FDA cracks down on corporate drug dealers

In this case, the renegade drug company is none other than General Mills purveyors of such nasty contraband as Cheerios®. My first reaction was to crack up hysterically at what, on the surface, appears to be histrionics in the face of overblown health claims for something that is no more than a tasty treat (and pretty darned good potty training tool). In all honesty, General Mills' advertising is fraudulent and something should be done but I still have a problem with the fact that neither the FDA nor the FTC do anything about so-called nutritional supplements until at least a couple of people die. The reason the FDA does nothing is because that old bag of vinegar & water, David Kessler, and his buddy Orrin Hatch sold out the agency's regulatory authority over herbal/nutritional "supplements" & vitamins in an effort to get the Senate to approve FDA user fees. This eventually lead to the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994.

I'm cautiously optimistic that the FDA's willingness to threaten to pull every box of Cheerios over fraudulent but relatively innocuous claims (and no real potential for adverse effects to consumers) will be parlayed into attempts to regain the truly necessary oversight and regulation of the vitamin and supplement industry. The fact that FTC chairman, Jon Leibowitz, has grown a set to look into the marketing of that that bastion of addiction liability and dangerous treatment for Attention Deficit Disorder, Frosted Mini Wheats® makes me wonder why that agency has only decided to act because some kids believe an animated mini wheat that says they'll be more attentive if they eat the cereal when the energy could be much better spent holding the enormous diet industry accountable for overtly fraudulent and deceptive advertising practices (some of which are on products that have never been proven to be safe, let alone effective). Is the agency afraid to go after these companies because their reaction to FTC suggestion they may want to expand oversight of advertising to include testimonials on blogs and make it clear that user testimonials aren't evidence of product efficacy was for the diet industry to lobby for a right to make false advertising claims?

Both the FTC and the FDA need to get their priorities straight and take action against the more egregious manufacturers of dietary supplements before they go after the breakfast food industry.


Tags: health care FDA FTC advertising off label promotion clinical research Health medicine scientific integrity General Mills tastey breakfast treats

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How long before big Pharma companies have their hands out for more?

Today's announcement that Merck will buy Schering-Plough just marked another notch in the belt of bad news for not only the economy, but for drug development and healthcare worldwide. Pharma company failures, unlike the banking industry, not only have the capacity to wreak havoc on the economy with the job losses but also brings with it the threat of negative impact to drug supply and effective monopolies that impede instead of advance development of new therapies and cost containment of those treatments. The sheer size and industry control of so few large companies is also likely to blunt any attempt to control this industry worldwide (seriously, when a penalty of $1.5 Billion dollars for regulatory infractions is just seen as the cost of doing business, companies are way too big for the good of anyone but senior management). It's time for the government to refuse to approve these mega-mergers.

Tags: economy; job loss; Pharma; schering; ; healthcare; drug development

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When the trickle down drippage from the golden parachute isn't gold

So, according to CNN, President Obama has announced that he'll deflate Golden Parachutes for execs who take bail out money:

"For top executives to award themselves these kinds of compensation packages in the midst of this economic crisis isn't just bad taste -- it's a bad strategy -- and I will not tolerate it. We're going to be demanding some restraint in exchange for federal aid -- so that when firms seek new federal dollars, we won't find them up to the same old tricks," the president added.

Under Obama's plan, companies that want to pay their executives more than $500,000 will have to do so through stocks that cannot be sold until the companies pay back the money they borrow from the government. CNN

What I'd like to know is will company execs still be able to provide these huge payouts to execs if they take money from banks who've received bailout money that was, ostensibly, meant to help the economy and prevent job loss for the unnecessary acquisition of another large company that will cause massive layoffs and do significant damage to local economies in two states. . .you know, the Wye-Pfi deal?

Tags: economy; job loss; Pharma; Wyeth; Pfizer

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Budd Dwyer begs your pardon

Wow, talk about selective memory where a friend is concerned. This morning I ready an editorial in the Inky that really irked the hell out of me. In the piece, former Reagan staffer Jeffrey Lord writes of the need to show mercy and offer a posthumous pardon on his old friend Budd Dwyer. In 1986, Dwyer was offered a plea bargain for accepting a $300,000 kickback. A plea bargain under which Dwyer would be required to serve 5 years, resign as PA State Treasurer and cooperate with the investigation. Dwyer, professing his innocence, refused the offer, went to trial and was found guilty. In early January 1987, Dwyer called his friend Lord to inquire about the possibility of having Ronald Reagan pardon him to avoid a jail term.

I was not a lawyer, but I certainly knew that a request of this nature was "above my pay grade." I told Budd that I would be happy to get the details of the process for him, specifically noting that it was impossible for me to promise presidential pardons to anyone. I brought the request to my immediate boss, Mitch Daniels (now the governor of Indiana). I was given the OK to check with the White House Counsel's Office to get information on pardon procedure and relay that - and only that - to Budd. There could be no promises made.

I mentioned something else to Daniels. I knew Budd well enough to feel very uncomfortable with his tone of voice. "The man on the phone," I said, "does not sound like the Budd Dwyer I know." Daniels nodded sympathetically and encouraged me to get Dwyer his answer right away, which I did.

Budd took the news of the process - the appeal for review had to be made to the Department of Justice, not the president - calmly. While he had the right to appeal and could receive a pardon if his case were approved, this could take years. Certainly this would not happen before his impending sentencing, now only days away.

Dwyer was permitted to continue his position as state Treasurer until sentencing and, on the day of Jan. 22, 1987 he committed his final abuse of that position by calling a televised press conference during which he committed suicide on live television. This was a big case in PA and, since many expected Dwyer to resign during the press conference, viewership was expected to be high. The fact that much of PA was dealing with a huge snowstorm also increased viewership. Dwyer had a sizable audience for his final act and, I'm sure, anyone unfortunate enough to see the spectacle (understand, this was in the days before we were desensitized to the grotesque by so-called "Reality" TV) probably remember it well.

In this morning's editorial, Lord sums up his piece with a request to pardon Bud Dwyer:

If anyone deserves a pardon - mercy - from the president of the United States, it should, finally, be Budd Dwyer. Let him rest in peace.

He doesn't indicate there is evidence that exculpates Dwyer or provide any rationale for the "need" for a pardon except to note that Dwyer professed his innocence, was "broken" by his conviction and inability to get pardoned prior to sentencing.

As I read the article this morning, the only words that came to mind were "you have got to be shitting me!" Dwyer blew his brains out on live TV. He called a press conference to do it and the whole thing was done on a day in which much of the state was in the midst of one heck of a snow storm so quite a few small children ended up seeing this horrific display. This was Dwyer's last act and the only reason to commit this act so publicly would be to hurt others in a sad attempt to martyr himself. If his suicide were only to ensure his wife could keep his pension in addition to avoiding any jail time, he could have killed himself in private.

Be sure, Dwyer's last act was not just a cowardly act to avoid taking responsibility for his actions and paying his debt to society, it was a heinous one in which he intentionally punished others because he was caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Sorry Mr. Lord, but the callousness & public nature of Dwyer's suicide renders him exceptionally unqualified for a pardon.


Tags: Presidential pardon Pennsylvania politics corruption Budd Dwyer

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Air Tran apologizes - sort of

Like many a public figure caught doing something that could impact their bottom line, Air Tran issued an apology for severely screwing up the vacation plans of Atif Irfan, his family, and a family friend. The apology, issued mere hours after the airline insisted all actions taken [or not] were appropriate and that there was nothing for which they needed to apologize has a tinge of a "we're sorry that you are so overly sensitive that you were offended" smell
flight17501.02.09

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While Atif Irfan's brother described the airline's about face as surprising and generous, the apology that was issued still misses the mark. Yes, the airline finally agreed to reimburse the Irfan family and their friend for costs associated with a new flight & transport home in addition to granting the full refund for the Air Tran flights they were not permitted to take but they glossed over the fact that the airline itself unneccessarily and, to be honest, quite rudely, aggravated the situation by refusing to just rebook the group on the next flight out and publicly lying about the reasons why. Instead, they chose to point out that nobody on the flight got to Orlando on time without acknowledging their role in making the situation worse for 9 people in particular. Their apology, it seems, is focused on the need to follow security precautions in which air marshalls elevated the situation to the FBI. While, I'm sure, racism and ignorance was the underlying reason that other passengers relayed concerns about the conversation they overheard to the flight attendants, the family was not angry at the airline for doing what they had to do to ensure there was no real threat and that the passengers and crew could have a calm flight. The outcry about the incident was due to the manner the group was treated by Air Tran after they were not only cleared by the FBI, but after the FBI agents themselves requested the group be re-booked on a later flight.

Tags: racism Muslim Islam ignorance Air Tran travel

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2009 Predictions

All one has to do to confirm that I have absolutely no psychic abilities is to look at the decisions I've made in my life about men and more than 1 job, however, I'm pretty confident predicting that AirTran will lose (or quickly settle) one lawsuit that has yet to be filed in response to an incident that occurred yesterday afternoon:

A Muslim family removed from an airliner Thursday after passengers became concerned about their conversation say AirTran officials refused to rebook them, even after FBI investigators cleared them of wrongdoing. CNN

Eight members of Atif Irfan's family were supposed to be on an Air Tran flight from DC's Reagan National to Orlando as part of their dastardly plan to meet up with other family members to attend a religious conference. The five adults and 3 children had what sounds to be pretty similar to a conversation I often overhear among people who don't travel [by air] routinely when taking a flight

"We were (discussing whether it was safest to sit near) the wing, or the engine or the back or the front. . ."

My guess is that it is a similar conversation the passengers who reported the group may have, at some point, overheard others have or even had themselves. Unfortunately for Irfan's group, they were FWC (flying while colored) and doing do in the US where, I kid you not, I have personally witnessed Arabs be confused for "wetbacks" and Hispanics/Latinos be confused for "A-Rabs." After other passengers raised concerns to flight attendants, the two air marshalls on the flight contacted the FBI who took Irfan's family and a family friend, an attorney at the Library of Congress who was not traveling with the family but was seen speaking to them, off the plane for questioning.

The entire group was cleared by the FBI, who went the extra step to request the group be allowed to take a later flight to get to their destination. Air Tran may be a discount airline but they certainly know how to give a first class F-you: they offered a full refund and stated the family can [try to] fly with Air Tran again in the [distant] future, just not one that can get them to this vacation.

Tags: racism Muslim Islam ignorance Air Tran travel

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Israel chooses to make a bad situation worse the worse situation worst

I don't blog on Israel too much, the reason for this is two-fold:

1. I'm severely conflicted where Israel and her actions as a sovereign nation are concerned
2. Discussions about Israel leave me with a huge headache that comes with bashing one's head against a brick wall

Outside of Israel, the only support the country gets is from a mixture of Jews who are so acutely aware of antisemitism they see it everywhere to the point their support of Israel is a knee-jerk reaction and moderate Jews (like myself) who have a bit of a love:hate relationship with the country, and Evangelical Christians who will use their "support of Israel" for political gain (see: GOP) but really just want control of Jerusalem to fulfill their religious prophecy. The rest of the world is pretty much stacked against Israel - Israel (and Jews who support her in any way) are the biggest unifying force between the extremes of the left and right in the US. I do not look for antisemitism everywhere, nor do I believe every accusation of antisemitism but the truth remains that a lot of the world's stance against Israel has a core of institutionalized antisemitism. Human Rights groups & the UN are quick to jump all over Israel as an affront to civilized nations on the human rights front while often, but not always, ignoring similar or worse infractions of other countries - especially Arab ones (especially when those infractions and acts of terrorism are against Jews). Israel, like all countries, should be taken to task for actual human/civil rights violations - I just worry when one country (which is not as bad as so many others) is held out more in what appears to be motivated as much by politics as it is by any concern for human rights. Groups, such as British Academics, are quick to [attempt to] take punitive action against Israeli academics to protest complicity with Israel's actions (it's not without irony that British Academics take offense to any sort of occupation) when the same organizations have never even considered taking similar actions against private citizens of countries that support terrorism of any kind. It's all very one-sided and saying something shouldn't be construed as antisemitic doesn't mean that antisemitism is in play.

In truth, Israel is held to a higher standard than any other country. When Israel is attacked, she alone must show restraint. When she loses her temper and responds in kind, she alone is criticized - when that is pointed out, those criticizing her accuse the country of acting like an immature child pointing out that someone else started it. Let's get it straight here folks, this isn't two toddlers fighting over toys or a little pushing between siblings, this is a case of terrorists supported by Israel's neighbors (and Hamas, the terrorist organization cum political party, which stands as the elected rulers of the Palestinians) targeting Israeli citizens with guns, bombs, etc. Turning the other cheek to show some "moral superiority" has gotten Israel nothing - she's still routinely and unilaterally condemned, she still has to let terrorists out of jail en masse and, unlike other countries, she will still have to return land won in war and, for this, her people understandably don't have any reasonable expectation of any peace or good will towards them.

In the face of this, Israel's choice to go bat-guano crazy on Hamas's proverbial arse was far from wise. It is, in fact, probably the single-most ill-advised & self-destructive thing she has ever done. The whole world needs to take both sides to task for this constant war and, if necessary, come together to mandate a resolution upon them that must be honored as any cross-border act of aggression (including those acts by proxies) will serve to allow one side to respond in kind with the full support of the world.

UPDATE: I meant to include the Link to JStreet's petition for the US to take action to stop the violence in Gaza now


tags:Israel; Disengagement; terrorism; Middle East; Arabs

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The War On Christmas: The War Within

Every year at Christmastime which, sometimes, starts as early as Halloween, I start what seems to be a tradition of posts on the so-called "War on Christmas." The now annual battles start with Christianity's biggest loudest, most obnoxious and, by default, morally superior defenders throwing down the gauntlet to challenge anyone who shows lack of respect for one of the most holy Christian holidays for the heinous and heretical transgressions of holding "holiday" parties, "holiday" sales, sending "holiday" cards and, in the case of retailers, having staff use a "happy holidays" greeting. The complaints of the Christmas Warriors (Fox News, American Family Association, Focus on the Family, Bill Donahue, et al.) is that these people/corporations are blaspheming the holiday by rendering their commercialization and mass marketing too generic. In short, these offenders are not bastardizing Christmas enough for the taste of the holiday defenders.

The common meme of my posts tends to focus on that particular point and the logical conclusion that, if the goal really is to protect and preserve a religious holiday, the Christmas Warriors should actually be lauding the actions they fight and turn their fiery rhetoric against excessive use of their holiday to worship at the church of the almighty buck.

The truth is, though, that there is a bit of war on Christianity in this country. Ironically, it's a war coming from within the ranks of the diverse Christian community itself (including the Christmas Warriors) and the heart of that war is Christmas. The Puritans, the people from which the current crop of fundamentalists grew, didn't celebrate Christmas. As a matter of fact they tried to suppress it in the colonies by outlawing and fining celebration of the holiday. Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans continued to consider Christmas to be a holy day of obligation but the rest of post Protestant reformation Christianity didn't, exactly, join in the celebrations. It wasn't until mass German immigration to the US that Christmas celebrations boomed here and it became an American holiday as opposed to a religious one

Only with the arrival of German immigrants after the Civil War did it emerge as the major American feast. With the revolution in retailing--marked by the rise of department stores and advertising--celebrations focused on throwing parties, buying and giving gifts, and sending greeting cards (first sold in 1874, they became a million dollar business within a few years). The Coca-Cola Co. adopted as its logo a jolly bearded man in a red and white suit, and Santa bypassed Jesus as Christmas' main icon. Slate

The holiday has even become less religious as more and more Protestant (including those on the front of the religious-culture wars) churches close on Christmas Day

But however they spend Christmas Day — "the feast of Christmas" on the Christian liturgical calendar — one way most Americans don't celebrate it is by going to church. While demand for Christmas Eve celebrations is so high that some churches hold as many as five or six different services on the 24th of December, most Protestant churches are closed on the actual religious holiday. For most Christians, Christmas is a day for family, not faith.

If that sounds like the triumph of culture over religion, it is. By the middle of the 20th century, Americans had embraced a civil religion that among other things elevated the ideal of family to a sacrosanct level. The Norman Rockwell image of family gathered around the tree became a Christmas icon that rivaled the baby Jesus. And Christmas Eve services — with their pageantry and familiar traditions — became just one part of the celebration, after the family dinner and before the opening of presents. Time

So while the Christmas Warriors maintain an easily shattered facade that they are trying to reclaim Christmas as a religious holiday, what they are really doing is reinforcing the holiday as any but religious by continuing to conflate a very narrow view of Christianity with Americana. Why would they do this if the ultimate goal is to protect religion and religious tradition? They do it for all the obvious reasons illuminated above - in making Christmas a patriotic American Mall holiday and then tying it to religion on the back end, they tie Christianity in as a core tenet of US citizenship. There is a war going on, but it isn't about protecting a religious holiday from Atheists and "Sssssssssecularists" (uppity folks of other religions and people who claim to be Christian despite the fact their own politics of tolerance makes them anything but that in the eyes of "real" Christians), this is a war waged by Christian Nationalists against anyone and everyone who does not support the cause of the strictest of Christian Bibles supplanting the Constitution in the determination of civil law. This war on Christmas is nothing more than a way for Christian Nationalists and their supporters to take a figurative wiz on the whole country like an animal marking it's territory.

Happy Christmas!

RELATED:

• An Uncovered Front on the War on Christmas
  
• ChristCo CostCo: Just Say No [to selling out Christmas]
  
• Home Depot Hates Jesus But Hearts Jews
• Jesus was born under the light of a spectacular fireworks display
• O'Leilly spews more crap about not-so silent nights
• Hymn of the Red Herring
• Georgia legislators introduce O'Reilly bills
• SOL on XMas Day
• The Santa Clause III: Attack of the Red Herring

Tags: the Mall holiday; something being imposed on the public; something else being imposed on the public; Politics; conservatism; Daddy Dobson; Don the Agitator; the lonely man known as the Catholic League; a bunch of hypocrites we'll decide whose family counts anti-liberty counsel Faux News happy holidays!

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An Uncovered Front in the War on Christmas

David Hiltebrand's article about all the films opening on Christmas Day and how a treck to the movies is the "new" way to celebrate the holiday was one I pretty much ignored in today's Inky. While I have had the fleeting thought that something was amiss when hearing a movie is opening Christmas Day, the thoughts pretty much flew out of my head as quickly as they popped into it. The timing of the movie openings were completely and utterly inconsequential, at least that's what I thought until I read Steven Reynold's commentary in All Spin Zone [emphasis added]:

But it is a fact that going out to the movies has been a Jewish thing to do for some time on Christmas Day. Gentiles have been catching up with this tradition for the last many years, admittedly, but just forty years ago you wouldn’t have seen any Christians at the movies on Christmas Day. Heck, back in the day movie theaters weren’t even open.

At first I thought, "oh yeah, Jews have had the movie Chinese food as Christmas Day tradition for my whole life. . . what's new about this?" and then I re-read the sentence I bolded above and immediately thought why the heck aren't these people in church (or at least honoring Jesus with their families and friends at home)??!? My second thought was, why the hell isn't this front on the war on Christmas being protected by the defenders of all things sacred like Daddy Dobson, Don Wildmon, the gang at Fox and Bill Donohue?

Why is it that Christians are flocking to turn Hollywood schlock into blockbusters on Christmas Day? Is it because many of the biggest of churches are closed on the day they should be jam-packed? My guess is that those great defenders of Jesus are actually a big part of the reason there's little, if any, Christ left in Christmas at all. They are so focused on the marketing and mass merchandising of this holiday that their idea of "keeping Christ in Christmas" amounts to nothing more than crass consumerism and shining examples of false prophesying.

While I don't think Jesus spent his birthdays in shul and am absolutely positive he didn't celebrate at his local cineplex, I'm also pretty darn sure that he didn't preach the importance of showy Christmas sales, the need to make everyone sing his praise as publicly as possible or how to best bastardize his name & story to show your alleged moral superiority to nonbelievers. If those supposed defenders of Christmas actually spent some time reading the teachings of Jesus in their bibles, maybe they'd finally put a little Christ in Christmas themselves and allow everyone to celebrate this season with some dignity.

Happy Chanukah!


RELATED:

• ChristCo CostCo: Just Say No [to selling out Christmas]
  
• Home Depot Hates Jesus But Hearts Jews
• Jesus was born under the light of a spectacular fireworks display
• O'Leilly spews more crap about not-so silent nights
• Hymn of the Red Herring
• Georgia legislators introduce O'Reilly bills
• SOL on XMas Day
• The Santa Clause III: Attack of the Red Herring

Tags: the Mall holiday; something being imposed on the public; something else being imposed on the public; Politics; conservatism; Daddy Dobson; Don the Agitator; the lonely man known as the Catholic League; a bunch of hypocrites we'll decide whose family counts anti-liberty counsel Faux News happy holidays!

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A perverted sense of justice

About 42 years ago, Bill Barnes committed a crime - a nasty, heinous crime that left a young man critically wounded. Walter Barclay, a 23-year old rookie in the Philly police department, was paralyzed after being sprayed with gunfire from Barnes' weapon during an armed robbery.

As a result of the crimes he committed, Barnes was tried and convicted of attempted murder and related crimes. He received a sentence of 10 - 20 years; there are various and inconsistent reports of how long Barnes actually served, it seems as though he spent at least 12 years in jail for this crime. A career criminal, Barnes spent most of his adult life in jail but eventually got a real job and started speaking to various groups about the many mistakes he made in his life.

Barclay spent most of the year after the shooting in rehab. His condition improved over time and he eventually regained some use of his legs that enabled him to walk a little with the use of leg braces and ride a stationary bike for a bit. Barclay's goal was to gain some sense of normalcy and independence

"The main thing for my brother after he got shot was to be independent," said his sister, Rosalyn Harrison. "He did everything for himself: He cooked, he cleaned, he shopped. None of us were allowed to do anything."

He was thrilled when buddies outfitted his car with special hand controls so he could drive.

"That was his freedom," his sister said. USA Today

That freedom came with it's own complications as Barclay reinjured his spine in 2 car accidents

“The guy started spraying bullets around, and I caught two of them in the back,” Mr. Barclay said in a 1978 interview about the night he was shot. “I got over that pretty much, but then I had a car accident and hurt my back again. Then I had another and hurt my back some more.” NYT

As he aged, Barclay's health deteriorated. At some point in time, he developed hepatitis. By the time he was in his 50s he was bedridden and eventually needed a feeding tube for nutrition. He also had a foley catheter inserted to collect urine. Like many people fitted with a foley, Barclay developed a urinary tract infection (UTI) complications of which resulted in his death a mere 40 years after the shooting.

The Medical Examiner initially ruled the cause of death was natural causes, after prodding to reexamine the case, he ruled it a homicide. Despite having already been tried, convicted and served his sentence for the attempted murder of Barclay, Barnes was charged with the murder of Barclay in 2007. He has not been tried for the murder and has remained in jail since his arrest for that charge. According to a letter in this morning's Inky, Barnes was told he'd be tried last Fall and yet no trial date has been set.

This is not justice. The murder charge & Barnes' continued incarceration are nothing but retribution. There are so many mitigating factors, significant ones which are iatrogenic in nature, in the decline of Barclay's health that calling his death by UTI a homicide is nothing but a sick joke. The chain of events that DA Lynne Abraham uses to justify the charge is so long that no rational human being can rightly say it serves any legitimate purpose, let alone the cost to taxpayers. The case would be considered a stretch even if Mr. Barnes had not already faced trial and served time for this shooting under a different/lesser charge of attempted murder.

There is no statute of limitations on murder. If this were truly a case where it was necessary and appropriate to charge Mr. Barnes with murder, the DA's office should have waited patiently for Barclay to die so they could try Barnes on the more serious charge at a later date. Justice would not have been served by waiting 40+ years to charge him with murder, just as it is not served in charging him now. Based on the facts of the case, one can only surmise that the reason Mr. Barnes sits in jail now, waiting for trial, is because the DA's office is acutely aware they are unlikely to get a conviction in this case and they just want to be able to exact revenge because the person he shot was a police officer. I understand the desire of Mr. Barclay's friends and family to further punish Barnes, but the Lynne Abraham's actions in the matter are illogical, petty, vindictive and downright unjust.

Tags: Walter Barclay William Barnes crime justice double jeopardy

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The only thing that's attractive about Ne-Yo is his bank account

and in this economy, maybe we can hope that Ne-Yo's ode to High Yellow hits his biggest asset. Ne-Yo recently made the following comments to a couple of radio DJs during an interview

All the prettiest kids is light skinned anyway . . . Essence (and a bunch of other sources too)

The video of the interview in which Ne-Yo decided to reinforce the asinine intra-racial bigotry has been removed from youtube but it was there long enough for people to see Ne-Yo's true colors. This is an ugly little secret within the black community that isn't often seen by the lightest of kids, but the pecking order has carried over since slave days when the lighter-skinned slaves got the house (domestic) jobs and the "darkies" were sent to the fields.

He's not the first black person to make derisive comments about darker skinned people. Sadly, the separation of colors is also seen in many of the music videos made by black (male) rappers who insist on casting only pretty light skinned women.

I guarantee you that the grand pooh-bah of jackassery (that'd be you Ne-Yo) would be pitching a hissy-fit were a public figure to say that all the pretty people are white (or something along the lines that any shade of brown or black was unattractive). All I can say is that Ne-Yo didn't show us that light skinned people are more atractive, he just proved that he is just plain ugly.


Tags: Ne-Yo racism black culture

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