinite monkeys will probably produce an issue of the Post. It should be accorded exactly that amount of respect and concern.

He thinks that Sharpton jumps the gun attributing racism to the editorial staff and artist at the New York Post. I don't agree with how he understood the cartoon. I don't see it. It got me thinking: Do all black people see the cartoon the way I do? What do other people see when they see it?

Here is the cartoon again:

I'd like to see some comments about what you believe the cartoon is saying. If you don't want to comment and vote in my poll, please just vote. I think the results could be interesting.

Eric Holder is Correct

Today Eric Holder, the first black Attorney General of the United States, gave a speech for which he has received a considerable amount of criticism. He said that despite the fact that we consider ourselves a "melting pot" a diverse races, cultures, and viewpoints we are a nation of cowards when it comes to seriously discussing race. Here is what he said in his own words:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I don't understand why that would make people angry because he was telling the truth. How do I know he was telling the truth? What proof do I have? Well also today the New York Post ran a political cartoon that was based on the shooting of a pet chimpanzee that went "ape" and severely injured a woman in Conneticut and on the Obama's new Stimulus Bill. For anyone who did not see the "ape" story here it is:



For the record, I don't know what set the monkey off. I have no idea of what caused the attack. But for sure, the monkey tasted human blood. When an animal attacks and injures a human being, that animal by-and-large must be killed. The thing was 200 lbs and even those smaller, cute, chimpanzees that we normally think of are several times stronger than a normal human being. The woman did not have a chance. I said all that to get to this next point: the cartoon that the New York Post ran:



Okay, personally, this really offended me. I mean what were they trying to say. Obama is black. He just wrote a stimulus package. Racist white people used to (and still do) call black people "monkey". You've got two white cops standing over a dead monkey that they just shot talking about needing someone else to write another stimulus package. Duh!!! Are we not to get implication that they are saying a monkey was responsible for the stimulus bill and that monkey should be put down? What other interpretation should we get? I'm truly confused and don't understand how the New York Post could defend printing this! How could they be so "cowardly" to not admit that this is racially offensive to a lot of people. This is why I'd say Eric Holder is right. On top of this, it's Black History Month! I have yet to hear an alternate interpretation of how the editorial staff interprets what this cartoon is saying! Instead they suggest Al Sharpton is just trying to garner publicity when he spoke out against them this morning! Here is what Al Sharpton said:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Is the cartoon racist? In a word: "Yes!"

First Female Dictator Hailed As Step Forward For Women

Before I post the following video, I thought that it was amazing how much it comments on the state of feminism and cries of "equal" rights. This video is a humorous parody of what would happen if a woman became dictator of a third-world country. Most of the comments are applied to any woman who is "first" to be something or do something traditionally dominated by men. It's strange to hear those same comments being applied to being a dictator and engineer of genocide and persecution as those comments praising a woman for excelling at being an executive or successful at something good. Have we really gone that far at praising women for everything...good or bad? Something to think about. Personally, I don't have a problem with women having and welding authority and power as long at they do it according to the will of God. That being said men and women are different...neither is better or worse than the other. God said so.

Some People Don't Grow Up

I saw this on YouTube and it shocked me. This woman is acting like a two-year-old little girl throwing a tantrum (trust me I know what that looks like!) I felt bad for her husband who looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. Scary! To be fair maybe they was a reason for her reaction, I just can't imagine what that could be!

Wolverine Clips: "Outcast"

Here is a trailer for the new Wolverine showing a lot of how they are handling his youth.

Cool European Car Commercials

Here are examples of how American and Japaneses cultures influence Europe. These are commercials for cars made by Citroen.





These almost make me want to buy one of these cars.

Obama on Science

I've recently found a clip on YouTube from two speeches from Barack Obama before he took the Presidential Oath. In them, he calls for our government and society to commit to supporting science and innovation. To not just give money, but encourage and support education so that we can have new generations of scientists and engineers to return and keep America at the leading cutting edge of science. I agree. Here is the video.



The only thing I find that I disagree with is that he seems to suggest that science can be stymied or curtailed by religious ideology. The truth is that I think that history can bear out that economic concerns derail science just as much as religious ideas. Los Angeles is an example. Just after World War II, plans for giving the Los Angeles region of California a subway or light-rail system was abandoned because the powers-that-be decided that they could make more money selling cars and building highways in Southern California, resulting in some of the worst traffic and smog the world has ever seen. There are other examples.

Obama urges us to have open minds when considering science and being open to possibilities. However, we find more and more examples of people deciding to close their minds to the scientific and logic evidence against the theory of evolution. Some of which I have discussed in this blog with more to follow. There are legitimate scientists and engineers who interpret the data and come up with different legitimate conclusions! I am one of them. Let me just end this by quoting the title of one of Norman Giesler's greatest works: "I don't have enough faith to be an atheist!"

Recent Comments on the Stimulus Plan

As you probably have heard, the passage of one the economic bills Obama has proposed has been passed into law. I have no idea what it all means but I thought that it would be good to post what Obama said about it:



Here is what John McCain had to say about the economic bailout

Embedded video from CNN Video

All I can say for sure is that something needs to be done. Only time will tell if what Obama is doing will prove to be right or not. The best we got, is to trust God and not in any one single man to save us from this mess. We also have to be prepared to accept what ever God decides for us because however or whatever that is will be what will happen and we need to just keep doing what we know we have each been called to do.