Good Job

Those of you that posted on the blog this semester offered some excellent and thought provoking commentary. Good Job!

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal Over Obama’s Citizenship

Barack Obama'a citizenship is being questioned. A man from New Jersey is basing this question of his eligibilty of presidency upon the fact that he was born to a father from Kenya and mother who is a US citizen. It has also been said that he is not a "natural-born" citizen because he had dual nationality at birth.


State officials in Hawaii have declared that Obama was born there August 1961. However, this is being questioned because these officials will not submit a birth certificate. Although, in Hawaii only the family is allowed to see that sort of document, people still think they have a right to see his personal information.


Overall, I think that this is ridiculous. I honestly feel fooled to believe that the tactics would stop coming towards Obama. To say that he is not a citizen of the USA is just wrong. If he knew he was not a citizen, why would he go on about the election. I am sure he is smart enough to know that he will get caught.


What are your intakes on this situation? Do you think this is fair or just wrong?

Governor Rod Blagojevich gets arrested

Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges and was released on a bail of $ 4,500 after appearing in court on Tuesday afternoon. The former governor of Illinois Blagojevich was accused of attempting to sell the Illinois senate seat vacated by president- elect Barack Obama. The governor was charged with conspiracy to commit mail, wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. His arrest resulted from what he the governor has said in wiretaps from phones at his home and campaign headquarters according to investigators. Gov. Blagojevich was under investigation for about three years before this incident due to his hiring of irregularities. Although in this case Barack Obama is getting a lot of attention there is no evidence of Obama, or his associates talking with the governor about the senate seat. In this particular situation we will just have to wait to see what happens next until then Rod Blagojevich is still the governor and he can still appoint Obama's replacement.

Scandal threatens to dog Obama

President-elect Barack Obama hasn't even stepped into office and already a scandal — not of his own making — is threatening to dog him.

Obama isn't accused of anything. But the fact that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a fellow Democrat, has been charged with trying to sell Obama's now-vacant Senate post gives political opponents an opening to criticize him. A slew of questions remain. The investigation is still under way. And the ultimate impact on Obama is far from certain.

He pointedly distanced himself from the case Tuesday, saying, "I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening" concerning any possible dealing about Blagojevich's appointment of a successor.

In an interview published in the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, Obama reiterated that point, saying: "I have not discussed the Senate seat with the governor at any time."

But Obama wouldn't answer a question on whether he was aware of any conversations between the governor and his top aides, including incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. "It's an ongoing investigation," Obama said. "I think it would be inappropriate for me to ... remark on the situation beyond the facts that I know."

O.J. Simpson could get 6 years, 18 years -- or life

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- Former football great O.J. Simpson, convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping, deserves leniency in sentencing as he is a first-time offender who showed no criminal intent, his attorney says in court papers.
Attorney Gabriel Grasso argued that Simpson should receive the minimum sentence, six years.
Grasso acknowledged in court papers, "Clearly Simpson was not using good judgment" during a 2007 hotel room confrontation over sports memorabilia.
Simpson could receive a maximum life sentence from Judge Jackie Glass on Friday. A pre-sentencing report recommended an 18-year sentence.
On October 3, a jury convicted Simpson, 61, and co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart of 12 charges, including conspiracy to commit a crime, robbery, assault and kidnapping with a deadly weapon. Watch Stewart talk about the night they were arrested »
Their convictions stem from a September 13, 2007, fracas at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Prosecutors alleged that Simpson led a group of men who used threats, guns and force to take sports memorabilia from dealers Bruce Fromong and Al Beardsley.
Simpson said he was attempting to recover items that belonged to him.
Four men charged with Simpson cut deals with the prosecution and testified against him. One testified that Simpson asked him to bring a gun to the encounter.
"These were not crimes committed on strangers, but were acts stemming from prior relationships with the individuals in the room at the Palace Station," Grasso wrote in the memorandum.
"There was overwhelming evidence at trial that Simpson's intent was to recover property that was his and only his," the lawyer argued. "The trial testimony showed Simpson's intent was to return anything that did not belong to him. This intention can be heard throughout the recordings of the Palace Station incident."
He added, "However, there is nothing in the record to show that Simpson evinced a criminal mind or showed the requisite criminal intent." Because of that and other factors, Grasso wrote, Simpson's sentence should fall on the low end of the minimum sentencing range.
In a sentencing brief for Stewart, 54, defense attorney E. Brent Byron said his client also should be sentenced to six years, noting he "did not kill anyone, nor did he bind or gag anyone." He had no weapon and "no witness testified that Mr. Stewart knew that weapons were going to be used," the brief said.
Both sentencing memorandums note that one of the victims, Beardsley, did not even want the case prosecuted.
Attorneys for both Simpson and Stewart have filed motions seeking a new trial.
Simpson's lawyers cite seven reasons why a new trial should be granted in their brief, including that he was denied a fair hearing when two African-Americans were dismissed from the potential jury pool. An all-white jury convicted the men.


I personally believe although O.J. was completely wrong for what he did, the only reason he was sentenced so harshly is because of who he is and what he has done in the past. Many people feel O.J. got away with murder (literally) so this was the courts way of making sense of what they felt they could not prove him guilty of in the pass.

Stephen Smith on Black Athletes

I agree with Stephen A Smith black athletes need to wake up and realize that just because they have millions of dollars, does not mean they can get away with anything. There was no reason to bring a gun to the club, there is no reason for a athlete to spit in a girl's face. It is sad to see black athletes act a fool even though we have a black president trying to change the stereotype.

Advertising...Does it display Negative Stereotypes?

Continuing with today’s discussion in class on advertising stereotypes, I wanted to mention a cover on Vogue that developed alot of controversy over the summer.

This image of basketball player LeBron James with model Gisele Bundchen developed much controversy. Critics felt that it was perpetuating racial stereotypes. Many have referred to this cover in relation to King Kong, because LeBron poses in a gorilla-like manner, as he dribbles a ball with supermodel Gisele in the other hand relating to the damsel in distress. A Magazine Analyst, Samir Husni feels that the photo was done deliberately and considering Vogues history when they publish the magazine there is always a lot of thought put into it. This in fact related LeBron it to King Kong showing that black men always want white women. On the contrary LeBron James was comfortable with the cover and said that he receives both positive and negative publicity and who cares what people have to say.

Two readers commented in USA Today saying

One said:
“This cover is very hurtful to the white basketball players. It screams that only blacks can play basketball, be successful and that white women would choose a black man over successful white man. I am boycotting Vogue from now on.”

Another reader said:“He’s a basketball player who is known for his abilities…what kind of face should he be making? He is in his element, whether black, white, or purple, he IS a basketball player. It’s not like they took just some tall black guy and made him wear a basketball uniform and have a blonde jumping up and down for him. Sheesh. People need to seriously get over themselves and stop taking things so seriously.”

My personal opinion:
I remember when I saw this magazine at Publix a store in Atlanta Georgia and a white woman said isn’t this true, I’m not to sure what she was implying, but I was very offended by the cover as a young African American woman, and didn't not particularly like the portrayal of our black men, which showed similar characteristics of a Gorilla. Whether Vogue did it deliberately or not, there are always two sides of the spectrum that the mass media should take into mind when delivering to the public, of course this is never an easy task. I just thought it was interesting to post, especially in relation to our class discussion.