Angela Davis: Don't Remember Me As A Hairdo

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Guardian (uk): 'We used to think there was a black community'
With her towering afro and radical rhetoric, Angela Davis was one of the iconic faces of black politics in 1970s America. She talks to Gary Younge about Barack Obama, the racism of the black middle class, and how it feels to be remembered as a hairdo

Angela Davis was intrigued to see recently that a significant number of young black women to whom she was delivering a talk were wearing images of her from the 70s on their T-shirts. She asked what the image meant to them. "They said it made them feel powerful and connected to other movements," she says. "It was really quite moving. It really had nothing to do with me. They were using this image as an expression of who they would like to be and what they would like to do. I've given up trying to challenge commodification in that respect. It's an unending battle and you never win any victories."

Barney Frank Fights for Equality

Barney Frank makes an emotional speech on the House floor to get the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) passed.

San Francisco Chronicle: House approves bill banning bias against gays in workplace

Celtics Fans: This Year, Arrive Early

Boston Celtics forwards Kevin Garnett (L) and Paul Pierce smile during a time out in the third quarter of their NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets in Boston, Massachusetts November 7, 2007. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (UNITED STATES)
Last night the New and Improved Boston Celtics massacred the Denver Nuggets, a good old fashioned throttling, 119-92. The score of the game was 38-22 at the end of the first quarter, and and unbelievable 77-38 at halftime. Yes, the game was over not only by halftime, but midway through the second quarter. Celtics fans, you've been warned: For this year's team, you've got to arrive early, or the game will be in the bag.

As a fan from the good old days of the 1980s Celtics, I actually enjoyed watching the game. I haven't watched the Celtics since Antoine Walker left, because there's been no spark. Last night, there was passing -- passing! -- and lo and behold, something never seen in the modern NBA, commitment on defense! When Chad Finn wrote that Kevin Garnett was going to restore Celtic Pride and make Celtics fans happier than they could imagine, I scoffed. Now I'm a believer. The big man has the team united as a team, everyone heads up, cheering for their mates from the bench, and giving it all on the floor. Is this the NBA? Can I be dreaming? A team playing as a team and not as a talented group of individuals all seeking to pump up their personal statistics, team and result be damned?

The announcers got into it, with Bob Cousy doing one of his rare full game appearances. They were talking about the playoffs by the 3rd minute of the game, and Cousy made a Larry Bird reference in the second quarter! I'm going to have to make some time in my winter schedule for watching the Celtics. They could make me stop hating the NBA.

Boston Globe, Jackie MacMullan: Another big step forward

Boston Herald, Steve Buckley: Hopes for title ring true
Pierce keeps it real with Garnett, Allen

Civil Rights Pioneer John Lewis: "To discriminate against someone because they are gay: It is wrong, it is wrong, It. Is. Not. Right."

John Lewis makes me proud to be an American:

Baseball Notes, Mostly Sawx

Boston Red Sox' Jacoby Ellsbury hoists the World Series trophy prior to the Boston Celtics basketball game against the Washington Wizards in Boston Friday, Nov. 2, 2007, as teammates Manny Delcarmen, left, and Tim Wakefield, right, look on. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

- Curt Schilling takes the hometown discount to sign with the Sox; he inserted a weight clause that pays him:

$2 million in bonuses for 6 seperate [sic] weigh ins.

I inserted the weigh in clause in the 2nd round of offers, counter offers. Given the mistakes I made last winter and into Spring Training I needed to show them I recognized that, and understood the importance of it. Being overweight and out of shape are two different things. I also was completely broad sided by the fact that your body doesn’t act/react the same way as you get older. Even after being told that for the first 39 years of my life. Now I can’t get on Dougie anymore, which sucks, and I am sure the clause will add 15-100 more jokes to Tito’s Schilling joke book.

Maybe that's what I need to lose weight, a $2,000,000 incentive? I'll just declare free agency and see how that works out for me. I feel the pounds dropping already.

- Kevin Youkilis wins his first Gold Glove; only George "Boomer" Scott ever won the award playing first base for the Sawx. Too bad the Sawx didn't keep Orlando Cabrera after the 2004 World Series; he won the Gold Glove at SS in the National League.

- Charlie Pierce (the man who gave us "C+ Augustus") on the Sawx winning the Series: Slate: The Red Sox Win Again
And it feels great, thanks for asking.

- Alex Beam, dyspeptic columnist but true Red Sox fan, gloating about the Yankees in the Globe: The sorrow and the pity: a Bronx tale

- And my non-Sawx note, just another reason why the Sawx MUST NOT SIGN Me-Fraud: A-Rod's recent post-season performance (hat tip to Red Sox Stats Guy):

Since Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS — the night Boston began its epic comeback from three games down against the Yankees — (Alex) Rodriguez has come to the plate with 38 runners on base, over the span of 59 at-bats. He left every single one on base, going 0-for-27, right through the Yanks’ Division Series loss to Cleveland this month.

Joke of the Day

Q: What's the difference between a cow and 9/11?

A: Rudy Giuliani doesn't know how to milk a cow.

What Color Is This Woman?

NYTimes: Chicago Police Taser 82-Year-Old Woman

Not just a 82-year-old woman, but one with a) schizophrenia and b) dementia. Big strong police officers scared of a little old lady (5'1"). What have we come to? They're lucky they didn't kill her.

They came to her apartment on a "wellness" check, and she didn't want to let them in. For this she gets tasered? Cops don't see the public as people any more, just terrorists. And who are the scariest people? You know.

Here's the answer to the post title question:

Chicago Sun-Times: Cops wouldn't take 'no' for an answer

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More Red Sox Videos

Manny Ramirez on Jay Leno:



David Ortiz (The Bedazzler) on Conan O'Brien:



Manny's walk-off home run that ended Game 2 of the ALCS:

Falafel Me This

Weapons of Mass Destruction?
Wikipedia: Falafel

What percentage of American falafel eaters are terrorists? The FBI thinks it's a connection worth pursuing. In 2005 and 2006, the FBI actually looked at grocery story sales in the San Francisco area to see if they would find terrorists because they were purchasing falafel ingredients. (And what of hummus?)

The CQPolitics article about the FBI tracking grocery store sales is not from the satirical newspaper the Onion. No, it is a statement of fact. The FBI actually looked at who bought the ingredients to make falafel in order to find Iranian terrorists.

Because falafel eaters....oh, never mind, it's so mindnumbingly foolish that it seems superfluous to comment on it.

Because really, falafel ingredients? Why didn't they look at, oh, I don't know, visas, flight schools, purchases of guns, ammunition and bomb-making materials, or bank records, just to name a few.

And shouldn't they have looked carefully at Bill O'Reilly, a self-confessed lover of the falafel (last line, paragraph 78)?

CQPolitics: FBI Hoped to Follow Falafel Trail to Iranian Terrorists Here

Like Hansel and Gretel hoping to follow their bread crumbs out of the forest, the FBI sifted through customer data collected by San Francisco-area grocery stores in 2005 and 2006, hoping that sales records of Middle Eastern food would lead to Iranian terrorists.

The idea was that a spike in, say, falafel sales, combined with other data, would lead to Iranian secret agents in the south San Francisco-San Jose area.

The brainchild of top FBI counterterrorism officials Phil Mudd and Willie T. Hulon, according to well-informed sources, the project didn’t last long. It was torpedoed by the head of the FBI’s criminal investigations division, Michael A. Mason, who argued that putting somebody on a terrorist list for what they ate was ridiculous — and possibly illegal.

We Love Lists

From Project Censored, the Top 25 Censored Stories of 2008

# 1 No Habeas Corpus for “Any Person”
# 2 Bush Moves Toward Martial Law
# 3 AFRICOM: US Military Control of Africa’s Resources
# 4 Frenzy of Increasingly Destructive Trade Agreements
# 5 Human Traffic Builds US Embassy in Iraq
# 6 Operation FALCON Raids
# 7 Behind Blackwater Inc.
# 8 KIA: The US Neoliberal Invasion of India
# 9 Privatization of America’s Infrastructure
# 10 Vulture Funds Threaten Poor Nations’ Debt Relief
# 11 The Scam of “Reconstruction” in Afghanistan
# 12 Another Massacre in Haiti by UN Troops
# 13 Immigrant Roundups to Gain Cheap Labor for US Corporate Giants
# 14 Impunity for US War Criminals
# 15 Toxic Exposure Can Be Transmitted to Future Generations on a “Second Genetic Code”
# 16 No Hard Evidence Connecting Bin Laden to 9/11
# 17 Drinking Water Contaminated by Military and Corporations
# 18 Mexico’s Stolen Election
# 19 People’s Movement Challenges Neoliberal Agenda (Free Trade through Central and South America)
# 20 Terror Act Against Animal Activists
# 21 US Seeks WTO Immunity for Illegal Farm Payments
# 22 North Invades Mexico
# 23 Feinstein’s Conflict of Interest in Iraq
# 24 Media Misquotes Threat From Iran’s President
# 25 Who Will Profit from Native Energy?