One of my favorite radio commentators is Larry Elder. As a black conservative he is able to share views that I can’t, and speak with an authority on Black America that I can’t. If you’re still deciding who you want to support, listen to the values Larry Elder talks about. When he talks about things like personal responsibility, that is what makes me a conservative. When he mentions Barack Obama’s plan to fix everything via government programs, that is why I am not a liberal.

As strange as it may sound, during Obama’s multi-country tour of the Middle East I’ve heard several journalists now talk about how he isn’t giving interviews. The entire trip is basically turning into an opportunity for him to get pictures taken in the Middle East. Foreign journalists are being snubbed completely. The German writer Christoph von Marschall remarks:

Surely a man who has said he would talk with U.S. adversaries such as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can spend a few moments with journalists from friendlier countries.

Andrea Mitchell even says she doesn’t know what the heck is going on during the tour, because it’s all a PR stunt. Watch the video here. In fact, when I saw video of Barack shooting hoops in front of the troops, I couldn’t help but notice almost the entire crowd was black.

I think it’s funny that the latenight news runs clips like the above and does zero critical analysis. Clearly the people there wanted to be there, but it came across in the news that all of the military was excited for him to be there. Why can’t the news say “a majority of the attendees were black supporters”? Maybe he’s not giving interviews because they don’t have any teleprompters in the Middle East.

And to really hit you upside the head, CNN is posing the question Could an Obama Presidency Hurt Black Americans? Read the following:

Yet there are a few political commentators who warn African-Americans that an Obama victory could be twisted to suppress the push for racial equality.

So let me get this straight. If Obama became President, it would be bad because then blacks would think they are no longer held down by the white man? Obama can be President, just like Oprah, Tiger Woods, Larry Elder, and 50 Cent are all successful black people. How stupid do you have to be to realize the door is wide open for people of all colors? Even when those doors are thrown wide open with throngs of people passing through them, some people have the gall to say an Obama Presidency would convince people that Blacks have come all the way? No crap, because they have. If you can acheive the Presidency, WTF else do you want your ethnic group to achieve?

Today is the second to last day of state testing. My group of kids is done, but because of our strange schedule, I have my kids for over an hour with nothing to do. That means movie time!

There is a certain charm to my job that is hard to quantify. No, not really. Let me try.

Granted there are negatives, but the positives far outway them. I heard a kid call up Larry Elder yesterday and complained that his mom, a teacher, didn’t get paid enough. Elder pointed out that if teachers aren’t fairly compensated, then they’d have a hard time filling positions, but they don’t.

If I was working in the private sector I would be working longer hours, get two weeks of vacation, and there is no way I could pursue writing a book. Regardless of all the hoops I have to jump through and the occasional bad apple, this is my dream job.

I am a definite HD lover, but I have yet to jump into the HD-DVD or BluRay battle for a couple reasons. The main reason is that I see little reason at this point. Movies cost a lot, players cost a lot, and there just aren’t a lot of choices in terms of titles to watch. The second major factor has been the undecided “battle” between the formats. I read an interesting article talking about how that is playing out here. It sounds like BluRay is strategically placing itself to win. Seeing how I’ve yet to invest in either, I think that’s a good thing. It’s the superior technology, and it would give me a good excuse to buy a PS3 in the future.

Today in some of my classes I showed a video about building a gigantic skyscraper in Spain. My intention was to show students a couple things. One, that the math they are learning is still very basic, and there are applications in the real world that require math far more advanced than they have even been exposed to. The second was to show them that there is more to life than idiot A said something mean about idiot B, and that there is more to strive for than being a loser.

I’ve been listening to a few new albums lately. Right now it’s the new Fall Out Boy CD. I’m not as impressed as the last one, but there are some notable tunes on it. Other albums I’m diggin’ are by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Cute Is What We Aim For, and Paramore.

Tim Hardway said he hates gay people. The NBA said don’t come to the All-Star game. Larry Elder was suggesting it was hypocritical of the NBA, and I agree. After all, if the NBA doesn’t care that a large portion of it’s players are actual criminals (here), then why should they care what a retired player says?

It’s a long weekend. I have plans to finish my story, grade some papers, and relax!

Bill Lester is the first black guy to race in Nascar’s top event in 20 years. Poor guy, people care more about his skin color than racing ability.

At a press conference he joked "I don’t look different than most Nascar drivers, do I?" to which people chuckled and clapped. Clapped? "Yay, you’re black, most Nascar drivers are white, let’s all clap!"

His wife then talked about how he needed to find sponsors, but it’s been surprisingly difficult (because who would ever sponsor a black man!). They then showed footage of his sponsored car, and race suit covered in sponsors. Difficult huh? I blame it on all the diversity brain-washing being shoved down our throats in college. Celebrating diversity is total crap. Doesn’t the guy feel totally slighted? If people got excited about me because my skin is white I’d be pissed off. "That guy is white! Yippy. Oh, and he’s a teacher too."

That’s three things tonight that have gotten on my nerves. I need some Larry Elder.

Pandering to Blacks at a recent Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, Senator Hillary Clinton made the following remarks: The House "has been run like a plantation, and you know what I’m talking about," said Clinton, D-New York. (See the full article here via CNN.) Update: Video at PolitcalTeen. I could go many directions from here (inspiration via Larry Elder).

I could talk about how most Black voters are taken for granted by the Democratic Party, and sadly a remark like this will do little to affect support among Blacks. The oddest thing of all is that Clinton was using this to rally the Blacks she was addressing. To even suggest that the House of Representatives is comparable to a plantation is ludicrous. Blacks should be outraged that Clinton would suggest such a thing, and even more upset that she is using it to promote her political adgenda.

I could talk about how Clinton is confused about where to position herself leading into 2008. She doesn’t know if she should position herself as a centrist or a far-left liberal. If she positions herself in the center like John Kerry, someone far-left like Dean might give her problems. However, if she goes too far-left she won’t appeal to those in the middle.

I could talk about how the mainstream media is going to give her a pass like they always do. Trent Lott was crucified over his comment to Strom Thurmond, which in and of itself was not racist (it was interpreted as an endorsement of Thurmond’s political stance at the time, though it’s likely Lott was simply saying he was a good man for the job.) Why isn’t the NAACP making an uproar and denouncing Clinton’s comments?

I will leave you with another quote from Senator Clinton from the same speech (this is for those of you that didn’t actually read the article). In two years when Clinton is running for office and promising to bring the country together, don’t forget this mean-spirited foaming at the mouth remark:

"I predict to you that this administration will go down in history as one of the worst that has ever governed our country."

We’re making a webpage in Microsoft Word. Boo Yah! We haven’t done anything notable today, so I’ll just go on. Four more class sessions left after this one.

Since I have nothing amusing to say about my class I will instead talk about my favorite radio talk shows.

Larry Elder (790 KABC ~ 3-6 pm PST)
This guy is awesome. Much of his discussions revolve around race relations and various current events. As a black conservative he is a very rare breed (somewhere around 1-2% of US population). Recently he has been discussing the Alito hearings, and before that Tookie Wookie was a big one. One of my biggest draws to the show comes from his Libertarian background. He is a firm believer in personal responsibility and not crying victim.

Michael Savage (870 KRLA ~ 6-9 pm PST)
Broadcasting out of the heart of Liberalism in San Francisco, Savage tends to border on insane. This guy is an ultra-conservative, and that’s what I like about him. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks, or if anyone likes him, he just speaks his mind. I recently read his book "Liberalism Is A Mental Disorder," a good read. He will either drive you nuts or inspire you.

John Ziegler (640 KFI ~ 7-10 pm PST)
This is a newer friend of mine I’ve started listening to on the way home from school. Ziegler usually covers local events similar to John and Ken, but with a little more variety in his topics (and John and Ken start to grate on my ears after a while). Lately he’s been bashing Arnold for going soft and becoming a Democrat.

Laura Ingraham (870 KRLA ~ 6-9 am PST)
My drive to work is usually less than 10 minutes, but if I turn the radio on I dial in to Laura. She’s a fairly mainstream conservative, but not afraid to speak her mind when she disagrees with the Republican party. If she disagrees with the President or his policies, she will come right out and say it. Pretty much 100% politically driven.

Other Notables…

Sean Hannity – I listend to Sean non-stop during the 2004 Presedential campaign. Overall I enjoy his show, but he’s a little too mainstream for my liking. He tends to not be quite as objective as some of the other guys I listen to, but he’s still very good

Michael Medved – He would be at the top of my list, except I’m working while he’s on. He is very intellectual and value driven. He is a firm believer that Judeo-Christian values have made this country great, and he discusses how many liberal ideas/values go against those Judeo-Christian values (like family).

Dennis Prager – Very philosophically driven (and like Medved he is Jewish), this is probably the most intellectual show on the airwaves. He loves to discuss morality and is great brain stimulation. Unfortunately he is on from 9 am-Noon, so I never get to hear him.

Those are pretty much all the people I usually listen to. Sometimes I have to take a break and listen to some music, but talk radio is excellent brain food. Flip over to AM the next time you’re bored with FM.

I stumbled across a website that only reports Happy News. A few posts back we touched on alternative news sources. It is amazing how our sources of information influence our opinions on current events.

Drudge has a link to a poll of Iraqi people showing that 71% say life is going good. The link is to ABC News, so I thought I’d check their frontpage and see what they consider the "top stories." The top headline reads "Bush: 30,000 Iraqis Killed," and below that is a link that says "Related: Iraqi Poll." Several things jump out at me. First, the main headline is presented in a very manner of fact way, as if 30,000 regular old Iraqi citizens have been killed. No mention that most have been terrorists, or the enemy, just "Iraqis." Then the link to the poll is generic (as if it’s not important), and the first line in that article says "Surprising levels of optimism prevail in Iraq…" well no duh idiot! You morons at ABC love all the bad news, god forbid you notice the good things happening. Here is a screenshot in case it has changed…

Larry Elder made a great point the other day. He said that if your only source of information is the nightly news, you will have a perception that crime is very high. However, if you stopped watching that trash every night, your perception of crime around you would be quite different. Whether your news sources only focus on the bad, or has a particular slant (any which way), we must understand that news and fact are not the same thing.