Diesel Power,

I agree with the generally separatist intent of the hyphenated name business. Overall, it takes more time to type them, read them and they offer no additional information than to highlight the differences between Americans. I liked it better when we were all just Americans.

As for the conspirational motives of the government to do nothing, well, that seems a little strong. I agree the government is basically ineffective at social experimentation, and have written about that before. But I think they actually believe they are good at it. Which is the problem, it soon becomes about them, not the constituents. I am not sure I buy idea they like strife and fear success as it would leave the populace looking to them for faults. If they were that good, we would have nothing to complain about.

Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Jim,
I think Diesel Power has a point; Think about how long politicians have used the idea of " fixing social security" as a campaign issue. Yet iy still isn't "fixed" and continues as a campaign issue. If they really wanted it fixed; it would be done. The same may apply to the school system, the bloated federal budget; military / government waste, etc. The only rational conclusions for this lack of results are that the politicians are either stupid ( they really don't know how to fix them), or evil, ( don't want them fixed).
They can't even agree on historical facts, how can they come up with solutions?

I see the connection but I think the problem goes much deeper than that. They are fundamentally not equipped to address these issues, period. It is getting late, but if any scientific or engeering practice was as undisciplined as the social engineering and experimentation conducted by governments, we would still think the earth was the center of the solar system and was flat, fire would be an element, and so on. The application of the scientific method to social engineering and experimentation would root out the BS and fix the system, just like it did for science and engineering we are familiar with that brings us cars and so on. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

A lot of discussion has transpired here since the holidays!

I use the term "African-American" because that is what is designated as the politically-correct identity of the race of people formerly known as "blacks".

I've also heard "Native-Americans", "Hispanic-Americans" and "Asian-Americans".

I didn't come up with this stuff, but when handed a form that requires me to designate my racial heritage, "black" is somehow missing on the list.

I recognize your pet peeve, but direct it towards the PC crowd that came up with this stuff...

...and by the way, I was born and raised in Italy for most of my childhood life, so African isn't an accurate racial designation anyhow.

Note to all as a "black" (i.e. African-American):

The original topic was not about the problems with public schools or the fact that there are other disadvantaged racial groups or social classes.

Understand that Cosby was speaking to a predominantly-black audience, and his comments were directed at them.

He did NOT say that black kids were stupid. He referred to the mainstream black culture that has promoted a lifestyle that has resulted in a generation of blacks that are destined to a life of ignorance and disillusion.

He blamed the parents of these kids mostly, who have learned nothing of what sacrifices the past generations have made to allow us, as blacks to enjoy the basic freedoms we now take for granted. Instead of furthering our prosperity as a race (now that we have the opportunities to do so), we have instead, regressed.

And as blacks, extremely few have had enough generations of prosperity that we can say that Bill Cosby, or any other successful black individual has come upon this earth already endowed with money and wealth...so the statement that he is an example of a wealthy individual chiding the disadvantaged is false.

I don't remember who made the comment about blacks who try to improve themselves being labeled as "white-minded", but is an accurate one. The term used when I was kid during the sixties was "Oreo"...black on the outside, white on the inside.

I don't want to air out all of our dirty laundry, but I remember black counterparts taunting me for the same types of issues...and many deliberately performed miserably academically because it wasn't cool to be a "bookworm"...my wife could attest to the same types of teasings when she was in school.

They grew up ignorant, uneducated, and ill-qualified for anything other than low-paying menial labor...and we see some of them today, who now hate us even MORE for being successful.

Unfortunately, their kids are being raised in the same manner... ...and THAT is what Bill is talking about!

This has nothing to do with whites, segregation or discrimination...this has to do with the fact that other ethnic groups that came to this country faced with adversity eventually overcame the bias and made themselves successful in their community.

Many blacks, on the other hand continue to blame their misfortunes on the decades-old plight of blacks with segregation and discrimination...give me a break!

I'm certainly not saying that discrimination has been eliminated from the face of the earth. Just that if you don't at least take advantage of opportunities that are available, you have no one else to blame but yourself.

Bill Cosby sought to make those blacks who whine about their plight take ownership of their own problems...and the truth hurts!

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Well said, G-Benz, all of it.

The excerpt I've quoted above summarizes Cosby's point, and my point, quite nicely.

Mike

__________________
_____
1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
_____
1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
_____
1985 300TD
270,000 miles
_____
1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

www.myspace.com/mikemover
www.myspace.com/openskystudio
www.myspace.com/speedxband
www.myspace.com/openskyseparators
www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic

As a former teacher with more than 25 years experience in the public school system, I have to chuckle at some of the inferences that the teacher's unions are at the core of the disparities in ethnic academic performance. If someone asked the right questions, I would be glad to offer some of my own observations on the root causes of low academic performance among some ethnic groups.

Don't just toe the edge of the diving board....Jump! Let's hear your story.

Mike

__________________
_____
1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
_____
1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
_____
1985 300TD
270,000 miles
_____
1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

www.myspace.com/mikemover
www.myspace.com/openskystudio
www.myspace.com/speedxband
www.myspace.com/openskyseparators
www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic

Bill Cosby said it right. Those who would blame the teacher's unions for the problems of failing students haven't looked very carefully at the problem. A few years back, in California, there was a law passed that every student had to achieve a minimum score on an exit exam in order to graduate from High School. So, after a bit of scurrying around to create a valid test, one was found, and administered. As predicted, a certain ethnic group performed poorly and as a result, between a quarter and a third of the students failed to pass. The immediate outcry was that the test was unfair and ethnically slanted. Well, perhaps it was so, except that the same results occurred, regardless of the testing device. In other words, no matter which test was administered, the results were the same. Blame the test? Maybe.
Problem is.... those who blame the test have been unable to devise a test that meets their own criteria for measuring success. In the nearly three decades I have been teaching, no African-American spokesperson has come up with a valid test that consistently results in higher success rates. What I have found, and it is echoed by my peers, is that the most predictable indicator for academic success of a student is the degree to which parents are involved in the educational process. Blame the teacher's unions if you like, but getting rid of them won't change the low academic performance of African-American students.

I remember listening to a radio call-in program on an R&B station, and call after call usually had some angry parent ranting on and on about how teachers aren't doing enough to motivate kids into achieving greater academic success...

...at last a teacher got on the line. She calmly brought up the REAL issue. When parent-teacher conferences or some other open forums were being held, almost NO parent would bother to show up!

No one called after that!

That's the real problem in school districts with poor achievement scores...little or no parental involvement! The parents behave as if schools are large day-care mills that take young, bright, but under-utilized (and under-nurtured) minds, and expect the school to spit out highly-educated Rhodes scholars!

I discussed this issue with a principal at my daughter's school. When asked about parental involvement there, she said that quite frankly, parents there were extremely "hands-on". The exceptional achievement scores they received yearly were a testament to that fact.

And I do believe that wherever you find an exemplary school, you will discover that the parents are firmly entrenched in their child's academic activities.

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Ignorance and Stupidity comes in all colors.

__________________
joe moon/95Benzman

How do you spell sho' nuff? Maybe they'll pass an ebonics test. LOL

We all have to be accountable for our kids actions. I make it a point to get on my kids ass and make sure he does his job at school.

You know what, he still failed one class, social studies. Know what his GP was with that one failure.....a 2.75. You know what my kid is doing today? Summer school.......first day of 20 before the next school year starts.

I told him he had two choices: I'll whip his ass or go to summer school and bring that grade up AND STOP MAKING EXCUSES ABOUT THE TEACHER THE CLASS, ETC..............guess what he picked.

There are some out there who will say that a majority of blacks come from single parent households, but that's just another excuse. You can stand up on a soapbox all day and come up with more excuses, until you're blue in the face, but that isn't going to make ANY kid pass an exit exam.

We have the same test here, it's called an FCAT, I believe and black parents were the biggest detractors of it, claiming racial bias. Several hispanic families as well.

Let's ask their dumbass parents to make a test that is acceptable to them. They still wouldn't be satisfied.

Cosby was using his own people to be politically coorect btw. If he had used Asians, Cubans or WHites, he would have been castigated for that.

Regarding the young man who goes to law school with some blacks, seek out the ones who came from impoversihed backgrounds and ask them why "they don't talk ghetto" and they'll all tell you the same thing: "I wasn't raised that way"

I have several black friends with whom I often toss around black/white/cuban jokes and NONE of them them speak that way, because it was not allowed.

Amongst themselves, or in a relaxed atmosphere, you will hear,b@#$%, ho@#,,n*#$@#.

However, they are all professional and never speak that way when they are in their respective business. They know that "talking ghetti" or "country" won't get them too far in the business world.

.02

__________________
Enough about me, how are you doing?

For the most part, those that know better refrain from disrespecting themselves or others by using terms like "b---h", "ho", or ,"n-@@-r"....even in the company of their own ethnic group.

Those that still do are trying to figure out how to "please da white man" in the office while "keepin' it real" with the homies...

...but at least THEY are trying...

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

July 8, 2004
NY TIMES GUEST COLUMNIST
[Thomas L. Friedman is on leave until October, writing a book.]


The New Cosby Kids
By BARBARA EHRENREICH

It was such a dog-bites-man story that I almost skipped right by: Billionaire Bashes Poor Blacks. The only thing that gave this particular story a little piquancy is that the billionaire doing the bashing is black himself. Bill Cosby has been attacking the poor of his race, and especially the youthful poor, for a range of sins, including using bad words, "stealing poundcake," "giggling" and failing to give their children normal names like "Bill." "The lower-economic people," Cosby announced, "are not holding up their end in this deal."

They let me down, too, sometimes — like that girl at Wendy's who gave me sweet iced tea when I had clearly specified unsweetened. She looked a little tired, but, as Cos might point out: How hard can it be to hold a job, go to high school and care for younger siblings in all your spare moments while your parents are at work?

But it's just so 1985 to beat up on the black poor. During the buildup to welfare "reform" in 1996, the comfortable denizens of think spas like the Heritage Foundation routinely excoriated poor black women for being lazy, promiscuous, government-dependent baby machines, not to mention overweight (that poundcake again). As for poor black youth, they were targeted in the 90's as a generation of "superpredators," gang-bangers and thugs.

It's time to start picking on a more up-to-date pariah group for the 21st century, and I'd like to nominate the elderly whites. Filial restraint has so far kept the would-be Social Security privatizers on the right from going after them, but the grounds for doing so are clear. For one thing, there's a startling new wave of "grandpa bandits" terrorizing rural banks. And occasionally some old duffer works himself into a frenzy listening to Cole Porter tunes and drives straight into a crowd of younger folks.

The law-abiding old whites are no prize either. Overwhelmingly, they choose indolence over employment — lounging on park benches, playing canasta — when we all know there are plenty of people-greeter jobs out there. Since it's government money that allows them to live in this degenerate state, we can expect the Heritage Foundation to reveal any day now that some seniors are cashing in their Social Security checks for vodka and Viagra. Just as welfare was said to "cause poverty," the experts may soon announce that Medicare causes baldness and that Social Security is a risk factor for osteoporosis: the correlations are undeniable.

And the menace posed by the elderly can only get worse, as ever more of them sink into debt. What's eating up their nest eggs? In many cases, drugs. How long before the streets are ruled by geezer gangs mugging us to support their insulin and beta-blocker habits?

All right, before the AARP issues a fatwa against me, could we please acknowledge that the demonization of welfare recipients wasn't based on reality either? Contrary to the stereotype, welfare moms in 1996 averaged two children per family, not six, and in surveys always expressed a desire to work, should child care become available. Incidentally, only a minority of them were African-American.

As for the black youth who so exercise Cosby, their pregnancy rates aren't "soaring," as he reportedly claimed; in fact, they're lower than they've been in decades. Ditto with crime rates. And if Cosby's worried about poor grammar and so forth, why isn't he ranting about the Bush 2005 budget, which would end a slew of programs for dropout prevention, recreation and school counseling?

Or, if he's looking for tantrum fodder, what about the fact that a black baby has a 40 percent chance of being born into poverty? You can blame adults for their poverty — if you're mean-spirited enough — but you cannot blame babies, and that's, in effect, what we're talking about here.

As the sociologist Michael Males, who monitors youth-bashing outbreaks, told me: "Younger black America today is struggling admirably against massive disinvestments in schools, terrible unemployment, harsh policing and degrading prejudices, and they're succeeding amazingly well. They deserve respect, not grown-up tantrums."

But it must be fun to beat up on people too young and too poor to fight back, or the elderly rich wouldn't do it. Cranky old rich people: now there's a demographic group that qualifies as a genuine Menace 2 Society.

Me too!

A real thought article there...but took Cosby's "rants" a bit out of context.

His arguments were directed at the black race, not the poor.

If he is referring to anyone who is poor, it's those who became that way, not because of unusual life circumstances, but because of cultural habits that condone ignorant behavior and unmotivated lifestyles.

I know who Cosby is talking about...I know many of these people. None of them are destitute welfare recipients with fourteen hungry children, but generations of non-achievers who came from parents that understood the civil rights struggles and worked hard to chart a promising path for their future generations.

But instead of welcoming the opportunities, they squandered away their lives. When elders pleaded for them to turn their lives around, they would snub any sort of advice, since they "knew it all" anyway.

The end result would be, incarceration, unemployment, and a dim hope for the future.

Those same folks are now whining about what others don't give them, as if the world owes them a handout!

Now this story could fit a lot of scenarios, no matter what race. What IS a cause for concern, is that among blacks, this is an unwelcome trend in sheer numbers. We have indeed lost a number of promising black youth, and we need a wakeup call!

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Rubbish.

Cosby once could have been called a "poor black" himself. He wasn't born a "billionaire". Contrary to popular belief, MOST "rich" folks weren't "born rich".

Trying to turn what he's saying into some kind of class-warfare bull$h!t by saying "he's just a rich dude bashing on those less fortunate than him" is a weak and pathetically politically-correct cop-out....just a convenient way to brush off his comments for those who know he's right, or for those who ARE one of the people he's talking about.

While the type of people he's talking about loaf and make excuses, Cosby and others like him WORK and make MONEY.

Mike

__________________
_____
1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
_____
1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
_____
1985 300TD
270,000 miles
_____
1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

www.myspace.com/mikemover
www.myspace.com/openskystudio
www.myspace.com/speedxband
www.myspace.com/openskyseparators
www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic