Netflix

The New York Times has an interesting infographic up that looks at 12 major American cities and charts out the popular movies of the day by zip code based on people's Netflix queue. It's interesting to learn what movies US citizens are picking up on DVD. Who knew Benjamin Button and Changeling would be so interesting for people to watch at home when this country largely found them uninteresting in theaters.

But the most interesting thing about some of the movies is you get to play a little game with the maps that I like to call "White people live here/Black people live here" and its cousin "Rich people live here/Poor people live here".

Take for instance Paul Blart: Mall Cop in LA
Beverly Hills didn't seem to care for it.

Here's the same LA map but for Tyler Perry's the Family That Preys
The NY map is similarly illuminating. That's right black people, whitey isn't even going to bother with your version of lowest common denominator shit.

Give the whole site a look and see if you can't demographically map out several major US cities in a completely racist and classist way based on their film tastes.

Chart of the Day

Hey, is it good when they make a chart on employment numbers and several states are colored black?

It seems we will have to center our new civilization in North Dakota after the black states collapse and bring down the purple states. I'll see you in Bismarck.

Look before you leap

As Obama prepared to give his speech yesterday the RNC was looking for anything to hit him for and criticize him for. And why not, that's their job. So as the gerbils ran furiously around the wheel in Michael Steele's head, he finally seized upon what he thought was a slice of fried gold: Obama was making a point to speak in the hall of the place that held the Constitution and the son of a bitch once had the nerve to call that document "fundamentally flawed". Jackpot! To the Twitter-machine!

RNC: as he prepares to deliver remarks in hall that holds the constitution, flashback obama: "constitution flawed" http://bit.ly/tFL7O #RNC [Twitter, 5/21/09]

The problem? The fundamental flaw Obama was referring to was the fact that the Constitution not only allowed slavery, but only counted black people as 3/5th's of a person. That the framers did not see blacks or slavery as "a moral problem involving persons of moral worth."

So the RNC basically just went out of it's way to criticize the President for thinking that blacks should have been bumped up to a whole 5/5th's and maybe got paid for their work. It's a bold strategy. The "We believe the Constitution was so right that we need to go back to using the 3/5th's compromise" move is a risky gambit, but I can see why the RNC wants to try it.

I'm not sure the Democrats will go for it, so I think I've come up with a new compromise: blacks go back to 3/5th's but we bump gays up to having the marital rights of 2/5th's of a person. Add it in together and that constitutes the two groups having the rights of a full person. We honor the Constitution like the RNC now thinks we should (except for the parts about the President followin' laws and stuff) and we make our country 2/5th's of the way more progressive towards gays. Win-win.

Do as I command

Go watch this trailer. Black Dynamite starring Michael Jai White. Then thank me later.

This is the story of 1970’s action legend Black Dynamite. When “The Man” murders his brother, pumps heroin into local orphanages, and floods the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor, Black Dynamite is the one hero willing to fight all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House.

White women agree: Barack Obama palatable

I think this was the sorta endorsement P-E Obama was waiting for. The two spokeswomen for all white women, Sarah Palin and Lindsay Lohan, have come out and endorsed the acceptableness of a man with skin darker than a pasty white man ruling over this nation, with its purple mountains majesty, trout filled lakes, and buy one get one sandwich deals at participating Subway restaurants.

First, Mrs. Alaska revealed that contrary to all her pre-election protestations that Obama's socialist terrorist radical preacher friends would destroy America in a literal orgy of naive destruction and sex, she was totally cool with President Obama and being a loser. Bask in the acceptance: "I'm comfortable with Barack Obama as our commander in chief, assuming that he has those around him who recognize .... that terrorists have not changed their minds ... Those who recognize what the threat is and how to deal with the threat."

Rhodes scholar Lindsay Lohan, took time out of writing her doctoral thesis on getting kicked off third tier American television dramas to pipe in with her feelings on the new guy. "It's an amazing feeling. It's our first colored president." Most people would have said black or African-American, but she went old school. 1930's segregation old school. Which, if you remember, is a whites only school. For future reference Linds, just say black, always say black.

I would have thought winning the vast majority of the women and increasing Kerry's margins in the white women's vote would have been enough Barack, but now you can totally rest easy: the Lohan/Palin brain trust is behind you.

Republican "Not a racist" watch

"John Kerry with a tan."

CHA-CHING!!

That's how Republican strategist Grover Norquist decided he wants to label Barack Obama. Thumbs up from me, Grove-dawg! I'm incapable of enjoying anything other than someone else's misery, so I need you guys to lose this election big. More of this please.

But remember everyone: He's not a racist. Because. And stuff.

I guess he thinks pointing out blackness is an electoral winner. Because Barack Obama is, if you haven't heard, a black skinned black guy who is black. Also he's a Muslim, unless you're too smart to believe that, in which case he's a crazy black separtist with a crazy black preacher who is black. BLACK I SAY!

I guess because this ad,

and this button

and this sock concoction

did so much great PR work for them, they really wanted to run full bore into racial overtones as fast as they can.

Anyone want to put odds on when the "N-Bomb" gets dropped? I'm saying early Septemberish, southern state congressman (feels like an Alabama or a Kentucky), GOP closed door fundraiser.