I get it dude. Don't judge a cabbie or anybody else who works "in the trenches", till you drive a mile in his cab, at night, in the neighborhoods he most fears. Sensitivity training is all very well, but you must walk the walk, drive the drive. That done, those left standing get to preach to the rest of us.

“Oy, can’t people get back to talking smack about Chavez”

I’d love to but I think he stole that devil line from a Seinfeld episode. There was a comedian who took revenge on Jerry by calling him, The Devil in her show. So now we have Chavez, rapping about George, The Devil. It’d be a sitcom if it all weren’t so bloody tragic.

Please, don’t mislead people. I only support a limited raising of taxes.

Not surprising… this hypocrisy is similar to Mexican law treating illegal immigrants in Mexico as felons subject to imprisonment, even though Mexicans protest the “unfair” treatment of illegal Mexicans in the US. “Do as we tell you, not as we do”. Someone should have asked Chavez about the law.

Anyone who offends with his words or in writing or in any other way disrespects the President of the Republic or whomever is fulfilling his duties will be punished with prison of 6 to 30 months if the offense is serious and half of that if it is light.

It’s very easy not to pass laws like this. Chavez chose the other route. One doesn’t need to be “play[ing] into US patriotism” to call this guy a thug.

Kobayashi:

You’re asking for it. I’ve stood idly by while you’ve supported terrorism, beastiality, and raising taxes. You sir, are an evildoer.

I think this is very good point. Non-blacks aren’t the only ones who are racist. There’s no shortage of black people who are also racist. This is partly because overcoming racist thinking is something that we must actively work toward — without education, most people inherently lean toward race as a proxy for judging people.

Also, I’ve found that people from other countries (particularly less developed, less educated countries) are much more racist than Americans. Partly it’s because America values diversity (unlike Europe and Japan) and partly because Americans are better educated on the race issue (than say Asians or Africans). Ironically, I’ve met some African Americans (immigrants from Africa) who hold very negative views of blacks in America and don’t hesitate to drop n-bombs to describe them.

interesting. thanks for the extensive reply. i got this from the link:

Food redlining continues thanks to the myth that stores in lower-income communities aren’t as profitable. “The companies couch it in strict business terms,” Fisher says. That makes sense, until you look at the data.

if this is true, and this is a big at this point, a free market solution would be obvious. but when the person saying this is running a non-profit, i get skeptical. given how dynamic the US economy is, there is no reason to rely on existing supermarket co’s to provide service.

i believe ron burkle made a fortune with supermarkets in LA ghettos. So maybe there really is an opportunity here. it would be a shame if the black community in particular let it pass.