Tennessee CEO sorry for comparing Michelle Obama to chimp in email

This is the type of nonsense that falls under the radar


An emailed "joke" from an Tennesee CEO comparing the First Lady to a famous movie chimp ended up being no laughing matter.
The CEO of the Tennessee Hospitality Association issued an apology this weekend for an offensive e-mail he recently sent to several people, including members of the press and a public official, comparing Michelle Obama to Cheetah from the Tarzan movies.
"I deeply apologize to anyone who is offended by this action," Walt Baker said in a statement.
"I hope that those who know me realize that the message was not intended to be malicious or hurtful in any way and can find it in their hearts to forgive me."
However, Baker is apparently confused on why someone would find it offensive, describing the joke as "political humor."
"I did not think or consider its implications, other than that it was political humor," he wrote. "I am saddened that anyone misinterpreted the sentiments behind the e-mail."
Baker's e-mail, which someone had sent him and he forwarded, contained a photo of Michelle Obama along side a photo of Tarzan's chimpanzee sidekick.
"I have never considered myself bigoted, or racially insensitive, or a racist," Baker told News Channel 5.
The president of Nashville's Convention & Visitors Bureau, Butch Spyridon, was one of the people to receive the e-mail, and said he was "embarrassed" by the gag.
"The content is deeply hurtful to all in our city and beyond," he wrote in a statement. "The attitudes expressed in the email are both appalling and unacceptable, and are not shared or condoned in anyway by the NCVB or by me personally."
Spyridon said Baker's marketing firm, Mercatus Communications, has since lost its contract to help promote the city's new convention center.
"The e-mail was extremely offensive," Nashville's Mayor Karl Dean said in a statement. "It does not reflect who we are as a city and our values."
According to WSMV Channel 4 News in Nashville, this isn't the first time an e-mail with racist content has caused a controversy in the southern city.
Back in October, several hundred state workers received an e-mail proclaiming "white pride," and shortly after that, 20 Senate staffers were sent an e-mail from a legislative aide with President Obama seen on a black background as just a pair of eyes.
"I regret having done it," Baker said on News Channel 5. "I wished I had not pushed that button."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/03/07/2010-03-07_tennessee_ceo_walt_baker_sorry_for_humor_email_gag_comparing_michelle_obama_to_c.html#ixzz0hb02o8S7

Bias incidents roil University of California - Yahoo! News

Bias incidents roil University of California - Yahoo! News: "Bias incidents roil University of California
By CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press Writer Christina Hoag, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES – Swastikas, nooses, a KKK hood, graffiti, epithets and jeers.

An ugly spate of bias incidents has crossed several University of California campuses over the past month, causing consternation, outcry and fear that bigotry is alive among the young and educated."

Three Waves--Each One White-capped: A Racist History of Feminism

Ain't I a Woman?  Are we WOC woman or not?

Once again, Julian Real is right on the money on this one.  Again and again, the needs of WOC, working class women, immigrant women, poor women, disabled women are disregarded by the mainstream feminist movement.

Three Waves--Each One White-capped: A Racist History of Feminism

Posted using ShareThis

I don't speak white.

Hi this is George Cook and I wanted to share with everyone this article I read by Taylor Trammell. She is a senior in High school at Detroits Mumford High School. The article deals with how it feels to be told that you "speak white" and what this one remarkable young lady has gone through.

Read the article here: http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

Angela Bofill - Winamp

How about some old school music, anyone?  Let's listen to the soulful voice of talented music artist, Ms. Angela Bofill.

Angela Bofill - Winamp

John Patrick Bedell: Killed After Firing On Police Officers At Pentagon

The Rise of Right Wing Extremism.

The recent incident in Washington, DC proves the Southern Poverty Law Center report on the rise of extremism in America. With the economic recession, unemployment and perceived fears of racial privilege, many Americans are becoming domestic terrorists.

The Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League has on record nearly 1,000 hate groups. And this disturbing pattern of "lone wolf" gunmen are becoming a new tradition in the movement. John Patrick Bedell, of California was killed by Pentagon officers after he opened fired on them when they asked for identification.

The alleged shooter posted videos on YouTube (note: YouTube may remove the video upon police inquiries):



Writings from the shooter.

“I am determined to see that justice is served in the death of Colonel James Sabow, as a step toward establishing the truth of events such as the September 11 demolitions and institutions such as the coup regime of 1963 that maintains itself in power through the global drug trade, financial corruption, and murder, among other crimes. My work to develop information currency is an effort to create a framework for information management that uses financial markets to create the economic signals (prices) that will effect complex human actions in the real world based on specified information.

“My desire for justice led me to violate what I think is one of the most unjust laws, cannabis prohibition, by growing 16 cannabis plants on my balcony in Irvine, CA from March 2006 to June 2006.

One desired result of my effort is (will be) billions and billions of carefully cultivated, highly valuable cannabis plants growing throughout the United States with complete security of property. I have posted the image to the right in order to illustrate the use of cannabis as a monetary system using digital financial instruments.”

Official: Pentagon shooter John Patrick Bedell dies after confrontation with police

The Associated Press

Pentagon Police Chief Richard Keevill speaks with reporters about a shooting at the Pentagon, Thursday, March 4, 2010, in Washington. A gunman coolly drew a weapon from his pocket and opened fire at the teeming subway entrance to the Pentagon complex, wounding two police officers before being shot and critically wounded, officials said. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)


WASHINGTON -- The chief of the Pentagon police says the gunman who shot two Pentagon police officers was well armed with two 9 millimeter semiautomatic weapons and several magazines of ammunition.

Chief Richard Keevill said authorities also found more ammunition in the shooter's car, parked in a Washington area parking garage. John Patrick Bedell, 36, of Hollister, Calif., was identified as the shooter. He died Thursday night from head wounds received in the exchange with police.

The two officers injured have been released from the hospital. One suffered a thigh wound and the other was hit in the shoulder. Keeveill said both were superficial injuries.

Keevill said they'd found no immediate connection to domestic or foreign terrorism. He said it appeared he had acted alone.

Ky. man charged with threatening Obama in Web poem

By BRETT BARROUQUERE

The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A Kentucky man has been charged with posting a poem threatening President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on a white supremacist Web site.
U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Stephan M. Pazenzia said Johnny Logan Spencer Jr., 27, of Louisville wrote and posted the poem, titled "The Sniper," on a page called NewSaxon.org. The site is described as an "Online Community for Whites by Whites." The poem was posted in August 2007, according to an arrest affidavit.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Dave Whalin on Friday ordered Spencer released on $25,000 bond, but kept under house arrest at a family member's home. He's charged with making threats against the president and threatening to kill or injure a major candidate for the office of the president.
The poem describes a gunman shooting and killing a "tyrant" later identified as the president, setting off panic in the wake of the fatal shot being fired.
"The bullet that he has chambered is one of the purest pride, And the inspiration on the casing reads DIE negro DIE," the poem states.
Spencer used the online moniker "Pain1488," a reference to a phrase used by white nationalists as well as an homage to Adolf Hitler.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip Chance told Whalin that, even though investigators linked no weapons to Spencer, the poem doesn't qualify as protected political speech.
"This is a threat by an individual against an individual simply because of who he is," Chance said. "He is the president and he is black."
Federal public defender Laura Wyrosdick said no one took action to harm Obama in the two years the poem has been publicly available.
"We're here today because Mr. Spencer allegedly wrote a poem, a work of art," Wyrosdick said.
After the hearing, Spencer's cousin, Paula McGill of Louisville, said family members were shocked by Spencer's arrest.
"I don't think he thought it was going to catch up with him," McGill said. "He's not a harmful guy at all."
The Secret Service became aware of the poem just after the 2008 election that made Obama the first black president in the country's history. An arrest affidavit says the Secret Service referenced the writing in a report on the white supremacist National Socialist movement. But at the time, the affadavit says, "Spencer was never identified, located, or interviewed."
The investigation started a week ago when an informant faxed a copy of the writings and Spencer's identity to the FBI, Pazenzia said.
Pazenzia said Spencer acknowledged writing the poem but gave multiple addresses to investigators, none of which appeared to be his actual residence. Searches of the homes were fruitless, Pazenzia said.
Spencer is currently on probation from a state drug conviction in Louisville.
If convicted of the new charges, he could face up to 15 years in prison.
(This version CORRECTS to say Spencer was not identified as the author of the poem in November 2008.))