Farai

2003-03-06T13:47:00.000-05:00

"Living Water" Gets Rave Reviews

Obery Hendricks, with whom I shared a writing class, has written a new novel, Living Water, that's knocking folks out.

2003-02-24T13:50:00.000-05:00

Celebrity Reading of "A Love No Less"

Doubleday Books and New York University's Institute of African-American Affairs and Africana Studies invite you to celebrate the publication of:

A Love No Less: More Than Two Centuries of African American Love Letters by Pamela Newkirk

With readings by:

Ossie Davis

Phylicia Rashad

Cast members of HBO's "Oz" and "The Wire," and others

Monday, Feb. 24

6 p.m. sharp

Hemmerdinger Hall @ Silver Center

100 Washington Square East.

2003-02-24T13:29:00.000-05:00

Virtual March on Washington

From MoveOn.org:

The NYTimes reported that "global anti-war protests have put the White House on the defensive." On February 26th, you can join a massive march on DC without leaving your living room. Just go to: http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/. You commit to calling your senators and the White House, with the goal of having an entire day of calls light up the Washington switchboards.

2003-02-19T10:59:00.000-05:00

Google Acquires Blogger

Unquestionably the best search engine in the world, Google has acquired Blogger, unquestionably the highest traffic Blog hosting engine.

2003-02-15T19:44:00.000-05:00

Peaceful Regime Change In Iraq

Supporting dissidents in Iraq could force Saddam to his knees, says writer Mary Kaldor. But the U.S. government has a spotty record. We told Iraqi Kurds we'd back their rebellion, then backed out...and thousands were killed.

2003-02-15T10:06:00.000-05:00

Peace Rallies Worldwide Today

Check out Gore Vidal's take on the massive scale.

2003-02-10T16:24:00.000-05:00

Upcoming NYC Book Readings

Wednesday, February 12, 7pm

Barnes and Noble

675 6th Ave at 22nd St

Danyel Smith reads from her debut novel

"More Like Wrestling"

Thursday, February 13, 7pm

The Brooklyn Brewery

#1 Brewers Row, 79 North 11th St., Brooklyn

718-486-7422

Danny Goldberg, editor, and David Rees, cartoonist "Get Your War On"

discuss the assult on civil liberties and their book

"It's A Free Country: Personal Freedom in America After September 11"

Tuesday, February 18, 7pm

Barnes and Noble

86th St. between 2nd and 3rd Avenues

Pamela Newkirk reads from

"A Love No Less: More than Two Centuries of African-American Love Letters"

Thursday February 20, 7pm

Soft Skull Shortwave

71 Bond St., corner of State, Brooklyn

A, C, or G to Hoyt/Schermerhorn

Readings by Akashic Books authors T Cooper, Yongsoo Park and Michael Richardson

2003-02-10T16:08:00.000-05:00

Zimbabwe Elections Rigged

One of my relatives forwarded me an analysis which reveals that the Zimbabwean elections were rigged. No duh, right? Well, the inflation of the voter rolls was so bad that not only did dead people vote, people who weren't even born yet voted too. Let's hope it doesn't get that bad in the United States.

2003-02-10T16:01:00.000-05:00

Women of Saudi Arabia

This provides interesting personal insights into the lives of women in Saudi Arabia. Though the nation is one of our military allies, individuals in Saudi Arabia provide most of the funding to Osama Bin Laden, who is a Saudi national.

2003-02-10T11:40:00.000-05:00

New Sweeping Anti-Terrorism Act

According to leaked documents, the Bush Administration is preparing to expand the Patriot Act, which has already been challenged by several cities and municipalities as unconstitutional.

2003-02-04T17:34:00.000-05:00

Downloading...Not Just The Music Industry's Problem

So Wired is covering the downfall of the music industry, and my friends who work in it are bemoaning downloading (I still think we have a little problem with crappy artists). But the news business has been hit hard as well. Why read when you can surf for free? That question now has mainstream newspapers launching faux-alterntive weeklies.

2003-01-28T16:02:00.000-05:00
Media Biz Blues

The media business is so bad right now. I just came across this litany of doom on JournalismJobs.com. I have worked for so many of these places and it breaks my heart.

2003-01-28T13:27:00.000-05:00
The Other Phantom Menace

Photoshop political commentary ruuulz... to wit this Gulf Wars poster.

2003-01-28T10:15:00.000-05:00
State of the Union

Don't forget tonight President Bush delivers his State of the Union address. In a reminder, Cynthia Samuels sent this link to a briefing on Homeland Security.

2003-01-27T20:35:00.000-05:00
Gaudi NYC

I went on an architecture binge a couple of years ago in Barcelona. It's an alternately cold and sensual city, and Antonio Gaudi is mischevious master of tile and curve. Could his vision work in post 9/11 NYC?

2003-01-27T12:39:00.000-05:00
Back to the Present

William Gibson tackles trendspotting, 9/11, and of course cyberspace in his new novel--and first in a contemporary setting--Pattern Recognition.

2003-01-25T00:04:00.000-05:00
Blaaaargh

Some excellent cranky blogging on the state of the "new economy" at Ph8.

2003-01-24T23:26:00.000-05:00
You Gotta Fight For Your Right to Choose

This is an amazing show for an amazing cause, New Yorkers

TUESDAY, JANUARY 28 at 7:30pm
A Planned Parenthood benefit performance of BETTY RULES!!!
As the New York Times editorial of January 12, 2003 stated, George W. Bush and his administration have declared war against women. This is a dark time in the history of reproductive freedom.

If you believe -as BETTY does - in a woman's right to choose, then we invite you to a special performance of BETTY RULES, with ALL proceeds going to benefit Planned Parenthood.

Free wine and beer! Like-minded folks! Hosted by Alan Cumming! A terrific show! This Tuesday, January 28th at 7:30 pm. Have fun AND help make a difference right now! Call 212.261.4535 to reserve your seat for
$50 (tax deductible).

If you can't attend please send this to someone who can and/or go to
PlannedParenthood.com and send them a contribution!!

Love,
BETTY

2003-01-24T17:49:00.000-05:00

Greetings from the World's Worst Capitalist

My mutual funds are in the toilet, but lemme tell you... if I EVER say I'm going to buy individuals stocks again just slap me senseless. Every time I have bought stocks (and thank God it's only been thrice) I have lost money.

Once, a guy at a Baltimore trading firm convinced me to go in on an IPO. I told him the max I was willing to pay, not that I had any sense of what to invest. He promptly bought me in at a higher price, and I went on to lose money and sell at a loss. It probably was actionable, the part where he bought above the max I said I'd pay, but I licked my wounds and walked away.

Second time, I bought a stock that floated a bit and then fell to junk status.

Third time, I took the initiative just being a dotcom-era greedyguts. In April 2000 as the market started to fall, I said, hey, why don't I exploit this momentary dip in valuations. (That sounds good, doesn't it? I thought I knew something.) The $2000 worth of stock I bought then started accelerating downhill faster than the Jamaican bobsled team. I sold it today for a net to me of just over $400.

But wait, it gets worse. First off, the firm I chose to trade with, Quick and Reilly, didn't have some paperwork on file and then I couldn't access their online trades so I ended up paying over $100 in fees for selling various stocks when I could have paid less. And then, via my own stupidity and bad timing, I sold on a day where stocks had dropped to their lowest price in three months.

What made me think I could invest in stocks anyway? Well, y'know, every time I turned on the news there was a stock ticker, or some cool new board showing prices going up and up, and I knew how to log onto the internet, didn't I? This was some cool s***t, wasn't it? I couldn't go wrong.

Wrong. Insider trading has existed as long as investing. I was reading the House of Mirth, set at the turn of the previous (19th to 20th) century, and one major plotline involves insider trading. What made me think that by listening to the TV news and reading the Wall Street Journal I had enough information to actually pick investments? It was just plumb dumb.

2003-01-24T17:30:00.000-05:00

Bush Battles His Own Forces

Found this great site Truthout. According to them (and other reports), President Bush is not only trying to sell Americans on war, but he's fighting a losing battle to convince his own military advisors we need Desert Storm redux.

2003-01-24T15:32:00.000-05:00

Cut-n-Paste Democracy

The Republicans generate prefab letters that their constituents can send out to newspapers. So do the Democrats. But the Republicans actually bribe their consituents to act like they give a crap. Learn more about how you can join the borg and win a mousepad or other incentive.

Or, if you'd rather not debase yourself by writing an "astroturf" letter, perhaps you'd like spot the Republican plants. Here's how.

Me, I'd like to say that I'm against all "astroturf." But after getting a reply from Rep. Carolyn Maloney's office in response to a prefab (but heartfelt!) letter urging her to protest the decision to stone a Nigerian woman to death, I actually support tools that get a response. Bribing people with little trinkets seems a bit much though. Or a bit little... if they Republicans are going to flout democracy by offering bribes, put some muscle in it. Start giving away cars, refrigerators, Rolexes. Nahmean?

2003-01-23T22:44:00.000-05:00

Pay 4 My Site

Woke up this morning and heard Omar Wasow riffing on "begging" sites on Tavis's NPR show. I'm ready to go Paypal (or hopefully an alternative) for my site of many years PopandPolitics. But wait. Salon is moving into full-fledged cough-up-the-dollars mode. But will surfers pay for online content...other than porn?

2003-01-22T17:19:00.000-05:00

Solid

Back when I was a club kid, oh it seems so many years ago, I used to love Solid State Radio with Liquid Todd. He can flex on electronica and plus he flaunts his fly politics. You caught the shout-out on "Brimful of Asha," right?

2003-01-22T16:53:00.000-05:00

Roe V. Wade V. Congress?

Today marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. The Daily Feed, which also runs on PopandPolitics.com, outlines why Congress could be the law's worst enemy.

2003-01-21T15:41:00.000-05:00

NYC Book Readings This Week and Next

Tuesday January 21 2003, 6pm

Author bell hooks will read from and sign her latest book Rock My Soul
Hue-Man Bookstore
2319 Frederick Douglass Boulevard between 124th and 125th street on 8th Avenue
Located right next door to the Magic Johnson Theater inside the Harlem USA Retail Complex
A, C, D, B to 125 Street

----------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday Jan 22, 2003 07:30 PM

Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writing
Marita Golden (Editor), E. Lynn Harris (Editor)
Discussion and reading with Dana Crumb, Marita Golden, E. Lynn Harris & Elizabeth Nunez
Barnes and Nobles
2289 Broadway at 82nd St.
New York, NY 10024
1 train to 86th street

--------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, January 28, 2003 at 7pm

Author Danyel Smith will read from and sign her debut novel More Like Wrestling
Brownstone Books in Brooklyn
Brownstone Books
409 Lewis Avenue (bet Decatur Ave and MacDonough St.)
Brooklyn - (718) 953-7328
A, C Trains to Utica Avenue
B15, B25, B26

Also featured will be Catherine McKinley, author of the memoir The Book
of Sarahs.

http://www.morelikewrestling.com

----------------------------------------------------
Thursday January 30, 6:30pm

Calvin Baker reads from his novel Once Two Heroes
Borders Books
461 Park Avenue

2003-01-20T16:19:00.000-05:00

Love is a Revolutionary Force

At the end of a weekend in Selma, Alabama, I stood with a group of folks on the Edmund Pettus bridge. In 1965, over 600 marchers were beaten and teargassed by police as they attempted to cross. Congressman John Lewis helped organize the march where police fractured his skull, and his biography includes simply-stated and gut-wrenching details of Selma and what people sacrificed to ensure the American dream. The story that sticks with me is of a woman who defied a police officer who then kicked her in the abdomen. She miscarried five months into her pregnancy.

Would I have the guts to put my body on the line for justice? Maybe that's not the question these days--the issues most of my friends face are more about personal ethics: what you will and won't do inside the workplace, in personal relationships, and to your own mind and body. Because the struggle has become more internal rather than external, our ability to form a movement has to to evolve.

And it is. Civil rights activists today include Brian Terry of Be Healthy, which teaches urban teens to advocate for nutritious food and neighborhood grocery stores; Angela Brown who combats environmental racism via Youth Task Force; and Van Jones of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, whose organization recently formed a record label to take its message of education-not-incarceration to a wider audience. Living, thinking, loving, and acting in ways that benefit ourselves and our communities has become not only a matter of personal happiness, but collective survival. The revolution is evolution.

Tonight at 9pm, PBS is airing a documentary on the lynching of teenager Emmett Till. His mother Mamie Till died recently, after completing a book on her struggle to make Emmett's death an inspiration in the struggle for justice. She chose an open casket funeral to show the brutality her son had endured. The sight of this dead, beaten, almost unrecognizable child helped inspire people to act.

We got part of the way. From the hatred of Jim Crow we moved into the detante of tolerance. I'm not settling for that. I want to see love. Love, fellowship, brother-and-sisterhood, love for this country that doesn't rely on exploitation, love that springs from self-love. Can I get a witness?

And speaking of the culture of love.... Imani Uzuri, an amazing singer and soul, is doing weekly night at Joe's Pub in NYC (Lafayette just south of 8th) called "Black Girls Love." She's bringing together hot talent from the diaspora to rock your world and make those $10 drinks taste worth it. Tonight is Black Girls Love... Fela; on the 27th is ... The '80s. And Feb 3 is... Old School Hip Hop. (Yaaaaaay!!!!!!!!) To join the mailing list email blackgirlslove@yahoo.com. It kicks off at 11pm. Remember when that was early? Now I've gotta work to stay up that late. See you there.

2003-01-15T17:45:00.000-05:00

Cities Fight Patriot Act

"History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure."

--U.S. Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall, 1989

Twenty American cities and municipalities so far are fighting the Patriot Act, saying it rips a switchblade through the Bill of Rights. But what power do cities and states have anyhow? Conservatives just loved state's rights when they protected segregation... and pretty much all the way up until medical marijuana laws. Now liberals and libertarians are reminding folks of the tensions in "e pluribus unum."

2003-01-15T10:26:00.000-05:00

Blog Your Ass Goodbye

PBS program Media Matters explores the political impact of blogging on its next show, airing at 10pm Thursday January 16. (Or other times, check local listings.) Among other things, it credits bloggers with keeping the pressure on Trent Lott to resign. Other topics include coverage of U.S. policy on Iraq and photos too controversial to run in the papers.

2003-01-14T22:44:00.000-05:00

Is That With an E or An A?

If your cocktail party conversation consists of parsing the difference between "nigger" and "nigga," especially based on the skin color of the speaker and whether or not s/he owned a rap album before 1980, then you're gonna love the new Dave Chappelle Show. If, on the other hand, you are expecting a United Negro College Fund Telethon-level of niceness from this gig, you better back the hell up.

Went to a packed party at Metronome tonight to launch Chappelle's series. No promo tapes were sent out. Not one, not two, but three Comedy Central strategists said We just don't know how people will take it. Meaning the sketch about... well, I don't want to ruin it, but it's the most acerbic, and, yes, funny, sketch featuring the "n" word I have ever seen. It involves Klansmen, exploding heads, backwoods racists, self-loathing black folk, and stupid white teenagers listening to rap music. You have to have a strong racial constitution to flow.

Chappelle is going to be compared to Chris Rock, and he should be. Chris's crazy brother...no. Given the fact that he did the movie "Half Baked," maybe he's Chris's stoned brother. And he could get stoned by an angry mob for doing comedy this outrageous. Except for his t-and-a fetish. Like most of the men on Comedy Central, he seems as fixated on boobies as a baby at the breast. Boring. Still, can't wait to see how everyone reacts to the debut: Jan 22, 10:30pm.

2003-01-14T14:38:00.000-05:00

You've Got Hell

Last night, I watched a CNBC exec hold back evil laughter as he solemnly introduced a slammed-together documentary on AOL Time Warner. The world's largest media conglomerate has had a ludicrously bad week, and it's only Tuesday. On Sunday, the man who made "You've Got Mail" ubiquitous, AOL co-founder Steve Case, stepped down as head of the combined company. Then a day later, CNN chief and former Time magazine editor Walter Isaacson quit to run the think tank The Aspen Institute. This merger was supposed to bring peace, joy, and profits to newsland. Instead, AOLTW stock has dropped by 70 percent and every story about CNN features complaints about low morale. I used to work there and enjoyed it lots and wish them well. But as long as they think putting on more fluffernutter shows is will get 'em back above Fox, the ship will drift. Fox fights dirty. (If you're to the right of Atilla the Hun, just say so, don't give me this "you decide" crap.) And CNN, today, doesn't seem to be fighting much at all.

In other news, a new contender dares to fill the vacuum left when BET eliminated all of its public acccess programming. Media mogul Cathy Hughes' Radio One has paired with Comcast Cable to launch a new African-American channel. I predict a very long line of BET employees waiting to get hired at the new station.

2003-01-13T15:26:00.000-05:00

Dictators and the Journalists Who Name Them

I was about to riff on how money isn't happiness, one of the Perpetual Truths which may be re-revealed by our country going broke. And then I stumbled across a link on Weblogsky to a verbal firefight between eighty-something White House correspondent Helen Thomas and punt-o-matic spokesman Ari Fleischer. This press briefing also includes an exchange on the tax plan, but nothing beats a pit-bull of a reporter with forty years on the beat. Forthwith.

(WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY ARI FLEISCHER) And with that, I'm more than happy to take your questions. Helen.

Q (HELEN THOMAS, HEARST COLUMNIST) At the earlier briefing, Ari, you said that the President deplored the taking of innocent lives. Does that apply to all innocent lives in the world? And I have a follow-up.

MR. FLEISCHER: I refer specifically to a horrible terrorist attack on Tel Aviv that killed scores and wounded hundreds. And the President, as he said in his statement yesterday, deplores in the strongest terms the taking of those lives and the wounding of those people, innocents in Israel.

Q My follow-up is, why does he want to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis?

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, the question is how to protect Americans, and our allies and friends --

Q They're not attacking you.

MR. FLEISCHER: -- from a country --

Q Have they laid the glove on you or on the United States, the Iraqis, in 11 years?

MR. FLEISCHER: I guess you have forgotten about the Americans who were killed in the first Gulf War as a result of Saddam Hussein's aggression then.

Q Is this revenge, 11 years of revenge?

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, I think you know very well that the President's position is that he wants to avert war, and that the President has asked the United Nations to go into Iraq to help with the purpose of averting war.

Q Would the President attack innocent Iraqi lives?

MR. FLEISCHER: The President wants to make certain that he can defend our country, defend our interests, defend the region, and make certain that American lives are not lost.

Q And he thinks they are a threat to us?

MR. FLEISCHER: There is no question that the President thinks that Iraq is a threat to the United States.

Q The Iraqi people?

MR. FLEISCHER: The Iraqi people are represented by their government. If there was regime change, the Iraqi --

Q So they will be vulnerable?

MR. FLEISCHER: Actually, the President has made it very clear that he has not dispute with the people of Iraq. That's why the American policy remains a policy of regime change. There is no question the people of Iraq --

Q That's a decision for them to make, isn't it? It's their country.

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, if you think that the people of Iraq are in a position to dictate who their dictator is, I don't think that has been what history has shown.

Q I think many countries don't have -- people don't have the decision -- including us.

2003-01-13T13:10:00.000-05:00
My heart sank when I clicked open the New York Times online to learn that Senator Joseph Lieberman was running for president in 2004. I remember his feeble parrying against Hollywood and the music industry as an attempt to win over the family values crowd. Now he's talking tough against Bush, 'cept, like most of the Democrats, he's been coddling him for the past few months. Sigh, click...

Don't Worry, Be Happy: The Tax Cut Edition

On to my favorite feature, the most emailed articles. These the People's Choice Awards of the newspaper, and at the top of the list is a fabulous piece by David Brooks on why the middle class vote like rich people. Brooks, who wrote the sucker-punch-a-second analysis of Starbucks-and-Subaru suburbanites called "Bobos in Paradise," says it's about hope. We want to be rich. More than that, we believe that one day we'll be rich. We'd rather vote for someone who is rich but pretends to be just folks, like George W., than a dour liberal who tells us we will stay BROKE, BROKE, BROKE.

However, there's a new tax cut on the table, and that, combined with the old one, could really make us flat-out broke. Now, remember this new tax cut is coming on the heels of the big tax cut in 2001. A report by the Brookings Institution says that 2001 tax cut "will reduce the size of the future economy, raise interest rates, make taxes more regressive, increase tax complexity, and prove fiscally unsustainable." The basic deal with the 2001 tax cut is that the money that rich folks save really kicks in in a couple of years. A family with two parents and two kids making $750,000, taking standard deductions (which I know is unrealistic), would save roughly $4000 in 2001 but nearly $30,000 in 2010. Groovy they have the cash but the federal government is once again in the red.

Why'd I choose those numbers? The President has to release his tax returns every year by law. Go to the White House site, to see that: "President and Mrs.George W. Bush have reported net taxable income of $744,682 for the tax year 2000. This resulted in a total of $240,342 in federal income taxes paid by President and Mrs. Bush. The President's 2000 income includes his state salary as Governor and investment income from the state and federal blind trusts in which their assets are held. President and Mrs. Bush contributed $143,300 to churches and charitable organizations in 2000. Of the total charitable contributions, $75,000 represents royalties from the President's book, A Charge to Keep, which were donated evenly to the following charities: the Boy Scouts of America, The Girl Scouts of America, The Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and Girls Inc (formerly the Girls Club of America). "

The new $670 billion tax cut proposal would kick back $732 to a couple with one child making $40,000 per year. According to Bloomberg News, the Bushes would get $44,500 in tax breaks. Two-thirds of the money would go to the five percent of families making the most money.

Oh, wait, I'm doing that thing... You know, the negative thing Brooks warns about. Shit, let me see here. What's the upside of chillin' while rich guys plunder the treasury?