September 30, 2005

Let’s talk about Bennett again…

…you all will have to forgive me. Every now and then, I put a link up that I haven’t read nearly well enough for whatever reason. Today’s reason is that I was working on about three hours sleep. I figured that ol’ Bill was talking moreso about what Levitt discussed, which was basically that drops in crime rates post-1973 could be attributed to Roe v. Wade. That’s bogus for the reasons in the last post.

Inexplicably, I really managed to not tell that this bastard actually said that crime would drop by aborting all black babies.

Wow, Bill…you went there. You really did.
Continue reading Let’s talk about Bennett again……

September 30, 2005

G-Code, Amare Stoudemire, and Abortion

Don’t worry…Amare didn’t break the G-Code.

Business…September’s BSN column is on The G-Code and here’s a feature I did on Amare Stoudemire for ESPN.

You’re fuckin right I did something on the G-Code.

Anyway, give this a look. Ol’ boy Bill Bennett is at it again. But before you get too irate about that, consider that Steve Levitt furthers this theory, and it’s prominently featured in Freakonomics, which is inexplicably a phenomenon. I do that sort of stuff on the site all the time. No, I ain’t hatin.

Anyway, here’s the problem I have with this. Keeping abortion legal only increases the likelihood that an abortion will be safe and be done without the aid of a wire hanger. Anyhoo, I’d like to see the statistics and see if there were significantly more abortions after Roe v. Wade than before. If not–and I bet the difference is low–this doesn’t hold much water.

And that’s all I have to say about that. Lots of folks have hit me up about those Prince songs. Let me know if there are any you’d like and I’ll, yanno, find a way to help you find them.

September 29, 2005

The top, ummm, we’ll see how many Prince songs.

I figure this’ll spark more debate and bring out those Prince.org people that once said I wasn’t a Prince fan because I didn’t think he’d put out much worth a damn between Diamonds and Pearls and Musicology. If they’ve convinced themselves that I’m wrong on that, they’ll have to take that up with whatever deity they acknowledge.

Okay, I really don’t know how many songs I’m gonna put on this, and I know I’m gonna miss about twenty. Point ‘em out…that’s the fun of this.
Continue reading The top, ummm, we’ll see how many Prince songs….

September 29, 2005

Yesterday, Marley. Today…

…if you know me, you know who this is gonna be.

That’s right…Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson.

I may go through songs, but that’ll be way harder than it was for Marley. So, I’m gonna start with albums and, maybe, come behind that with my ten favorite Prince songs. The best song from each album is in parentheses.
Continue reading Yesterday, Marley. Today……

September 28, 2005

The Honorable Robert Nesta Marley

So I had to get on the grind this morning around 7. I’m always up by 7, but I don’t like to go straight into whatever work I have. I’d prefer to watch some SportsCenter, snack on a lil somethin, maybe even sneak a game or five of PlayStation in. Not today–deadline was early, so it was time to take the machine up to my office and get to grindin (when I have time to work with, I work from the couch).

So what do you listen to when working at 7 in the morning? I usually listen to something crunk in the shower, anything from that new Banner (fire) to old Black Sabbath. Just to get things going, yanno?

But Baba had to think…so it was Bob Marley. Was in a Marley mood, anyway. Not one of the mellow moods he sang about, thank you. Just a Marley mood. Bob is good for working because he’s chill but frequently energetic. Anyway, looking at my playlist of a hundred or so songs, I decided to finally try to list my ten favorite Bob Marley songs. The albums are listed in parentheses.

This is gonna be hard.
Continue reading The Honorable Robert Nesta Marley…

September 27, 2005

Learn to rap from Joe Jackson

Business…today, I’ve got a piece at the ESPN on Michelle Wie turning pro. Were this presented in a graduate economics class, I would be discussing her through the prism of profit maximization, loss minimization, and the vagaries of conditional expectations. Since it’s here, I just talked about what might or might not be. In the end, economics is just common sense.

Speaking of common sense, who’s gonna be dumb enough to go to Joe Jackson’s hip hop boot camp?

I assure you that link is real. Just like this link to Joe Jackson’s German fan club.

I assure you that link is real, also.
Continue reading Learn to rap from Joe Jackson…

September 27, 2005

FEMA Man’s a consultant…for FEMA

Luther D. here.

Riddle me this, pimpin…how do you get fired but stay on your job as a consultant? Huh? That only be happening in college sports when fools got contracts. FEMA man is still on the payroll? Suckers are straight shameless, man. What’s he gonna tell ‘em?

“I think we should have a horse show to raise money for these folks. Matter of fact, we should get some of those swimming horses and have them perform in Port Arthur.”

You gotta understand…I’d fire my daddy if I had to. And I have. Buddy was straight lazy, man. All he had to do was mop the floor. That’s it.

Anyway, it must be good to be in charge, pimpin. And by good, I mean fuckin spectacular.

(Update: FEMA Man got more to say. Buddy said, “The people of FEMA are being tired of being beat up, and they don’t deserve it.” Most folk think that’s real. That’s why we beat you up, you waste of space.)

September 26, 2005

D’Angelo Injured

Well, D’Angelo was busted up in a car wreck. Here’s hoping for the best.

Not just with dealing with the wreck. This was a single-car accident. I’ll let you translate that as you see fit.

September 25, 2005

An explanation on religion

The other day, I gave a somewhat pointed retort to those that believe that Hurricanes Rita and Katrina were actually messages from God, exhibitions of his power intended to make infidels feel compelled to get some ackright. I’d be lying if I didn’t find that to be a little silly, but I would be wrong to be entirely dismissive of those that believe that way. They were raised in that, so I can’t knock them for believing that.

The problem is that many people who feel that way–though not necessarily the person who first brought that to me, a good friend of mine–have made my life unnecessarily difficult, and it pisses me off.
Continue reading An explanation on religion…

September 25, 2005

There comes a point…

…when we exhale. I promise you that’s the last time you’ll ever hear my quote Whitney Houston. Or Babyface, who wrote that song.

For real, why on Earth were those two that successful? I get why white folks dug Whitney. They typically can appreciate soulless music more than black folks can. But those people that say their two favorite singers are Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan…I don’t see a single connection between the two. Not a one.

Anyway, I’m exhaling because the storm missed Houston. It hit Port Arthur hard, but my sister got out. On a personal level, I can breathe. Me overarching concern for humanity, however, doesn’t feel so great, but it coulda been a lot worse.

And really, there’s not too much more I can say now. It’s been a stressful week.

The Times has an interesting piece on the fate of black colleges in New Orleans. With Xavier closed, there will be a lot less black folks in medical school. I don’t like how the school has essentially turned itself into an MCAT training academy, but that’s a relevant concern.