Responses to Webb

Call me a hippie. So what if I’d like to form a daisy chain from here to the Middle East and beyond as we all sing Joan Baez and feed each other organic strawberries? I can dream—it doesn’t mean I’m not realistic and know this ain’t happening anytime soon.

As Larry told you yesterday, our Senator Jim Webb wrote a little article called “Diversity and the Myth of White Privilege” for the Wall Street Journal. My favorite part is the first paragraph, where he dumbfounds us all with the following: “The NAACP believes the tea party is racist. The tea party believes the NAACP is racist.”

Well, yes. I do agree with this and I find it detrimental to the advancement of a lot of positivity in our society. It messes with my daisy chain.

From there, spots in the article where my thoughts mirror Senator Webb’s bob like a skipping stone, sometimes with me sinking under the weight of “whoa, not at all;” other times me flying high above the water with a “Yeah! Right on Senator.”

My reaction indicates (once again) to me that I’m no politician. I read his words and react all over the place. I don’t know all the facts or statistics and find myself questioning why I agree with the parts I do. Am I reading honesty or being tricked by politics? It’s a yucky feeling. I don’t believe in racism in any form. I don’t want anyone treated unfairly (including white people), but don’t want to take away anything that furthers the imbalance between the races in America.

Perhaps I have a different view because I’m white and I grew up in Appalachia—where if you weren’t a coal miner or a townie (with one bank, one lawyer, one doctor, etc), you were broke and ignored with no assistance from anyone. This “myth” he refers to existed. It was real to my classmates who had no television and took showers in the school locker room because there wasn’t running water in their homes.

Let’s take his last full paragraph:

Nondiscrimination laws should be applied equally among all citizens, including those who happen to be white. The need for inclusiveness in our society is undeniable and irreversible, both in our markets and in our communities. Our government should be in the business of enabling opportunity for all, not in picking winners. It can do so by ensuring that artificial distinctions such as race do not determine outcomes.

This sounds good to me. Again, I have ears stopped up with harmonicas and daisies, so I leave it to you to read a few of the reactions out there and judge for yourself. I find myself leaning towards this one from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, but there’s also the Richmond Times-Dispatch article on the NAACP’s reaction and here’s a nice collection of various blogs and articles on the public reactions from The Atlantic Wire.

Street Performers on Colley Ave. | Pic: jESiO

Buskers of Beachstreet

Here we take a stroll down the Virginia Beach Oceanfront listening to the paid performers of Beachstreet USA sing hits from groups like The Temptations and Earth, Wind and Fire. This article is as gooey and sweet as the custard and ice cream dripping from a Beachstreet audience’s fingertips, but it’s highlighting some form of street performing and I’m so stoked about that.

“Women sang with their hands on their hearts. A middle-aged man, struggling to look disinterested, rocked back and forth on his heels. Nearly 50 people, many of them couples, lined up and smiled, arching their eyebrows to each other as if to say, ‘Not bad.’”

The Pilot makes it perfectly clear these performers are doing standards and covers and not really pushing the envelope lest they get a scary papercut. While I don’t disagree it’s a little stale, it is fun to take a stroll among live musicians where blues on 18^th street slowly morphs into Stevie Wonder on 22^nd. Throw in some random magicians and fireworks and you have a free and healthy and more-cultural-than-TV night out.

The best part of this article? A comment by VB Bum stating, “VB should stop with the paid, bland performers and go with real street performers. Street performers at Venice Beach CA are an attraction. Street performers at the “Sun Set celebration” in Key west are an attraction. I just realized that I never heard any objectionable, or inappropriate material at any street performance so it can be done…”

Yes! True busking absolutely needs a place in Hampton Roads—and that place is Norfolk. VB Bum and all the rest of you should head right on over to SPIN (Street Performing in Norfolk) and be our friend. Events pop up (both planned and random) and there you shall be informed.

Out of Iraq

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen gave a press conference yesterday stating all but 50,000 troops will be out of Iraq by September 1. In addition, those remaining are not in combat situations and Iraq will be civilian-led. I really hope this is true…. and good.

Into Afghanistan?

A judge has a conundrum. Two American men (one from Virginia Beach) are accused of murdering Afghani civilians and are currently on trial in Norfolk. The witness who testifies as to cause of death is an Afghani neurosurgeon who refuses to leave Kabul to travel here for the trial (partially because he is the only neurosurgeon in Kabul and doesn’t want patients to die in his absence). The Sixth Amendment gives defendants the right to confront witnesses in person. We cannot force the doctor to come. One proposal sends the defendants back to Afghanistan to confront the doctor—Afghanistan, the active war zone. Afghanistan, the country very far from here in which my taxpayer dollars pay for all the travel. Afghanistan—just a click away via Skype.

Spying on Dolphins is Fun

The Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team and a group of volunteers will spend Saturday off the coast of Virginia observing dolphins. They like to know how many dolphins live there and what their habits are.

Spying on Our Neighbors is Not

The FBI and a group of volunteers will spend Saturday off the coasts of Norfolk and Richmond observing non-whites. They like to know how many live there and what their habits are. Unlike cutesy little dolphins, the ACLU is not cool with this.

Good Art Comes to Bad Newz

"Elements" by Inger Sannes was brought to CNU by Bobby Freeman | pic: Newport News Public Art Foundation

“I want it to be that all of the sudden, you look around, and everywhere you look there will be art,” says Newport News developer and Ambassador of Awesome (my title). Since the early 2000s, he has committed himself to bringing public art in the form of large-scale sculptures to various locations around Newport News. He just returned from a trip to Italy and has several more sites and pieces in mind for the coming months and years.

It’s refreshing to listen to a man whose day job is in development or real estate, a man who could easily travel elsewhere for his culture and leave a town like Newport News blasé as he reaps rewards from its population eating at the PF Chang’s he brought to them. Instead, he brings them lots and lots of art. He envisions a driving tour around the city where visitors can punch a code into their cell phones to learn about the various sculptures. Kudos sir! We need more like you in Hampton Roads!

Score! Yard Sale Find Worth $200m in Ansel Adams Photography

Speaking of art…wow. How come when I go to yard sales I find things like polyester moomoo’s and baking sheets shaped like Playboy bunnies? What am I doing wrong?