Let’s see if we can cobble together a roundup from the smudges on my palm:

1. The New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl champs. And they won in front of the largest TV audience in history, dethroning [...]]]> There’s really nothing left to say. And I lost most of my notes after I used some hand sanitizer earlier.

Let’s see if we can cobble together a roundup from the smudges on my palm:

1. The New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl champs. And they won in front of the largest TV audience in history, dethroning the series finale of M*A*S*H. (Blackink)

2. In other news from the game: Peyton Manning is still awesome. Why stats nerds love the Saints. Tracy Porter, the game’s fourth-quarter hero, deserves praise for his bold choice of hair cut. James Carville is elated. Hip-hop reacts to the proceedings. Slate rates the best and worst ads of the night. Amanda Marcotte ponders the misogyny streak in ads last night. Check out some of the behind-the-scenes fun at the Super Bowl, with the Page 2 staff of ESPN and Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald. (Blackink)

Enough of that already.

3. Back in Louisiana, Chocolate City got a shot of vanilla: Louisiana Lt. Gov Mitch Landrieu prevailed in a virtual landslide Saturday. Landrieu, brother of Blue Dog U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, becomes the first white mayor of New Orleans since his father, Moon, in 1978. (Blackink)

4. Jordan Flaherty at Racewire warns that, regardless of Saturday’s outcome, New Orleans will need a lot more than a new mayor. (Blackink)

5. Also,  Undercover Black Man provides a little historical background on Moon Landrieu. (Blackink)

6. Several outlets are reporting that the New York Times is sitting on an explosive story about Gov. David Paterson of New York, and that Paterson is preparing to resign should it drop. There’s a lot of speculation over what the supposed story is about, but all the rumors point to Paterson’s sex life and gambling. (G.D.)

7. Finally, some good news for Haiti: the G7 has promised to cancel the devastated country’s bilateral debts. (Blackink)

8.  Jesse Taylor at Pandagon asks a great question that we know will never be sufficiently answered: “If the anti-choice position is so true, so mainstream and so critical to the future of our nation, why did Focus on the Family spend $2.5 million to avoid saying anything whatsoever about it?” (Blackink)

9. Erick Erickson needs to be excused from polite company before it gets ugly. (Blackink)

10.  The Washington Post pitches a number of alternatives to the U.S. Senate’s current system of representation. And all of them seem preferable. (Blackink)

11. Steve Benen adds some context to criticism of Michael Steele’s off-hand remark last week that Americans making a million dollars, after taxes, are not bringing home “a lot of money.” (Blackink)

12. The Daily Intel points us to this sad but hardly surprising study – and accompanying blog post in the NYT – showing that potential adoptive couples are seven times less likely to pursue an African-American baby than they are a baby of another race. (Blackink)

13. Read this fabulous Washington Monthly feature on Texas’s efforts to rewrite history books. In the name of conservatism, of course. (Quadmoniker)

14. Over at TAPPED, Monica wonders if the voters of Colorado Springs, Colo., will finally understand what their taxes pay for. (Blackink)

15. Via Racewire, a new report from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA has found that charter schools “stratify students by race, class, and possibly language, and are more racially isolated than traditional public schools in virtually every state and large metropolitan area in the country.” (Blackink)

16. Great piece in New York Magazine on the folly of kindergarten IQ tests. (Jamelle)

17. At the University of North Carolina and an increasing number of college campuses, every night is ladies’ night. Who knows how serious of a problem this really is? But this quote seems really problematic: “’My parents think there is something wrong with me because I don’t have a boyfriend, and I don’t hang out with a lot of guys,’ said Kate Andrew, a senior from Albemarle, N.C.” No, the problem there seems to be with the parents. (Blackink)

18. Over at Sepia Mutiny, Anna explains why finding her Facebook doppelganger was a different kind of a struggle. (Blackink)

19. Cosmo makes flirting seem really awkward and creepy. (Blackink)

20. If there is no “gay center of the brain,” then you don’t have to be gay. Or something like that. (Blackink)

21. The entire, unedited video of Jon Stewart’s appearance on the “O’Reilly Factor.” (Blackink)

22. Carrie Prejean is engaged to be opposite married! (Blackink)

23. A remake of “We Are the World” is bad enough. But the addition of a rap verse with LL Cool J, will.i.am, Jamie Foxx and Snoop Dogg is worse. Also, judging from the picture (top right), I think Fonzworth Bentley is involved. (Blackink)

24. The Root introduces “Black Twitter: A Starter Kit.” But really, how seriously can you take the list when the Grape Drink Mafia isn’t included? (Blackink)

25. Since I was banging ATCQ’s highly underrated album “The Love Movement” this morning, I hearby nominate this J Dilla Appreciation Week. James Yancey would have turned 36 on Sunday. He died on Feb. 10, 2006.

Sorry if this week’s edition seemed a bit uneven. I’ve still got a football hangover.Similar Posts:

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First, I should shout-out the dude on Urban Dictionary who already said this better than I can:

One of the greatest Mc’s of all time. I dont know what you fuckers are talkin about. You think you’re funny with your little acting jokes, but the truth is, if his acting were half as good as his [...]]]>

First, I should shout-out the dude on Urban Dictionary who already said this better than I can:

One of the greatest Mc’s of all time. I dont know what you fuckers are talkin about. You think you’re funny with your little acting jokes, but the truth is, if his acting were half as good as his mic skills, he’d be winnin Oscars.

So yeah: kill the Are We There Yet? jokes, take off that silly ass fedora, put your De La Soul Is Dead or whatever on pause for a few minutes to acknowledge that Ice Cube is the MACK and that no, you can’t fade him:

I heard payback’s a motherfuckin nigga!

Tell me this isn’t the hardest opening line to any album in the history of music. I was two years old when that album dropped — May 16, 1990, back when Hammer was still rocking crowds and the older, whiter George Bush was still president.  The first time I listened through that joint from intro to end was over winter break in my sophomore year of college. I heard payback’s a motherfuckin nigga! — I remember I was lying on the couch or whatever when I first heard that line; it felt like someone had just tazered my earlobe. I never tell you to get down; it’s all about comin up. Yeah, Nas is deep, and we know that Black Thought is the smartest brother at the dice game, but Cube’s first two solo albums are some of the realest:

You wanna be the big fish, you little guppy;/Black man can’t be no yuppie./You put on your suit and tie and your big clothes;/You don’t associate with the Negroes./You wanna be just like Jack,/But Jack is callin you a nigger behind your back./So back off, genius;/I don’t need you to correct my broken English.

meanest:

Every time I wanna go get a fuckin brew,/I gotta go down to the store with the two/Oriental, one-penny countin motherfuckers;/They make a nigga mad enough to cause a little ruckus,/Thinkin every nigga in the world’s out to take,/So they watch every damn move that I make;/They hope I don’t pull out a gat and try to rob/Their funky little store but, bitch, I gotta job.

most confrontational:

Don’t let me catch Daryl Gates in traffic;/I gotta have it to peel his cap backwards./I hope he wear a vest, too,/And his best blue,/Goin up against the Zulu.

verses that anyone has ever spit on a record. Yeah, 70% of his early work is impressively offensive to countless groups of human and plant life, but A Bitch Iz a Bitch is still a golden, nay, platinum track.

[I'm at a loss, really, because nothing I write beyond this point is going to read better than if I simply quoted Cube's first four albums for the rest of this post. I could copy and paste the lyrics from 'Us' and 'We Had to Tear This Mothafucka Up', drop my laptop, then just walk away, and this would still be a crazy awesome, Top-Five-On-Your-Hard-Drive blog entry.]

If Illmatic is hip hop’s preeminent album, then Kill at Will is its reigning EP — and I love Illmatic as much as the next wannabe-Huey Freeman, but there isn’t a single track on that album better than ‘The Product’. Cube earned hero status in my book once he learned to out-Chuck D Chuck D. Death Certificate is the rawest expression of black pride and Black Power ever set to bars and hooks. Give the man a Pulitzer.

Ice Cube is probably the only rapper in history who sounds better without a Dr. Dre lozenge. Eric B. and Rakim were great together, yeah, blah, blah I’mma let you finish but Sir Jinx and Ice Cube were the world’s greatest tag team since Blucher and the Duke of Wellington. These guys dismantled N.W.A. over a Biz Markie sample, yet Kanye’s the savant? Fuck outta here.

For my sake, I like to pretend that Ice Cube was assassinated in 1996. This way I convince myself that the Westside Connection never really existed, and that Common never sonned him over a Pete Rock beat, and that what we’re left with is:

• Cube’s verse on No One Can Do It Better
• Cube’s verses on Straight Outta Compton
• AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted
• The Kill at Will EP
• Death Certificate
• The Predator
  
• Lethal Injection

I could die with that discography; it’s much better than having a bunch of collaborations with Puffy stuck in your catalog. And now? the man writes and directs corny, aspirational projections of black families living frivolously and having white people problems. I respect that, okay? In my mind, Ice Cube lives on as that “crazy motherfucker from around the way.” He’s the Stokely Carmichael of hip hop, and you know this, man.Similar Posts:

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Actor Gary Coleman was born February 8, 1968, in Zion, IL.  Shortly after his birth, he was adopted by a man named Kensuke Miyagi, an elderly gardener and karate master.  Together, they developed a new form of martial arts called knee-fu, a style of fighting built around the disabling [...]]]>

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Foreign Policy’s Annie Lowrey pens an opinion piece for the Washington Post, and presents some awesome alternatives to the Senate we currently have:

Imagine a chamber in which senators were elected by different income brackets — with two senators representing the poorest 2 percent of the electorate, [...]]]>

A version of the Senate I would also accept.

Foreign Policy’s Annie Lowrey pens an opinion piece for the Washington Post, and presents some awesome alternatives to the Senate we currently have:

Imagine a chamber in which senators were elected by different income brackets — with two senators representing the poorest 2 percent of the electorate, two senators representing the richest 2 percent and so on.

Based on Census Bureau data, five senators would represent Americans earning between $100,000 and $1 million individually per year, with a single senator working on behalf of the millionaires (technically, it would be two-tenths of a senator). Eight senators would represent Americans with no income. Sixteen would represent Americans who make less than $10,000 a year, an amount well below the federal poverty line for families. The bulk of the senators would work on behalf of the middle class, with 34 representing Americans making $30,000 to $80,000 per year.

Imagine trying to convince someone — Michael Bloomberg, perhaps? — to be the lonely senator representing the richest percentile. And what if the senators were apportioned according to jobs figures? This year, the unemployed would have gained two seats. Think of the deals that would be made to attract that bloc!

And:

Or how about if senators represented particular demographic groups, based on gender and race? White women would elect the biggest group of senators — 37 of them, though only 38 women have ever served in the Senate, with 17 currently in office. White men would have 36 seats. Black women, Hispanic women and Hispanic men would have six each; black men five; and Asian women and men two each. Women voters would control a steady and permanent majority — making, say, discriminatory health-care measures such as the Stupak Amendment and the horrible dearth of child-care options for working mothers seem untenable.

If we take a multiverse approach, it may mean that, for continuity’s sake, a sort of Crisis of Infinite Senates is in order. And if so, my vote is for the Demographic Representation Senate to become canon.Similar Posts:

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It’s a phrase we at PB say a LOT amongst ourselves when it comes to the various racegates that seem to pop up regularly. After calls from Barack Obama and [...]]]> I’d like to make you all aware of a new post category we’ll be employing: “X May Very Well Be Racist, But This Doesn’t Prove It.”

It’s a phrase we at PB say a LOT amongst ourselves when it comes to the various racegates that seem to pop up regularly. After calls from Barack Obama and Eric Holder for Americans to have a Serious Conversation About Race, it seems like all we’ve gotten is a permanent racial silly season. The constant crying foul for things that aren’t actually racist fuels an even sillier backlash from people who complain: “I Guess I’m A Racist.”

By now, you’ve probably heard about the Ahmir ‘?uestlove’ Thompson tweet heard ’round the innanets. The Roots’ drummer posted a picture of a sign in the NBC cafeteria promoting a soul food menu in honor of Black History Month. Cue racial outrage.

Later, of course, it came out, that the chef, a black woman, just wanted to share a good meal. (I felt especially bad for her because she even made the greens with turkey, not pork, which is so thoughtful.) Thompson later cleared things up, explaining that he thought the sign was funny, not racist.

To say it plainly, even though I’m sure you all understand this, there’s nothing racist about marking a holiday or special time of year with corresponding food. Food is the go-to cultural exchange item — school cafeterias the nation over serve crappy tacos on Cinco De Mayo, and hot dogs for the Fourth of July.

If you want to complain about racism at NBC Universal, then take issue with the lack of diversity in the company’s upper ranks, where only 2 out of the 18 executives are people of color (and 3 of the 18 are women). A lack of diversity doesn’t equal racism, either, but it’s something — unlike fried chicken for Black History Month — that’s worth thinking about.

I’m instituting the “X May Very Well Be Racist, But This Doesn’t Prove It” category tag, because the way things are going, I think we’re going to need it for a good long while to come.Similar Posts:

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If not for Peyton Manning, the Colts would probably be the NFL’s equivalent of the Washington Generals – you’ve seen them with Jim Sorgi and Curtis Painter under center, right?

If not for Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James might have been pedestrian NFL players and certainly not nearly as well paid.

If not for Peyton [...]]]>

If not for Peyton Manning, the Colts would probably be the NFL’s equivalent of the Washington Generals – you’ve seen them with Jim Sorgi and Curtis Painter under center, right?

If not for Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James might have been pedestrian NFL players and certainly not nearly as well paid.

If not for Peyton Manning, Bill Belichick punts the ball away on 4th-and-2.

If not for Peyton Manning, Reggie Bush is playing for the Houston Texans and not the New Orleans Saints.

Forget Brett Favre. Don’t talk to me about Tom Brady. Sure, I will listen to a strong case made for Joe Montana.

But with each passing season, it gets harder to deny Manning his rightful spot on the throne:

Gil Brandt, the former Dallas executive who squired the Cowboys great Roger Staubach through the media center here, said Manning was the best quarterback ever. So did Tom Moore, the Colts’ offensive coordinator, who also coached the Steelers Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw.

The defenses Manning faces — with exotic blitzes and liberal substitutions — are far more complex and difficult to master than those in the past, Brandt said. And the Colts run a no-huddle offense almost exclusively, so Manning has just a few seconds to decipher the defense at the line of scrimmage, change the protections for the offensive line, adjust the routes for his receivers, then call the play, producing his familiar conductor-in-cleats performance art before the snap.

For most of my life, coaches have impressed upon me that football was the ultimate team game. That’s generally because it’s extremely difficult for one player to exert his dominance over a field with 21 others – teammates and opponents, all of them dependent on one another and working to deny one another.

Quarterbacks need their linemen to block, their running backs to run, their wide receivers to get open. And that’s just on offense. To win the game and do something more than roll up impressive offensive numbers, a football team also needs its defense to hold up its end of the bargain.

It’s the reason I’ve never given much credence to the argument that a player’s greatness is contingent upon the number of championships they win: what are the Chicago Bulls without Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman, Bill Cartwright, Phil Jackson? What are the San Francisco 49ers without Jerry Rice, Roger Craig, Steve Wallace, Ronnie Lott, Bill Walsh? What are the Patriots without Bill Belichick dialing up the schemes for the defense?

Rings are good and all. But they’re not everything. Unless you think Trent Dilfer or Mark Rypien are all-time greats.

So yes, heading into today’s Super Bowl, Manning has only one championship ring on his resume. And if I was being honest with myself, I would admit that the Saints have a better overall team and overwhelming public sentiment favors the team from New Orleans.

That’s all well and good. But when you throw Manning into the equation, none of that seems to compute.

It goes back to the point I was making earlier about football being a team game. It is, sort of, when Manning is involved. Sure, Manning needs his teammates. But more than any other group of professional athletes that I can remember, they need him.

He loses James, he makes it work with Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes. He loses Harrison, he makes stars of Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark. He loses Dungy, he helps Jim Caldwell – who was fired from Wake Forest – win the first 14 games of his NFL head coaching career.

He is Geppetto. He is the greatest of my lifetime. And sometime tonight, he’s going to hoist the Lombardi Trophy over his head again.

If I’m wrong, feel free to let me know how much of an idiot I am here in this space. Consider this our open thread for the Super Bowl.Similar Posts:

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We were a few days into February before I even remembered that it is Black History Month, and when I did my first thought was not of Malcolm, Martin or any other typical BHM icon, but Bob. The last time I “did” BHM was back in my undergrad days in Toronto  and today the Black [...]]]>

We were a few days into February before I even remembered that it is Black History Month, and when I did my first thought was not of Malcolm, Martin or any other typical BHM icon, but Bob. The last time I “did” BHM was back in my undergrad days in Toronto  and today the Black Students’ Association would be hosting a $5 lunch in Hart House – jerk chicken, rice and peas, plantain and festival…and of course Bob Marley on full blast.

Today Bob would have been 65. Since he died before I was even born it sounds silly to say I miss him. But I do. Along with various 80’s AM radio hits that would irreparably warp my musical taste, my father also shared with me his Bob Marley collection on vinyl. I don’t remember how old I was when I fell in love with Bob, but it definitely preceded kindergarten (eclipsed only by my unswerving devotion to Michael Jackson but that’s another story). However, despite our decades long love affair the words to express what I feel listening to him elude me.

It wouldn’t be too far off the mark to say that Bob holds near deity status in the Caribbean, nevermind Jamaica. For those of you who know about the extreme nationalism of people from the Caribbean this is fairly miraculous. It may well be the only thing that unites us aside from cricket and soccer. We love him because he made the world come to us, for the first time. Before the modern day cross over success of people like Shaggy and Sean Paul there was Bob, expressing our reality in our rhythm and idiom. And it took over:  “Play i on de R&B/ want all my people to see/ we bubblin’ on de Hot 100/ jus’ like a mighty dread”.

Bob was the exemplification of what Kwame Dawes would later define as reggae aesthetic. The guardian of Caribbean cool. But he was also a crucial part of how we in the region recognize, define and identify ourselves.  Reggae as a mindset and philosophy has forever changed how we talk about ourselves. Coming from a fractured colonial past that often pits us against each other, Bob’s music has allowed us to locate a Caribbean universalism. With lyrics ranging from the personal to the political and the spiritual to the sensual, Bob accesses our shared spirits of rebellion and subversion. And underneath all this is the “one drop”:  the syncopated off-beat that defines reggae. Our resonant frequency. There is so much in that pause, such beauty in the anticipation of  waiting for the bass to drop back in, that rhythm we all intuitively understand.

This phenomenon is not only spatial but temporal. Bob transcends generations as well as national borders. I have a friend who has two copies of the “Songs of Freedom” box-set. One is still shrink wrapped; intended he says, for his first child. Bob Marley’s music is part of what we pass down. His songs have become a part of the conversation we have with ourselves about ourselves. Even as dancehall becomes ever more explicit and distasteful to some and our cultural expressions evolve in a direction which makes them increasingly unrecognizable to older members of our society, we can always come back to this place. Appreciation and reverence for the work of Bob Marley is constantly being rediscovered and integrated into the conversations shaping our ideas about who we are. That’s where his legacy lies.

Anyway, enough of my clumsy talk. Happy Birthday, Bob. I’m thinking of you.

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Stonewall “Stoney” Jackson was born in Richmond, VA, in 1960.  A natural on the stage, he toured Europe with the Young Shakespeareans, a highly prestigious acting troupe that admits only 5 new members worldwide every 5 years.  Stoney gained notoriety overseas as the Moor Othello by the time he was [...]]]>

Stonewall “Stoney” Jackson was born in Richmond, VA, in 1960.  A natural on the stage, he toured Europe with the Young Shakespeareans, a highly prestigious acting troupe that admits only 5 new members worldwide every 5 years.  Stoney gained notoriety overseas as the Moor Othello by the time he was 8 years old, and to those who know, is considered one of the greatest black acting talents of all time.

His career took a turn for the worse, however, when, upon returning to the United States, he made a bold move and got a Jheri Curl, a popular hairstyle of the 80/s.  Despite his illustrious career, the glistening, oily strands atop his head made it impossible for the populace to take him seriously.  In 1990, after completing his run as Travis on the popular sitcom “227,” Jackson founded N.A.A.J.C (National Association for the Advancement of Jheri Curls) in hopes of obtaining equal rights for those with the hairstyle.  His career never recovered and he has been acting in straight-to-video movies, such as 4-Bidden and The Thief and the Stripper ever since.Similar Posts:

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There are few people  who would disagree that Martin is one of the greatest sitcoms of all time.  Another squarely solid favorite is Will Smith’s The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. So, it would make sense that someone would figure a show from Martin Lawrence and starring a Fresh Prince alum to [...]]]>

There are few people  who would disagree that Martin is one of the greatest sitcoms of all time.  Another squarely solid favorite is Will Smith’s The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. So, it would make sense that someone would figure a show from Martin Lawrence and starring a Fresh Prince alum to have at least some comedic potential.  Those people, however, are sorely mistaken and stupid.

See, here’s the problem with Love That Girl!, the recently debuted, Martin Lawrence-produced show starring Tatyana Ali (little Ashley from Fresh Prince):  it sucks donkey balls.  Like, it’s bad.  It’s just really, really bad.  It’s so bad I can’t think of a metaphor bad enough to illlustrate how bad it is.  I’ve been trying to pinpoint why this is exactly, and I’ve come up with some viable reasons.

#1 – It just isn’t fucking funny. It’s like lame stand-up comedy.  The jokes aren’t funny.  Tatyana Ali’s character, who, by the way, is about as interesting/exciting as a box of socks, does nothing but tell jokes with no punchline.  Example:  “I asked the waiter if he was from Receeda… because his hairline started way  back here!! *points to the center of head*”

…

That was an actual joke from the actual show.  Yeah.  They’re all like that.

#2 – I can’t care about Tatyana or her character. Remember back when I said that Tatyana’s character (creatively named Tyana, by the way) is about as interesting/exciting as a box of socks?  Unfortunately, that goes for Tatyana herself as well.  It’s not that she isn’t a good actress, because I mean, I guess she does okay, but to play lead?  In a sitcom, at that?  Bold.  Too bold.  She doesn’t have the comedic timing or general all-around chops for it.  In Fresh Prince? Hillary (Karyn Parsons) was the funny daughter.   Ashley was good, but she was background, and I think that’s what’s wrong with this show.  She does a better job of helping other people be funny.

#3 – Even in “post-racial,” black president havin’ America, the stereotypes are too much. Okay, first let me say that I’m not one of those uptight, Debbie Downer, can’t-take-a-joke-or-laugh-at-uncomfortable-things type of people.  Example:  remember when KFC’s grilled chicken first came out, and they had that commercial full of people talking about it and randomly two Asian guys dressed in like kimonos and rising sun bandanas come out of nowhere talkin’ bout’ ‘CHEEKEEEEEENNN!!’??  Remember that?  I LOVED those guys!!  They were so cute!  There was a time when I’d have been pissed about it, but perhaps I, like 73% of the rest of America, have had my militancy softened by the sexy 6 foot 1 inch symbol of change in the White House*, so I can relax and not trip about potentially racist shit.  But this?

On the left are characters Fabian and Adonis, who are pretty much white and Mexican versions of “Men on Film” from In Living Color.  On the right is Imunique, who is pretty much Laquita, Sheneneh’s homegirl from Martin.  Now, Laquita and Men on Film were  hilarious!  Why isn’t Imunique??  I truly don’t know.  I just know that she makes me want to write a letter of apology to my ancestors.  And Fabian?  Adonis?  Way too much and trying too hard.

This show is about as funny as the last season of Martin when Tisha Campbell refused to be on the set as the same time as Martin.  It just falls flat on its face and, like Martin at its end, is better off canceled.  Poor Martin.  What gives??  Why is he just not funny anymore?!  Maybe he’s  suffering from Mary J. Blige syndrome–God bless her for being clean now, but Mary’s best music came from her doin’-drugs-with-K Ci period.  Maybe Martin needs to run down a highway in his draws with a gun again to get his groove back?

In conclusion, maybe they just need to change the title.  It’s misleading.  How about Barely Tolerating That Girl? Or Want to Like That Girl But Finding It Quite Difficult? Or how about simply WTF?

Watch some clips from the show and get to know the cast, if you must, here (not recommended for those with weak constitutions).

*Sarcasm.  America is still pretty racist.  Obama is mighty fine, though.

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Born in 1928, Lamar David Little worked as a welder in Fort Wayne, IN.  A fan of tasty snacks, he, like many black people both past and present, was a fan of eating the nutty kernels inside of sunflower seeds.  Being a man of diverse taste, however, he soon tired of the lack of flavor [...]]]>

Born in 1928, Lamar David Little worked as a welder in Fort Wayne, IN.  A fan of tasty snacks, he, like many black people both past and present, was a fan of eating the nutty kernels inside of sunflower seeds.  Being a man of diverse taste, however, he soon tired of the lack of flavor options and quit his job to spend as much time as possible creating new flavors for the seeds.  He tried to write suitable formulas for all his favorite flavors, and after his pig foot, watermelon, and malt liquor recipes didn’t work, he settled on BBQ in 1982.  It remains a popular treat for black America to this day; many believe that pouring a handful and shaking the seeds around enhances the flavor.Similar Posts:

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So it takes a special kind [...]]]> A good rule to follow if you want to avoid getting caught out there having said shit that you haven’t much considered is to keep quiet on those things. Like how someone who is a newbie to football should probably refrain from offering up an opinion on revamping the 3-4.

So it takes a special kind of hubris to offer up a piece that says you haven’t thought much about X and then decide to get your bloviation on anyway.

Here’s a textbook example, via Pascal Emmanuel-Gobry.

I don’t know about anyone else, but ever since I got married, I think a lot about women, and the role women play in society. Because of my wife, of course, but most importantly, because of the daughters I will one day (inch’Allah) have.

Every time I think about women, or “women’s issues”, I think about my daughters.

We lived for centuries in a world where technology and culture limited women’s possibilities. But sadly today, in the West, the most limiting factor in women’s economic fortunes is women themselves. For example, women without children have the same salaries as their male counterparts.

The idea that my daughters might, for just one second in their life, think that their potential is less than that of a man, that their horizons might be limited, fills me with a mixture of pain, sadness and fury.

Shirky’s post addresses this by calling on women to level the playing field with men. What I liked most about it is that it’s pragmatic. It doesn’t put forward a grand theory of gender backed by partial studies in neurology or genetics or psychology or cognition or astrology. It simply draws simple lessons from everyday observations: women don’t do nearly as much as men to advance themselves, and they should. …

…

So yes, actually, women need to man up. You don’t show up with a knife for a gunfight.

And I intend to equip my daughters with rocket launchers.

The condescension here is first-class. Women, you see, are too silly to aggressively advocate for their own interests, which is why they’re paid less and passed over for promotions! Why, if women would just man up, they could achieve economic parity with men in no time!

Emmanuel-Gobry writes that he wants to arm his hypothetical daughters with rocket launchers (I’ll leave the gender semiotics for someone else to dissect) but that assumes a world in which his daughters aren’t penalized as shrill harpies for doing so “the way a man would.”

It also assumes a world in which women and men don’t face different consequences for similar life choices. As long as women continue to bear the major responsibilities of child-rearing — disparities ironically re-enforced by workplace policies  like maternity leave that are  generally not extended to fathers — then the decision to start a family will have fewer professional repercussions for men.

This post, and the Clay Shirkey post that started it all, both ignore another real truth. Both writers bizarrely posit that powerful men earned their executive offices and salaries because they were cutthroat. But to the extent that’s even true, those men are being rewarded for that kind of behavior by other men who are already in power and see those traits as masculine.

Emmanuel-Gobry thinks that because he hasn’t seen sufficient drive among women in the workplace it must not exist, that women in the main are less motivated. The less arrogant take would be that his experiences are too limited and anecdotal to draw conclusions about a  broad swath of people whose diverse experiences he admits he’s never really considered. I’m getting really sick of this Friedersdorfian, earnest-but-obviously-flawed -assertions-based-on-observations-made-from-my-townhouse-apartment-window schtick that seems to be all the rage among young conservative “cultural critics” because their nonsense  is cloaked in the fabric of “reasonableness.” (See: Douthat, Ross.)

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