Is Michael Steele becoming the Right's Answer to Joe Biden, the King of Gaffes? The Man of Steele Supports Abortion Rights? Well, Maybe...

We'll get into this for Sunday's Afronerd Radio broadcast but too many flubs by Michael Steele spells a loss of his position as head of the RNC-just a prediction. I hope this is not the case but-especially since it's been barely a month that the gentleman has taken the job. The libs are bludgeoning (figuratively) against Chairman Steele's forehead and it's only a matter of time before our conservatives brethren (oops that's already happened....thanks, Dr. Fisher) do the same. Time to tighten your game up, Mike!

We Know That America Now Has A President of Color But Did The UK Ever Have A Black Queen-Exploring Queen Charlotte

How I find this stuff remains a mystery.....is it divine happenstance or incessant googling-probably a little bit of both! Anyway, let's keep it simple-Britain's Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (wife of George III) was reputed to possess "mulatto features" and that contention just has not gone away in the annals of history. The Libertarian presidential nominee in the 2008 election, Bob Barr comes to mind-I'm just sayin.' We thought Carol Channing looked a little suspect and we all saw how that turned out. My blackdar (rule of thumb, when you have to ask about one's Black identity..that answers the question) very rarely fails me. But back to the story at hand. Here's an excerpt from Buzzle.com on the Queen Charlotte supposition:

Charlotte's name was given to thoroughfares throughout Georgian Britain - most notably Charlotte Square in Edinburgh's New Town - but her lack of resonance and glamor in the minds of Londoners is typified by the fact that there is a little square in Bloomsbury called Queen's Square. In the middle is a sculpture of a queen. For much of the 19th century, the sculpture was thought to depict Queen Anne and, as a result, the square was known as Queen Anne's Square. Only later was it realized that the sculpture actually depicted Charlotte and the square renamed Queen Square.

Hold on, you might be saying. Britain has had a black queen? Did I miss something? Surely Helen Mirren played Charlotte in the film The Madness of King George and she was, last time I looked, white? Yet the theory that Queen Charlotte may have been black, albeit sketchy, is nonetheless one that is gaining currency.

If you google Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, you'll quickly come across a historian called Mario de Valdes y Cocom. He argues that her features, as seen in royal portraits, were conspicuously African, and contends that they were noted by numerous contemporaries. He claims that the queen, though German, was directly descended from a black branch of the Portuguese royal family, related to Margarita de Castro e Souza, a 15th-century Portuguese noblewoman nine generations removed, whose ancestry she traces from the 13th-century ruler Alfonso III and his lover Madragana, whom Valdes takes to have been a Moor and thus a black African.

It is a great "what if" of history. "If she was black," says the historian Kate Williams, "this raises a lot of important suggestions about not only our royal family but those of most of Europe, considering that Queen Victoria's descendants are spread across most of the royal families of Europe and beyond. If we class Charlotte as black, then ergo Queen Victoria and our entire royal family, [down] to Prince Harry, are also black ... a very interesting concept."

That said, Williams and many other historians are very sceptical about Valdes's theory. They argue the generational distance between Charlotte and her presumed African forebear is so great as to make the suggestion ridiculous. Furthermore, they say even the evidence that Madragana was black is thin.

But Valdes suggests that the way Queen Charlotte is depicted in Ramsay's 1762 portrait - which US artist Ken Aptekar is now using as the starting point for a new art project called Charlotte's Charlotte - supports the view she had African ancestors.

Valdes writes: "Artists of that period were expected to play down, soften or even obliterate undesirable features in a subject's face. [But] Sir Allan Ramsay was the artist responsible for the majority of the paintings of the queen, and his representations of her were the most decidedly African of all her portraits."

For more of the Buzzle piece, click on the link below:

Was This Britain's First Black Queen?

And then there's Wiki's take on the Queen Charlotte debate:

Wikipedia-Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Did Marvel Comics Get It Right With The Vision? Synthetic Life Gets Closer to Becoming A Reality!

Ok, perhaps my allusion to the Marvel Comics' fictional synthezoid is a bit inaccurate, nevertheless, scientists appear to be gaining ground in the realm of synthetic life. It's not robotic life (yet!) but man's quest for godhood seems to be reaching fruition. If synthetic life actually becomes a reality, not only will our nation's current financial woes become a distant memory, but the internet stock gains from the last decade will pale in comparison to this biotechnological miracle. Take a gander at this snippet, courtesy of Red Orbit.com:

Artificial Life In Five Years?

Posted on: Thursday, 12 March 2009, 13:35 CDT

Experts believe the so-called "second genesis," or the creation of a new artificial lifeform, is getting closer and closer, the Telegraph UK reported on Thursday.

Researchers call this an achievement that would be one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time.

And while building a new lifeform from scratch is a daunting task, Professor David Deamer from California University said he is confident it can happen in five to 10 years.

"The momentum is building - we're knocking at the door," he added.

Everything from new drugs to biofuels and greenhouse gas absorbers could possibly be produced by a synthetic, made-to-order living system.

However, it is controversial research and critics fear the technology could lead to machines becoming "almost human".

The New Scientist reported that there would likely be no safety issues for a long time, as any initial organisms would be very primitive and need large-scale life support in the lab.

Professor George Church and Dr. Michael Jewett of Harvard Medical School announced they had synthetically created part of a cell, called a ribosome, during a recent synthetic biology conference in Hong Kong.

Church even said the possibility of creating an entire cell would be a relatively minor challenge.

"There's nothing you'd expect to go wrong - the way we expected things to go wrong with the assembly," he said.

“Until you actually try this you won't know,” said Dr. Anthony Forster, of Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, who is also creating a synthetic living cell in a test tube with Church.

Forster added that science already knows cells can do it, therefore “we should be able to do it sooner or later.”

Oh and just one more Marvel Comics analogy....Professor Xavier's abilities may be on the horizon as well:

Scientists a step closer to ‘reading minds’

Are the Andersons Racist?......I Say They Are Trying To Save The Black Economy-The Buying Black Experiment

While perusing the halls of the LA Times, I came across an article that I hope inspires more folks of color to employ a similar agenda. What is this agenda, you ask? It is actually the novel idea that people of color patronize businesses of color...exclusively. A well-heeled professional Black couple are attempting to buy Black to serve as an example (and perhaps a catalyst) to aid our economy-specifically, the Black economy. Here's the piece in question, courtesy of the Times:

'Buying black': Illinois couple's economic experiment
2:37 PM, March 10, 2009

Store owner Karriem Beyah, left, talks with Maggie Anderson as she shops at Farmers Best Market in Chicago A Chicago-area couple are taking unusual measures to repair what they term "the crisis in the black community."

Oak Park residents John and Maggie Anderson are working to make sure they spend their money in a way that benefits African American business owners, sometimes traveling miles out of their way to buy from black-owned businesses. The Chicago Tribune's Ted Gregory explains:

They call it the "ebony experiment."

"More than anything, this is a learning thing," said Maggie Anderson, who grew up in the crime-ridden Liberty City neighborhood of Miami and holds a law degree and an MBA from the University of Chicago. "We know it's controversial, and we knew that coming in."

But the Andersons said they also knew that a thriving black economy was fundamental to restoring impoverished African American communities. They talked for years about how to address the problem.

What they came up with is provocative. One anonymous letter mailed to their home accused the Andersons of "unabashed, virulent racism. Because of you," the writer stated, "we will totally avoid black suppliers. Because of you, we will dodge every which way to avoid hiring black employees."

Apart from that letter, most comments have been encouraging, the Andersons said, adding that most people see the endeavor as beneficial to all.

Do you think the ebony experiment is a good idea? Why or why not? Share your thoughts here.

Now check out a few of the comments in response to this article, again, courtesy of the Times:



This racist crap is a big problem in America. Whaqt if we had an experiement where Whites or Asians stated that they were only going to buy from like kind. Racism of any type should not be tolerated!

Posted by: Wally | March 10, 2009 at 04:00 PM





No matter how high-minded and faux-erudite the rhetoric used to try to dress up this "experiment" in bigotry, it doesn't change the fact that it is bigotry. No one owes any kind of economic "allegiance" to people who share the same skin color (or the same religion, creed, sex, etc.) as an accident of birth. I buy from merchants who offer quality goods and services at competitive prices, and who treat me fairly, irrespective of their ethnic affiliation. No one will ever make a compelling case that any other criteria ought to supplant those.

Interestingly, these bigots, the Andersons, seem not to be aware that the number of black-owned businesses rose 45% from 1997 to 2002, a rate FOUR times the national rate for the same period (see http://goldsea.com/903/02racial.html); yet the Andersons blabber on about a "crisis in the black community", by which they purport to mean there are not enough black owned businesses. This seems to show, yet again, just how out of touch with reality some overeducated people can be. But that can't be seen as too surprising - bigotry occurs in the first place primarily among people who are only loosely tethered to reality.

Posted by: Lou Bricano | March 10, 2009 at 05:44 PM




If a caucasian couple said this, or any Protestant couple said they were only going to buy from Christian merchants, or any other group, they would be slammed (rightfully) for being horribly racist bigots - but it's okay if you're black????? That's completely ridiculous, and does not at all uphold the "Liberty and Justice for ALL" that we are trying to achieve. Every time you insist on identifying yourself first by the thing you claim is holding you back (being black, gay, fill-in-the-blank religion, etc...) you have already defeated any possibility that people will judge you by what kind of person you are, and not by the identifier you force them to accept first.

Shame on them.

Posted by: Nina | March 11, 2009 at 03:47 AM



Can this really be construed as racism? Why is this couple being condemned when other communities do this to such a degree it should be considered high art! Interesting how the Black community receives this criticism when ethnic patronage is a staple for everyone else. I would like everyone to buy Black but I believe this couple's efforts are being misinterpreted-what say you?

Just a Quick Afronerd Brain Blast Moment!.........The First African-American Comic is Up For Sale....All Negro Comics#1

Again many thanks go out to Sergio of Bloodsport for hipping us to this very special auction. I have been trying to track down All Negro Comics #1 for a few years now but based on the current bid (approx. $6500 since I last checked), it's definitely beyond my price point. But I digress, let's take a look at the AP's take on this auction:

First African-American comic book up for auction


NEW YORK (AP) — The comic book that's billed as the first ever created by African-Americans for a black audience is up for auction.

A copy of All-Negro Comics No. 1, as it was called, is up for sale by comics entrepreneur Stephen Fishler. He says the comic is very rare — lasting one issue in 1947.

All-Negro Comics sold for 15 cents and was the brainchild of a black Philadelphia journalist, Orrin C. Evans.

The comic book, featuring such characters as detective Ace Harlem and Hep Chicks on Parade, is for sale as part of the online ComicConnect Event Auction. It began Feb. 27 and continues March 13, 14 and 15.

Comic Connect Auction-All Negro Comics#1

"Picking Cotton" Can Have Many Different Connotations......

More on this in a few, but cross racial identification is notoriously unreliable. A truly horrific story for both parties involved:

Eyewitness: How Accurate is Visual Memory

And when you read further into this story, Mr. Cotton received no multi-million dollar settlement for this grave mistake. His restitution? $10,000 dollars for each year he spent incarcerated. A true horror film pales in comparison to this tale.

The Comic Shoppe Is Open For Business, Tuesday at 7pm(ET)- Watchmen talk, More Specifics About the Green Lantern film, Jonah Hex & Fathom & More!

Keeping it short and to the point. Join Daryll, Max and I tomorrow at 7pm eastern to discuss the following: our impression of the Watchmen film and the 55 million plus box office take; more information about the Green Lantern film, Megan Fox is up for two comic book properties-Jonah Hex and Fathom, was Heroes actually good this evening?, deconstructing the animated Marvel Superhero Squad (with Freddy Kruger's Robert Englund as Dormammu) and our favorite graphic novel reads from last week. Feel free to join in the conversation with comments and questions at: 646-200-0104 or via email-thecomicshoppe@yahoo. Make mine the Comic Shoppe!

The Comic Shoppe's Week in Review

And Now Introducing a Woman Named Mary Jane......or is that Marijuana? Really, A Woman Named Marijuana! From Afronerd's Believe It or Not Vault!

I really do hate it when I'm proven right on just this very issue. Kudos to Sergio of the Bloodsport blog (as well as his gig with Ebony/Jet Online) for emailing yours truly this story. I have stated on numerous occasions, it is my estimation that many African-American parents (but this can be applied to non-Blacks as well) do their children a grave disservice when they give their offspring dismissive or questionable names. Actually, I narrowed the name issue to what I coined as ghettocentric, pseudo African monikers. You know the type-Trykeisha or Rayquan-names that one will undoubtedly see on a police blotter in a number of urban centers. I noticed this pattern and yet for the sake of political correctness, a discerning observer can expect to receive a verbal beatdown from the Black progressive thought police for uttering such a critique. Enter a woman named Marijuana. And mind you, this woman's tale is the exception and not the rule. Read about her story and then I'll leave it up to our Afronerd commenters to decide for themselves.....is it worth it to keep such a foolish name?

Excerpt courtesy of JS Online:

Police years ago pulled over a young woman who rushed through an amber traffic light. "I'm about to arrest this person right now," the irritated officer radioed to a dispatcher. "She's telling me her name is Marijuana Pepsi Jackson."

It's the truth. Marijuana and Pepsi are her legal first and middle names, and the Beloit woman embraces them as a symbol of her struggle to succeed and to help other children overcome obstacles.

No Mary or Mary Jane or Mary Wanda for her. It's Marijuana, thank you, she's told bosses, co-workers and friends over the years, and even wore it on nametags at work.

This tall, striking, self-assured, motorcycle-riding woman is a schoolteacher with a master's degree in higher education administration. Soon, she'll start work on her doctorate.

All of her achievement came despite that smoky, carbonated name. And partly because of it. No one named Marijuana Pepsi gets lost in the crowd.

"Everybody I meet says this: You're nothing like I thought you'd be," she told me when we sat down for an interview in Beloit last week.

These days she goes by Marijuana Sawyer, the surname of her ex-husband from Georgia, where she spent 10 years before returning to Beloit in 2008 to fulfill a promise to make a difference in her hometown. She has a 6-year-old son named, mercifully, Isaac.

Sawyer's mother, Maggie Johnson, picked her name. Her father objected but lost the argument. To this day, a lot of family members and best buds call her Pepsi.

"She said that she knew when I was born that you could take this name and go around the world with it. At the time as a child, I'm thinking yeah, right. You named my older sister Kimberly. You named my younger sister Robin," Sawyer said.

I've tried several times over the years to find Marijuana - the person, that is. When I was a cub reporter at the Beloit Daily News in the early 1980s, there was a rumor around town about an elementary school girl named Marijuana Pepsi Jackson or maybe Jones.

Some people swore that pot and Pepsi were her mother's two favorite things. Others claimed a mix of both coursed through her bloodstream when the child was conceived or born or both. You'll find chatter about this on the Internet.

For more Marijuana (ahem....I couldn't resist the pun), click on the link below:


A woman named Marijuana plays it straight - and wins

And in homage to the above story, let's take a stroll down memory lane:



I abhor drugs but this was the jam. Rick James is another one that didn't get his Rock cred either. Funny how both D'Angelo and RJ professed their love for canibus in the guise of the female form.

You Have To Laugh.......Keenan Takes Aim At The RNC's Michael Steele

And as an addendum to the above humorous clip-check out what NY columnist and author, Stanley Crouch thinks about the Rush vs Steele dust up. More specifically, the excerpt (below) of Crouch's interpretation of Black conservative, Dr. Ada Fisher's disdain for Steele thus far:

Courtesy of the NY Daily News:

"I don't want to hear anymore [sic] language trying to be cool about the bling in the stimulus package or appealing to D.L. Hughley and blacks in a way that isn't going to win us any votes and makes us frankly appear to many blacks as quite foolish," Fisher wrote.

It could not be dismissed as just another salvo in the Republican war of offensive words, emaciated ideas, brown-nosing and melodrama passing for important disagreement. Since Teddy Roosevelt, the Republican Party has rarely been great, but it has served a function essential to our democracy.

Fisher is from North Carolina and is considered an ongoing and hopeless candidate who seems to exist as not much more than a bramble under the saddle. As one of the three black Americans on the Republican National Committee, Fisher is one-third of the proof that the elephants have a problem.

Colin Powell has tried to point out this problem since Bill Clinton was preparing to run for a second term in 1996. Powell had great gravitas back then, those days before he was ordered by the second Bush administration to sit covered with the honey of bad intelligence on a red ant hill, where his reputation was eaten away in the eyes of the world.

In 1996, Powell tried to promote the idea of a "big tent" party in which more than one line of thought or persuasion could define the elephants. As we know, stampedes were preferred and the kinds of thoughts found in the middle of stampedes became common and repetitious.

Those very same ideas, or imbecilities passed off as ideas, have nearly capsized the world economy.

To read more form Mr. Crouch on this issue, click on the link below:


One voice just a drop in the bucket for a drowning GOP

Afronerd Radio Returns-Sun at 7pm ET......Discussing Rush vs Mike Steele, Snoop & the NOI?, Racist Pranks, Watchmen in IMAX & Much More!

As usual Mr. Starks and I have a lot on our collective conservative plates, so let's get into it! Join us tomorrow evening at 7pm (eastern standard time) as we pull out our ever discerning IMAX screens to discuss the following: our dismay at RNC chairman Michael Steele's apology to Rush Limbaugh; Snoop Dog's appearance at the NOI's Savior's Day gathering; some recent comments made by Dr. Bill Cosby regarding lower tier Black comedians; Watchmen hits theaters this weekend; more talk about folks of color in the world of pulp fiction and even more racist pranks make the national news. So you guys know the drill-call in with your questions/comments at: 646-915-9620 or via email-afronerdradio@yahoo. Be there, Be square and always be aware. Imperius Rex!

Afronerd Radio's Week in Review


Oh yeah...let me give you guys a blast of funk as an intermission while you wait for our show. Check out Mr. Amp Fiddler(full concert footage):

<a href="http://www.fabchannel.com/amp_fiddler_concert/2004-10-06">Live Concert Video - Amp Fiddler</a>

Afronerd Radio Info Coming Up in A Sec.....Meanwhile, This Cat May Be Worthy of Discovery! Introducing Ebrahim

And our citizens wonder why Youtube and internet interest/viewership is on the rise and conversely conventional media are waning. This young gentleman should have gotten a contract over Soulja Boy-I'm just sayin'. I must say that his usage of a sampler and singing ability definitely holds the viewer's attention and that's difficult in a land full of ADD sufferers. Do yourself a favor and check out Ebrahim.

And yet there's more:

Ebrahim's Myspace page

Ebrahim channels D'Angelo

Ebrahim channels Britney Spears

Oh And One More Thing! Dyson Vs. Buchanan

Talk amongst yourselves....back in a minute. Dr. Dyson has to rebut the stats better doesn't he? Progressives must deal with issues of personal responsibility and dysfunctionalism without going to a default victimization response...but I'll speak on this momentarily.

I Promised You Guys "Crazy" And here It Is-Women In Love With Objects......WOW!

Watch Married To The Eiffel Tower [Part 1]  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

I was listening to Howard Stern on Sirius-XM (Howard 100) when there was a passing reference to a documentary about "objectum sexuals, or folks that are in love with inanimate objects. Before you laugh or think that this reeks of a bad SNL skit, check out the above clip for further edification. And, of course, to find out more about the documentary, Strange Love: Married to the Eiffel Tower, check out this excerpt from Jezebel.com:

You have got to see this documentary about "objectum sexuals," people who fall in love with objects like fences and amusement park rides, (one woman even married the Eiffel Tower). And they have sex.

If you thought that men in love with Real Dolls was strange, wait until you see Strange Love: Married to the Eiffel Tower, which follows these fetishists (all of them, for some reason, female). Interestingly, Objectum Sexuals — they call themselves OS people — believe their love with the objects are reciprocal and that they can telepathically communicate with them.

Amy Wolf is in love with a fairground ride called 1001 Nacht, for which she writes poetry. Based on appearances, she seems like an out-and-proud lesbian, but has no interest in humans. She also loves a church banister, a banister in her home, and the Empire State building. Having connected through an OS people forum on the internet, Erika goes to visit Amy. (Both women are said to have Asperger's and share a history of abuse.) They go to the fairground to see 1001 Nacht. In the clip above, Amy is left alone to have an intimate moment with the ride, while Erika goes for a walk. She happens upon a picket fence and feels an immediate attraction.

Erika La Tour Eiffel married the Eiffel Tower and then took its name. But she doesn't like referring to the structure as "it" because "calling something an 'it' instantly means it's inanimate." She gets "a sense" of an object's gender. According to her, the Eiffel Tower is female.

After suffering abuse as a child, and bouncing between foster homes, she joined the US Air Force but during her training, was sexually assaulted, and defended herself with a Japanese sword, which was her lover at the time. She refused to part with the sword, and was discharged from the military for psychological reasons. She then fell in love with an archery bow — she became a US medal champion in archery — but her feelings for the bow waned after time and she moved on to bigger things, literally, as in: tourist attractions. On their one-year anniversary, Erika goes back to visit the Eiffel Tower to consummate their marriage. She lifts up her skirt, and straddles one of the beams with "no barrier" between them.

Oh and to maybe lighten the mood from such a weird clip, check out the Roots and Jimmy Fallon-Slow jammin the news! Cool Stuff! Did anyone know that Black Thought could sing?

A Flux Capacitor Blast! Hit Me Three Times, Actually (JB Rest in Peace) D"Angelo & Ella & Jimi

I hear that D'Angelo is back in the studio and thank god for that! But what happened for the last decade? Perhaps the late Rick James said it best-"Cocaine is one hell of a drug."



Check out the legendary Ella Fitzgerald channeling Eric Clapton, and of course, she rises to the occasion. I can't seem to get this chorus out of my head so I have been lurking the halls of Youtube and found Jimi's rendition as well. More serious fare coming up....well, more crazy....

No need to "look" for racism, it's making itself very apparent right now.

Attempts to explain this type of thing away are futile at this point. You know what this is. Sadly, as the economy continues to slide into oblivion, some folks are still capable of finding the time and energy to engage in primitive behavior and juvenile antics.



Barnes & Noble would like to publicly apologize for what happened in our Coral Gables, Florida store. We believe that a customer played a cruel joke and placed an inappropriate title in the front window of our store, where we were featuring books written by or about President Obama. We want to assure our customers that the book placed by someone other than our booksellers was never intended to be included in our display and was removed as soon as we became aware of the situation. We are looking into it and are taking the steps necessary so that it does not happen again. From time to time customers will move titles from one area of the store to another. In this particular case, we do not condone whatever message may have been intended with the placement of this title in our Presidential display. It certainly was not part of our merchandising and we regret that we didn’t see the placement of this title immediately.


Mary Ellen Keating, Spokesperson


Barnes & Noble, Inc.

(funny how the blame is quickly placed on a customer when an employee could have easily done this)

An Articulate Hip Hop Artist? Q-tip Kicks Back With Tavis!

Q-Tip Travis Smiley Interview
by yardie4lifever2

It really is refreshing (dare I say, almost unnerving?) to hear a Hip Hop artist speak like a normal if not an intelligent person. I know that there are a number of rap artists/musicians that debunk the notion of the monosyllabic ghettocentric stereotype, it's just disheartening that is not the current face of the commercial rap industry. Perchance to dream! Enjoy the video.

One more tidbit....and not related to the above entry. Take a listen to an interview that's won a Gracie Award for Outstanding Feature, entitled "Sounding Black." The interview denotes a conversation between author, scholar and Manhattan Institute fellow, Dr. John McWhorter (if our luck is still up, we may get for a second Afronerd Radio interview) and actress/Tony Award winner, Sarah Jones. Truly insighful, funny stuff.





And lastly check out another severe verbal breakdown by the one and only Stanley Crouch (another interview we are attempting to make happen). Here's an excerpt:

Courtesy of the NY Daily News-

The New York Post is not the jar of sputum that it is because of the color of the people whom it has hired. It is a slop jar because of what is hawked up and spit into it.

This exact sentiment was revealed during the controversy that led to the firing of Don Imus from CBS radio for calling young black women of the Rutgers basketball team "nappy-headed ho's."

Sharpton and a number of people, including this writer, were guests on Oprah Winfrey's town hall meeting where we confronted hip-hop moguls, executives and shills Russell Simmons, Kevin Liles and Benjamin Chavis. They tried to deflect all of the criticism brought to the hip-hop business for the very same level of demeaning insults and dehumanizations that Imus actually presented in a much milder version as he placed his head beneath the blade of public opinion.

But as proven by hip hop, the very existence of an industry that does not suffer from a lack of diversity cannot guarantee a higher level of taste than we got at the New York Post. So, what is the real issue?

The real issue is the indifference to irresponsible behavior and statements. Such indifference is fostered by profit - no more, no less. On a recent DVD featuring the supposed comedian Katt Williams, he justifies his and Flavor Flav's minstrel updates by saying, in essence, "If they want that from me, they are going to have to pay!" According to Williams, the salary can always ease his mind. At least somebody is serving up hot fact, not more fake artistic or social arguments.

A bunch of black millionaires hard at work in a toxic entertainment industry known to exploit and demean anyone and anything they can, demands a new consciousness from the public that cannot easily be dismissed.

Would you like to check out the remainder of the Crouch piece? Oh I'm sure you do, just click on the link below:

Cartoon controversy is fueled by those who won’t grow up

There's Quite A Lot To Talk About For Tuesday's Comic Shoppe Show- at 7pm (ET)-New Terminator trailer, Flash Returns, Sam Jackson's 9 Lives & More!

If you haven't heard (or experienced it), the northeast is literally covered in snow but our Comic Shoppe broadcast still plans to open for business at 7pm eastern as usual. Join Daryll, Max and yours truly as we bring analysis to the following: our thoughts about Terminator: Salvation-could the Governator and Linda Hamilton make an appearance afterall?; Sam Jackson garnered a 9 picture deal with Marvel Studies; the Silver Age Flash (Barry Allen) returns to current DC continuity next month; we spoke of a Green Lantern live action film in the works in a prior broadcast but what about Hal Jordan in animated form?; our thoughts of the upcoming Watchmen film this week and our favorite reads from last week. So as custom, feel free to call in with your comments and questions at: 646-200-0104 or via IM/email-thecomicshoppe@yahoo.

The Comic Shoppe's Week in Review

Oh and check out this Green Lantern animated featurette:

Green Lantern: First Flight


And heck, why not some footage of last month's NY Comic Con , courtesy of Ifanboy:

You thought that the NY Post's Monkey-Gate was A Problem? Look What Your Public Officials Email Each Other About! The Presidential Watermelon Patch!

More info in a few but click on the link and discuss amongst yourselves in the interim:

Watermelons on the White House lawn

Well It's Going Down! Iconic Educator, Marva Collins Visits Afronerd Radio, This Sunday, 7pm ET

We really do try to knock them out of the park as it relates to our interviews. Case in point-the inimitable Marva Collins is scheduled to pay a visit to our little ol' show! I readily confess that Ms. Collins is one of my idols and it will be an honor to converse with her regarding the past, present and future state of education in communities of color. If anyone is familiar with Ms. Collins story, she is the founder of the Westside Preparatory School located in Chicago, Illinois. Unfortunately, the school is now defunct (which we will address on Sunday) but Westside came into prominence because of Ms. Collins' teaching methods enabling her to instruct children deemed unteachable. We're talking about students that the educational system initially banished to the remedial nether regions but under Ms. Collins' tutelage, these selfsame children ultimately became Ivy League caliber candidates. So please feel free to stop by this special broadcast as Mr. Starks and I pick the brain of a legend.

Please call in with your comments/questions at 646-915-9620 (again, Sunday March 1st at 7pm ET). We can also be reached via email/IM-afronerdradio@yahoo. And of course, Mr. Starks and I will discuss additional issues after the interview segment. You weren't going to get off that easy! Stick around for the second half as we analyze the following: more skin tone madness in the US and abroad; Tyler Perry continues to perform above box office expectations but is it a 21st century minstrel act?; as Black History month comes to a close-is it still necessary?; and our thoughts about this weekend's State of the Black Union '09 telecast. And as always, Be Square and Be there-Imperius Rex brethren!


Afronerd Interviews Iconic Educator, Marva Collins

More Evidence that President Obama is not "Uniquely" African-American.......White Family Traces Black Roots

I find it somewhat offensive that some folks still insist that President Obama is an anomaly. He is erudite, well-educated and perceived to be "uniquely" multi-racial and therefore a different African-American. But is he? In a previous entry, I highlighted a recent controversy involving conservative pundit and author, Ann Coulter, in which she made some disparaging remarks about folks of color who "opt" to be Black when they are of bi-racial parentage. Ms. Coulter obviously never received the email that no Black person has the option to be Black, especially if one is phenotypically of the darker persuasion-society makes the choice for you. There has been a great deal of scholarship in the area of Black genealogy, affirming the contention that upwards of 80% of African-Americans possess European ancestry. It is very easy to find someone in the Black community that looks "less Black" than our current POTUS but possess mono-racial parents-the very essence of being Black in America. The question remains....how many Whites are comfortable in discovering their Black lineage? Well, perhaps one should ask the Rand family:

Excerpt courtesy of CNN.com:

It's often said that a real Southerner can "claim kin" with anyone.

Tony Rand and his son Ripley learned last year that some of their relatives were African-American.


Tony Rand realized the same could be true for him. Rand, whose family can trace its roots back to the 1700s, is a Democratic state senator in North Carolina. Until he watched the 2008 CNN documentary "Black in America," he had no idea that some of his relatives were black.

Although firmly anchored in the South, the Rands are spread across the country. What connects them is their link to a common ancestor -- the family patriarch William Harrison Rand.

"Hal" Rand, as he was known to most, was a white farmer and slave owner. In 1842, Hal married Sarah Ann Mullens and they had seven children. Hal also fathered seven children with his mistress, Ann Albrooks Rand, a black woman.

Every other year, hundreds of African-American descendants of Hal Rand get together at a different location for a massive family reunion. It's a time to catch up and share stories, eat barbecue and have a good time. The 2007 Rand family reunion, held in Atlanta, Georgia, was featured in "Black in America." After the program aired, dozens of viewers across the country had the same revelation -- they, too, were related to the Rands.

"I was sitting there, that Saturday night, just up reading the week's papers and watching the program," says Rand with a hearty Southern accent.

"Then I hear, 'We are the Rands. The mighty, mighty Rands," he recalls, referring to the words sung by family members as they embarked on their bi-annual pilgrimage.

"And then I said to myself, 'What?'"

Tony Rand listened as the family historian, Martha Rand Hix, described the family's patriarch.

"When they were talking about William Harrison Rand, I knew that was the William Harrison Rand in our family," he said. "Then they started talking about North Carolina, and I said, 'Well, God oh mighty,' ... it was just amazing."

The next day, he telephoned his 41-year old son, Ripley Rand, and asked him to contact their black relatives. Soon, Tony and Ripley Rand were invited to attend the next Rand family reunion in July in Sacramento, California. Photo See photos of the Rand family members »

But, what Tony Rand didn't know was that his son, a North Carolina Superior Court judge, had already been diligently working on the family genealogy. Ripley Rand had begun typing out a hand-bound version of a 100-page manuscript compiled by his great-uncle, Oscar Ripley Rand III, and started to create a digital version.

For more of this story in its entirety, click on the link below:

White senator discovers family's African-American roots

For the collectors who visit our site, here's something of interest

Comic collecting is just one of many interests we have, and personally speaking, collecting stamps has been a long time interest of mine. This commemorative pane of 12 civil rights leaders was released by the USPS this week.


By VERENA DOBNIK | Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - A U.S. postage stamp with the likeness of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers has been officially released.

The 42-cent Evers stamp now goes on sale nationwide. He's one of a dozen civil rights pioneers taking their places of honor on six new U.S. postage stamps.

Marking the occasion, his widow Myrlie Evers-Williams and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond held a news conference Saturday at a Manhattan hotel during the annual meeting of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The other stamps honor Ella Baker, Daisy Gatson Bates, J.R. Clifford, Fannie Lou Hamer, Charles Hamilton Houston, Ruby Hurley, Mary White Ovington, Joel Elias Spingarn, Mary Church Terrell, Oswald Garrison Villard and Walter White.


Posted by Mr. Starks

And Just One More Link/Post on The NY Post Cartoon Issue.......

And just to put the nail in the coffin pertaining to the simian cartoon debacle (and Rev. Sharpton's involvement), check out this snippet from fellow conservative blogger, Kirk Peterson:

A responsible black leader would acknowledge the Post's apology and move on. In fact, a responsible black leader did exactly that. I would have preferred if Governor Paterson had explicitly criticized Sharpton, but his description of the Post apology as "very honorable" is a strong implicit slap at Sharpton. President Obama, who understandably had to cultivate Sharpton while establishing himself in politics, should repudiate Sharpton's comments as well.

For the Peterson's entry in it's entirety, click on the link below:

Al "Thug" Sharpton Takes His Incendiary Show on the Road

Just a Few Links/Meanderings of Interest.....

Never let it be said that we do not try to give you the best, here at Afronerd. Our readers/radio listeners undoubtedly know that Mr. Starks and I are big supporters of the artist now known as Prince, hence the above video. But this time, this video was posted because of a guest appearance (at the 3:37 mark) by the one and only, educator supreme, Marva Collins. Ms. Collins may be paying a visit to Afronerd Radio real soon, so stay tuned for more forthcoming information.

Next up, the inimitable NY Daily News columnist and jazz aficionado, Stanley Crouch weighs in on the NY Post racially charged cartoon debacle. Check out an excerpt from the Crouch piece, courtesy of the News:

There is nothing amusing or exciting or titillating about a pet chimp going off his primate rocker and attacking a woman with such fury that she lost her nose and her eyes and her jaw before his owner stabbed the chimp with a knife. Woman's face torn off by a pet turned vicious; vicious pet killed by police.

This is the story that inspired the cartoon run by the New York Post that is defended as harmless and attacked by those who want heads to roll from the masthead. The Post claims to be misunderstood by anyone other than opportunists who see a racial implication in the cartoon, which portrays two cops looking at a primate's corpse and saying, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill." Yikes to the thousandth power.

While I do not support cartoonish versions of outrage, I cannot dismiss those protesting the cartoon for making the proverbial mountain out of a molehill.

In a more perfect world than the one we presently live in, all of us should at least be able to expect taste even if perusing the New York Post. That organ has long been closer to intellectual and emotional toilet paper than the conservative daily newspaper that it claims to be. Though some of its writers are actually good and others plucky, neither type distinguishes the paper known near and far for its willingness to sink far below sea level whenever anything arrives that can be sensationalized or exploited.

This cartoon has nothing to do with freedom of speech. It takes us back to the kind of casual insinuations that were not only expected in the past but were rule of thumb. I cannot think of a better example of why Black History Month should continue to exist rather than be discontinued because Barack Obama is in the White House.

As I have written before, true black history is also the true history of enlightened and courageous whites who fought slavery and protested racism. They shared what one historian calls "a righteous anger."

My sentiments exactly, Mr. Crouch! For the Crouch analysis in its entirety, click on the link below:

Cartoon makes a monkey out of those who try to defend it


We were fortunate enough to interview the ever stalwart director, Raymond Gayle regarding his important (and necessary) celluloid effort, Electric Purgatory. As he noted in our interview with him, he posted his film on Youtube for public consumption. I definitely want his message of Black musical diversity to go viral, so please take a gander:




And lastly....we all know that Richard Pryor was a comic genius but did he provide the idea for Spinal Tap, the seminal mockumentary? Take a look at this comic bit (with a very young Sandra Bernhard)...makes one go hmmmm:

The Comic Shoppe Returns.....Tues at 7pm ET-Discussing Wonder Woman Animated, GL in Australia, Heath's Oscar & Much More

The Comic Shoppe returns and is open for business. Join Daryll, Max and yours truly to discuss all matters of the pulp persuasion tomorrow at 7pm eastern standard time. Of course, you guys know the drill-feel free to call in with your comments and questions at 646-200-0104 or via email/IM-thecomicshoppe@yahoo. We will discuss the following: We here that the Green Lantern movie has begun filming in Aussie land; what happens now that Heath Ledger has posthumously won the Oscar? Is there a feline femme fatale in the works for Dark Knight 3?; Our thoughts on the upcoming animated Wonder Woman release; a working title for Superman 2 (or is that IV?) and of course our favorite graphic novel reads from last week. So kick back and join us as we still maintain....Being there and Being Square.....Make Mine The Comic Shoppe!


The Comic Shoppe's Week in Review

We're not fans of hair weaves but it looks like they may have life saving capabilities.

Will this lower tier madness ever end??






Police: Hair Weave Stops Bullet

NewsNet5.com
updated 5:47 p.m. ET, Thurs., Feb. 19, 2009

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Police said a woman's tightly-woven hair weave saved her life.

Police were called to a Kansas City market at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Arriving officers found the 20-year-old woman there. She told police she had pulled into the market and saw a man with whom she had recently ended an eight-month relation with inside a car,

A second man came up to the woman’s window and told her that the ex-boyfriend still loved her, Kansas City police said.

The woman told the second man, "I don’t love him."

At that time, the victim heard gunshots and saw her ex-boyfriend walking toward the back of her car firing a handgun, police said.

The victim sped away in her vehicle as her back window shattered, police said.

She returned to the scene a moment later to witness both men leaving in their vehicle.

Officers found a bullet in the woman’s hair and said her tightly-woven weave stopped the bullet.

The victim was not harmed.

The ex-boyfriend and the second suspect were both taken into custody a short time later.

Shouting Out One Of Our Own.......Sergio Mims On Tv On The Oscars!

Just giving support for our longtime supporter/commenter, Sergio (of the Bloodsport blog and Ebony online) for his recent appearance on Chicago Tonight. Perhaps this should be an audition tape for Roger Ebert's old job-I'm just sayin' Also the cool shout to the Dark Knight was much appreciated.

Boy Do We Have A Full Plate For The Next Afronerd radio broadcast! Discussing the NY Post, Travis the Chimp, The GOP Goes Hip Hop & More! Sun at 7pm!

Well there appears to be an awful lot of subject matter to dissect for this Sunday's upcoming Afronerd Radio broadcast. The obvious pink elephant in the chat room is the NY Post's controversial chimp cartoon. But rest assured, that is not the only thing. Stop by this Sunday at 7pm eastern as Mr. Starks and I take out our conservative microscopes and scalpels to pontificate on the following: Our new attorney general's recent comments on alleged US cowardice regarding race relations (he does know that his boss is Black, right?), Michael Steele seeks to get the GOP's groove back by droppin' it like it's hot and the real life tragedy that the NY Post's cartoon was based on. And as custom, we implore our readers and radio listeners to call in with their comments and questions at-646-915-9620 or via email/IM-afronerdradio@yahoo. And as always.....Be there, Be square and don't you dare pick up the NY Post!

Afronerd Radio's Week in Review

And in honor of Michael Steel's homage to rap, I want you guys (and gals) to check out this somewhat viral hip hop video that appears to channel an urban sound of old-when hip hop truly was the CNN of the Black community. I may not agree with all that the video espouses but I respect that it's more about social commentary and less about neo-minstrelsy:

Time To Contact the Ghost of MLK!.........NY Post Should Be Boycotted-Cartoon Likens Obama to Travis the Chimp!

This next issue has been blazing the internet all day and I suspect former presidents of Black America Jackson and Sharpton have an important assignment-rightfully so, this time! If you take a look at the cartoon pictured above, one can cherry pick a number of off color tangents that are grossly inappropriate for our 21st century media. If you have been residing in Osama's cave for the last few days, you may have missed the tragic story of a Connecticut woman who was mauled by a celebrity chimp, named Travis. Of course, PETA is more concerned with the now deceased simian than the clinging to life human victim. But I digress.....the cartoon attempts to make a grotesque analogy between Travis' demise and President Obama's recent signing of the nation's new stimulus bill.

Likening the country's first Black president to a monkey has been done before and it appears to never get old. And the assassination angle is equally offensive. My conservative bent does not excuse Republicans when they cross the line and I will call anyone out, irrespective of party affiliations. If the editors of the very liberal New Yorker magazine can be called to the carpet for last summer's Angela Davis/Obama the muslim mashup then the Post must also feel the wrath. Here's more on this story, courtesy of the Boston Globe:

A questionable cartoon

An uproar is brewing about an editorial cartoon in today's New York Post that appears to tie President Obama to a rampaging chimpanzee killed by police.

The cartoon, by Sean Delonas, shows a chimp splayed on the ground in a pool of blood. Two police officers stand over the body, one holding a smoking gun, and the second saying, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

While Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, in Congress technically wrote the $787 billion stimulus bill, Obama has championed it, gone back out on the stump to sell it, and claimed it as his own while signing it in Denver on Tuesday.

The cartoon appears to refer to Travis, the pet chimpanzee and TV star who was shot to death by police in Stamford, Conn. on Monday after it mauled a friend of its owner.

The Rev. Al Sharpton told the Associated Press that the cartoon is "troubling at best."

Sharpton notes that Obama is the nation's first black president and that African Americans have been depicted as monkeys by racists through history.

"Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama and has become synonymous with him, it is not a reach to wonder are they inferring that a monkey wrote the last bill?" he asked, according to press accounts.

Sam Stein wrote on the Obama-friendly Huffington Post website that it seems "rife with racial and political sensitivities."

"At its most benign, the cartoon suggests that the stimulus bill was so bad, monkeys may as well have written it," Stein opined. "Most provocatively, it compares the president to a rabid chimp. Either way, the incorporation of violence and (on a darker level) race into politics is bound to be controversial."

The Post is standing by the cartoon, and questioning Sharpton's motives.

"The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut," editor-in-chief Col Allan said in a statement. "It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy. Again, Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist."

UPDATE: Delonas told CNN this afternoon that the controversy was "absolutely friggin' ridiculous."

"Do you really think I'm saying Obama should be shot? I didn't see that in the cartoon," Delonas said. "It's about the economic stimulus bill. If you're going to make that about anybody, it would be [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, which it's not."

The YWCA weighed in with its concerns.

"I think this cartoon is inflammatory, inappropriate and irresponsible," Lorraine Cole, YWCA's CEO, said in a statement. "It recalls deeply offensive negative stereotypes of African Americans characterized as monkeys and is seemingly directed at our first black president who championed the economic recovery stimulus bill. It also brings to mind racially charged police brutality incidents involving Black men who were recklessly shot by New York City police officers."

Stay tuned for Rupert Murdoch's contact details. In this blog's early inception, we provided contact information when high level Black media outlets and radio stations routinely disrespected African-American imagery and now it's the Post's turn.

And Speaking Of Radio Broadcasts....Check Out Our Interview With Raymond Gayle, director of Electric Purgatory, this Sun at 7pm eastern!

We have yet another informative and fun filled show scheduled for our blog/radio audience this Sunday, when we interview filmmaker and documentarian, Raymond Gayle. I assure you-this is not the show to miss. Mr. Gayle's celluloid effort, Electric Purgatory (trailer, above) highlights the trials and tribulations for those men and women of color who so choose to perform music that is separate from the beaten path. Who says Black folk can't rock? Unfortunately, a stagnate and truncated record industry says so. But we didn't think that we would see a man of color in the White House either. So join Mr. Starks and I as we speak with this great director about his film and the state of Black music. Feel free to call us "live" at 646-915-9620 or via IM/email-afronerdradio@yahoo. And if time permits, we will address the topics that we failed to give get into the previous show (GOPAC chairman Michael Steele's own historic achievement, Etta Vs Obama & Beyonce and more hip hop minstrel foolishness) as well as the Chris Brown/Rihanna saga. And remember-Stay Strong, Stay Focused and Stay Square!

Afronerd Interviews Raymond Gayle

It appears that the gaming industry is doing well despite the current state of the economy.

By Tom Magrino (AP)

Earlier today, the US Commerce Department delivered the semi-shocking news that total retail sales for January rose 1 percent, defying a six-month decline in growth and marking the biggest overall retail gains in 14 months. Of course, that percentage climb paled in comparison to the US gaming industry. Reporting on US software, hardware, and accessory sales today, the NPD Group revealed that industry revenues stood at $1.33 billion for January, a 13 percent climb from a year prior.
Falling in line with analysts' expectations, US software sales amounted to $676.6 million in January, a 10 percent increase over last January's $614.7 million haul.


US VIDEO GAMES INDUSTRY - JANUARY 2009
Software: $676.6M (+10%)
Hardware: $445.4M (+17%)
Accessories: $209.8M (+11%)
Total Games: $1.33B (13%)

Afronerd Radio Flashback! Afronerd Interviews Rajen Persaud-Why Black Men Love White Women-12/9/07.....Calm Down....It's Not What You Think!

This blast from the past is for those who may not be familiar with this blog's archive (or the radio show's for that matter). I was asked in a previous post whether Mr. Starks and I tackled the subject of interracial dating on Afronerd Radio-well the quick answer is...."yes"....and click on the link below for the show in question. I suspect that this will be regular feature on our blog-Enjoy!

Afronerd Interviews Rajen Persaud

Brain Blast Part 2: A Device For Reading Your Mind

As one with a keen interest in science and technology, I find some of these latest developments from the science community to be fascinating.

New Device Reads Minds Pretty Well


livescience.com – Tue Feb 10, 10:08 am ET

Canadian researchers say they can glean simple preferences from a person's brain by shining near-infrared light into the noggin.

The study, reported in the Journal of Neural Engineering, demonstrated the ability to decode a person's preference for one of two drinks with 80 percent accuracy by measuring the intensity of near-infrared light absorbed in brain tissue, the scientists said in a statement today.

"This is the first system that decodes preference naturally from spontaneous thoughts," says Sheena Luu, a University of Toronto doctoral student in biomedical engineering who led the work under the supervision of Tom Chau, a specialist in pediatric rehab engineering at the university's Bloorview Kids Rehab center.

Near-infrared light has a longer wavelength than visible light. In the beginning of the study, nine adult volunteers rated eight drinks on a scale of one to five.

Then, wearing a headband fitted with fiber optics that emit light into the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, the subjects were shown two drinks on a computer monitor, one after the other, and asked to make a mental decision about which they liked more.

"When your brain is active, the oxygen in your blood increases and depending on the concentration, it absorbs more or less light," Luu said. "In some people, their brains are more active when they don't like something, and in some people they're more active when they do like something."

After teaching the computer to recognize the unique pattern of brain activity associated with preference for each subject, the researchers accurately predicted which drink the participants liked best 80 percent of the time.

Other research has suggested brain activity could be monitored before decisions are made, perhaps with a mind-reading hat that would predict what we'll do.

The goal of the new research is ultimately to open the world of choice to children who can't speak or move.

Posted by Mr. Starks

Not Sure What To Think about This......Or Rather How The Media Is Reporting This-Actress Selma Hayek Breast Feeds African Child!

I have to think about this for the next 24 hours. Full disclosure moment....I find Selma Hayek extremely attractive and actually thought her film, Frida (about the reknowned artist, Frida Calo) was a great cinematic feast. But between this story and Octo-Mom-I have my concerns and reservations. Let's just say that that the media has positioned this story in the same vein as a canine nursing tiger cubs. You get the inference. Am I wrong or am I being too sensitive? Here's more on this issue, courtesy of News.com.au:

SALMA Hayek was so taken aback by the plight of an African woman in Sierra Leone who was unable to breastfeed her child that the star breastfed the newborn herself.

The incident was captured on camera by a television crew from US TV show Nightline whom Hayek allowed accompany her on the goodwill trip in September.

Nightline have aired the footage on their program and YouTube clips have been circulating the internet, prompting a divisive response from bloggers and parenting websites.

The 42-year-old actress, who was nursing her own daughter Valentina at the time, offered to help when the baby's mother stopped producing milk.


What a generous, kind and beautiful thing to do. I am a breastfeeding mum and if my child was hungry I would be forever grateful to someone like Salma to care for him.

Rebecca of newcastle

"The baby was perfectly healthy, but the mother didn't have milk. He was very hungry. I was weaning Valentina, but I still had a lot of milk that I was pumping, so I breast-fed the baby.

"You should have seen his eyes. When he felt the nourishment, he immediately stopped crying," said Hayek.

The actress and UNICEF spokesperson visited the West African country in September as part of her involvement in the fight against tetanus, one of the reasons Sierra Leone has the highest infant and child death rate in the world.

Afronerd Brain Blast! Would You Believe That You Can Watch TV On Your Contact Lens?

I've been hearing about this prospect all day. On the surface (of your eye that is....sorry for the bad pun) this seems like a novel idea but talk about the potential for disaster-as if cellular phones don't cause enough trouble. What are your thoughts regarding the use of one's natural body heat to power a microscopic televsion screen that would appear on a contact lens? And the wave of your hand to change the channels. Seems a bit far fetched, huh? Well check out this brief piece, courtesy of Crunchgear.com:

You’ve seen that commercial for Hulu, right? The one with Alec Baldwin sashaying around a futuristic office promising TV everywhere, TV that turns your brain into mush? Take that idea—TV everywhere—and apply it to your biology. That is, how does TV implanted into your contact lenses sound? Really great, or just great? Absolutely horrendous, or just horrendous?

Apparently the “basic technology” already exists. And, according to futurologist (is there an MA in futurology?) Ian Pearson, the contact lens TV “sets” would be powered the energy contained within human body heat. Clever. Within 10 years, friends!

There’s more. The same futurologist believes that we could soon have a “digital tattoo” of sorts that allows us to “feel” and “expereince” the onscreen action. For example, if a character in a soap opera does the dopey love-at-first-sight move, you’ll get that same “feeling,” too. Or, if you’re watching the Yankees and A-Rod strikes out at the bottom of the ninth in October with two outs, you’ll “feel” just like him—it sure is great to be filthy rich, banging super models left and right, and not having a care in the world. (This tattoo sound a little far-fetched to me, but I’m no futurologist.)

Lord knows that, during a recession, and this will be a bad one, people need to be distracted. A little TV-on-the-eyeballs can’t hurt in that regard.

Some folks at PETA thought it was a good idea to dress up like the KKK at Madison Square Garden yesterday

Kinda makes a mockery of racial hatred. Maybe a spay-neuter is in order for some of these folks in PETA.






NEW YORK (AP) - "Is this really the KKK?" somebody asked the woman in the white robe and the pointy hat.

Crowds gawked at a table set up outside Madison Square Garden on Monday afternoon, where People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was protesting the start of the Westminster Kennel Club show. PETA contends that the American Kennel Club promotes pure-breeding of dogs that is harmful to their health.

"Welcome AKC Members," read a banner hanging from the table — with AKC crossed out and KKK written above it. Two PETA protesters dressed as Ku Klux Klan members, while other volunteers handed out brochures that read: "The KKK and the AKC: BFF?"

"Obviously it's an uncomfortable comparison," PETA spokesman Michael McGraw said.

But the AKC is trying to create a "master race," he added. "It's a very apt comparison."

Uno the beagle barks after winning Best in Show at the 2008 Westminster Dog Show. (Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

David Frei, spokesman for Westminster and TV host of coverage on USA Network, said: "I can't speak for everyone, but the vast majority of the people exhibiting and handling and showing at Westminster are more interested in the health of dogs than anything else."

"We want to produce the next generation of healthy and happy dogs," he said, "not just for the show ring but for the couches at home."

Most passers-by seemed more puzzled than offended, though those who didn't stop walked away thinking they really had seen the KKK. The most common reaction was to pull out a cell phone and start snapping photos.

Police monitored the situation from nearby, but the scene was mostly calm. One shouting match broke out during the hour-long protest.

Earlier, a man strode away yelling, "That's disgusting! I'm going to buy more fur!"

Fatima Walden, who spotted the protest during a shopping trip, called the KKK imagery inappropriate no matter what the message.

"They could have used something else as an example," she said. "You should be considerate to everybody."

Stay Tuned for a New Comic Shoppe Broadcast, Tues at 7pm eastern! The NY Comic Con Aftermath & More!

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's Comic Shoppe broadcast since we will be giving you our post NY Comic Con impressions as only the Shoppe team can! So I'm sure you are aware of the drill-join Daryll, Max and I, Tuesday at 7pm eastern to discuss the following: our thoughts (including exclusive tidbits/previews) pertaining to this past weekend's convention; thoughts about President Obama being a character in pulp fiction and have there been past real life Commanders in Chief depicted in comic fare; Brian Bendis' disclosure that Powers may end up getting a home on the small screen, courtesy of FX; Bruce Willis' graphic novel send up Surrogates preview; Brett Ratner slated to direct Rob Liefeld's Youngblood comic book creation and of course, our favorite graphic novel reads from the previous week. Feel free to join us and provide your questions/comments "live" at 646-200-0104 or via email/IM-thecomicshoppe@yahoo.


The Comic Shoppe visits the NY Comic Con

Hey He Might Not Be An "Afro" Nerd But He's A Nerd That Is Speaking The Truth! Let's Help This Become Viral!

First off, I just came back from my second visit to the NY Comic-Con and I will have a few tidbits to bring up when we broadcast the Comic Shoppe show this Tuesday. I also must confess that as much as I have ascribed to the nerd persona, there were far greater examples at the convention of folks who have truly embraced the nerd/geek aesthetic wholeheartedly. Case in point:



But then there are some nerds that I really dig for....ahem....the obvious:




Oh....it gets deeper for yours truly:



But(t) I digress, the above video appears not to be a put on but depicts the average hip hop consumer. This young man represents the young White suburban (or is it exurban...who knows with this economy) teenage audience that gobbles up this neo-minstrelsy with reckless abandon but even he has seen the truth. I despise acknowledging the inane, but there are probably 30 concurrent rap beefs occurring even as we speak, but the one that has been receiving a certain amount of notoriety is the 50 cent vs Rick Ross blackface battle. Hopefully(?), no one gets hurt, maimed or killed behind this manufactured girlyfight but right now, I'm siding with the young man in the video and his assertion that many of these hip hop artists really are prostitutes. Perhaps it's time to round them up and take them off the street corner-high heels and skirts, notwithstanding. Next Up-Afronerd Radio's broadcast at 7pm.

And While You Wait for Our Upcoming Broadcast, Check Out This Afronerd Intermission-A Homage to Black History Month

No real editorial needed here.....it would really come off as being redundant. Mr. Parks was a cogent as one can get. What say you? What side will you choose-soothsayer or naysayer?