NinJamaica

Imagine. If Jason Bourne were Jamaican, rastafarian, AND played the drums, he'd be NinJamaica. Sometimes funny, somewhat offensive, beautiful animation. http://tinyurl.com/yzdosyf

Tar Heel Madness

Sweet Sixteen:
"In defeating Arkansas 108-77, North Carolina became the first team to score 100 points in their first two N.C.A.A. Tournament games since 1990."

Triangle for Obama Caucus Watch

Please Help Me Keep My New Year's Resolution

Support breast cancer research and women living with breast cancer

On February 17, in addition to celebrating a big birthday milestone with my stepdad as he turns 60(!), I will start the day by running 13.1 miles along with my much faster friend Kellie Magnus in the inaugural National Marathon and Half Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer in Jacksonville, FL.

This is my third half marathon and I've set an aggressive personal goal of improving my half marathon time by more than 30 minutes! Since October I've been training on my own, following the Galloway training program, which has provided me with the coaching, guidance and inspiration to help me prepare for this event, so this goal should be challenging but attainable.

For me, this event represents a celebration of strength, life and good health. Many of us take our quality of life and good health for granted. At this stage of my life, experience has shown me that I can no longer afford to do that. So this is my number one most important resolution for this year: to be the strongest, healthiest and most happily productive person I can be in 2008.

In that spirit, I'm dedicating this run to benefit breast cancer research. I hope you'll join me by making a donation to benefit the Mayo Clinic and women living with breast Cancer. This is a particularly effective way to support this important cause since ALL proceeds from the breast cancer marathon -- 100% of the registration fees and your donation -- will go directly to The Donna Hicken Foundation. While a portion of the proceeds will be used for the critical care of breast cancer survivors in need, the foundation has pledged to donate the majority of funds raised to the Mayo Clinic for research and its Multidisciplinary Breast Clinic, which specializes in the detection and treatment of breast cancer.

All contributions are tax deductible, and you can donate online via my fundraising page . If your company matches donations, please let me know and I'll help us take advantage of that. I really appreciate any support you are able to give! Thanks in advance.

CHANGING THE FACE OF DISTANCE RUNNING

A great, inspiring running story from Runners World:

The loneliness of the long-distance runner is nothing compared to the loneliness of the African-American long-distance runner. Just ask Tony Reed, a 91-time marathoner and the only black runner to complete a marathon on each of the seven continents. "When I run marathons, I look around to see if there are other people like me," says the 52-year-old Dallas resident who warms up to the sounds of Parliament Funkadelic. Often, there aren't. "I was tired of feeling like I was the only one out there."
....To help change that, Reed cofounded the National Black Marathoners' Association (NBMA), which in three years has grown from 15 runners to more than 500 members in 30 states.
....Reed and many other black marathoners are motivated by a disproportionately high incidence of heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes among African Americans. At age 8, Reed was diagnosed with glucosuria, a prediabetic condition, and told he'd be on an insulin regimen by the time he was a teen. Instead, Reed spent his high school years competing in cross-country and track in St. Louis.
...."I think a lot when I run," says Reed, "and one thing that keeps coming back to me is, at 52, I have never taken an insulin shot. A pair of running shoes is cheaper than a month's worth of medicine. It's just that simple."

Those are just some of the highlights. Tony Reed's story is definitely worth reading in its entirety, available online or in the current issue of Runners World.

Leaving Los Angeles

Jon Robin Baitz: Leaving Los Angeles (Part Three: Epilogue)
From the Huffington Post, a heartfelt account about the personal costs of the ongoing writers' strike from one of TV's most successful and outspoken creators, Jon Baitz, formerly of ABC's Brothers and Sisters. While this particular labor struggle involves some of the most privileged among us, it is clearly taking a real toll nonetheless:

"It came as no particular shock that the head of ABC Studios very politely fired me Friday evening. 'What did I think was going to happen?' is not an unreasonable question. I have not, for someone with a show on the air, been particularly politic about the strike; specifically the media moguls and their polarizing intractability. The head of the studio said it was a bad day, he was making a lot of these calls. I felt sorry for him. I really did. Not so bad for myself. Still, I guess I no longer have any relationship to Brothers & Sisters or to the studio. Just a very gracious, exceptionally polite 'bye-bye.'"

Pie in the Sky?

In the Jan 28 issue of the Nation magazine, Columbia Law Professor Patricia Williams writes an excellent analysis/indictment of our image-obsessed national political psyche, daring us to rise above the incessant, reductive, and ultimately degrading spin this election season. The title of her piece, "American Pie", however, betrays the persistently challenging, perhaps even impossible, nature of that goal:

"I hope that we Americans can resist the vicious vacuity of politics at the level of whether Tara Reid has hit 'scarily skinny.' We will have enough to deal with as the right's Rovian spinmeisters kick into action, wrapping both Obama and Clinton in sticky webs of hybridized stereotypes. She will be too 'mannish,' he too 'boyish.' She'll be too familiar, he too foreign. He'll be a wimp, she'll be a pimp. Yet this is an extraordinary moment in American history--we have our first serious black and female presidential candidates. It is my audacious little hope that the two of them, in whatever order, will become running mates by November. They must not fall prey to those who would love to see them wound each other before then, in the scramble to be top dog."

The Obama-Clinton Issue - New York Times

Brooks on Obama
The Obama-Clinton Issue - New York Times:

"Like most of the rival campaigns, I’ve been poring over press clippings from Obama’s past, looking for inconsistencies and flip-flops. There are virtually none. The unity speech he gives on the stump today is essentially the same speech that he gave at the Democratic convention in 2004, and it’s the same sort of speech he gave to Illinois legislators and Harvard Law students in the decades before that. He has a core, and was able to maintain his equipoise, for example, even as his campaign stagnated through the summer and fall."

Poll Finds G.O.P. Field Isn’t Touching Voters

A little over three weeks before the primaries begin, the GOP nom is still very much up for grabs and opportunities seem to abound for the Dems:

From the New York Times - U.S. / Politics

Poll Finds G.O.P. Field Isn’t Touching Voters
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MEGAN THEE
Published: December 11, 2007

Mike Huckabee is now locked in a tight three-way contest nationally, but most Republican voters say they haven’t made a final choice, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

Summing Up Oprah & Obama - TIME

Summing Up Oprah & Obama - TIME: "Pundits have focused on whether or not Oprah's presence on the campaign trail will bring Obama more voters, but the four rallies Opr-ama did over the weekend were not intended to change people's minds. They were about creating the kind of audacious political theater that makes supporters believe they're going to win, and casual observers into interested ones. "

Nike Plus Women's Half Marathon

I finished my second half marathon today (first was the Virginia Beach Rock and Roll HM).

Paris trumps war and immigration

Paris Hilton's reincarceration has bumped General Pace's retirement AND immigration reform as the top story on Newyorktimes.com as of 4 pm. Sign of the oncoming apocalypse? Could be. I think it is a legit news story at this stage, especially locally in LA in regard to sentencing standards; I just don't think it should bump the war and immigration as the most important news story of the day.

And, now it's also the lead story on Hardball with Chris Matthews. Matthews devoted a good 20 minutes at the top of the hour to the debate over Paris' return to jail, complete with interviews pro and con with Rev Al and defense attorney Roy Black before he segues to an interview with Speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi. Well at least now the highest ranking female elected official in U.S. history knows where she ranks.

Notes on a Scandal

Starring Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal is the best movie I've seen in a while. I didn't "like" any of the characters (I'd be concerned if I had), save possibly Blanchett's cuckolded older husband, played by Bill Nighy. Nonetheless, it's absorbing and disturbing and completely entertaining. More here

The liquid world. By William Saletan

Excellent analysis of the latest security crisis by Slate's William Saletan:
The liquid world. By William Saletan: "'While I am confident that the Security Services and Police will deliver 100% effort and 100% dedication, they can never guarantee 100% success.'
That's the bottom line: We die. In a liquid world, you can't seal off evil. All you can do is fight liquid with liquid. You have to absorb the tragedy, flowing around and through it. You need the strength of a river, not a rock. You need resilience. You can't be untouchable, but you can be undefeated.
Reid ended his speech with a quote from Charles Darwin: 'It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.' It isn't the individual who has to adapt and survive. It's the species."

Emboldened by Reggae, Jamaican Writers Bust Out - New York Times

The New York Times takes note of Jamaica's multinational cultural impact. Major bigup:
Emboldened by Reggae, Jamaican Writers Bust Out - New York Times: "Because of reggae, Mr. Channer said, 'I can write with a confidence that reggae music has turned the ears of the world to Jamaica.' And as the island has become more urban and American culture has made inroads into Jamaica's traditional culture, the country's literature has become more multinational.
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Blogging the Oscars

It was a weird, sometimes wacky, personal and political year in the movies and yet somehow the Oscar Telecast still managed to be pretty snooze inducing.
For live blow-by-blow commentary courtesy of Entertainment Weekly PopWatcher Josh Wolk and miscellaneous other bloggers (including yours truly) see:
Popwatch

Jamaica Gleaner News - Commish expects an early election - Sunday | January 22, 2006

What does it mean to look on the bright side these days? This is the "positive spin" from Police Commissioner Thomas on the record breaking murder rate in Jamaica- you only have a 1 in 5 chance of being murdered if you're not involved in organized crime - that's 20%!

"Last year, more than 1,650 persons were murdered in Jamaica, the worst in the history of the island. But, despite the horrific murder rate, Commissioner Thomas told the gathering that, based on police intelligence, there was an 80 per cent chance that persons who were not involved in organised crime were not likely to be murdered."

Fabulous, I feel so much safer now.

THE AFFLICTED YARD..MEDIA TERRORISM IN A TERRORIST-UNFREINDLY WORLD

"Uptown Trevor" is not real, so why do I feel like I've met him more than once before? Peter Dean Rickard's twisted little tale about class and greed in the rock is a serious must read:

"One Saturday morning in Cherry Garden, Uptown Trevor was getting ready to drive down the hill to fetch the morning papers....

Uptown Trevor sighed.' Suppose I had not given you a job Clarence? Would you have anything to complain about now?! If there's one thing I cannot stand in this country, it is the escalating belief among poor-people with no legs that the world OWES THEM SOMETHING!"

Click here to experience this story yourself.

The Empresses' New Clothes (Or Why are these women so naked?)

This is the new celebrity death match--music, film and tv stars locked in a battle for most skinny and most nekkid. Last night at the American Music Awards Mariah Carey tried to get in the game, flaunting not one, but two near naked ensembles in primetime network television, one of which put a generous portion of her breasts on display. But she's no match for the reigning queens: Eva Longoria's MTV Awards getup was both legless AND frontless; Paris Hilton never met a hemline that she couldn't raise or a neckline she couldn't lower; And J. Lo's 2000 Grammy dress is arguably still the one to beat in terms of baring, daring, engineering, and publicity snaring. So Mariah's a mere dilettante in this race, not a contender.

But the question remains--where is this all going? Much like the nuclear arms race, the endgame may seem unthinkable. Not so, I would argue. The Longoria gambit signals a renewed escalation. The Empress's new clothes can not be far behind.

So who are your nominees for the naked celebrity hall of shame?

Back On the Rock: Share And Share Alike

A writer friend of mine has started a new blog that is mostly dedicated to reflections on her experiences as a returning resident to Jamaica. This one really resonates: Back On the Rock: Share And Share Alike:

"My father is, by all accounts, a fully functioning adult. He has two arms and two legs and, evidently, the fine motor skills required to open a vacuum-sealed plastic package. Sharing his dinner is, however, not in his repertoire.

I knew better than to broach the subject, but I am as willful as he and besides, plate-sharing is a subject of endless fascination for me. There's no sharing about it. It's service. One way: female to male. I am as allergic to plate-sharing as my father is addicted to it."

America the Great Equalizer?

Political Peeve of the Day

Kudos to Germany on their first female Chancellor. While America is still debating the viability of a female president, countries around the world have elected or appointed women to the highest political office. (Update, Sunday Nov 27: TV Talkers the McGlaughlin Group debated this very point today. When asked about the likelihood that a woman would be elected President of the United States by 2050 - 11 elections from now - panelist estimates varied from a dismissive 1 in 10, almost no chance, to the token liberal's optimistic 9 or so. Pat Buchanan and Tony Blakely didn't feel there were enough qualified female candidates available to make it happen at this juncture-even given another 45 years!).

Before the blue staters starting blaming red state fundamentalism, I have to say that no, we can not simply blame America's religiosity for this. Consider that Ireland, a highly, some would say infamously, religious country no doubt, has had not one but TWO female heads of state, including the current one. What's more, so have two predominantly muslim countries-- Pakistan, and Turkey; and one Hindu country too -- India. But the United States still thinks it’s at the vanguard of human rights and equality. Tell me why again?

Since the 1970s women have been leaders in democratic countries around the world. This list includes countries in Europe, Central America, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean (yay).
A partial list of countries with women as highest elected official – President or Prime Minister:

• Dominica
• Finland
• Germany
• India
• Ireland
• Israel (1969!)
• Liberia
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua!!
• Norway
• Pakistan
• U.K. (1979)

And, no, this is not the first time America has lagged behind in gender equity. In the United States, women only received the right to vote in August 1920 when the 19th amendment was ratified. The U.S. was the 27th country in the world to do so! And, just so you know, North Carolina was NOT among the 3/4ths of American states that voted this into law. Gotta love Dixie.

FYI, Portia Simpson is the most popular politician in Jamaica right now so we may not be far behind. Anyone care to weigh in on the probabilities of a woman being the Head of State in either the U.S. or Jamaica by 2050? Despite Tony and Pat, I'm wholeheartedly convinced this will happen in both locales, perhaps sooner rather than later.

Minority Report: Greek Tragedy: life observation

My other blog contains postings about politics, media, and my favorite blogger, Stephanie Klein: http://liberalmajority.blogspot.com/