Anderson@Large

1040 Blues

President's Day (and Nights)

 

Don’t Advertise Your Man

I’m a blues lover who subscribes to the credo, “ain’t nobody’s business if I do.” At the same time, I mind my own business.

But when your business is plastered all over the Internet and the airwaves, Schadenfreude happens.

The investigation that led to the downfall of Gen. David Petraeus reportedly was triggered by emails from his outside woman, Paula Broadwell, to a second woman, Jill Kelley.

Although Broadwell is a graduate of West Point and Harvard, she could have learned a lot if she had listened to Sippie Wallace. Way back in the day, the blues singer advised women:

Women be wise, keep your mouth shut
Don’t advertise your man
Don’t be no fool!
Don’t advertise your man
Baby don’t do it.

Be Careful Where You Vote

Election Day is seven days away.

In the wake of Frankenstorm, your polling place may have changed. To verify the location of your polling place, go to Can I Vote?

If you show up at the wrong place, you still can vote, but you must cast a provisional ballot. The question then becomes: Will your vote be counted?

I talked about the perils of provisional ballots during a panel discussion organized by New York Women in Film and Television at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

The bottom line: Be careful where – and how – you vote.

Unhappy Dependence Day

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the national unemployment rate was “unchanged” at 8.2 percent. By contrast, the employment situation has changed for African American workers. The black joblessness rate rose to 14.4 percent, up from 13.6 percent in May.

While private payrolls added 80,000 jobs, the Social Security Administration reported 85,000 were added to the disability rolls.

File This Under: Not Surprised

Ward Connerly, the race hustler who is paid to oppose affirmative action, is under investigation for allegedly using his nonprofit to line his own pockets to the tune of between $1.2 million and $1.5 million each year.

The New York Times reports:

Ward Connerly, the black businessman who has been the face of the movement to end affirmative action for nearly two decades, is facing accusations from a prominent former ally that he has mismanaged — and exploited for his own benefit — donations to that cause made by fellow conservatives.

Moreover, a group Mr. Connerly founded to advance government policies that are race and gender neutral, the Sacramento-based American Civil Rights Institute, is under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and by the attorney general of California, according to documents and interviews.

Mr. Connerly has faced accusations of profiteering before, as supporters of affirmative action highlighted his salary in an effort to discredit his cause. But this time, the allegations are more detailed and come from another significant movement figure: Jennifer Gratz, the named plaintiff in a landmark 2003 Supreme Court case that struck down a race-based admissions policy at the University of Michigan.

After she won that case, Mr. Connerly hired Ms. Gratz to conduct research and run campaigns supporting anti-affirmative action ballot initiatives. She resigned last September and, through her lawyer, sent the group’s board a five-page letter, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Time.

Gratz probably knows nothing about “race music,” but she is affirming a truism: Don't start me to talking.

A Room with a View of the Blues

I started out Day Two of the International Society for Technology in Education’s annual conference in the Exhibit Hall. Four hours later, I had visited less than half of the exhibitors.

When I stopped by the Universal Service Administrative Company booth, it was a trip down memory lane.

I was a member of the coalition that advocated for affordable telecommunications and Internet access for schools and libraries, the E-Rate, in the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

In the era of Web 2.0, Internet access alone is not enough. I took this photo in the ISTE Press Room.

As I looked out over the Exhibit Hall, I got the blues knowing that classrooms with high concentrations of underserved students have access to few, if any, interactive tools and solutions.