Laughing in the Face of Racism

The repentant former KKK leader Johnny Lee Clary explains how Reverend Wade Watts, an NAACP leader, disarmed him by being cool, funny and brave, engaging in some first-rate psy-ops. Be sure to listen through to the end for the chicken story.

Janeane Garofalo likes her tea strong!

60s classroom experiment on race changed lives

Elliott, an Iowa teacher, created a now-famous exercise for her classroom of white third-graders. It was the day after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and she was struggling to explain the concept of racism.

She hit upon an idea: For an entire day, she conducted her class as if the brown-eyed children were superior to those with blue eyes. Elliott eventually made headlines, appeared on "The Tonight Show" and became the subject of multiple documentaries.

Sarah Palin uses fascist's words to illustrate her philosophy

“Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin quoted an unidentified “writer” who extolled the virtues of small-town America: “We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity.” (9/3/08) The unidentified writer was Westbrook Pegler (1894-1969), the ultraconservative newspaper columnist whose widely syndicated columns (at its peak, 200 newspapers and 12 million readers) targeted the New Deal establishment, labor leaders, intellectuals, homosexuals, Jews, and poets.”

Republicans plan to foreclose on voters' rights

The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County, Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP’s effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.

“We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses,” party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week. He said the local party wanted to make sure that proper electoral procedures were followed.

"Star Trek" actor Takei marries boyfriend in L.A.

Former "Star Trek" crew member George Takei married his longtime boyfriend on Sunday in a Los Angeles ceremony that paid homage to the actor's Japanese heritage.

Takei, 71, tied the knot with his business manager, Brad Altman, 54, as some of his "Star Trek" castmates looked on, including best man Walter Koenig ("Chekhov") and matron-of-honour Nichelle Nichols ("Uhura"). Takei played Mr. Sulu in the 1960s sci-fi series and in subsequent movies.

Nearly 200 people attended the Buddhist ceremony at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles. The couple wore matching tuxedos -- white jackets and shirts, with black trousers and bow ties.

Run Gorilla Run

I am not sure about this commercial's implied messages (racist rant, gorillas are a bad thing and ought to be shipped back, etc.), but I think the event sounds fun (for bank robbers, anyway!), and the cause is a good one. What do you think?