For a slightly more critical and negative look at Obama’s inauguration speech check out the link below. Interesting points and one’s that are quite valid despite the fact that I think the speech is better than this writer thinks.
Barack Obama’s Speech: A Disappointing Hodgepodge – The Plank .
Whitehouse.gov got a fitting update today for the newly inaugurated Obama administration. After poking through it for a bit I’ve written down my initial thoughts here.
That’s it for now, perhaps there will be more at a later date.
Saul Williams sent out an email today that opened as follows:
We have overcome.
Except those of us now in Gaza. Except those of us whom police kill. Except those of us who are suspects. Except those of us whom the church hate. Except those of us damned to taste good. Except those of us held by fate. We are meeting in the capitol. Word is, freedom will not wait.
Visit his website too.
An article on TNR today quotes another that says:
According to Andrea, “we are witnessing a sociological paradigm shift where a loving black nuclear family is the new definition of cool.”
The hope for Andrea and women like her is that the crowd of eligible and educated black men in Washington this weekend “will be reminded that smart, driven, nurturing black women have always been—and will always be—the business.”
Another, perhaps surprising, side effect of the search for one’s very own Barack Obama is the actual shrinking of expectations among black women. The 44th president of the United States, after all, started his political career as a community organizer. Today he’d be making around $30,000 a year, according to Salary.com.
“Michelle met Barack when he was ‘low’ on the totem pole,” said Naima. “He had a studio apartment and a beat-up car, but they clearly saw the potential in each other.”
Personally, I’m pretty skeptical of this whole “Obama as an agent of social change” thing. I get that there is this potential for the President to inspire and affect great periods of social change (after all, look at what Bush and the religious right accomplished in the last 8 years), but I tend to agree with one of the commenters who points out that much of the same things were said about “The Cosby Show” back in the day which didn’t amount to much actual change. Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see how it progresses though.
Link via Obama as Social Model – The Plank .
Michael Hirschorn over at The Atlantic writes of The New York Times that:
The paper’s credit crisis comes against a backdrop of ongoing and accelerating drops in circulation, massive cutbacks in advertising revenue, and the worst economic climate in almost 80 years. As of December, its stock had fallen so far that the entire company could theoretically be had for about $1 billion. The former Times executive editor Abe Rosenthal often said he couldn’t imagine a world without The Times. Perhaps we should start.
That’s a scary thought, but perhaps is one that is slowly but surely become more of reality. I don’t like to think of a world without The New York Times or many other large newspapers, but I still fail to see how they are adapting to new technologies in a speedy and efficient manner. The next few years will be interesting, and potentially lethal to the newspaper industry. I’m glad I’m did not go into school with dreams of writing for the Times.
