Wordless Wednesday: Olympic Finger Art

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Presidency

President Bush will seek to comfort victims of his presidency as they try to make sense of the destruction he has caused.

John McCain is Livin' Large!

McCain and his cronies keep trying to paint Barack Obama as an 'elitist'. Check out the video below and tell me who you think is the 'elitist' in this campaign!

"Most working families today do not have homes that have anywhere near ten rooms. John McCain has ten houses. Many working people in America have to work two and three jobs to provide for their families and pay their car loans. John McCain hops on a private jet. Is it any wonder why McCain champions a George Bush agenda of cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy, helping oil companies turn record profits, and leaving working families to fend for themselves? McCain's velvet world leaves him utterly unprepared to make the tough choices we need to restore the middle class and ensure that everyone in America has quality, affordable health insurance."

- Andy Stern, President, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)



McCain is living large! I don't think that McCain has a clue about what kind of lives ordinary citizens in America are living. What say u?

Blue Nile: A Smarter Way to Buy Diamonds

I've been divorced for a number of years now. I consider it the biggest mistake of my life. As such, I don't consider myself an expert on women. However, one thing I know...

...women love jewelry.

If you want to make her understand you love her, you can buy her diamond jewelry, gold jewelry, pearl jewelry or whatever she likes. Now is the time to think about the gifts you want to give later this year to place focus on your relationships with your spouse, your lover, your family, your friends or yourself. One remarkable gift would be jewelry.

One place to check out diamonds, engagement rings or fine jewelry is Blue Nile has all of them. Blue Nile is the largest online retailer of certified diamonds, engagement rings and fine jewelry, and they offer outstanding quality, selection, and value. Their business is growing with shipments to Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland and Taiwan.

Villagers can also create their own jewelry. You choose the right diamond and they will set it in your favorite earring, pendant, or ring design.

No matter what the occasion, Blue Nile can help you celebrate with classic jewelry. Now is the time to make your plans for the perfect gift this year. What say u?

.:: Sponsored Post::.

Jena 6 Hater Gets 4-Month Prison Sentence for Playing With Nooses

Villagers may recall the arrest of Jeremiah Munsen on the night of Sept. 20, after the civil rights rally in Jena. Munsen had been drinking when he and a juvenile accomplice decided to fashion nooses from electrical extension cords, hang them from the truck and buzz past protesters.

Munsen had pleaded guilty in April to a misdemeanor federal hate crime of interrupting protesters' federal rights to travel for driving with the nooses draped from the back of a pickup truck.

U.S. District Judge Dee Drell sentenced Munsen to four months in prison. [SOURCE]

"It's a shame that there is not a federal statute for terminal stupidity, because this was a stupid, stupid thing to do," Drell told Munsen as he handed down the sentence.

Randi Miller Wins Wrestling Bronze Medal

Much of the media attention from the first week of the Beijing Olympics focused on Michael Phelps. Phelps earned it with seven world records and eight gold medals. However, I woke up this morning and women's wrestling was on television.

Imagine my surprise to see a powerful nubian sister from America ... Randi Miller ... winning the bronze medal in the Olympic women's 63-kilogram wrestling match! Miller defeated Canada's Martine Dugrenier by scoring the decisive point with only 13 seconds remaining in the third period.

Congrats to Randi Miller and her family in Arlington, TX for this remarkable international victory. And for those villagers who are wondering ... 63-kilograms is about 140 pounds!

Fox News Continues to Smear Barack Obama

It is almost comical how transparent Fox News is when it comes to smearing Barack Obama. Check out this video prepared by the folks at Brave New Films.

NAACP Releases Presidential Candidates' Civil Rights Questionnaire

Drumbeats from The Wichita NAACP Blog informed us that the NAACP Presidential candidates Civil Rights questionnaire featuring responses from Senators Obama and McCain is complete and available!

My view of the NAACP evolved over the past year to the point that I've decided to renew my membership in the NAACP Cincinnati Branch. The organization demonstrated greater relevance last month when both presidential candidates came to the NAACP annual convention held in Cincinnati OH.

In conjunction with those speeches, the NAACP sent a questionnaire to both candidates with questions on issues important to people of African descent. These issues include not only basic civil rights, but also criminal justice, economic development, education, election reform, health, housing, labor and international relations. All of the questions reflect issues that have been developed by the NAACP grassroots membership and the Board of Directors and are priorities for the NAACP.

Anyhow, I invite all villagers to download and read the full Q&A session with both candidates. How often have you thought that it would be good to go beyond the commercials to get insights from the candidates on the issues?

I'm interested to hear your village voice on the answers provided by McCain and Obama. What say u?

Old School Friday: Gil Scott-Heron

Mrs. Grapevine created a remarkable weekly meme known as 'Old School Friday'. The theme for this week is 'Political Songs'. My favorite political artist is Gil Scott-Heron. He laid it on the line after Gerald Ford gave a pardon to Richard Nixon in his spoken word piece known as 'We Beg Your Pardon'.

Of course, if you don't remember Watergate or Vietnam ... then you might not know what this brother is talking about!

Joey Cheeks Appears on Colbert Report

Last week, Team Darfur president and co-founder Joey Cheek had his visa revoked by the Chinese government less than 24 hours before he was supposed to leave to attend the Beijing Olympic Games.

Since then, Barack Obama and John McCain both issued statements of support, and in an interview with Bob Costas on NBC President Bush said: “Joey Cheek has just got to know that I took the Sudanese message for him. My attitude is, is if you got relations with Mr.Bashir, think about helping to solve the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. That was my message to the Chinese government.” (SOURCE)

Tonight, Joey will be interviewed on the Colbert Report. The Colbert Report airs on Comedy Central at 11:30 pm, and repeats tomorrow at 8:30 pm.

Please watch this evening, and if you haven’t already, please send a message of support to Team Darfur athletes.

9 Positive Health Tips for Afrikan Survival

The concept of the Electronic Village was created well before the Internet was active. In fact, we had a community known as the Black Experience Bulletin Board (BEBB) on the Prodigy interactive service back in 1995.

One of the frequent posters on BEBB was a powerful sister known as Khandi Paasewe. She was a truly Afrikan-centered sister working for the betterment of our people. I'd like to share the nine (9) health tips she shared with us back in 1995:

1. Cut down on how much is eaten
2. Develop an interest in health and nutrition
3. Drink water water water water water and more water
4. Fasting should be part of your weekly routine
5. Invest in a juicer instead of a stereo system
6. Remove sugar content foods (refined products)
7. Replace dairy products w/ organic counterparts
8. Replace junk foods with fruits, fruit juices and nuts
9. Replace red meats w/ organic fish and chicken

It seems that these tips apply equally as well in 2008 as they did in 1995. What say u?

Baron Pike Joins Other Black Men, Women and Children Victimized by Taser-Happy Cops

UPDATE: Former cop Scott Nugent indicted for manslaughter!

---

We often discuss improper use of tasers by police. However, I must admit that this story went under the radar for me until reported by Tony Brown, Francis Holland and Howard Witt. Here is Howard's article:

---

At 1:28 p.m. last Jan. 17, Baron "Scooter" Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old man. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead.

What happened in the 39 minutes in between--during which Pikes was handcuffed by local police and shocked nine times with a Taser device, while reportedly pleading for mercy--is now spawning fears of a political cover-up in this backwoods Louisiana lumber town infamous for backroom dealings.

Even more ominously, because Pikes was Black and the officer who repeatedly Tasered him is white, racial tensions over the case are mounting in a place that's just 40 miles from Jena, La. Jena is the site of the racially explosive prosecution of six Black teenagers charged with beating a white youth that last year triggered one of the largest American civil rights demonstrations in decades. And in a bizarre coincidence, Pikes turns out to have been a first cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena 6 case.

No novelist could have invented Winnfield, a place so steeped in corruption that they built a local museum to try to sanitize it all.

You can read the rest of the article here.

---

I am tired of reading these stories about Black men, blind men, women, pregnant women and children irresponsibly tased by the police.

I've taken time to document and understand the use of force continuum to better understand when tasers are supposed to be used. Yet, I see no excuse for the homicidal behavior of police officers in Winnfield LA or Charlotte NC.

I join with African American Political Pundit in saying, "We are not against taser use as an alternative to deadly force. We are however against taser abuse by rogue cops who consider the taser an apartheid electrocution whip of the 21st century."

I suspect that you will hear more and more about taser abuse from other bloggers in the afrosphere. What say u?

Top Five Black Blogs

Electronic Village was honored to be named in the list of ' Top Five Black Blogs ' by the I Date White blog owned and operated by Eathan.

Eathan is self-proclaimed single, hard working, motivated, dedicated father of 2 sons who loves his kids, sports, traveling, exotic sports cars, wine, music and technology. The twist is that Eathan is a Black male who exclusively dates white women.

Eathan's top five Black blogs (with Black Blog Ranking in parenthesis) are:

1. Black Tennis Pro (BBR #31)
2. SingleBlackMale (BBR #281)
3. Verysmartbrothas (BBR #151)
4. Baggage Reclaim (BBR #190)
5. Electronic Village (BBR #25)

I will admit that I never heard of three of the blogs on this list until today. So, I'm very grateful to Eathan for sharing his thoughts on the matter with us.

Have you considered who your favorite Black bloggers might be?

Village Resolutions: Financial Goals

Often we wait until New Year's Eve to make resolutions on important life goals. I was thinking it might be good to review our resolutions throughout the year. One of the major goals that all villagers should consider is:



Set Specific Financial Goals
Think about any unusual expenses you may incur or big-ticket items you need to purchase in the coming months. Start saving for such items now, not when it's time to pay the bill. This is as good a time as any to set an annual savings goal, such as ten percent of your salary.

Do you have financial goals in place? What say u?

The Darfur Olympics

From DreamforDarfur.org's email newsletter:

Dear Friends,

Terror continues for the people of Darfur. Despite our efforts and yours, China has not used its unique influence with Sudan and its role as Olympic host to try to address the Darfur conflict.

China has ignored the people of Darfur. Next week you can send Beijing a message by refusing to watch Chinese propaganda during the Olympics.

Every time China touts itself as a responsible world power during the Games, tune into our alternative Olympic programming on the web. Watch the Darfur Olympics -- Mia Farrow's daily webcast from a Darfurian refugee camp from August 8 to 15.

Sign up for alerts about Mia's broadcast.

You can also find out more about the other major events in Darfur over the past few weeks -- in particular the murder of seven peacekeepers in Darfur and the International Criminal Court's charging Sudanese President Bashir with genocide. For more information, click here.

We hope you will stick with us for the rest of the campaign. As we enter this final stretch, we need your help. Donate today to help us show the world what is really happening in Darfur.

Best,
Jill Savitt
Executive Director, Dream for Darfur

Chicago Tribune's Howard Witt Discusses Past & Future of the Afrosphere

Drumbeats from The Urban Report pointed us to this interview of Chicago Tribune reporter Howard Witt. Witt, who broke the Shaquanda Cotton and Jena 6 stories, tells of the power of African American blogs, shortcoming of the white blogosphere and how mainstream media cuts might mean the end of Cotton and Jena 6 type stories.



What say u?

Cullen Jones: Tiger Woods of the Swimming Pool?

UPDATE: We published this post in March 2007. Last night, Cullen Jones won a gold medal in the 4x100 freestyle relay! If Michael Phelps wins 8 gold medals ... one of them will be courtesy of his teamwork with Cullen Jones!

---

Des Walsh, a blogging evangelist living in the Australia area, gave the Electronic Village a heads-up on a sports story that was making a splash Down Under while barely making a ripple here in America. It turns out that that the fastest American in the pool is a man of African descent. Cullen Jones set the American record in the 50-yard freestyle last year ... only a tad off of the world record. He parlayed his speed in the pool into a seven-year endorsement deal with Nike worth potentially more than two million US dollars. That makes him the highest paid sprint freestyler in the world.

Jones is a member of the world record-setting 400-meter freestyle relay team and a potential gold medalist at the Beijing Olympics next year.

I imagine that most Villagers have pride for what this brother has done. Speaking of pride, the timing is real good for the movie of the same name starring Terrance Howard and Bernie Mac. Movie about Black students going to state championship in swimming coming to a theatre near you. [Editor's Note: I'm waiting for the movie that brings us the first team of sistas that make it to the state championship ... Just the dawg in me!]

Back to the point ... it is a good thing that Cullen Jones has a chance to bring a positive spin on diversity for the sport of competitive swimming. Soon people will be calling him the Tiger Woods of his sport. Unfortunately, it is likely his impact will be as neglible for Nubians. Tiger has been on the scene for a decade. Anyone see any other brothers on the PGA Tour? A few more of us watch golf on television when Tiger is playing ... but, the reality is that there simply aren't many African Americans with the financial means to tap into inate golf talent that will allow them to become professionals in the sport.

It could be the same for Cullen Jones. I live in Cincinnati, OH. It is a big budget fight just to keep the community pools open for the summer. Ain't much room for racing up & down a pool that is filled with hundreds of other kids from the neighborhood. As such, it is unlikely that the inate swimming talent inside our African American youth will have a chance to shine. As a result, Cullen Jones will likely remain the only pepper in the salt of the US Olympic Swimming Team photos for many years to come.

Anyhow, I don't begrudge Tiger or Cullen gettin' paid for their talents. However, I am no longer holding out hope that they are pioneers for other people of African descent into their respective country club sports.

On the other hand, the Acting White blog gives another twist to this story. Bro. Collier hopes that the publicity Cullen Jones will get leading up to the Beijing Olympics may result in fewer drowning deaths and accidents for children of color.

What are your comments on Cullen Jones and his world-record success in the pool?

Black Web 2.0 Interviews Villager

Markus Robinson and Angela Bennett are powerful technologists who are doing all that they can do to educate African Americans on Web 2.0 tools. I met them both during the recent Blogging While Brown conference.

Here is interview conducted during that conference:



Black Web 2.0 Speaks with the Electronic Village from blackweb20 on Vimeo.

2008 Best Black Blogs

BlackPerspective.net recently completed a 3-step process to determine the Best Black Blogs.

The first step involved identifying the top 50 Black owned/operated blogs as measured by Technorati authority. The second step was a popular vote from anyone in the blogosphere to narrow the finalist down to 20 blogs. Finally, BlackPerspective.net used seven criteria to determine the Best Black Blogs.

The Best Black Blogs according to BlackPerspectives.net (with current Black Blog Ranking in parenthesis) are:

1. Oliver Willis (BBR # 5)
2. What About Our Daughters (BBR #15)
3. Black Looks (BBR #37)
4. The Field Negro (BBR #13)
5. Ill Doctrine (BBR # 106)
6. Undercover Blackman (BBR #38)
7. Pam's House Blend (BBR #1)
8. Electronic Village (BBR #25)
9. Black and Missing But Not Forgotten (BBR #46)
10. AngryBlackBitch (BBR #19)

---

Yobachi Boswell is the owner of BlackPerspectives.net. I just want to thank the young brother for taking time to conduct this process! Goes without saying that we are honored to be on this list. We will do all that we can to continue to earn a return visitor from our villagers!

Where On Earth Will YOU Vote?

Drumbeats from Adrianne George pointed us to this video reminder for those villagers living outside of the country during this election cycle. Every vote counts ... even if you are not in the country right now. Check it out!





Where might you be voting from this year?