Fong Lee

Remember Fong Lee?  Lee was a 19-year-old Minnesota man who was shot eight times by a Minnesota police officer.  The police claimed he had a gun.  A gun was recovered by the body but mysteriously it had no fingerprints or DNA evidence linking it to Lee.  In addition, the gun had been in police possession just before the shooting.  The police officer received a medal for his actions.

Here is an update from Slant Eye for the Round Eye:

While some of you may know about this case, some of you probably don’t – but if you care about how law enforcement looks at members of the API community – I’ll just ask that you listen, and that if you can, help spread the word about the case as well as the upcoming press conference and rally being held this Saturday, October 2nd at 2:00 PM.

Background Information (From The Press Release)

On July 22, 2006, Hmong teenager Fong Lee was with a group of friends riding bikes near the North Minneapolis Cityview Elementary School when Minneapolis police officers chased them across the playground. Officer Jason Andersen shot Fong Lee eight times, in the back, side, and then five more shots into Lee’s chest as he lay on the ground. Andersen stated he was justified in the killing, claiming that Lee pointed a gun at him. He was cleared by the MPD’s internal investigation even though neighborhood eyewitnesses were not interviewed, many of whom contradicted the police officers’ version of events in community press reports.

‘Heartbroken beyond words’

That is from the family of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi.  Clementi, a college freshman, jumped off the George Washington bridge.

I don’t even know what to say about this, except that this sort of callous cruelty makes me lose faith in humanity.

Oh, and Arnold Palmer

Congress passed a measure Thursday that would award a Congressional Gold Medal to Japanese-Americans who volunteered to fight for the U.S. in World War II even as their loyalty to the country was questioned.

Source.

The highest civilian honor awarded by Congress has been given selectively since 1776, when George Washington was awarded the first. Other honorees include the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, Rosa Parks and the Dalai Lama. The Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of black fighter pilots, received the medal in 2007.

My lucky day

I tripped over a curb today and took a really hard fall.  Undoubtedly I would have broken something except I landed on some of the eight (!) bags of groceries I was carrying.  The knee was driven right into a carton of oatmeal, which exploded spectacularly upon impact.  The forearm and elbow were protected by a giant package of toilet paper.

Also, I managed to keep all of my teeth.

If I could get these things (see #11) on film, I’d have a great blooper reel.  But alas.

The privilege of words

So a law professor with a household income above $250,000 blogged about how his family is  “just getting by despite seeming to be rich.”

Among other things, he writes that after taxes, private school fees, school loans, investments, lawn care services, house cleaners, child care and other expenses, they have “less than a few hundred dollars per month of discretionary income.” Also he bemoans the fact they aren’t able to “evade” their taxes.

Google cache has the full post. You can comment on this bit of privilege here.

Other than the obvious privilege, he demonstrates a lack of understanding about the tax proposal.  But hey, why let facts get in the way?

Anyway, he gets roundly excoriated by the blogosphere and deletes the post.  And announces he is no longer blogging.

The electronic lynch mob that has attacked and harassed me — you should see the emails sent to me personally! — has made my family feel threatened and insecure  …  To those with pitchforks trying to attack me instead of my message, I feel sorry for you. You have caused untold damage to me personally. I may be wrong, even stupid, but I don’t think I deserved that.

Got that? The lynch mob with their pitchforks.

‘We are the Super Rich’

[Note:  Items tagged 'no endorsement here' are provided for the convenience of readers and do not represent the opinion of RR. ]

Posted by Todd Henderson on September 15, 2010

The rhetoric in Washington about taxes is about millionaires and the super rich, but the relevant dividing line between millionaires and the middle class is pegged at family income of $250,000. (I’m not a math professor, but last time I checked $250,000 is less than $1 million.) That makes me super rich and subject to a big tax hike if the president has his way.

I’m the president’s neighbor in Chicago, but we’ve never met. I wish we could, because I would introduce him to my family and our lifestyle, one he believes is capable of financing the vast expansion of government he is planning. A quick look at our family budget, which I will happily share with the White House, will show him that like many Americans, we are just getting by despite seeming to be rich. We aren’t.

The hive tells me no.

(Also, ten bucks says Eli Steele is related to Shelby Steele.  You know, the “Content of Our Character” guy.)

This piece of byte-waste from the LA Times is about how the new interracial generation will save us all.  It’s yet another version of once we all f*ck each other and the races mix we will have harmony. No, seriously. Because identity politics are the cause of all our racial problems:

The day will arrive when this interracial generation reaches political consciousness and finds itself at odds with America’s divisive identity politics. Of all Americans, they represent the best opportunity to end these politics and point America back to its tradition of individualism.

People who identify as mixed race have already reached “political consciousness.” There are groups such as Mavin and Swirl and numerous hapa organizations. Do they find themselves “at odds” with identity politics? I can’t really say.  But what I do know is that many multiracial people self- identify as people of color.  Is that buying into “divisive identity politics”?

‘Where the interracials may take us’

[Note:  Items tagged 'no endorsement here' are provided for the convenience of readers and do not represent the opinion of RR. ]

Please comment here.

Of all Americans, they represent the best opportunity to end identity politics and point America back to its tradition of individualism.
By Eli Steele

We may be in the midst of an interracial baby boom. A recent Pew Research Center study reported that interracial marriages rose from 6.7% in 1980 to a record 14.6% in 2008. If these marriages produce children at the national average, one out of seven Americans could claim two or more races. In Western states where interracial marriage is more common, the ratio rises to nearly one out of four.

The day will arrive when this interracial generation reaches political consciousness and finds itself at odds with America’s divisive identity politics. Of all Americans, they represent the best opportunity to end these politics and point America back to its tradition of individualism.

Also, water is wet

The front page of USA Today reads: ” Sexism hurts female politicians.”  The first thing I thought of was Harry Reid referring to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand as the “hottest member of the Senate.”   WTF was he thinking?

I think -isms harm everybody, although I guess it could be argued that sexism doesn’t seem to hurt male politicians very much.

But the headline on the story itself reads “Study: Sexist insults hurt female politicians”:

Calling a female candidate such sexist names as “ice queen” and “mean girl” significantly undercuts her political standing, a new study of voter attitudes finds, doing more harm than gender-neutral criticism based solely on her policy positions and actions. Harder-edged attacks, such as referring to her as a prostitute, were equally damaging among voters, according to research commissioned by a non-partisan coalition of women’s advocacy groups.

‘When an adoption goes bad’

That was the Tribune headline for this story.

Red flags:  Long struggle with infertility.  Multiple nannies.  Mother pregnant shortly after child comes into the home.  Biological child after adopted child.  Blog with all the details.

And you know she’s probably writing a book.  Because you have to talk about that heartbreaking choice.

At least the foster parents declined to comment.