Quote of the Day: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

“Having said this, I must deal immediately and at some length with the question of violence. Some of the things so far told to the Court are true and some are untrue. I do not, however, deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness, nor because I have [...]

NSA: Cookie Monster

“The National Security Agency’s Internet site has been placing files on visitors’ computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite strict federal rules banning most of them.
These files, known as “cookies,” disappeared after a privacy activist complained and The Associated Press made inquiries this week, and agency officials acknowledged Wednesday they had made [...]

The Hierarchy of Christmas Greetings

Over the Christmas holiday season, at least one-half of The State Of . . received a number of Christmas wishes by a number of means. For some reason I took note of the differences between these well wishes. Below is how I grouped them.
1. Christmas cards. These came from really close friends and [...]

Staple Their Knees Together

“I stopped counting at 36, which is right about the time I stopped needing to because I met my mate. Never felt the need to be with anyone else since. For the most part, I have a few regrets - more over my behavior than my partners’. Most of the men I’ve [...]

No WMD, No Second Thoughts?

“President Bush poses a curious contradiction: He admits his decision to attack Iraq was based on faulty intelligence, but he insists that it was the right step to take.”
“My decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision,” he told an audience at the Woodrow Wilson International Center here on Dec. 14.”
“Why at this stage [...]

Ghana’s Uneasy Embrace of Slavery’s Diaspora

Ghana’s first post-colonial President, Kwame Nkrumah, pictured.NY Times, subscription required.“For centuries, Africans walked through the infamous “door of no return” at Cape Coast castle directly into slave ships, never to set foot in their homelands again. These days, the portal of this massive fort so central to one of history’s greatest crimes has a new [...]

1995: The Best Year in Hip Hop

Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan, pictured.
2Pac’s Me Against the World, Mobb Deep’s The Infamous, Tha Dogg Pound’s Dogg Food, and Goodie Mob’s Soul Food are just a few of the albums released in what was the best year in hip hop history. For me, 1995-96 was the last year I was really into hip [...]

Bush Was Denied Wiretaps, Then Bypassed Courts

In this piece, Peter Canellos sheds light on the importance of presidential legal advice. As we are now learning, President Bush was advised by Attorney General John Ashcroft, White House Counsel Harriet Miers and Attorney General (and former White House Counsel) Alberto Gonzales that, as President, Bush possessed the power to listen to phone calls [...]

Obama: Republicans Practice Social Darwinism

A few weeks ago, Senator Barak Obama was criticized for saying Senate Republicans practiced “Social Darwinism.” I found an interesting article written by former Clinton Secretary of Labor, Rober Reich on Social Darwinism.“Social Darwinism was developed some thirty years after Darwin’s famous book by a social thinker named Herbert Spencer. Extending Darwin into a realm [...]

Runnin’ on "E": What Will Happen To America When Oil is in Shorter Supply?

LifeAftertheOilCrash, a site dedicated to monitoring oil developments, predicts diar consequences for the United States and the rest of the world when oil supplies tighten. Far from alarmist, “LifeAfter” has been featured heavily in reputable magazines like FORTUNE.
“Civilization as we know it is coming to an end soon. This is not the wacky proclamation of [...]