text:
Is this radio host saying that Blacks should be killed?
Study: Light-Skinned Black Women Receive Lighter Prison Sentences
Most discussions on race focus on conflicts between whites and generalized communities of color. A new study expands our awareness of the impact of racial prejudices to include differences in how African-Americans of different skin tones are treated. In their study, "The Impact of Light Skin on Prison Time for Black Female Offenders," the authors uncover a startling reality: courts systematically reward black women with light skin with significantly shorter jail sentences compared with their darker counterparts. Clutch Magazine reports:
A recent study of women prisoners in North Carolina found that lighter complexioned Black inmates served less time than darker ones.
"The Impact of Light Skin on Prison Time for Black Female Offenders," by Jill Viglione, Lance Hannon, and Robert DeFina of Villanova University, used a sample of 12, 158 women who were imprisoned between 1995 and 2009. Those who were perceived to be light skinned received sentences that were, on average, 12% shorter than their darker counterparts. The amount of actual time served was approximately 11% less. According to The Minority Brief, the study authors controlled factors including prior record, conviction date and weight; they also considered if the woman in question was serving time for robbery or homicide, which tend to carry long sentences."
This is not the first study to examine how having lighter skin can help a person of color make an easier way in the world. A 2006 University of Georgia study found that light-skinned black men are preferred by employers over dark men, regardless of qualifications. These new results regarding lighter black female prisoners fit in perfectly with previous findings.
In 2009, CNN health reported on a related study. Research evidence demonstrated that most participants held racist beliefs they were unaware of, which negatively impacted their choices in social situations. It's not a stretch to predict the results of these combined phenomena: people in power will give preferential treatment to those perceived as closer to the white ideal our society promotes as an expression of unconscious racism.
African-Americans often discuss how colorism affects us within our ranks, but rarely consider how skin tone relates to our treatment by greater society. Recognizing this, we may want to reconsider how we judge our peers. It is possible that lighter and darker blacks have vastly different experiences that each group cannot perceive. If we talk about these differences, we might reach greater understanding.
Police Probe Racist Incidents In Canadian Town
Police in Shelburne say they're focusing on two suspects who have allegedly been spouting white supremacist or neo-Nazi doctrines.
The complicated police probe involves alleged Facebook messages and notices of Klan type meetings, said Cpl. Mike O'Callaghan.
"We are dealing with young people," he said Wednesday evening during a public meeting called to deal with a recent surge in racist incidents.
A Confederate flag was said to have been displayed and Nazi salutes performed by some in the presence of black students.
Graffiti was discovered inside and out at Shelburne Regional High School in February. It was removed said local Black community member Tom Jacklyn, after he and others brought it to the attention of school staff. But it returned shortly thereafter.
Black Man Booted For Sagging Pants, But White Man in Panties Allowed to Fly…
U.S. Airways has landed in hot water for allowing a scantily-clad drag queen to fly without hassle just a week before crews booted a college football player off a plane for wearing saggy pants.
The gray-haired cross dresser boarded a June 9 flight from Fort Lauderdale to Phoenix wearing a little more than stiletto heels, thigh-high black stocking and tiny, electric blue panties, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Witnesses said passengers complained about the flamboyant flyer, but U.S. Air let him board because the company doesn't have any rules against showing skin.
"We don't have a dress code policy," spokeswoman Valerie Wunder told the Chronicle. "Obviously, if their private parts are exposed, that's not appropriate…So if they're not exposing their private parts, they're allowed to fly."
But six days later, University of New Mexico football player DeShon Marman was yanked off a flight and arrested in San Francisco after he allegedly refused a U.S. Air crewmember's request to hike up his pants.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/06/22/2011-06-22_us_air_let_scantilyclad_cross_dresser_fly_days_before_booting_off_student_for_sa.html#ixzz1Q84Xocqi
Racist Graffiti Written On Ajax Family's Car
AJAX -- An Ajax family woke Tuesday morning to find racist graffiti scrawled on their car.
"I thought the citizens of this town should know there are still real jerks walking their streets," said Brian Sheppard.
The graffiti, done with a black marker on his white Dodge Magnum, is particularly upsetting because he and his wife have black grandchildren. Also, a mixed race couple lives across the street from their Seabreeze Road home.
On the gas cap was scrawled the "n" word, with the word "blow". On the back of the car was "KKK" next to a depiction of a burning cross.
"I couldn't go and visit (my grandchildren) with that nonsense on the car. One woman saw what was on the car and started crying," he said.
"I can't drive the car around town with this crap on it," Mr. Sheppard noted.
There was also other graffiti on the passenger side, including a stylized "JR", which Mr. Sheppard suspects are the person's initials.
His wife, Lyn-Joy, said they've had their car broken into before "but not this."
Mr. Sheppard was told by a police officer "it's got to be a guy. Women aren't dumb enough to do this."
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Contrary to the rosy picture of race embodied in Barack Obama's political success and Oprah Winfrey's financial success, legal scholar Alexander argues vigorously and persuasively that [w]e have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it. Jim Crow and legal racial segregation has been replaced by mass incarceration as a system of social control (More African Americans are under correctional control today... than were enslaved in 1850). Alexander reviews American racial history from the colonies to the Clinton administration, delineating its transformation into the war on drugs. She offers an acute analysis of the effect of this mass incarceration upon former inmates who will be discriminated against, legally, for the rest of their lives, denied employment, housing, education, and public benefits. Most provocatively, she reveals how both the move toward colorblindness and affirmative action may blur our vision of injustice: most Americans know and don't know the truth about mass incarceration—but her carefully researched, deeply engaging, and thoroughly readable book should change that. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Muslim Woman Sues Abercrombie & Fitch After Alleged Firing Over Hijab
Does this mean a khaki hijab won't appear in catalogs anytime soon?
Hani Khan, a former stockroom employee for Abercrombie & Fitch Co. who says she was illegally fired for refusing to remove her Muslim headscarf, sued the clothing retailer in federal court on Monday, The Associated Press reports.
When Khan was hired to work in the San Mateo, Calif., branch of Hollister Co.—a brand owned by Abercrombie that caters to teens—she was wearing her hijab. The manager of the store reportedly said she could wear the headscarf while on the clock, so long as it was in company colors. (Which raises the question: What are those colors exactly? Distressed denim?) But Khan alleges that in subsequent months, managers constantly asked her to remove her hijab while working, and that she was later suspended, then fired for refusing.
Abercrombie & Fitch is known for its preppy, American collegiate imprint. It's also known for allegedly alienating its employees and getting in trouble for it. In 2004, the company settled race and gender discrimination lawsuits and agreed to include racial minorities in its all-American but largely white marketing platform. Abercrombie admitted no wrongdoing, but paid $40 million to several thousand minority and female plaintiffs and agreed to boost its diversity efforts surrounding hiring and promoting.
More recently, the company has faced a string of lawsuits that echo Kahn's experience. In 2009, Samantha Elauf filed a federal lawsuit in Oklahoma that charged the company of denying her a sales position because she was wearing a hijab. Another lawsuit was filed in 2008 that claimed the company didn't hire a woman at an Abercrombie Kids store in California for the same reason.
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/06/29/muslim-woman-sues-abercrombie-fitch-after-alleged-firing-over-hijab/#ixzz1QlQPzEr6
The Myth of the Model Minority is, Yes, a Myth
by Kristina C
In flat contradiction to the "myth of the model minority" — according to which Asian American students achieve academic and professional success despite being marginalized racially and ethnically — a new report from the National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education has found that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders don't all get accepted into highly selective four-year colleges and universities; don't all major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and don't all achieve exceptional academic success, with accompanying financial benefits.
Fancy that.
The report will be published in its final form at the end of the summer, but preliminary findings were released on Monday. As the Chronicle of Higher Education says, the report found that
… nearly half of all Asian-American and Pacific Islander students, known as AAPI students, attend community colleges, and many of their ethnic groups have some of the lowest high-school-graduation and college-degree-attainment rates in the United States…
Among Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders, 55 to 66 percent of adults have not attended any form of postsecondary education. While more than four in five East Asians (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) and South Asians (Asian Indian and Pakistani) who enter college earn at least a bachelor's degree, larger proportions of Southeast Asians (43 percent) and Pacific Islanders (51 percent) report having attended college but not earning a degree.
The AAPI population grew much faster than any major racial group from 2000 – 2010, according to the report, and is projected to reach nearly 40 million people by 2050. But, as the above figures reveal, "college-going and degree attainment" varies widely among Asian Americans, with East Asians — some of whom, including Chinese and Japanese Americans, have been in the US for longer periods of time — and South Asians more likely (so far) to have graduated from college.
As an Asian American — a third-generation Chinese American, who is quite assimilated in American society — I've found the notion of being a model minority not only just wrong, but potentially harmful. The myth can cause students to think that, unless they getting into Harvard, UC Berkeley and Stanford and are pre-med or "at least" pre-law — if not pursuing an MD-PhD — they're failures. College and the academic life are not for everyone and "success" is not all about making it into the Ivies, getting straight A's, yada yada yada. My own son Charlie is half-Asian and has been in special education programs and schools for all of his education. Reading is a huge struggle, math means learning to count money, science class is non-existent in Charlie's curriculum. Going to college — the defining experience of being a "model minority" — is not going to happen for Charlie, though many more autistic students are starting to attend college.
The perniciousness of the model minority myth is sadly displayed by a book that aroused a great deal of controversy at the start of this year, Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. In her memoir, the author, a self-described over-achiever (she's a professor at Yale Law School) recounted how she sought to raise her two daughters as "ultra-model minorities" who excelled at school and played classical music on the violin and piano. Chua's account of herself as a draconian, driven parent who threatened to trash one daughter's stuffed animals if they didn't practice their instruments was received with horror and fascination, as if her book contained (finally!) the inside story on how to be a model minority and make your kids one, too. Chua gets her comeuppance when her younger daughter rebels at a Moscow teahouse, after which the Tiger Mother realizes the folly of her ways and (so to speak) retracts her claws. Her younger daughter then puts down the violin and takes up tennis (and, as the media made sure we knew, her eldest daughter got into Harvard + Yale).
While Chua was trying to show the dangers of buying into the model minority myth, her book rather reveals how ingrained, to the point of unconscious, the myth can be. As the new study shows, there are many ways of being Asian American, of being successful and of, yes, struggling. It's these students stories of adversity that is sometimes only met with more adversity that are crying to be told and heard.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/the-myth-of-the-model-minority-is-yes-a-myt.html#ixzz1QsfEymV7
The racist telesales firm that made Rahul call himself Rob
A telesales firm has been found guilty of race discrimination for forcing an Indian employee to anglicise his name.
An employment tribunal ruled that Rahul Jain, 28, had been unfairly made to change his name to Rob Matthews.
Mr Jain's employers, Teachers 2 Parents Ltd, which is owned by Indians, claimed English names were easier for customers to spell in emails. They said customers had struggled with Indian names.
Other Indian employees allegedly had their names changed too, including a woman called Sarbjit who became known as Sally and a man called Prakhash who was called Terry.
The tribunal ruled that the school software company's policy was not a 'proportionate' way to stop emails going astray and that it was enforced on Indian employees while white colleagues were allowed to keep their names.
After the hearing Mr Jain, of Leicester, said: 'I was the only person in the company to challenge what was happening. They had a policy for all Asians to change their names. There were at least 30 other people of Indian origin who did this and are still working there. What the company did is outrageous and totally racist.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2010416/Racist-telesales-firm-Teachers-2-Parents-Rahul-Jain-Rob-Matthews.html#ixzz1RBAEcv6P
Ben Affleck casts himself as Tony Mendez in "Argo"
July 5, 2011
On June 27th, Variety reported that Ben Affleck will be directing a movie starring Ben Affleck. The film is Argo, a screenplay based on a 2007 article from Wired Magazine: "How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans From Tehran."
When this casting was announced, Hollywood dailies poked a bit of fun at Affleck for casting himself as the star of his own film. They also noted that Bryan Cranston and John Goodman will be co-starring. What the trades didn't mention was that the lead character of Argo, real-life American CIA agent Tony Mendez, is Latino. Affleck is not.
n 1979, CIA agent Tony Mendez cooked up an ingenious plan to rescue six American embassy workers from Iran. He would take on the fake identity of Kevin Costa Harkins, a film producer from Ireland location scouting for a movie to be filmed in Iran, Argo. To build his cover, Mendez brought in Hollywood talent including Academy Award winning make up artist John Chambers (to be played by John Goodman in the film) to create a fake Hollywood production company and fake Canadian identities for the stranded Americans.
The stakes were high: failure would drag Canada into the international conflict between the United States and Iran, and Mendez and the diplomats would undoubtedly be tortured and executed. This is the story about how Hollywood film-making literally saved lives. But it's also the story of how Mendez, a young man with a multiethnic background from small-town Nevada, whose creative CIA leadership facilitated one of the most daring "exfiltration" rescues in known history.
A 2006 UCLA study from the Chicano Studies Research Center found that only 1.2% of lead roles go to Latino actors (contrasted against 82% of lead roles going to white actors.) Under the guidance of director Ben Affleck, the role of Tony Mendez would have been a great opportunity for a Latino actor to star in a stereotype-defying, heroic lead role.
The Missing Man in "Howl" and other stories
Sadly, this isn't the first time Hollywood has cast a white actor to tell history made by a minority in real life.
Howl (2010) told the story of San Francisco's Six Gallery and the 1957 obscenity trial against Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl. In 1957, Shigeyoshi Murao, the Japanese American manager of the City Lights Bookstore, was dragged off to jail for selling Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems.
"Imagine being arrested for selling poetry!" Murao, a lifelong friend of Ginsberg, would later reflect. Murao was bailed out by the ACLU and removed as a defendant in the obscenity trial after the prosecution could not prove he knew what was in the book he was selling.
According to the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, although much of the publicity surrounding the Howl trial was focused on storeowner Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Murao committed the actual controversial act of selling the so-called "obscene book". As a result, Murao, whose family had been interned during World War II, was the one who served the jail time. "To me, he was the real hero of this tale of sound and fury, signifying everything," Ferlinghetti wrote in later years.
Given Murao's important role in the history and story of Howl, he is conspicuously absent in the 2010 film. Patricia Wakida of the Japanese American National Museum unsuccessfully tried to contact the producers to ensure Shig Murao would be included in the film. As depicted on its official website,Howl (2010) had an all-white lead cast and the only defendant depicted in the film is Ferlinghetti.
We also previously blogged about the 2010 film Extraordinary Measures where executive producer Harrison Ford cast himself as "Dr. Robert Stonehill," developer of the cure to Pompe disease. In real life, the Pompe cure was developed by Taiwanese doctor Dr. Yuan-Tsong Chen. The 2008 film 21, inspired by the real-life Asian American MIT Blackjack Team, also took artistic license with history, portraying the majority of the team, including the film's main characters, with white actors.
People of color made history in the CIA, participated in the Beat Generation, cured deadly diseases and played Vegas, but the average person familiar with these stories wouldn't know it from watching the movies. The cumulative impact of this kind of casting: In Hollywood, white actors depict minorities credited with reaching monumental, historic achievements. Actors of color cannot even expect to be cast in roles inspired by people from their own communities, and minorities remain invisible in their own stories.
picture of Tony Mendez
Boycott the SyFy Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy screening of the racist "Breakfast at Tiffany's"
"On Thursday August 11th, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy with the sponsorship of the SYFY Channel plans to screen "Breakfast at Tiffany's" free for the public. This 1961 film features a blatantly-racist, minstrel-show, buck-toothed portrayal of a Japanese American, played by Mickey Rooney which has for decades offended the Asian-American community and its allies. Please boycott this film, the SyFy Movies with a View series, and let people know that despite direct communication from the NY Asian American community, the BBPC is committed to showing this horribly offensive film, which it calls a "beloved" "American classic". The film series is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
In 2008, a similar public outdoor screening was successfully aborted by the city of Sacramento in response to protests over the yellowface Mr. Yunioshi caricature. The controversy over Mickey Rooney's bumbling portrayal is not new, and the BBPC and SyFy should be aware of the impact of putting this offensive portrait on the big screen.
Why any publicly funded organization in a city where 1-in-8 residents are Asian-American or any channel with a huge Asian-American viewership would choose to show a film with a racist caricature like this is beyond me. It's not funny; It's not classic; It's not beloved to us. By screening this film, the organizers are sanctioning the racism it contains, and subjecting new audiences (including children and Asian-Americans) to a minstrel show of racist ideology. It's 2011. It's New York. Do we still have to fight the hostile, hurtful world of 1961 Hollywood?"
i set up a blog
to document cases of Hollywood racism and thier continuing prmotion of white supremacy and colourism
racist tv show seinfeld
Hollywood racism: Hancock vs Superman
Hollywood Racism: X-men 1st Class
in the clip the white mutant leader talks about the choice between ruling and being enslaved. when the he said enslaved the camera zoomed in towards the black mutant(white mutant also looked at the black mutant) and later this white mutant killed the black mutant.
Racist Jewish Stereotypes
Jews have been stereotyped as greedy, nit-picky, misers and they have often been depicted counting money or collecting gold and jewels. Anti-Semitism flourished for centuries and reached a climax in Nazi Germany during World War II with the Holocaust, when Hitler tried to exterminate all of the Jews in Europe. Though anti-Semitism is less overt now in polite society than it has been in the past, the underlying stereotypes and attitudes about what it means to be Jewish are still quite prevalent. The following are some common stereotypes:
Jewish Mother
The Jewish mother stereotype generally involves a nagging, overprotective, manipulative, controlling, smothering, and overbearing mother or wife, one who persists in interfering in her children's lives long after they have become adults. This opinionated, pushy matriarch keeps a meticulously tidy home and insists that anyone who enters her home is undernourished and needs to consume more food than is humanly possible. The life of a Jewish mother consists of endless caretaking and boundless self-sacrifice by a mother who demonstrates her love by constant overfeeding and unremitting solicitude about every aspect of her children's and her husband's welfare.
The Moneylender/Moneychanger
During the Middle Ages, Christians were not allowed to lend money because the Church believed that collecting interest from loaned money was a sin. At the same time Jews were not allowed to do many of the jobs that Christians did. Since the Jews were able to collect interest from the Christians, many became money lenders and tax collectors. The money-changer stereotype originated in the days when Jews converted the coins of the Roman Empire into the currency accepted by the Jerusalem Temple. Because of their involvement with money and banking, Jews got the reputation of being greedy and it was said that Jews would do anything for money, which led to the idea that Jews have no loyalty to any group other than their own.
Jewish Princess
The Jewish-American Princess stereotype is materialistic and selfish, and comes from a pampered or wealthy background. JAPs enjoy lives of privilege and are often neurotic. The Jewish Princess is bossy, spoiled, whiny, inconsiderate, self-centered, and only minimally interested in sex. In recent years the label has been adopted by some Jewish females who take pride in being a living personification of the stereotype.
Self-hating Jew
Self-hating Jew is a term used to describe a Jewish person who holds anti-Semitic beliefs or engages in anti-Semitic actions. The term is a bit of a misnomer because the self-hating Jew doesn't hate himself as much as he hates other Jews who are not like him. The concept originated during the mid-nineteenth century feuding between Orthodox Jews and Reform Jews where each side accused the other of betraying Jewish identity. It is most often used today in attempts to silence Jews from criticizing the actions of Israel.
Nice Jewish Boy
A "nice Jewish boy" is a mensch, roughly defined as a good person or nice guy. He is intellectual, nerdy, socially awkward, physically weak and slightly neurotic. He is very attached to his stereotypical Jewish mother and never outgrows the need for her support and approval. Nice Jewish boys are usually high-earning professionals like dentists, doctors, veterinarians, psychologists, lawyers, or stockbrokers.
Nice Jewish Girl
The "nice Jewish girl" embodies an old-fashioned sense of domesticity and traditionalism. She is a kind, curvy family girl who loves Judaism, her family, and homemaking. She has frizzy hair, a prominent nose, and a nasal way of talking. Well-educated but not intellectually superior, she smiles sweetly and dishes out the kugel to her beaming grandparents while she awaits fulfillment of the American Dream of marrying a nice Jewish boy and moving to a house in the suburbs.
Indians are not a race, Jews are not a race and women wearing the hijab sure as hell aren't a race either.
Racist Hollywood strikes again!
trailer for "the help"
Is Viola Davis Character In The Help Just The Stereotypical Black Mammy?
by the blogger "GayblackCanadianman"
I cannot contain my anger and disappointment that Viola Davis decided to star in the new film The Help. Hollywood produces very myopic representations of black women. Black women are either whores like Halle Berry in Monster's Ball or maids like Viola Davis in The Help. The social construction of the binary of black female sexuality is very limited.
I noticed a couple of things while watching the trailer for The Help. First, the white women are presented as the stereotypical pristine, upper class, and feminine. However, the black women in The Help speak in a Southern dialect, and constructed as inferior to the white women.
Of course, the white woman saves the day since the purpose of The Help is to promote the narrative that black people we cannot save ourselves.
The Help is just another form of the classic white saviour movies.
I am so tired of the racist white saviour narrative that black people need to be saved by whites.
Another problem, I have with The Help is the film promotes the racist narrative that black women have no agency. The only purpose black people have is to serve white folks. Black womanhood is constructed as just to be loving and nurturing. Hollywood consistently promotes the discourse that a black woman's purpose in life is to exist in an anterior time. I cringed when I heard the line in the trailer "we love them and they love us."
Yes, black women love working in the domestic sphere and serve rich white women. Of course, The Help ignores the fact in America, black women were blocked from higher educational opportunities for decades. Black women worked in the domestic sphere because this was the only work to make a living in America prior to the civil rights movement. Of course, there were black women such as Zora Neale Hurston that became a writer. However, the majority of black women had to work in domestic work because that's the only form of work they were offered!
Two years ago, Sandra Bullock racist film The Blind Side also promoted this abhorrent narrative disavowing black agency.
I understand Viola is a black actress, and she needs to work. However, time really has not changed for black women in Hollywood.
I wish Viola Davis had more pride and decided NOT to take the role in The Help!
In the year 1940, Hattie McDaniel won an Academy Award for her role as mammy in the film Gone With The Wind. The black mammy stereotype of black womanhood is so pervasive in racist Hollywood!
McDaniel did not have a choice because in the year 1940 there were a paucity of good roles for black women in Hollywood.
I understand Viola Davis needs a pay cheque but taking on the role of a maid is demeaning.
The trailer for The Help is so racist and sexist against black women. I just feel so sick watching this racist garbage!
It is so sad that the best role Viola Davis can get since her Academy Award nomination for Doubt is just being the black mammy! It is so so deleterious and abhorrent that Viola would take this disgusting role as a maid to a white woman!
The Help engenders the discourse that a black woman purpose is to be subservient to white folks. I also find the racist narrative of the white saviour in The Help problematic. In the 1960s, civil rights movement my black elders helped themselves they did not sit and wait for white folks to gain freedom!
Update! another opinion
Is 'The Help' Movie a Retro Form of Racism?
Why Some People Are Boycotting 'The Help'
Nancy Tracy, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Jul 18, 2011
Despite having a black president in the White House with an Ivy League education, the biggest movie about African Americans this summer involves black maids and their deadbeat men. The rekindling of demeaning stereotypes and depiction of white people as their saviors are two of the problems some African Americans had with the 2009 book version of "The Help," the novel upon which the upcoming movie is based. Critics of Kathryn Stockett's take on blacks of the 1960s are saying "thanks, but no thanks" to the author's patronizing portrayal of the black experience.
"The Help" quickly became a New York Times best-seller and book club favorite, and the movie version -- which is being marketed as an island of sophisticated drama in a sea of summertime shoot 'em ups and sci fi -- is likely to sell a lot of popcorn. Yet beneath the glossy veneer of this hyped Hollywood movie are some tired funhouse cliches that distort the reality of being black in the 1960s.
Some of the movie's detractors are urging a boycott of the film, creating a Facebook page to publicize the protest. Critics of the movie also dished on its defects July 16, using the Twitter hashtag #100voicesrespondtothehelp.One blogger even called the book "a whitewashed, declawed version of history."
Here are some of the biggest beefs that boycotters have with "The Help":
Reinforces Negative Stereotypes
The Help" dredges up stale stereotypes of African Americans being less intelligent and attractive than white people.The maids in "The Help" are adorably illiterate, like children who unknowingly say funny things. Minny, for instance, mixes up her body parts and cars: "Cat got on the porch this morning, bout gave me a cadillac arrest thinking it was Mister Johnny," she says. Another maid, Aibileen, is an Uncle Tom who admires her friend's straight hair. "Yule May, Miss Hilly's maid setting in front in me. Yule May easy to recognize from the back cause she got such good hair, smooth, no nap in in," she gushes. In "The Help," good hair is code for white women's hair
Black Men are Worthless
Minny is married to an abusive man who refrains from beating her only when she is pregnant, but otherwise lacks paternal instincts. After bearing six children, Minny complains, "Plenty of black men leave their families behind like trash in a dump, but it's not something the colored woman do. We've got kids to think about."
But why should black men be good to their women? The maids in "The Help" seem to like their men mean. Even the devout Aibileen laments, "Much as I love the Lord, church going man never do all that much for me. Kind a man I like ain't the kind that stays around when he done spending all you money. I made that mistake twenty years ago. When my husband Clyde left me for that no-count hussy up on Farish street."
Overdone Dialects
Remember Prissy in "Gone With the Wind," the silly young black woman who said, "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies"? Echoes of her illiterate speech and that of Mammy, Aunt Jemima and every other comically drawn black female character from historic pop culture can be heard throughout "The Help."
A writer for the Christian Science Monitor wondered why Stockett used a thick dialect only for the black characters, "with nary a dropped 'g' among her generally less sympathetic Southern white characters." Even Viola Davis, the actress who plays the maid Aibileen in the movie, had qualms with duplicating her character's exaggerated speech patterns. "I didn't want [Aibileen's] dialect to be as strong as it was in the book," she confided in an interview with Cinema Blend.
White Women Are Saviors
As with "The Blind Side," a 2009 movie in which a white middle class housewife played by Sandra Bullock saves a poor black teenager, in "The Help," an unmarried white journalist named Skeeter comes to the black maids' rescue. The subtext in both movies is that African Americans cannot improve their lot in life without a white lady to help them.
Desperate for Reality
Ironically, the movie trailer for "The Help" looks like a 1960s version of "Desperate Housewives" -- only instead of wine and housework, these southern-fried white women have maids and mint juleps. It is likely that Stockett's flawed film will not only prove as popular as the Sunday night soap, but also bear as little resemblance to reality.
DerfelCadarn wrote:
Indians are not a race, Jews are not a race and women wearing the hijab sure as hell aren't a race either.
Not since there are a variety of those dubbed Indians (Hindus and Native Americans), and how Jews are a Semitic people much like the Arabs, and how obviously a garment doesn't indicate a particular ethnicity for any person.
Hollywood Racism in Crash
this movie blames racism on people of colour, promotes stereotypes of non-whites and ignoring the problems of white supremacy
Hollywood racism: Panic room
black man save the robbery victims from getting killed and he goes to jail
the movie did not show the mother and daughter telling the police and the courts about him saving them
Hollywood racism in Scream 2,3 and 4
racism in this scream series where blacks getting killed off.
Hollywood Racism: The Shining
If the Shining gave him the power to mentally communicate over long distances and see into the future, how come it didn't help Scatman Crothers see Jack Nicholson standing behind the column with a fucking axe?
He traveled from the safety of his home in Florida and spent an assload of money to go to Colorodo just to save a family of white people. WTF?
And thanks to Jewels Logan for the narration...Priceless.


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"Arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time." Winston Churchill
"Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof." Inscription on the Liberty Bell
Monthly Archives: May 2011
The Key to Keystone, and Other Mysteries
Like John I have been following the controversy over the Keystone pipeline from Canada with great interest, as it shows the desperation of the greens to oppose fossil fuels from any source for any reason. Even from an environmental point of view opposition to the pipeline makes little sense. I understand that the greens don't like oil from Canadian tar sands, which are resource-intensive to extract. If Canada doesn't sell »
A Minor News Story of Little Interest to Anyone
In the scheme of things, this maybe isn't a big deal. The World Press Photo contest is being held this year in Beirut. Photographers from around the world enter the competition. The show was supposed to run until June 1, but it had to be closed early: The exhibit, which showcased prizewinning photos from the 2011 World Press Photo contest opened on May 12 and was scheduled to run until »
Not A Single Senator Supports Barack Obama's Budget
Today, in what would be a major news story if the times we live in were not so bizarre, the Senate voted 97-0 against President Obama's FY 2012 budget. Obama's budget was such a joke that not a single Democrat was willing to support it. So one naturally asks: do the Democrats have something better to propose? The answer is: No. The Democratic Senate has not come up with a »
President Obama Makes War on American Intelligence Professionals
At the Heritage Foundation today, former federal judge and Attorney General Michael Mukasey let loose on Barack Obama's and Eric Holder's persecution of CIA professionals who followed the Justice Department's legal advice, and now are facing criminal prosecution: [F]ormer Attorney General Michael Mukasey called Holder's handling of matter "absolutely outrageous." He said the cases involving CIA employees were settled by career prosecutors who determined the prosecutions should not go forward. »
President Obama "Declares War on American Energy Workers"
This video, produced jointly by the Heritage Foundation and the Institute for Energy Research, exposes the fiction that the Obama administration has been anything other than a disaster for America's energy industry. There is no conceivable explanation–no rational explanation, anyway–for Obama's encouragement of Brazil's drilling for new oil in the Atlantic, and promising to be Brazil's best customer, at the same time that he is condemning energy workers here in »
How to Save Medicare
Medicare is heading for collapse, as all well-informed citizens know. The question is what to do about it. Democrats welcome the collapse, and have incorporated it as part of their strategy to force socialized medicine on unwilling Americans. Republicans, for better or worse, are trying to save the Medicare program in something like its present form. Paul Ryan explains in this excellent video, released yesterday: Is saving Medicare a good »
Storm Brewing On Medicare
Democrats are cheering Kathy Hochul's victory in the special election in NY-26. Politico's headline is typical: "Have Democrats cracked the code?" [A]fter two years of getting pummeled over spending and the size of government, Democrats now appear to have found a political weapon that's capable of evening out the fight: Medicare. Hochul ran more or less exclusively on Mediscare, opposing Paul Ryan's plan to turn Medicare, in effect, from a »
Mr. Netanyahu goes to Washington, cont'd
In August 2007 I was part of a small group including Andrew Breitbart, Jim Hoft, Jeff Emanuel, and Laurence Solov that met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in Netanyahu's Tel Aviv office. (Netanyahu was then head of the Likud Party in opposition to the Olmert government.) Our meeting had been arranged by Fern Oppenheim of America's Voices in Israel. Fern led our group and snapped a picture of us with »
Mr. Netanyahu goes to Washington
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a magnificent speech before a supremely warm joint session of Congress this afternoon. The text is accessible here and worth reading in its entirety. The educational value of the speech is incredibly high for those who are willing to listen and learn. It's hard to pick a highlight, but here is one passage that makes a point we have made frequently here: "Of the »
The Keystone Pipeline and the Keystone Kop Filmmaker
We wrote here and here about Robert Greenwald, a failed filmmaker who is now paid to produce far-left "documentaries." His current series is called "Koch Brothers Exposed." It is a series of video attacks on Charles and David Koch and their company, Koch Enterprises. It is possible that someone, somewhere, has produced worse "documentaries" than these, but it isn't likely. The current effort tries to tie Koch Enterprises to a »
Free Speech at Dartmouth
I am pleased to see that the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has named Dartmouth one of the seven best colleges for free speech. FIRE President Greg Lukianoff says Dartmouth is "one of our more controversial choices," apparently because of "controversies about governance" in recent years. We are of course familiar with those. But Dartmouth abolished its speech code in 2005, and that, together with the absence of »
Netanyahu at AIPAC
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the AIPAC policy conference yesterday and previewed his speech to the joint session of Congress today. The text of his AIPAC speech is posted here. Part 1 of the video is below; part 2 is here. At the heart of Netanyahu's speech is this set of propositions: It's time to stop blaming Israel for all of the region's problems. Let me stress one »
Not dark yet, part 2
Joan Baez recorded Bob Dylan's "Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word" for Any Day Now, her 1968 double album of Dylan covers. It's the highlight of the album. Baez owns that song. Dylan himself has never released a recording of it and I'm not aware of anyone other than Baez who has taken a stab at it. In the D.A. Pennebaker documentary Don't Look Back, Baez can be heard singing »
Not dark yet
Today is a milestone birthday of Minnesota native son Bob Dylan; he turns 70. He is a remarkable artist, self-invented, deep in the American grain. Attention must be paid. A few years back I visited Dylan's old house at 2425 7th Avenue East in Hibbing. The house is a small two-story residence with a one-car attached garage on the side. The house is exactly two blocks from Hibbing High School, »
A Tell-All With Nothing to Tell
The Associated Press is excited that a former aide to Governor Sarah Palin has written a "tell-all" expose: A former member of SarahPalin's inner circle has written a scathing tell-all, saying Mrs. Palin was ready to quit as governor months before she actually resigned and was eager to leave office when more lucrative opportunities came around. "In 2009 I had the sense if she made it to the White House »
What It Takes To Be An "Award-Winning Journalist"
This year's National Magazine Award for Reporting was won by Harper's magazine and Scott Horton, for an article that claimed three detainees were murdered by American troops at Guantanamo Bay. Unfortunately, the story turned out to be a lie. Not only that, but a lie that was peddled to a number of other left-wing news outlets that turned it down because it wasn't plausible. Scott Horton's named seemed familiar. Sure »
Cantor at AIPAC
Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor addressed the AIPAC policy conference yesterday afternoon after President Obama's speech in the morning. The text of his remarks is posted here; video of the speech is posted in two parts here. It's a speech that combines a little family history with a consideration of the bond between Israel and the United States as well as the true requisites of peace between the Arabs »

subset: commoncrawl


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MONTGOMERY, Ala.—The Birmingham-Southern softball team played Huntingdon on the road today and split, winning the first game 2-1 but dropping game two 6-4.
The Panthers now stand at 24-6 on the season, while the Hawks move to 21-10.
In game one, BSC scored its first run in the top of the second inning on an error by Huntingdon. Huntingdon tied it up in the bottom of the fourth, and freshman Erin Lopez recording the game-winning RBI in the top of the seventh, singling to right-center with two outs on the board to bring junior Brittany Berkopec home. The Panthers held Huntingdon scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to clinch the 2-1 victory.
Berkopec and Lopez were both 2-3 at the plate, and senior Ronni Ferris was the winning pitcher, moving to 10-4 on the season after recording four strikeouts and giving up four hits.
The Panthers got on the board quickly in game two, scoring in the top of the first on an RBI single from senior Ashley Bice. But the Hawks put four runs up in the bottom of the first, thanks in part to two BSC errors.
BSC cut it to 4-3 in the top of the third thanks to a run scored on the throw after a Lopez ground-out, and an RBI single from freshman Taylor Bassett. Huntingdon expanded its lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the fifth, and the Panthers scored once more in the top of the sixth but was unable to score again.
Both teams recorded eight hits; junior Chelsea Fernandez was 2-2 at the plate and Berkopec was 2-4. Fronk started in the circle and took her first loss of the season, falling to 10-1 after giving up eight hits and five earned runs with five strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Ferris came in for the final 1.1 inning and struck out three Hawks.
BSC stays on the road tomorrow, facing Berry in a 1 p.m. ET doubleheader in Rome, Ga.


text:
This Newport Brass 295/15A Antique Nickel Slide Bar is a genuine Newport Brass manufactured bathroom accessory, which is perfect for residential and commercial applications. This slide bar has been constructed out of a solid brass material, to ensure that this is a long lasting accessory. This accessory is part of Newport Brass famous Fairfield series; the Fairfield series is a collection of coordinating products that add style and class for the best price. This Newport Brass 295/15A Antique Nickel Slide Bar comes with an illustrious antique nickel finish. This fixture has a beautiful lasting hue that helps to coordinate with nearly any bathroom decor; this stunning finish not only looks fantastic, but also protects this fixture\'s exposed metal parts from corrosion and any other water damage that may occur during use. This product is designed to hold hand shower heads while they are not in use with its mounting clip. This accessory features two cylindrical wall mount holders and a 36 long slender slide bar. This Newport Brass 295/15A Antique Nickel Slide Bar comes with a Limited ten year Newport Brass Warranty against tarnish and manufacturer defects.
|NewPort Brass
|Product Collection:
|Antique Nickel
|Slide Bar
|Trade Tools:
|Commercial & Industrial
|Mpn #
|Shipping Dimensions
|37.0" x 9.0" x 6.0"
|3.42 lbs.
|Shipping Dimensional Weight
|11.33 lbs.
4.5 out of 5 rating is our rating for PlumbersStock, we got that rating because we have lots of experience and great people with expertise in plumbing. BUT WE WANT YOUR HELP. This product doesn't have any reviews yet, and we don't want to write our own reviews. It is more valuable to us that the customers get to share their experience with our products. Please, if you have any experience with this product, take a moment to share and help someone else who is trying to make a decision. Thank you!


text:
IC Catholic
The Knights opened conference play with a pair of losses to St. Edward. IC lost 15-8 at home on Monday and 13-3 on the road on Tuesday.
The Dukes opened the season on March 28 with a 3-1 loss to Zion Benton indoors at Rosemont. DePaul-commit Angela Scalzitti went 3-for-3 with a stolen base, but York couldn't overcome three unearned runs in the first inning off pitcher Elena Schwarz.
On Saturday, Glenbard North swept York in a doubleheader, 7-1 and 6-1. Freshman catcher Abby Solem was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Fenwick beat the Dukes 6-4 on Monday. Scalzitti was 3-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and an RBI. Hannah Latimer was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Schwarz fell to 0-3 on the season despite a 2.76 ERA.
York got its first win of the season by beating Wheaton North 9-8 on Tuesday. Scalzitti continued her hot start going 2-for-3 with three runs scored and three stolen bases. Sarah Milkowski was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
IC Catholic
The Knights beat Queen of Peace 8-5 on Monday. IC totaled 18 hits and led 8-0 before surrendering five runs in the bottom of the seventh. Jessica Conenna picked up the win on the mound and was 4-for-5 at the plate. Brenna Langan, Gabby Curran and Lindsey Montoya also had multiple hits on the day.
IC fell to 3-2 after losing 12-2 to Montini on Wednesday. Curran was 2-for-3 with a home run in the loss.
IC Catholic, Timothy Christian
The Knights won the battle of Elmhurst schools 3-1 on Tuesday. Timothy struck first with an own goal in the first half, but IC responded with three goals before halftime. Angela Toritto scored twice and K.C. Morris scored once for IC (2-2).
The Dukes lost their first West Suburban Silver match of the season to Lyons Township on Tuesday. York lost 25-22, 25-21.
The Dukes played five matches over spring break and finished with a 3-2 record. York beat Palatine (5-2), South Elgin (6-2) and Leyden (10-0) and lost to Richwoods (4-2) and Benet (5-3). Jonathon Elsey went 4-1 while playing No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles. Brendan Peterson was also 4-1 after splitting time between No. 1 and No. 2 singles.
On Tuesday, York won at Wheaton Warrenville South 6-3 for the first dual win over the Tigers in three years. The Dukes won the top three singles matches.
The Dukes returned from spring break with an 18-8 win over McHenry on Monday. York (7-2) hosts an invite this weekend.
Mundelein beat York 15-4 on Monday. The Dukes (5-5) travel to Schaumburg on Friday.
Glenbard West beat the Dukes 137.40-135.30 in a West Suburban Silver dual in Elmhurst on Tuesday. Sophomore Sam Bode had the top all-around total at 48.1. Bode had meet highs on floor (9.2) and vault (9.1).


text:
Man-machine interface
Therefore, for several years, the automotive industry has been looking for appropriate man-machine interface that is as easy to operate as possible, even by untrained staff. Many interfaces have been examined and evaluated as unsuitable, from keyboard and dataglove to head mounted display. A first marketable approach for these demands to synthetic image presentation was designed in 1999at the DLR Institute in cooperation with the licencee Realtime Technology A.G. (RTT), Munich. The special feature of the new technology is that anyone can operate it without the need for training or prior knowledge. The product is now marketed by RTT as "EASY2C" (pronounce: easy to see).
Mode of Operation
This new technology makes it possible to experience objects before their physical existence. The user moves a tangible object, the input medium, over a glass plate to create a view of the virtual model, which is displayed either on a projection screen or a monitor, where it follows the hand movements of the user. Moreover, the user can adjust a variety of options interactively.
Technical components
The shape of the input medium, be it a model car, a computer mouse or a cuboid, is irrelevant for the function of the system. The objects serving as input media have markers on their underside. They are moved by hand across a glass plate and detected by a video camera under the glass. The markers function as both, object reference points and identifiers. The evaluation of the video image is performed on a standard computer. According to this information, computer graphics calculates and displays a virtual image of the object in the given pose.
Using a touch-screen, the operator can achieve a variety of different ways of presentation, such as selecting the model type and color, as on a rotating plate, and varying the tilt angle which changes according to body height.
The ease of use and the closeness to reality of the experienced virtual object contributes considerably to the potential of this technology. For the immediate spatial relationship between the physical input medium and the virtual model makes the user instantly grasp the proper usage of the system and enables instant operation.
Innovation transfer
This technology was first introduced to the public on the 12th July 2000 in Ingolstadt at a trade fair for automotive suppliers. The first customer to use "EASY2C" was BMW Group Design Development at the Paris Autosaloon 2000 trade fair, where design studies for the new BMW MINI were presented. The enormous potential of the new technology was fully exploited by virtually exhibiting vehicles which did not yet exist. Thus visitors were able to see the already existing MINI COOPER or designs for a new MINI convertible, a MINI truck or a MINI pick-up, and choose their desired views themselves. In future, such techniques will also be used in marketing to help the customer decide whether or not to buy a car, a piece of furniture, or a house.


text:
GoPro Hero3 LCD Touch BacPacItem #GPR115
VIP, All Your Benefits Apply!
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GOPRO™ HERO3 LCD TOUCH BACPAC™ :: You'll be traveling light while getting a larger view of the action with the GoPro™ Hero3 LCD Touch BacPac™. Easily attach it to your GoPro™ camera and catch your cleanest footage yet, thanks to the convenience of seeing every shot and setting from an expanded screen. While you'll love how easy it is to pack away, you won't be losing out on features because the Hero3 LCD Touch BacPac™ offers plenty of extra options for audio, preview and playback of video.
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text:
The Delta Model RP76890 Chrome Handle Assembly are genuine Delta handle assembly with an illustrious chrome finish; this product is perfect for replacing Delta handle assemblies in residential areas. The Delta Model RP76890 Chrome Handle Assembly comes with like the other parts and fixtures a outstanding warranty which is the Delta Limited Lifetime Faucet and Finish Warranty. The Delta Model RP76890 Chrome Handle Assembly has also been tested and has been found comply with the standards of the ADA. Delta is a company that prides itself on giving you the best experience with water, and has been designing new and better fixtures to fit your needs since 1954.
|Bathroom Part & Accessories
|Faucet Part Feature:
|Handles And Nuts
|Faucet Part Type:
|Faucet Handle Type:
|Lever Handle
|Mpn #
|Shipping Dimensions
|5.5" x 3.5" x 2.0"
|0.80 lbs.
4.5 out of 5 rating is our rating for PlumbersStock, we got that rating because we have lots of experience and great people with expertise in plumbing. BUT WE WANT YOUR HELP. This product doesn't have any reviews yet, and we don't want to write our own reviews. It is more valuable to us that the customers get to share their experience with our products. Please, if you have any experience with this product, take a moment to share and help someone else who is trying to make a decision. Thank you!


text:
Rebecca arrived February 20, 2014 at 8:14 a.m. in Fort Morgan. She tipped the scales at 7 pounds 14 ounces, and measured 21.5 inches long.
She was welcomed home by her big sisters Anna and Erica, along with grandparents Steve and Audrey Garchar and Jim and Mary Hess.
Rebecca is also receiving loving thoughts from great-grandmothers Emily Garchar and Jean Magness.


text:
Horrible, dystopian, inevitable.
The first 4 words that came to my mind when I read this proposal were yourself, Elizabeth, fuck, & go.
What was that in response to??
so you thought; yourself Elizabeth fuck go.
Even Yoda would be proud.
Having such a unique barcode would have many advantages. In war soldiers could easily differentiate legitimate targets in a population from non combatants.
"I say, would you chaps mind stopping your shooting at us for a few minutes? I'd like to come over with a barcode scanner to verify which if you are supposed to be the enemy, so I don't accidentally hit the wrong person. I'll be right over as soon as I've finished this cup of tea".
"Oh I say! the Cads!"
Filip J. Fry, is that you ?
The bigger risk is not criminals getting forged ID chips, but having their chip re-linked to an innocent persons record, effectively over-writing that person's claim to their own identity. Done right it would be incredibly hard to disprove and nightmare-ish to reinstate.
Dead bodies suddenly become the greatest source of stolen identities.
I'd rather be misidentified than have my ID chip blacklisted. Do something the government doesn't like? They disable your chip... then you're screwed. No thanks.
Can be worse than a simple refusal of services... someone classifying you as an enemy combatant.
Anyway, wouldn't it be better to abstain from waging future wars than to rely on chipping your "friends" to distinguish them from your (possible not chipped, thus perhaps freer) enemies?
It's called DNA.
How about the identical twins, triplets, quadruplets?
Normal DNA tests won't be able to identify which one is which
How about the identical twins, triplets, quadruplets?
Your post's title is correct -- that is indeed a teeny tiny problem. There aren't very many identical twins, triplets, or quadruplets. (at least, not until human cloning becomes popular) And for the people that are identical twins (about 0.2% of the population), the world will just have to live with the fact that there is some ambiguity there.
I am not a number.
Kindly STFU.
But if you were one, would you feel comfortable as 131916?
I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but unless you live in some unimaginably remote stretch of wilderness, cut off from civilization, hunting and gathering for your food with no contact with anyone outside your immediate and locally housed family unit, and managed to make your
I'm not even a smart guy and I can put 2 and 2 together here.
NOTE: "Sci-fi writer"
We're better than this aren't we?
...when she was attacked by the FailFandom brigade for comments ever-so-mildly critical of Islam [battleswarmblog.com].
But I strongly oppose this. A government with the power to barcode everyone at birth is the sort of government powerful enough to commit just about any abuse of its citizens. And the well-connected will still be able to get data related to their barcode altered for their benefit.
I'll pass on the Panopticon society, thank you. And strong private property laws are the first step from preventing it from happening.
a chip or a barcode on the skin...
oh, wait.
...Then you realize how easy it would be to simply copy or steal someone else's identity...
Dear Elizabeth Moon:
The world does not have one culture. Many do not have the same goals or motivations as yours, some have a different culture, religion, history, sense of self, pride and worth from what you experience in your circles.
I understand how one comes to love one's own culture. It's obvious, really: you make certain choices and it suits you well, the natural conclusion is that if everyone made those choices, they would do as well.
This is wrong, and you should learn to identify the ways in which it is wrong. Hasidic Jews do not try to force their ideas on everyone else, we generally don't allow White Supremacists to force their views on everyone else, and we try not to allow other cultures to terrorize us into following their views.
We are not breaking the law, we are quite happy doing what we do, and we don't need to be forced into things "for our own betterment". You needn't concern yourself about our welfare.
At all.
Feel free to convince everyone in your circle of friends, associates, or community to chip, but please don't try to force your views on everyone, who may have a different opinion.
Signed: Someone with a fucking clue.
[Where to put the chip?] If they put it on my shoulder, I'll be very angry...
I'm in a positive-feedback loop!
My name is Banner...
Just her suggestion puts a chip on my shoulder that makes me angry at her suggestion that adds another chip...aaagh!!...
[clothes rip]
Only someone completely ignorant of the world she lives in- what battling computer viruses is like and -what deep seated and destabilizing animosity such programs would engender - could possibly proffer such a ridiculous statement.
This is publicity hounding and nothing ore, one hopes.
I agree. She's a *science fiction author*; coming up with crazy ideas is her job.
Although if she were actually Empress of the Universe, why is she allowing people to fight wars?
Bar code on the skin? Nothing new at all. This is so last millennium. My high school shop teacher had a numeric code tattooed on his arm. In order to avoid problems with miss-identification, just like Elizabeth proposes. It was a little gift he got as part of the welcome package when he checked into the German Stalag.
I somehow don't think he would have much positive to say about Elizabeth's proposal if he were alive to hear it.
Here we are discussing her absurd ideas. This is a media troll plain and simple. Her agent is happy. Her publisher is happy.
How to media troll? One leads out a sacred cow and kills it. (In this case she has lead out the presumption of anonymity for innocents in a free society. We accept as sacred doctrine (and rightly IMHO) the idea that branding someone is an act society reserves for criminals. And, furthermore, that only a criminal society would brand everyone.) Preferably you kill your cow in the to
The enemy will not be chipped.
I propose she start by getting a chip herself first then we will see.
from the only man on earth called Elizabeth
Dear Ms moon;
Yes this will be fine as soon as we can trust every single person in the government... for every government.
In other words, we will get to it during the reign of Queen Dick.
(Hey Spider, Thanks for everything. Beers on me, or Bushmills.:)
...no implants, dammit!
NOT a sci-fi writer.
Ok, I'm going to bite. How is "Science Fiction" != "Sci-Fi?"
If our society remains ultimatley ad hoc and individual driven then a chipped id system is not required. But if the government and our whole existence in society is determined by the government's impression of our personal identity then we'll likely need to be chipped.
Social security numbers, medicade, welfare, food stamps... it's very hard to keep track of all that and fraud increases exponentially with the profit in committing it which increases exponentially as you increase the benefits across an increas
I like her books, but i think she is way off here.
It would not reduce civilian casualties, but it would increase surveillance and opression. Just think how this would have worked out here in Germany during the Hitler-years....
I heard the programme. I get it as a podcast.
Someone is given 60 seconds to make a suggestion that would change the world. Has nobody else never had to take part in a debate? This is a mental exercise or entertainment not a serious statement of intent. The previous week, the speaker suggested that as people took too many crummy digital pictures, we should all be limited to one picture per day.
Go and listen to the article and get some context before criticising what we can all agree would be a seriously bad idea.
In less than a century, computers will be making substantial progress on ... the overriding problem of war and peace. -- James Slagle


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Door-to-door listing moves into Dorchester and Roxbury
June 24, 2014
The Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Boston advises Dorchester and Roxbury residents in Wards 13, 14, 15 and 16 that the Annual Listing teams will begin working in their neighborhoods on Monday, June 23, and will continue in those areas until mid-July. The Election Department is required by Massachusetts law to conduct the annual listing (sometimes known as the 'City Census'). The information compiled in the listing process serves to preserve the integrity of the voting list, as well as provides the basis for the jury list submitted to the Commonwealth each year. The information also updates important demographic information regarding the City's population.
All Election Department listers will work in teams, and will be clearly identifiable by their distinctive orange mesh vests. Each team member will also wear a photo identification badge issued by the City of Boston. The listers will be confirming the residency of Bostonians ages 17 and over. The teams will be working from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday throughFriday, weather permitting.
The listing team members are all Boston residents, primarily college students, and speak a variety of languages including Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean, Portuguese and Somali.
If residents are not home when the listers visit, a door knocker will be left, providing both a telephone number (617-635-3767) and website information (www.boston.gov/elections) where the resident can update his or her information. If the online option is chosen, please submit a form for each household member, age 17 and older.
Residents are urged to update their information using the telephone number or the website before the listing team gets to your neighborhood, or to mail back the listing form. Not only does this save our listers from making a home visit, Boston also saves time and money, and a more accurate listing results.


text:
Mail Order (Postage and Handling Charges)
From Consumer Wiki
Revision as of 21:15, 29 June 2010 by Cicjscribner (Talk | contribs)
Mail order companies can charge a flat rate for all merchandise regardless of the size or weight of individual items. The company must state the rate or type of postage to be charged within its advertising. If the consumer decides not to keep the merchandise, no refunds for postage or handling are required.

Publications available: None are offered by the Consumer Information Center
See also: Mail Complaints
Other referrals: Local United States Postal Service Office
Consumer Resource & Referral Guide
Directory of State Agencies
Directory of Federal Agencies
Return to DCA Home Page


text:
Nationwide Leader In Wins Leads Monarchs To Pair of Wins
By ODU Athletics
Feb. 3, 2008
Feb. 3, 2008
FAIRFAX, Va. -- The Monarchs continued their dominance this season with two more dual victories on Sunday, as they never trailed in either match. ODU dropped CAA foe George Mason, 32-12, and then traveled to Washington, D.C. and beat American, 31-12. Kaylen Baxter, the nationwide leader in wins, led the Monarchs with two technical falls and Jesse Strawn added two pins at 184 lbs. ODU improves to 15-3/5-1 this season with the pair of victories.
In the 11:00 am dual against the Patriots, ODU got off to a quick start, winning the first four bouts with three bonus point victories. James Nicholson earned the first of his two victories on the day by technical fall, 20-5, over Brian Wright. Kyle Hutter followed with a 9-3 decision over Joe Coughlin and Ryan Williams earned an 11-2 major over Will Powars.
Baxter would follow with his first technical fall of the day, finishing the Patriot grappler in 6:12 by a final score of 17-2. Frankie McLaughlin would put George Mason on the board with a 7-4 decision over ODU's Dan Rivera, but ODU would win the next three to put the dual out of reach.
No. 18 Chris Brown pinned Mason's Greg Scott in the first period to give ODU a 20-point lead and senior Nick Pullano dropped Randy Oates 8-4 to seal the victory for ODU. Jesse Strawn followed as he pinned Bill Widener in the second period of his match.
At 197 lbs, David Mendoza suffered the first of two heartbreaking losses on the day. He battled with freshman Cayle Byers to a 9-8 loss in the first dual of the day, and later he would face the No. 1 grappler in the nation at his weight and narrowly miss the upset, 4-2.
Andy Totusek was pinned by Harry Zander in the heavyweight bout for the final score of 32-12.
In the 2:00 pm dual, against American, ODU opened much the same, winning three of the first four bouts to go up 14-3. Nicholson won a forfeit, followed by an 8-2 decision by Hutter in the 133-lb bout. Ryan Williams suffered a rare loss at 141-lbs, losing 5-2 before Baxter would notch his second technical fall at 149-lbs. The win was the 70th in the career of the redshirt sophomore as he added to his nationwide lead in wins with 36 on the season.
Rivera suffered another tight loss, losing 6-3 at 157 lbs. Brown had an opportunity to knock off a nationally ranked grappler at 165 lbs, as he faced No. 7 Mike Cannon. The two wrestled to a 5-3 decision in favor of the Eagle grappler, as Brown lost just his tenth on the year.
Pullano and Strawn followed with a technical fall and pin, respectively, before Mendoza faced No. 1 Josh Glenn. After the 4-2 loss, Totusek pinned Brooks Keefer with just eight seconds remaining in the first period for the final tally of 31-12.
The Monarchs improve to 15-3 on the season and 5-1 in the CAA.
ODU returns home next Sunday, February 10 as they host Rider in CAA action at 5:00 pm. The game will immediately follow the women's basketball game against William & Mary.
Final Match Results:
No. 22 Old Dominion 32 George Mason 12
125: No. 12 James Nicholson (ODU) tech. fall Brian Wright (Mason), 20-5, 5-0 ODU
133: No. 18 Kyle Hutter (ODU) dec. Joe Coughlin (Mason), 9-3, 8-0 ODU
141: No. 18 Ryan Williams (ODU) maj. dec. Will Powars (Mason), 11-2, 12-0 ODU
149: Kaylen Baxter (ODU) tech. fall Brandon Bucher (Mason), 17-2 (6:12), 17-0 ODU
157: Frankie McLaughlin (Mason) dec. Dan Rivera (ODU), 7-4, 17-3 ODU
165: No. 18 Chris Brown (ODU) fall Greg Scott (Mason), 1:43, 23-3 ODU
174: Nick Pullano (ODU) dec. Randy Oates (Mason), 8-4, 26-3 ODU
184: Jesse Strawn (ODU) fall Bill Widener (Mason), 4:34, 32-3 ODU
197: Cayle Byers (Mason) dec. David Mendoza (ODU), 9-8, 32-6 ODU
285: Harry Zander (Mason) fall Andy Totusek (ODU), 1:54, 32-12 ODU
No. 22 Old Dominion 31, American 12
125 - No. 12 James Nicholson (ODU) def. AU, Forfeit, 6-0 ODU
133 - No. 18 Kyle Hutter (ODU) def. Matt Mariacher (AU), Dec. 8-2, 9-0 ODU
141 - Kyle Borshoff (AU) def. No. 18 Ryan Williams (ODU), Dec. 5-2, 9-3 ODU
149 - Kaylen Baxter (ODU) def. Chris Clarke (AU), Tech-fall 28-10 (6:30), 14-3 ODU
157 - Christopher Stout (AU) def. Dan Rivera (ODU), Dec. 6-3, 14-6 ODU
165 - No. 7 Mike Cannon (AU) def. No. 18 Chris Brown (ODU), Dec. 5-3, 14-9 ODU
174 - Nick Pallano (ODU) def. Jonathon Powell (AU), Tech-fall 15-0 (2:14), 19-9 ODU
184 - Jesse Strawn (ODU) def. Andy Semple (AU), Fall (3:48), 25-9 ODU
197 - No. 1 Josh Glenn (AU) def. David Mendoza (ODU), Dec. 4-2, 25-11 ODU
HWT - Andy Totusek (ODU) def. Brooks Keefer (AU), Fall (2:52), 31-11 ODU


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We recommend that healthy people get adequate nutrients by eating a variety of foods in moderation, rather than by taking supplements. An exception for omega-3 fatty acid supplements is explained below.
The Dietary Recommended Intakes (DRIs) published by the Institute of Medicine are the best available estimates of safe and adequate dietary intakes. Almost any nutrient can be potentially toxic if consumed in large quantities over a long time. Interactions between dietary supplements and prescription drugs and among several dietary supplements taken at the same time may occur. Too much iron can increase the risk of chronic disease, and too much vitamin A can cause birth defects.
There aren't sufficient data to suggest that healthy people benefit by taking certain vitamin or mineral supplements in excess of the DRIs. While some observational studies have suggested that lower rates of cardiovascular disease and/or lower risk factor levels result in populations who use vitamin or mineral supplements, it isn't clear if this is due to the supplements. For example, supplement users may be less overweight and more physically active.
Moreover, vitamin or mineral supplements aren't a substitute for a balanced, nutritious diet that limits excess calories, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium and dietary cholesterol. This dietary approach has been shown to reduce coronary heart disease risk in both healthy people and those with coronary disease.
What about antioxidant vitamins?
Many people are interested in antioxidant vitamins (A, C and E). This is due to suggestions from large observational studies comparing healthy adults consuming large amounts of these vitamins with those who didn't. However, these observations are subject to bias and don't prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Scientific evidence does not suggest that consuming antioxidant vitamins can eliminate the need to reduce blood pressure, lower blood cholesterol or stop smoking cigarettes. Clinical trials are under way to find out whether increased vitamin antioxidant intake may have an overall benefit. However, a recent large, placebo-controlled, randomized study failed to show any benefit from vitamin E on heart disease. Although antioxidant supplements are not recommended, antioxidant food sources –especially plant-derived foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole-grain foods and vegetable oils –are recommended.
What about omega-3 fatty acid supplements?
Fish intake has been associated with decreased risk of heart disease. On the basis of available data, the American Heart Association recommends that patients without documented heart disease eat a variety of fish – preferably omega-3-containing fish – at least twice a week. Examples of these types of fish include salmon, herring and trout.
Patients with documented heart disease are advised to consume about 1 gram of EPA + DHA (types of omega-3 fatty acids), preferably from fish, although EPA+DHA supplements could be considered, but consult with a physician first.
For people with high triglycerides (blood fats), 2 to 4 grams of EPA + DHA per day, in the form of capsules and under a physician's care, are recommended. (See the "Fish Oil and Omega-3 Fatty Acids" entry in this guide for more details.)


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Just because there aren't drugs to traffic doesn't mean the problem will be solved
It's not an all-or-nothing situation, cut the money flow and the violence will stop increasing at the steady pace it has those last years and eventually will start winding down. Just like any other activity, stop making it profitable and it'll decrease and disappear eventually.
Just because there isn't alcohol to traffic doesn't mean the problem will be solved. Chicago and New York gangs will not vanish, but merely shift their business to some other form of social exploitation. There's a lot more than just money involved in this trade, and gang members aren't just going to go get normal jobs if the demand for alcohol diminishes.
Therefore, we should not repeal Prohibition.
The major drug problem between the US and Mexico is Marijuana. Our culture is very "meh" on having it outlawed, so there is a higher market for it, unlike drugs like heroin and meth with scares the crap out of most people, including the pot smokers among us. So it's not as though all those weed sales will transfer to cocaine or heroin if marijuana is legalized. They'll simply go out of business, or become legitimate, like beer producers did. Beer producers didn't say, "Shit, we can't dodge taxes and shoot at the federal lawmen anymore... so screw beer, we're going to start selling heroin!"
No, they went legit, and the guns went away. The gangs and mafias changed to do other illegal things, but they lost a huge portion of income. The same would happen with marijuana.
By the way, all those liquor taxes are paying for local community services, like schools. This is taxable, just like liquor, cigarettes, or any other luxury item.
Or ditch the "war on drugs" entirely... The illegal trade in drugs costs authorities billions, and fuels organised crime such as the drug cartels in mexico and other countries.
So instead, legalise drugs but put in place controls on them:
Quality controls, drugs available from reputable suppliers rather than dodgy dealers, so drugs don't end up contaminated with other even more harmful substances.
Taxes - tax drugs the same way that the currently legal tobacco and alcohol are taxed.
Monitoring - know who's taking drugs.
Government saves on law enforcement costs trying to police drugs...
Government further benefits from tax income from the sale of drugs.
Drug users benefit from cheaper supplies, which are also safer and have a legal avenue for complaint.
Drug companies can develop alternatives that provide the effects the users want, while reducing the negatives (e.g. see electronic cigarettes).
Drug users need not hide their activities, and can more easily seek help to give up.
It's an obvious solution, and the only ones who stand to lose are the criminal gangs who are currently making huge profits from illegal drugs.
Government saves on law enforcement costs trying to police drugs...
Not necessarily:
http://www.fear.org/chicago.html [fear.org]
http://www.dpeg.org/legal_issues/assetforfeiture.htm [dpeg.org]
It's an obvious solution, and the only ones who stand to lose are the criminal gangs who are currently making huge profits from illegal drugs.
Well them and, in the USA, the corporations that makes loads of money running prisons to hold people for drug possession and trafficking. They have a lot of money to throw around at politicians and media to fight the obvious solution.
The biggest counterargument is that petty crime will increase as addicts need to pay for their drug habits. I think that could easily be
Don't worry there is probably a medical insurance code for that now.
Hmm, I already thought Borderlands was pretty lame, but the goings-on in our real borderlands make the game seem downright tame.
I think that's his point...
This country doesn't seem to have learned from its mistakes with Prohibition, which created some of the most violent gangs and cartels in this country's history, at least the most violent until the New Prohibition (aka War on Drugs).
I've supported legalizing (some) drugs - marijuana at the very least - for a long time because of this. It would do far more to hurt the cartels than anything we're doing now.
Unfortunately, I'm sure the cartels know this, too, and that anyone in the US or Mexico that makes serious headway in that direction will have a very short lifespan.
Take a look at prescription drugs... they are perfectly legal to carry, yet they kill more people than hardcore drugs, such as heroin, coke, and meth do combined, and I am also including deaths by drug deals, not by drug use alone....
Take a look at prescription drugs... they are perfectly legal to carry, yet they kill more people than hardcore drugs, such as heroin, coke, and meth do combined, and I am also including deaths by drug deals, not by drug use alone....
Most of that is actually manslaughter by doctor, i.e. insufficient diligence on the part of the physician when prescribing. It's not really death by drug because abuse of prescription drugs is the smallest cause of death by them.
Legal trade causes far less trouble, clearly the best way forward is to legalise the trade and use the extra tax income to police and jail those who still engage in crime.
What are you, some kind of neo-crypto-liberal-homo-socialist or something?! Naw, us real Americans prefer our drugs the old-fashioned way, illegal and funding criminal enterprise.
Leave it to a moral relativist to place the blame of murdering drug dealers on people who don't think you should do drugs.
Would you be so cavalier about a War on Human Trafficking? Or would you suggest surrendering if that war started getting messy too?
If all your decisions in life are decided by which choice is "less trouble", then you truly stand for nothing worth standing for.
The blame here starts with Americas brain-dead drug-using oxygen thieves. The blame continues with the enablers, liberal pop-cultu
Agreed, it's not like legalised alcohol causes any problems that put burdens on the health system and increases deaths by drink driving accidents and so forth or anything.
Seriously, it's not as simple as you think. Sure legalisation gets rid of organised crime but it creates other issues in terms of higher levels of sometimes fatal substance abuse.
Note that I'm not saying legalisation isn't the best solution of a bad bunch - it might well be - but so many idiots think it's a silver bullet and it's absolutel
You're talking about a world-wide network of script kiddies vs an organized cadre of bloodthirsty monsters. What in the world do you expect them to do?
I think the point is that taking down the government web sites serve no purpose and might even be beneficial to the drug cartels, it just doesn't make any real sense to me.
What in the world do you expect them to do?
Wear a Guy Fawkes mask and take down the cartels ninja-style.
I can smell the plot for the next hollywood blockbuster already. All it needs is some kickass explosions, and women.
I can just tell you are very wrong. Yes, the government is quite corrupt (although I doubt it is as corrupt as you think), but here we are not talking (at least, we are no _longer_ talking) about govt. people being bribed not to mess with them. The cartels have become militarily stronger than the State in many regions, and although the government does not want to admit it, the talks about a "failed state" and about an effective civil war are correct... In some areas of the country.
Please note the "some area
I remember when the online community castigated Yahoo for cooperating with the Chinese, a couple of years ago. People talked about it like it was a choice between giving the Chinese the information they wanted, or not giving it to them; nobody considered that the Chinese could get the information by threatening the Chinese employees of Yahoo who had access to the information, or by alternate (and even less friendly) methods. What nobody seemed to realize is that when you're dealing with certain kinds of things (like criminal organizations and repressive governments), things don't stay in online. There are kinetic repurcussions to actions, and if the 'bad people' are more comfortable in the real world than the online one, they're going to show up on your doorstep, not in your inbox.
RIAA Label Used In Massive Cocaine Trafficking Ring
http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-label-used-in-massive-cocaine-trafficking-ring-110916/ [torrentfreak.com]
Earlier this year record label boss Jimmy Rosemond was arrested on the suspicion of leading a massive cocaine trafficking ring.
The founder of Czar Entertainment used shipments of music equipment to transfer cocaine across the United States.
These shipments went to several music studios, and according to a recent court filing uncovered by The Smoking Gun, Interscope Records is one of them.
This suggests that people at the RIAA label were in on the game.
Previously entertainment industry representatives have suggested that piracy can be linked to organized crime, and the above suggests that the same can be said for the music industry.
How many people in the music industry were part of the drug ring remains unknown at this point, but we would advise the RIAA to carefully investigate its members to avoid the practices from escalating.
Of course those actions appear petty. Petty is 99% of what Anonymous gets its kicks from. From abusing 12 year old girls (even if they kind of asked for it) to posting insulting comments about physically disabled people. The stuff like Project Chanology (the attacks on Scientology) was an aberration and really involved more non-Chan New Friends then it did Chan Old Friends, even though it started on the Chans. Anonymous originally got media attention for Habo Hotel/Second Life raids and harassing people on MySpace/Facebook.
Anonymous isn't your friend. Anonymous aren't moral crusaders. Anonymous are in it for the lulz.
Wasn't their slogan once. "None of us are as cruel as all of us."?
This is a troll, right? Nobody is this dumb, are they? Just in case, those Mexican cartels only even exist because of the War On [some] Drugs here in the USA.
The problem here is not poor starving people willing to do anything to survive, it's rich americans needing to get their drug fix.
Anonymous is anyone; after all, they're anonymous. The drug cartels don't like the Mexican government. Since anyone can claim to be part of Anonymous, what better way to shift the blame AND send a message at the same time?
They aren't interested in a fight, they want head lines.
If they had balls they would shut down every cartel in the world, but you know, that would require a gut check they can never meet.
It is one thing to go after groups who have the power to jail you but another to go after groups that WILL kill you.
IF "Anonymous" want to regain even the tiniest sliver of support, they'll try to stop the hack and release of petty information such as celebrity cell phones, and start taking down the EVIL guys, such as the drug cartels.
...start taking down the EVIL guys, such as the drug cartels.
How exactly? I really doubt if a DOS would do it, or do you expect these 'super hackers' to go rambo?
Fighting a war in a country that is no where near us... while Mexico has so many problems that rolling in the tanks and bombing the hell out of cartel compounds would be a far better thing to do?
Honestly, why don't we clean up our own back yard before trying to make everyone else clean theirs up first? Is the United states armed forces that afraid of the drug cartels?
I think Mobama should send them a couple of pissed off Marines there for a little R&R (tequila, women and fire), or just hire a merc wing from the US DOD and do a cleanup... Mexico shouldnt be that difficult to overtake... a couple of M1A1 HA Abrams Main Battle Tank should do the trick... Mexico Urban layout is like afghanistan ultra light...
and drug cartels kidnapping busloads of people and forcing them into gladiator-style contests to the death
Links to The Daily Mail, which is nearly as bad as a Goatse link.
Anonymous would get my respect if they used their hacking skills to infiltrate the murderous thugs instead of defacing government websites.
Seriously. If they truly want to help people, they wuld be helping the government fight the drug cartel nightmare that is happening right now.
Hell, whose to say a anonymous isn't being manipulated by a drug cartel?
Just have someone blog under the name Pedro Nadie or whatever. Identify him as living just outside a small town in Northern Mexico and have him really piss off the cartels. When they come to get him, the little cabin is surrounded by the army. Game over.
Smoking is legal and can kill you.
Drinking is legal and can kill you.
Myriad other things are legal and can kill you.
So why not legalize all drugs, tax the sh*t out of 'em like cigarettes. The self-destructive will be able to do so, the curious ones will be able to try and the recreational users will be able to do so too. I'd be curious to see what would happen.
So why not legalize all drugs, tax the sh*t out of 'em like cigarettes.
Because a black market will develop to avoid the taxes and other government controls, and we will be back to square one.
The self-destructive will be able to do so, the curious ones will be able to try and the recreational users will be able to do so too. I'd be curious to see what would happen.
Controlled substances are most often controlled for good reasons, even if the enforcement is misguided. The self-destructive will drag others down with them (i.e. their own kids). Allowing easy access to satisfy curiosity is a very bad idea with highly addictive and ultimately destructive substances.
What would likely result from legalization is more addicts and more drug-related crime.
Because a black market will develop to avoid the taxes and other government controls, and we will be back to square one.
The choice here isn't between the status quo and legalized drugs taxed to the point they cost the same is illegal drugs. The choice is between the status quo and legalized drugs that are taxed heavily, but still a lot cheaper than smuggled drugs. You could raise a TON of revenue on, say, weed, and still have it be a lot cheaper than it is now (as has been shown in states where weed is quas
The party adjourned to a hot tub, yes. Fully clothed, I might add. -- IBM employee, testifying in California State Supreme Court


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VOORHEES, N.J. — Sean Couturier had the puck on his stick Tuesday, an empty net in his sights, and one, nagging, dual reality.
He was wide open to score. Yet he was wide open for criticism.
He took his shot and missed.
So Matt Read took another kind of shot … and hit.
"I remember saying something," said Read, Couturier's linemate. "I couldn't tell you what I said. I gave him a hard time a little."
Read was smiling Wednesday, if just a little, as he shared the moment. Like everyone, he'd realized that Couturier had yet to score his first goal of the season, nor had he scored in the final six games of last season. And while the Flyers hadn't been short of reasons why they began this season so poorly, Couturier's slump was somewhere near the front of the catalog.
"But I do remember what I said going into the second period," Read said. "I said, 'Hey, Coots, you're due, you're going to get one tonight. Keep going. Keep going.'"
Whether from encouragement, embarrassment, the assist of Kimmo Timonen or just time served, Couturier finally scored at 5:18 of the second period in a 5-2 Flyers victory, and thus was able to maneuver about the Skate Zone Wednesday without fear of criticism, good-natured or otherwise.
"It felt good to finally get that first one out of the way," Couturier said, after practice. "I feel 20 pounds lighter just getting that in."
Though any 25-game goal-free slump would add a certain weight, Couturier's other contributions had been welcome as the Flyers had earned at least one standings point in eight of their last nine games. His effort, his defense, his presence — they all mattered.
It's just that, well, they kind of keep a hockey score by how many times the puck rolls past the goal line.
"Sometimes you think too much when things aren't going your way," Couturier said. "In the first period, maybe you think too much about that chance. But you just think, 'Put it on net and don't think. You never know what could happen.'"
So, in the second period, he did. And so, he is on a one-game goal-scoring steak.
"That's the kind of bounce I needed," he said, "just to get going."
While Couturier accepted that the price for such a goal-scoring slump was to take some in-house heat, the deeper reality was that his varied contributions were embraced, not diminished.
"Coots' game doesn't necessarily always revolve around offense," Steve Mason said. "His game is an extremely sound defensive game. He takes huge faceoffs for us. And just because of the way that he can shut down key opposition players — what he does to Evgeni Malkin, the way he frustrates Malkin, is beyond belief — it's nice to see him get his first one. For all the hard work he puts in, I'm sure he'll get more.
"Defense is not necessarily the most glamorous job, but he gets it done and does an extremely good job at it. That is a very important role on this team that he has. He shuts down the other team's top players.
"He's able to get into their heads and frustrate them.''
The problem was, during the Flyers' first 20 games this season, Couturier wasn't just a frustrate-er, but a frustrate-ee.
"It's huge for him to get a goal," Craig Berube said. "He goes out and does a great job checking for us and playing a good role against teams' top lines.
"It's good to get rewarded with a goal here and there. He's had opportunities to score a goal and it hasn't gone in. I think he'll start putting it in a little bit now. Sometimes you get that first goal and feel better and more confident. He's had some good opportunities and it hasn't gone in.
"He's been a real good player for us."
Any friendly criticism aside, Couturier was certain of that prevailing in-house sentiment.
"I've had a lot of support from the coaches, the organization and my teammates," he said. "Guys are supportive toward each other.
"It feels good to know that the guys have your back."


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UMW News Bureau
The University of Montana Western Dances with Words fall 2012 series will begin on Thursday, Sept. 6 at 7:30 p.m. with professors and authors Georgia Tiffany and Ron McFarland of Moscow, Idaho.
Tiffany has published poems in South Dakota Review, The Malahat Review, Willow Springs, Orbis, Poetry Ireland, Fugue, North Dakota Quarterly and Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, among other publications. She lives in Spokane, Wash. and teaches world literature and philosophy, humanities and creative writing. Tiffany is also a teacher-consultant with the Northwest Inland Writing Project at the University of Idaho.
A poet and literary critic, McFarland teaches literature and creative writing at the University of Idaho. He is the author of "Subtle Thieves," "The Long Life of Evangeline: A History of the Longfellow Poem in Print, in Adaptation and in Popular Culture" and "The Rockies in First Person."
The readings begin at 7:30 p.m. in The Cup coffee shop located on the lower level of the Swysgood Technology Center (STC) on the Montana Western campus.


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NEW YORK (AP) - Congress stopped the country from going over the so-called "fiscal cliff" - and that's great news for some small business owners. But with a deal that doesn't immediately address federal budget cuts, for many, the uncertainty drags on.
The compromise bill that passed the House late Tuesday raises taxes on couples earnings $450,000 or more and individuals earning at least $400,000. That affects small company owners who report their companies' income on their personal 1040 returns. Democrats and small business lobbying groups had estimated that just 5 percent of owners would have paid higher taxes under President Obama's proposal to raise rates on couples earning $250,000 or more, and individuals earning at least $200,000. The number of owners who will pay higher taxes now is likely to be even less than those estimates.
"That will help out tremendously," says Nate Nelson, who owns a medical testing company, Frontera Strategies, based in Dallas. He sets aside money to pay his taxes, and the higher threshold means he may have more cash available to make two hires and $80,000 in equipment purchases he's been putting off.
"It will help us loosen the belt a little," Nelson says.
The bill avoids widespread tax increases, but it delays deciding on for two months about spending cuts that could be deep. Companies that benefit from government contracts - whether they work directly for the government or do business with companies that contract with the government - still don't know how they might be affected by cuts in defense and other federal programs. Without the cliff compromise, the Pentagon and numerous federal agencies would have been subject to billions in budget cuts as early as this month. Cuts are still expected but it's unclear where, or how much, they will be.
Kaney Aerospace, an engineering services company in Rockford, Ill., does business with federal contractors. If the government cuts their business, owner Jeff Kaney expects his company to be affected. He's not sure yet what the impact will be on his business.
Nelson shares some of Kaney's concern. He's worried that the budget debate could result in a reduction in Medicare reimbursements on the medical tests he provides. "It could have a detrimental effect on our business," he says.
The unknowns will lead owners to keep running their businesses conservatively, says Dennis Ceru, an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass.
"The concern I see is expressed in the form of not signing longer-term leases, looking to defer expensive equipment expenditures, looking to defer hiring and using seasonal and part-time workers instead of full-time ones," he says.
Compounding owners' concerns are the weakness in the economy and the government's inability to come up with solutions to its budget problems, says Scott Meadow, a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.
"All of those things are kind of the foundation of this anxiety that's out there - when is the sword going to fall, what is the effect going to be," he says. "It's that anxiety that causes (a small business owner) to slow down."
That means 2013 is likely to look a lot like 2012 for small businesses, says Kathleen Allen, a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.
"I don't think that this kind of uncertainty and volatility is going to change anytime soon," she says.
Some other important issues for small businesses related to the fiscal cliff deal:
Business tax breaks survive: Owners contemplating equipment purchases got some help. The bill maintains what's known as the Section 179 deduction, which allows small businesses to deduct rather than depreciate the cost of many types of equipment, at $500,000 for 2013. It was scheduled to fall to $25,000.
Also extended for another year is what's known as bonus depreciation. That allows businesses to deduct 50 percent of the cost of equipment or real estate. It gives them a quicker tax break than the tax code's standard depreciation schedules, which require that the cost of property be depreciated over the course of a few years or decades, depending on the type of property.
The continuation of these deductions means Traxler Tees can buy more equipment and hire three full-time staffers, says Zachary Traxler, owner of the Columbus, Ohio-based company that makes custom-printed T-shirts.
"That's going to allow us to do a major expansion," Traxler says. He wants to branch out into business cards and other products. The tax savings he expects from the bill will help fund that growth.
Payroll taxes will hurt spending, but jobless benefit-extension could help: The end to the 2-percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax is worrisome for many owners. The payroll tax cut, first enacted two years to encourage people to spend, will be allowed to lapse. A worker earning $50,000, for example, will now have $1,000 less in take-home pay. Workers will start feeling the pinch as soon as the first paychecks of 2013 are issued. Many people will respond by cutting back on discretionary spending and that's bound to hurt many small businesses.
"Think about the person who runs the local sandwich shop, the coffee shop, the local business person ... they'll feel it more," says Ceru, the adjunct professor at Babson.
On the flipside, the bill extends long-term jobless benefits, keeping money in the pockets of many people who are actively seeking work for another year.


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Oregon Sues Oracle For "Abysmal" Healthcare Website 212
Oregon's suit alleges that Oracle, the largest tech contractor working on the website, falsely convinced officials to buy "hundreds of millions of dollars of Oracle products and services that failed to perform as promised." It is seeking $200 million in damages. Oracle issued a statement saying the suit "is a desperate attempt to deflect blame from Cover Oregon and the governor for their failures to manage a complex IT project. The complaint is a fictional account of the Oregon Healthcare Project."