NorCalUrban

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. The Yankees are surging, travels, visits to Napa... A more personal update is forthcoming... In the mean time, I came across this book review in USA Today and ordered the book. Here's a couple of quotes from the article and book: "Go out into this newly globalized world you're profiting from," he writes, "go visit the people being 'lifted' out of poverty, the workers who are making your products. Go live in their huts, eat their rice and plantains, squat on their floors, and listen to their babies cry. Sniff some glue and pray with them. Try to get justice from their police if someone hurts you. And then come back and let's talk about freedom." "If you can read this page, you are on top of the world and billions of people are beneath you. Your ignorance and your lack of a program will likely equal the squalor of your grandchildren's existence." Wow! Got the book today... I'll let you know...

Sharpton's Ancestor Was Owned by Thurmond's "The Rev. Al Sharpton, the prominent civil rights activist, is descended from a slave owned by relatives of the late senator and one-time segregationist Strom Thurmond, a genealogical study released Sunday reported. "It was probably the most shocking thing of my life," Sharpton said of learning the findings, which were requested and published Sunday by the New York Daily News. He called a news conference to respond publicly to the report. "I couldn't describe to you the emotions I have had . . . everything from anger to outrage to reflection to some pride and glory." Sharpton, 52, said he had suspected that his forebears may have been slaves but had never attempted to confirm that or find out any details. "I had never really traced my family history, particularly on my father's side, since my parents separated when I was going on 10 years old," he said. The newfound knowledge that his great-...