Weekly Wrap-Up

I'm condensing multiple posts into a one and giving some other blog hosts a shout-out. Please read them!

Did anybody use GeoCities? Nope me either. Another one bites the dust. 

Speaking of biting the dust, wearing a cheap cotton painter's mask won't protect you from the swine flu. Is this latest outbreak an accident or biological warfare being tested on populations is open for debate. Discuss amongst yourselves. FunkyBrownChick has an interesting take on things.

• The Supreme Court will review Ricci v. DeStefano where white male fire fighters (who have like a 99% hire and promotion rate) charge they're being discriminated against as municipalities look into altering testing to bring in more POC. Now I'm not advocating the dumbing down of qualifications, but US firefighters have a hero complex and die at a rate of 8-1 compared to other countries because they rush into situations without evaluation. Despite San Francisco having a female Fire Chief it's still a rare occurrence and they had to be sued to allow women and non-whites in. So I'm just sayin'......

In the "It's A Post-Racial World - Not!" files: 

Michael Kors decides to have a little racism with his (black) coffee. Who wants to deconstruct the racism and sexism in this ad? Any takers? I wish these fashion people would just stop trying to use Black people to make a buck during this depression when they were perfectly happy ignoring us before. See the Field Negro blog.

We all know this won't be a Jeopardy question, "Who Is the First Person Convicted for Murdering A Trans teenager?" but a murderer got his due for the killing of Angie Zapata. Fem.Men.Ist is a great blog by the way and blog host Richard is a Black man who fights for women's equality. Just so you know I may write about the pathologies of some, but there are plenty of fully functional people of color out there.... 

How you plan on spending President Obama's 100th day in office depends on whether you were happy or sad he got elected in the first place.

• I learned just how filthy our planet is. Have you heard of the trash vortex the size of Texas? Hmm maybe that's where we can send Gov. Perry! It has motivated some to take action. No wonder Klaatu came to get rid of us.

Unemployment rates have increased as projected. The state of California's is more than 11% now. Blacks with degrees have a disproportionately high jobless rate? Do you have a plan?

• So many people seemed shocked, shocked I tell ya that the ignorance, apathy misogyny and prejudice they pass onto their kids actually takes effect. Why are people so reluctant to turn in the criminals in their families?

Airlines come up with yet another scheme to bilk us out of our money while sucking on the teat of corporate welfare. Well since we know people are getting bigger why do they keep making the seats on the plane smaller with less leg room? I bet you if all of us "fatties" stopped flying in protest they'd really start howling.

South Park does a send-up of Susan Boyle. 

I found out American Violet isn't a story of one Black woman's triumph, but the same ol' okey doke by whites making a victimization movie. Clink the link and it will take you to the Black Woman Blow the Trumpet blog. You can read the analysis of how this film is showing (some of) us at our worst. See Tyler Perry isn't the only one you know. Glad I didn't waste my time or money on this drivel. FAIL!!!

The Green Generation

Today is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. Like many holidays it gets easy to take events for granted. But if the weather in CA is any indication of a change in climate then we should be concerned. 93 degree temperatures in San Francisco proper (not just across the Bay) isn't normal weather. Likewise neither is snow in Atlanta at the beginning of April or 35 degrees on the East Coast. I know it probably gets boring to hear about droughts in some areas while there's too much of some other condition elsewhere but this has significant ramifications. It affects how we get food, what kind of crop is yielded and its frequency. A farmer's livelihood depends on it. 

As the Obama administration rolls out the greatly-touted "Green Jobs" some of us will watch that ship pass us by if we aren't prepared to hop on board. From Van Jones being offered a position to Majora Carter's work in the low-income neighborhoods in the Bronx we do have people of color looking ahead to see how these things will impact all of us. Having clean water is a life and death situation for people in (re)developing countries but it also impacts those people in areas where there may be toxic waste in close proximity. It's usually an economically depressed area populated by people of color, like San Francisco's Hunters/Baypoint area.

We need to get off the coal teat once and for all. We need a national high speed rail system as well as an affordable and reliable public transportation scheme. I know a couple that refit the engine on their vehicle to accept cooking oil and they save thousands per year as their car only requires a minimal amount of gas now and they recycle it. We can do little things to save the environment and lower our bills by switching to long-life bulbs and unplugging appliances that aren't in use. Recycling and composting are other methods.

With the economy being so precarious now is a great time to take up knitting, gardening and other old-fashioned activities that the Western world may find "quaint" but that millions of people around the world utilize to this day. It also fosters a sense of community where people may be reintroduced to developing relationships with their neighbors. If people feel responsible for each other they'll be more likely to look out for one another, clean up their neighborhoods and take an interest in maintaining a functioning environment. 

Investing in locally grown food will sustain communities better than relying on off-season food being shipped in halfway around the world. With childhood obesity at an all-time high clearly parents have allowed cheap foodstuffs and advertising to take over their lives. As we know providing nutritious meals to children aids in their development and learning skills. The charity.water campaign is doing great things as well. So check out the official Earth Day website for information and a list of local events and national initiatives you can participate in. Knowledge is power!