This Web Blog was haphazardly produced without using Spell Check one danged time. We like it that way.

ESOTERICA: In the coming weeks, expect our partnership with CinemActivist.com to provide you with reviews of great documentaries from Cinema Libre Studio, PBS, the History Channel, the Visioneerng Group and Working Films that provide you knowledge and move you toward activism. Just so you know.

Depending on the events of the day, we'll likely be bringing you information about a great new film on New Orleans from independent director Alex LeMay, "Desert Bayou," slated to appear in New York City and New Orleans in early October before rolling out across the country.

You can catch "Desert Bayou" in the following cities on these dates:

5 October:


• New York City
  City Cinemas Village East
  181 2nd Avenue
  New York, NY 10003
  (212) 529-6998
  www.angelikafilmcenter.com
  Showtimes: 1:20, 3:30, 5:40, 7:45, 10:15
  Fri - Sun: 11:10, 1:20, 3:30, 5:40, 7:45, 10:15

12 October:


• Madison, WI
  Westgate Art Cinemas
  340 Westgate Mall
  Madison, WI 53711
  (608) 271-4033
  www.marcustheatres.com
  Showtimes: 2:15, 4:45, 7:15, 9:30

19 October:


• Des Moines, IA
  Varsity Theatre
  1207 25th Street
  Des Moines, IA 50311
  (515) 277-0404
  www.varsitydesmoines.com
• Rosendale, NY (upstate)
  Rosendale Theatre
  408 Main Street
  Rosendale, NY 12472
  (845) 658-8989
  Showtimes: 5:00, 7:00, 9:00 (daily)

26 October:


• Salt Lake City, UT
  Broadway Centre Cinemas
  111 E. 300 South
  Salt Lake City, UT 84111
  (801) 321-0310
  www.saltlakefilmsociety.com
• Las Vegas, NV
  Regal Village Square 18
  9400 W. Sahara Ave.
  Las Vegas, NV 98117
  (702) 838-0490
  www.fandango.com
• Seattle, WA
  Regal Meridian 16
  1501 7th Ave.
  Seattle, WA 98101
  (206) 622-2434
  www.fandango.com
• Los Angeles, CA
  Laemmle Sunset 5
  8000 Sunset Blvd.
  West Hollywood, CA 90046
  (323) 848-3500
  www.laemmle.com
• Pasadena, CA
  Laemmle One Colorado
  42 Miller Alley
  Old Pasadena, CA 91103
  (626) 744-1224
  www.laemmle.com
• Washington DC
  AMC/Loews Dupont 5
  1350 19th St. NW
  Washington, DC 20036
  Showtimes: 202-333-3456
• Detroit, MI
  TBA

02 November:


• Houston, TX
  Angelika Film Center & CafÈ
  510 Texas Ave.
  Houston, TX 77002
  (713) 225-1470
  www.angelikafilmcenter.com
• Chicago, IL
  TBA

I could certainly say a lot about the flaws of the Cosby effort but I believe Earl Ofari Hutchinson has done a better job of taking on Cos's flawed outlook in an article entitled Bill Cosby's New Book Full of Racial Stereotypes which appeared on 15 October. In case you choose not to follow the link, here's a brief excerpt:

... The cornerstone of Cosby mythmaking is that they are crime prone, educational losers, and teen baby making machines.

The heart wrenching and much played up news shots and specials of black-on-black blood letting in Philadelphia, New Orleans, and a handful of other big cities and the admission that blacks do have a much higher kill rate than young whites tell a tale of out-of-control, lawless blacks. The truth: homicides and physical assaults have plunged among black teens to the lowest levels in the past two decades. The rate of drug use among young blacks is no higher than among young whites. Blacks are more likely to be arrested, convicted and imprisoned than young whites who if arrested at all are more likely to get drug rehab, counseling, and treatment referrals, probation or community service. This horribly distorts the racial crime picture.

Then there is the black teen girls as baby making machine myth. The truth: The teen pregnancy rate among black girls has shar ply dropped during the past decade. And they continue to fall.

The biggest myth that young blacks empty out the public schools, fill up the jails and cemeteries, and ridicule learning as acting white has risen to urban legend rank. The truth: The U.S. Dept. of Education found that in the decades since 1975, more blacks had enrolled in school, had improved their SAT scores by nearly 200 points and had lowered their dropout rate significantly...

This is just one of the entries about misinformation in this edition of the Blog. You can read my other thoughts on the topics in the RANTS Section.

For those of you who would accuse me of painting a one-sided picture of the situation, I would refer you to this article by Alan Jenkins, which appeared on 22 October. Here's a short look at a few statistics he provides:

• Although rates of drug use are roughly equal among African Americans and whites, extreme laws addressing drug related and nonviolent crimes have disproportionately affected African Americans; between 1990 and 2000, the number of African Americans incarcerated in state prisons for drug offenses increased by over 80 percent, to 145,000, a number that is 2.5 times higher than that for whites.


• A 2000 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development study found that whites were favored over similarly qualified African Americans in rental housing 22 percent of the time. In housing sales- traditional steppingstone to the middle class- received favorable treatment over African Americans 17 percent of the time.


• A study that assessed whether a criminal record would damage job chances found that white applicants with criminal records were more likely to receive callbacks from employers than African Americans who did not have criminal records.
• A study by the Boston Federal Reserve Bank found that, even after controlling for a variety of applicant, loan, and property characteristics, the rejection rate for African-American and Hispanic applicants was 82 percent higher than for white applicants.

These barriers to opportunity stack up, one on top of the other, and reveal why, at the societal level, equal effort does not produce equal results for the black community.

Slightly Offensive/Slightly Funny Department

Long-term Readers will know that I have been receiving thousands of jokes from thousands of people here on the Internet since the mid-1990s. I devoted entire sections of both The World's Magazine's Web site and its newsletters over the years just to keep my queue of new jokes empty - usually with limited success. Some people still send me jokes, though I try to discourage the practice. The one below came over the transom last week. I was fascinated by it if only because CraigsList.org seems to have become a place where the younger set posts some of the most outrageous things I've read outside of fiction.

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I'm articulate and classy. I'm not from New York. I'm looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don't think I'm overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200 - 250. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won't get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

• Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars, restaurants, gyms.


• What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won't hurt my feelings.


• Is there an age range I should be targeting (I'm 25)?


• Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I've seen really 'plain jane' boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I've seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What's the story there?


• Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?


• How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY
.

Please hold your insults - I'm putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I'm being up front about it. I wouldn't be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn't able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.

PostingID: 432279810
THE ANSWER
Dear Pers-431649184:

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I'm not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is, I make more than $500K per year. That said here's how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a cr@ppy business deal. Here's why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here's the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity...in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold...hence the rub...marriage. It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease. In case you think I'm being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It's as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as "articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful" as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn't found you, if only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn't need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you're going about it the right way. Classic "pump and dump."

I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

Is Rod Going Completely Snarky this Post?

I am likely one of the few Bloggers you read who has more than once brought up the name of Emile Zola. Like Mark Twain, I.F. Stone, Edward R. Murrow and others from the past I've mentioned in these pages at G21.net, at the Huffington Post and elsewhere, I believe our nation and the world cry out for an Emile Zola. One of his catch phrases, as we call them now, was that "Truth is on the march."

Perhaps I remain naÔve but I have little re spect for writers who don't believe that and take it as their credo. Zola was accused by the established powers of his day of being a muckraker, a danger to the tranquility of the state, a rabble-rouser and unpatriotic. He was tried and convicted of libel, sentenced to jail and forced to flee his own country in order to continue to be the conscience of that country when it took the side of comfortable lies instead of uncomfortable truth.

The world needs more Emile Zolas. It takes a great deal of courage to be morally right rather than majority right.

The conflict between the pen and the sword will likely not go away in my lifetime; I have come to accept this fact. I look around the globe and see millions of people reduced to being refugees, living in camps, enslaved to poverty and hopelessness, and millions of others wondering if they will live out the day. Who speaks for them? And when we do why are we not shouting and screaming for them?

It is much easier, much less a source of anxiety, to put one's own personal comfort and prosperity above the concerns of others. Too many people chose to do that decades ago. Too many people speak of compassion, mercy and justice but demonstrate the commitment right up to their front doors. Once the door is closed, those noble sentiments are left outside on the porch or the stoop until the next morning, shivering in the cold of abandonment and disregard.

If I had a dime for every time someone said to me, "You cannot save the world" I would be able to retire to a beach in the South Pacific. That phrase is the mantra of so many people who want to ignore that the Nelson Mandelas and Bishop Tutus, the Jody Williams and Jimmy Carters, the Mohammed Yunuses and Wangari Maathais are about just that and had the courage NOT to listen to their mantra. Instead, each of these individuals helps to demonstrate to us EVERYDAY that ONE PERSON CAN CHANGE THE WORLD and work to save it.

I am inspired by these dreamers, these fools who don't buy the defeatist mantra. They give me strength when I hear the single-selfish claim that we are all powerless.

What makes life most complicated, I believe, is our shared failure to admit what we do not know. I am awful at that too often. Looking back, I can remember times I envied people I knew and know for their, seemingly, happy marriages, their beautiful children, their ability to "adjust" to social mores, their good looks, their popularity , their shiny toys. Today, of course, these very same people - when willing to lift the veil - tell me of their illnesses, the problems of their offspring, their failing marriages and years of miserable endurance.

More startling, a few of these people say they have always envied me my freedom from encumbrances. I respond, "Oh! Do you mean that I have been alone all these years and had nothing to lose?" For most part, that comment elicits a laugh. I am known for quick and sarcastic retorts; I've spent a lifetime developing them.

One of the things we do not know is the fullness of each other's lives, thank the Giftee. Because it is impossible to achieve this knowledge of others, it is a good choice to err on the side of compassion - the mantra I have used here at G21.net these twelve years on the Web. It's a mantra I doubt I shall ever repent.

Thanks for coming back to visit. Your Comments are always welcomed.

BIG NEWS! You can now and henceforth find all of the G21 PODCASTS over at Blip.tv. Just click on the link http://blip.tv/users/view/g21guy and you can download to your iTunes or iPod and hear some of the thought leaders for this new century that I mean to bring to you. It will be updated with new episodes regularly, as you must know. You're welcome.

This post's video comes to us from Jac9. Enjoy!:

Cheers!

Keep me in your prayers as I keep you in my own.

Thanks for visiting.

Talk to you in a day or so.

Be well.