William Satterwhite

“There is a lot to like here” – Dwayne McDuffie

For as long as my webcomic Stealth has been online, that tagline has accompanied it. Not just because it looks good to have a respected comics industry veteran say something (anything) nice about something you’ve done but more importantly, because McDuffie has long been a hero of mine. When I young, there weren’t many black comic book creators around and even less that a young comic book reader could recognize so when McDuffie and a few of his associates stepped out and established their company Milestone, it was a seminal moment. I first got to “know” (as much as one can “know” someone they’ve never actually met) Mr. McDuffie around 2001 through his Milestone message group on Yahoo and it was the highlight of my life that someone of his stature would take the time to a) interact with his fans in such an open format (this was before every other comics creator had his own message board and Twitter and Facebook were all the rage) and b) actually take the time to look at an amateurs work and give his thoughts. That has always meant a lot to me after all these years. While I have hoped it not to be true, enough sources are reporting it so I’m sad to see Mr. McDuffie has passed away today. RIP

First, I’d like to say I feel very dirty right now because I actually agree in part with Lawrence O’Donnell on something- to be clear, while I don’t think Lash and Hudnall themselves are outright racists and I don’t think the cartoon itself is racist in nature, there is a definite racist element to portraying Michelle Obama, by anyone’s measure arguably the most attractive and fit First Lady this nation has ever had, as an overweight hamburger huffer with an attitude. While it’s easy to pick on Barack Obama’s ears (and here I think O’Donnell definitely overreaches in criticizing the artist for his rendition of Barack and his mammoth ears), Michelle Obama has no clear mark- she’s just an attractive, good looking woman who is in great shape. Thus, the fact that Lash chooses to portray her here as overweight and sitting in front of a plate full of hamburgers and on top of that Hudnall having the punchline show her flashing a bit of attitude smacks of the duo choosing to caricaturize Michelle Obama as their vision of a typical black woman. I don’t think this is in any way an action born out of direct hate necessarily but it is certainly one born out of ignorance.

Picked up on this article after reading a Bomani Jones tweet mentioning that Spike Lee had to take classes at Clark to actually complete his Morehouse degree. That’s a fascinating little nugget- for a school to have arguably its second most notable alum have to take classes at its biggest rival in order to become an actual alum.

Just want to take a second to give myself credit for noticing this way back in June when the Byfuglien trade went down now that it’s starting to draw mainstream attention. It was hard then not to notice the not-too-coincidental acquisition of so many black/half-black players by a team in a city with such an affluent black population and even more so now with those black players contributing much more than their fair share to the success the team has had so far this season. It’s early but I would not be shocked or surprised to see Evander Kane become the next official Thrashers team captain, if not this season then possibly going into next season.

If you’re like me, you probably don’t like the New York Yankees but one thing is certain- you must respect them and you must respect their late former owner.

George Steinbrenner was not only an icon of baseball but American icon and a symbol of what makes America great. When naysayers bemoan his successes as owner of the Yankees due to their inherent advantages, it simply reveals a lack of knowledge about the history of what Steinbrenner did to manipulate those advantages- he purchased the Yankees at their lowest point in post-Highlander history and at every step of the way he took advantage of every opportunity presented to him to (re)build a dynasty. While other owners with greater personal wealth simply pocketed their profits, Steinbrenner made a point of re-investing heavily into his team to ensure their winning ways- the Yankees do not have a $200 million payroll because Steinbrenner came into this a billionaire who can just afford to spend $200 million on his baseball team- it is due to years and years of re-investing into his team, from building and cultivating a brand and from being innovative and trying new ideas (a team cable network, separate marketing and apparel contracts, etc…). There is a reason why George Steinbrenner died this morning with 7 World Series rings while similar big spending, mega-market clubs like the Dodgers(2), Mets(1), Red Sox(2) and Cubs(do I really need to say it?) have won less than that number combined during the Steinbrenner era. And as much as people like to say the Yankees only win because they spend more money than everyone else and even if this were true (last I checked, Derek Jeter didn’t cost the Yankees anything more than a draft pick), it ignores the fact that this is an advantage that Steinbrenner, through his vision and leadership, built for himself and his team. And before anyone tries to make the argument that it’s easy to build those advantages playing in the biggest city in the country, as an Atlanta Braves fan I happily direct your attention to the borough of Queens and the Metropolitans who play there- calling New York home isn’t an automatic winning solution. It takes vision and leadership and that is what made George Steinbrenner a great man.

Baseball has lost one of its best today.

Good stuff from Deadspin. The main point made here that I’m not sure enough people are focusing on in this “debate” is that someone is going to have to represent Washington at the All-Star Game anyway- if the next-best non-Strasburg candidate to represent the Nationals is a closer who isn’t exactly the second coming of Dennis Eckersley in his prime, I think there’s not much of a question whether Strasburg should go.

As the writer here points out, Strasburg may not be the most deserving based on his body of work, but at the same time, would Kelly Johnson or Jeff Keppinger (what?) be either?

I like this deal, as much as I dislike salary caps in sports, I like seeing the Thrashers being able to take advantage of Chicago’s precarious cap situation. The irony is that Byfuglien is the kind of player who would have been perfect playing with Ilya Kovalchuk, a physical presence who can eat space and get in front of the net while Ilya controls the puck. The picks used to acquire him are New Jerseys fom the Kovalchuk trade.

On a sidenote and I’m sure I’m not the first person to notice this, two of the key parts of this trade (Byfuglien and the prospect Aliu) are black. It might not be a polically correct thing to say but I’ll still say it- it’s very important for the Thrashers, moreso than probably any other NHL team, to go out of their way to appeal to (potential) black fans and part of that is (sadly, imho) having players on the team who can help in this just by their being on the ice. I’m not saying that’s the reason why these particular players are involved in this particular trade, but it is something to keep in mind here.

Outside of Barry Bonds in his slimmer days, Ken Griffey Jr was the greatest all around ballplayer of this generation. It’s sad to see him go out like this and even sadder still that he never got to play in a World Series (Bonds at least got that). Saddest of all though is that this really makes me feel old, I remember when Griffey was the biggest thing coming up back when I was a kid.

As a Civil War buff I’m embarrassed to say I’m shocked Cushing never had received a Medal of Honor, anyone familiar with his story knows it’s long overdue. In the heat of the largest sustained artillery bombardment in history to that point (the likes would not be seen until at least World War 1) Cushing held his position at the center of the target zone for the Confederate barrage, refusing to leave the field after (if you’re a man you might not want to read the following- the linked article’s “wounded in the groin” phrasing really does not do his injury justice) having his genital area completely mangled by an artillery blast.

Stories like Cushing’s and the bravery of men like him are the main reason I’ve always had a special interest in the Civil War- a conflict that had it’s roots in the absolute worst element of American history brought out some of the most shining examples of the inherent greatness of America and the spirit of it’s citizenry. Alonzo Cushing was the epitome of a true American hero and this honor is long overdue!

This seems like a wonderful opportunity for self-publishers as the digital marketplace opens up even more!

While Mr. Rollins seems to have a lot of passion for hockey in Atlanta and the Thrashers and that passion would be a huge departure from the Atlanta Spirit cabal, I’m a bit leery about a Hollywood producer who I’ve never heard being a legitimate buyer here. I’m not what you would call a big film buff but I know enough to know that when your resume consists solely of “Thorns from a Rose”, “American Identity” and “Mikey Was Here”, you aren’t exactly a Hollywood mogul at this point.

I have to ask, why exactly did the census workers need handheld computers to begin with? And is there really any excuse to not have “an optimally performing system”? It’s not like the Census is something that just pops up randomly, you have 10 years to prepare for it.

Here’s AJC editor Cynthia Tucker’s take on the Rand Paul story (looking over her archives and twitter updates, she seems to have a bead on all things Randian- I’ll leave it up to you to figure out if my pun there was intentional or not :)).

On the surface I actually agree with a lot of what the noted liberal Tucker says here, as well as with the conservative Bruce Bartlett who she quotes. White business owners in the segregated South were perfectly willing to disregard money from potential black customers. My argument is and always will be that that is their right. However, I would further argue that the segregated South is not an example of a free market system in place for various reasons. I would pose this question because I honestly don’t know the answer- in the segregated South, could businesses owned by blacks or whites who chose to cater to blacks legitimately compete with white-owned businesses who barred blacks? Could those businesses operate without fear of state-sanctioned and in some instances state-supported harassment? If the answer is no, then a free market did not actually exist and one cannot argue that the free market “failed” in this regard.