tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33734597171774112142024-03-04T22:16:13.006-08:00The BillanthropeBill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-11966166135389355802013-01-24T18:27:00.000-08:002013-01-24T18:27:12.308-08:00[Call for Submissions] Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxWJ9KXgJIgYYykCUzcqqwbkOeD4PST1RT5vTRz9nC7rUDVOMCDKdqB-OoAaZXEh3fDk1u0zVbT1-MHTO5PtIA78v8XwB72lPAkklxU0Lxp3MN_gWN-7L2D8Y7ZGg7f8nkswHJS6boYpu/s1600/weaver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxWJ9KXgJIgYYykCUzcqqwbkOeD4PST1RT5vTRz9nC7rUDVOMCDKdqB-OoAaZXEh3fDk1u0zVbT1-MHTO5PtIA78v8XwB72lPAkklxU0Lxp3MN_gWN-7L2D8Y7ZGg7f8nkswHJS6boYpu/s320/weaver.jpg" width="204" /></a>That's right, yall. I've got a new project coming, and we're looking for submissions!<br />
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Here are some of the details:<br />
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<i>"Co-editors Bill Campbell and Edward Austin Hall seek donated submissions for the first in a series of anthologies comprising original and reprinted genre material for, by, and/or about persons of color.</i><br />
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<i>"The genres in question include (but are not limited to) science fiction, fantasy, horror, slipstream, weird fiction, and speculative fiction."</i><br />
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For full details, please visit the <a href="http://mothershipconnect.com/index.html">site</a> and don't forget to sign our <a href="http://mothershipconnect.com/Subscribe.html">mailing list</a>.<br />
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Peace, Love & Sooooooooulllllll<br />
Party People<br />
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See ya on the Mothership<br />
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<br />
<br />Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-73176794286260171342012-11-25T16:14:00.000-08:002012-11-25T16:14:49.064-08:00Koontown Kristmas Special<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2YZeoTrDJVPq2sdNWzQpKRNMLZf4R4oJXqaugU-ccPAuxvIgGG5gpQiy4RMmTAp0GnPSph2J6reJeP4mzA2zsEij2qeA4r-XuSufcs7mUdQSUTo9bhuf6GhJfRL3qXjYi65d8qJmS2KDK/s1600/blackpeterandsanta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2YZeoTrDJVPq2sdNWzQpKRNMLZf4R4oJXqaugU-ccPAuxvIgGG5gpQiy4RMmTAp0GnPSph2J6reJeP4mzA2zsEij2qeA4r-XuSufcs7mUdQSUTo9bhuf6GhJfRL3qXjYi65d8qJmS2KDK/s400/blackpeterandsanta.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Happy Hollydaze, Yall!!!</b></center>
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In the fine tradition of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet">Black Peter</a>, we here in <i>Koontown</i> are here to help Santa make your holiday all the more special!!!<br />
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From now until December 15, you can get your very own signed copy of <i>Koontown Killing Kaper</i> shipped to your door for Christmas. It's $23 through PayPal ($20 for the book and $3 for shipping and handling). Just give us your mailing address and who you want the book signed for, and we will ship it the very next day. (After December 15, of course, we have no clue if it will get there by Christmas.)<br />
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Also, don't forget the other fine <i>Koontown</i> products (T-shirts, thongs, and golf umbrellas) available on the <a href="http://koontown.com/merchandise.html">site</a>.<br />
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And what are the holidays without the <i>Koontown</i> <a href="http://koontown.com/merchandise-soundtrack.html">original soundtrack</a> by Triple Threat?<br />
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Pretty damned sad, I say. Pretty damned sad.
Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-9678541004176345032012-07-31T16:45:00.000-07:002012-07-31T16:45:13.137-07:00Koontown in August: Run! Brutha! Run!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJCUDqw9PtR4XJdRE8qvNF6hpFvUTbP-AYjEcpM0nt9ODxdTiyJf5yDk2Pi6DSXqmpy6QYJoud0goTqTU9n4gMjqSomGII-NbWYTDXaEN9vSv8yG81gNRpY98Rg3pbY6tHenKe7CnUWVA/s1600/themilitantsmedio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJCUDqw9PtR4XJdRE8qvNF6hpFvUTbP-AYjEcpM0nt9ODxdTiyJf5yDk2Pi6DSXqmpy6QYJoud0goTqTU9n4gMjqSomGII-NbWYTDXaEN9vSv8yG81gNRpY98Rg3pbY6tHenKe7CnUWVA/s400/themilitantsmedio.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Well, things in <i>Koontown </i>just get busier and busier. And August will be the busiest month, yet.<br />
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If you happen to be around for any of these, please feel free to drop by and say, "Hi." Tell your friends. Whatever it takes. I'm exhausted just typing these different events out. Just imagine what I'm going to be feeling like by September--when, of course, it all starts over again.<br />
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For more information, please check out the <a href="http://www.koontown.com/">website</a>.<br />
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<b>Saturday, August 4</b><br />
Fenton Street Market<br />
Silver Spring, MD<br />
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<b>Sunday, August 5</b><br />
First Sunday<br />
Whitmore Park<br />
Annapolis, MD<br />
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<b>Friday, August 10</b><br />
<b>7:30pm</b><br />
New Embassy Theater<br />
Cumberland, MD<br />
(Book Reading & Concert)<br />
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<b>Saturday, August 11</b><br />
Reston Market at Lake Anne Plaza<br />
Reston, VA<br />
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<b>Sunday, August 12</b><br />
The Flea Market @ Eastern Market<br />
Washington, DC<br />
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<b>Saturday, August 18</b><br />
Onyxcon 4<br />
Atlanta, GA<br />
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<b>Sunday, August 19</b><br />
Criminal Records<br />
Atlanta, GA<br />
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<b>Monday, August 20</b><br />
<b>7pm</b><br />
Shepherd Park Library<br />
Washington, DC<br />
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<b>Wednesday, August 22</b><br />
<b>7:30pm</b><br />
Red Emma's<br />
Baltimore, MD<br />
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<b>Friday, August 24</b><br />
<b>7pm</b><br />
Moonstone Arts Center<br />
Hosted by the Philly Fantastics<br />
Philadelphia, PA<br />
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<b>Saturday & Sunday, August 25 & 26</b><br />
AfroPunk Fest<br />
Brooklyn, NY<br />
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And, of course, if you want to make my job easier, you can always buy your own copy of <i>Koontown</i> from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006T7USDM/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1D4Z9SKYN26WZ0VQM405&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846">Amazon</a> at any given time. Believe me, I am already <i>highly </i>grateful.Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-22859467689193550712012-02-18T07:48:00.000-08:002012-02-18T07:48:10.120-08:00Picture of the Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7v-pkOpoJrOaloqP9C6mNMByielFrxymiQsCctrNPtA0rbaFL45oWwdyuUBEK3GMUv-t3ucUYGUbV0XR4nPPR-nfcYIfdryTjq_TF5-mzSA8OPamEtZPmIDMZlY1WCdPzlzA44C76pSC6/s1600/Antoine+Koontown+Hat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7v-pkOpoJrOaloqP9C6mNMByielFrxymiQsCctrNPtA0rbaFL45oWwdyuUBEK3GMUv-t3ucUYGUbV0XR4nPPR-nfcYIfdryTjq_TF5-mzSA8OPamEtZPmIDMZlY1WCdPzlzA44C76pSC6/s320/Antoine+Koontown+Hat.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Look at this proud brother rocking his Koontown gear. It's like the Black Power Afro pick and dashiki of the 2Gs. Get yours today!!!<br />
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<a href="http://www.koontown.com/merchandise.html">http://www.koontown.com/merchandise.html</a>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-74493715106263264242012-01-26T10:47:00.000-08:002012-01-26T10:47:15.501-08:00The Koontown Killing Kaper Official Book TrailerI can't believe I haven't posted this here, yet. God, I'm slipping. Anyway, here. Have a laugh.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/TL-h-TQSJ70?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-55901411896672611802012-01-11T11:39:00.000-08:002012-01-11T11:39:15.686-08:00Why I Wrote Koontown<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Black people are inherently inferior. This is not something you would often hear anybody say outright—if at all. That would be racist, and we live in a time when even devout racists get offended if you actually call them “racist.” The closest we tend to get to such utterances is the coded intimations of the Newt Gingriches and Rick Santorums of the world talking about how blacks prefer welfare to actual work. (If that were so, Uncle Sam owes me over 25 years of backpay.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yet, the message of black inferiority is still something being transmitted today. Like air, water, and high-fructose corn syrup, it simply permeates the culture. We take no more notice of it than we do inhaling the carbon-monoxide air of our car-driven country.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Television news constantly feeds us reports of black criminality, black underachievement, black addiction. Our entertainment industry gives us a steady diet of black depravity, shoveling pimps and hustlers and playas and thugs down our throats. We can watch them on our televisions, in our movies; listen to them on our radios, iPods, and smart phones; we can read about them on our Kindles and Nooks and even—heaven forbid—actual books and thrill to their tales of violence, greed, and penicillin-resistant promiscuity.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Even science gets into the act. Phrenology may be dead, but so-called studies and statistics thrive. They tell us black kids can’t keep up academically. Drugs consume the ghetto. Jails are overflowing with black misery. Over 60 percent of black men without a high school diploma will wind up in prison. Some even say there are more black men in prison today than were enslaved in 1850. On top of all that, black men are even the least hirable demographic in these here post-racial United States.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hell, with all these problems, no wonder we are constantly assaulted by those images I mentioned earlier. That we are just as likely to see black thuggery on our TV screens as we were the token black friend in a ‘90s sitcom (whatever happened to those?). That hip-pop (what I like to call ironically “commercial” rap) still pounds us with talk of pimping, hustling, dealing, murdering, and misogynating. That 80 percent of the books published for, by, and/or about blacks is urban or “ghetto” literature. After all, all these portrayals reflect the culture, mirror the reality of life in African-America.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Except, of course, they don’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As has been noted, 80 percent of African-American books published today are what some call ghetto lit. One would think that a corresponding percentage of black folk actually live in the ghetto. Well ... according to the 2010 Census, only 30 percent of African-Americans today live in majority-minority neighborhoods.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Educationally, the good folks at <i>Freakanomics</i> (and other studies back them up on this) have found that achievement is not race-based—but class-based. Middle- and upper-class blacks score just as well as any other child of their socioeconomic background no matter their race. Conversely, poor kids of all races score equally poorly. Studies have also found that the rates of triflinity (<i>n. </i>the act of being or the moral structure that leads one to actually be triflin’) are the same across the races.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On the crime front, data have shown that rates of criminality between whites and blacks are also the same. Black men make up about 40.2 percent of the prison population with roughly 846,000 of us in the system, and, in 2003, the Bureau of Justice Statistics predicted that 32 percent of black men born in 2001 <i>will </i>be spending time in prison (I guess the Justice Department had just unrolled their 30-year business plan, or something). Still, out of a population of some 18 <i>million </i>black males, 846,000 is hardly representative. And, with all due respect to Ice Cube, there may be more <i>niggers</i> in the pen than in college (I can’t particularly speak on that one), but there are actually more <i>black men</i> in college (919,000) than in prison. And all due respect to Dr. Michelle Alexander, who claimed that there are more black men in prison today than were enslaved in 1850; there were only about 1.8 million black men in America in 1850. To compare the black population of that time with today’s, which is 10 times larger, is a bit disingenuous. Less than five percent of black men are imprisoned today. In 1850, less than five percent of black men were <i>free</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now, I’m not saying that everything in our black communities is honky-dory and that we’re living in the Days of Ripple and Roses. What I am saying is that we African-Americans continue to be treated by the dominant culture (as well as our own) as a monolithic whole and that treatment is overwhelmingly negative.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How can 80 percent of our books be ghetto lit when only 30 percent of us live in majority-minority neighborhoods—ghetto or otherwise? How can so much of our music celebrate thugging, pimping, robbing, and stealing, when such a small percentage of us live such a life?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now, I’m a satirist. I write novels. I understand the role of fantasy in entertainment. I personally do not get into “conscious” vs. “unconscious” (or whatever the term), “positive” vs. “negative” debates. Life’s more complicated than that. Besides, a good story needs both heroes <i>and </i>villains. A <i>really </i>good story muddies up the distinction. But, as a writer, I also respect the image. I believe that images have power, can move people, and, if repeated enough, affect the way people think.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Does the persistent image of black inferiority have power? Judge for yourself. It has power enough to allow Gingrich and Santorum to say what they did and be taken seriously. In some quarters, people believed Limbaugh when he suggested Obama got into Harvard due to affirmative action.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As stated before, black men are the least hirable demographic. When an employer sees a “black” name on a resumé or application, do thoughts of criminal behavior, drug abuse, and/or intellectual inferiority dance like watermelons through their heads? Do they subconsciously check their wallets or purses when that black applicant walks through the door? Wonder if they speak Jive? When they look at that applicant’s credentials, do they think, “Affirmative action”?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Recently, the National Education Policy Center found that, though black and white school kids are equally trifling, 28 percent of African-American middle school boys are suspended or expelled as opposed to only 10 percent of their white counterparts. This is apparently due to the discretionary behavior of the disciplining adults and not the individual child’s actual offense. Could that disciplinarian be looking at that little black boy and be thinking of his future thuggery? That that boy isn’t going to amount to anything, anyway, and they might as well nip whatever it is in the bud?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">From what I understand, the “justice” system treats black teens much the same way. After all, blacks and whites commit the same rates of crimes. Yet, black men are six and a half times more likely to see jail time than any white man ever would. What could be going through the arresting officers’ minds? The judges’? The jailers’? Could it be the same thing that passed Dr. Walter Quijano’s lips when he testified in the Duane Buck trial that black men possess a little known gene called “future dangerousness”? (It’s apparently found in the melanin.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Is the disproportionately punative treatment black men receive in this country due to the fact that T.I. and Lil Wayne rap? Of course not. Should it? Well ... there is a price to pay for those two’s existences. But that is artistic.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seriously though, ever since the first master complained about the first nigra slave stealing his chickens, African-Americans have been dealing with negative portrayals of themselves. And those negative images have often been racist in nature and used to reinforce and justify African-Americans’ oppression and dehumanization. Do these images serve the same function today? I would be the <i>last </i>one to say that. As I said, today, even the Grand Wizard of Aryan Nation United States (A.N.U.S.) would be screaming, “Who you callin’ ‘racist,’ nigger?!” So, I’ll leave that up to you.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Meanwhile, as a satirist, it is up to me to examine those images, poke and prod them, take my incisive “wit” and twisted “humor” and slap them up, flip them, and rub them down, to slice them open and start pulling until the chitlins come pouring out into the light of day. That is why I wrote <i>Koontown Killing Kaper</i> with all its offensive language, grotesque imagery, and absurd humor. ‘Cause, if you ask me (and Lord knows, you didn’t) today’s pimp, gangsta, playa who’s movin’ weight, bodyin’ niggas, and runnin’ this here pimp game is about as representative of today’s African-Americans as the happy coon on the plantation just a-pickin’ and a-grinnin’ on his banjo and doin’ the cake walk and singin’ his Africanized Irish ballads fo’ massa was representative of the dusky Ethiopians of the 1850s. And, if I can make fun of those <i>Amos ‘N’ Andy </i>portrayals of yesteryear, I most definitely need to make fun of their modern equivalent. ‘Cause boy, to tell de troof, there do be times when I’se utterly and completely <i>regusted</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimpuHv-xBo18F3_jNrGtku-u_6ZcD4rDt7FCXeXMn8VDSYjPA1EBd8KBiKwsyDM4D3AjL1BjV_lZNnGMTyFZiO6OUMTCq-6a8CBVy8VfKDffnV9OoTUq6PyycDl6qfDJj7WNRpE37tqXf8/s1600/K-Town-BookCover-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimpuHv-xBo18F3_jNrGtku-u_6ZcD4rDt7FCXeXMn8VDSYjPA1EBd8KBiKwsyDM4D3AjL1BjV_lZNnGMTyFZiO6OUMTCq-6a8CBVy8VfKDffnV9OoTUq6PyycDl6qfDJj7WNRpE37tqXf8/s320/K-Town-BookCover-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-59397721683997342532012-01-05T06:34:00.000-08:002012-01-05T06:34:11.327-08:00Koontown Killing Kaper on Kindle!!!That's right. My new novel, <i>Koontown Killing Kaper</i>, is available at the Kindle Store!<br />
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To celebrate, I wanted to share with you the second release from the <i>Koontown Killing Kaper </i>Original Soundtrack, Choppy Chop-E Sound's "Tomorrow/Yesterday."<br />
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Enjoy! Buy the book! Listen for the Soundtrack!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/du3QLhMF_es/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/du3QLhMF_es&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/du3QLhMF_es&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />
<br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>Koontown </i>at Kindle:<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Koontown-Killing-Kaper-ebook/dp/B006T7USDM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325773501&sr=8-1">http://www.amazon.com/Koontown-Killing-Kaper-ebook/dp/B006T7USDM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325773501&sr=8-1</a> <br />
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Oh yeah. Don't forget to buy a <i>Koontown Killing Kaper </i>T-shirt!!!<br />
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<a href="http://koontown.spreadshirt.com/">http://koontown.spreadshirt.com/</a> <br />
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About <i>Koontown Killing Kaper:</i><br />
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All the rappers in Koontown are being killed, and rumor has it that it's vampire crack babies doing the killing. Desperate, the police reach out to Genevieve "Jon Vee" Noire, ex-super model/ex-homicide detective/private detective. Together with her former partner, Genevieve must navigate the dangerous world of gangsta rappers, shady record executives, corrupt cops and politicians, '80s pimps, welfare queens, secret sistah societies, Ubernoggin, and the National guard. Can the ex-super model survive the chaos and insanity to save her beloved Koontown while it explodes all around her?<br />
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</span>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-78302499365243851492011-12-15T09:02:00.000-08:002011-12-15T09:02:17.681-08:00Welcome to Koontown<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUpTRKOXJnPmaGv_7FWlSVNPAh4KiyZyn0VcsxwsLDXPFrob4rYE2TiFs88d2Rdhn-H3NKq2vsUVIYGA4YIaBHUqxc7_sDCw9KzhrwBicUumdM5epqpMd5jGsMUtOxygko1mNwq4jwF9j/s1600/K-Town-BookCover-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUpTRKOXJnPmaGv_7FWlSVNPAh4KiyZyn0VcsxwsLDXPFrob4rYE2TiFs88d2Rdhn-H3NKq2vsUVIYGA4YIaBHUqxc7_sDCw9KzhrwBicUumdM5epqpMd5jGsMUtOxygko1mNwq4jwF9j/s320/K-Town-BookCover-1.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Well, as many of you know, I have a new book coming out on January 17, <i>Koontown Killing Kaper</i>. Here's the official theme song (there will be an original soundtrack produced by Triple Threat coming your way). Hope you enjoy:</span></div><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">What happens when you smash “The Boondocks” head-long into “Family Guy”? You end up with one of the most outrageous, most offensive, most hilarious books you may ever read.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Koontown Killing Kaper</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In Koontown, all the rappers are being killed, and rumor has it that it's vampire crack babies doing the killing. Desperate, the police reach out to Genevieve "Jon Vee" Noire, ex-super model/ex-homicide cop/private detective. Together with her former partner, Genevieve must navigate the dangerous world of gangsta rappers, shady record executives, corrupt cops and politicians, '80s pimps, welfare queens, secret sistah societies, Ubernoggin, and the National Guard. Can our heroine survive the chaos and insanity to save her beloved Koontown while it explodes all around her? </span></div>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-89435712086252924662011-10-27T13:58:00.000-07:002011-10-27T14:06:58.910-07:00For the Record ... I'd Whip Dat Ass<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjybYvd-0Apnppnb7Wp8wnYEPKKaI2ZwjksXRcYBCiDtdaZXuR5d_1r3ayIS7PbqtvxLG2SEiJeN3atzBJOplKsOQSWgOIy-u4Kw5uxWz-nAw4CAtMKOugJjw2JrO61TQot2jUfWgHiK1ii/s1600/child+crying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjybYvd-0Apnppnb7Wp8wnYEPKKaI2ZwjksXRcYBCiDtdaZXuR5d_1r3ayIS7PbqtvxLG2SEiJeN3atzBJOplKsOQSWgOIy-u4Kw5uxWz-nAw4CAtMKOugJjw2JrO61TQot2jUfWgHiK1ii/s1600/child+crying.jpg" /></a>Funny, I often feel like I'm chained to the internet. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Goodreads, Podomatic, etc., etc., etc. I think there's even a Myspace page out there somewhere with my name on it. Yet, I know I'm not nearly as connected as a lot of you out there. And, to be completely honest, I ignore most of the stuff I'm apparently connected to. There are too many internet controversies, curiosities, and sensations that I've never even heard of or paid attention to.<br />
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It took me an e-ternity (sorry, couldn't help it) before I heard of this whole Amber Cole debacle. And, once I found out, I promptly tried to ignore it. After all, as the father of a four-year-old black girl, why <i>the hell </i>would I want to hear about a 14-year-old black girl going down on some boy, allowing herself to be videotaped, and then having that video going viral. Why would I want to put myself in that girl's father's place? And I thought Laurence Fishburn had it bad.<br />
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Yet today, something on my Twitter timeline did catch my attention. Apparently, some brother, Jimi Izrael (apparently he's got a little fame to him) actually <i>did </i>imagine that he was Amber Cole's father and posted his imaginings on <a href="http://jezebel.com/5853116/i-am-amber-coles-father?tag=amber-cole">Jezebel</a>. As I said, I ain't goin' there. That place is too dark, too depressing to even contemplate. However, something that Jimi wrote did catch my eye:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>I am angry with those boys. But I knew those boys. Those boys were my friends. I grew up with those boys, hung out with those boys.</i></blockquote><br />
While I refuse to imagine my being Amber Cole's daddy, but I can <i>definitely </i>imagine being those boys' father. And I gotta tell you, there is absolutely no way <i>in hell</i> I'd let them off as easily as Mr. Izrael does. Not even close.<br />
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Now, I wish I were a better person. I wish I could sit my boy down, have that respectable Bill Cosby moment full of dignity, calm righteous indignation, and sagacious life lessons that would put the boy on the right path. And end it with a quiet chuckle and the reassuring epiphany that lets me know that my boy has learned his lesson. I wish I could sit calmly in my funky sweater and give the child a steady diet of Feminist Father red meat (how would he like it if somebody had done that to his sister or his mother or to <i>him</i>) to let him know that he should <i>never </i>encourage, entertain the prospect, or be involved in the degradation of a female--or anyone, for that matter.<br />
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But in all honesty, it wouldn't go like that. I wouldn't be calm, there'd be nothing quiet about my righteous indignation, and we wouldn't be performing a skit to a Ray Charles song. In fact, you could be damned sure that that Feminist Father red meat would actually turn into a "white meat" moment--'cause that's exactly what I'd be whipping my boy's ass down to. Hell, it'd be worse than that. I'd be whipping that boy until his <i>corpuscles </i>turned purple. In fact, you'd end up seeing my face in the <i>Guinness Book of World Records </i>under Ass-Whippin'.<br />
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I think the scene would go something like this:<br />
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"Mutha...!" <i>Whap! </i>"What the...!" <i>Whap! </i>"...that girl and...!" <i>Whap! Whap! </i>"...and then you...!" <i>Whap! </i>"Bill, no!!!" <i>Whap! Whap! Whap! </i>"What were you...!" <i>Whap!!!</i><br />
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</i><br />
I'd be whipping that boy for videoing that girl. Whipping him for having another boy there to video her. Whipping him for even <i>thinking </i>it was appropriate. Whipping him for posting the damned thing. For even <i>thinking </i>of posting it. For <i>Plessy v. Ferguson </i>and the <i>Dred Scott </i>decision. For Roethlisberger's two interceptions in that last Super Bowl.<br />
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"Yes! 911!" <i>Whap! Whap! </i>"...if you ever ... !!!" <i>Whap! </i>"My babyyyyyy!!!!" <i>Whap! Whap! </i>"Mr. Campbell, please come with us." <i>Whap! </i>"The boy's coming with me." <i>Whap! </i>"By all means, please do, sir." <i>Whap! Whap! Whap! </i>and <i>Whap!</i><br />
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Oh yeah. I'd be working my whipping arm until the judge handed down my sentence. Then I'd pause, plea for the boy to be tried as an adult, get us placed in the same cell, and then whip him for 5-20 years--dependent upon good behavior, of course.<br />
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All (semi) joking aside. I am actually quite ambivalent about corporal punishment. I am neither for it nor against it. I like many of my brethren had received ass whuppins growing up. But, in my case, they were <i>extremely </i>rare and usually for spectacular screw-ups (like, when I was 12 and went to an arcade without permission and fell asleep only to awaken to find out that the entire town and three police jurisdictions were combing the <i>entire </i>area for my snoring butt--boy I got <i>lit up</i> that night). So, I don't have any traumatic associations with corporal punishment, don't harbor any resentment for the times I've suffered under its belt, and don't feel that I'd been abused. And while I've never hit my child nor can imagine ever doing so, I will never rule out the possibility.<br />
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And, in all honesty, if either one of those boys <i>were </i>my child, you <i>would </i>have to call protective services on me.<br />
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Amber Cole, like so many other females in her position, has become a bit of a celebrity. We have scrutinized and judged her actions <i>ad infinitum</i>. We are judging all girls and women by this poor child's actions. Yet, where are the boys? Why aren't they just as infamous as this girl? Why don't we even know their names?<br />
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Incidents like this will continue to happen until we teach <i>all </i>our children dignity. Until boys suffer the same, harsh scrutiny over their sexual conduct as girls do. That respect, dignity, and degradation are a two-way street. If one is supposed to be graced by respect, one must treat <i>everybody </i>in <i>every </i>situation with respect.<br />
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But until that happens, until true equality is attained by all, <i>this </i>father would whip <i>both </i>those boys' asses.Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-17646928873560680502011-10-03T11:56:00.000-07:002011-10-03T11:58:08.669-07:00The Harrowing Tale of America's First "Crazy Negro"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNrliRrmvIngLBIqsKKHFK3HSXG4j_410Ta7SWX9vHhQxLrtSsaMPy5ULdsLeqOzZ0dq6R0MA7d4dJLV3LoAZkIZQZnjqL47LnPRmWnmsmS9594-NCcDe5yuUW_w7B1WVnmVKkcpbvZ_hz/s1600/kuntakente.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNrliRrmvIngLBIqsKKHFK3HSXG4j_410Ta7SWX9vHhQxLrtSsaMPy5ULdsLeqOzZ0dq6R0MA7d4dJLV3LoAZkIZQZnjqL47LnPRmWnmsmS9594-NCcDe5yuUW_w7B1WVnmVKkcpbvZ_hz/s320/kuntakente.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><i>Lifted from Ira Berlin's </i>Slaves without Masters<i>. Draw your own conclusions (but I prefer to promote "insanity")...</i><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In 1811, Christopher McPherson, a free Negro of considerable talent and modest wealth who also styled himself “Pherson, the first son of Christ,” hired Herbert H. Hughes, a white schoolmaster, and opened a night school for free Negroes and slaves who had the consent of their master. Classes began at dusk and ran until nine-thirty, and Hughes taught “the English language grammatically, Writing, Arithmetic, Geography, Astronomy, &c. &c.” for a fee of about $1.25 per month. The results were most promising. The school opened with twenty-five pupils, and McPherson noted that “from frequent application since, ‘tis expected the number will shortly be doubled.” McPherson was so pleased with his initial success that he publicly boasted of the school in the Richmond <i>Argus</i>, and recommended “to the people of colour throughout the United States (who do not have it in their power to attend day schools) to establish similar institutions in their neighborhoods.” Excited over the new possibilities, he hoped “that everyone who loves his Country, and has it in his power will generously further and foster every institution of the kind that may be established throughout this happy Union.”</span></span><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Richmond whites were less enthusiastic. Within days after McPherson’s notice appeared, several leading citizens confronted Samuel Pleasants, the editor of the <i>Argus</i>, and demanded that the advertisement be withdrawn. “They deem it,” Pleasants reported, “impolitic and highly improper that such an institution should exist in this City.” Pleasants disagreed, but dutifully yielded to public pressure. Herbert Hughes, the white schoolteacher, was made of sterner stuff. He took space in the Argus, defended the school, and attacked the idea that it was impolitic to educate Negroes as Rousseauistic sophistry. Reiterating his support of the school, Hughes declared “without Education in some degree they are in a state of bastard civilization,” and he pledged to teach until authorities closed the school.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">That apparently was not long in coming, for soon after Hughes made his appeal, Richmond officials summoned McPherson to court to show why his school should not be declared a nuisance. The case was delayed, but the police continued to harass McPherson and probably drove Hughes out of town. Despite the greater threat implicit in the police action, in April, when the court again delayed his case, McPherson advertised his desire to establish “a seminary of learning of the arts and sciences” as soon as he could find a “proper tutor.” But before he could act, the police again jailed McPherson and shipped him to the Williamsburg Lunatic Asylum. McPherson doubtless had “mad” religious delusions, but these had not prevented him from functioning for years in a manner acceptable to Richmond whites: only when he established his school was he thrown into the madhouse. His lesson was obvious: any black man who would attempt to found a school was “crazy.”<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-25266694107748150902011-09-30T07:39:00.000-07:002011-09-30T07:39:45.603-07:00The Bill Campbell: Misanthrope Show -- Episode 28: Troy Davis Blues<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioc2sDnqzKCLhPVoV0UzghH60VRnw7u0ftlF4BPxqa-f2oy5EpuTF_8XXl9R7KGnMLnOt1lXk6jlM-_V-BEYYaZ1Y921QYmXFHjX95hoCEnnpNZVDhetDGVNBWb4_Mn82lOYLuaZ2aRTgm/s1600/Troy-Davis-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioc2sDnqzKCLhPVoV0UzghH60VRnw7u0ftlF4BPxqa-f2oy5EpuTF_8XXl9R7KGnMLnOt1lXk6jlM-_V-BEYYaZ1Y921QYmXFHjX95hoCEnnpNZVDhetDGVNBWb4_Mn82lOYLuaZ2aRTgm/s1600/Troy-Davis-1.jpg" /></a></div>I was down at the Supreme Court holding a candle last week as "Justice" Clarence Thomas decided to let Georgia go ahead and murder Troy Davis. I've been trying to articulate my thoughts on the matter since but have failed so far. For now, this blues-oriented podcast will have to do. Please give it a <a href="http://podomatic.com/r/Rz5xY4W">listen</a>. I think a lot of you will enjoy.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Cassandra Wilson</b> - Strange Fruit <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Nina Simone</b> - Backlash Blues <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Elvin Bishop</b> - What the Hell Is Going On <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Muddy Waters</b> - Mannish Boy <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Roebuck "Pops" Staples </b>- Black Boy <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Solomon Burke</b> - Proud Mary <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Rodriguez </b>- Rich Folks Hoax <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>John Lee Hooker</b> - The Waterfront <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Robert Pete Williams</b> - Pardon Denied Again <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Son House</b> - John the Revelator <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Big Bill Broonzy</b> - Black, Brown and White <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>T-Bone Walker</b> - Left Home When I Was a Kid <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Elmore James</b> - Rollin' and Tumblin' <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Little Walter</b> - It's Too Late Brother <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Sonny Boy Williamson</b> - Fattening Frogs for Snakes <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>BB King </b>- Chains and Things <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Pigmeat Markham</b> - Here Comes the Judge <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Alan Lomax Collection</b> - Early in the Mornin' <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><b>Oscar Brown, Jr.</b> - Brother, Where Are You?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><a href="http://podomatic.com/r/Rz5xY4W">The Bill Campbell: Misanthrope Show</a></span></span></div>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-43227902077718699492011-09-24T12:26:00.000-07:002011-09-24T12:26:29.451-07:00A Quick Question on Racial Representation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6R49LUTWv76NSAvxmzau3yIexLHi96mWwog8VUNpvetHMFNo7-wPnjJuVe4ADjMENPgOkVnURlmBvua_7vNQ3RiH3nFKFgNS2aXGWcqJBHDlula4Y8CHp4bwLhPEMgDCWdgN3OrbqM8n/s1600/crips.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6R49LUTWv76NSAvxmzau3yIexLHi96mWwog8VUNpvetHMFNo7-wPnjJuVe4ADjMENPgOkVnURlmBvua_7vNQ3RiH3nFKFgNS2aXGWcqJBHDlula4Y8CHp4bwLhPEMgDCWdgN3OrbqM8n/s320/crips.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Less than 1 million black men today are festering in America's prisons. There are over 15 million black men who are not. Yet, so much of our music speaks of violence, drug use, and criminality.<br />
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Publishers claim that over 80 percent of books published by African-American authors are categorized as "ghetto lit"--which, of course, also speaks of violence, drug use, and criminality. Yet, according to 2010 census data, only 30 percent of the African-American population lives in predominantly minority-majority (not even majority <i>black</i>) neighborhoods.<br />
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I've been wondering of late, why then is our culture--dominated by the Sonys, Random Houses, Clear Channels, Def Jams, and BETs of the world--so terribly unrepresentative of its African-American audience?Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-19677480016500997512011-09-21T11:27:00.000-07:002011-09-21T11:27:26.020-07:00The Bill Campbell: Misanthrope Show -- Episode 27: No Effin Clue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCI4GAjGM7Zbhu7Cre7vyW_ukzkrKbD6HQcJcdwlwSctLEfVJCWVoIOcUulYwJ-AuNhg4HHdf6AN6yth9stjVe4nn0G6rw_9NWJThi_8IPoPKDvB8wfGG8f9AWwrjgphnypnJges9p2Ua7/s1600/noeffinclue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCI4GAjGM7Zbhu7Cre7vyW_ukzkrKbD6HQcJcdwlwSctLEfVJCWVoIOcUulYwJ-AuNhg4HHdf6AN6yth9stjVe4nn0G6rw_9NWJThi_8IPoPKDvB8wfGG8f9AWwrjgphnypnJges9p2Ua7/s320/noeffinclue.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I'll admit it, I'm feeling a bit weird today. Yesterday, I was happy for the end of the Clintonian sell-out Don't Ask/Don't Tell, but I've been even more disheartened by Georgia's decision to execute Troy Davis. I'm not particularly surprised. The one thing I've learned about our justice system is that they'd rather keep someone falsely imprisoned or put an innocent man to death than ever admit a mistake. Nevertheless, I spent yesterday morning every official in Georgia I possibly could to register my dissent. A whole lotta good it'll do. In America, the barbarians are not at the gate. They hold the fucking keys.<br />
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Aside from that, in my quest to become an amateur historian, I've been reading about slavery a lot. Never a recipe for happy times.<br />
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So, I was pretty much at a loss as to what to play for this week's <i><a href="http://podomatic.com/r/Vqq6Dib">Bill Campbell: Misanthrope Show</a></i>. I hope you enjoy:<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><b>The J.B. Horns</b> – Future Shock (Dance Your Pants Off)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Curtis Mayfield</b> – Future Shock</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Sly & The Family Stone </b>– Trip to Your Heart</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Coasters </b>– Down Home Girl</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Etta James & Sugar Pie DeSanto </b>– In the Basement</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Chris Joss </b>– Discotheque Dancing</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Usha Iyer </b>– Freak-Out Music</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Bamboos</b> – Happy</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds</b> – Night of the Lotus Eaters</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Baby Namboos</b> – Hard Times</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>DJ Krush </b>– Toki No Tabiji (Journey of Time)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Blu w/El Prez, Pac Div, Uni, JDavey, Tiron & Ayomari </b>– Doin’ Somethin’</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Pharoahe Monch w/Lady Luck, Redman, Method Man, Busta Rhymes, Shabaa S</b> – Simon Says (Remix)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Viktor Vaughn ft. Kool Keith </b>– Doper Skiller</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Colossus w/Roots Manuva</b> – You a Grown Man Now</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Shuggie Otis</b> – Ah Uh Mi Hed</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Staple Singers</b> – I Got to Be Myself</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Foster Sylvers</b> – Misdemeanor</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Triads </b>– If You’re Looking for Love</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm</b> – Funky Mule</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Heavy</b> – That Kind of Man</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Raphael Saadiq</b> – Skyy, Can You Feel Me</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Chrisette Michele</b> – Your Joy</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Funky Lowlives </b>– Irreplaceable</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-72319395925736229232011-09-16T08:39:00.000-07:002011-09-16T08:39:18.318-07:00A Random Thought on Race<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvdG1iJrEcofLgFl2O1SdVBa-fpf78ZzQHJughUCZZXAqS6jKnGuf0tX-xQTsnQdOw2w364ntkqS2VDd1Sq_id5ERv9nqsCfo09ux1WnTNknL0x67QP1vU-ara9Zt3WzOlgeFVrlZxgNqY/s1600/BaconsRebellion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvdG1iJrEcofLgFl2O1SdVBa-fpf78ZzQHJughUCZZXAqS6jKnGuf0tX-xQTsnQdOw2w364ntkqS2VDd1Sq_id5ERv9nqsCfo09ux1WnTNknL0x67QP1vU-ara9Zt3WzOlgeFVrlZxgNqY/s320/BaconsRebellion.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The world wasn't even aware of the concept of "race" until <i>after </i>Nathaniel Bacon gathered a bunch of black and white indentured servants of slaves to fight their master in 1676. After Bacon's Rebellion was quashed you start seeing "race"-based treatment. Indentured servitude (which was <i>supposed </i>to be for five to seven years but could last indefinitely) is ended for Europeans. The decision is made to finally make slavery a lifelong "occupation" for Africans <i>and </i>their offspring. And the Virginia House of Burgesses forces every white male in the colony to participate in regular slave hunting parties.<br />
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In other words, to base any of your assumptions, convictions, whatever--whether negatively or positively--upon "race" is to fall for the oldest trick in the slavemaster's book.Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-67978139040843912552011-09-13T08:46:00.000-07:002011-09-13T08:46:15.539-07:00"Obama's Rule" -- Another GOP Lie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXN7xvIZHBVMrdlYHFd0UHKsUAryeorwmflYEXPR-ooUm_dTNQ_bwvLSvh20eUV8Ks_3h5INKfqYq4AWNLu1eoDw-1GFnBD0GM07lWgGUUjwgoRtvtfscFJwDpFw1rocQz3F_OVR7eq9y/s1600/Rwandan-Hutu-refugees-in-Congo-camp2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXN7xvIZHBVMrdlYHFd0UHKsUAryeorwmflYEXPR-ooUm_dTNQ_bwvLSvh20eUV8Ks_3h5INKfqYq4AWNLu1eoDw-1GFnBD0GM07lWgGUUjwgoRtvtfscFJwDpFw1rocQz3F_OVR7eq9y/s320/Rwandan-Hutu-refugees-in-Congo-camp2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>For the past few years, I've been noticing a disturbing political trend. It's not just the political rancor and the huge divide in what constitutes in this country as "The Right" and "The Left." It's that we've been so divided that it's no longer a matter of disagreement on our interpretations of reality. We are now actually disagreeing on the <i>facts</i> that constitute said reality.<br />
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In my limited contact with some of those on the Right and self-proclaimed Tea Party members, I've sometimes wondered, <i>Where the hell did you come up with that? </i>Despite what some who know me may think, I readily admit that I don't know everything. However, I am a mild political junkie. Yet, sometimes someone on the Right will say or post something or share an article that leaves me absolutely baffled. I have no clue what they're talking about and oftentimes can't even find out where what they're saying is actually coming from.<br />
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This happened a couple of weeks ago when a Tea Partier I'm following on Twitter posted an article about "Obama's Rule," which, according to the article (which, unfortunately, I can't find a link to now), is currently strangling the Congo. Now, there was actually a new regulation placed on the electronics industry in the Dodd-Frank Bill, forcing them to provide proof that their gold, coltan, tungsten, and tin ore have neither come from conflict regions within the Democratic Republic of Congo or has been provided by the "warlords" in that country. While intended just for certain regions of the Congo, the article I read (and many self-interested business leaders and Republican politicians) asserted that this new regulation is strangling the entire country.<br />
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This may very well be the case, but, as far as I know, all the regions that provide these minerals <i>are </i>actually run by these brutal warlords. And the West's obsession with our electronic gadgets have funded one of the most brutal wars Africa has ever seen. Our iPods and cell phones have been brought to us through the systematic rape of women and children, countless mutilations and genocides, and the heated rash of child soldiering.<br />
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Of course, the perpetual curse of the Congo is that it's constantly been blessed with whatever the West has needed. When the West (and East) needed slaves, Congo had the black bodies. When the West became fixated on ivory, they slaughtered all of Congo's elephants. When they wanted rubber, Congo had rubber trees growing out the wazoo. And now they have gold, coltan, tungsten, and tin ore, which has led to some of the most grotesque tales of horror that would make the Taliban blanch.<br />
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Critics often talk of the "Oil Curse," where damned near every oil-rich country outside of Norway has suffered nothing but dictatorship, repression, and brutality. Well, the Congo has been "Resources Cursed" that has led to centuries of misery, mutilation, and death. I'm actually glad that "Obama's Rule" existed to try to at least temper the brutality that has constantly afflicted that poor country.<br />
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The problem is "Obama's Rule" <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/07/15/financial-regulation-congo-idUSN1545972220100715">isn't Obama's rule at all</a>. In fact, apparently, there weren't too many politicians who really wanted that new regulation placed in the Dodd-Frank Bill. But one politician snuck it into the bill. And no, it wasn't some bleeding heart Liberal trying to impede business, progress, and the "free market." In fact, it was one of the most conservative Christian Republicans in the land: former Republican Senator and now current governor of Kansas, Sam Brownback.<br />
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Why Brownback has been concerned about the Congo and has been so concerned that it compelled him to throw that regulation into the bill, I don't know. But I'm glad that he did.<br />
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Why business leaders, Conservatives, and Tea Partiers want to blame Obama for the Congo's plight is easy enough to surmise. Business leaders just want their money because, as they like to tell us, "corporations are not moral entities." Conservatives and Tea Partiers simply hate Obama. They think that he's the worst President this country has ever known. That he's destroying the world.<br />
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Hey, opinions are like assholes, right? And assholes' opinions are allowed to be expressed just like everybody else's. My problem is with those who masquerade as the Fourth Estate. We have so many folks out there parading around, calling themselves "the press" or "journalists," yet they have no concern for the primary reason for the press's existence ... to tell the citizenry <i>the truth</i>.<br />
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The "Obama's Rule" article mentioned nothing of the Congo's horrific history. It spoke nothing of the butchers who rule that country's gold, coltan, tungsten, and tin ore. How they butcher entire villages, rape little girls and forcibly abduct them to continuously rape them until they're bored with them, force people to rape their own family members, how they dismember people willy-nilly, and abduct little boys to become drugged-out child soldiers. And, of course, they neglected to mention the fact that "Obama's Rule" is actually "Brownback's Rule."<br />
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Instead, they wanted to portray Obama as destroying yet another country that was going along perfectly fine (just like America) until he got his hands on it. And, just like America, now that country is ruined because of him.<br />
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It is stories like this--<i>lies</i> like this--that contribute to the chasm that our country now suffers. Even those hallowed "Founding Fathers" believed that a democracy could only work if the electorate were educated and properly informed. But these so-called "journalists" don't care about their civic duty. Whether it be for lucre or fame or some ideological bent, they've eschewed their responsibility to objectively inform--or even slightly skew in the name of "muckraking"--and have just decided to portray any lie they can come up with as Truth.<br />
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As a result, we Americans are more divided than I've ever seen in my lifetime. Congress probably hasn't been this divided since America was itching for a Civil War. We Americans no longer just not see eye-to-eye, we're looking at completely different <i>facts</i>. We're not just talking past each other, we're speaking completely different languages. Reading from the same rule book? Fuck it. One side's playing basketball while the other's playing football.<br />
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I have no clue how we get on the same page. How we can somehow narrow the chasm to just be a simple, civil divide. But clearly we somehow have to get to a place where the truth is the truth and we can continue squabbling about what that truth means. Because this country's spiraling out of control, and we need to figure out a way to right the ship.Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-51430319234870833332011-09-10T07:48:00.000-07:002011-09-10T07:48:57.019-07:00The Bill Campbell: Misanthrope Show -- Episode 26: Burning Down the House: A Post-Punk Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzizO0l84jmvuD0LZaQshMaACT9otN1OIfvDcx_0uOsbCKHOrczW3nm5dNXB4QfjPloZKwSPi5Al3dRy9FO7hGvIiQV8ON9OYiGK5tCZ3sTimZPh3eQz2zkZSEW7voSeWXHz2AEiy7YEi/s1600/burningdownthehouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzizO0l84jmvuD0LZaQshMaACT9otN1OIfvDcx_0uOsbCKHOrczW3nm5dNXB4QfjPloZKwSPi5Al3dRy9FO7hGvIiQV8ON9OYiGK5tCZ3sTimZPh3eQz2zkZSEW7voSeWXHz2AEiy7YEi/s320/burningdownthehouse.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Last week, after laying down what I felt was a shining moment of rantitude with my very calm, very rational monologue about the Tea Party, Jack Johnson, Obama, and the ever-evolving myths of White Supremacy (check it out: <a href="http://podomatic.com/r/H87t34p">I Is Regusted</a>), I asked Mrs. Anne Thrope what she thought of the music on the show. You could've seen my head about to explode when she <i>almost </i>called the show "adult contemporary." My inner Chris Tucker falsettoed in protest. After all, how can a show that features hip-hop, funk, jazz, rock, world, and all kinds of electronica be considered "adult contemporary." Like any good spouse of an overgrown child, Mrs. Thrope pacified me by saying, "Well, there definitely is a Bill Campbell <i>style</i>."<br />
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Fair enough. So, I decided to switch it up this week. And I chose to do it with some post-punk music.<br />
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While I'm still not much of a rock fan, I do find something very intriguing about the post-punk period from the late '70s to mid '80s that infected both sides of the globe. I don't know if it was Cold War fatigue, all that inflation, all those recessions, all that premature death-wishing of "late capitalism" talk, the rise of Thatcherism and Reaganism--oh, there were so many things wrong with the world back then--but something really lit a fire under these musicians' asses. And that's what I admire most about the period. It was as though nothing really made sense. Therefore, everything was up for grabs. These post-punk musicians took punk, rock, funk, disco, roots reggae, dub, ska. There were fools picking up instruments for the first time and going in to record. There were nerds going all MacGyver and building synthesizers in their garages. It was a powerful mishmash of everything one could possibly think of and creating a diverse, dynamic sound.<br />
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I tried to have the new episode, <a href="http://podomatic.com/r/bHgktj">Burning Down the House</a>, reflect that diversity. It definitely captures the energy. Please check it out. I think you'll enjoy.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"Episode 26: Burning Down the House: A Post-Punk Party": http://podOmatic.com/r/bHgktj</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Trebuchet, TrebuchetMS, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Talking Heads</b> - Burning Down the House * <b>The Clash</b> - Rock the Casbah * <b>Tom Tom Club </b>- Wordy Rappinghood (Remix) * <b>Orange Juice</b> - Blokes on 45 * <b>The B-52s</b> - Give Me Back My Man * <b>La Loora</b> - Sky Saw * <b>Cocteau Twins</b> - Blind Dumb Deaf * <b>Gang Green</b> - Voices Carry * <b>Suicidal Tendencies</b> - Institutionalized * <b>Circle Jerks</b> - Coup D'Etat * <b>Husker Du</b> - Hare Krsna * <b>Joe Jackson</b> - One More Time * <b>Gang of Four</b> - 5.45 * <b>The Slits</b> - FM * <b>The Mekons</b> - Guardian * <b>Bad Brains </b>- Jah the Conqueror * <b>The English Beat</b> - Mirror in the Bathroom *<b> The Cramps</b> - Fever * <b>Altered Images</b> - Insects * <b>Romeo Void</b> - Never Say Never * <b>Lizzy Mercier Descroux</b> - Wawa * <b>Medium Medium</b> - Hungry, So Angry *<b> Liquid Liquid</b> - Cavern * <b>Kid Creole & The Coconuts</b> - Stool Pigeon * <b>Spandau Ballet</b> - Client No. 1 (12" Extended Remix) * <b>Grace Jones</b> - Nipple to the Bottle (12" Extended Remix) * <b>Nina Hagen</b> - New York, New York (Extended) * <b>Blondie</b> - Once I Had a Love (AKA The Disco Song) * <b>Devo </b>- Mongoloid</span>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-72408363287773709862011-09-06T10:39:00.000-07:002011-09-06T10:49:55.439-07:00Baby Socrates<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Vrk564MDCumz-1qrBoBpS3st09-qxtKYnllD031MSH4WY-WCjXlz1oe3Mikt-Mx9i08ntk_1DYJkF6RskxQ0HoYssSeSIvph4UfSMqlcOpiFhq7UzwDvo1qlUNpehAEh9OSpFJjV3Sne/s1600/ef23ee6f-6ca7-4130-86d8-f24ae8fb6110w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Vrk564MDCumz-1qrBoBpS3st09-qxtKYnllD031MSH4WY-WCjXlz1oe3Mikt-Mx9i08ntk_1DYJkF6RskxQ0HoYssSeSIvph4UfSMqlcOpiFhq7UzwDvo1qlUNpehAEh9OSpFJjV3Sne/s1600/ef23ee6f-6ca7-4130-86d8-f24ae8fb6110w.jpg" /></a></div>One of the most fascinating aspects of being a parent is watching our little ones grow into full-fledged human beings. We document and beam with pride along with every development our children make: baby's first solid food, the subsequent first solid waste, baby's first crawl, baby's first steps, etc.<br />
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Well, I will forever shine when I remember Friday, September 2, 2011 (ironically enough, her grandfather's 63rd birthday) 6:17pm. It was the moment that not-yet-four-year-old KiddieBop (aka "The Kid," nee "Poohbutt") beat her father in an intellectual debate.<br />
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<b>SCENE: Moving Car</b><br />
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<b>KIDDIEBOP: </b>Daddy, can we go for a walk after school on Monday.<br />
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<b>DADDY: </b>Maybe Tuesday. You won't be in school on Monday.<br />
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<b>KIDDIEBOP</b>: Why?<br />
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<b>DADDY</b>: Monday's Labor Day.<br />
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<b>KIDDIEBOP</b>: What's Labor Day?<br />
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<b>DADDY</b>: It's a holiday when we celebrate workers.<br />
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<b>KIDDIEBOP</b>: Am I a worker, Daddy?<br />
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<b>DADDY</b>: No, KiddieBop. Kids aren't workers.<br />
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(<i>The Car drives by a recently constructed apartment building.</i>)<br />
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<b>KIDDIEBOP</b>: Daddy? Are the people who built that building workers?<br />
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<b>DADDY</b>: Yes, KiddieBop. Builders are workers.<br />
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<b>KIDDIEBOP</b>: Daddy? Are the people who clean that building workers?<br />
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<b>DADDY</b>: Yes, KiddieBop. Cleaners are workers, too.<br />
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<b>KIDDIEBOP</b>: Daddy, remember how I helped Mommy clean the house yesterday?<br />
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<b>DADDY</b>: Yes, KiddieBop. I remember.<br />
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<b>KIDDIEBOP</b>: (<i>laughing</i>) Daddy, I'm a worker!!!Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-7985317257189857232011-08-19T10:54:00.000-07:002011-08-19T10:54:16.244-07:00What Would FDR Do?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4Hy6X6QDZbSVd99BnRl4OaZSytREn3l10gpQEiTJQF9BY0klfj9A6nwmni6AyMMdtKv6DBhbYk5IN3qiMZqEgdK0WaBV4N7R2QrbxIebMnqhtqfsE_585yoWEE3uUdoz9PLu51217QGa/s1600/fdr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4Hy6X6QDZbSVd99BnRl4OaZSytREn3l10gpQEiTJQF9BY0klfj9A6nwmni6AyMMdtKv6DBhbYk5IN3qiMZqEgdK0WaBV4N7R2QrbxIebMnqhtqfsE_585yoWEE3uUdoz9PLu51217QGa/s320/fdr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>"What would FDR do?"</i><br />
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It was a question former Clintonian Robert Reich asked on Twitter last week regarding to the Supreme Court's looking primed to shoot down "Obamacare." It was yet another unfavorable comparison to former Democratic presidents Obama's received pretty much since the Tea Party emerged in the summer of '09. Why can't Obama be more like FDR? LBJ? Carter? Clinton?<br />
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I often answer, especially with the last two, with a "Thank God, he ain't." Here we have a president who's accomplished a bunch of historic shit, who, as Rachel Maddow pointed out a few weeks ago, has come through on 85% of his campaign promises, and, with stiff opposition put universal health care on the books (Yes, I know it's neither perfect nor what everybody clamored for, but, to paraphrase LBJ, "I know it's messed up, but put it on the books. We'll fix it later." That's pretty much how our system works. They put something in place and modify it as time goes by. The Medicare and Social Security that you so prize today ain't what they were when first enacted.). Yet, I constantly hear how Obama's done absolutely <i>nothing</i>, how he's weak (in the face of the Tea Party who goes armed to public meetings talking about revolution and 300 death threats a month), and why can't he be more like the aforementioned presidents.<br />
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I blame a lot of it on the economy, of course. Unemployment's high. Insecurity's even higher. Everything else pales in comparison. I can blame the media, the Right Wing propaganda machine, Liberals penchant to whine about everything and their superhuman wobbly-kneed ability to make even their historic successes look like monumental failures. Nostalgia, romanticism. I can blame a whole host of things. But I mainly blame history.<br />
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We Americans are not taught history but the Cliff's Notes of history. We are also taught to revere our leaders. So, unlike the works of a Howard Zinn or Vincent Harding, we're given a top-down view of our nation's history. By reading some of our history books, you'd assume that the Civil Rights Movement was fought by King all by his lonesome, Cesar Chavez organized himself as the migrant workers' movement, and Daniel Boone holed up in the Alamo to single-handedly take on Santa Ana.<br />
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The same is true of our presidents. We are given a list of their accomplishments, the laws they enacted, the bills that were passed under their watch, the wars they fought as though they alone did these great things. When we look at their historic legislation (and, indeed, a lot of it <i>was </i>historic), we never see the political wrangling it took to pass it, the resistance they faced, the oftentimes ugly compromises they made to get it passed, and how long it took to get it passed (in reality, the fact that HCR was passed at all was amazing, the fact that it only took a year is damned near miraculous). <br />
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With this top-down approach to history, we also fail to see the bottom-up pressure many of these presidents actually faced during their tenure. Teddy Roosevelt's Progressive agenda was built on the back of workers staring down Gatling guns (and oftentimes getting shot) to demand their rights. FDR faced (often bloody) labor unrest his <i>entire</i> Presidency. Johnson's Great Society was enacted in the face of the Civil Rights movement and the fact that every summer from 1965 on major American cities burned.<br />
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Ignorant of these facts, we are more than willing to lionize the presidents of our past. While many of them definitely do deserve our praise and America's the better for their service, however we do them, the American process, and any current office holder a serious discredit to not take into account how our system actually works as opposed to how we want it to. So, to discredit the past, I thought I would answer (with what little of American history I do know) Reich's question (I actually did tweet my answer but either Reich was too busy to answer or didn't appreciate my answer).<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><i>What Would FDR Do?</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: left;">* Sit on Glass-Steagall for 3 years because he didn't really want to regulate the banks</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Enact Glass-Steagall after a high-profile banker trial and further banking collapses</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Place the Japanese in internment camps as possible traitors to the nation while there actually were German-American and Italian-American spies roaming the countryside</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Enact the G.I. Bill by compromising with Southern Democrats to exclude blacks from receiving veteran benefits</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Enact Social Security by compromising with Southern Democrats to exclude blacks from receiving retirement benefits</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">(NOTE: Blacks were allowed to receive G.I. Bill benefits after the Korean War, though they missed out on the largest transfer of wealth in American history and the building of the American middle class; It was not until the 1960s that blacks were allowed to receive Social Security benefits.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>What Would LBJ Do?</i></div><br />
* Enact the Voting Rights Act of 1965 two days after the Watts Riots concluded<br />
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* Manufacture a war with the Gulf of Tonkin incident, causing some half-million American casualties and killing anywhere from 2 to 10 million Vietnamese (I've heard both numbers quoted as Gospel--I'm guessing it was somewhere in the middle)<br />
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* Take seven years to get Medicare through a Democratic-held Congress<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><i>What Would Carter Do?</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: left;">* Whatever he'd do, he'd fuck it up and blame it on malaise</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>What Would Clinton Do?</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: left;">* Promise universal health care and then put his wife (neither a health expert nor an elected official) in charge of the entire process</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Give up his promise of universal health care in light of bad polling data and Harry and Louise</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Promise the end of discrimination against gays in the military only to enact Don't Ask/Don't Tell, which, of course, continued discrimination against gays in the military</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Declare "the era of Big Government is over" by cutting thousands of government jobs</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Ride the tech, housing, and credit bubbles to declare that he brought prosperity back to America</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Refuse to regulate over-the-counter derivatives despite being warned.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Still refuse to regulate over-the-counter derivatives after a large investment firm collapsed due to them to the tune of a $100-million bailout</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Take credit for "ending welfare as we know it" by kicking hundreds of thousands of poor people off the welfare rolls whether they had jobs or not</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Get his dick wet</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">Well, I'm fairly damned certain that Robert Reich won't see this, but I hope I have effectively answered his question here. One hundred forty characters is just too damned limiting.</div>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-11822505271913865552011-08-17T08:06:00.000-07:002011-08-17T08:06:01.653-07:00Skin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxFy3T45DSqLnOjuA8wVL_KiBPoDYJ9WglXbIZY68mRMwWlM-LWpKgoxRdIJhyLixPtp-QgrajyfpSR3MOiXioneot3dtVj1ZXV_fFNdFzyHp9hy1hTsM5rViZTl0DrdQVdYsez8ZD1-04/s1600/sophie-okonedo_skin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxFy3T45DSqLnOjuA8wVL_KiBPoDYJ9WglXbIZY68mRMwWlM-LWpKgoxRdIJhyLixPtp-QgrajyfpSR3MOiXioneot3dtVj1ZXV_fFNdFzyHp9hy1hTsM5rViZTl0DrdQVdYsez8ZD1-04/s320/sophie-okonedo_skin.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>I know I'm late to the game. I always am. But I just finished watching <i>Skin </i>with Sophie Okonedo (a goddess) and Sam Neill (so ubiquitous he's <i>at least </i>a demigod). It's one of those based-on-a-true-story stories about a white couple who give birth to a "dark-skinned" daughter during apartheid-era South Africa.<br />
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It's an intriguing flick. It's one of the few movies to ever explore race as a social construct (<i>Black Like Me, Watermelon Man, </i>and, ugh, <i>Soul Man</i>) come to mind. You watch a father's desperate struggle to have his daughter officially recognized by the state as being "white" to glean the advantages that that would garner her while society at large views her as "coloured." Since one's race is basically what one is perceived to be, you can only imagine the consequences. And, of course, it ain't pretty.<br />
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I am one who believes that race is, indeed, a social construct. Therefore, I found the movie very interesting and enjoyed it (as much as one can "enjoy" an apartheid flick) for exploring that. Also, as an American, I found it interesting because South Africa's construct of race differs a bit from ours. Having been ruled by the One Drop Rule for the lion's share of this country's existence, we have only relatively recently started to recognize that there's such a thing as a "mixed-race" person. Black is black is black is black. Though the character of this film was categorized as coloured it seemed like she was treated more as a black. <i>Skin </i>has piqued my interest in what the societal and legal differences were/are between black and coloured in South Africa.Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-19699572475793870232011-06-16T06:35:00.000-07:002011-06-16T06:35:23.775-07:00Old School -- A Hip-Hop Haiku<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrGp2iH_2FuKhY1gMAhA4kk0coZmrT9KMXue5FrBZoKO-CsenPyjygobCFlMBqBYJDUgFnC5t0fvkq9aTVr3UxJoe6xhFVJMkkWM5wXwwHDyzwFeqqF6SjqMcXZs6z6euna91e7Tv25U9w/s1600/Kurtis%252BBlow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrGp2iH_2FuKhY1gMAhA4kk0coZmrT9KMXue5FrBZoKO-CsenPyjygobCFlMBqBYJDUgFnC5t0fvkq9aTVr3UxJoe6xhFVJMkkWM5wXwwHDyzwFeqqF6SjqMcXZs6z6euna91e7Tv25U9w/s200/Kurtis%252BBlow.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Old, fat, and grumpy</div><div style="text-align: center;">Who the hell's this Kreayshawn bitch?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Damned punks, wear a belt!</div>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-22995220211824604722011-06-15T07:05:00.000-07:002011-06-15T07:05:19.570-07:00A Fatherhood Haiku<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPFySzvm19iRi65tZIKUitczO2hOiWirb-u_bdikqXLOprANreln13FRiyOzpRxMDBydGc5KO1ZuvRJLL90jken5ci9tbFAsTicCGiWyjJLT33tlIEU7kNwCUZFKcm5M_s1xyr4GZ3xLb/s1600/stork-clipart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPFySzvm19iRi65tZIKUitczO2hOiWirb-u_bdikqXLOprANreln13FRiyOzpRxMDBydGc5KO1ZuvRJLL90jken5ci9tbFAsTicCGiWyjJLT33tlIEU7kNwCUZFKcm5M_s1xyr4GZ3xLb/s320/stork-clipart.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>In honor of Tyrese's <a href="http://tyresesworld.blogspot.com/2011/06/survival.html">fatherhood poem</a>, I have been bitten by the poetry dung beetle and have decided to write my own haiku. I hope you enjoy.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Condom broke, I'm broke</div><div style="text-align: center;">Shitty diapers, mortgage due</div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm a proud father</div>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-50351699695061910862011-05-23T10:57:00.000-07:002011-05-23T10:57:35.515-07:00How to Become a Skinny White Chick<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the proud tradition of Madame C.J. Walker, Dove announces a miracle bath product that will ... well, take a look for yourself.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I hear it's selling like <strike>hot cakes</strike> beef patties <a href="http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/AP--Skin-bleaching-a-growing-problem-in-Jamaica">down in Jamaica</a>. </div>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-69042309696904467262011-05-18T09:29:00.000-07:002011-05-18T09:29:54.099-07:00Less Attractive Than Whom?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgca4luGzUjXmxSKbwZ-KxLUc0ctCOUJTZ4gDsDBWa3o4kRaiGoiMrExEUVuMahn739mgGbMaKxtwfqlTyRhQ3h3hWrrprn_a6duoKFtlZFj6zVtLg2nRULDNcbedBfC-CXJaZn2OeD4ERl/s1600/serena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgca4luGzUjXmxSKbwZ-KxLUc0ctCOUJTZ4gDsDBWa3o4kRaiGoiMrExEUVuMahn739mgGbMaKxtwfqlTyRhQ3h3hWrrprn_a6duoKFtlZFj6zVtLg2nRULDNcbedBfC-CXJaZn2OeD4ERl/s400/serena.jpg" width="272" /></a></div>You may have heard this already, but yesterday <i>Psychology Today</i> posted yet another "scientific" study on the inherent inferiority of the African "race." Apparently, some dude pulled a PhD diploma out of his <strike>ass</strike> Lucky Charms cereal and asked <a href="http://mobile.salon.com/mwt/2011/05/17/psychology_today_racist_black_women_attractive/index.html">"Why Are Black Women Less Attractive"</a>?<br />
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The London School of Economics- and Birckbeck College-affiliated "evolutionary psychologist," Dr. Satoshi Kanazawa proves that he himself and his supposedly scientific field has not much evolved beyond the--I thought--discredited field of social Darwinism. Apparently, his phrenological study on how the Negro has smaller brain capacity and, therefore, cannot attain high levels of intellect nor responsibility was thrown out by <i>P.T</i>. His empirical study on how the Negro cannot possibly experience pain was dismissed after one Negro on <i>P.T.</i>'s Board promised to inflict pain if the study was published.<br />
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But our intrepid <i>Dr</i>. Kanazawa would not be deterred. After all, it is science's duty to, every few years, show without a <i>scientific doubt</i> that melanin superiority necessarily equates to every-damned-thing-else inferiority. So now, the good <i>doctor</i> pressed a new wrinkle into the African Inferiority Debate (A.I.D.): Testosterone.<br />
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According to <i>Doctor</i> Kanazawa, the Negro has an overabundance of testosterone, which somehow makes the Negress <i>less </i>attractive than women of other races while the Negro <i>male</i> remains just as adorable as all the other men out there. Oddly enough, during the turn of the last century, it was the Negro's overabundance of testosterone that made him especially susceptible to the effects of cocaine--turning his darky, little brain mad and turning the colored into a wild, growling, jungle beast whose muscles, already genetically honed for hard labor, became superhuman in strength, leading to an animal frenzy that had to be beaten into submission (you know, like Rodney King).<br />
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I guess with evolutionary psychologists ... the more things change the more they stay the same.Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-13059431140382652982011-05-12T11:53:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:24:08.809-07:00Damn ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSgJGj2wiAeHAUsO_ivAaKHxxgxtUke9OaP93xgPY_D6zmRd5bDkZ5w0MaDDs4V72R8x3nDaWPCviRLZwVIDpbKbHR9E0d42N9PfI3KNcaCcnLS14QeRRmB5b-0D1jjPNsJW5MiiqItMI/s1600/Jesse+Washington+lynching.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSgJGj2wiAeHAUsO_ivAaKHxxgxtUke9OaP93xgPY_D6zmRd5bDkZ5w0MaDDs4V72R8x3nDaWPCviRLZwVIDpbKbHR9E0d42N9PfI3KNcaCcnLS14QeRRmB5b-0D1jjPNsJW5MiiqItMI/s320/Jesse+Washington+lynching.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I just read this last night in <i>Hoodlums: Black Villains and Social Bandits in American Life </i>by William L. Van Deburg and needed to share it.<br />
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<i>"In the five decades between the end of Radical Reconstruction and the start of the Great Depression, more than 3,200 black men, women, and children were executed by southern mobs. Few of the perpetrators were brought to justice, fewer still punished for their crimes. Evidencing a marked June-to-August seasonality and heavily concentrated in the "Black Belt" running through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, this plague of lynching fever peaked during the 1890s, went into remission during World War I, reappeared in the early 1920s, and experienced a final decline during the 1930s. Despite the best efforts of the reform press, the black pulpit, and groups such as the Commission on Interracial Corporation and the NAACP, vigilante 'justice' was meted out to a black victim nearly once a week, every week between 1882 and 1930."</i>Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3373459717177411214.post-79418361377107487362011-05-06T10:15:00.000-07:002011-05-06T10:15:35.722-07:00Where Credit Is Due<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAr22dltpesQZSa58fnvg7IufcPVqD4x86iiX2hBlmEOL65bc-jXcyRXbly_d14PRlc-7j6RCFj-UqMr0Qa5zXXLhkgS18xIZZzacZgBK9DQr6ClFG8G5-0V7RbtuY6vhZXxPIeh-TV1b/s1600/groundzerobama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAr22dltpesQZSa58fnvg7IufcPVqD4x86iiX2hBlmEOL65bc-jXcyRXbly_d14PRlc-7j6RCFj-UqMr0Qa5zXXLhkgS18xIZZzacZgBK9DQr6ClFG8G5-0V7RbtuY6vhZXxPIeh-TV1b/s320/groundzerobama.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In our incessant 25/8 news cycle, nothing happens without an ensuing controversy. In what should be a self-satisfied victory lap for the Obama administration for the assassination of Osama bin Laden, controversies abound for said assassination. Was bin Laden armed or not? Did he use a woman as a human shield? How much did Pakistan know? And, most annoyingly, who deserves the credit for putting the World's #1 Bad Guy down.<br />
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While many are surprised that the last controversy has begun to swell, we really shouldn't be. There are many out there who absolutely <i><b>despise </b></i>Obama and everything that he's done. Many of them will simply <i><b>refuse </b></i>to give him any credit for anything. It's much like when my boy Bart in <i>Blazing Saddles</i> disposes of the behemoth bad guy, Mongo, with an exploding candy gram. His white sidekick, Jim, congratulates Bart on his ingenious invention, and Bart says something along the lines of "Yeah, but they'll never give me credit for it."<br />
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So many of them want to give Bush as much credit as is humanly possible. Many because, as I said, they simply don't want to credit Obama for anything--even when he does something they like. Others because they want to justify the use of torture--sorry, "enhanced interrogation." One can't blame them, of course. There is an ongoing federal investigation in the Justice Department of many of the proponents of torture and what they did or did not do during their time in the Bush administration.<br />
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Others want to give the bulk of the credit to the intelligence agency and the SEAL team that actually executed the execution. Now, of course I doff my cap to the latter. To pull off what they did takes balls of granite. You definitely wouldn't see me out there. But come on now ... these are <i>soldiers</i>. It's not like they're John Rambo out there "going rogue" and killing scores of people without orders <i>from above</i>. After all, special forces units watched bin Laden and his cronies scamper away from the scene at Torah Borah back in 2001. They begged their superiors to give chase but were begged off by their higher-ups. These SEALs, as courageous as they are, simply follow orders. And someone had to give those orders.<br />
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While I understand why some on the Right refuse to give credit to Obama for anything (after all, I hated W., I know where you're coming from--though I did like how he forced Milosovic to the Hague and many will tell you he did some very good work in Africa), the simple truth of the matter is Presidents get credit for the things that happen under their watch. Truman was given credit for ending World War II. H.W. Bush is given credit for ending the Cold War. And now Obama will be given credit for taking down bin Laden.<br />
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Three Presidents have tried, and he succeeded. Clinton lobbed missiles at OBL after the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. He also gave Tenet the green light to assassinate bin Laden. The former CIA director (according to Tim Weiner in <i>Legacy of Ashes</i>) had two or three shots to expedite the terrorist's trip to the houri but lacked the determination to do so.<br />
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As I said, Bush's people pretty much had the guy at Torah Borah, but nobody gave the order to finish the job. I also understand (just having heard it today) that by the end of his Presidency, W. was so disillusioned with the hunt for bin Laden that he disassembled the special forces team put together to hunt the guy down.<br />
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Obama reassembled that team. He made Afghanistan a priority, approved a surge, and stepped up those "extralegal" Predator drone bombings in Pakistan. He was the one who acted on the available intelligence, was willing to take what would have been a <i><b>grand-ass</b> </i>fall if he'd have been wrong and ordered a military operation within the sovereign borders of a key "ally," and pulled the whole thing off.<br />
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Now, I actually think that there are tons of things we don't know about this "War on Terror." There are things we won't discover for another 20-30 years when they declassify a lot of what's been going on this past decade in our name. And, even still, there are things we will probably never know. But from what we <i style="font-weight: bold;">do </i>know, there is one person who most definitely deserves credit for what happened on May 1st (aside from my celebrating my 41st birthday, of course).<br />
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Many on the Right will refuse to admit it even to their dying breath, but they know the truth. They know, we all know, and the history books will reflect that it was none other than the man currently residing in the White House.<br />
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What we don't know--and what I feel is the most pressing question after the death of Osama bin Laden--is when will this "War on Terror" and, more importantly, the war in Afghanistan end. Mission creep has run a most aggravating marathon in this past decade. But the original task, the killing of bin Laden, has finally been accomplished. Can't we just remotely kill off the terrorists we come across, leave the corrupt Karzai regime and the ever-duplicitous Pakistanis to their own devices now, and concentrate on our problems at home?Bill Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17412406786412023241noreply@blogger.com0