[scifinoir2] Red, Catlike Animal May Be a New Species
Red, Catlike Animal May Be a New Species Tue Dec 6, 2:46 PM ET A catlike creature photographed by camera traps on Borneo Island is likely to be a new species of carnivore, the World Wildlife Fund said Tuesday. If confirmed, the animal - which has dark red fur and a long, bushy tail - would be first new carnivore species discovered on the island since 1895, when the Borneo ferret-badger was found, the fund said. Cameras set up to photograph wildlife in Kayan Mentarang National Park on the Indonesian side of Borneo island have twice captured images of the animal, said Stephan Wulffraat, a Dutch biologist who is coordinating the WWF's research into the species. "We have consulted several Bornean wildlife experts. Some thought it looked like a lemur, but most were convinced it was a new species of carnivore," Wulffraat said. "Until we have a live specimen in our hands, we can't be 100 percent sure. Now, I'm only 90 percent sure." Since 1994, researchers have found more than 360 new species on Borneo island, most of them insects and plants. The island, which is shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, has some of the most diverse wildlife on Earth, but its forests are under threat from expanding rubber and oil palm plantations. On The Net: http://www.worldwildlife.org/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Life without art & music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/7zgKlB/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[scifinoir2] Katrina Victims Testify on Racism's Role
Katrina Victims Testify on Racism's Role By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer 40 minutes ago Black survivors of Hurricane Katrina said Tuesday that racism contributed to the slow disaster response, at times likening themselves in emotional congressional testimony to victims of genocide and the Holocaust. The comparison is inappropriate, according to Rep. Jeff Miller (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla. "Not a single person was marched into a gas chamber and killed," Miller told the survivors. "They died from abject neglect," retorted community activist Leah Hodges. "We left body bags behind." Angry evacuees described being trapped in temporary shelters where one New Orleans resident said she was "one sunrise from being consumed by maggots and flies." Another woman said military troops focused machine gun laser targets on her granddaughter's forehead. Others said their families were called racial epithets by police. "No one is going to tell me it wasn't a race issue," said New Orleans evacuee Patricia Thompson, 53, who is now living in College Station, Texas. "Yes, it was an issue of race. Because of one thing: when the city had pretty much been evacuated, the people that were left there mostly was black." Not all lawmakers seemed persuaded. "I don't want to be offensive when you've gone though such incredible challenges," said Rep. Christopher Shays (news, bio, voting record), R-Conn. But referring to some of the victims' charges, like the gun pointed at the girl, Shays said: "I just don't frankly believe it." "You believe what you want," Thompson said. The hearing was held by a special House committee, chaired by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., investigating the government's preparations and response to Katrina. It was requested by Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. "Racism is something we don't like to talk about, but we have to acknowledge it," McKinney said. "And the world saw the effects of American-style racism in the drama as it was outplayed by the Katrina survivors." The five white and two black lawmakers who attended the hearing mostly sat quietly during two and a half hours of testimony. But tempers flared when evacuees were asked by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., to not compare shelter conditions to a concentration camp. "I'm going to call it what it is," said Hodges. "That is the only thing I could compare what we went through to." Of five black evacuees who testified, only one said he believed the sluggish response was the product of bad government planning for poor residents not racism. Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. "If you could make a difference, what would you do?"...Said Kakese Dibinga __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Life without art & music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/7zgKlB/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Black-oriented museums lacking black donors
Do you remember several years ago when Alex Haley's estate was sold? I believe it was to cover some lingering debts. Or maybe someone just wanted to own it. Whatever, I remember how little notoriety it actually got. Some wealthy Blacks bought things, I believe the University of Tennessee got a collection of papers. But I was stunned at the overall lack of a hue and cry. I was surprised that some of the wealthier Blacks didn't come in and save the estate, preserve it as a landmark, or ensure that all the papers and such went into one collection. No such luck, though I recalled with irony at the time reading all kinds of celebrity coverage of famous Blacks buying homes, having lavish vacations, etc. -- Original message -- Thanks for posting this. Finally!!! Finally the spotlight is being pointed where it should have been long ago. Some folks are more interested in bling-bling than their heritage. I'd love to see a voluntary disclosure statement by NBA athletes (or Rap artists) of their contributions. The list would be quite short. George --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Said Kakese Dibinga <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Black-oriented museums lacking black donors > Athletes and celebrities haven't given > > By Darryl Fears > The Washington Post > Updated: 2:42 a.m. ET Dec. 6, 2005 > > LOUISVILLE - The glamour, the popping camera lights of > the paparazzi, and an impressive lineup of movie stars > such as Jim Carrey, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Chris > Tucker gave a glitzy Hollywood feel to the grand opening > of the Muhammad Ali Center in this horse-racing town. > > Lonnie Ali, the boxing champ's wife, could barely hold > back tears as she stood in the shadow of the $75 million > center, with its soaring butterfly roof and its dozens > of exhibits, replete with LeRoy Nieman paintings of "the > Greatest" in his glory days. > > "This," Lonnie said as her husband stood by, "is the > culmination of a . . . dream." > > The dream, however, has received little financial support > from prominent black Americans. After a two-year campaign, > only one monied black contributor, ex-heavyweight champion > Lennox Lewis, who is British, gave a substantial amount, > $300,000. YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "scifinoir2" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Life without art & music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/7zgKlB/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [scifinoir2] [OT] Al Sharpton May Get His Own Sitcom
I heard about this. This is not off sopic. The is speculative fiction Tracey --- brent wodehouse <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Al Sharpton May Get His Own Sitcom > > Sitcom Has Working Title Of 'Al In The Family' > > December 3, 2005 > > > NEW YORK - He didn't make it to the White House, but > the Rev. Sharpton may > soon beam into your house on a regular basis. > > Sharpton, a New York Democrat known for his civil > rights work, political > aspirations and love of the cameras, is in talks > with CBS to do his own > sitcom. > > Sharpton confirmed to the New York Daily News that > one episode may revolve > around one of his TV children becoming a Republican. > > The sitcom has a working title of "Al in the > Family." > > > > Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > ~--> > AIDS in India: A "lurking bomb." Click and help stop > AIDS now. > http://us.click.yahoo.com/VpTY2A/lzNLAA/yQLSAA/LRMolB/TM > ~-> > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > __ Yahoo! DSL Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl.yahoo.com Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Life without art & music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/7zgKlB/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[scifinoir2] [OT] Al Sharpton May Get His Own Sitcom
Al Sharpton May Get His Own Sitcom Sitcom Has Working Title Of 'Al In The Family' December 3, 2005 NEW YORK - He didn't make it to the White House, but the Rev. Sharpton may soon beam into your house on a regular basis. Sharpton, a New York Democrat known for his civil rights work, political aspirations and love of the cameras, is in talks with CBS to do his own sitcom. Sharpton confirmed to the New York Daily News that one episode may revolve around one of his TV children becoming a Republican. The sitcom has a working title of "Al in the Family." Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> AIDS in India: A "lurking bomb." Click and help stop AIDS now. http://us.click.yahoo.com/VpTY2A/lzNLAA/yQLSAA/LRMolB/TM ~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[scifinoir2] Fw: [TD] Tomgram: An American Tipping Point?
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
a project of the Nation Institute
To send this to a friend, or to read more dispatches, go to tomdispatch.com
Tomgram: An American Tipping Point?
Losing the Fear Factor
How The Bush Administration Got Spooked
By Tom Engelhardt
It's finally Wizard of Oz time in America. You know -- that moment when the
curtains are pulled back, the fearsome-looking wizard wreathed in all that
billowing smoke turns out to be some pitiful little guy, and everybody looks
around sheepishly, wondering why they acted as they did for so long.
Starting on September 11, 2001 -- with a monstrous helping hand from Osama bin
Laden -- the Bush administration played the fear card with unbelievable
effectiveness. For years, with its companion "war on terror," it trumped every
other card in the American political deck. With an absurd system for
color-coding dangers to Americans, the President, Vice President, and the
highest officials in this land were able to paint the media a "high" incendiary
orange and the Democrats an "elevated" bright yellow, functionally sidelining
them.
How stunningly in recent weeks the landscape has altered -- almost like your
basic hurricane sweeping through some unprotected and unprepared city. Now, to
their amazement, Bush administration officials find themselves thrust through
the equivalent of a Star-Trekkian wormhole into an anti-universe where
everything that once worked for them seems to work against them. As always, in
the face of domestic challenge, they have responded by attacking -- a tactic
that was effective for years. The President, Vice President, National Security
Adviser, and others have ramped up their assaults, functionally accusing
Democratic critics of little short of treason -- of essentially undermining
American forces in the field, if not offering aid and comfort to the enemy. On
his recent trip to Asia, the President put it almost as bluntly as his Vice
President did at home: "As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to
destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who
voted to send them into war continue to stand behind them." The! Democrats
were, he said over and over, "irresponsible" in their attacks. Dick Cheney
called them spineless "opportunists" peddling dishonestly for political
advantage.
But instead of watching the Democrats fall silent under assault as they have
for years, they unexpectedly found themselves facing a roiling oppositional
hubbub threatening the unity of their own congressional party. In his sudden,
heartfelt attack on Bush administration Iraq plans ("a flawed policy wrapped in
illusion") and his call for a six-month timetable for American troop
withdrawal, Democratic congressional hawk John Murtha took on the Republicans
over their attacks more directly than any mainstream Democrat has ever done.
("I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there. I
like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send
people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be
done. I resent the fact, on Veterans Day, he [Bush] criticized Democrats for
criticizing them."! ) Perhaps more important, as an ex-Marine and decorated
Vietnam veteran clearly speaking for a military constituency (and possibility
some Pentagon brass), he gave far milder and more "liberal" Democrats cover.
For the first time since the war in Iraq began, "tipping points," constantly
announced in Iraq but never quite in sight, have headed for home. Dan Bartlett,
counselor to the President and drafter of recent Presidential attacks on the
Democrats, told David Sanger of the New York Times that "Bush's decision to
fight back. arose after he became concerned the [Iraq] debate was now at a
tipping point"; while Howard Fineman of Newsweek dubbed Murtha himself a
"one-man tipping point."
Something indeed did seem to tip, for when the White House and associates took
Murtha on, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, and other Democrats leaped aggressively to
his defense. In fact, something quite unimaginable even a few days earlier
occurred. When Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt of Ohio, the most junior member of
the House, accused Murtha (via an unnamed Marine colonel supposedly from her
district) of being a coward, Democratic Representative Harold Ford from
Tennessee "charged across the chamber's center aisle to the Republican side
screaming that Ms. Schmidts's attack had been unwarranted. 'You guys are
pathetic!' yelled Representative Martin Meehan, Democrat of Massachusetts.
'Pathetic.'"
Click here to read more of this dispatch.
---
You are currently subscribed to tomdispatch as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -
[scifinoir2] Fw: Back to utopia
[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Terrific little essay! http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/11/20/back_to_utopia/ > > Back to utopia > > Can the antidote to today's neoliberal triumphalism be found in the pages > of far-out science fiction? > > By Joshua Glenn | November 20, 2005 > > > IN 1888, when Massachusetts newspaperman Edward Bellamy published his > science fiction novel ''Looking Backward," set in a Boston of the year > 2000, it sold half a million copies. Never mind the futuristic inventions > (electric lighting, credit cards) and visionary city planning; what > readers responded to was the transformation of a Gilded Age city of labor > strikes and social unrest into a socialist utopia (Bellamy called it > ''nationalist") of full employment and material abundance. > > By 1890 there were 162 reformist Bellamy Clubs around the country, with a > membership that included public figures like the influential novelist, > editor, and critic William Dean Howells; and from 1891-96, the > Bellamy-inspired Nationalist Party helped propel the Populist Movement. > The Bellamyites fervently believed, to paraphrase the slogan of today's > anti-globalization movement, that another world was possible. > > But during the Cold War - thanks to Stalinism and the success of such > dystopian fables as Aldous Huxley's ''Brave New World" and George Orwell's > ''Nineteen Eighty-Four" - all radical programs promising social > transformation became suspect. Speaking for his fellow chastened liberals > at a Partisan Review symposium in 1952, for example, the theologian and > public intellectual Reinhold Niebuhr dismissed what he called the > utopianism of the 1930s as ''an adolescent embarrassment." > > Niebuhr and other influential anti-utopians of mid-century - Isaiah > Berlin, Hannah Arendt, Karl Popper - had a point. From Plato's ''Republic" > to Thomas More's 1517 traveler's tale ''Utopia" (the title of which became > a generic term), to the idealistic communism of Rousseau and other pre- > and post-French Revolution thinkers, to Bellamy's ''Looking Backward" > itself, utopian narratives have often shared a naive and unseemly > eagerness to force square pegs into round holes via thought control and > coercion. By the end of the 20th century, most utopian projects did look > proto-totalitarian. > > In recent years, however, certain eminent contrarians - most notably > Fredric Jameson, author of the seminal ''Postmodernism, Or, the Cultural > Logic of Late Capitalism" (1991) and Russell Jacoby, author most recently > of ''The End of Utopia" (1999) and ''Picture Imperfect: Utopian Thought > for an Anti-Utopian Age" (2005)-have lamented the wholesale abandonment of > such utopian ideas of the left as the abolition of property, the triumph > of solidarity, and the end of racism and sexism. > > The question, for thinkers like these, is how to revive the spirit of > utopia - the current enfeeblement of which, Jameson claims, ''saps our > political options and tends to leave us all in the helpless position of > passive accomplices and impotent handwringers" - without repeating the > errors of what Jacoby has dubbed ''blueprint utopianism," that is, a > tendency to map out utopian society in minute detail. How to avoid, as > Jameson puts it, effectively ''colonizing the future"? > > Is the thought of a noncapitalist utopia even possible after Stalinism, > after decades of anticommunist polemic on the part of brilliant and > morally engaged intellectuals? Or are we all convinced, in a politically > paralyzing way, that Margaret Thatcher had it right when she crowed that > ''there is no alternative" to free-market capitalism? > > Borrowing Sartre's slogan, coined after the Soviet invasion of Hungary, > about being neither communist nor anticommunist but ''anti-anticommunist," > Jameson suggests we give ''anti-anti-utopianism" a try. In his latest > book, ''Archaeologies of the Future," just published by Verso, he invites > us to explore an overlooked canon of anti-anti-utopian narratives that > some, to echo Niebuhr, might find embarrassingly adolescent: offbeat > science fiction novels of the 1960s and '70s. > > Jameson, a professor of comparative literature at Duke, isn't talking > about ''Star Trek" novelizations. Because of the Cold War emphasis on > dystopias, Cold War writers like Philip K. Dick, Ursula K. Le Guin, and > Samuel R. Delany had to find radical new ways to express their > inexpressible hopes about the future, claims Jameson. At this moment of > neoliberal triumphalism, he suggests, we should take these writers > seriously - even if their ideas are packaged inside lurid paperbacks. > > In Dick's uncanny novels, the author demands of us that we decide for > ourselves what's real and what isn't. ''Martian Time-Slip" (1964), for > example, is partly told from the perspective of a 10-year-old > schizophrenic colonist on Mars, where civilization is devolving into > ''gubbish." And ''The Three Stigmata of Palmer
[scifinoir2] Re: Black-oriented museums lacking black donors
Thanks for posting this. Finally!!! Finally the spotlight is being pointed where it should have been long ago. Some folks are more interested in bling-bling than their heritage. I'd love to see a voluntary disclosure statement by NBA athletes (or Rap artists) of their contributions. The list would be quite short. George --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Said Kakese Dibinga <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Black-oriented museums lacking black donors > Athletes and celebrities haven't given > > By Darryl Fears > The Washington Post > Updated: 2:42 a.m. ET Dec. 6, 2005 > > LOUISVILLE - The glamour, the popping camera lights of > the paparazzi, and an impressive lineup of movie stars > such as Jim Carrey, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Chris > Tucker gave a glitzy Hollywood feel to the grand opening > of the Muhammad Ali Center in this horse-racing town. > > Lonnie Ali, the boxing champ's wife, could barely hold > back tears as she stood in the shadow of the $75 million > center, with its soaring butterfly roof and its dozens > of exhibits, replete with LeRoy Nieman paintings of "the > Greatest" in his glory days. > > "This," Lonnie said as her husband stood by, "is the > culmination of a . . . dream." > > The dream, however, has received little financial support > from prominent black Americans. After a two-year campaign, > only one monied black contributor, ex-heavyweight champion > Lennox Lewis, who is British, gave a substantial amount, > $300,000. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Life without art & music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/7zgKlB/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[scifinoir2] Black-oriented museums lacking black donors
Black-oriented museums lacking black donors Athletes and celebrities haven't given By Darryl Fears The Washington Post Updated: 2:42 a.m. ET Dec. 6, 2005 LOUISVILLE - The glamour, the popping camera lights of the paparazzi, and an impressive lineup of movie stars such as Jim Carrey, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Chris Tucker gave a glitzy Hollywood feel to the grand opening of the Muhammad Ali Center in this horse-racing town. Lonnie Ali, the boxing champ's wife, could barely hold back tears as she stood in the shadow of the $75 million center, with its soaring butterfly roof and its dozens of exhibits, replete with LeRoy Nieman paintings of "the Greatest" in his glory days. "This," Lonnie said as her husband stood by, "is the culmination of a . . . dream." The dream, however, has received little financial support from prominent black Americans. After a two-year campaign, only one monied black contributor, ex-heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, who is British, gave a substantial amount, $300,000. 'It has been a disappointment' The Ali Center's experience is not unique. In recent years there has been a proliferation of black-oriented museums, memorials and cultural centers that cost millions to run. But some museum executives wonder how well they will fare when several existing institutions are struggling and corporate sponsorships often do not cover the costs of day-to-day operations. Among the problems, some experts say, is a lack of contributions from black people -- especially prominent entertainers and athletes -- whose history is celebrated by these institutions. "We have yet work cut out for us to cultivate the interest of African Americans and athletes of many cultures" said Michael Fox, executive director of the Ali Center. "It hasn't happened yet at the level we expected. I think it has been a disappointment to date." To be sure, black people are, in fact, generous when it comes to charitable contributions. A 2003 study reported in the Chronicle of Philanthropy noted that black Americans who give to charity donate 25 percent more of their discretionary income than white donors. In the Coalition for New Philanthropy's 2004 study of minority giving in the New York City area, black Americans of all age groups contributed just slightly more than the nation's other two major ethnic groups, Latino and Asian. But art museums and cultural centers were low on the priority list of all minority groups. As the Ali Center fundraisers discovered, their money goes instead to churches, schools and scholarships. "Art is important in some parts of the black community, but if you're giving money and have to choose between education and giving to a museum, you would give to education," said Mary Beth Gasman, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania who wrote a book on black philanthropy. The Ali Center's experience was telling. Given Ali's status as an icon and role model for many in the world of sports, the center recruited sports commentator Bob Costas and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), a boxing aficionado, to raise money from athletes. They were surprised by the poor results. "I was grossly disappointed," Meeks said. "I know there have been difficulties with several . . . professionals who are paid well and might not be paid well if it were not for Ali breaking that [racial] barrier. "We called and oftentimes we didn't get called back," Meeks said. "Then I tried to get other people who called, people who had connections, and we heard, 'I'll get back to you on that,' and they never got back to us. I never thought in my wildest dreams that it would be difficult to raise money for Ali." Meeks would not name the sports figures who were contacted. But a top administrator at the Ali Center who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of being fired said former basketball stars Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley were contacted, as was golfer Tiger Woods and fight promoter Don King. Actor Will Smith, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his movie portrayal of Ali, was also solicited, the administrator said. None contributed. With their numbers dramatically rising, black-oriented museums, memorials and centers are increasingly dependent on the largess of black people. But with the notable exception of Bill Cosby and Oprah Winfrey, prominent black entertainers and athletes, and black Americans in general, tend not to contribute to these cultural institutions. In the past two years, at least seven major black museums, cultural centers and memorials, amounting to about $1 billion in capital costs alone, have opened or gone into planning, including a Smithsonian national African American museum in Washington. The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture opened this year i
