Barack the Magic Negro

There was a CNN blog post about Chip Saltzman and the Paul Shanklin parody song, 'Barack the Magic Negro'. For some reason this is now an issue when the song came out nearly two years ago. It came from an LA Times column which was questioning whether Barack Obama was 'black enough'. The song is sung by Shanklin, as Al Sharpton, and it is taking the angle of Sharpton claiming that Obama isn't 'black enough'. If we get off the PC train, and take all of these things into account, the song is pretty funny. Here is the contents of my CNN comment which will very likely not be posted there:

"The Democrats need to come off their high horse and realized that the Democrat party is the party with racism issues. The Republican Party was founded as an abolition party. The Republican Party had the the first delegate cast a ballot for a black man, Frederick Douglass. The Republican party got civil rights passed, since a majority of Dems voted against civil rights. The Dems are the party with a sitting Senator who is a former member (not likely reformed) of the KKK.

Conservatives believe all men (and women) are created equal and it is our actions that separate us. Liberals want to force equality on everyone.

The song "Barack the Magic Negro" was taken from an LA Times column and is clearly satirical. The libs need to come off of their high horse and get over themselves. It was not a diss aimed at Obama anyway, it was a diss aimed at the irreverent Al Sharpton and the other 'race hustlers'.

"There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do do not want to lose their jobs. "
Booker T. Washington"

Merry Christmas! 2008

Ok, so I just realized that the tree is not lighted in this picture so there's that. But another bit of info is that the tree in the picture (at the tree farm) is not the same one that we brought home. We have gone for three years to the same tree farm to get our Christmas tree. This year, we found our tree took some pictures and cut it down. We put the tag on it and the guys take it to where you pay, they shake it out, bag it up and you grab it and pay by the height. Sounds simple right? That's what I thought so we went into their Christmas Cottage and looked at their merchandise. There was lots of cool stuff, but what I really liked were these boxes that have gold, frankenscence and myrrh. Really nice. Anyway, some time later we go to get our tree, but it's not there. There was a tree with a ticket that was almost the same as ours, I don't remember the exact numbers but it might have ended in 378 and ours was 387. At any rate, if someone had a moment of dyslexia, they might have paid for, and taken, the tree that we took our picture in front of. I was pretty upset and frustrated and frankly ready to go home, but I knew we didn't have another day where we'd be able to go. I work most weekends and with Carmen working days and me working evenings, it was really the last day to reasonably get a tree. So we trudged back out, searched for another tree, cut it down, and followed it the whole way this year.

As a note to Linda, there are tree stands which will adjust your tree for you. You lock the tree into one part which sits in the base. The base has a certain amount of swivel to it so that you can adjust as necessary. It's the best $30 investment on Christmas supplies that we've made.

Three Woes for Babylon, by Andy Confer

Andy’s book, Three Woes for Babylon: Revelation the Same, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, is excellent for anyone new to the book of Revelation, as well as those who’ve read many commentaries on Revelation. While delving into the hidden points that can be difficult to understand, (or even notice) buried in the scriptures, Andy never forgets what is truly important about Revelation or any other book of the Bible. What is the core of Revelation? What did John attempt to communicate to those who were to receive this wonderful revelation of encouragement? What did God want to communicate to every disciple from the late first century, to today, until the Day of the Return of our Lord? So many books on Revelation will break down the scriptures in an impractical or inaccurate fashion. Andy’s exegesis gives the reader insight without confusion. He does not; “Miss the forest for the trees”. The trees are lovely, and we should examine them, but not at the expense of admiring the beautiful forest that is Revelation.

If you have never studied Revelation, you will get a great deal out of this book as Andy explains some of the finer mysteries of John’s Apocalypse. If you’ve read many commentaries on Revelation, you will almost certainly discover something you’ve never read or noticed before. Not only does Andy look at the symbolic and historical aspects of this great work, he makes the scriptures relevant to the reader. Whether you are a layman or a scholar, there is something new for you to discover. This book also addresses some of the alternative viewpoints on Revelation, and makes an excellent case as to why the ‘Mainstream’ theories on Revelation are inaccurate, or just plain false. Andy speaks to a number of the false doctrines that Denominational ‘Christianity’ has inaccurately derived from passages in Revelation, as well as scriptures which are inappropriately fused with other scriptures in the Bible. Andy does not mince words, and writes with a conviction that has been forged over decades of dedicated service to the Lord.

After spending many years working on this book, Andy has compiled a commentary which not only addresses the details of Revelation, but also seriously and clearly discusses what is truly important about this beautiful work of God. After you finish reading, you will understand what God really meant for you to understand, and you will discover many wonderful and fascinating details along the way.

Happy Holidays!

I saw this video on CNN and I challenge ReckNHavic to come up with a better Christmas light display.



I know Reck goes to great lengths to make his Christmas display 'complete', but I don't know if I've seen a better one than this. It seems even better that the one that one of the beer companies used in a commercial.

hattip to CNN's iReport.