Samantha Pierce

Hubby skillfully dissects Al Sharpton's speech at the Democrat National Convention the other night. His post " Al Sharpton's Embarassment of a Speech " nicely cuts to the bone of Sharpie's rhetoric and lays bare it's lack of connection to truth and reality. I had a hard time watching Sharpie's scream fest but I got just enough to know that he was up to his usual divisive tactics. Why does anyone still take this man seriously? After that mess with the Crown Heights riots and the Tawana Brawley mess Sharpie has got no traction with me. A quick google search will produce lots of links to this man's shadiness.

Ambra's posts on why she is not a Republican prompted my own reflections about how I came to my own political affiliations. I've been working on a post about it for a week now. It's currently two and a half pages and I'm not sure it even contains the half of the story. Right now I'm looking for convenient ways to break it up and perhaps turn it into a multi-part post like Ambra's. I'm also trying to get the sibs (who have posting privileges here but never use them, shame on you) to write about their own journeys to their current political affiliations. Baldilocks has a post up about mixed families . Politically mixed families that is. It's an interesting read about how politics can affect family dynamics. In my immediate family my sisters and I all registered to vote as Republicans independently of each other. Dad is not at all happy about this seeing as he and mom are registered (and usually vote for) Democrats. He is anything but liberal but Republ...

Amy Ridenour links to some posts and articles about global warming and carbon dioxide in Carbon Dioxide Nonsense . While perusing the linked information I had this revelation. If folks are sooo convinced that carbon dioxide emissions from power plants will spell our doom why not plant some trees around these power plants? After all every photosynthesizing plant on this planet uses carbon dioxide as an energy source. Plants are extremely efficient at extracting it from the atmosphere. And they're cheap. Plant some deciduous and evergreen trees to get year round carbon dioxide emission control and call it a day. I wonder how is it that a naturally occurring gas that is essential for the existence of plant life (and by extension all other life) on this planet came to be classified as a pollutant by some people.

Hubby was reading some of his students' in class writings to me on Monday night. The students were responding to the question, do whites owe anything to non-whites because of past injustice? Most of the students had some pretty surprising and insightful answers. Not exactly what you would expect from those steeped in academic liberalism. But then again it is a Catholic college he's teaching at and hubby is a master at making people think carefully. Hubby won't let me excerpt any of their answers (anonymously of course) until after class ends on August 9. I'll discuss their answers to the question then. But for now, how would you answer that question?

The first two time I took the quiz I got this: You know which wines go best with which foods, and you can make New York City's finest sommalier feel like a kid at a keg party. You wanna take that Emeril guy and beat him with a stick, but really - you've got more class than that. What people love: You know the best restaurants and what their specialties are. What people hate: Every waiter in town wants to mangle your pretentious ass. What Kind of Elitist Are You? brought to you by Quizilla Now I love food and all and I'm no slouch in the kitchen but this just is not me. I'm nowhere near that obsessive about food. The third time I took the quiz I got: You speak eloquently and have seemingly read every book ever published. You are a fountain of endless (sometimes useless) knowledge, and never fail to impress at a party. What people love: You can answer almost any question people ask, and have thus been nicknamed Jeeve...

The other day I stuck my hands into my pockets and came up with an interesting assortment of items. They were (in my front left pocket) a digital thermometer, a blue ink pen, and (in my back right pocket) an afro pick. An odd collection perhaps but in my world it makes perfect sense. They just scream mom .  I carry the pen so I can write notes to Ethan's teacher and therapists everyday before he heads off to school. I have the thermometer because some one always seems to be running a fever that I need to keep an eye on. I carry the pick around because my kids absolutely hate getting their hair combed. They will do anything to get out of it.  Combs always seem to mysteriouly disappear in our house. Brushes also disappear with disturbing frequency. If I have the pick always in my pocket I can sneak up on the boys and comb their hair when they're least expecting it. I always get some dirty looks after a sneak comb attack but at least their hair looks less disheveled...

I stopped blogging for a whole week and the world didn't spin off of it's axis. Amazing! I spent most of my free time last week braiding my hair. I got tired of having to comb it everyday. In a few months I'll miss combing my hair and take the braids out. La Shawn Barber moved into some new digs while I was gone. Things look pretty darn good over there. All kinds of other interesting things happened while I was gone too. Now I have to spend a few hours trying to catch up on what the folk in my blogroll are saying about stuff. I'm really bummed that I missed Bush's speech to the Urban League. Anybody know where I can find a copy? And did Sandy Berger really stuff copies of classified documents into his clothing? Part of me is having a hard time believing that a former National Security Advisor would do something so obviously illegal and then be stupid enough to say in public that it was just a mistake and expect anyone to believe it. The other part of me is sha...

We sang this hymn in church this morning. I thought it painted a pretty accurate picture of the church today. It made me sad and hopeful at the same time.   The church's on foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; She is his new creation by water and the word: From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride; With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.   Elect from every nation, yet one o'er all the earth; Her charter of salvation -- one Lord, one faith, one birth: One holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food; And to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.   This stanza in particular resonated with me.   Though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed, By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed: Yet saints their watch are keeping, their cry goes up, "How long?" And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.   For all the squabbling Christians do amongst themselves God still intends to use us for ...

I was browsing through my site meter referrals (because I'm stuck in bed today and can't do much else) when I found this . Someone searching for "debra dickerson traitor." Huh?   Someone else was looking for " old and tired uncle tomism argument ." I'm glad somebody's noticed that that argument is indeed old and tired.   I wasn't going to mention this one but since I mentioned the other two I might as well. "hiccup diet in the 1950"s" was there really such a thing? That was certainly the most bizarre of the bunch.

I might have to start feeling bad for the NAACP with so many people criticizing them lately, or not.   Hubby's got a great post up about Legitimacy in the Black Community . He takes on questions like, who gets it, how and why do they get it and what does that say about the black community.   Baldilocks has two great post Puppet Master  and Throwing Away The Crutches  addressing the claims that black conservatives are mere puppets of the VRWC and the question "What have Republicans/conservatives done for black Americans?"

I don't know what it is but lately the comments on a lot of blogs that I frequent have seriously gone down hill. People seem to have lost all common sense and decency. I can only assume that the heat of the summer has cooked off whatever debating skills people may have possessed earlier in the year. Or that the heat has brought out the really stupid people looking for air conditioned comfort in front of a computer. Unless they're commenting from the southern hemisphere then maybe their brains have been frozen stiff by the winter cold. I constantly see people say obviously stupid and inflammatory things hoping to hook some poor fool into responding to their idiocy. And people fall for it every time. Hello! Did you leave your brains sitting next to the computer when you logged on to the internet? Ignore these fools and spare the rest of us the pain of watching you slam your head against a brick wall. And for those of you out there constantly baiting people, get a life! Th...

MTV chief says Bush AIDS policies will not halt condom adverts BANGKOK (AFP) - The president of cable music giant MTV vowed not to stop the channel's hard-hitting AIDS (news - web sites) and condom messages despite the US government promoting a sexual abstinence programme to counter the pandemic. Meanwhile, An adviser on women's issues to the United Nations (news - web sites) on Friday partially blamed a rising AIDS rate among women in the US on popular media such as MTV. "Among young people in America, there is a feeling that sex is cool, that it's okay to be growing up and to be sexually experienced," said Stephanie Urdang. The number of American women with HIV (news - web sites)/AIDS leapt from 180,000 in 2001 to 240,000 two years later, she said. Abstinence, naah that'll NEVER work. (Hat tip World Mag Blog ) In other news from the Washington Post (registration required): Uganda has waged one of the world's most successfu...

The carnival is up at From the Anchor Hold . Looks like there are lots of good submissions this week. Go check it out.

Lots of folks aren't too thrilled about Kweisi Mfume's speech the other day claiming that black conservatives are just puppets of the right. Well my friend, if there are this many of us in the pay of the VRWC you best start runnin' cuz we comin' for ya. I really wonder what the head honchos at the NAACP are smoking when they say stuff like that. And when will they come down from their high? Here's a run down of what some folk are saying. NAA(L)CP attacks Project 21 and other black conservatives , Michael King Is He Talking About Me? , La Shawn Barber NAACP Head: "Black Conservatives are White Folks' Puppets" , Booker Rising Evolve, Already! and Welcome To The 21st Century, Y'all , Avery Tooley Cat's out of the blog , The Black Republican And They Wonder Why Bush Didn't Show Up , Miniluv Tough love vs the bigotry of low expectations , Sisu It Takes A Hustler To Know One , dcthornton.com "Uncle Tom" catca...

You would think these people would come up with some original insults for black conservatives. But apparently we don't rate high enough for that honour so it's the same old "in it for the money" tripe again (I blogged about that last month ). Michael King of Ramblings' Journal tells all about the latest attack by the NAACP on the folks who haven't drunk their special koolaid (I usually try to not say stuff like that but I'm really mad today and don't feel like trying to be nice). NAA(L)CP attacks Project 21 and other black conservatives "I wondered how long it would take before the NAACP began to go after black conservative organizations like Project 21. NAACP president Kweisi Mfume did just that in a speech Monday at their national convention in Philadelphia." Mfume's remarks included the usual accusations that black conservatives are just paid mouth pieces for whitey in his effort to keep black folk down. We are apparently ...

Isaiah seems to be completely recovered from his gastrointestinal distresses of the past two weeks. And he seems to be intent on making up for lost time. He ran wild all morning until I finally hauled him off to his room for a nap. So far today he has emptied out the recycling bin, climbed into the recycling bin (with Ethan), tossed my garden clippers off the back porch, tossed several empty soda bottles and cans off the back porch, scamed some of my breakfast off of me (he actually tried to take food out of my mouth), dumped cereal on the kitchen floor, crumbled cereal onto the livingroom carpet, climbed onto all of the things he is not supposed to, tried to knock over a floor lamp, and tried to lock me out of the house (since the first time he locked Ethan and I out I try to make sure I have my keys with me when I have to do chores outside the house). And that's not even the half of what he's done so far today. Thank God for nap time! Ethan was supposed to go to school on...

Here are a couple of additions to the blogroll: Ramblings' Journal by Michael King "The politically incorrect ramblings of a black conservative" CaribPundit "Caribbean news and politically incorrect views from the right side" Both are good reads (I wouldn't be linking to them otherwise).

I've been reading Debra Dickerson's The End of Blackness (it was a Mother's Day present from hubby). I'm about halfway through this thought provoking book. So far I've got ideas for a handful of post from it. This is the first. Nothing deep just a story related to me reading the book. I was reading this passage in the prologue of the book while I was visiting the family in NYC: "It should not be construed, however, that blacks were passive, merely praying to their God (Jesus) and their god (whites) for deliverance. They engaged in active resistance-espionage, sabotage, arson, subterfuge (future revolt leader Denmark Vesey feigned epilepsy for years), aiding and abetting al manner of proscribed activities, work slowdowns, open defiance, murder, lawsuits, lobbying, and of course open revolt. In the ultimate act of defiance, they escaped or sought to in droves a la Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth. For seven years Harriet Jacobs hid in...

It's stories like this that make me wary of sending Ethan to public school. After one week at pre-school he seems to be doing well. Ethan already seems more purposeful about trying to communicate with us. Instead of just randomly repeating things while he does his own thing he's beginning to purposefully look us in the eye and say stuff to us more often. It's really cute because he stands there looking intently at us waiting for us to make the appropriate response. We're not always sure what he's saying but we encourage the interaction by asking him to clarify things for us. Sometimes he gets it, sometimes he doesn't. He brought me a broken video tape the other morning and asked me, "What are we going to do about this?" I told him we could wait untill daddy got home to fix it. He gave me a fierce frown that clearly communicated that that wasn't a viable option so I fiddled with it myself. Once I'd fixed the tape to his satisfaction he took ...

So why did some one click on a link to my blog that came up in a search for "the way to be slave to goddess salma". What on earth were they looking for? Among other things thus search selected links to porn sites, the Pan African film festival in LA, and some sites on Islam. You don't believe me? Go look for yourself.

This made me laugh, the evil maniacal mad genius laugh. It is so right and at the same time so wrong. I love it! Wackiness: 30/100 Rationality: 36/100 Constructiveness: 54/100 Leadership: 42/100 You are an SECF --Sober Emotional Constructive Follower. This makes you a hippie . [ I suppose I was hippie material in highschool and college. My sisters were convinced I would go on to be a crusader in the hinterlands of some undeveloped country. Now I just day dream about it and plot to send my kids out globe hopping when they grow up. ] You are passionate about your causes and steadfast in your commitments. Once you've made up your mind, no one can convince you otherwise. [ This has always annoyed my family but it comes in handy with hubby. ] Your politics are left-leaning, [ Snicker snicker, I suppose there are people who stand to the right of me politically. ] and your lifestyle choices decidedly temperate and chaste. You do tremendous work when focused, but usually yo...

Today is Ethan's first day of summer school. I haven't had a neurotic "I can't leave my baby!" episode yet but it's early still. He doesn't start until 12:30pm. We manage to handle Sunday school pretty well, the only problem we've had with that is that Ethan is usually ready to go to his class before the class has actually started. I continue my quest for information on how hubby and I can help Ethan ourselves at home. I hit a gold mine online yesterday at Sensory Resources . They've got an extensive list of books that seem have the information I'm looking for, training techniques, therapy strategies, ideas for dealing with the daily craziness and such. The prices for some of these books make my toes curl. As my dad says, they've got parents over a barrel, we want to help our kids and are willing to shell out the money to do so if whether we have it or not. Fortunately hubby has access to two university libraries. Between the tw...

Still dealing with a sick kid but he's not as sick as he was. Yesterday evening he was well enough for some rough-housing with his big brother. He also felt well enough to knock over a stroller (knocking things over is one of his favorite things to do). I still have to force Isaiah to eat and drink which is a bit disconcerting. Usually he can't get food fast enough. I'm staying home from church this morning to keep an eye on him and to keep him from sharing the bug he's got with anyone else's kids. Maybe I'll get some blogging in today.

I've had a sick cranky kid to deal with since yesterday afternoon. I hauled Isaiah off to the doctor this morning because his high fever just wouldn't budge. He has since developed some other symptoms that require frequent baths. Thankfully it seems to be your average kiddy summer bug. He hasn't shared the bug with anyone else yet and I hope it stays that way. We just have to keep drugging him up with ibuprofen and force lots of fluids into him until it passes. There will be little or no blogging until Isaiah is well enough to start stealing food off of other people's plates again (this is one of his favorite pastimes when he is healthy).