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A Bad Day/Where Do We Go From Here?
Jonathan Willis
July 01 2009 11:03PM
I've been a fan of Steve Tambellini for a while now, and he's passed a few tests well (trade deadline, the draft), but the last 48 hours have not been the highlight of his time as Edmonton's general manager. Let's take a look at his work today, starting with his best deal and finishing with Heatley.
The Khabibulin Acquisition
I wasn't a fan of this move at first. I'm still not a fan, exactly, but I'm coming around to some degree. Let's try and look at both sides of the signing.
Taking advantage of the situation: With a ton of capable goaltenders on the market (Khabibulin, Roloson, Biron, Anderson, Clemmensen, etc.) and precious few homes for them, Steve Tambellini stuck to his guns on only handing Dwayne Roloson a one-year contract. Roloson signed a two-year deal with the Islanders, and Craig Anderson signed a bargain contract with Colorado. With some options left, Tambellini promptly signed Khabibulin to a contract for more money and longer term. Was ensuring that the 39-year old Roloson only got one year really worth the extra ten million dollars and two years of term for the 36-year old Khabibulin?
Khabibulin's track record: Yes, he has a Stanley Cup, and yes, he's coming off a deep playoff run. Does anyone remember what happened last time he signed a contract after coming off a deep playoff run? He posted an .886 SV% in Chicago and did a lot to submarine the team's hopes. His play has been so shoddy over the past three seasons that the Blackhawks finally bit the bullet and signed another 'tender (Cristobal Huet) even though it meant lugging around two massive contracts in a salary cap era. Khabibulin has topped a .910 SV% just once in the last four years. Of the twenty goaltenders who have faced 5000 shots since 2005-06, he ranks 16th in save percentage — among those who ranked higher is Dwayne Roloson, at 12th.
Sharing the workload: Ryan Rishaug of TSN reports that the Oilers plan to have Jeff Deslauriers play 25-30 games next season so they can really see what they've got in him. I suppose the 147 games that the 25-year old has played in the AHL and NHL weren't enough for them to get an accurate read; if they don't know already then perhaps firing the goaltending coach a few days ago was a good move. Maybe they've seen something that the rest of us have missed, but what I see is a 25-year old with a middling AHL track record who has been jerked from team to team since turning pro.
The positives: Despite the first two rather damning points, there is some hope here. Gabriel Desjardins of behindthenet.ca has been doing work on shot quality and expected save percentage, based on the location of shots taken (from NHL game charts). Commenter Doogie on my other site was nice enough to point out Khabibulin's even-strength numbers over the past two years to me:
- Expected GAA and save percentage: 2.66 GAA, .899 SV%
- Actual GAA and save percentage: 2.17 GAA, .918 SV%
That's a stark contrast, and this will be a good test case. Was Chicago's defense really that porous? If so, than Tambellini may have a quality keeper on his hands.
The final analysis: This wasn't the best possible choice, and the term is a little frightening. All of that said, this isn't an albatross contract either, and the goaltending should be adequate for the next few years.
The Chris Neil Offer
Looking up and down the roster, what do the Oilers need more than anything else? A fourth-line RW from a non-playoff team who provides a nasty physical edge and minimal upside in any other area of the game? I thought so. And, heck, why not make him a three year offer in the 2-million dollars a year range? It isn't like the Oilers already have a similar player locked up for the next few years at one-third of the money.
Yet, the Oilers were reported by TSN as one of the final teams pushing hard to add Chris Neil to their roster.
Dany Heatley
This stuff honestly couldn't get made up, it's that weird. To recap:
- 50-goal scorer Dany Heatley demands a trade from his team because he doesn't get along with the new coach (under who the team finally started winning).
- Despite demanding a trade, Heatley doesn't waive his no-movement clause; he still demands the right to determine where he gets traded.
- Edmonton puts together a package that Ottawa finds palatable, and Bryan Murray asks Heatley to waive his NMC to go to the Oilers. Heatley says (through his agent) that he wants to "sleep on it".
- At this point, we find out that neither the Oilers nor Senators have been interpreting his contract correctly — the $4 million signing bonus that Heatley is owed won't be due until the next night. Heatley's agent, meanwhile, knew this the entire time (I wonder if he wants to be an assistant GM — I can think of two teams that would probably be upgrading in that slot by hiring him).
- The Oilers dream team flies out to meet with Heatley to persuade him to waive his NMC.
Heatley however, has decided not to waive his NMC to come to Edmonton, leaving Ottawa on the hook for four-million dollars. The reason though seems to have little to do with Edmonton – this from Dan Tencer's Twitter feed:
Source: Meeting went OK with the Oilers. It's more about Heatley trying put the screws to Ottawa.
At this point, it's anyone's guess as to what eventually will happen. Ottawa's in a bad situation, and the Oilers might be able to take advantage of it. Than again, maybe Bryan Murray will return the favour and refuse to deal the winger — which takes us to our final question:
Where Do They Go From Here?
Let's assume that the Oilers are still interested in a left-winger to play on their top line. If Heatley doesn't work out, I imagine that Tambellini's backup plans go something like this:
- Plan B – Sign Marian Hossa.
- Plan C – Sign Martin Havlat.
- Plan D – Sign Marian Gaborik.
- Plan E – Sign Mike Cammalleri.
Unfortunately, while the Oilers were busy chasing Heatley, the Blackhawks, Wild, Rangers, and Canadiens decided to sign virtually every high-scoring left-winger on the market. Alex Tanguay is probably the next best thing available via free agency, while it's possible that Alex Frolov or Simon Gagne are available via trade.
Regardless, the Oilers still have some options, but a) they aren't in the same class as the three top-end guys who signed today and b) it's anyone's guess if they'll still be available when the Heatley saga finally comes to a conclusion one way or the other.
Making The Best of The Situation
All is not lost, though. Heatley may still accept a trade to Edmonton (for good or ill) and while Samuel Pahlsson and John Madden have both been taken off the market, free agent Manny Malhotra is still available and would be a good fit for the Oilers' third line and penalty kill; he's big, he's strong, he can find the defensive zone without the aid of a map and multiple trail guides, and unlike virtually every other forward on the Oilers' roster he can win a faceoff.
There's still tomorrow.
@ MattDynasty:
That'd be nice wouldn't it? Maybe some reasoning as to why we have totally hitched the wagon to the Heatley train even though it's obvious he fully sucks.
Now Murray is saying they need more from a trade due to the 4 M they had to pay Wolf-Eyes. While it's painfully obvious the Oil should walk away, I doubt they will. They will probably offer more thus looking even more desperate / pathetic to the hockey world.
Attn Tambo: Stop embarrassing your self, your team and our city. See the tree for the forest. Poor team chemistry was a major concern for us last year, and you're going to help this by adding this piece of crap to the fold? Walk away Tambo, walk away!!
I feel like I'm watching a friend ruin his life chasing some terrible girlfriend that everyone but him knows is evil and wrong for him....yet another brutal day to be an Oiler fan. It doesn't have to continue Tambo....
July 02 2009, 11:25AM
Hemmertime wrote:
Name me some NHL players that we drafted that are decent, not unproven prospects to back your argument.
Stu MacGregor has only been running the draft for two years? How am I supposed to do that exactly?
Chaz wrote:
I feel like I'm watching a friend ruin his life chasing some terrible girlfriend that everyone but him knows is evil and wrong for him….yet another brutal day to be an Oiler fan. It doesn't have to continue Tambo….
July 02 2009, 11:28AM
I heard there's a Tambo presser this afternoon. I can't remember where it came from though.
Why would the Oilers brass address anything until they have no doubt in their mind that this deal is not going to happen. There is nothing for them to say now. I am sure they are not sitting around hoping the phone rings. I am sure there is a plan B. There are other players out there.
Just think of all the teams who did absolutely nothing the past few days. It may not happen today but there are moves to be made. We have to be patient.
He's from Alberta. How bad could it be???
July 02 2009, 11:29AM
@ cambosmash: It was posted on Sportsnet that he was having a presser at noon.
Sportsnet is reporting that bill daly, is saying that the ottawa can file a grevince and if Heatly gets traded then the team he gets traded too can pay Ottawa back the 4 million, so it still up in the air.
What would the grievance be:
Biiilll ... Danny hit me back!
July 02 2009, 11:34AM
@ heavyd:
Unreal, this won't end until we have to ice the same team as last year.
July 02 2009, 11:38AM
Milli wrote:
Was just reading the Ottawa papers, and either murray is posturing, or Dannyboy has screwed himself. Unless Murray dosn't want Penner, but I think he does, he drafted him and thinks he can rekindle the fire. And, Murray goes on to say, there where very few teams that even made offers, only Edmonton was acceptable, and one was downright insulting. Seems to me, we have a star that greatly overestimated his star power. If I'm Tambo, the only way I still do this deal is without Cogs being involved. This guy is damaged goods at this point. Let's stay with what we have, pick up a center, build through the draft and develop young talent.
penner wasnt drafted by anyone
Omg, why are we still trying to get Heatley?
We really are masochistic, aren't we?
I think Khabbi's numbers after he signed with the hawks had to do more with the defence of the hawks then the goalie. It was hardly NHL worthy.
Jonathan Willis wrote:
Hemmertime wrote: Name me some NHL players that we drafted that are decent, not unproven prospects to back your argument. Stu MacGregor has only been running the draft for two years? How am I supposed to do that exactly?
JW, MacGregor has been part of the Oilers scouting staff since 2000. True, he's only been head scout for the past two years, but he has still had input into a lot of our crap picks in the past nine years.
Aside from MacGregor, Pendergast has to be held more accountable and it amazes me that he is still employed by this organization.
July 02 2009, 01:19PM
Jonathan Willis wrote:
Stu MacGregor has only been running the draft for two years? How am I supposed to do that exactly?
Ill concede that, like I said, I liked this years. But rebuilding means keeping your young players instead of dealing for vets for cup run - it doesn't mean trade anyone of any value to become a bottom feeder team. I do not believe you are one of those idiots though, so more moot point. I will be optimistic about new draft team, like I was every year before too, however - I will not have the faith in the NHL draft and our scouting team to Blow the next 3-4 seasons to try and land quality players. We are only 2-3 pieces away from a 5-8 place team in the conference, and that is good enough for me. Whoever is thinking we are bad 3 years and then dynasty for 10 is a moron.
July 02 2009, 07:00PM
Kurri17 wrote:
Archaeologuy, you are the type of fan who make it so players don't want to come here. One year and already jumping on the GM. The fans in this city just have zero patience and jump down the necks of people right away. How can some people say we should take the route of the Hawks, Kings, Pens, etc. and suck for a couple years to get draft picks, when they don't have the patience to let management have a single year to try to right the ship. Idiocy.
Really? I'm the kind of fan that makes people not want to play here? What kind of fan is that? A fan that demands competency and winning? WOW. You, sir, are the kind of fan that demands nothing from his team and consequently receives nothing from his team. You are the kind of fan that was fine giving MacT "One more year" seven times, making sure that he destroyed the culture of the club.
Oilerfan4Life wrote:
Im embarrassed to be an Oiler Fan today.
That's your problem. Not mine. If you're emberassed because I criticized a member of Oiler management then maybe you should reconsider posting here, because you will see that kind of discontent EVERY time Oiler management fails the fans again.


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By GARY ARRINGTONSports writer
The Super Bowl is the most hyped event of any given year. People are engaged in the process either as fans or as commercial watchers or as betting pool participants.
Last but not least of the Super Bowl rituals is the spread that we all feast on, often more elaborate than Thanksgiving and certainly more expensive. There is nothing like the Super Bowl and they even schedule it late in the day so that we do not have to miss church, except maybe in Hawaii.
I am pretty sure there are no late church meetings on this day.
The next most hyped event in America is what we are in the midst of right now. March Madness is upon us and this March is even madder than most. Who in the heck would ever have filled out a Final Four bracket with these four names on it? Nobody.
Kentucky? Maybe. UConn? Maybe. Butler? Maybe. VCU? Never. Anybody might have chosen Kentucky and UConn because they are somewhat basketball powerhouses and anybody might have chosen Butler since they surprised everybody last year with their run to the final game. But nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody, would have penciled in VCU.
VCU was not even given any chance to make the tournament let alone play past the opening day. Five games later, here we are talking about one of the last teams in still being alive and kicking. Talk about coming to play.
I joined two Tourney pick'em groups to show how smart I am and to pick the final four. I filled out my brackets diligently, with great use of any available brainpower and knew I would be one to beat.
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In one bracket, I have UConn making it to the final four and losing in the semis to North Carolina. I had Purdue and Pittsburgh in the other semi-final game. So as you can see, I am done.
The silly thing is, I won this bracket because everybody else was even worse than me. I was horrible and they were worse, how sad is that. Some basketball minds are we.
In the other bracket, I picked no final four teams and only one Elite Eight team and only eight of the Sweet Sixteen. I guess pathetic is the best word to describe my actions here. I still finished in the top half of the entries.
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Bye Bye Birdie: Obama's Decision to Fire (Or Not) General McChrystal Ain't a Black Thing or a White Thing, It is a Presidential Thing
Once more, heavy is the head that wears the crown. Barack Obama, I do not envy you your meeting with General McChrystal today. Why? For either way, your choice will be greeted with howls, complaints, and few cheers. I differ here from the pundit classes who like to make big predictions and cut and dry prognoses (as for these experts grand predictions are rewarded, while delicate, measured responses are met with few approvals). To dismiss McChrystal is a hard decision, one far more difficult than many would admit to.
The comments of McChrystal and his staff in Rolling Stone magazine would suggest that the former is not a "political" general. He is a fighter, a warrior, and a killer. At West Point, General McChrystal was frequently disciplined for disobedience. Yet, as an officer he charted his own path, one that often hewed against conventional wisdom. I will not deny that I was quite impressed with his 60 Minutes interview and the sense that McChrystal, especially after his successes in Iraq, was "that dude" for Afghanistan. Like so many, now, after the failures in Iraq, his repeated episodes of foot in mouth disease, the cover-up of the Tillman death, and the lack of faith among some of his troops for the mission in Afghanistan, I am now quite doubtful of his capacity to lead.
We should also frame this current controversy in some reasonable sort of historical context. McChrystal and his staff's frankness is not the same beast as that rank insubordination demonstrated by the America Caesar, Douglass MacArthur in Korea. In parallel, it is not exactly like Patton's during World War 2. The Rolling Stone interview where Obama, Biden, various officials, and others were basically described as buffoonish louts, leading the country to defeat in Afghanistan, is a case all its own.
Here, Obama is truly a bound man. If President Obama keeps McChrystal, the Republicans will claim 1) a victory and 2) that the whole episode signals that Obama has lost the support of the military and is thus further illegitimate as President. If President Obama fires McChrystal (after a dressing down), his supporters claim victory and this is another vindication that the Democrats are tough on national defense. Yet in keeping with the tenets of partisanship, Obama's detractors will still find a way to see failure in his decision--whatever it may be.
I am a pragmatist. If Obama feels that we are winning in Afghanistan I say keep McChrystal on. Eat the embarrassment, smile, and move forward with the trust that history is the ultimate arbiter of presidential decision-making. If the opposite, I say don't throw bad money after bad money. Fire the man and his staff and use this moment to exercise decisive leadership as we reorient the nation's path in Afghanistan. While histrionic attention seekers would cast this moment as a crisis of sorts regarding the constitutional authority of elected officials over the military, I have read the Rolling Stone interview and see this as more a case of foot in mouth disease on the part of McChrystal and his staff.
Let's be frank. The Commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan was indiscreet. He was stupid. His behavior bordered on being a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and was just plain dumb. But...what to do?
Provocatively, (aside from a dig at Biden, who now seems vindicated) is there anything that McChrystal and his staff said in this interview regarding the overall failure of the Afghan mission that is untrue? More troublesomely, my gut tells me that Afghanistan is lost. It is the graveyard of empires, and is quite frankly a shit hole that we should not have wasted one American life on.
More broadly, in Obama's decision some folks will read meaning where there is none. For racism chasers this will be a chance to highlight the impudence of a white man, one who seemingly bristles under the authority of a black President. For white Conservative racial reactionaries this will be a call to arms, as well as a triumph for a "good" white man has stood up to a "black" President. Neither could be more untrue.
This moment is a struggle between the military and civilian control, one that exists apart from any petty concerns of race. And yes, I said "petty." For me, this is one more data point, and a great example of a President having to making a presidential choice outside of our national obsession.
Ultimately, Barack Obama signed up for the job. As Commander in Chief, Barack Obama now has to make a choice, one not dissimilar from those that caused his predecessors many sleepless nights. For me, these are the moments where the possibility of post-racial America is made real: I love watching a black American having to deal with the ups and downs, the tedium, the difficulty, and challenges of being the President. This is one of the real fruits of the Black Freedom Struggle and the losses, difficulties, pain, and sacrifice of our ancestors. It is at times bitter fruit. But, it is still glorious to behold.
What should Barack Obama do with General McChrystal? And how would you make the call?
Monday, June 21, 2010
Homophobic? Anti-Christian?--"Pause," Boondocks Season 3 Episode Reviewed
As the old saying goes, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." After tonight's Boondocks, I know that this episode will be attacked as being either "homophobic" or "anti-Christian"...and both sides will most certainly unite in mutual condemnation of Aaron McGruder's latest salvo across the bow of the Black Superpublic.
My two cents: "Pause" was great.
Shameless self-promotion: See our latest poll on the right sidebar (hopefully this one won't break just as it is getting good).
In tonight's episode, McGruder took on two sacred cows among some in the black community. He exposed Tyler Perry's coonery. And then he had the shear unmitigated gall to own the collective foolishness of the Black Church with its corporate, prosperity ministry nonsense. As folks who follow this site know, one I do not "get" the Black church; two I don't get the religiously minded; and three I do so believe that religion is all in all an opiate of the masses--equally so, both for the ghetto ign't underclasses and the bourgeois negro strivers alike.
In keeping with my earlier post on the Boondocks, here are some observations and Easter Eggs for us to commiserate on (modestly offered because the MacGuffins were pretty obvious in this episode).
1. As some have observed, where do you find the freaks on Sunday? I will let that pregnant question stand alone. And of course (not ever in my experience), I have heard about more freaky deaky hot sex make the angels blush Song of Solomon stories from guys who hooked up with "pious" church girls than from any other discrete cohort. I myself have drunk from these want to be near virgins' waters. Yes, I must tell you they are deep, ambrosia filled, and wondrous.
2. Broken toys: McGruder's wink at the porn star turned Tyler Perry devotee is on point.
3. How many of you know folks who pray for anything at any time? Is this disrespectful of "God?" I must ask: Isn't God pretty busy managing the universe? Or do interns handle these petty requests, i.e. the "please God, may my McDonald's order be correct?" or "Praise God, may I win the Superbowl and make even more money that I do not need!"
4. Tyler Perry's induction of grandpa at the mansion into his twisted sex cult is a clear wink to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
5. Likewise, the Tyler Perry zombie cult member's mention of Kool Aid is a signal to Jim Jones and the Guyana tragedy.
6. Is Aaron McGruder a fan of Richard Dawkin and Chris Hitchens? I think he is. Never forget that religion ruins all things.
7. This episode took multiple digs at hip hop and "urban" culture's homophobia/homosocial/often homosexual underpinnings. All of them damn sharp, deep, and painful.
8. Likewise, the homophobic rhetoric of many in the Black Church was put on blast. Funny, because we know that many men, men who are often in leadership positions in the church, are in fact gay or bisexual. Talk about hypocrisy.
9. To point: The cup overfloweth with references to "D.L." culture. Beware the eyes!
10. In my opinion, Pause's best barbs were at the near perfect script of professional black woman in peril because of the lack of available, good, black men. McGruder in his dig at Perry got in references to Diary of a Tired Black Man and Beyonce's new age classic Obsessed (trust, one day it will be on TNT) ...
11. McGruder's point that in the Black Church we have folks who are false prophets making false profits. Riddle me that. And Now introducing the "rent money dance." A broke clock--here being Pastor Manning--is right twice a day:
12. Tom's support of Tyler Perry's mission is, at least to my eyes, a damned powerful lampooning of how folks who should know better support coonery and foolishness in Black popular culture because of the soft bigotry of low expectations. In short, the black privileged classes know better. But, in an effort to appear "authentic" these same folk embrace foolishness.
13. Tyler Perry's character receiving inspiration from a "White" Jesus. Deep.
Do tell, what other themes, symbols, or metaphors were present in this latest McGruder masterpiece? Ultimately, are the masses that embrace Tyler Perry really this stupid?
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Saturday Afternoon Funny: Donna Simpson, 600 Pound Woman Who Wants to Gain More Weight is Interviewed on Howard Stern
Remember "fat is a journey, not a destination." I think that I may get that slogan put on a t-shirt and make it available for sale from our website.
We discussed Donna Simpson a week or so ago, she is a trailblazer in the world of fat fetishists and wants to grow herself from 600 pounds to 1,000 pounds: what is her 2 minute mile. Thank the god of these Internets--her recent interview with Howard Stern is available for all to hear.
In classic Stern fashion, here are some highlights:
- She is married to a very handsome African brother. In fact, he went to school with Barack Obama, is very successful, and supports her fattening. He seems to embody every professional black woman in peril unable to find a good black man mythos and narrative in existence.
- Miss Simpson uses a special device to clean herself in the bathroom.
- She is a hero in the "feeder" community. In fact, her website has thousands of members who pay to watch her be force fed with a funnel.
- Miss Simpson's husband is a "belly man." He is very satisfied.
- And yes, their intimate life with its many joys and pleasures is discussed. Miss Simpson's drives for food are equaled only by her sexual desires.
In all seriousness, is this an abusive relationship? Could this feeder/feeding relationship be akin to some version of the Stockholm syndrome?
Friday, June 18, 2010
Armchair Sociology: New Study Reports that Fat Women Are Sex Starved
If so hungry she can always come over to my spot and get fed, for in the spirit of Christian charity I would never deny a beautiful woman a meal.
Beauty comes in all sizes and shapes. When I am hungry for a petite filet mignon wrapped in bacon I relish it. If I want for a Big Mac with fries and a Coke I do not deny myself. I have been known to eat a Chipotle fajita burrito with double meat--chicken and pork if you are curious. And sometimes I just want a few delicate nibbles of sushi. To break the metaphor, I love women of all sizes and have taken both the waifishly thin as well as plus sized models on a journey to space mountain.
As a social scientist, the recent research finding that larger women are not getting any play strikes me as a bit problematic. In the aggregate it would seem to make sense. However, even then, there are some notable variables of both culture and subculture that are seemingly excluded.
For example, what of the narrative that Hispanic and Latino men prefer gorditas over flacas? What of the seeming fascination in "urban culture" with "thick" nouveau Venus Hottentots like Buffie the Body? To mention the obvious and intuitively true: How do we factor in the taken for granted mutual attraction between (some) black men and obese/thick/BBW white women?
Adding a further complication to the link between body size and sexual activity (conceding that the study used BMI as a measure) are the changing parameters of what constitutes being "fat" or "obese."
For example, in the United States women (and people more generally) are getting bigger and bigger. Apparently, size 14 is the new 8. Across the pond--damn lucky Brits--D cup breasts are now the "average" size. Thinking even more globally, there are certain cultures such as the Bedouins in Mauritania where the forced feeding of young girls is considered a necessary step on the road to a full figure, mandatory if a young woman is to secure a husband
Reversing the gaze, we know that big men can always get play. Always have been. Always will be. Selfishly I may add...Thank god.
Random story: In another life I once watched the late great Big Pun have sex with a beautiful woman on a tour bus. Yes, she was indeed riding the curve. Fame it seems does indeed trump weight.
My thoughts on this issue of body size and love almost always circle back to health. Are young women, young black women in particular, killing themselves to look like the video vixen ideal? On the other end of the spectrum, are young men doing harm by valorizing being "thick"--what to many is a euphemism for "fat"--as an ideal body type for women of color?
The story follows:
Scientists say being fat can be bad for the bedroom, especially if you're a woman.
In a new study, European researchers found obese women had more trouble finding a sexual partner than their normal-weight counterparts, though the same wasn't true for obese men, and were four times as likely to have an unplanned pregnancy. Fat men also reported a higher rate of erectile dysfunction.
Experts interviewed more than 12,000 French men and women aged 18 to 69 about their sexual experiences and analyzed the results based on their Body Mass Index.
Obese women were 30 percent less likely than normal-weight women to have had a sexual partner in the last year. In comparison, there was little difference among obese men and normal-weight men as to whether they found a sexual partner.
The results were published online Wednesday in the medical journal BMJ. The study was paid for by several French government agencies.
People with a BMI of 18-24 are considered to have a healthy weight. Those with a BMI of 25 or above are considered overweight and people with a BMI of 30 or more are classified as obese.
Previous studies have found similar trends, but researchers were surprised by the discrepancy they found between the genders as to how excess weight affects peoples' sex lives.
"Maybe women are more tolerant of tubby husbands than men are of tubby wives," said Kaye Wellings, a professor of sexual and reproductive health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and one of the BMJ study authors.
Experts said the problems faced by obese people were probably due to a combination of physical problems linked to obesity as well as other issues, like low self-esteem and social prejudices.
Obese people are at higher risk anyway for diabetes, depression and urinary stress incontinence, all of which can hinder sex. If people are extremely heavy, they might also have muscular or skeletal problems that make sex challenging.
The researchers found that obese women were less likely to ask for birth control services, and thus, four times more likely to accidentally get pregnant. Pregnant fat women and their babies also faced a higher risk of complications and death than normal-weight women.
Dr. Sandy Goldbeck-Wood, a specialist in psychosexual medicine at a London sexual health clinic, said physicians must talk to obese women about birth control.
"Doctors need to get over their own embarrassment and ask the difficult questions," she said. Goldbeck-Wood was not linked to the study but wrote an accompanying editorial in the BMJ.
Wellings and colleagues found obese men and women with a partner were no different from normal-weight people in terms of how often they had sex.
They also found that women tended to have partners with a similar body shape. Nearly 70 percent of fat women reported having a partner who was also heavy, while only about 40 percent of fat men had a similarly proportioned partner.
Some experts said the growing obesity epidemic in the West would worsen sexual dysfunction problems.
"This is not a heart attack or a stroke...but it's an important quality of life factor and a public health problem," said Dr. Andrew McCullough, an associate professor of clinical urology at New York University School of Medicine and director of male sexual health at NYU's Langone Medical Center.
He said the study's findings should provide another reason for people to trim their waistlines.
"It seems like a no-brainer," he said. "If you lose weight, you will feel more attractive and that could improve your sex life."
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Are the Masses Asses? Barack Obama's Oil Speech Rewritten to a Seventh Grade Level
Are the masses asses?
There is a deep tension in American politics between so-called "elites" and "real Americans." As a complement, there is a long tradition of anti-intellectualism in American life. The popularity of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and the rise of the New Right all in some part speak to this cynicism and disdain--especially among the most populist conservatives--for the educated, "liberal classes."
In connecting the dots, the amateurish assault on higher education by the Texas and Arizona school boards, with their Orwellian whitewashing of American history, is also part of this populist disdain for expert knowledge. As detailed by Lee Harris in The Next American Civil War, much of the faux Right populism of the tea baggers and their enablers is based on some sense that Washington and "the godless liberals" are too far removed from the values and beliefs of "real" "everyday" Americans.
To turn a phrase, it would seem that stupid is the new (old) black and where the Idiocracy want to reign supreme.
The calls for Obama to be "angry" and to "show some emotion" are a cousin to this phenomenon. According to the pundit classes Obama is hamstrung by a crisis in communication. As opposed to being more like Adlai Stevenson, Obama ought to connect with the people as a "regular guy" cut from the same mold as George W. Bush and Joe the Plumber. Ultimately, education is a liability, for as smeared by Sarah Palin, Obama's credentials as a "constitutional lawyer" make him too much of a technocrat--an egghead and nerd of sorts--to relate to "real Americans."
From this worldview, solutions to the challenges faced by America overseas and abroad are best met with moxie, passion, and moral certitude. Not surprisingly, there would seem to be little room here for a nuanced approach to policy making either at home or abroad.
In keeping with this narrative, President Obama's speech on the Gulf Coast oil disaster is being greeted by some as too sophisticated and complicated for the "average" American to understand. As noted by experts featured on CNN, Obama's oil speech was written at a 10th grade level: What is apparently a pitch thrown too high for a public that (perhaps) has been dumbed down by a failed educational system, which views their role as citizens in a manner indistinguishable from that of consumers, and that has embraced a mantra that government is always a problem and never a solution.
It would seem that the public wants simple answers to complex problems. They want moral appeals, heroes and villains, and cut and dry solutions. If Paul J.J. Payack, president of Global Language Monitor is to be believed, the American people would like to be spoken to as though they are in the 7th grade--with few syllables, and in short sentences.
In keeping with his suggestions, what follows is my rewriting of President Barack Obama's speech on the Gulf Coast oil disaster at a grade level appropriate for the American people to understand. In closing, I must ask once more: Are the masses indeed asses?
The U.S. is in big trouble right now. People need jobs and more money. We are fighting bad guys who hate us in other countries. Our soldiers are doing a good job killing the bad people.
Now, I want to talk to you about the oil in the ocean down South. On April 20th an oil rig blew up. Too many people were killed. There was a big hole dug deep in the ground by the oil rig people. It started to leak oil out into the water. The water is really deep.
We have never had a hole dug that deep into the ground to get the oil out. BP, the big company that dug the hole doesn't know how to plug it up. I got scared. I then got on the phone and called up some smart people.
One of them is so smart he won a prize for his ideas. His name is Doctor Steven Chu. He works for me. He runs the Department of Energy. He is very bright.
The oil is like a big monster. It is evil. It is hard to cleanup. The oil is killing fish and birds. People who work on boats in the water can't make money. To fight the monster I told the navy to help. The smart people are going to dig another hole in the ground. With the BP folks they are going to soak up the mess like a big paper towel. I hope that the hole in the ocean will stop leaking in a few weeks.
The water is really sick. We may not be able to get it better for a long time. This is very bad for all of us. BP made this mess. They are going to pay to fix it. I am ordering them to give money to people who can't work because of the oil. BP is very bad. They did not act like they cared about making a big mess.
The BP people killed the nice people that worked for them. We need to make sure we know why the oil rig blew up. They dug a deep hole in the ground. They didn't even think about plugging it up. Now, we need to make a rule so that does not happen again. No more messes!
America uses too much oil. This is why BP dug a deep hole in the ground. America needs to get new energy. We will get smart people in a room who can figure out how to do this. I will talk to anyone who will be fair and play nice on this issue. I want good ideas. I do not care where they come from.
Each year the people who fish and live near the messed up water get together to pray for good luck. That is a good idea. The U.S. has God on its side. We will pray that this mess gets fixed.
Remember, we are a great country. We have lots of bad things going on now. But, the U.S. always wins. We will soak up the oil. We will kill the bad guys in those other places where they pray to the wrong God and want to blow us up. The economy will get fixed. God bless America.
Chauncey DeVega's World of Ghetto Nerds: The BP Oil Spill is the Skin of Evil
I liked Obama's speech on the BP oil spill. It wasn't that moving. It wasn't that inspired. Nor, will it enter the pantheons of great speeches such as Churchill's invocation that "we shall fight on the beaches":
But ultimately, Obama is a centrist technocrat in the increasing mold of Adlai Stevenson. But guess what? President Obama (I still get chills typing that by the way...who would have thought?) got at least 20 billion dollars out of a bunch of criminals who should go somewhere and commit seppuku. History will make of that what it will.
As I watch this unending oil spill, lurch, dirty, kill and destroy, I have had two thoughts. The first is imprecise and half-formed, but for the same reason that I use a blackboard and not that damned Powerpoint when I teach, oftentimes half-formed thoughts in progress that we have to work through are far more instructive and powerful than those perfectly formed and presented on an LCD screen. Here, and every time that I watch footage of the oil spill and those poor suffering animals and imagine a lifestyle and economy now destroyed, I keep thinking of disaster capitalism. I know it is not a perfect fit for Naomi Klien's theories, but a big corporation made this mess--as they have others--and another multinational will fix it...for great profit at the American tax payer's expense.
My second thought veers directly to my ghetto nerd credentials. In one of the worst Star Trek episodes ever filmed--close to Spock's Brain in its level of horribleness--Tasha Yar, soft butch, damaged sex pot of The Next Generation was killed by Armus, a "malevolent entity." As anticlimactic as it reads on the screen or page, when I look at that sludge I think of him. 'Nuff said.
Thus my question: What monsters come to your mind as you watch our ecosystem destroyed in a crime of almost incalculable dimensions and consequences?
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
You Make the Call: Seattle Cop Punches Young Black Woman in Face During Altercation
You don't mess with the police. And lest we not forget that I am no fan of the police either. Most importantly, I am also not afraid of them. In fact, one of my earliest memories was my mom yelling at the Hamden police for viciously assaulting a gay couple outside of our house. Often, parents do not realize that they teach lessons even when not intending to do so. My mom doing her best/worst Thurgood Marshall impression yelled at the cops about the Constitution and that they were violating the inalienable rights of the American people. Funny, said police stopped, looked embarrassed, and the two men (guilty only for loving each other) came over and sat on our porch as my mother called 9-11.
In that moment I learned that cops are people too--both good and bad. I also learned that the police have the power of the State to take my life and that I should be weary of them.
I also remember my "don't fight with the cops or else you get killed" talk. My parents, god parents, and even the white fathers of my friends had some version of this teachable moment. They would relay (quite sternly I am may add) in keeping with this rite of passage that inducts young men of color into adulthood--and some white men as well--that you never fight the cops. Never. Ever.
Why? Many police officers are tired, exhausted, poorly trained, and perhaps even racist. Ultimately, and as I am so fond of quoting Morgan Freeman's great movie Nurse Betty, the police are the garbage men of the human condition. Thus, do not trust them to have patience or mercy. That is not their purview, temperament, or intent.
In watching this clip I have mixed feelings. I do not want to give into the official side of the story that exonerates the police and the powers that be. But, as a respectable negro I am dedicated to fighting stupidity wherever I find it. As I noted in this post, there are many reasons to put on the racism chasing shoes where necessary. Here, I do not choose to don them.
Moreover, and this may upset some, I think the police officer in this clip is not entirely wrong. Now, I do think he exercised poor judgment. He is surrounded by a hostile crowd. The offense is likely not worth the potential for violence. A call for backup would be necessary and should have been made from inside the protection of his vehicle. To boot, given the repeated physical assaults by the young women in the video, and the potential that his weapon could have been taken in the struggle and much more violence done, said officer exercised much restraint. Many police, and I would have thought this better than punching his assailant, would deploy either mace or a taser. In my opinion, and please feel free to disagree, that would have been a better tactical choice than what was demonstrated here.
Should said officer lose his job? Absolutely not. But again, that is for his review board to decide.
Ultimately, I have come to the following conclusion (and please tell me if I am arrogant, entitled, "respectable," and/or have social capital that blinds me to the struggles of the "ghetto underclass"): I don't care how this fight started. I don't care if the young black women in question were "right" or "wrong." You never, ever, put your hands on a cop. Why? because you could very well get shot. As my dad, mom, grandma, and others told me, "behave, listen, get the badge number, do what they say, and we will take them to court. Don't die out there."
So then, what explains the behavior of the young black women in the video? Is this a lack of home training? Do the young women in the video have a deep historical memory of slave patrols, white supremacy, and the role of police in the Racial State, and are thus fighting against their historical oppression? What in turn would explain their resistance? Or more cynically, is their behavior proof of a lack of home training amongst the ghetto underclasses, and the rise of some twisted mix of hyper-masculinity, femininity, and violence that fights all things and all people? In total, is this what happens when grandma is 30 years old?
Just being real. Politically incorrect or not. What are your thoughts on the behavior of the police officer in this video? And would this incident have not occurred if said young women acted more like ladies?
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
White Newborn Babies to be a Minority in the U.S. or Which "Racial" Group will Earn their Whiteness Next?
I am underwhelmed by "news" stories that herald the decline of the white race and the browning of America. Students of U.S. history know and understand that Whiteness is a malleable category. While heavily policed, Whiteness as a racial grouping is ever expanding.
Why? because whites are by definition the majority group in the United States. Just as the Irish, Italians, Jews, Polish, and others existed on the periphery of Whiteness until they "crossed over" during the 19th and 20th centuries, in the 21st century other groups will be ushered into this always renewing and expansive club. Here, history has repeatedly demonstrated that in a practical calculation of the relative value of in-group and out-group membership, new (and old) arrivals to America clamor to enter Whiteness, the perpetual motion machine that it is, at any cost. As the old joke goes, immigrants learn two words upon arrival to this country: "okay" is first, "nigger" is second.
Here are some interesting data points in support of this hypothesis: According to a 2003 study, the majority of Latino immigrants regardless of origin self-identify as "white"; Blacks are the least desirable marriage partners for whites and immigrants, while black out-marriage has continued to increase; And in a signal to the creation of a "coloured" class and "buffer race," so called "multiracials" are the fastest growing group in the United States.
So what do you think about the racial draft into Whiteness? Which racial minority is most likely to take the leap?
Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal:
Whites are on the verge of becoming a minority among newborn children in the U.S., marking a demographic shift that is already reshaping the nation's politics and economy.
The Census reported Thursday that nonwhite minorities accounted for 48.6% of the children born in the U.S. between July 2008 and July 2009, gaining ground from 46.8% two years earlier. The trajectory suggests that minority births will soon eclipse births of whites of European ancestry.
"The question is just when," said Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. He guesses the milestone will be crossed in the next few years, and could happen as early as 2011.
America's changing face has transformed race relations from the traditional divide of black and white to a more complex mix of race, language and religion. There are new strains on schools and social services, while immigration has emerged as one of the nation's most contentious issues—as evidenced by Arizona's recent law that makes illegal immigration a state crime.
A number of forces are pushing the U.S. toward a "majority minority" future. The median age of the white population is older than that of nonwhites, and thus a larger share of minority women are in prime child-bearing years. In addition, white women are having fewer children than nonwhites, while the growth in mixed marriages has led to more multiracial births.
The recession has slowed the transformation by reducing immigration. It also has made people of all races less willing to start families. But births among nonwhites slowed less than those among whites between July 2008 and July 2009. Among the Hispanic population, there were roughly nine births for every one death, compared with a roughly one-to-one ratio for whites.
Minorities made up 35% of the U.S. population between July 2008 and July 2009, up from 31% in 2000, the Census said. While immigration is a touchy political issue, it is not the driving factor behind the nation's growing diversity. Hispanics, for instance, accounted for 54.7% of the total population increase between July 2008 and July 2009, but about two-thirds of that gain came from births.
Charlotte, N.C., and surrounding Mecklenburg County offer a microcosm of the diversifying nation. A statue of Mahatma Gandhi stands in front of the historic county courthouse, a gift from the Charlotte Asian Heritage Association. Food Lion, a supermarket chain in the Southeast, spent the past year adding thousands of Hispanic food items to 19 Charlotte area stores. In 1990, 70.3% of the county was white. Today, it is 54.6%, and Mecklenburg County's youngest whites are a minority among their peers.
The shifting mix has "changed our definition of diversity," said Ann Clark, chief academic officer of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district. The district, for example, used to put its teachers through training to overcome racial biases that usually cut along black-and-white lines. Now, the district focuses more on reaching kids who live in poverty or don't speak English at home. It has hired four full-time translators and started a program to educate teachers about poverty.
Esselito Solano, a 31-year-old who owns a company that makes stone kitchen counters, said he felt like an outsider when he emigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines in the mid-1980s. He remembers being perplexed when an elementary-school teacher made him throw away the remainders of his cafeteria lunch instead of bringing it home, a wasteful move in his native country.
Today, his young daughters are growing up as part of a nonwhite majority. In 2006, the most recent data available, 43% of the babies born in Mecklenburg County were non-Hispanic whites, according to health statistics. "They're not going to have a hard time blending in," said Mr. Solano.
Charlotte's business and social institutions also reflect the change. The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce has expanded minority membership via a program that gives discounts to several racial and ethnic chambers. In 2007, the NAACP of North Carolina formed a coalition called Historic Thousands on Jones Street People's Assembly, which is made up of 93 North Carolina advocacy groups that represent various races and ethnicities. "With this changing demographic, we had to operate in coalition," said Rev. William Barber, president of the NAACP of North Carolina.
America has long been on a path toward becoming a more diverse nation, and several states, including California and Texas, are already "majority minority." But in the past decade or so, the dual forces of assimilation and the housing boom have pushed diversity beyond gateway cities into the suburbs and across states that hadn't traditionally attracted immigrants.
Philip Maung started off in a gateway city, immigrating to Los Angeles from Burma (now Myanmar) in 1989. He moved to Charlotte in 1997 to start Hissho Sushi, now a 400-store company that sells sushi out of kiosks in airports and grocery stores. The company's 50,000-square-foot headquarters has offices, warehousing and a chilled room where a dozen employees begin rolling sushi at 3:30 a.m. "In a bigger city like New York or L.A., I wouldn't have had a shot," said Mr. Maung.
Although he has achieved the American dream, Mr. Maung said he wanted his two boys, both born in Charlotte, to understand where he came from. Two years ago, he sent the kids back to Asia to spend time learning Chinese and living in the developing world. "They'll come back with their eyes open," he said.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Vast Mineral Resources Worth 1 Trillion Dollars Discovered in Afghanistan: Will We "Racism Chasers" Discuss this Issue?
Racism chasing shoes are often made of cement. As a confession, I have many pairs of these shoes in varying sizes.
The black blogosphere, for a variety of good reasons, is always ready to respond to incidents of racism and prejudice. But many in the black blogosphere are often blind (like many of us in general) to the macro-level structural changes that impact all Americans across the colorline. Ironically, the seemingly "unsexy" or "unentertaining" stories that are buried on page 6 of the local newspaper and/or have nothing to do with celebrities, sports, and people famous for excelling at being nothing other than stupid and famous (the Paris Hiltons and Kim Kardashians of the world) impact the poor, working classes, and people of color the most.
The discovery of 1 trillion dollars worth of rare minerals in Afghanistan is one of those stories. These minerals are used for superconductors, weapons systems, advanced computers, and other critical areas of a superpower economy (where "superpower" is the mating of the corporate, the military, and the political).
In total, there have been quite a few stories in recent months that should have been more widely discussed by the mainstream media and also on the black blogosphere. The launch of the recoverable space plane and hypersonic cruise missile should have been widely discussed as it ushers in continued U.S. unilateralism, the further militarization of space, "global strike," and full spectrum dominance. The contraction of the U.S. money supply forebodes horrible things for the (not present) U.S. economic recovery. The U.S. is bleeding both blood and treasure in Afghanistan--with 23 dead U.S. soldiers this month alone. Moreover, among those in the know it is a given that the invasion of Afghanistan is going badly. Frighteningly, scientists reprogrammed DNA with the use of computers and created synthetic life.
The 1 trillion dollar prize in Afghanistan is a story that is at least as important as these--it is also equally likely to fly under the radar. Ultimately, the wars of the future (as they have always been...but perhaps moreso in the resource poor world of the 21st century) will be over water, oil, and liveable land. With the rise of China, and as indicated by their rush to secure resources in Africa--Afghanistan will most certainly be a highly contested prize.
Some obligatory questions of realpolitik:
- Will this discovery make the invasion worth it?
- How will 1 trillion dollars of resources complicate the United States' exiting of that country in 2011?
- Will the U.S. give up these minerals?
- Will the U.S. force Karzai's hand in order to prevent him from cutting a deal with China to exploit these resources?
- Will 1 trillion dollars in minerals be one more step towards an inevitable United States-China conflict?
- If the U.S. can exploit these resources does it make the invasion of Afghanistan worth it?
- And we must ask the hardest question of them all: What will the benefits of this find be for those of us not in the global power elite?
Remember my friends: Black is a nation, one that is local, national, and global. And this discovery, like many of "those stories" that are not explicitly about "us" or "race" are actually more important to our day to day lives and futures than the chronic racism chasers would lead you to believe.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Sunday (Sort of) Funny--South Carolina Senate Candidate Alvin Greene Meets JJ Walker
One day there will be a folk song called The Strange Saga of Alvin Greene. The victory of a near destitute, former GI, accused sex-offender over the party's preferred candidate in a major primary would make for more than a few good lines of rhythmic prose.
Ultimately, until the dust settles and more information comes to light, we are really just theorizing in a black box about Mr. Greene's victory. Here are the three most prominent scenarios, that per tradition, I will leave for you all to sort out.
1. Alvin Greene is a plant, a stooge for the Republican Party who paid him to run.
2. Republican voters acted strategically. In an open primary they voted for the weaker candidate so that in the actual election their preferred candidate would win.
3. Alvin Greene simply got lucky and won. No hijinks or trickery needed.
Regardless of how this all plays out, in sorting through the possibilities I kept thinking of the classic Cosby/Poitier film Let's Do it Again. To me Alvin Greene seems like JJ Walker, a pawn in a bigger con that he is not privy to.
Now the question becomes, is Alvin Greene just playing the okeydoke and pretending to be a bit slow on the uptake, or is Mr. Greene really the vulnerable, naive, and a bit slow (if not disabled) person that he is presenting himself to be?
Friday, June 11, 2010
Can You Feel Their Eyes on You? Rare Photo of Slave Children Found in Attic
As someone whose research focuses almost exclusively on race and its relationship to power in this society, I have, by necessity, become hardened and numb to certain realities. On one hand, I would hope that this makes me an effective teacher because I want to get the story right, as well as help students understand that emotions matter--but not at the expense of rigor and precision. Thus, the "science" in social science. Reflexively, this tendency to be hardened and not surprised by the realities of white supremacy (and frankly the capacity for human beings to be barbaric and cruel more generally) can also make it difficult to connect to a young student raised in the glee of post-racial, post-Civil Rights America where "race no longer matters." As teachers, we have to shatter their naivete (because ultimately that is what education ought to be), but it brings no joy to do so.
We, those folks who study identity politics--especially where those politics are personal--do indeed learn to wear a mask. But in private, when faced with an image such as these two young boys, caught in the jaws and gears of a cruel system where their humanity was reduced to property, a mere check on a ledger sheet, one cannot help but to be moved.
This photo also makes me think of how shockingly ignorant most Americans are of the day to day realities of chattel slavery in the Americas. Imagine, if we are still negotiating those divisions in the heart of our democracy today, what it must have felt like for those black folk struggling against the slaveocracy when it was a looming present? In turn, can we even begin to comprehend the magnitude of the psychological wage which slavery must have paid the white soul?
That heretofore ambiguous wage is partly revealed in this photo. It must have been grand comfort to know that by simple virtue of color and birth that one's children would never be reduced to chattel or property, their photos and papers of sale to be discovered in some dusty attic centuries later. Ultimately, the Black Freedom Struggle is a triumph. But, that triumph did not come without a great deal of pain and personal tragedy. We often emphasize the former, but for fear of dropping the mask, the latter often goes unacknowledged.
The full story follows courtesy of Salon:
A haunting 150-year-old photo found in a North Carolina attic shows a young black child named John, barefoot and wearing ragged clothes, perched on a barrel next to another unidentified young boy.
Art historians believe it's an extremely rare Civil War-era photograph of children who were either slaves at the time or recently emancipated.
The photo, which may have been taken in the early 1860s, was a testament to a dark part of American history, said Will Stapp, a photographic historian and founding curator of the National Portrait Gallery's photographs department at the Smithsonian Institution.
"It's a very difficult and poignant piece of American history," he said. "What you are looking at when you look at this photo are two boys who were victims of that history."
In April, the photo was found at a moving sale in Charlotte, accompanied by a document detailing the sale of John for $1,150, not a small sum in 1854.
New York collector Keya Morgan said he paid $30,000 for the photo album including the photo of the young boys and several family pictures and $20,000 for the sale document. Morgan said the deceased owner of the home where the photo was found was thought to be a descendant of John.
A portrait of slave children is rare, Morgan said.
"I buy stuff all the time, but this shocked me," he said.
What makes the picture an even more compelling find is that several art experts said it was created by the photography studio of Mathew Brady, a famous 19th-century photographer known for his portraits of historical figures such as President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Stapp said the photo was probably not taken by Brady himself but by Timothy O'Sullivan, one of Brady's apprentices. O'Sullivan took a multitude of photos depicting the carnage of the Civil War.
In 1862, O'Sullivan famously photographed a group of some of the first slaves liberated after Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
Such photos were circulated in the North by abolitionists to garner support for the Union during the Civil War, said Harold Holzer, an author of several books about Lincoln. Holzer works as an administrator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Most of the photos depicted adult slaves who had been beaten or whipped, he said.
The photo of the two boys is more subtle, Holzer said, which may be why it wasn't widely circulated and remained unpublished for so long.
"To me, it's such a moving and astonishing picture," he said.
Ron Soodalter, an author and member of the board of directors at the Abraham Lincoln Institute in Washington, D.C., said the photo depicts the reality of slavery.
"I think this picture shows that the institution of slavery didn't pick or choose," said Soodalter, who has written several books on historic and modern slavery. "This was a generic horror. It victimized the old, the young."
For now, Morgan said, he is keeping the photo in his personal collection, but he said he has had an inquiry to sell the photo to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He said he is considering participating in the creation of a video documentary about John.
"This kid was abused and mistreated and people forgot about him," Morgan said. "He doesn't even exist in history. And to know that there were a million children who were like him. I've never seen another photo like that that speaks so much for children."
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
How Many Ways can Barack Obama be an Angry Black Man?
Barack Obama is facing a challenge from across the political aisle where both liberals and conservatives are calling for him to show anger about the BP oil spill. The groundwork for this critique began during the 2008 campaign, where to some in the media and among the public, Obama seemed too "intellectual" and "distant" to be an effective leader. Metaphorically, Obama was Spock, while John McCain was Captain Kirk--the former cerebral and disciplined; the latter emotional and daring.
Here, Barack Obama is a bound man. On one hand, because of moribund constructions of gender, Obama is unable to show a full range of emotions that go beyond "anger" or "strength." To cry or to be vulnerable are still (even in the 21st century) looked upon by many as traits unbecoming a "real" man. As a Black man, Barack Obama is doubly restrained. If Obama shows any amount of upset he risks easily falling into narrow and stereotyped caricatures of black manhood--especially as when viewed through the white gaze.
The error here is an assumption that black anger is one dimensional. In fact, black anger is complex--with many rooms in its proverbial house. To point: in an effort to help Obama negotiate his "anger" problem I have compiled a helpful list of archetypes from which he can borrow.
Which of the following models are best suited for President Obama? And what types of black anger can be added to our list?
2. Primal, libidinous, and a force of nature: Mike Tyson.
3. Literati, intellectual, and creative: James Baldwin.
4. Crazy, nonsensical, and self-loathing: Alan Keyes.
5. Rage of a black privileged class: George Jefferson.
6. So smart that he scared white people to death: Malcolm X.
7. 1960's Black nationalist in a leather jacket and a beret: Stokely Carmichael.
8. Hollywood black anger: Spike Lee.
9. Respectable and non-threatening to White people: Sidney Poitier.
10. White liberal black rage: John Brown.
11. Apocalyptic black rage: Nat Turner.
12. Anger in the prophetic tradition: Reverend Wright.
13. Black rage that (most) white people were willfully blind to seeing: Martin Luther King Jr.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
What Would a Black Militant Say About Barack Obama and the BP Oil Spill? Brother X-Squared Returns to Speak the Truth!
After a several month hiatus, Brother X-Squared has returned to WARNNN in order to update us on his travels, as well as to offer his insights on the many global crises facing President Barack Obama and the United States in these recent months.
WARNNN: How are you Brother X-Squared? It has been too long, with so much going on in the world I must imagine that you have much to say. Our audience is eager for your wisdom and perspective on the many events that seemingly threaten to derail President Obama's first term.
Brother X-Squared: How am I? I am as content as a moon cricket sitting on leaf at one in the morning on the night of the solstice! Oh, yes I am quite happy!
WARNNN: Pardon me? A moon cricket sitting on a leaf?
Brother X-Squared: Again, after our years together you still do not understand our great negro stories and mythologies. I have sent you book upon book, transcribed the ancient wisdom for you in terms that even you, a common negro could understand, and yet you still lag behind. So much work to be done Brother Chauncey. I bet your celestial energies are weakened, your natural melanin receptors down because of the racism chasing that captive Black neo-slaves such as you and your other Internet brethren do. Messing with nonsense like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck will do that to you! Yes, that must be the answer, you need to get some perspective on the evils of the white man and his tricknology! You chase his wickedness when you should be still and studying its madness from a position of rest.
WARNNN: We missed you Brother X-Squared we really did. You are unique.
Brother X-Squared: I am the Alpha and the Omega, I am the point on the line that is the derivative, I am the area of a curve, the integral. I have always been and will always be. I am blackness. I am Brother X-Squared!
WARNNN: So what have you been up to since our last interview around the time of the Oscars?
Brother X-Squared. I went off into the wilderness. The captive Black man is already in a wicked placed, the land stolen by the white European called America--named not ironically after Amerigo Vespucci--a devil the preordained the evil of this place. After watching those Precious and Avatar foul movies win awards I had to commune with my Native American Brothers. Peace be to the four winds and to the nature walkers, our Red and Brown brothers for the Earth will be ours again!
WARNNN: I am surprised. How did you monitor the news? You are a bit of a news junkie. How did you stay on top of things?
Brother X-Squared: There you go again Chauncey! Junkie, news, "on top of." The white man has so poisoned you that you repeat his wickedness even in ostensibly neutral questions. Junkie is what a drug addict is. News is something "new" to people. "On top of" is how those white sex freak tea baggers imagine a man's genitals in their faces! Language is power Brother Chauncey. It is through language that we speak things into being! As always, I have been monitoring all things. And again, if you have listened to any of my wisdom these few years, you will understand that none of this con game is new. It is all the same. It began the same. It will end the same. It will be the same forever until the Natural Black Man reclaims this world! There is nothing you could ask me that I could not answer, nor that I have not predicted!
WARNNN: Okay then. What is your opinion about Obama's handling of the BP oil spill?
Brother X-Squared: Ha! I already have you Brother Chauncey. I will school you just as Yoda did that white devil Luke Skywalker in those hellish white supremacist Star Wars movies with all of their Nazi and white racism imagery! Obama, the white black halfrican that he is, is not a true black man, but he is being played by the forces of the global kleptocracy. What color is oil? It is black. Quite literally black gold! Yes, just like the captive millions of Black Africans were black gold to the evil Europeans! How perfect then that the black gold rushes out of the Earth during the presidency of their faux negro black President! And guess what else Brother Chauncey? The plot is more complicated than it seems. Do you know about onions and Arabs?
WARNNN: Huh? That seems like a non-sequitur. What do you mean? Do both make you cry?
Brother X-Squared: Tear ducts are for the weak, a tool of white women to weaken and distract folk from the truth as one of your white allies Macon D says on his website Stuff white people do. I generally have no use for the white man, but like John Brown he seems "acceptable." No, Brother Chauncey. And again, you are a child before my wisdom so please sit and listen before you ask anymore foolish questions. An onion has many layers! This oil spill is orchestrated by British Petroleum. Those are the heirs to the same wicked white people the British East India Company that sold the slaves! Yes! And guess what? Who sold the first slaves to the evil white man?
WARNNN: Other Africans?
Brother X-Squared: No. It was Arabs! They took the black gold from Africa and introduced it to the white man who become an addict of the strength and power of the Black man! Arabs also control the oil, and then gave its power to a European homosexual named Lawrence of Arabia who rewrote the maps of the Middle East. This history is so deep. Now the Arabs have America by its collective scrotum. The white man's offense is so great. Do you see the symbolism of the oil spill Brother Chauncey?
WARNNN: Nature and the world befouled by technology and greed? How capitalism creates false needs and how we....
Brother X-Squared: Shut up. You sicken me. You truly have studied with the white Europeans in their schools. The Earth, Mother Gaia, is bleeding her blood. Black blood. Into where? The oceans over which tens of millions of Black souls, Nubian gold, were brought across to feed the avarice of the white man in the "New" World. Have you seen the poor animals suffering in the Gulf of Mexico?
WARNNN: It makes me cry. You know we both love animals, especially our canine companions.
Brother X-Squared: Now you are talking truth. God is dog backwards. Never forget it. Those poor birds are dying. Those poor dolphins are suffering. Just like in that book Song of Solomon, the white man is doubly assaulting the Black man with that oil. Those birds represent our ancestors and freedom to fly back to Africa and he is killing us with his greed! And just like they did with Katrina, where the Black man was run out of town by a hurricane and the city rebuilt and "Mexified" they are doing it to the gulf coast! This is ethnic cleansing by way of a man made disaster! But Mother Nature will get her revenge. You will see! God is not to be mocked Brother Chauncey!
WARNNN: So what do you think of Obama's response to the oil spill? His leadership more generally over these last few months?
Brother X-Squared: Do unwashed chitlins served with mayonnaise and head cheese stink? Yes they do! That is what I think of Obama. He is a man-child. The white man has neutered him. Speaking of which, have you seen that Obama action figure? Apparently, it is some super toy that can be positioned in any way imaginable. I guess white sex freaks love these things. And guess what? As accurate as it is, this fetish of Obama, what is really a voodoo doll, has no genitals. The white man hides his evil in plain sight. They have literally castrated their first "black" President. how fitting!
WARNNN: I am aware of the toy. But, how does this all relate together?
Brother X-Squared: So simple minded Brother Chauncey. In my absence you took 3 steps backwards. This is what that white woman Naomi Klein calls disaster capitalism. BP makes the mess, Halliburton with that white devil Cheney cleans it up, and Obama can do nothing. The white global elite like in that movie They Live clean up. Those Bilderbergs are actually meeting this week and CNN is covering it. The world's economy is being raped and it gets featured on the evening news as a joke. The white man has lulled you all to sleep, so much so that you don't even fight back. You captive negroes are complicit in your own destruction. I love it! I truly do.
They would never put a real Black man like Brother X-Squared in office. Oh no. Although Obama is a spiritual zero because his powerful zero point energy creating melanin is neutralized by his white momma mating with that African Shaka Zulu daddy of his, the white man still hates him. They mock him everyday. They even release rats to appear when he speaks in that damned White House. What a joke, a sort of black man, living in a white house, with black rats in front of him while he address the nation. Fate is so brilliant. Energy is never destroyed it is conserved. The white man's wickedness is conserving itself and coalescing all the while Obama tries to save this damned country.
WARNNN: What does your association think of banning ethnic studies in Arizona or of the Texas school board's white washing of history? What of the anti-immigrant sentiment in Arizona? Are you and your brothers planning to march in solidarity with Latinos and Hispanics?
Brother X-Squared: You must be joking. Immigrants? Solidarity? Come on Brother Chauncey. The Black man is the first immigrant to this country. Where is our justice? We were here before those bestial European immigrants even arrived. The white man does not even know his own history. I spit on the mythology of Ellis island. You see the real Black man does not need Ethnic Studies. That is a bone the white academics threw you to get in massa's house. I don't need classes to affirm my humanity. My melanin and wisdom do it everyday when I look in the mirror.
And on "Hispanics" and "Latinos" this is so deep Brother Chauncey I don't know if you are ready. Look away because the light may burn your eyes given that the calluses on your mind state have weakened in my absence. Those words used to identify the indigenous people of the Southwest U.S. and those points South of this country, are a lie made up by white Europeans! President Nixon, one of the greatest white devils of all time added that category to the census to divide and conquer Black from Brown. Look it up, the facts speak for themselves! The true Aztec, Chicano, Aztlan brothers don't use those slave names. Those lies were made up by Christopher Columbus, white Spaniards, and Jesuits like that devil Bartoleme de las Casas--the actual demon that said the Black man should be made a slave to protect the Indians. In fact, I am glad that mess is happening to those Hispanics and Latinos right now!
WARNNN: That is pretty controversial. Why would you say that? Given the history of Black people in the United States I would expect more empathy?
Brother X-Squared: Empathy. Empathy is for the weak. Never forget it. You see a lot of those quote unquote Hispanics and Latinos don't want to be associated with Black people. They had a type of Jim Crow in Texas and the Southwest. Signs that said "No Mexicans and No Dogs." A lot of those immigrants forgot that, and to boot they internalized the white man's lies about Black people. So many are desperate to be white and now the white man Republican tea baggers have kicked them in the sombreros! Those Hispanics and Latinos are very color struck--hating on their own dark people. In fact, many of them reverse pass--they pretend to be non-white to get into college and jobs, but they are white every other day of the week! Then when the white man shows them his true face they panic. No Brother Chauncey, the real Brown, indigenous, Mestizo, and Spanish speaking folks, the Caesar Chavez, Brown Beret Brothers always understood the white man's wickedness. It is the others who are now waking up! Ha ha, as Malcolm said history is the greatest teacher! The chickens are coming home to roost!
WARNNN: Wow. You need to come on more often. So much to process. Two quick points. First, given your comments on the Oscars, I must ask: What movies have you seen as of late? And second, tell us something we do not know.
Brother X-Squared. Hmmmm. I will do that in reverse order because I can. The white man loves tricknology. In fact, some evil white scientists have invented artificial life in a laboratory. You see given that Yakub invented the white man in a twisted experiment that was an act against God, he has a natural predilection for using evil science. Man does not have the moral or ethical wisdom to make such things. And given the depths of white evil, these foul custom designed life forms will be the undoing of their creators. You will see. We got duped by the Tuskegee experiments and what happened to Sister Hela, but we are ready now! Bring those nanite racist viruses on! We, the natural Black man, vegetarian, pure of mind and body are ready with strength and honor to repel them.
WARNNN: Damn. I too have followed that story and am very worried as well.
Brother X-Squared: As you should be. I am a warrior. As such, I lead from the front in order to inspire my soldiers. I also know that captive Black Africans in America such as yourself are not ready to do what I do. Thus, I take risks for you Brother Chauncey. To protect you, I saw two movies. The first was this horrible evil thing called The Human Centipede. Dear God. Never have I seen such a movie. But, in its evil this abomination exposed the white European for his sickness. This movie is about a scientist that attaches people one to the other so that they produce feces into the mouths of those below them. I prayed to the four winds while seeing this. But, I drew strength. You see the white man, especially those Republican Glenn Beck Conservative types practice this sickness. It is called coprophagia. The European is naturally depraved and delights in consuming his own waste. The Conservatives, thus their hypocrisy, especially so. These were the same people with a Bible in one hand and a whip in another putting the proud Black man into a slave ship. Their evil is no surprise, nor is their delight in consuming feces. A truly sick race they are!
Just like a perpetual motion machine I draw strength from battle. I then saw an equally wicked race mixing movie called Splice! Again, two white people, evil scientists, conspire and make a hybrid creature. The white woman, such narcissists they are, uses her own DNA to create the thing. Beware this movie all proud Nubians! The moral of the story is that the white man has sex with anything! Even race mixed beasts that are made from their own genetic material! Lesser Nubians like you Brother Chauncey must avoid these films lest you be tempted to race mix and defile what does remain of your Afrocentric consciousness. His lies are so transparent, as in this wicked Splice movie, the evil woman/bird/fish creature has a tail with a black penis attached to it that rapes the white woman and pleases the anal region of the white man! When I left I had to read Diop, Ivan van Sertima, Brother Ben, and DuBois to cleanse my soul. Sick this movie was, so very depraved...just like the white man.
WARNNN: You shared so much. And I do thank you for seeing those movies in order to protect us. Will we be hearing from you again?
Brother X-Squared. A storm is coming! I will be forever vigilante and present like that white woman Sarah Connor in those Terminator films. We shall talk soon. Stay strong Brother Chauncey! Stay strong!
WARNNN: We will Brother X-Squared. Till next time.
Brother X-Squared: Peace.


text:
Full TitleA Phase I Trial of T-Lymphocytes Genetically Targeted to the B-Cell Specific Antigen CD19 in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients with relapsed B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) that has returned after initial treatment have a limited number of treatment options. The goal of this study is to assess the safety of a new therapy that can be given to pediatric and young adult patients with B-ALL that has returned despite prior therapy.
The investigational therapy uses T cells (a type of white blood cell) that have been removed from the patient and genetically modified in the laboratory to recognize a protein on leukemia cells called CD19. The modified T cells are returned to the patient, and it is hoped that they will find and kill leukemia cells. This approach is a form of immunotherapy. T cells altered in this way were shown to be capable of killing B-cell cancers in laboratory studies and in adults with B-cell ALL that has returned after chemotherapy.
- Patients must have CD19-positive B-ALL that has returned or persisted despite prior therapy.
- Patients who have had a stem cell transplant may not participate.
- This study is open to patients under age 26. (Patients over the age of 26 should contact Dr. Marco Davilia at 212-639-4056 for information on this treatment option.)
For more information and to inquire about eligibility for this study, please contact Dr. Kevin J. Curran at 212-639-5836.


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Dyer's Academic Excellence
Scholarship Name: Dr. Jim Dyer for Academic Excellence
Deadline to Apply: Chosen at the end of the Spring semester
GPA: Highest GPA in Humanities Department
1st Year: N/A
2nd Year: √
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Description: Granted to Liberal Arts graduate with highest G.P.A.
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Jennifer Hudson joins other powerhouse singers such as Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder and the cast of 'Glee' in the lineup for the Obama inaugural balls.
Jennifer Hudson has been added to the entertainment lineup at one of the two inaugural balls, joining other powerhouse performers such as Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder and the cast of Glee.
The Presidential Inaugural Committee made the announcement today, and clarified who would be performing at the two inaugural balls at the Washington Convention Center Monday night, after President Obama's second inauguration.
The Commander-in-Chief's Ball, for about 4,000 members of the military, with millions more around the world watching live, will feature Keys, Hudson, Brad Paisley, Chris Cornell, Jamie Foxx, and Marc Anthony. The DJ will be Dan Moose.
The Pentagon Channel, which broadcasts to nearly all military installations and reaches more than 2 million service members in the U.S. and overseas, will provide a live feed. A live stream also will be available online at www.pentagonchannel.mil.
The Inaugural Ball, for about 35,000 and spread over every hall of the convention center, will feature Keys, Paisley, the Glee cast and Wonder, plus Black Violin, Far East Movement, FUN., John Legend, Katy Perry, Maná, Smokey Robinson, Soundgarden, and Usher, performing on multiple stages. D-Nice will DJ the event.
On Saturday evening, first lady Michelle Obama and second lady Jill Biden will host a Kids' Inaugural Concert, which will feature some of the same performers, although the PIC hasn't specified the lineup yet.
Also, still no word yet on who will sing what for the presidential couple's first dance. In 2009, Beyoncé did the honors at one of the 10 balls for the first Obama inauguration, singing the Etta James classic At Last as the president and first lady twirled. This year, Beyoncé is singing the National Anthem at the swearing-in ceremony earlier in the day.


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What is the air distance and flight duration time from USA to Nigeria?
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> From USA to Nigeria
Distance from USA to Nigeria is:
5510.8 Miles
(8868.8 Kilometers / 4785.6 Nautical Miles)
Approximate travel time from Washington DC, USA to Abuja, Nigeria is 11 hrs, 27 mins
Time difference between USA and Nigeria
Travel time and distance from USA
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