cultural shark jumpings

in the past months, the issue of global warming has reached a fever pitch, beginning with the oscar nomination/win of al gore’s fantasy film, inconvenient truth and continuing through the recent publication of sports illustrated’s “green” issue. incredibly, folks continue to fall for the chicken littles who claim know the pulse of the earth in spite of the fact that a mere forty years ago, these same groups claimed that man was responsible for the fast encroaching ice age. articles published by time magazine in 1974 and twenty years later in 1994 illustrate the absurdity of those who claim to know how the earth works and what exactly man’s impact has on a creation that was here eons before us and will continue to spin on its axis long after we’ve gone the way of the ivory billed wood pecker. oh, wait - that’s right - those things are not really extinct after all.

on other culture war fronts, al sharpton et al continue the crucifixion of don imus for his asinine statements in much the same way trent lott was strung up several years back for his statements at strom thurmond’s birthday gig. and yet, the black community and the media at large (with the notable exception of bill cosby) refuse to target a hip-hop and rap culture that largely degrades females and the black community. nelly, for the most part, gets a pass when he swipes a credit card through a woman’s butt cheeks in his video, tip drill. there is little backlash over snoop dogg’s depiction of leashed black women in where my dogs at?. for those of you who jumped on the msnbc fire imus bandwagon and who claim to be disgusted by imus’s statements, take two simple actions. #1 - turn him off of your radios and televisions; #2 – be consistent in your criticism of those who are flippant about issues of race and gender.