There’s no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy.
Far Right Wing, Conservative radio host has a nation of "Ditto Heads" - No wonder why.
The research finds that children with low intelligence are more likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults. These findings point to a vicious cycle, according to lead researcher Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario. Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, the study found. Those ideologies, in turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that can contribute to prejudice, Hodson wrote in an email to LiveScience.
“Prejudice is extremely complex and multifaceted, making it critical that any factors contributing to bias are uncovered and understood,” he said.
Charles and David Koch are infringing on intellectual freedom and independence in colleges and universities by controlling entire fields of study and the faculty hiring process. Defend academia and share this video. TAKE ACTION: http://KochBrothersExposed.com/KochCollege
Terrell Owens has always been an island of sorts. His brash personality and self-absorption routinely alienated his teammates during an NFL career that teetered between terrific and toxic, leaving him to fend for himself. Now, at 38 and out of football, he’s lonelier than ever, and running out of money. In a GQ profile, Owens comes across as wounded, broke and desperate. When people text him to ask where he is, he replies back: “I’m in hell.”
But is it his own fault? That’s the perennial debate on T.O., who had a heartbreaking childhood but continually pointed fingers at everyone but himself once he became an adult.
In the GQ story by Nancy Hass, Owens blames the media for not giving him a chance to rehab his injury, blames agent Drew Rosenhaus for not protecting him from a bad business arrangement, and — perhaps most surprisingly — blames a former team captain for his issues with former Philadelphia teammate Donovan McNabb. Continue Reading »
During Newsweek’s Oscar roundtable, The Help’s Viola Davis tried to speak about the difficulties of being a black actress in Hollywood—but a well-intentioned reply from Theron was just another example of the problem.
Charlize Theron surely meant no harm. The actress genuinely thought she was complimenting fellow thespian Viola Davis during this year’s Newsweek Oscar roundtable when she told Davis, “You’re hot as shit.’’
Their exchange revolved around Davis’s comments on finding work as an African-American actress. Davis, who has won praise for her starring role in The Help, was attempting to explain the difficult plight of being black and female in the movie industry. “I’m a 46-year-old black woman who really doesn’t look like Halle Berry, and Halle Berry is having a hard time,” said Davis. Continue Reading »
Spike Lee doesn’t hold back. The Oscar-nominated man behind “Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X” went off on Hollywood after Chris Rock asked a question following the Sundance screening for Lee’s new film, “Red Hook Summer.” According to Entertainment Weekly, the film was screened for a large audience, some of whom left after the film took a controversial twist. That didn’t seem to faze Lee. However, when Chris Rock asked Lee about financing the film, the director went off on a bit of a tirade.
Rock, who appeared to be joking around, said, “You spent your own money … What would you have done differently if you’d actually gotten studio money? What else would have happened? Would you have blown up some (bleep)?” Lee, apparently unamused, responded, “We never went to the studios with this film. I bought a camera and said we’re gonna do this mother(bleeping) film ourselves. I didn’t need a mother(bleeping) studio telling me something about Red Hook! They know nothing about black people! Nothing!” Lee then added, “And they’re gonna give me notes about what a 13-year-old black boy and girl do in Red Hook? (Bleep) no!” Continue Reading »
Poster’s Note: Really this a little crazy and a testament to the shortcomings of the Indonesian state, but the dedication to getting to school is incredible.
On the eve of the second anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling known as Citizens United, which opened the floodgate of unlimited, shadowy corporate spending in public elections, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has introduced H. J. Res. 100, a constitutional amendment to rescue American democracy from corporate money’s corrupting influence. “Because of the decision by the Supreme Court majority in the Citizens United case, more money was spent on campaigns in the 2010 election than has ever been spent in a mid-term election. “Because of the Citizens United case, more money will be spent in the 2012 elections than has ever been spent in an election in the history of our country. “Because of the Citizens United case, American democracy has been put up on the auction block,” said Kucinich.
Maxime Daigle worked on oil and gas rigs for seven years before quitting to devote his life to protesting what he believes are the perils of shale gas drilling. Daigle spent his career in the oil and gas sector working in operations located in Alberta, British Columbia and across the United States.
He started as a roughneck and worked his way up to drilling foreman.
But he soon concluded the world’s dependency on oil was killing the planet and he left the industry. Continue Reading »
With the promise of increased “product” (aka detained immigrants) and alleged prosperity for a town that was struggling with an economic crisis Littlefield embarked in the so-called “lucrative” business of detention centers. Instead, what Littlefield got was a mega-complex private facility, an additional $10 million contractual debt, and a fleeing population. At an average rate of $200 per night/per inmate, private prison operators profit over $5 billion a year. How do they do it? Like con-artists, they lure town councils and local government officials with promises of easy money and increased revenue. However, what they don’t tell them is at what cost! Continue Reading »
Kobe Bryant reportedly loses all three of his mansions, $75 million, in divorce settlement
L.A. Laker Superstar, Kobe Bryant
Did you know that Kobe Bryant owns three mansions in Newport Beach, alone? No? Let that swirl around for a second, and now learn that Kobe Bryant does not own three mansions in Newport Beach anymore. Those houses, and a princely $75 million sum, have been sent to Kobe’s ex-wife Vanessa in the couple’s divorce settlement.
TMZ is reporting that the $75 million figure represents half of Kobe’s … er, “the couple’s” total assets. The quick split and even quicker payoff (all three of his houses?) would appear to lend credibility to the idea that Kobe wanted absolutely nothing to do with his ex-wife potentially going on record to air whatever dirty laundry that emanated from what was at times a contentious and fitful 10-year marriage — including reports of massive amounts of infidelity. One of the three mansions is even still in the construction stage, but she’s getting that one too. According to Wikipedia, and this massive lump sum of cash and real estate, the former couple did not put together a prenuptial agreement before tying the knot in April of 2001. The Bryants have two daughters, and we wish both parties well as they move on in their personal lives.
Recently, in Chicagoland, a story hit the papers about a teacher committing suicide. She wrote in her suicide note that the major reason for this drastic act was work-related. According to her colleagues, this woman took her own life because of the bullying and fear she experienced at her school.
Chicago Mayor, Rahm Emmanuel
As I discussed this event with a friend who is a current CPS teacher, he mentioned that in the comments section of the article many non-educators were shocked and horrified at this tragic happening but were also quick to assume that the woman must have been “soft” or had some kind of underlying mental health problem. But, he quipped, when many CPS teachers heard about the incident, they just shook their heads and said, “Yeah, I can see that happening.”
Truth is, so could I. When I think back to my measly one year of teaching at a horribly-run CPS elementary school, I can very easily imagine that scenario unfolding with a number of my colleagues and yes, even with myself. Did you all catch that? Suicide is not considered shocking in the realm of teaching in CPS.
And I don’t think the general public understands the toll that years of working in an increasingly horrible environment coupled with the latest wave of teacher-bashing actually takes on the people who do the hard work of education.
Do not try to look up “Internet Censorship” or “SOPA” or “PIPA” on Wikipedia, the giant online encyclopedia, on Wednesday. SOPA and PIPA are two bills in Congress meant to stop the illegal copying and sharing of movies and music on the Internet, but major Internet companies say the bills would put them in the impossible position of policing the online world.
Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, now says his site will go dark for the day on Wednesday, joining a budding movement to protest the two bills. “This is going to be wow,” Wales said on Twitter. “I hope Wikipedia will melt phone systems in Washington on Wednesday. Tell everyone you know!” Other sites, such as Reddit and Boing Boing, have already said they would go dark on Wednesday. And some of the biggest names online, including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, have vocally opposed the proposed legislation. Continue Reading »
ThinkProgress reported last week that Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal (R) was forced to apologize to First Lady Michelle Obama after forwarding an email to fellow lawmakers that called her “Mrs. YoMama” and compared her to the Grinch. Earlier that same week, the Lawrence Journal-World was sent another email that O’Neal had forwarded to House Republicans that referred to President Obama and a Bible verse that says “Let his days be few” and calls for his children to be without a father and his wife to be widowed.
Kansas House Speaker Mike O'Neal (R)
Nick Sementelli at Faith in Public Life notes that Psalm 109, which is a prayer for the death of a leader, became a popular conservative meme after Obama’s election. The “tongue-in-cheek” prayer for the president was seen on bumper stickers. The relevant part of the psalm reads:
Let his days be few; and let another take his office
May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes.
May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children.
O’Neal forwarded the prayer with his own message: “At last — I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president! Look it up — it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray. Brothers and Sisters, can I get an AMEN? AMEN!!!!!!” Continue Reading »
Poster’s Note: Perhaps, we should have random drug and alcohol tests for all congresspeople.
Republican Sponsor Of Bill To Require Drug Testing For Georgia Welfare Recipients Arrested For DUI
A Georgia Republican who wants all welfare reciepients subject to drug tests failed one himself after he ran a red light on Friday morning. The Atlanta Journal Constiution has the story on State Rep. Kip Smith (R):
Smith, whose given name is John Andrew Smith, first told the officer he had not consumed any alcoholic beverages.
Republican Rep. Kip Smith
“I asked him again, and he stated he had consumed a single beer at Hal’s. I noticed also that Mr. Smith’s eyes were watery, and I asked him to exit the vehicle, which he did,” Kramer said in the report. Smith told the officer he’d had the beer 45 minutes earlier, and the officer asked him to blow into a hand-held “intoximeter”. The officer said the lawmaker refused, stating he would prefer to go to a clinic or the hospital to get tested. The officer said Smith finally agreed to blow into the device. The report stated that Smith blew a .091., which is above the legal limit of .08.
Smith is a sponsor of Georgia House Bill 464, which would “require random drug testing” for citizens on public assistance. In response to Smith’s legislation, State Rep. Scott Holcomb introduced a bill last month that would require all state lawmakers to be subject to random drug testing. Random drug tests for recipients of public assistance are very likely to be found unconstitutional.
Despite being the presumed subject of an ongoing rap beef between Drake and Common, Serena Williams insists her love life isn’t very exciting. The American tennis star is in Melbourne for next week’s Australian Open and answered questions about her relationship status at a Thursday press conference.
“I haven’t been on a date in forever,” Williams she said.
“I can be super picky, never satisfied. It’s a little crazy right now because there’s so much going on that when I’m not playing tennis I don’t sleep because I’m always doing something.” Serena dated the rapper Common on and off for three years. The two broke up sometime last year, reportedly leaving the Chicago-born artist “heartsick.” Since then, Serena has been hanging around with the Canadian TV star-turned-rapper Drake. The two were photographed playing tennis together while Serena was out with an injury last year, though both insist the relationship is platonic. Continue Reading »
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran said on Saturday it had evidence Washington was behind the latest killing of one of its nuclear scientists, state television reported, at a time when tensions over the country’s nuclear program have escalated to their highest level ever. In the fifth attack of its kind in two years, a magnetic bomb was attached to the door of 32-year-old Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan’s car during the Wednesday morning rush-hour in the capital. His driver was also killed.
U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton denied responsibility and Israeli President Shimon Peres said Israel had no role in the attack, to the best of his knowledge. “We have reliable documents and evidence that this terrorist act was planned, guided and supported by the CIA,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in a letter handed to the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, state TV reported. The Swiss embassy represents U.S. interests in a country where Washington has no diplomatic ties. The spokesman for Iran’s Joint Armed Forces Staff, Massoud Jazayeri, said: “Our enemies, especially America , Britain and the Zionist regime (Israel), have to be held responsible for their actions.” Continue Reading »
Opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, has reached a boiling point. Millions of activists, hundreds of startups, social media sites like Tumblr, Reddit and Twitter and even big companies like Google, Yahoo! and eBay have joined with Free Press and other Internet advocacy groups against it.
This Web-censorship bill could destroy free speech on the Internet. Yet this bill — and the backlash against it — have received virtually no coverage from major television news outlets. According to a recent study by Media Matters for America, the blackout has been complete, with ABC, CBS, Fox News, MSNBC and NBC devoting zero time to the issue during their evening newscasts.
This is what happens when the interests of big business get in the way of the need to inform the public and protect free speech. As it turns out, the owners of ABC (Disney), CBS (CBS Corp.), Fox News (News Corp.), MSNBC (Comcast) and NBC (Comcast) are all supporters of the bill. Please take action today and demand that the news directors of ABC, CBS, Fox News, MSNBC and NBC end the SOPA blackout.
As Black people across the nation face the challenge of keeping access to the franchise of voting while Republican legislators and governors try to suppress the Black vote to derail President Barack Obama’s reelection efforts, Black college students find themselves a primary target of those strategizing to keep people of color away from the polls. New voting laws that went into effect in several states could impact the turnout of young college voters in several states, including Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Texas. Many of these states have a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, with tens of thousands of student coming from the New York City area as well as other states with large Black populations.
Laws that now require college students to show government-issued ID work to exclude them from the voting process because lawmakers know they are unlikely to have such identification. Student IDs will not be accepted at the polls in several states, even if the IDs are from state institutions. (more…)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday condemned a video depicting what appears to be four U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters.
A presidential statement described the act as “completely inhumane” and called on the U.S. military to punish the Marines.
The Marine Corps said Wednesday it is investigating the YouTube video but has not yet verified its origin or authenticity. The case has being referred to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Navy’s worldwide law enforcement organization.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense also condemned the actions in the video, which it described as “shocking.” Continue Reading »
During Newsweek’s Oscar roundtable, The Help’s Viola Davis tried to speak about the difficulties of being a black actress in Hollywood—but a well-intentioned reply from Theron was just another example of the problem.
Despite being the presumed subject of an ongoing rap beef between Drake and Common, Serena Williams insists her love life isn’t very exciting. The American tennis star is in Melbourne for next week’s Australian Open and answered questions about her relationship status at a Thursday press conference.
Opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, has reached a boiling point. Millions of activists, hundreds of startups, social media sites like Tumblr, Reddit and Twitter and even big companies like Google, Yahoo! and eBay have joined with Free Press and other Internet advocacy groups against it. 