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12927264, "depth": 2, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12931074": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"Notice that after the social equality was attained, the movement ended for most while poor blacks were left by their more affluent brothers and sisters to dangle in the wind.\"<br><br>False. <br><br>Theywere left to earn based on their own efforts. The affluent had succeeded against the odds. Now that they had broke down what they believed to be the biggest odds, there was no need, in their minds to give a hand up. The biggest obstacles had been demolished, so why could they who had NOT succeeded NOT succeed now?  They were left to their own aspirations and ability to do the hard work to achieve them WITHOUT the odds of those who had perserved against far greater odds. IOW's it would be even easier for hard workers to achieve without the social discrimination.<br><br>\"What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger?\"<br><br>King, pursued Dubois' point, from the Great Debate and now he was turning to BookerT's. He now too saw that it was economic parity not social parity that would make Negros successful as Americans. He too, had been blinded, by the overwhelming EMOTION of human indignities. Far easier, to galvanize against emotion than the economics of hard work, isn't it? <br><br> What say you Sepia, which would you have chosen in MLK's time?  Social or economic discrimination to fight against? I presume you are familiar with the GREAT DEBATES, which side would you have chose?<br><br>MLK was NOT dissing those who were affluent. Rather, he saw how BookerT was right. Economic discrimination in AMERICA was far more ENCOMPASSING, prevalent and significant than the social discrimination.<br><br>In short, again, the ONLY reason those who had prevailed economically supported the civil rights movement, is because that was the remaining barrier to success for THEM in America, given that they had achieved already finaniclly.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_19:39:53", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 4, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929918, "depth": 3, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929543": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "Agree that our youth must be able to compete on a global scale, thus the \"NO LIMITATIONS.\"", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:06:20", "killed": false, "user_key": "spirit_55z", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 8, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12928358, "depth": 2, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12935177": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "disregard.  you won't answer my question.  <br><br>good night all", "is_last_child": true, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_22:32:32", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": true, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12932926, "depth": 1, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12928015": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"Cosby's. He's just giving cover to negative, and false, stereotypes about black youths, \"<br><br>That's one perspective. The other is that he is speaking to those who ARE as he gave clear examples of. Those who do not speak correctly, who DO glorify ignorance, who ARE touting their 'differentness' as somehow RIGHT and the definition of blackness.<br><br>Cosby's statements cannot be generalized to ALL blacks, but then it was focused on those who ARE as he described. Cosby was right.<br><br>I never once thought Cosby was talking about blacks who DEFY those stereotypes.  IOW's just like when folks call blacks shiftless and lazy spout that racism, I don't buy into it and neither should any person buy into what DOES NOT FIT them.<br><br><br>IOW you can't perpetrate on me what I don't perpetuate.<br><br>I am tired of folks speaking against truth that ain't theirs, as if it doesn't exist, when there are thousands that NEED to hear those truths.<br><br>If you not HIT why you hollering?...as Sepia would say. : )", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_16:47:30", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 14, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12927638, "depth": 5, "points": 4, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929554": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"No, what he addressed were the ills that CREATE the pipeline.\"<br><br>No really. <br><br><a href=\"http://www.aclu.org/crimjustice/juv/35550res20080606.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">School to Prison Pipeline: Talking Points</a>:<br><br>The school-to-prison pipeline refers to the national trend of criminalizing, rather than educating, our nation\u2019s children.<br><br>The pipeline encompasses the growing use of zero-tolerance discipline, school-based arrests, disciplinary alternative schools, and secured detention to marginalize our most at-risk youth and deny them access to education. <br><br>Although, I presented the above talking points, I am not offering an excuse for lack of personal responsibility.  But, it is also necessary to know that there are other forces at work.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:07:06", "killed": false, "user_key": "morphusBfly", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 11, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12928798, "depth": 8, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12930067": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "I couldn't agree with you more Spirit that focusing on it is a distraction...BUT,when you are dealing with kids..and they SEE white folks getting stuff they do did NOT earn..you have to addressit. That distraction is a WEED and you have to KILL it. Kids see that WEED growing!!<br><br>Just a personal aside. Our family has been blessed. We have lived in predominately affluent areas. And my kids had to learn THAT.  I identified that WEED and gave them the tools to KILL it. They learned it so well that by SECOND grade..my son could callit out. He SAID to us...mom, Mike is on the team cause his dad is the VP at bank so and so, but he did not have the skills of Caleb.  <br><br>My response was he was right!  He was right that Mke did not earn it.  My response was NOT that cause he didn't earn it, he TOO, did not need to work hard to be the BEST.  Caleb, of course was a poor white boy from the wrong end of town, and I told him SEE they discriminate against their OWN not just you. Because, as I told him, in the END, Caleb will be on the HS team, not MIKE.  <br><br>And so it was!<br><br>We also discussed parental influence,cause he asked me, why do adults LET someone without the ability on the team cause they DADDY is so& so.<br><br>AND I told him that.  I told him, there will always be folks who get ahead based on who they know but YOU cannot rely on that!  You STILL have to be the best..cause those same guys, when they KNOW you the shyt and you the best, they are gonna select you cause the wanna win.<br><br>So, I told him 'keep your eyes on the prize'..be the BEST and KNOW...they will come for you. And when they do..DEMAND the TOP dollar for your skills.<br><br>But don't not work hard, cause that is the kiss of death.<br><br>Are other white boys gonna get ahead that don't handle a candle to you?  You BET...don;t MATTER<br>someBODY is gonna REALIZE that with you on their team they are gonna win...and sure enough he found that out.<br><br>In the work world it is no different. You have to focus on being the best,, don't mean it's fair...but like I told him LIFE ain't fair, and when you black it is more UNfair.<br><br>But be YOUR best ANYWAY!!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:37:37", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 2, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929086, "depth": 7, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12934677": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Interesting observation.", "is_last_child": true, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_22:05:41", "killed": false, "user_key": "ch555x", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": true, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12924004, "depth": 1, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12927008": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "That entire gotta tear someone down to see how great we really are HAS TO GO!   Different circumstances, but I heard that shit all my life growing up from my parents -- directed at me and my siblings as well as other people.  It's not true and never has been.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_16:04:34", "killed": false, "user_key": "IWordsmith", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926364, "depth": 4, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12931622": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "\"They are so much easier. lolol young men . . . . it is HARD.\"<br><br>Yes it is. Maleness is based on superiority. Completely different from feminity.<br><br>Men COMPETE to be the best, and if the playing field is tilted...they choose to find another venue where they CAN demonstrate superiority.<br><br>A whole different ballgame.<br><br>Which is why momma'sboys succeed.  Those boys listen when momma explains HOW to compete DIFFERNTLY and WIN.<br><br>Most boys consider that paradigm hogwash. Cause what does 'SHE know about what I\"m dealing with\" she ain't no MAN. She don't get it! Is how they think. <br><br>Which also contributes to blacksinglemoms not being able to raise men...there are FAR more who will NOT listen and need a MAN to tell them how to do it.<br><br>Because if he is a male they know HE gets it unlike the female that is not dealing with his male challenges. A male child might need to be nurtured but they don't wanna be nurtured they want to WIN.<br><br>And that male tells/shows them how to win on MALE terms and be a success.<br><br>Which is the entire point of emasculation of the black male by white men...they KNOW this...<br><br>which is a whole NUTHER discussion.<br><br>But it speaks to why black females are out suceeding their male counterparts from singleblackfemale households.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:13:23", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929861, "depth": 9, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925992": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "<i>It\u2019s funny how some people mock non-whites for getting an education by claiming they are \u201cacting white.\u201d<br><br>I have long held the belief that the \u201cdoing well in school = acting white\u201d thing was started up by racist whites.</i><br><br>Dammmn!!  I can honestly tell you - that is something I've NEVER even thought about occurring.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:09:51", "killed": false, "user_key": "IWordsmith", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "13174315": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "What an amazing story!", "is_last_child": true, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-22_19:47:55", "killed": false, "user_key": "facebook-742185703", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12930616, "depth": 5, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926512": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "hope you don't mind but I want to copy your response and share it with a few folks.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:39:58", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 16, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926364, "depth": 4, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12931634": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"Our parents didn't teach us racism, but black parents today DO! They actually teach their kids that racism is the problem. IMAGINE that? Not even when we were slaves did we teach our kids racism..they had to experience it. Because we KNEW what a mind shackle it was!!\"<br><br>OMG!!! that is IT.  All these years and I missed that simple truth. <br><br>\"That is why our job today is worse than slavery. No one strived to be a slave...but kids today DO strive to be the biggest gangsta/thug..to prove they are 'real BLACKNESS\" AND countering that means going up against they momma and missing daddy!!\"<br><br>This is definately something I have to take time and think about.  I never understood that.  You are so right.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:14:06", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12931427, "depth": 8, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12930616": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "This reminds me of a situation that happened with my old high school. I'm from a small town in Alabama where back in the 60s, as opposed to integrate, a private school popped up and that's where 95% of the white kids in that county went to school (its like that all over the more rural areas in Alabama). The football stadium in our little town is city owned and across town from the high school (and by across town, I mean 7 minutes away - 10 if a train happens to be going through that moment).  Now back in the 90s, my little high school was a football powerhouse - kicking butt left and right..mind you, in Alabama, the private and public schools compete against each other for the state championships. Now the football stadium did not have on-site locker rooms. The visiting schools would have to change at the high school and then go to the stadium.<br><br>Do you know after our school had won like 2 or 3 state championships (or had been in the title game) in a row, the AL High School Athletic Association voted that unless the school had on-site locker rooms at the playing facility, that they could NOT HOST A PLAYOFF GAME? Now something like this might not seem like a big deal to some, but to the students at my little school, it was a lot. The team was one of a few sources of pride for a small town such as this one. The students had a lot of spirit and because the team always had the better record, were accustomed to HOSTING the games where EVERYBODY could attend and be proud. When my dad told me what the state athletic board did, all I could say was \"what the hell\"..and my daddy replied \"well you knew they'd have to find a way to stop us\". Just fucking changed the damn RULES to stop this little black high school which barely had the basics to put out a football team, but managed to put out a powerhouse. The damn rule was ALL because of that one high school. The school whose ass was being KICKED by my little high school, was a very prominent, very predominately white private school (with a few black \"scholarship\" students on the football team).<br><br>Fortunately, one of the guys on the team in my little town went on to become the school's only first round draft pick - and some years ago, he built the on-site locker rooms and renovated the stadium - because he was on the team when they fucking changed the rules just to help the other team that my little school kept whooping every November. He built that facility because he remembered how he felt upon hearing the news that our little school was being penalized, for being successful against the wrong ones. <br><br>Aint that a bitch?", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_19:11:39", "killed": false, "user_key": "Mirandalynn", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 6, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929853, "depth": 4, "points": 6, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925498": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"we got the young people to call bill cosby to express their feelings about how the way he put down young people is making worse the negative stereotypes they are up against in schools, on the street and in the msm. \"<br><br>Top Grade Hogwash and a disservice to our young people.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:44:01", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 24, "is_first_child": true, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12923859, "depth": 1, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929086": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"It just hurts my heart, when folks say kids see white folks get things they don't deserve, so I don't need to try...\"<br><br>I beleive we have to fill in the \"NO EXCUSES\" with what our children CAN DO and BE.  and FOCUSING on white folks fuckups, is a distraction, another way to use it as an excuse..... no limitations, means excelling against all odds.<br><br>I agree with keeping our eyes on the prize.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_17:41:27", "killed": false, "user_key": "spirit_55z", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 3, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12927683, "depth": 6, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925503": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "<i>I think it\u2019s interesting that conservatives/GOP admonish hispanics for not knowing English and tell them they better learn English, no Spanish allowed\u2026but when hispanics try to learn English, they are mocked.</i><br><br><br><br>Tom Coburn! I See You!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:44:19", "killed": false, "user_key": "Justice58", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 3, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12960333": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Please keep on doing what you're doing. If I'm on point, my daugher won't need your services, but it's nice to know you're there if she does.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-20_12:16:39", "killed": false, "user_key": "TyrenM", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929438, "depth": 8, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12933712": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "Also, I just have to quibble with this:<br><br>\"That's because most of those Civil Rights leaders had the money,\"<br><br>What the heck are you talking about 'they had money\"  no black CRM leader in the sixties, had ANY damn money, they were poor as hell on the scale of money in the 60s. Where did you get the view, they had money....not only did theyNOT have money..it was BECAUSE they had none that they had NOTHING to lose!!  Facts, please.<br><br><br>\"WRB, I don't subscribe to the \"I've got mine, get your own the best way you can belief\".<br><br>OK, but I do not believe that having the expectation that those who incur far less discrimination being able to EARN there own is 'get your own best you can' in any sense. It is a real notion, that if social discrimination was the problem, and I succeed with those odds, then surely you too with HARD WORK can achieve EVEN MORE.  <br><br>Many many blacks reach back and by far the black church stands at the top of that list.<br><br>\"Now, getting back to my point about how financially affluent CRM leaders left poor black men, women and children to fend for themselves\"<br><br>While that may be your belief, there are no facts to support it. It is a cop-out.  A statement of victimhood, to rail against successful blacks who have NOT sought in anyway not to help those who need help, Rather, there are numerous instances of affluent blacks donating thousands of dollars to the black community.  So, to assert such a sweeping generalization is unfounded.<br><br>\"BTW, I NEVER stated or implied that MLK was dissing affluent black people.\"<br><br>Well, I wasn't saying such, not sure how you drew that assessment.  But<br><br>\"I believe the least they could've done was to follow Dr. King's lead and fight for economic equality for ALL black people.\"<br><br>Hmmm, what does this entail to you? The UrbanLeague does precisely this. Where do you come by your assertion that CRM leaders failed to fight for economic equality? This is America, it is capitalistic..it is dog eat dog. No one gives anyone a hand up economically. What America has done is give a handup to opportunity for education and jobs. EEOC does that and colleges do that..what are you looking for?<br><br>\"I NEVER stated or implied that MLK was dissing affluent black people. Rather, he understood that true equality for black people included social equality AND economic power.\"<br><br>Not sure how you came to your assessment about 'dissing' I certainly did not imply that. MLK, was not focused on economic parity. Your quote was SUBSEQUENT to the success of the civil rights movement. MLK did  fight for economic parity  which is why he went to Memphis, and was assassinated, he was there to support their strike, BUT economic parity was not the central focus of the CRM, that was following SOCIAL Justice.<br><br>\"I beg to differ that MLK was following Booker T's philosophy, for Booker T sought to ensure white people that black people were not seeking to rock the boat and disrupt their white supremacy\"<br><br>While I disagree with your view. I can certainly see how BookerT would ESPOUSE that KNOWING that economic parity WOULD dismantle their white supremacy. What better way to deceive them?  You want us to be hard working..well let us compete in the economic marketplace fairly, BookerT KNEW we would excell and that all that mattered in a capitalistic society was money.<br><br>BookerT wanted blacks to have economic parity because he knew that in the end, that was all that mattered in a capitalistic society.<br><br>For instance, one of the biggest incongruities in black America is that we cannot support our politicians economically to ensure the enactment of our politics. They are therefore prey to special interests who can finance them but who have goals antithesis to blacks to our political aims Most groups in America achieve economic prowess FIRST. Only Black Americans have achieved politic office and  social prominence without the FINANCEs to back our policies and political goals which is why we struggle mightily. We can't BUY politicians. Jews, Cubans,Irish and Italians can. Those groups only came to political power AFTER their ethnic groups had the money to sustain a politician.  WE alone are unique in not being able to support our black politicians and make them beholden to the black community.  Which is WHY we struggle.  Not at all because of CRM leaders, but because of MONEY.<br><br>In short I think the meme that CRM leaders deserted blacks with less monetary means paints a very broad brush that is not substantiated by the political reality.<br><br>AGAIN<br><br>What say you Sepia, which would you have chosen in MLK's time? Social or economic discrimination to fight against? I presume you are familiar with the GREAT DEBATES, which side would you have chose?", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_21:25:53", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12932499, "depth": 5, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12932192": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "...which means that instances of zero tolerance (of blacks) shouldn't be complained about? Remember Derek Jackson, the kid in Austin who was \"zero tolerated\" because he had a close haircut?", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:40:15", "killed": false, "user_key": "Plantsmantx", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 2, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12932093, "depth": 12, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12924004": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "I just noticed watching old episodes of Martin, The Fresh Prince - how often they wore HBCU sweatshirts and tees...and when VH1 Soul did a Teddy Riley countdown of the top twenty New Jack Swing, that was ALL you saw....interesting how that's all gone now.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:25:12", "killed": false, "user_key": "Mirandalynn", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 5, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925546": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "You hit it Town.  I have lived and been educated around plenty of white folks and have met more than my share of anti-intellectual, ill-educated, and willfully ign'ant white folk to know that \"acting white\" i.e., being educated and striving to learn, is most certainly not soley a white trait and is something plenty of white folks do not live up to.  And you are right about seeing the hbcu's  on t-shirts sweat shirts on old older shows.  I noticed that watching \"Martin\" and \"Living Single\" re-runs recently.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:46:19", "killed": false, "user_key": "Lisa_J", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 2, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 6, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929644": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Exactly - what seems to be the fundamental difference between the posters is HOW to get that point across to our youth.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:13:08", "killed": false, "user_key": "Mirandalynn", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929586, "depth": 4, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929650": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "I don't know the source of those 'talking points'<br><br>What I know is that the ills of the black community are what contribute to their ABILITY to criminalize.<br><br>And I agree with you if we, in the black community are taking care of busineess, then those ills/behaviors diminish the ability to criminalize us.<br><br>Instead, we have developed in our communitys, a sub-culture that revels in and supports those behaviors/ills as 'blackness'<br><br>IOW's the incarcerated have reached a critical mass in our communities to become the DOMINATE culture.<br><br>Nothing says this more than the reality that of 2.4M incarcerated ONE million are black.<br><br>That is far, Far, FAR more  than the numbers we make up in the society.<br><br>Thus the predominace of crime and a prison culture as the STANDARD for black culture!!<br><br>ugh", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:13:21", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 10, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929554, "depth": 9, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12931714": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "The FBI crime stats have been proven wrong and they have admitted to the stats being wrong.  Recently, LA was caught fudging their crime stats by lowering the actual crime numbers.  No one can trust the numbers that are being tossed around.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:17:58", "killed": false, "user_key": "morphusBfly", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12931513, "depth": 11, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12928643": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "The urban centers that Cosby addresses are also known in some circles as \"asphalt jungles\".  And, I believe sometimes that there is a lack of understanding of what daily life is like in the asphalt jungles. <br><br>Can you think of any time when Cosby addressed the school to prison pipeline? Or, schools that already look like prisons with metal detectors?", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_17:23:35", "killed": false, "user_key": "morphusBfly", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 13, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12928015, "depth": 6, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12928652": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "There you go-preaching. Not once did you mention listening. Not once did you ask, \"What's going on with kids today that's different from when we were growing up?\" Not once did you leave your role as preacher and try to see the world from someone's else's point of view?<br><br>As for people growing up in segregated South (apartheid), I'm one of them. But as a kid in Atlanta, Georgia, I saw more positive things there than up North. We had good schools, fine teachers and lots of black businesses. It was our misadventure with so-called integration that took a lot of those businesses away. But we had fine role models. We need to figure out a way to bring some of those role models back, people who inspire like Benjamin Mays, Janetta Cole, and Dr. King and Coretta King. We need them up North just as much as we need them down South.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_17:24:04", "killed": false, "user_key": "McDaddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926237, "depth": 2, "points": 6, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926095": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "\"Maybe the problem in this society isn\u2019t education, because it really doesn\u2019t matter if blacks and hispanics go to school and get an education because many whites will regard somebody like Palin, who went to 5 colleges in 6 years, has no command of the English language and is intellectually incurious as much more smarter and qualified than a black/hispanic summa cum laude graduate of an Ivy League school who continously strives to learn.<br><br>I suspect RayRay in the hood knows this. He doesn\u2019t need a State of the Black Union to tell him what he already knows.\"<br><br>Yes, they do. But while RayRay in the hood experiences and watches this INJUSTICE occur, they ALSO need to know that many, Many, MANY more people of color do excell and get ahead despite the IGNORANT white person that may leap frog over them!<br><br>It is better to have an education and not need it ( hundreds of athletes/entertainers/entrepreneurs)... than to need an education and not have it (millions incarcerated, millions on welfare, and millions without dads)!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:15:23", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926608": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "There's no doubt that the soft subjects are Eurocentric, deceitful, and racist.", "is_last_child": true, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:44:15", "killed": false, "user_key": "no1kstate", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926400, "depth": 1, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926609": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "No problem...this is the public domain. lol", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:44:16", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926512, "depth": 5, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12927638": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "Cosby's. He's just giving cover to negative, and false, stereotypes about black youths, who spend as much time studying as white students; who're regularly placed in academic tracks lower than where their standardized test scores show they should be; who are punished more often and more harshly than white student despite not misbehaving anymore than white students. Also, over around 85% of black parents check their kids' homework and just around 75% of white parents check their kids' homework. Black and white students score and just about the same level until middle school when puberty sets in and black boys start looking like black men, whom these mostly white, female teachers have been raised to fear, and the black girls start looking like black \"angry\" women. White America doesn't listen to Cosby and say, \"Okay, I can expect my black student to start achieving.\" They here him and say, \"I told you so.\"", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_16:32:18", "killed": false, "user_key": "no1kstate", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 18, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12925921, "depth": 4, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925591": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "just sayin that's how they felt and what they wanted to say. . .", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:48:32", "killed": false, "user_key": "zackboston", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 2, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12925498, "depth": 2, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12932251": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "\"OMG!!! that is IT. All these years and I missed that simple truth.\"<br><br>Yes. When you buy into racism you buy into being a victim. If you believe you are a victim, then you are defeated from jump. You CAN't win.  <br><br>Our parents NEVA ALLOWED that. They only talked about racism, in the sense of your personal experience, when you WERe doing your BEST and not getting ahead!  <br><br>We were never victims. We were casualties of prejudice!!<br><br>Not VICTIMS. <br><br>It makes a huge difference..to tell someone they cannot win at the start of the race vs. having them compete against the most incredible odds and SUCCEED!!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:42:41", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12931634, "depth": 9, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925601": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "Very good post. You hit on why I was not  impressed with Obama's speech to the NAACP. He talked about education as if that in itself would assure black success. I've worked with young blacks for  years. I'd say 95% don't believe it. They believe an academic education works but for white kids. Why? Because white kids, more than not, usually have parents and friends of their parents who will help them to get a job and get started moving up escalators of success. On the other hand, they believe that white people don't want to hire them, just  as they don't want to hire their dads or their moms. Research backs them up. That's why you have 49% black unemployment in New York City.<br><br>If black people build up the institutions in their own communities-- create businesses and processes where young blacks see themselves fitting in, getting a job and being a positive force in t he community-- then getting an education will make more sense, seem like a more practical idea. Right now, they don't know if they're going to live long enough to finish a GED. <br><br>Personally, I think the Obamas and the Cosbys ought to call a moratorium on all sermons about education and listen to kids for a change and see why 75% of them don't graduate from high school. If they do, they'll find out as my organization did that kids are walking around in total fear. They're afraid to ride on the bus, to wait at t he bus stop, to go out to recess, to go skating, to even hang out in their yard. And they don't think we adults are listening. They already know that it's different than when we were growing up. At least we had some adults figures looking out  for us. They've told me this over and over again. They live in fear and without hope. <br><br>We need to start listening and begin t o figure out how we can protect them as we develop institutions to sustain them and us as a people", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:49:04", "killed": false, "user_key": "McDaddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 29, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 6, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929704": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "<i>So, the first thing I did with these girls is have them write down all their dreams. As time went on, we created dream/goal collages and made concrete action plans to help them.</i><br><br><br>Spirit,<br><br>I remember when you first told us @ JJP that you had the girls to write down their dreams.<br><br>You're doing a fine job with the girls. Big Up to you...God bless you!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:16:08", "killed": false, "user_key": "Justice58", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929438, "depth": 8, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12930226": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "<a href=\"http://www.aclu.org/crimjustice/juv/35550res20080606.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">School-To-Prison</a> is a subset of Marian Wright Edelman's (Childrens Defense Fund) <a href=\"http://www.childrensdefense.org/helping-americas-children/cradle-to-prison-pipeline-campaign/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Cradle to Prison campaign</a>.  The campaign recognizes that the lowering of bar (zero tolerance policies) to control students in schools create a situation where what was once look upon a normal child activity, that activity is now criminalized. <br><br>Something as simple as taking an aspirin to school could put a child on a juvenile justice track in some school district. Some see the zero tolerance policies as part of the problem.  And, in some instances the source of children being \"pushed\" out of school.  <br><br>Trust me, in some places, combating zero tolerance policies is a full-time activity. <br><br><a href=\"http://www.naacpldf.org/content.aspx?article=828\" rel=\"nofollow\">Florida State Conference NAACP, Advancement Project, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) released \"Arresting Development: Addressing the School Discipline Crisis in Florida</a>", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:47:21", "killed": false, "user_key": "morphusBfly", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 4, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929650, "depth": 10, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12928188": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "I agree. I thought Brown Man's comment ran parallel to Town's - both were making two different points that really compliment each other, headed in the same direction, reaching the same goal.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_16:57:41", "killed": false, "user_key": "Mirandalynn", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 2, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12927940, "depth": 2, "points": 5, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12927683": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "Val,<br>Let me say this about this:<br><br>\"The only part of your post I disagree with is \"What these kids need to see are models of white failure, show them trailer trash, cite them the true numbers on welfare, tell them the attrition rate for whites.\" simply because they don't need to see that.\"<br><br>If the perception of RayRay in the hood, is that all you need to succeed is white, then that myth also has to be dispelled.<br>They need to be shown that just being white is NOT all it takes, even if it SEEMS that it is SOLELY about race...there are LOTS of whites who fail, too. These kids need to know that just being white don't mean you are going to be ALL THAT.  They get that about sports/entertainment...but not about academics and hard work. But just being white ain't ALL it takes, now if they work hard do they have an advantage? YES...but so DO THEY.<br><br>It's just like my kids, when they came home talking about ALL the white kids hate us, I said no that's not true. SOME of the white kids might...but your job is to find those who don't. Cause white folks are not ALL the same when it comes to that.  And they did, and they were happier, because there were white kids that were fine with them. Don't mean they loved them, BUT they did give them a chance and they didn't hate them.<br><br>is all I am sayin...I know we are on the same page for the most part.<br><br>It just hurts my heart, when folks say kids see white folks get things they don't deserve, so I don't need to try...well they need to be shown how many losers are white, who had THEIR same mindset despite being white.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_16:34:31", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 14, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926512, "depth": 5, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12942532": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "As Ruth J Simmons Pres of Brown Univ. A black Woman running an IVY LEAGUE institution said in a 60 minutes interview a few years back<br><br>Do not continue your education to get a good job. Continue your education because<br><br>\"KNOWLEDGE IS POWER\"....PERIOD!<br><br>And she ain't never lied!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-20_03:43:28", "killed": false, "user_key": "chris_i_am", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12934862": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "lol.  You are honest.  :-) The results -- Not one person knew anything about that speech.", "is_last_child": true, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_22:14:52", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12931433, "depth": 7, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12927695": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Thank you!<br><br>I mentor Black teenage girls twice a month, and it is all about EDUCATION.  <br><br>I tell these young girls education is the key to LIFE.  They need to hear repeatedly how precious, exciting, and glorious education is.  <br><br>Our youth  need to be encouraged to read, to journal their experiences, to think critically, and to be curious about life by asking questions.  <br><br>It is their right; Knowledge is power. <br>Power to navigate life, and it's not limited to our communities.  <br><br>Our kids need to be taught there are NO LIMITATIONS.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_16:35:02", "killed": false, "user_key": "spirit_55z", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": true, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926774, "depth": 1, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12923601": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Yes!!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:03:12", "killed": false, "user_key": "Lilytiger", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12930772": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "I have no problem addressing the youth's questions when they ask why come folks are getting ahead when they haven't done the work.<br><br>I schooled my daughters from day one, and I told them to JUST KEEPING MOVING AHEAD.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_19:22:03", "killed": false, "user_key": "spirit_55z", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12930067, "depth": 8, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925665": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "You got that right, Justice.  Coburn's got some\"splainin\" to do!", "is_last_child": true, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:51:27", "killed": false, "user_key": "spirit_55z", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": true, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12925503, "depth": 1, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12932330": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "NO. I loathe zero tolerance. It is a complete abdication of adult responsiblity,<br><br>There are clear Rights and Wrongs and distinctions in degrees.<br><br>Not to stand in judgment and exercise that authority is an abdication of adulthood authority.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:45:55", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12932192, "depth": 13, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925682": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "I appreciate you posting that. It is good that you listen to young people. Way too many people dismiss their concerns.<br><br>As you know they have just as much the right to say what they feels as $100,000+ a speech Cosby.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:52:30", "killed": false, "user_key": "malletgirl02", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12925591, "depth": 3, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925684": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "So Town:<br><br>When are you going to become the next thoughtful columnist on TVOne?", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:52:34", "killed": false, "user_key": "devessel", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 5, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929781": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "\"The only thing that will be \"good in the hood\" is when the last light finally goes out.<br><br>They play rap music in the suburbs too. <br><br>Cats at my Starbucks wear more Sean John than black folks.<br><br>We would still be black, though, if we never rapped, break danced, ate collard greens or corn bread, or ripped a jazz solo.<br><br>Trust me.\"<br><br>Say it loud!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:19:28", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12928263, "depth": 3, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12931831": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "\"We act like young blacks have never heard this before. We act like they're hearing this for the very first time. But everybody from mom to dad to uncle Joe to teachers to social workers to the garbage man...Jesus, even pimps on a break from slapping prostitutes tell young bucks to get an education.\"<br><br>Role MODELS are far more important than WORDS.  No different from the Kennedy family after they killed off the STRONGEST role MODELS as  males. Killing all the strong males in that family was NO accident, and allowing the least effectual to survive was not either.  That family has NEVA been the same!! The powers that be were AFRAID of the Kennedy dynasty becasue it was powerful.  Make no mistake had JFK and RFK succeeded him as  PResidnent, then Teddy like Dubya would also have been President.<br><br>They killed Martin& Malcolm for the same reason, have those families been the same?<br><br>It is the essence of MANHOOD that builds strong men. Not WORDS alone.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:23:24", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12928303, "depth": 3, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925652": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "His comments ARE making things worse.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:51:06", "killed": false, "user_key": "no1kstate", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 20, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12925498, "depth": 2, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12931326": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Sounds like the flag, baseball, & apple pie  just ALL AMERICAN to me!!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_19:54:39", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12930616, "depth": 5, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12928263": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "I don't think so - what happens to the Sarah Palins of the world has no relevance for Joe \"I Don't Know\" Negro.  <br><br>For every Sarah Palin who barely crawled out of college and made it big, there are three white chicks who get treated like total tricks when their ignorance shows, because all white chicks don't look like Sarah after having 5 kids, and if you don't believe how she looks didn't have anything to do with her skating her way into the governors mansion, I've got a stack of Martin Luther King's paper's to sell you.<br><br>Predicating the importance of the educations of our children on whether or not white people are overlooking these same standards for themselves is illogical.  Not kinda dumb, not sorta stupid - its the most idiotic motherfucking reasoning I can think of for just throwing in the towel.<br><br>The people - slaves, remember them -  whose educations were eked out by candlelight when their lives were at stake didn't worry about how white men looked out for each other even if they were stupid, BECAUSE THEY KNEW HOW POWERFUL IT WAS TO BE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT THE MORE COMPLEX THINGS IN THIS WORLD FOR THEMSELVES.<br><br>Negroes who can make up any old bullshit reason why we shouldn't be putting on a fucking Carlton outfit if we have to in order to get the knowledge we need can catch one of those \"keeping it real\" bullets in my book.<br><br>The only thing that will be \"good in the hood\" is when the last light finally goes out.<br><br>They play rap music in the suburbs too.  <br><br>Cats at my Starbucks wear more Sean John than black folks.<br><br>We would still be black, though, if we never rapped, break danced, ate collard greens or corn bread, or ripped a jazz solo.<br><br>Trust me.  <br><br>This is really the same steam I had from the last post, Rikyrah, so it is still directed at this \"Town\" person and all the other lackeys who jumped on his bandwagon.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_17:03:10", "killed": false, "user_key": "BrownManATL", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12927940, "depth": 2, "points": 3, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925717": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "The whole \"acting white\" thing only happens in very specific circumstances and is more about race politics than anti-intellectualism.<br><br>Studies all prove what Town is saying, including the fact that the higher you go in education, the more Eurocentric it becomes.<br><br>Since \"amen\" has been done, I'll just say, \"Tell the truth and shame the devil!\"", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:54:10", "killed": false, "user_key": "no1kstate", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 6, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12931350": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "yepper!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_19:56:26", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12930772, "depth": 9, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12932833": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "<i>I don't subscribe to the \"I've got mine, get your own the best way you can belief\". I think that type of thinking is exactly why our community is so far behind in the 21st century.</i><br><br><br>Thank You!  I concur 100%!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_21:09:05", "killed": false, "user_key": "Justice58", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12932499, "depth": 5, "points": 4, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926237": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"I've worked with young blacks for years. I'd say 95% don't believe it. They believe an academic education works but for white kids. Why? Because white kids, more than not, usually have parents and friends of their parents who will help them to get a job and get started moving up escalators of success. On the other hand, they believe that white people don't want to hire them, just as they don't want to hire their dads or their moms. Research backs them up. That's why you have 49% black unemployment in New York City.\"<br><br>This is called self-defeating mindset.  Millions of slaves had no reason to believe they would ever be free due to the oppressive conditions of slavery. Nevertheless they fought and died for freedom.  Millions of blacks lived under separatebutequal and drank from separate drinking foundations and were hired as train porters despite having college degrees.  Nevertheless, they fought for civil rights.<br><br>To GIVE UP and believe that the conditions you were born into is what life is about is the absolute worse thing that can be done.  Just because you are born poor or in the slums does not mean the slums or poverty RESIDES IN YOU.  It does not matter how many examples you can give of the odds being stacked. Those are merely obstacles.  <br><br>And <br><br>Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.<br><br>What these kids need to see are models of white failure, show them trailer trash, cite them the true numbers on welfare, tell them the attrition rate for whites. Let them see that failure is not racially discriminatory. Lots of white folks are horrible models of humanity.  Show them those as well. Let them see that being white is NO panacea!  White folks fail too!!<br><br>RayRay and the hood have to understand that no one shapes your destiny, it is in their  hands to use all theirGod given talents to EXCELL, perservere and PREVAIL....always knowing that no matter how many studies or naysayers the TRUTH is everyone who fails to plan, plans to fail.<br><br>Let them know our people went to Harvard during the height of segregation. Show them how those people endured far more and tell them<br><br>YES WE CAN!!  The human spirit is indomitable when it is focused, determined and will not be deterred.  As the saying goes.  Keep your eyes on the PRIZE.<br><br>We CAN rise above, we CAN achieve more, we CAN make our dreams come true.<br><br>The first thing you have to do is believe!!  <br><br>Despair and hopelessness is nothing but a self imposed sentence of poverty and ignorance.<br><br>Hope and hard work have CONSISTENTLY triumphed over those odds, and the barriers for our ancestors were far greater and they KNOCKED them down.<br><br>So, I don't wanna hear nothing about what RayRAY believes..they need to look around for the SUCCESSFUL models, and not focus on the failures and hardships.<br><br>Focus on being ALL you can be...and YOU WILL...because<br><br>YES WE CAN...history demonstrates that!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:23:58", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 22, "is_first_child": true, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12925601, "depth": 1, "points": 5, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12928798": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"Can you think of any time when Cosby addressed the school to prison pipeline?\"<br><br>No, what he addressed were the ills that CREATE the pipeline.<br><br>\"schools that already look like prisons with metal detectors?\"<br><br>Schools respond to the ills, that CREATE the pipeline.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_17:31:03", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 12, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12928643, "depth": 7, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12927264": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "First of all not all young people are ignorant. Secondly if they are it is not all their fault. I'm sure they could read books, but isn't educating want schools and parents are for. Remember, \"Children will listen\".", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_16:15:00", "killed": false, "user_key": "malletgirl02", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926400, "depth": 1, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12944166": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "This is a very poor area. Like I said, just having the basics for a football team is hard enough, building something that would meet the codes and standards was not an option at that time.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-20_06:20:51", "killed": false, "user_key": "Mirandalynn", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12942311, "depth": 6, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929586": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "I Agree; the sticking point from both is that EDUCATION is important.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:09:26", "killed": false, "user_key": "spirit_55z", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12928188, "depth": 3, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12928303": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "Val: You say you disagree with the first paragraph, but it's not relevant. It is. What I'm saying is that we, Obama, Cosby, blacks who have become \"successful\" like myself and many who come to this blog, oftentimes go back to black communities, or to a few institutions in the communities (usually a church), and talk at black people, especially young people, but say the same thing. We act like young blacks have never heard this before. We act like they're hearing this for the very first time. But everybody from mom to dad to uncle Joe to teachers to social workers to the garbage man...Jesus, even pimps on a break from slapping prostitutes tell young bucks to get an education. Then, if they go to church on Sunday, they hear it from a preacher. After a point, it has a diminishing effect, no matter who says it.<br><br>Second, I'm saying before seeking to be understood, seek to understand. Before sharing our vast knowledge of the universe, we need to gather facts. We need to listen. But we don't do this with our own kids, because we think that they're going through the exact things we went through and all we have to do is tell them to hang in there and get an education. I'm saying we should step back and hear their autobiography and stop playing the same tape of our own. If we do, we'll learn what's going on with them and how to protect and support them. In the process, we may even find a key to our own survival as a people.<br><br>No, it doesn't necessarily mean we have to move back into segregated black communities? We can do just what the Carribeans in New York did or the SE Asians did: Build where we are. If there's three black families, that's a black community in need of a barbershop, aa grocery store, an alternative school, and a salon, even if it sells nails come from South, Korea.<br><br>That's what I love about what Rikyrah said about building institutions. Kids want to be inspired, and not just listen to raps anymore. Build a bank, have some blacks folks working there and a brotha or sista who run it, and they'll be inspired. Sermons without anything tangible behind it to protect and sustain black people are lame. Kids will tell us this, if we only listen. <br>Building institutions within which kids can see themselves someday is what will give the dream and therefore the motivation to get a good education-- for their families and black communities and not just working for white folks who hate their guts.<br><br>But even before that, we need to hear that kids are walking in fear; and we need to find ways to protect them. It's very hard to concentrate when you're wondering how you're going to dodge a \"crew\" that's coming to kick your ass. <br><br>Blessings.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_17:05:59", "killed": false, "user_key": "McDaddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 4, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12925797, "depth": 2, "points": 3, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926774": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "Are you guys serious?<br><br>If \"taking it the streets\" is all we are, then kill me now.<br><br>I hear all this talk about \"Afrocentric\", but most motherfuckers who can't read don't really know anything about Africa except kente cloth, Roots, and the STUFF THEY SEE ON TV that has been programmed by the same \"whitey\" you say you are afraid of acting like.<br><br>Nobody here is going back to Africa.  NOBODY!  Certainly not anybody I see standing on the corner, talking about \"the man\" is holding him down.<br><br>You can start a business IN THE HOOD with practically no money if you have an education.  Brand new lawyers who have next to no experience do it everyday.  Young doctors with 125K in loans do it and get paid year one if they take Medicaid patients, which our HOODS are full of.  Even if you don't get that far in school, you can either learn how to navigate the government grant system to get a loan to rehab your block, or start a small retail shop - IF YOU CAN FUCKING READ.<br><br>If I was Martin, or the beloved Malcolm that so many dumb ass thug wannabees holler about while they wave their 9mm's around, killing US, I'd look down on your ridiculous asses and say \"damn all of you fools who don't know any better than to believe this bullshit.\"<br><br>Malcolm didn't get to be Malcolm cause he sold drugs or wore a conk.  He got to be Malcolm because when his ass could have been rotting in that jail, he took the time to learn the language of the land.<br><br>Every African in Africa who has a bit of sense and the middle class luxuries many of us enjoy know two, three, or more languages, and they live on the biggest continent in the world.<br><br>So what the fuck are we afraid of?<br><br>If you can learn to cook crack properly, you can learn to be a pharmaceutical technician, and mix legal drugs.<br><br>If you can hotwire a car, you can learn to pull conduit and wire a house.<br><br>The only reason tunnel vision, \"keeping it real\" negroes like you even have half a chance to spew this nonsense is because some EDUCATED NEGROES took one for the team for the last hundred and fifty years, all the way back to Frederick Douglas, a real \"G\" if their ever was one.<br><br>Take these nursery rhyme fantasies back where you got them and quit fooling our youth.  <br><br>Do you see any rappers still living on the streets they came from?<br><br>Hell No!<br><br>So why brainwash our children into believing that attitude and swagger mean anything when they have no brainpower to back it up, no knowledge base to anchor it, and no way to communicate with the rest of the world, whether they are white, black or brown?", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:53:25", "killed": false, "user_key": "BrownManATL", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 8, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 8, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12928823": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "Oh okay.  I understand your perspective.  <br><br>WhiteRose - I have found from my own personal experiences (can't speak for anyone else) that 9 times out of 10 failure of our black at risk kids has nothing to do with whites.  Instead it is has much to do with advice given by family members, peers and community members and the child's lack of interest or effort.  <br> <br>I can say that as an unpaid volunteer for at risk black kids for over 21 years.  I have a full time job but I volunteer often and my passions are school programs, at risk black males and the elderly.  <br><br>Here are some examples -- At our school our PTA personally sent invitations to our minority parents to attend a meeting that we hoped would start the discussions and lead to a plan to address bridging the gap between blacks and the school to get more parent/family involvement.  Our Principal made the decision to go into the neighborhoods and knock on the parents\u2019 front doors to invite them.   She also made personal phone calls and followed up with her own postcard asking them to attend.  She and I stayed outside of the administrative offices every evening for 2 weeks and personally stopped and talked to every minority parent that walked into the school.  4 black parents attended.  1 was a grandmother, there was my husband and me and one other parent whose cell phone rang and she got up and left the room 10 minutes into the session.<br><br>My husband and I are the only blacks that attended PTA meetings in 2008 \u2013 2009 school year.<br> <br>PTA offered Enrichment programs at the school and expanded the program to include languages, science, math, arts and provided full scholarships to students.  We set aside scholarships specifically for kids with financial needs and for minorities and no black students (ZERO) took advantage of the classes even when PTA offered full tuition.   <br><br>We have an annual county wide Black History competition.  In the last 5 years of participation, our school always ranks 1 or 2 in competitions but we have ZERO participation by our black students.  Per our white principal, \"it is an embarrassment to her because no matter what she does or how often she reaches out . . . she gets NO participation from black students.\"  She is owning that failure but has no idea on how to resolve it.<br><br>Over the years I have become connected to a few of the at risk kids that I mentor and offered to pay for 2 years tuition and books at a local community college to at least give them a leg up.  The only requirement - finish the task and maintain a basic C average.  Complete college - no reimbursement required.  If you drop out, you have to reimburse the money. I got NO takers.  It was too much work or I get . . . the parent or Aunt so and so says it was better to go find a job.<br><br>I offered to pay for classes for kids I know needed the financial help or personally take kids who were high school drop outs to GED classes and pick them up. But they had to commit to it.  I had a contract that said if they completed the sessions no repayment was required but if they dropped out, they had to reimburse the money.  Many of the PARENTS said it was inconvenient.  Too much work and discouraged the kids from taking the class.<br><br>What I can\u2019t understand is when we sit and talk about opportunities for the kids; parents quickly cite the reasoning cited by McDaddy and others and I just don\u2019t get it.  I can\u2019t understand it.  But I do know that unless we break that toxic thinking . . . those kids suffer.<br><br>My family is fine.  My parents had 8 kids.  Yes eight.  Mom was a nurse (now deceased) and Dad (now 79) worked local hardware store.  Between them they earned less than $30,000 annually but they owned a house and took care of us.  I always remember in my childhood that somebody was always living with us because they needed a place to stay and we either shared our beds with young cousins or had to give up our beds often to family members, some friends and sometimes folks we didn\u2019t even know.  Someone was always knocking on our doors for a plate of food and my mother was always handing out our clothes to folks while telling us we should be happy to help lend a hand to someone who needed it and grateful that we could.<br><br>We had to pay our own way through college because they simply couldn\u2019t afford it but my mother knows her kids understood their sacrifice and their desire that we create our own path and reach our own personal goals.  Her legacy (she has been dead over a decade now) includes a doctor who is the head of a NY hospital and a plastic surgeon with his own private practice for over 20 something years, two RNs, a son who served 20 years in the military and is now a director at Microsoft, 2 small business owners, an electrician with a brilliant mind and a penchant for alcoholism and me.<br><br>So a lot of this self defeating without  recognizing personal accountability commentary  . . . I just don\u2019t get it.  I don\u2019t understand it but I do know we need to stop it.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_17:32:23", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 9, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12927683, "depth": 6, "points": 4, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929853": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "It's just not easy, and there is just not one pat, neat, linear answer to the whole problem. Yes, no limitations...except when there are some. Which is to say, even with that education, that commitment, that hard work, they will run into situations where they will see whites being given things they don't deserve, and see themselves being denied things they do deserve. That's the hardest part...getting across the fact that it's better, and ultimately easier, to persue those commitments, even with the unfairness. I mean, even as you persue those commitments, you <i>still</i> find yourself in those \"What the hell is the point?\" moments.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:23:49", "killed": false, "user_key": "Plantsmantx", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 7, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929543, "depth": 3, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12932926": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "Who's preaching now? If you're not seeking to be understood, you're certainly not seeking to understand, at least not from the kids point of view. Here you have kids being intimidated by bullies in school, other young thugs after school and are often kept in their houses by parents; and all you can think of is to tell them what they need to do. <br><br>Listen. Find out specifically what's going on, and ask the kids what he or she think needs to happen and how you can help them. Believe it or not, they're not stupid and they'll surprise with their insights. <br><br>I know you want them to get an education, but protect them first. Form a group of men to work in shifts to wait at the bus stop; volunteer in schools and watch kids in the bathrooms, around corners, during recess and after school. Form a group to take kids to museums, bowling, to events they want to see and, of course, pizza afterwards. <br><br>Most kids just want to go to school, but they are afraid of their peers, inside and outside of school. If the kids tell on other kids, they are labeled rats which puts them in a more fearful position. The girls are afraid men of males in the home and outside of it. They have to come way before dark. And sometimes mom takes up with men who are more interested in their daughter than the mom. The biggest thing happening with black kids in inner-cities is fear; and the extent you harp on education and neglect that fact, it's to that very extent they will turn you off and go to someone they think might protect them such as a gang. And you'll still be preaching. I'm done.<br><br>The main thing about the fear-- and what makes it different from when we were growing up-- is the fact that guns are involved and kids are quite willing to use them. So all the kids know someone who has been shot or killed. Parents, who have to work, don't know about it. Teachers, who usually don't live in the community, don't know about it and don't have time to deal with it anyway.<br><br>Sometimes kids want to talk about things with us but oftentimes we sidetrack them with our sermons and autobiographies. And we don't even realize it. I wish you could hear this: kids need us to listen and believe that they mean well. They need us to cool it with the quick solutions and just be with them as they tell their autobiography. <br><br>Give yourself a test: get with a kid and see if you can go 5 minutes without preaching but asking follow-up questions...we can't talk to kids like our ministers talk to us. Preaching is their job. As parents and community people, our job is to try and understand and help our kids survive and thrive in the future.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_21:12:09", "killed": false, "user_key": "McDaddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 5, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926272": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "LOL..how bout I said the same thing earlier, but I mentioned Martin and The Fresh Prince (noticed Will wearing a Howard sweatshirt one day and a Tuskegee the next)!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:26:01", "killed": false, "user_key": "Mirandalynn", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": true, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12925546, "depth": 1, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12932419": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Or, 15 yo Shaquanda Cotton (Paris, TX) sent to prison for 7 years about an incident with hall monitor. It took nationwide action to get her out of prison.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:49:50", "killed": false, "user_key": "morphusBfly", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12932192, "depth": 13, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929348": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"I'm saying before seeking to be understood, seek to understand. Before sharing our vast knowledge of the universe, we need to gather facts. We need to listen. But we don't do this with our own kids, because we think that they're going through the exact things we went through and all we have to do is tell them to hang in there and get an education. I'm saying we should step back and hear their autobiography and stop playing the same tape of our own.\"<br><br>To borrow a phrase from your comment to Whiterosebuddy -- \"There you go-preaching.\"  Sensei :-)<br><br>I am not seeking to be understood.  I know who I am.  These kids need to prepare themselves to know who they are.  It is THEIR future.  Not ours.  THEY are the decision makers.  Those kids don't need protection in terms of the views we are discussing on this post. We can offer help to ensure they are prepared and that is our responsibility.  Tools, knowledge, resources and the understanding that they are the final decision makers for their own future.  The thing is. . . while their future is their own . . . it does impact ours.  That can be a scary or comforting thing depending on the outcome.<br><br>now back to the rest of your note . . .<br><br>There are many black businesses in communities already with black managers and owners so. . . . Not sure what you are alluding to.  Kids already see this and that has not fixed the problem.  Last year I committed 500 volunteer hours at a school and over 750 hours on community programs while working full time and I am not even counting hours given at my church.  So . . .I want to say that I don't just \"visit\" at risk black and other communities, I financially invest in them, physically support them by participating and volunteering in their sponsored events and activities, most of those kids visit my home, eat in my kitchen and laid their heads in my guest rooms many times, and the mileage on my car covered many a distance in support of those kids.  <br><br>Want to understand your perception that we don't need to push the point of relevance of having an education to kids instead somehow these kids will be able to live where and how exactly?   Just to make clear -- white people are not the only groups that hate.  Every group has some racial animosity (i.e. some blacks based on light skinned vs. dark skinned, some just because someone is white or from another country etc.). and want to add that whites do not factor into this discussion as far as I am concerned.  They are not the problem.<br><br>Back to my last question.  Why exactly are the kids walking in fear and who are they afraid of that they don't want to sit at the bus stop, ride the bus or play in their yards or playground.  What \"crew\" are we protecting them from that is coming to kick their as*? White kids or not????<br><br><br>Blessings back at you.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_17:54:38", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 2, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12928303, "depth": 3, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929861": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "lol sometimes I think -- Why couldn't I just stick to mentoring girls?  They are so much easier.  lolol  young men . . . . it is HARD.<br><br>I keep pushing though.  Every once in awhile a few of these kids get it.  And they make a difference in their own lives. . . and I am thankful.  It is the successes that gives me that extra jolt and determination to reach just one more male child. <br><br>Kudos for the work you do Spirit.  We need all the help we can get.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:24:18", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 2, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929438, "depth": 8, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12923719": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "THERE IT IS, RIGHT HERE:<br><br>\"I think black and hispanic communities should stress education NOT as a way to assimilate and gain acceptance into the larger white society (that\u2019s never going to happen) but stress education as a way to build up their own communities instead.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:09:09", "killed": false, "user_key": "spirit_55z", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 17, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926792": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "\"It would amaze you (or at least it amazed me) how very little teens know about the history in the very cities they live in. \"<br><br>Miranda - ask a teen . . . heck ask anyone under 25 to summarize the much JJP cited \"Bill Cosby accountability\" speech and they would look at you all crazy which to me repeatedly proved Cosby's point.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:54:41", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": true, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926400, "depth": 1, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12938070": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "The survey to 10 random people.<br><br>Blacks are more likely to be arrested. For the same crime, if a case goes to trial - more likely to be convicted, more likely to receive a sentence, more likely to receive a harsher penalty. So forth and so on. Plus, the war on drugs has been waged predominantly against people of color. For example, in NYC, black people are randomly stopped all the time, while in communities around NYU, white student get high with impunity.<br><br>PLUS, the prison industrial complex . . . the system is the problem, not the black community.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-20_00:28:43", "killed": false, "user_key": "no1kstate", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12932063, "depth": 12, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12928855": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"I think black and hispanic communities should stress education NOT as a way to assimilate and gain acceptance into the larger white society\"<br><br>Schools need to stress education as the means to success in a society that discriminates, as WELL AS the route to success in a capitalist society that does not give a shyt whether you were born into a slum. IOW's it is the dollar that rules,.If you have a means that will make money and you have the drive to create a successful route to MORE MONEY, or independant financial success no one cares if you came from the slums.<br><br>YOU have to PLEDGE to the ALMIGHTY DOLLAR!!  Titans of industry and moguls don't make RACE distinctions..they only care about the POWER of the dollar.<br><br>Assimilation is not the deal. You can have your Italian,German, Jewish, Black culture WITH money.  Don't mean folks gone like you cause you a wop, kike, hymie or nigger..but the dollar WILL mitigate that.IOWs Booker T was right! You STILL get to revel in your own culture. Assimilation means capitalist not race/ethnicity. See the Godfather2 for reference.<br><br>Our country, OVERALL was far more classicist than it is was racist. EXCEpt when it came to black folks. They allowed classicism to transcend your roots if you were white, but if you were black and rich...you were STILL black with all the ignominies and indignities that black carried with it.<br><br>Which is why the civil rights movement came about, when Dubois prevailed. Blacks folks hated the social discimination more than the financial. Had it been about money and hard work in a capitalist society, most blacks would not have signed up for civil rights. Had America accepted those who were black and successful and treated them as the class they were based on finances..there NEVER would have been a civil rights movement.<br><br>Because RACE was a barrier with capitalistic success is why there was a movement. Had ALL Americans with captalistic success been accepted no blacks who were financial successful would have fought against racial discrimination. Because they would have shared in the Amer$can Dream independent of race.<br><br>Thus protecting their interests, regardless of race.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_17:34:09", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 6, "is_first_child": true, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12923719, "depth": 1, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12930913": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Great post.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_19:31:11", "killed": false, "user_key": "morphusBfly", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12930616, "depth": 5, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12978018": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "But obviously, it has taken both approaches for us to be successful.  It is not an either or proposition.  Those who already had financial success were not happy without the social success.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-20_18:49:37", "killed": false, "user_key": "jelana", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12933712, "depth": 6, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12931427": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"My family is fine. My parents had 8 kids.\"<br><br>I hear you, I come from a family of six. Sad to say, but I was the only one to make it out. So, to me the odds are real and personal.<br><br>But to show you how strongly I believe in success, when I read the lies, I just discarded them and said they were WRONG.  Took, a friend of mine to tell me NO, you are the exception.  ERgo, my response to this:<br><br>\"What I can\u2019t understand is when we sit and talk about opportunities for the kids; parents quickly cite the reasoning cited by McDaddy and others and I just don\u2019t get it.\"<br><br>It's real and we can't save everyone, but we do need to identify early those who can make a difference and give them the tools to succeed.<br><br>\"that 9 times out of 10 failure of our black at risk kids has nothing to do with whites. \"<br><br>I agree. That is why the new 'sub-culture mentailty\" is far more of an obstacle than being black. It is why I agree with Cosby. If you believe that 'slumming' is the status quo..then you are lost.<br>And unfortuantely for too many of our children today, the thug/gangsta, incarceration mindset is the status quo for blackness.<br><br>It is worse than slavery. At least the slaves wanted to be free. Imagine if they had believe slavery was the status quo? THAT is what we are dealing with today. Black kids believeing that their gangsta/thug mentality is what it means to black. <br><br>They BELIEVE THAT...how do you change that?<br><br>It is like changing racism, when your white/black  parents teach you to be racist, how do you change that. Who can go up against familial teaching and win.<br><br>Our parents didn't teach us racism, but black parents today DO! They actually teach their kids that racism is the problem. IMAGINE that? Not even when we were slaves did we teach our kids racism..they had to experience it. Because we KNEW what a mind shackle it was!!<br><br>That is why our job today is worse than slavery.<br><br>No one strived to be a slave...but kids today DO strive to be the biggest gangsta/thug..to prove they are 'real BLACKNESS\"  <br><br>AND<br><br>countering that means going up against they momma and missing daddy!!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:02:18", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 2, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12928823, "depth": 7, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925797": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"If black people build up the institutions in their own communities-- create businesses and processes where young blacks see themselves fitting in, getting a job and being a positive force in t he community-- then getting an education will make more sense, seem like a more practical idea.\"<br><br>I completely disagree with your first paragraph but that is not relevant.  <br><br>McDaddy - I am asking that you clarify your second paragraph please.  Are you suggesting we move our children backward to a segregated society because only then can they fit in.  And are you also suggesting that because kids say they live in fear and without hope we should further isolate them instead of pushing them to become educated, demand and expect equality and respect from employeers and peers because only then can we protect them?  <br><br>Just curious.  Who and what are they afraid of and why exactly are they afraid to wait at the bus top, ride the bus, go out to recess, hang out in their yards or go skating?", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:58:05", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 5, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12925601, "depth": 1, "points": 3, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12928358": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "...but stress education as a way to build up their communities <i>and</i> compete in the larger community. You know, everyone who has commented here is right, to some extent, but are taking such stark positions.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_17:09:08", "killed": false, "user_key": "Plantsmantx", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 9, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12923719, "depth": 1, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12931433": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "It'd be easier if you just told me, cause I probably won't do that survey.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:02:39", "killed": false, "user_key": "no1kstate", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12930026, "depth": 6, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12944755": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Agreed. Much being discussed here feel in some ways similar to \"The Great Debate (W.E.B Dubois vs Booker T. Washington)\".  What appear to be missing is <i>what type of education/knowledge</i>. I have repeatedly had encounters with the homeless who had degrees and I wondered \"what was missing\".   <br><br>I think somewhere along the way, we, POC, have been mislead about what type of education we need<br><br>Washington said: <b><i>\"The Negro intellectual must deal intimately with the white power Structure and cultural apparatus, and the inner realties of the black World <u>at one and the same time</u></i></b>. But in order to function successfully in this role, he has to be acutely aware of the nature of the American social dynamics and how to monitors the ingredient of class stratification in American society\u2026Therefore the Negro intellectual must learn how one might control such forces.\"<br><br>There were earlier discussions  where it was said that it is hard to convince our youth that education is a necessity because they could pierce the veil of societal lies and see that the playing field wasn't even.  They knew that their white peers did not need to travel the same path to reach the same results.  <br><br>I am convinced if we use Washington's observation to teach our children they will trust us again.  As it is, they have no cause to trust us because they believe we are lying to them when we say that an education will set you free.<br><br>It doesn't matter which HOOD you go into, there are bright and inquiring minds there.  There are people in the HOOD with  little to no formal education who can look up at the sky at night and can describe a constellation.<br><br>Buying into POC have an education problem is the great lie.  <br><br>We are all born with a genius inside of us.", "is_last_child": true, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-20_07:13:17", "killed": false, "user_key": "morphusBfly", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": true, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12942532, "depth": 1, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12934519": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "I suppose if we could repeat that across the board, we needn't worry about THEM changing rules every so often to keep it \"fair\"...LOL!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_21:58:51", "killed": false, "user_key": "ch555x", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12930616, "depth": 5, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929918": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "<i>Blacks folks hated the social discimination more than the financial.</i><br><br>That's because most of those Civil Rights leaders had the money, but they didn't have the social equality. Notice that after the social equality was attained, the movement ended for most while poor blacks were left by their more affluent brothers and sisters to dangle in the wind. Before he died, Dr. King realized that social equality was not enough, saying \"What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger?\"", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:27:41", "killed": false, "user_key": "Sepia", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 5, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12928855, "depth": 2, "points": 6, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926335": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "Whiterose - we were BOTH headed in the same direction.  The only part of your post I disagree with is \"What these kids need to see are models of white failure, show them trailer trash, cite them the true numbers on welfare, tell them the attrition rate for whites.\" simply because they don't need to see that.  <br><br>What they really need is for us (parents, peers, and well meaning folks in our communities and churches, race) to stop spewing that self defeating crap and help them study, find resources, support them, become their mentors etc. to help them succeed.  Let them know up front, it will not work unless they commit to their own future.  My perspective is that you can't sustain building someone up if it is dependent on tearing someone else down.  Doesn't matter what race you are or what they did to you.  Completely co-sign on everything else.  <br><br><br>I am waiting for McDaddy to clarify his statements that I cited below.  I want to understand why he supports this position and his reasoning behind it. I want to know who exactly our kids are afraid of when riding the bus or playing in the yard and my guess is . . .it isn't another white kid so in isolating black children, who exactly are we supposedly protecting them from?<br><br>I appreciate this dialogue.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:29:48", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 20, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926237, "depth": 2, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12927874": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Keep dialouging, Val!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_16:40:18", "killed": false, "user_key": "spirit_55z", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926335, "depth": 3, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12935044": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "WhiteRose - that is the thing.   Sometimes I think we create the stereotype, own it, portray it, others see it and throws it back at us. i.e. the Tyler Perry sitcoms that I refuse to watch.<br><br>The President is a great case and point.  He does not fit any of these stereotypes.  He does not accept it.  His family is a melting pot of diversity but yet he stands as \"himself\".  So folks are having major problems trying to categorize him.  He reflects intelligence, calm, seriousness, competence etc.  so .  . . America doesn't know what to do.", "is_last_child": true, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_22:25:02", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12932013, "depth": 5, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12932499": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "WRB, I don't subscribe to the \"I've got mine, get your own the best way you can belief\". I think that type of thinking is exactly why our community is so far behind in the 21st century. If you look at immigrant groups, once they attain a certain amount of success, they reach back to their brothers and sisters who need a hand. They educate them on how to work the system to their best advantage. That's not giving someone a hand up, that's giving someone a hand. <br> <br>Now, getting back to my point about how financially affluent CRM leaders left poor black men, women and children to fend for themselves..... Back then, they realized that they need the \"po' folk\" in order to get their social equality. So, I believe the least they could've done was to follow Dr. King's lead and fight for economic equality for ALL black people. Anything less than that was/is nothing more than affluent blacks using poor blacks to achieve their goals thus showing they are no better than the white racist establishment. <br><br>BTW, I NEVER stated or implied that MLK was dissing affluent black people. Rather, he understood that true equality for black people included social equality AND economic power. <br><br>I beg to differ that MLK was following Booker T's philosophy, for Booker T sought to ensure white people that black people were not seeking to rock the boat and disrupt their white supremacy. MLK, on the other hand, sought to turn the boat over, which is why he was assassinated. <br><br><i>In short, again, the ONLY reason those who had prevailed economically supported the civil rights movement, is because that was the remaining barrier to success for THEM in America, given that they had achieved already finaniclly.</i><br><br>Which was exactly my point: Sadly, most of the affluent black CRM leaders were out for themselves.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:53:29", "killed": false, "user_key": "Sepia", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 3, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12931074, "depth": 4, "points": 3, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926868": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Brown Man.  Break.It.Down  Trust me you weren't the only one that had a WTH moment.  <br><br>One of my favorite lines -- \"If I was Martin, or the beloved Malcolm that so many dumb ass thug wannabees holler about while they wave their 9mm's around, killing US, I'd look down on your ridiculous asses and say \"damn all of you fools who don't know any better than to believe this bullshit.\"<br><br>We need more men like you saying these things.  Excellent post and 100% true.  Excellent.", "is_last_child": true, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:58:39", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926774, "depth": 1, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926364": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "I feel ya...and just was not in the mood to hear more...WE CAN\"T.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:31:44", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 18, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926335, "depth": 3, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12929438": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "I work with at risk teenage girls, and when I first started working with them, they were of the mindset that they didn't have the right to dream and dream big.<br><br>When I asked them who told taught them this foolishness, they said their friends and cousins-family.  They weren't white friends.... Now who told their friends and family this foolishness?<br><br>It's a viscious cricle.<br><br>So, the first thing I did with these girls is have them write down all their dreams.  As time went on, we created dream/goal collages and made concrete action plans to help them.<br><br>If some wanted to go to college, we helped each other come up with steps... small ones to start..something they could achieve, and then take it to the next level.<br><br>We hold each other accountable,and don't accept any excuses, put on the thinking caps, and just look for another option.<br><br>\"So a lot of this self defeating without commentary recognizing personal accountability .\"<br><br>YOU BET IT IS!<br><br>President Obama is RIGHT; NO EXCUSES", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_17:59:17", "killed": false, "user_key": "spirit_55z", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 5, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12928823, "depth": 7, "points": 4, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925861": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "and what was your response zackboston.  I am listening.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:01:48", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12925591, "depth": 3, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12932013": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"Why exactly are the kids walking in fear and who are they afraid of that they don't want to sit at the bus stop, ride the bus or play in their yards or playground. What \"crew\" are we protecting them from that is coming to kick their as*? White kids or not????\"<br><br><br>Today, it is the IMAGES of 'blackness' on TV that whites buy into and thus our kids buy into as what 'blackness is'.<br><br>You are in a battle between the pervasive negative stereotypes on TV and the marketed image of blackness, that whites believe and that they EXPECT your BLACK child to be.  AND that your BLACK child ALSO believes is blackness...uncouth, buffoonery, illiternate, speaks ignorant and just is material into drugs/drugdealer...OUR children are as susceptible to those image as whites.<br><br>Worse of all, they attempt to LIVE UP to the white perception of what black is!!<br><br>WE have to counter that in our homes, withOUT the benefit of role models and a community of black folks that belie that!!<br><br>It is hard..very hard to teach a child not raised in a predominately black community that what they see on TV is NOT what it means to be black!<br><br>After all, those ARE the images projected as blackness...sports, entertainments, crude and lewd comedians, class clowns, fiscall irresponsibility with blingbling!!<br><br>YOU have to teach your child that AIN't BLACK that is TV just like that Mattel toy that does not do what the commercials SAY!<br><br>Only it is not a product it is PEOPLE who LOOK like them!!<br><br><br>AAAAAARgh!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:32:07", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929348, "depth": 4, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12931513": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "Whoa! The justice system is racist through and through! You can just google that!<br><br>It's actually a minority of blacks who actually participate in crime and violence. It's racism that makes it some all-black issue.<br><br>Notice, Cosby's book wasn't done with a sociologist who would've known better. He's talking to a minority of black people, and it's used against all of us.<br><br>And for your random surveys, what's the racial breakdown?", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:07:05", "killed": false, "user_key": "no1kstate", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 4, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929650, "depth": 10, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926400": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"I think black and hispanic communities should stress education NOT as a way to assimilate and gain acceptance into the larger white society (that\u2019s never going to happen) but stress education as a way to build up their own communities instead.\"<br><br>I really wish our children would/could learn the history of what once was....Beale Street in Memphis, Black Wall Street in Tulsa and Durham, Auburn Ave in Atlanta, and yes Harlem in NYC and many many others all across the country. It would amaze you (or at least it amazed me) how very little teens know about the history in the very cities they live in. The average American history class teaches \"there were slaves, there was a civil war, slavery ended, there was a civil rights movement, MLK Jr was shot...the end\". Ask a 16 year old right now if they know what the \"Harlem Renaissance\" was, and they're liable to say \"ummmm, a church?\" To me, history has always been the most important subject for high schoolers - if they dont know where they've been, they damn sure can't tell where they're going.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:33:21", "killed": false, "user_key": "Mirandalynn", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 4, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 6, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12927940": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "Brown Man,<br><br>I don't think you and Town are as far apart as you think you are.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_16:43:06", "killed": false, "user_key": "rikyrah", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": true, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 5, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926774, "depth": 1, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926625": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Want to level the scales here a bit  cause you all know that's what I do and you all know how I feel about old folks and children. . . . so I want to add . . . <br><br>Even if the theory (\u201cdoing well in school = acting white\u201d thing was started up by racist whites) was 100% true . . .  what is more important and has more impact is the question of  who chose to wholeheartedly accept that premise and then passed it on to our children who readily adopted that perception?  That is what we need to fix otherwise, all that extra stuff is just superflous noise and does not help our children recognize their role in being responsible, accountable, set their own goals, and commit to working hard to allow them to compete on a global level or in their own communities.", "is_last_child": true, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:45:18", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": true, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12925992, "depth": 1, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925517": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "\"Maybe the problem in this society isn\u2019t education, because it really doesn\u2019t matter if blacks and hispanics go to school and get an education because many whites will regard somebody like Palin, who went to 5 colleges in 6 years, has no command of the English language and is intellectually incurious as much more smarter and qualified than a black/hispanic summa cum laude graduate of an Ivy League school who continously strives to learn.<br><br>I suspect RayRay in the hood knows this. He doesn\u2019t need a State of the Black Union to tell him what he already knows.\"<br><br>Excellent post Town.  Now all we have to do is to figure out how to break the cycle of some of our kids who subscribe to that intelligence = \"acting white\" type of mentality especially when most of them learned this from their parents/family members or well meaning folks in our communities.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:45:04", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12923859": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "joining the \"amen corner.\"  smile.<br><br>one interesting thing --- a couple of years ago in the (very diverse) boston youth of color program i work with, we got the young people to call bill cosby to express their feelings about how the way he put down young people is making worse the negative stereotypes they are up against in schools, on the street and in the msm.  <br><br>we were also trying to figure out this \"acting white\" thing.  when we asked the youth about their experiences being accused of \"acting white\" they looked at us like we were crazy.  they said they had never heard young people talking about \"acting white\" but they do hear a lot of talk about \"acting asian.\"<br><br>well as you can imagine, that created a lot of lively conversation between the latino & black youth and the asian youth, many of whom had family roots in cambodia and viet nam and who did not fit the \"model minority\" stereotype.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_14:16:35", "killed": false, "user_key": "zackboston", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 25, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 2, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12931036": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "I think male or female, the bottom line is acknowledging, validating, andd nurturing them.<br><br>Sometimes it is challenging, but I beleive the greater the resistance, the greater the impact on the results.<br><br>NEVER GIVE UP ON A GOOD THING!<br><br><a href=\"http://www.ilike.com/artist/George+Benson/track/Never+Give+Up+On+A+Good+Thing\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.ilike.com/artist/George+Benson/track...</a>", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_19:37:47", "killed": false, "user_key": "spirit_55z", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12929861, "depth": 9, "points": 1, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12932063": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"The justice system is racist through and through! You can just google that!\"<br><br>I agree. That was the point of the stat.<br><br>\"And for your random surveys, what's the racial breakdown?\"<br><br>Huh?  Again, 2.5M Americans are incarcerated.  ONE Million of those are black.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:34:31", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12931513, "depth": 11, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12926432": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Yep!  Even when they said we could not go to their schools, we created instituitions of learning to produce black folks that were not only their peers but intellecutally superior.  Because we KNEW we were as more if not MORE than them.  Even if the playing field was not level, we set out to defy the odds and be even greater!!<br><br>The reason RAYRAY and the hood BELIEVE this \" ICAN\"T\" mess today is because their mothers had them too young, when they had not themselves learned they could be great, and so they had nothing to give back to their kiddies to tell them and show them let alone teach them how, they could do more and go farther.<br><br>And then, some of those moms, had the twisted mindsets, they did not want their child to 'be different' than them, there own fear of losing their child kept the child in a failure mindset.<br><br>I have heard so many stories of that, it just breaks your heart.<br><br>JoeJackson's methods may  have been far from kind but one thing no one can deny is that he did have a dream, he did BELIEVE in MJ...and he did everything he could to maximize his TALENTS. He knew the odds and he BEAT them STILL.<br><br>And b4 anyone says anything NO I am not ENDORSing JoeJackson...just saying...big barriers and great odds..call for even greater determination and belief in one's self and abilities..", "is_last_child": true, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:35:31", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12926272, "depth": 2, "points": 4, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12925921": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "whose comments make things worse?", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_15:05:26", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 19, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12925652, "depth": 3, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12942311": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"being penalized, for being successful against the wrong ones.\"<br><br>It is a bitch.   On the other hand, how much would it have cost to build those on-site locker rooms if all the parents had pitched in instead of waiting for the one in a million success story to do it?  Or was that explicitly not allowed?", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-20_03:21:42", "killed": false, "user_key": "Amaya", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12930616, "depth": 5, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12930026": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "This false argument to me is . . . . you know what. .. .I have an idea.  Tomorrow commit to doing a survey.  Tomorrow, stop any black male/female on the street/in the store etc.  under  25 years old and ask their assessment of the Bill Cosby school/education accountability speech.<br><br>Don't provide any additional information.  Ask 10 random people.<br><br>Am curious to know the results from your impromtu survey.  I have done it at least 4 separate times and the results are always the same.  It would be interesting to see if you get a different result.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_18:34:54", "killed": false, "user_key": "Val2", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 2, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12927638, "depth": 5, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12932093": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "\"in some places, combating zero tolerance policies is a full-time activity. \"<br><br>Which is why ONE million blacks are incarcerated.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:35:37", "killed": false, "user_key": "whiterosebuddy", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 3, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12930226, "depth": 11, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "12931583": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "PLUS, black children are disciplined more often and more harshly even though that act out/misbehave equally as much.<br><br>We spend far more money on prison than education. FAR more!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2009-07-19_20:11:16", "killed": false, "user_key": "no1kstate", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": false, "votable": true, "date": "4 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 12931513, "depth": 11, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}}, "integration": {"receiver_url": "", "theme": 4, "reply_position": true, "disqus_logo": false}, "timer": {"timer_url": "http://localhost:8005", "thread_id": "26104778", "user_id": "anonymous", "forum_id": "21630", "hash": -6988729427914970699}, "thread": {"days_alive": 0, "slug": "town_breaks_it_down8230again8230", "paginate": false, "num_pages": 1, "num_posts": 106, "per_page": 0, "total_posts": 0, "realtime_paused": true, "id": 26104778, "queued": false}, "reactions_limit": 10, "context": {"show_reply": true, "use_fb_connect": true, "forum_facebook_key": "bd6a8bc56f8eb204984f34b6fefe228d", "use_yahoo": false, "subscribed": false, "use_twitter_signin": true, "use_openid": false, "realtime_speed": 5000}, "reactions_start": 0, "settings": {"debug": false, "disqus_url": "http://disqus.com", "media_url": "http://media.disqus.com"}, "media_url": "http://media.disqus.com"};
	/* */ this.jsonData.cookie_messages = {"user_created": null, "post_has_profile": null, "post_twitter": null, "post_not_approved": null}; this.jsonData.session = {"url": null, "name": null, "email": null}; /* */

	
	this.curPageId = 'dsq-comments';

	this.frames = {};
};

var disqus_popup_reference = null;

if(typeof DsqLocal == 'undefined') {
	DsqLocal = {};
}



/**
 * Dsq.Strings: UI strings
 */
Dsq.Strings = new function() {
	this.ADD_NEW_COMMENT = "Add New Comment";
	this.LOG_INTO_DISQUS = "Log into DISQUS";
	this.USE_MEDIA = "Use Media";
	this.LOGOUT = "Logout";
	this.SHARING_OPTIONS = "Sharing options";
	this.SHARE_ON = "Share on";
	this.TWEET_THIS_COMMENT = "Tweet this comment";
	this.SHARE_ON_NEWSFEED = "Share on news feed";
	this.SEND_UPDATE_TO_YAHOO = "Send update to Yahoo!";
	this.REBLOG_ON = "Reblog on";
	this.CONFIGURE_OPTIONS = "Configure options";
	this.POST_AS = "Post as";
	this.SORT_BY = "Sort by";
	this.SUBSCRIBE_BY_EMAIL = "Subscribe by email";
	this.SUBSCRIBE_BY_RSS = "Subscribe by RSS";
	this.POPULAR_NOW = "Popular now";
	this.BEST_RATING = "Best Rating";
	this.NEWEST_FIRST = "Newest first";
	this.OLDEST_FIRST = "Oldest first";
	this.HIGHLIGHTED = "Highlighted";
	this.UNSUBSCRIBE = "Unsubscribe";
	this.REQUIRED = "Required";
	this.OPTIONAL = "Optional";
	this.YOU_ARE_COMMENTING_AS_A = "You are commenting as a";
	this.LOGIN_BELOW = "Login below";
	this.PLEASE_LOGIN_BELOW_TO_COMMENT = "Please login below to comment.";
	this.SUBSCRIBE_TO_ALL_COMMENTS_BY_EMAIL = "Subscribe to all comments by email";
	this.DO_NOT_SUBSCRIBE_TO_COMMENTS = "Do not subscribe to comments";
	this.REALTIME_UPDATING_IS = "Real-time updating is";
	this.ENABLED = "enabled";
	this.PAUSED = "paused";
	this.PAUSE = "Pause";
	this.RESUME = "Resume";
	this.SHOW = "Show";
	this.JUST_NOW = "Just now";
	this.REPLY = "Reply";
	this.EDIT = "Edit";
	this.FLAG = "Flag";
	this.MODERATE = "Moderate";
	this.CANCEL = "Cancel";
	this.REPLYING_TO = "Replying to";
	this.REPORT_MISSING_REACTIONS = "Report missing reactions";
	this.POST_A_COMMENT = "Post a comment";
	this.FLAG_INAPPROPRIATE_COMMENT = "Flag inappropriate comment";
	this.FLAGGED = "Flagged";
	this.NO = "No";
	this.YES = "Yes";
	this.NEVER_MIND = "Never mind";
	this.ARE_YOU_SURE_YOU_WOULD_LIKE_TO_REPORT_THIS_COMMENT_TO_A_MODERATOR = "Are you sure you would like to report this comment to a moderator";
	this.THIS_WILL_FLAG_COMMENTS_FOR_MODERATORS_TO_TAKE_ACTION = "This will flag comments for moderators to take action";
	this.TO_RATE_PLEASE_LOG_IN = "To rate, please log in";
	this.JUST_A_MOMENT = "Just a moment...";
	this.GUEST = "Guest";
	this.NAME = "Name";
	this.EMAIL = "Email";
  this.WEBSITE = "Website";
  this.SETTINGS = "Settings";
  this.MODERATOR_OPTIONS = "Moderator options: ";
};
// Dsq.Strings

/**
 * Dsq.FmtStrings: functions that return interpolated UI strings
 */
Dsq.FmtStrings = new function() {
	// Seems we have to use named interpolation for Django to translate. Investigate more.
	this.LOGGED_IN_AS = function(username) {
		return Dsq.Utils.interpolate('Logged in as %(username)s', {username:username});
	};

	this.LOGOUT_FROM = function(disqus) {
		return Dsq.Utils.interpolate('Logout from %(disqus)s', {disqus:disqus});
	};

	this.SHOWING_COMMENTS_FULL = function(total, num) {
		if (num === 1) {
			return Dsq.Utils.interpolate("Showing <span id='dsq-num-posts'>%(num)s</span> of <span id='dsq-total-posts'>%(total)s</span> comment", {num:num, total:total});
		} else {
			return Dsq.Utils.interpolate("Showing <span id='dsq-num-posts'>%(num)s</span> of <span id='dsq-total-posts'>%(total)s</span> comments", {num:num, total:total});
		}
	};

	this.SHOWING_COMMENTS_WITHOUT_PAGINATION = function(num) {
		if (num === 1) {
			return Dsq.Utils.interpolate("Showing <span id='dsq-num-posts'>%(num)s</span> comment", {num:num});
		} else {
			return Dsq.Utils.interpolate("Showing <span id='dsq-num-posts'>%(num)s</span> comments", {num:num});
		}
	};

	this.NUMBER_OF_COMMENTS = function(num) {
		return Dsq.Utils.interpolate(
			(num == 1
				? '%(num)s comment'
				: '%(num)s comments'
			), {num:num});
	};

	this.NUMBER_OF_LIKES = function(num) {
		return Dsq.Utils.interpolate(
			(num == 1
				? '%(num)s like'
				: '%(num)s likes'
			), {num:num});
	};

	this.NUMBER_OF_POINTS = function(num) {
		return Dsq.Utils.interpolate(
			(num == 1
				? '%(num)s point'
				: '%(num)s points'
			), {num:num});
	};
};
// Dsq.FmtStrings





Dsq.CSRF_TOKEN = '3a1994e3330279e78957da82fb64f754';
Dsq.COMMENTS_RE = /(<li.*?id="?dsq-comment-(\d+)"?.*?>)((?:.|\s)*?)(<\/li>)/gim;
Dsq.POST_RE = /(<div.*?id="?dsq-comment-header-(\d+)"?.*?>)((?:.|\s)*?)(<\/div>)\s*(<div.*?class="?dsq-comment-body"?.*?>)((?:.|\s)*)(<\/div>)/gim;
Dsq.POST_BODY_RE = /\s*(<div.*?id="?dsq-comment-message-(\d+)"?.*?>)((?:.|\s)*)(<\/div>)/gim;
// HACK: Safari ends with "-->" while other browsers end with "--&gt;" as expected.
Dsq.MEDIA_POST_RE = /&lt;!--\[(.*?)\]--(?:>|&gt;)/gim;



var FragmentPacket = function(reader, writer, writer_url, is_child, receiveCallback) {
	var that = this;
	this.reader = reader;
	this.writer = writer;
	this.writer_url = writer_url;

	this.is_child = is_child || false;
	this.receiveCallback = receiveCallback;

	this._lastHash = null;

	this._accumMsg = '';

	this._lastSeqno = 0;

	this.MAX_DATA_LEN	= 1024;

	this.WAIT_TIME		= 10;

	this.READY		= 0x1;
	this.WRITING	= 0x2;
	this.FIN		= 0x4;
	this.ACK		= 0x8;

};

FragmentPacket.prototype.createListener = function() {
	var that = this;
	var listener = function() {
		that.recv();
	};
	return window.setInterval(listener, 10);
};

FragmentPacket.prototype.log = function(msg) {



};

FragmentPacket.prototype.recv = function() {
	var hash;
	if (/MSIE/.test(navigator.userAgent)) {

		hash = this.reader.name;
	} else {

		var hashIndex = this.reader.location.href.indexOf('#');
		if (hashIndex == -1) {
			return;
		}
		hash = this.reader.location.href.substring(hashIndex+1);
	}
	var flags = parseInt(hash.substring(0, 4), 10);
	var seqno = parseInt(hash.substring(4, 24), 10);
	var data  = hash.substring(24);

	if (this._lastHash !== hash) {
		this._lastHash = hash;
		this.log('recv: ' + hash);

		this.log(' flags: ' + flags);
		this.log(' seqno: ' + seqno + ' len: ' + hash.substring(4, 24).length + ' (' + hash.substring(4, 24) + ')');
		this.log(' data: ' + data + ' len: ' + data.length);

		this._lastSeqno = seqno;

		if (flags & this.WRITING) {
			this._accumMsg += data;
			this.sendFlag(this.ACK, seqno);
			if (flags & this.FIN) {
				this.log('recv finished: ' + decodeURIComponent(this._accumMsg));
				this.receiveCallback(decodeURIComponent(this._accumMsg));

				this._accumMsg = '';

				this.sendFlag(this.READY | this.ACK, this._lastSeqno);
			}
		}
	}

	return {
		flags: flags,
		seqno: seqno,
		data: data
	};
};

FragmentPacket.prototype.sendRawPacket = function(packet) {
	if (/MSIE/.test(navigator.userAgent)) {
		this.writer.name = packet;
	} else {

		this.writer.location.href = this.writer_url + '#' + packet;
	}

};

FragmentPacket.prototype.sendFlag = function(flag, seqno) {
	this.sendRawPacket(this._zerofill(flag, 4) + this._zerofill(seqno, 20));
};

FragmentPacket.prototype.send = function(msg) {
	this._send(0, encodeURIComponent(msg));
};

FragmentPacket.prototype._send = function(packetNum, msg) {
	var that = this;
	var recvBuf = this.recv();

	if (packetNum === 0) {

		if (!(recvBuf.flags & this.READY)) {
			this.log('client is not ready, waiting...');
			window.setTimeout(function() { that._send(packetNum, msg); }, this.WAIT_TIME);
			return;
		}
	} else {

		if (!( (recvBuf.flags & this.ACK) && (recvBuf.seqno === this._lastSeqno) )) {
			this.log('waiting for ack from client...');
			window.setTimeout(function() { that._send(packetNum, msg); }, this.WAIT_TIME);
			return;
		} else {
			this.log('received ack: ' + this._lastSeqno + ' ' + recvBuf.seqno);
		}
	}

	var flags = this.WRITING;
	var num_packets = Math.ceil(msg.length / this.MAX_DATA_LEN);
	this.log('num_packets: ' + num_packets);

	if (num_packets === packetNum) {

		this.log('message successfully sent!');
		this.sendFlag(this.READY | this.ACK, this._lastSeqno);
		return true;
	}

	this._lastSeqno++;

	if (packetNum == num_packets-1) {
		flags |= this.FIN;
	}

	var data = msg.substring(packetNum * this.MAX_DATA_LEN, (packetNum+1) * this.MAX_DATA_LEN);
	var packet = this._zerofill(flags, 4) + this._zerofill(this._lastSeqno, 20) + data;

	this.log('sending raw packet: ' + packet);
	this.sendRawPacket(packet);

	return this._send(packetNum + 1, msg);
};

FragmentPacket.prototype._zerofill = function(num, width) {
	var retval = num.toString();
	var retval_len = retval.length;
	for (var i = 0; i < width - retval_len; i++) {
		retval = '0' + retval;
	}
	return retval;
};

var PostMessagePacket = function(receiver, receiveCallback, id, receiverId) {
	var that = this;
	this.receiver = receiver;
	this.receiveCallback = receiveCallback;
	this.id = id;


	this.receiverId = receiverId;
};

PostMessagePacket.prototype.createListener = function() {
	var that = this;

	var listener = function(e) {

		if (!that.id) {
			that.id = e.data;
			return;
		}


		var id = e.data.split(';')[0];
		if (id !== that.id) {
			return;
		}
		var data = e.data.substring(e.data.indexOf(';') + 1);

		that.receiveCallback(data);
	};

	if (typeof window.attachEvent == 'function') {
		window.attachEvent('onmessage', listener);
	} else if (typeof window.addEventListener == 'function') {
		window.addEventListener('message', listener, false);
	} else {
		throw new Error('No method found to create event listener for PostMessagePacket.');
	}
};

PostMessagePacket.prototype.send = function(msg) {



	var needs_reget = false;
	try {
		if (typeof this.receiver.id == 'undefined' || typeof this.receiver.postMessage == 'undefined') {
			needs_reget = true;
		}
	} catch(e) {


	}
	if (needs_reget && typeof this.receiverId != 'undefined') {
		this.receiver = document.getElementById(this.receiverId).contentWindow;
	}

	var packet;
	if (!msg) {

		packet = this.id;
	} else {
		packet = this.id + ';' + msg;
	}
	this.receiver.postMessage(packet, '*');
};

PostMessagePacket._last_unique_id = null;
PostMessagePacket._get_unique_id = function() {
	var id = (new Date()).getTime();
	if (id == PostMessagePacket._last_unique_id) {
		id++;
	}
	PostMessagePacket._last_unique_id = id;
	return id.toString();
};

var JsonRpc = function() {

	this.ids = {};

	this.objectToJSON = function(obj) {
		var json = '';
		var results = [];

		if (obj === undefined || obj === null) {
			return 'null';
		}

		switch (obj.constructor) {
			case Object:
				for (var property in obj) {
					if (obj.hasOwnProperty(property)) {
						results.push(this.objectToJSON(property) + ': ' + this.objectToJSON(obj[property]));
					}
				}
				json = '{' + results.join(', ') + '}';
				break;
			case Array:
				for (var i = 0; i < obj.length; i++) {
					results.push(this.objectToJSON(obj[i]));
				}
				json = '[' + results.join(', ') + ']';
				break;
			case Number:
			case Boolean:
				json = obj.toString();
				break;
			case String:

				var specialChars = {'\b': '\\b', '\t': '\\t', '\n': '\\n', '\f': '\\f', '\r': '\\r', '\\': '\\\\'};

				json = obj.replace(/[\x00-\x1f\\]/g, function(match) {
					var ch = specialChars[match];
					return ch ? ch : '\\u00' + match.charCodeAt().toPaddedString(2, 16);
				});

				json = '"' + json.replace(/"/g, '\\"') + '"';
				break;
			default:

				json = 'null';
				break;
		}

		return json;
	};

	this.createHandler = function(send_func, registered_funcs) {
		var that = this;
		var handler = function(message) {

			try {
				var rpc = eval('(' + message + ')');
			} catch(e) {
				alert('bad JSON: ' + message);
				return;
			}
			if (rpc.method) {

				if (!registered_funcs[rpc.method]) {
					return;
				}

				var retval = registered_funcs[rpc.method].apply(null, rpc.params);
				if (rpc.id) {
					var response = {
						result: retval,
						error: null,	// TODO
						id: rpc.id
					};
					send_func(that.objectToJSON(response));
				}
			} else if(rpc.result) {

				if (!that.ids[rpc.id]) {
					return;
				}

				that.ids[rpc.id](rpc.result);
				delete that.ids[rpc.id];
			}
		};
		return handler;
	};

	this.execute = function(send_func, method, params, response_callback) {
		response_callback = response_callback || null;
		var id = (response_callback) ? (new Date()).getTime() : null;

		var request = {
			method: method,
			params: params,
			id: id
		};

		send_func(this.objectToJSON(request));

		if (id) {
			this.ids[id] = response_callback;
		}
	};
};
JsonRpc = new JsonRpc();

var ParentMessenger = function(childUrl, receiverUrl, container, receiveCallback) {


	if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Safari') >= 0 && parseInt(navigator.userAgent.substring(navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Version/') + 8), 10) == 3) {
		throw new Error("unsupported.");
	} else if (window.opera) {
		throw new Error("unsupported.");
	}



	if (!receiverUrl &&
		navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Gecko') >= 0 &&
		parseFloat(navigator.userAgent.slice(navigator.userAgent.indexOf('rv:') + 3, navigator.userAgent.indexOf('rv:') + 6)) < 1.9) {
		throw new Error("unsupported.");
	}


	if (/msie/i.test(navigator.userAgent) && !/opera/i.test(navigator.userAgent)) {


		if (document.domain == window.location.hostname) {
			receiverUrl = '';
		}
	}

	var that = this;
	this.childUrl = childUrl;
	this.receiverUrl = receiverUrl;
	this.container = container || document.body;

	this.packetHandler = null;


	this._ready = false;
	this._error = false;


	var _createReceiverForFragmentPacket = function() {

		that.receiver = document.createElement('iframe');
		that.receiver.src = receiverUrl;
		that.receiver.id = 'receiver_' + (new Date()).getTime();
		that.receiver.name = that.receiver.id;

		that.receiver.frameBorder = '0';
		that.receiver.frameSpacing = '0';
		that.receiver.style.borderStyle = 'none';

		var receiver_onload = function() {
			var receiver = document.getElementById(that.receiver.id).contentWindow;

			try {
				receiver.document.body.innerHTML = '';
			} catch(e) {

				that._error = true;
			}
			receiver.document.body.style.padding = '0px';
			receiver.document.body.style.margin = '0px';

			var child = receiver.document.createElement('iframe');
			child.id = 'child';
			child.name = 'child';
			child.src = that.childUrl;

			child.frameBorder = '0';
			child.frameSpacing = '0';
			child.style.borderStyle = 'none';
			child.style.width = '100%';
			child.style.height = '100%';
			receiver.document.body.appendChild(child);

			that.child = receiver.document.getElementById('child').contentWindow;
			that.receiver = receiver;

			that.packetHandler = new FragmentPacket(that.receiver, that.child, that.childUrl, false, receiveCallback);

			that._listener = that.packetHandler.createListener();

			that.packetHandler.sendFlag(that.packetHandler.READY, 0);

			that._ready = true;
		};

		that.receiver.onreadystatechange = function() {
			if (this.readyState == 'complete') {
				receiver_onload();
			}
		};

		that.receiver.onload = receiver_onload;







		if (Dsq.Utils.ie) {
			if (that.container.clientWidth === 0) {

				var _waitForWidth = function() {
					if (that.container.clientWidth > 0) {
						Dsq.Utils.fixIframesIE(that.container.id);
					} else {
						window.setTimeout(_waitForWidth, 100);
					}
				};
				_waitForWidth();

				that._once = false;
				that.receiver.onresize = function() {
					if (!that._once) {
						Dsq.Utils.fixIframesIE(that.container.id);
					}
					that._once = true;
				};
			}
		}

		that.container.appendChild(that.receiver);
	};


	var _createReceiverForPostMessage = function() {

		var receiver_onload = function() {

			that.packetHandler.send();
			that._ready = true;
		};

		var id = PostMessagePacket._get_unique_id();
		var receiverId = 'child_' + id;


		ParentMessenger['_receiver_onload_' + receiverId] = receiver_onload;

		that.container.innerHTML += '<iframe ' +
			'src="' + childUrl + '" ' +
			'id="' + receiverId + '" ' +
			'name="' + receiverId + '" ' +
			'onload="ParentMessenger._receiver_onload_' + receiverId +'();" ' +
			'></iframe>';

		that.receiver = document.getElementById(receiverId).contentWindow;
		that.packetHandler = new PostMessagePacket(that.receiver, receiveCallback, id, receiverId);
		that._listener = that.packetHandler.createListener();
	};

	if (typeof window.postMessage == 'function') {
		_createReceiverForPostMessage();
	} else {
		_createReceiverForFragmentPacket();
	}

};

ParentMessenger.prototype.sendMessage = function(message) {
	var that = this;
	if (!this._ready) {

		window.setTimeout(function() { that.sendMessage(message); }, 10);
		return;
	}
	this.packetHandler.send(message);
	return true;
};

Dsq.NewFrames = function(url) {
	this.url = url;
};

Dsq.NewFrames.prototype.init = function(onFailure) {
	var that = this;

	try {
		this.messenger = new ParentMessenger(this.url, Dsq.jsonData.integration.receiver_url, this.container, this.receive_callback);
	} catch(e) {
		if (typeof onFailure == 'function') {
			onFailure();
		}
	}

	if (typeof onFailure == 'function') {
		var iId = window.setInterval(function() {
			if (typeof that.messenger == 'undefined') {
				window.clearInterval(iId);
				return;
			}
			if (that.messenger._ready) {
				window.clearInterval(iId);
			} else if (that.messenger._error) {
				window.clearInterval(iId);
				onFailure();
			}
		}, 10);
	}
};

Dsq.NewFrames.prototype._execute = function(method, args, callback) {
	var that = this;
	if (typeof that.messenger == 'undefined') {
		return false;
	}
	JsonRpc.execute(
		function(msg) { that.messenger.sendMessage(msg); },
		method,
		args || [],
		callback);
	return true;
};

Dsq.ReplyFrame = function(container, parent_post_id) {
	var that = this;
	this.container = container;
	this.parent_post_id = parent_post_id;

	var sendFunc = function(msg) {

		Dsq.Debug.log('Dsq.ReplyFrame.sendFunc');
		that.messenger.sendMessage(msg);
	};


	var postComment_onSuccess = function(response) {
		Dsq.jsonData.posts[response.message.id] = response.message.post_meta;
		if (!Dsq.jsonData.users[response.message.post_meta.user_key]) {
			Dsq.jsonData.users[response.message.post_meta.user_key] = response.message.user_meta;
		}


		var reply_position = (typeof(disqus_insert_wrt_sort) == 'undefined' 
			? (Dsq.jsonData.forum.reply_position ? -1 : null) 
			: (Dsq.jsonData.request.sort == 2 ? null : -1));
		
		if (response.message.post_meta.approved) {
			Dsq.Post.insert(response.message.post_meta.parent_post_id || reply_position, response.message.id, response.message.post_meta.message);
		}

		Dsq.Templates.postComment_onSuccess(response, parent_post_id, response.message.id);
	};

	var postComment_onFailure = function(response) {
		Dsq.Popup.popModal(response.message, 'Error');
		Dsq.Templates.postComment_onFailure(response, parent_post_id, response.message.id);
	};

	var editComment_onSuccess = function(response) {
		var post_id = parent_post_id;
		var message = Dsq.$('dsq-comment-message-' + post_id);
		
		message.innerHTML = response.message;
		Dsq.Templates.toggleEdit(post_id);
		Dsq.Templates.setLoadingButton(false);
	};
	
	var editComment_onFailure = function(response) {
		var post_id = parent_post_id;
		
		Dsq.Popup.popModal('Sorry, there was an error editing this comment.', 'Edit Error');
		Dsq.Templates.toggleEdit(post_id);
		Dsq.Templates.setLoadingButton(false);
	};

	var getUserByEmail_onSuccess = function(response) {
		var msg = response.message;
		var fields = Dsq.Templates.getFormFields(parent_post_id);

		if (msg.username) {

			Dsq.Templates.lightboxAuthenticate(parent_post_id, 'login', {
				'username': msg.username,
				'display_name': msg.display_name,
				'avatar_url': msg.avatar_url,
				'verified': msg.verified,
				'email': fields.email.value
			});
		} else {

			Dsq.Templates.lightboxAuthenticate(parent_post_id, 'register');
		}
	};

	var validateAuth_onSuccess = function(response, auth_choice) {
		Dsq.Templates.postComment(parent_post_id, null, true, auth_choice);
	};

	var validateAuth_onFailure = function(response, auth_choice) {
		var pid = parent_post_id ? '-' + parent_post_id : '';
		var msg = response.message;

		if (auth_choice == 'register') {
			var fields = ['email', 'username', 'password'];

			for (var i = 0; i < fields.length; i++) {
				var field = fields[i];
				var errorDiv = Dsq.$('dsq-' + field + '-errors' + pid);

				if (msg[field]) {
					errorDiv.innerHTML = msg[field];
				} else {
					errorDiv.innerHTML = '';
				}
			}
		} else if (auth_choice == 'login') {
			Dsq.$('dsq-lightbox-errors' + pid).innerHTML = '<p>We couldn\'t log you in. Please verify your login.</p>';
		}
		
		Dsq.Templates.setLoadingButton(false);
	};

	this.receive_callback = JsonRpc.createHandler(sendFunc, {
		'postComment.onSuccess': postComment_onSuccess,
		'postComment.onFailure': postComment_onFailure,
		'editComment.onSuccess': editComment_onSuccess,
		'editComment.onFailure': editComment_onFailure,		
		'getUserByEmail.onSuccess': getUserByEmail_onSuccess,
		'validateAuth.onSuccess': validateAuth_onSuccess,
		'validateAuth.onFailure': validateAuth_onFailure,
		'reload': function() { window.location.reload(); }
	});

	this.url = Dsq.Urls.REPLY +
		'?' + (new Date()).getTime() +
		'&f=jackandjillpolitics' +
		'&t=town_breaks_it_down8230again8230' +
		'&ff=' + Dsq.Thread.ff +
		'&default_text=' + disqus_default_text +
		'&ifrs=' + encodeURIComponent(disqus_iframe_css);
	if (this.parent_post_id) {
		this.url += '&parent_post=' + this.parent_post_id;
	}
};

Dsq.ReplyFrame.prototype = new Dsq.NewFrames(Dsq.ReplyFrame.url);

Dsq.ReplyFrame.prototype.post = function(author_name, author_email, author_url, authenticate, sharing_services, subscribe) {
	this._execute('postComment', [author_name, author_email, author_url, authenticate, sharing_services, subscribe]);
};

Dsq.ReplyFrame.prototype.edit = function(post_id, message) {
	this._execute('editComment', [post_id, message]);
};

Dsq.ReplyFrame.prototype.setState = function(parent_post_id, depth) {
	this._execute('setState', [parent_post_id, depth]);
};

Dsq.ReplyFrame.prototype.getUserByEmail = function(email) {
	this._execute('getUserByEmail', [email]);
};

Dsq.ReplyFrame.prototype.validateAuth = function(auth_choice, email, username, password) {
	this._execute('validateAuth', [auth_choice, email, username, password]);
};

Dsq.ReplyFrame.prototype.authenticateFacebook = function(session, forum_url) {
	this._execute('authenticateFacebook', [session, forum_url]);
};

	Dsq.Facebook = function() {
	var that = this;

	var handleSessionData = function(session) {

		var forum_url = Dsq.jsonData.forum.url;




		if (typeof disqus_facebook_forum != 'undefined') {
			forum_url = disqus_facebook_forum;
		}
		Dsq.frames.reply_0.authenticateFacebook(session, forum_url);
	};

	var onLogin = function() {
		FB.Connect.getSignedPublicSessionData(handleSessionData);
	};

	this.login = function() {
		FB.Connect.requireSession(onLogin, true);
	};
};
Dsq.Facebook = new Dsq.Facebook();


	






Dsq.Themes = {};

Dsq.Themes.narcissus = new function() {
	this.addPostContainer = 'dsq-form-area';
	this.textareaContainer = 'dsq-textarea-wrapper';



	
	this.header = function() {
		var comments_count, total_posts, num_posts;
		var html = '';
		var missing_perm_tmpl;

		if (Dsq.jsonData.request.missing_perm) {
			missing_perm_tmpl = Dsq.Templates.missingPermissions();
			if (missing_perm_tmpl) {
				html += '<div class="dsq-missing-permissions">' + missing_perm_tmpl + '</div>';
			}
		}

		total_posts = Dsq.jsonData.thread.total_posts;
		num_posts = Dsq.jsonData.thread.num_posts;

		if (total_posts) {
			comments_count = Dsq.FmtStrings.SHOWING_COMMENTS_FULL(total_posts, num_posts);
		} else {
			comments_count = Dsq.FmtStrings.SHOWING_COMMENTS_WITHOUT_PAGINATION(num_posts);
		}

		html += ' \
		<div id="dsq-comments-title"> \
			<h3>' + comments_count + '</h3> \
		</div> \
		';

		html += ' \
		<div class="dsq-options"> \
			<span class="dsq-item-sort">'
				+ Dsq.Strings.SORT_BY + ' \
				<select id="dsq-sort-select" onchange="Dsq.Thread.sortBy(this.value);"> \
					<option value="hot" ' + (Dsq.jsonData.request.sort == 4 ? 'selected="selected"' : '') + '>' + Dsq.Strings.POPULAR_NOW + '</option> \
					<option value="best" ' + (Dsq.jsonData.request.sort == 3 ? 'selected="selected"' : '') + '>' + Dsq.Strings.BEST_RATING + '</option> \
					<option value="newest" ' + (Dsq.jsonData.request.sort == 2 ? 'selected="selected"' : '') + '>' + Dsq.Strings.NEWEST_FIRST + '</option> \
					<option value="oldest" ' + (Dsq.jsonData.request.sort == 1 ? 'selected="selected"' : '') + '>' + Dsq.Strings.OLDEST_FIRST + '</option> \
				</select> \
				&nbsp; \
			</span> \
			<span class="dsq-subscribe-email"> \
				<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/embed/email.png" style="width:12px;height:12px;vertical-align:middle"> \
				<span id="dsq-subscribe">'
					+ (Dsq.jsonData.context.subscribed
						? '<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Thread.subscribe(0); return false">' + Dsq.Strings.UNSUBSCRIBE + '</a>'
						: '<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Thread.subscribe(1); return false">' + Dsq.Strings.SUBSCRIBE_BY_EMAIL + '</a>')
				+ '</span> \
			</span> \
			<span class="dsq-subscribe-rss" style="width:12px;height:12px;vertical-align:middle"> \
				<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/embed/bullet-feed.png" alt="" /> \
				<a href="http://jackandjillpolitics.disqus.com/town_breaks_it_down8230again8230/latest.rss">' + Dsq.Strings.SUBSCRIBE_BY_RSS + '</a> \
			</span> \
		</div> \
		';

		
		

		return html;

	};
	
	this.footer = function() {
		var html = '';

		html += Dsq.Templates.pagination();

		
		
			html += Dsq.Templates.realtime();
			html += Dsq.Templates.showThreadSettings();
			html += Dsq.Templates.postBox();

		html += Dsq.Templates.reactions();

		
			html += Dsq.Templates.trackbacks();
		


		if (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_global_moderator) {
 			html += ' \
				<div class="dsq-global-moderator-extras">'
					+ '<strong>shortname:</strong> ' + Dsq.jsonData.forum.url
					+ '<strong>thread id:</strong> ' + Dsq.jsonData.thread.id
					+ '<strong>thread slug:</strong> ' + Dsq.jsonData.thread.slug
				+ '</div> \
			';
		}

		return html;
	};
	
	this.realtime = function() {
		var html = '';
		
		if (Dsq.jsonData.realtime_enabled) {
			html += '<div id="dsq-realtime-options" class="dsq-options">'
					 + Dsq.Strings.REALTIME_UPDATING_IS + ' <strong id="dsq-realtime-status" style="text-transform: lowercase">' + Dsq.Strings.ENABLED + '</strong>. \
					 <a href="#" id="dsq-realtime-toggle" style="text-transform: capitalize"></a> \
					</div>';
		}

		if (!Dsq.jsonData.forum.streaming_realtime) {
			html += ' \
				<div style="display: none" id="dsq-realtime-alert" class="dsq-realtime-alert"><span id="dsq-realtime-queued"></span> <a href="#" id="dsq-realtime-show"></a></div> \
			';
		}
		
		return html;
	};

	this.showThreadSettings = function() {
		if (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator) {
			return '';
		}

		html = '<div id="dsq-thread-settings" class="dsq-thread-settings">' + Dsq.Strings.MODERATOR_OPTIONS;
		html += '<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Thread.showSettings(); return false;">' + Dsq.Strings.SETTINGS + '</a>';
		if (Dsq.jsonData.forum.reactions_enabled && Dsq.jsonData.reactions.length === 0) {
			html += '<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Reaction.reportMissingReactions(); return false;">'
						+ Dsq.Strings.REPORT_MISSING_REACTIONS
						+ '</a>';
		}
		html +='</div>';

		return html;
	};

	this.postBox = function(post_id, use_fallback_iframe) {


		var html;
		var display_sharing_options = Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated;

		if (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated && Dsq.jsonData.forum.disqus_auth_disabled && !Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_post) {
			return '';
		}
		
		if (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote) {


			if (!Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.hasOwnProperty(Dsq.jsonData.request.remote_domain)) {
				display_sharing_options = false;
			}
		}
		
		if (post_id) {
			var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
			var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][_meta.user_key];				
		}
		
		var pid = post_id ? '-' + post_id : '';

		var _requestUserInfo = function() {
			var html;



			var user_has_email = false;

			html = '<div class="dsq-request-user-info"> <!-- // If authenticated --> \
				<a href="' + Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + Dsq.Urls.LOGOUT + '?ctkn=' + Dsq.CSRF_TOKEN + '" class="dsq-request-user-logout">' + Dsq.Strings.LOGOUT + '</a> \
				<table> \
					<tr> \
						<td rowspan="2">'
							+ (!Dsq.jsonData.forum.disqus_auth_disabled ? '<a href="' + Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + Dsq.Urls.REQUEST_USER_PROFILE + '">' : '')
								+ '<img src="' + Dsq.Urls.REQUEST_USER_AVATAR + '" width="48" height="48" class="dsq-request-user-avatar">'
							+ (!Dsq.jsonData.forum.disqus_auth_disabled ? '</a>' : '')
						+ '</td> \
						<td class="dsq-request-user-name">'
								+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote
									 ? '<span class="dsq-badge-small dsq-badge-' + Dsq.jsonData.request.remote_domain + '">' + Dsq.jsonData.request.remote_domain + '</span>'
									 : (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_verified
											? '<span class="dsq-badge-small dsq-badge-verified">Verified</span>'
											: '<span class="dsq-badge-small dsq-badge-registered">Registered</span>'))
							+ (!Dsq.jsonData.forum.disqus_auth_disabled ? ' <a href="' + Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + Dsq.Urls.REQUEST_USER_PROFILE + '">' : '') 
								+ Dsq.jsonData.request.display_username 
							+ (!Dsq.jsonData.forum.disqus_auth_disabled ? '</a>' : '')
							+  (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote && user_has_email ? ' <small>(<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup.remoteAccountSettings(); return false;">change settings</a>)</small>' : '')
							+  (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote && !Dsq.jsonData.forum.disqus_auth_disabled ? ' <small>(<a href="' + Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + '/profile/info/" target="_blank">change name</a> or <a href="' + Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + '/profile/avatar/" target="_blank">picture</a>)</small>' : '')
						+ '</td> \
					</tr> \
					<tr> \
						<td class="dsq-request-user-stats"> \
							<span><big>' + Dsq.jsonData.request.comments_count + '</big> ' + (Dsq.jsonData.request.comments_count == 1 ? 'comment' : 'comments') + '</span> \
							<span><big>' + Dsq.jsonData.request.likes_count + '</big> ' + (Dsq.jsonData.request.likes_count == 1 ? 'like' : 'likes') + '</span> \
							<span><big>' + Dsq.jsonData.request.points + '</big> ' + (Dsq.jsonData.request.points == 1 ? 'point' : 'points') + '</span> \
						</td> \
					</tr> \
				</table> \
			</div> \
			';
			return html;
		};

		var _loginOptions = function() {
			var html;
			html = ' \
			<div class="dsq-authenticate"> \
				<p class="dsq-autheneticate-copy">'
				+ (Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_post
					? Dsq.Strings.YOU_ARE_COMMENTING_AS_A + ' <a class="dsq-help" title="Click for more information" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges(); return false">Guest</a>. ' + Dsq.Strings.OPTIONAL + ': ' + Dsq.Strings.LOGIN_BELOW + '.'
					: Dsq.Strings.REQUIRED + ': ' + Dsq.Strings.PLEASE_LOGIN_BELOW_TO_COMMENT + '.')
				+ '</p> \
				<ul class="dsq-login-buttons">'
					+ (!Dsq.jsonData.forum.disqus_auth_disabled ? '<li class="dsq-login-button"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup.login(); return false"><img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/themes/narcissus/login-disqus.gif" /></a></li>' : '')
					+ (Dsq.jsonData.context.use_fb_connect ? '<li class="dsq-login-button"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Facebook.login(); return false;"><img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/themes/narcissus/login-facebook.gif" /></a></li>' : '')
					+ (Dsq.jsonData.context.use_twitter_signin ? '<li class="dsq-login-button"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Twitter.startTwitterConnect(); return false"><img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/themes/narcissus/login-twitter.gif" /></a></li>' : '')
					+ (Dsq.jsonData.context.use_openid ? '<li class="dsq-login-button"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.OpenID.requestURL(); return false" ><img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/themes/narcissus/login-openid.gif" /></a></li>' : '')
					+ (Dsq.jsonData.context.use_yahoo ? '<li class="dsq-login-button"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Yahoo.startYahooConnect(); return false"><img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/themes/narcissus/login-yahoo.gif" /></a></li>' : '')
				+ '</ul> \
			</div> \
			';
			return html;
		};

		if (!Dsq.jsonData.context.show_reply) {


			if (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated) {



				return '<div id="dsq-form-area" style="display:none"><div id="dsq-textarea-wrapper"></div></div>' + _loginOptions();
			} else {
				return '';
			}
		}

		html = ' \
		<div id="' + (post_id 
			? 'dsq-reply-post-' + post_id
			: 'dsq-new-post')
		 	+ '" class="dsq-post-area"> \
			<div class="dsq-dc-logo"> \
				<a href="http://disqus.com/comments" target="_blank"><img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/themes/narcissus/disqus-logo.png"></a> \
			</div>'
			+ (post_id 
				? '<h3>' + Dsq.Strings.REPLYING_TO + ' ' + userData.display_name + '</h3>'
				: '<h3>' + Dsq.Strings.ADD_NEW_COMMENT + '</h3>')
			+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated 
				? _requestUserInfo()
				: _loginOptions() )
			+ '<div id="dsq-form-area' + pid + '">'
			+ '<div class="dsq-textarea"> \
				<div class="dsq-textarea-wrapper" id="dsq-textarea-wrapper' + pid + '"></div> \
			</div>'
			+ (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated
			? ' \
			<div class="dsq-post-fields"> \
				<form action="." method="GET" onsubmit="Dsq.Templates.postComment(' + post_id + ', this, false); return false;"> \
				<table> \
					<tr> \
						<td class="dsq-post-fields-left"><div class="dsq-input-wrapper"><input id="dsq-field-name' + pid + '" type="text" value="' + (disqus_def_name ? disqus_def_name : (Dsq.jsonData.session.name ? Dsq.jsonData.session.name : Dsq.Strings.NAME + '" class="dsq-placeholder')) + '" onfocus="Dsq.Templates.handlePlaceholder(event, this, \'name\')" onblur="Dsq.Templates.handlePlaceholder(event, this, \'name\')" /></div></td> \
						<td class="dsq-post-fields-right"><div class="dsq-input-wrapper"><input id="dsq-field-website' + pid + '" type="text" value="' + (Dsq.jsonData.session.url ? Dsq.jsonData.session.url : Dsq.Strings.WEBSITE + ' (' + Dsq.Strings.OPTIONAL.toLowerCase() + ')" class="dsq-placeholder') + '" onfocus="Dsq.Templates.handlePlaceholder(event, this, \'website\')" onblur="Dsq.Templates.handlePlaceholder(event, this, \'website\')" /></div></td> \
					</tr> \
					<tr> \
						<td class="dsq-post-fields-left"><div class="dsq-input-wrapper"><input id="dsq-field-email' + pid + '" type="text" value="' + (disqus_def_email ? disqus_def_email : (Dsq.jsonData.session.email ? Dsq.jsonData.session.email : Dsq.Strings.EMAIL + '" class="dsq-placeholder')) + '" onfocus="Dsq.Templates.handlePlaceholder(event, this, \'email\')" onblur="Dsq.Templates.handlePlaceholder(event, this, \'email\')" /></div></td> \
						<td class="dsq-post-fields-right"> \
							<div class="dsq-subscribe"> \
								<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Templates.chooseSubscribe(' + post_id + '); return false" class="dsq-subscribe-menu"><span id="dsq-subscribe-select' + pid + '">' + (Dsq.jsonData.request.subscribe_on_post ? Dsq.Strings.SUBSCRIBE_TO_ALL_COMMENTS_BY_EMAIL : Dsq.Strings.DO_NOT_SUBSCRIBE_TO_COMMENTS) + '</span> <small>&#9660;</small></a> \
								<ul class="dsq-panel" id="dsq-subscribe-menu' + pid + '"> \
									<li><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Templates.setSubscribe(2, this, ' + post_id + '); return false">Subscribe to all comments by email</a></li> \
									<li><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Templates.setSubscribe(0, this, ' + post_id + '); return false">Do not subscribe to comments</a></li> \
								</ul> \
								<input id="dsq-subscribe-on-post' + pid + '" type="hidden" value="' + Dsq.jsonData.request.subscribe_on_post + '" /> \
							</div> \
						</td> \
					</tr> \
				</table> \
				</form> \
			</div>'
			: '')
			+ '<div class="dsq-post-footer"> \
				<div class="dsq-sharing-options" ' + (!display_sharing_options ? 'style="display:none;"' : '') + '> \
					<button class="dsq-button-small" onfocus="document.getElementById(\'dsq-post-button' + pid + '\').focus();"><span>' + Dsq.Strings.SHARING_OPTIONS + ' <small>&#9660;</small></span></button> \
					<div class="dsq-panel"> '
						+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.twitter !== undefined
								&& Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.twitter.enabled === true
							? '<div><input type="checkbox" id="dsq-sharing-twitter' + pid + '"'
								  + (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.twitter.auto === true ? 'checked=true' : '') + '/> \
									<label for="dsq-sharing-twitter' + pid + '">' + Dsq.Strings.SHARE_ON + ' Twitter</label> \
								 </div>'
							: '')
						+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.facebook
								&& (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.facebook.enabled === true ||
										(Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote && Dsq.jsonData.request.remote_domain == 'facebook'))
							? '<div><input type="checkbox" id="dsq-sharing-facebook' + pid + '"'
									+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.facebook.auto === true ? 'checked=true' : '') + '/> \
									<label for="dsq-sharing-facebook' + pid + '">' + Dsq.Strings.SHARE_ON + ' Facebook</label> \
								 </div>'
							: '')
						+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.yahoo !== undefined
								&& Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.yahoo.enabled === true
							? '<div><input type="checkbox" id="dsq-sharing-yahoo' + pid + '"'
									+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.yahoo.auto === true ? 'checked=true' : '') + '/> \
									<label for="dsq-sharing-yahoo' + pid + '">' + Dsq.Strings.SHARE_ON + ' Yahoo!</label> \
								</div>'
							: '')
						+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.tumblr !== undefined
								&& Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.tumblr.enabled === true
							? '<div><input type="checkbox" id="dsq-sharing-tumblr' + pid + '"'
									+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.tumblr.auto === true ? 'checked=true' : '') + '/> \
									<label for="dsq-sharing-tumblr' + pid + '">' + Dsq.Strings.SHARE_ON + ' Tumblr</label> \
								 </div>'
							: '')
						+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.wordpress !== undefined
								&& Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.wordpress.enabled === true
							? '<div><input type="checkbox" id="dsq-sharing-wordpress' + pid + '"'
									+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.wordpress.auto === true ? 'checked=true' : '') + '/> \
									<label for="dsq-sharing-wordpress' + pid + '">' + Dsq.Strings.SHARE_ON + ' Wordpress</label> \
								 </div>'
							: '')
						+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.movabletype !== undefined
							  && Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.movabletype.enabled === true
							? '<div><input type="checkbox" id="dsq-sharing-movabletype' + pid + '"'
									+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.movabletype.auto === true ? 'checked=true' : '') + '/> \
									<label for="dsq-sharing-movabletype' + pid + '">' + Dsq.Strings.SHARE_ON + ' Movable Type</label> \
							   </div>'
							: '')
						+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.typepad !== undefined
							  && Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.typepad.enabled === true
							? '<div><input type="checkbox" id="dsq-sharing-typepad' + pid + '"'
									+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.sharing.typepad.auto === true ? 'checked=true' : '') + '/> \
								  <label for="dsq-sharing-typepad' + pid + '">' + Dsq.Strings.SHARE_ON + ' TypePad</label> \
							   </div>'
							: '')
						+ '<div><a href="' + Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + '/profile/connections/" target="_blank" class="dsq-configure-options">' + Dsq.Strings.CONFIGURE_OPTIONS + '</a></div>'
					+ '</div> \
				</div>'
				+ '<button class="dsq-button" id="dsq-post-button' + pid + '" onclick="Dsq.Templates.postComment(' + post_id + ', this, false)"><span>' + Dsq.Strings.POST_AS + ' '
				+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.display_username
					? Dsq.jsonData.request.display_username
					: Dsq.Strings.GUEST)
				+ '</span></button>'
				+ (post_id
					? '<button class="dsq-button" id="dsq-cancel-button' + pid + '" onclick="Dsq.Post.toggleReply(' + post_id +', this)"><span>' + Dsq.Strings.CANCEL + '</span></button>'
					: '')
			+ '</div>'
			+ '</div>' // end dsq-form-area
		+ '</div> \
		';
		
		return html;
	};




	this.appendPost = function(post_id) {
		var html = '<div id="dsq-append-post-' + post_id + '"></div>';
		return html;
	};

	this.postPrependHeader = function(post_id) {
		var html;
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][_meta.user_key];
		
		html = ' \
		<table> \
			<tr> \
				<td id="dsq-header-avatar-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-header-avatar" onmouseover="Dsq.Post.dropProfile(' + post_id + ')"> \
					<a id="dsq-avatar-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-avatar" href="' + userData.url + '" onclick="Dsq.Popup.popProfile(' + post_id + '); return false;">'
					+ (Dsq.jsonData.forum.show_avatar
					? '<img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.users[_meta.user_key].avatar + '" alt="" />'
					: '')
				+ '</a> \
				</td> \
				<td class="dsq-comment-header-meta"> \
		';

		
		return html;
	};
	
	this.postAppendHeader = function(post_id) {
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		var html;
		var parent_display_name = '';
		
		if(_meta.parent_post_id) {

			var _parent_meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[_meta.parent_post_id];

			if (_parent_meta) {
				var parentUserData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][_parent_meta.user_key];
				parent_display_name = parentUserData.display_name;
			}
		}

		html = ' \
		<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/themes/narcissus/moderator.png" class="dsq-moderator-star" title="Moderator" /> \
		<span class="dsq-comment-header-time"><a href="#comment-' + post_id + '" onclick="Dsq.Popup.permalink(' + post_id + ')" title="Permalink">' + (_meta.is_realtime ? Dsq.Strings.JUST_NOW : _meta.date) + '</a></span> '
		+ (_meta.parent_post_id && parent_display_name
			? '<a href="#comment-' + _meta.parent_post_id + '" title="Jump to comment">in reply to ' + parent_display_name + '</a>'
			: '')
		+ '</td> \
		<td id="dsq-like-pts-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-comment-header-likes">'
		+ (_meta.points
			? _meta.points + Dsq.Utils.pluralize(_meta.points, ' person', ' people') + ' liked this.'
			: '')
		+ '</td> \
		</tr> \
		</table> \
		';
		return html;
	};

	this.preBody = function(post_id) {
		var html = '';
		return html;
	};

	this.postFooter = function(post_id) {
		var html;
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		if(_meta.killed || !_meta.approved) { return ''; }
		
		html = ' \
		<div class="dsq-comment-footer" id="dsq-comment-footer-' + post_id + '"> \
			<div class="dsq-comment-footer-left">'
				+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator || Dsq.jsonData.request.is_global_moderator
					? '<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Templates.moderateOptions(' + post_id+ '); return false">' + Dsq.Strings.MODERATE + '</a>'
					: '')
				+ '<a href="#" id="dsq-post-report-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-post-report" onclick="Dsq.Post.report(' + post_id + ', false); return false;">' + Dsq.Strings.FLAG + '</a> \
			</div> \
			<div class="dsq-comment-footer-right">'
				+ (_meta.votable 
					? '<span id="dsq-like-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-like">'
					+ (!_meta.up_voted
						? '<button class="dsq-button-small" onclick="Dsq.Post.rate(this, ' + post_id + ', 1)" >Like</button>'
						: 'You liked this.&nbsp;&nbsp;')
					+ '</span>'
					: '')
				+ (_meta.can_reply && !_meta.has_replies && _meta.from_request_user
					? '<button class="dsq-button-small dsq-post-edit" onclick="Dsq.Post.edit(this, ' + post_id + ')" >' + Dsq.Strings.EDIT + '</button>'
					: '')
				+ (_meta.can_reply
					? '<span class="dsq-comment-footer-reply" id="dsq-comment-footer-reply-' + post_id + '" onclick="Dsq.Post.toggleReply(' + post_id +', this)"> \
						<button class="dsq-button-small">' + Dsq.Strings.REPLY + '</button> \
						<button class="dsq-comment-footer-reply-tab">' + Dsq.Strings.REPLY + '</button><span></span> \
					</span>'
					: '')
			+ '</div> \
		</div> \
		';
		
		return html;
	};



	
	this.showRetweets = function(id, limit, element_id /* Optional */) {
		var source, html = '';

		for (var i = 0, reaction; reaction = Dsq.jsonData.reactions[i]; i++) {
			if (reaction.id === id) {
				source = reaction.retweets;
			}
		}

		if (source) {
			if (limit === 0) {
				limit = source.length;
			}

			for (var j = 0; j < limit; j++) {
				var rt = source[j];
				html += '<a href="' + rt.url + '">' + rt.author_name + '</a>'	+ ((j === (limit - 1)) ? '.' : ', ');
			}
		}

		if (element_id === undefined) {
			return html;
		}

		var element = document.getElementById(element_id);
		element.innerHTML = html;
		return element;
	};

	this.showMoreReactions = function(reactions, has_more, start, limit) {
		var link = document.getElementById('dsq-show-more-reactions');
		var container = link.parentNode;
		container.removeChild(link);

		for (var i = 0, reaction; reaction = reactions[i]; i++) {
			var el = Dsq.Templates.generateReactionHTML(reaction);
			if (el) {
				container.innerHTML += el;
			}
		}

		if (has_more) {
			var d = Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url;
			var f = Dsq.jsonData.forum.url;
			var t = Dsq.jsonData.thread.id;
			var s = start;
			var l = limit;

			var handler = 'Dsq.Utils.execScript(\'' + d + '/forums/' + f + '/more_reactions.js?t=' + t + '&s=' + s + '&l=' + l + '\', true); return false;';
			container.innerHTML += '<li id="dsq-show-more-reactions" class="dsq-show-more-reactions"><button class="dsq-button-small" onclick="' + handler + '">Show more reactions</button></li>';
		}
	};

	this.generateReactionHTML = function(reaction) {
		if (reaction.body === null || reaction.body == '') {
			return;
		}

		if (reaction.author_name === '') {
			reaction.author_name = '&nbsp;';
		}

		if (reaction.url === '') {
			reaction.url = reaction.get_service_url;
		}

		var item = '<li class="dsq-comment dsq-reaction" id="dsq-reaction-' + reaction.id + '">'
			+ '<div class="dsq-comment-header"> \
			<table> \
			<tr> \
			<td class="dsq-header-avatar"> \
			';

		if (reaction.author_url && reaction.author_url !== '') {
			item += '<a target="_blank" href="' + reaction.author_url +'" class="dsq-avatar">';
		}

		if (reaction.avatar_url && reaction.avatar_url !== '') {
			item += '<img src="' + reaction.avatar_url + '"/>';
		} else {

			item += '<img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.media_url + '/images/noavatar92.png"/>';
		}

		var service_icon = (reaction.get_service_name == 'trackback' || reaction.get_service_name == 'pingback' ? 'rss' : reaction.get_service_name.replace(' ', ''));
		item += (reaction.author_url && reaction.author_url !== ''
				? '</a>'
				: '')
			+ '</td>'
			+ '<td><cite class="dsq-comment-cite">' + reaction.author_name + '</cite> <span class="dsq-comment-header-time">' + reaction.date_created + '</span></td>'
			+ '<td class="dsq-comment-header-likes"></td>'
			+ '</tr></table></div>' // end dsq-comment-header
			+ '<div class="dsq-reaction-header" \
				<table> \
					<tr> \
						<td class="dsq-reaction-header-left">'
							+ '<img class="dsq-service-icon" src="' + Dsq.jsonData.media_url + '/images/reactions/services/' + service_icon + '.png" />'
							+ ' From <a class="dsq-service-name" target="_blank" href="' + reaction.url + '">' + reaction.get_service_name + '</a> '
							+ 'via ' + (reaction.source == 'backtype' ? '<a href="http://backtype.com/">BackType</a>' : '<a href="' + reaction.source_url + '">UberVU</a>')
						+ '</td>'
						+ '<td class="dsq-reaction-header-right">';
			
			if(reaction.retweets) {
				var num_retweets = reaction.retweets.length;
				if (num_retweets > 0) {
					if (num_retweets == 1) {
						item += 'One more retweet from <a href="' + reaction.retweets[0].url + '">'  + reaction.retweets[0].author_name + '</a>';
					} else {
						item += (num_retweets + ' more retweets from ');
						item += '<span id="dsq-reaction-retweets-' + reaction.id + '">';
						var n_tweets = (num_retweets > 3) ? 3 : num_retweets;
						item += Dsq.Templates.showRetweets(reaction.id, n_tweets);
						if (n_tweets != num_retweets) {
							item += '</span> <a onclick="Dsq.Templates.showRetweets(' + reaction.id + ', 0, \'dsq-reaction-retweets-' + reaction.id + '\');'
								+ 'this.parentNode.removeChild(this); return false;" href="#">Show all</a>';
						}
					}
				}
			}	
			item += '</td></tr> \
			</table> \
			</div>' // end dsq-reaction-header
			+ '<div class="dsq-comment-body"> \
				<div class="dsq-comment-message">' + reaction.body + '</div>'
			+ '</div> \
			<div class="dsq-comment-footer"> \
				<div class="dsq-comment-footer-left"> \
				</div>'
				+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator || Dsq.jsonData.request.is_global_moderator 
					? ' \
					<div class="dsq-comment-footer-right"> \
						<button class="dsq-button-small dsq-hide-reaction" onclick="Dsq.Reaction.hide(' + reaction.id + ')">Hide</button> \
					</div>'
					: '')
			+ '</div>'
		item += '</li>'; /* Reaction HTML ends */
		return item;
	};

	this.reactions = function() {
		var html, reaction;

		if (Dsq.jsonData.reactions === undefined || Dsq.jsonData.reactions.length === 0) {
			return '';
		}

		html = '';
		for (var i = 0; reaction = Dsq.jsonData.reactions[i]; i++) {
			var item = Dsq.Templates.generateReactionHTML(reaction);
			if (item) {
				html += item;
			}
		}

		if (Dsq.jsonData.has_more_reactions) {
			var d = Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url;
			var f = Dsq.jsonData.forum.url;
			var t = Dsq.jsonData.thread.id;
			var s = Dsq.jsonData.reactions_start;
			var l = Dsq.jsonData.reactions_limit;

			var handler = 'Dsq.Utils.execScript(\'' + d + '/forums/' + f + '/more_reactions.js?t=' + t + '&s=' + s + '&l=' + l + '\', true); return false;';
			html += '<li id="dsq-show-more-reactions" class="dsq-show-more-reactions"><button class="dsq-button-small" onclick="' + handler + '">Show more reactions</button></li>';
		}

		return '<h3 id="dsq-reactions-title" class="dsq-h3-reactions">Reactions</h3><ul id="dsq-reactions" class="dsq-reactions">' + html + '</ul>';
	};
	
	this._popupGeneric = function(content) {
		return ' \
		<div class="dsq-popup-container"> \
			<table> \
				<tbody> \
					<tr> \
						<td class="dsq-popup-tl"></td><td class="dsq-popup-b"></td><td class="dsq-popup-tr"></td> \
					</tr> \
					<tr> \
						<td class="dsq-popup-b"></td> \
						<td class="dsq-popup-body"> \
							<div class="dsq-popup-content"> \
								<div class="dsq-popup-title"> \
									<button class="dsq-button-small" style="float:right" onclick="Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true)">Close</button>' 
									+ content['header'] 
								+ '</div>'
								+ content['body']
							+ '</div> \
							<div class="powered-by"><a href="http://disqus.com/comments/">Powered by <img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/embed/disqus-logo.png" alt="Disqus Comments" style="margin-bottom:-5px" /></a></div> \
						</td> \
						<td class="dsq-popup-b"></td> \
					</tr> \
					<tr> \
						<td class="dsq-popup-bl"></td><td class="dsq-popup-b"></td><td class="dsq-popup-br"></td> \
					</tr> \
				</tbody> \
			</table> \
		</div> \
		';
	};



	
	this.chooseSubscribe = function(post_id) {

		var pid = post_id ? '-' + post_id : '';
		var menu = Dsq.$('dsq-subscribe-menu' + pid);
		
		menu.style.display = menu.style.display == 'block' ? 'none' : 'block';
		
	};
	
	this.setSubscribe = function(value, el, post_id) {

		var pid = post_id ? '-' + post_id : '';
		var input = Dsq.$('dsq-subscribe-on-post' + pid);
		var select = Dsq.$('dsq-subscribe-select' + pid);
		var menu = Dsq.$('dsq-subscribe-menu' + pid);
		
		select.innerHTML = el.innerHTML;
		input.value = value;
		this.chooseSubscribe(post_id);
	};
	
	this.getFormFields = function(post_id) {

		var fields = {};
		var pid = post_id ? '-' + post_id : '';
		var name = Dsq.$('dsq-field-name' + pid);
		var email = Dsq.$('dsq-field-email' + pid);
		var website = Dsq.$('dsq-field-website' + pid);
		var username = Dsq.$('dsq-field-username' + pid);
		var password = Dsq.$('dsq-field-password' + pid);

		fields = {
			'name': name,
			'email': email,
			'website': website,
			'username': username,
			'password': password
		}
		
		return fields;
	}
	
	this.validateFields = function(post_id) {
		
		if(Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated) { return true; }
		
		var fields = Dsq.Templates.getFormFields(post_id);
		
		var nameField = fields.name;
		var websiteField = fields.website;
		var emailField = fields.email;
		
		websiteField.value = (websiteField.value == Dsq.Templates.placeholder['website']) ? '' : websiteField.value;
		
		var v = [{

			validator: Dsq.Validators.name,
			value: nameField.value
		}, {

			validator: Dsq.Validators.email,
			value: emailField.value
		}, {

			validator: Dsq.Validators.url,
			value: websiteField.value
		}];
		
		return Dsq.Validators.validate(v, function(e) { Dsq.Popup.popModal(e, 'Oops...') } );
	};
	
	this.checkExistingUser = function(post_id) {
		var fields = Dsq.Templates.getFormFields(post_id);		
		Dsq.Popup.loading(post_id);
		
		if (post_id) {
			Dsq.frames['reply_' + post_id].getUserByEmail(fields.email.value);
		} else {
			Dsq.frames['reply_0'].getUserByEmail(fields.email.value);
		}
	};

	this.validateAuth = function(el_clicked, post_id, auth_choice) {
		var fields = Dsq.Templates.getFormFields(post_id);
		var email = fields.email ? fields.email.value : '';
		var username = fields.username ? fields.username.value : '';
		var password = fields.password ? fields.password.value : '';
		
		Dsq.Templates.setLoadingButton(el_clicked, post_id);
		
		if (post_id) {
			Dsq.frames['reply_' + post_id].validateAuth(auth_choice, email, username, password);
		} else {
			Dsq.frames['reply_0'].validateAuth(auth_choice, email, username, password);
		}
	};

	this.lightboxUpdateEmail = function(post_id, new_email) {
		var fields = Dsq.Templates.getFormFields(post_id);
		fields.email.value = new_email;
	};

	this.lightboxAuthenticate = function(post_id, auth_choice, auth_data) {
		var title, body;
		var pid = post_id ? '-' + post_id : '';

		if(typeof(auth_data) == 'undefined') {
			var auth_data = Dsq.Templates.getFormFields(post_id);
		}

		d = auth_data;

		switch(auth_choice) {
			case 'register':
				var suggestedUsername = d.name.value.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9-]/g,'').toLowerCase();
			
				title = Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_post ? 'Optional:' : 'Required:';
				title += ' Register a <img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/embed/disqus-profile.png" alt=Disqus Profile" />';

				body = ' \
				<ul class="dsq-lightbox-register-reasons"> \
				<li>Verify your comments</li> \
				<li>Edit and delete comments</li> \
				<li>Manage comments and replies</li> \
				</ul> \
				';

				body += ' \
				<div class="dsq-lightbox-auth-fields"> \
					<table> \
						<tr> \
							<td>Email</td> \
							<td><input type="text" value="' + d.email.value + '" onchange="Dsq.Templates.lightboxUpdateEmail(' + post_id + ', this.value)" /><div id="dsq-email-errors' + pid + '"></div></td> \
						</tr> \
						<tr> \
							<td>Username</td> \
							<td><input id="dsq-field-username' + pid + '" type="text" value="' + suggestedUsername + '"/><div id="dsq-username-errors' + pid + '"></div></td> \
						</tr> \
						<tr> \
							<td>Password</td> \
							<td><input id="dsq-field-password' + pid + '" type="password" /><div id="dsq-password-errors' + pid + '"></div></td> \
						</tr> \
					</table> \
					<div class="dsq-lightbox-switch-auth"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Templates.lightboxAuthenticate(' + post_id + ',\'login\'); return false">Login instead</a></div> \
				</div> \
				<div id="dsq-lightbox-errors' + pid + '" class="dsq-lightbox-errors"></div> \
				<div class="dsq-lightbox-submit"> \
					<div class="dsq-lightbox-auth-post"><button class="dsq-button" onclick="Dsq.Templates.validateAuth(this, ' + post_id + ',\'' + auth_choice + '\')">Register and Post comment</button></div>'
					+ (Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_post
						? '<div class="dsq-lightbox-auth-skip"><button class="dsq-button-small" onclick="Dsq.Templates.postComment(' + post_id + ', this, true)">Just post as a Guest</button></div>'
						: '')
				+ '</div> \
				';
				break;
			case 'login':
				title = Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_post ? 'Optional:' : 'Required:';
				title += ' Login to your <img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/embed/disqus-profile.png" alt=Disqus Profile" />';
				body = '';
				
				if(d.avatar_url) {
					body += '<div class="dsq-lightbox-recognized"><table><tr>';
					body += '<td><img src="' + d.avatar_url + '" alt="" /></td>';
					body += '<td><span class="dsq-badge ' + (d.verified ? 'dsq-badge-verified' : 'dsq-badge-registered') + '">' + (d.verified ? 'Verified' : 'Registered') + '</span></td>';
					body += '<td>Hey <strong>' + d.display_name + '</strong>, is that you? Login below to claim this comment.';
					body += '</tr></table></div>';
				}

				body += ' \
				<div class="dsq-lightbox-auth-fields"> \
					<table> \
						<tr> \
							<td>Username or Email</td> \
							<td><input id="dsq-field-username' + pid + '" type="text" value="' + (d.avatar_url ? d.username : '') + '" /></td> \
						</tr> \
						<tr> \
							<td>Password <a href="http://disqus.com/forgot" target="_blank">(cannot log in?)</a></td> \
							<td><input id="dsq-field-password' + pid + '" type="password" /></td> \
						</tr> \
					</table> \
					<div class="dsq-lightbox-switch-auth"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Templates.lightboxAuthenticate(' + post_id + ',\'register\'); return false">Register instead</a></div> \
				</div> \
				<div id="dsq-lightbox-errors' + pid + '" class="dsq-lightbox-errors"></div> \
				<div class="dsq-lightbox-submit"> \
					<div class="dsq-lightbox-auth-post"><button class="dsq-button" onclick="Dsq.Templates.validateAuth(this, ' + post_id + ',\'' + auth_choice + '\')">Login and Post comment</button></div>'
					+ (Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_post
						? '<div class="dsq-lightbox-auth-skip"><button class="dsq-button-small" onclick="Dsq.Templates.postComment(' + post_id + ', this, true)">Just post as a Guest</button></div>'
						: '')
				+ '</div> \
				';
				break;
			default:
				break;
		}
		Dsq.Popup.lightbox(body, title, post_id);
		Dsq.$('dsq-field-username' + pid).focus();
	};
	
	this.buttonsToRestore = [];
	this.setLoadingButton = function(btn, post_id) {
		var pid = post_id ? '-' + post_id : '';
		if (btn) {

			var loadingBtn = document.createElement('button');
			loadingBtn.id = btn.id + '-loading';
			loadingBtn.innerHTML = '<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/loading-lite.gif" alt="" /> Just a moment...';
			loadingBtn.className = btn.className + ' dsq-post-loading';
			btn.parentNode.appendChild(loadingBtn);
			btn.style.display = 'none';
			var cancelBtn = Dsq.$('dsq-cancel-button' + pid);
			if(cancelBtn) { cancelBtn.style.display = 'none'; this.buttonsToRestore.push(cancelBtn); }
			this.buttonsToRestore.push(btn);
		} else {

			var buttons = this.buttonsToRestore;
			for(var i = 0; i < buttons.length; i++) {
				buttons[i].style.display = 'inline';
				Dsq.Utils.deleteNode(Dsq.$(buttons[i].id + '-loading'));
			}
		}
		
	};

	this.postComment = function(post_id, el_clicked, force, auth_choice) {
		var append_id = post_id ? '-' + post_id : '';
		var fields = Dsq.Templates.getFormFields(post_id);

		if (Dsq.Templates.validateFields(post_id)) {

			if (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated && !force &&
				((!Dsq.Utils.readCookie('skipped_auth') && !disqus_skip_auth && !Dsq.jsonData.forum.disqus_auth_disabled) || !Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_post)) {
				Dsq.Templates.checkExistingUser(post_id);
				return false;
			}
			var params = [];
			if (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated) {
				params.push(fields.name.value,
					fields.email.value,
					fields.website.value);

				if (auth_choice == 'login' || auth_choice == 'register') {
					params.push({
						auth_choice: auth_choice,
						username: fields.username.value,
						password: fields.password.value,
						email: fields.email.value
					});
				} else {
					params.push(null);
				}

				params.push(null /* sharing options */, Dsq.$('dsq-subscribe-on-post' + append_id).value);
			} else {
				var service_checked = function(name) {
					var el = Dsq.$('dsq-sharing-' + name + append_id);
					return (el !== null && el.checked === true) ? '1' : '0';
				};
				params.push(null, null, null, null, {
					tw: service_checked('twitter'),
					fb: service_checked('facebook'),
					tr: service_checked('tumblr'),
					wp: service_checked('wordpress'),
					mt: service_checked('movabletype'),
					tp: service_checked('typepad'),
					yh: service_checked('yahoo')
				});
			}

			var frame = Dsq.frames['reply_' + (post_id ? post_id : 0)];
			frame.post.apply(frame, params);

			if (el_clicked) {
				Dsq.Templates.setLoadingButton(el_clicked, post_id);
			}
			
			if (force) {
				Dsq.Utils.createCookie('skipped_auth', true);	
			}
			
		} else {
			return false;
		}
	};

	this.editComment = function(el_clicked, post_id) {
		var edited_message = Dsq.$('dsq-edit-textarea-' + post_id).value;

		Dsq.Templates.setLoadingButton(el_clicked, post_id);
		Dsq.frames['edit_' + post_id].edit(post_id, edited_message);
	};

	this.toggleEdit = function(post_id) {
		var body = Dsq.$('dsq-comment-body-' + post_id);
		var message = Dsq.$('dsq-comment-message-' + post_id);

		if (!Dsq.Post.stateEditToggled[post_id]) {


			message.style.display = 'none';
			if (Dsq.$('dsq-edit-' + post_id)) {
				Dsq.$('dsq-edit-' + post_id).style.display = 'block';
			} else {

				var edit_area = document.createElement('div');
				edit_area.id = 'dsq-edit-' + post_id;
				edit_area.className = 'dsq-edit dsq-textarea';
				edit_area.innerHTML = ' \
				<div class="dsq-textarea-wrapper"> \
					<textarea class="dsq-edit-textarea" id="dsq-edit-textarea-' + post_id + '">' + message.innerHTML + '</textarea> \
				</div> \
				<div class="dsq-save-edit"> \
					<button onclick="Dsq.Templates.editComment(this, ' + post_id + ')" class="dsq-button-small">Save Edit</button> \
				</div> \
				<div id="dsq-edit-iframe-' + post_id + '" style="display: none"></div> \
				';

				body.appendChild(edit_area);

				if (!Dsq.frames['edit_' + post_id]) {
					var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
					Dsq.frames['edit_' + post_id] = new Dsq.ReplyFrame(Dsq.$('dsq-edit-iframe-' + post_id), post_id);
					Dsq.frames['edit_' + post_id].init();
					Dsq.frames['edit_' + post_id].setState(post_id, _meta.depth);
				}
			}
		} else {

			message.style.display = 'block';
			Dsq.$('dsq-edit-' + post_id).style.display = 'none';
		}
		
		Dsq.Post.stateEditToggled[post_id] = !Dsq.Post.stateEditToggled[post_id];
	};
	
	this.edit = function(el, post_id) {

		Dsq.Templates.toggleEdit(post_id);
	};

	this.toggleReply = function(post_id, button) {
		
		if(!this.stateReplyToggled[post_id]) {

			if (Dsq.$('dsq-reply-post-' + post_id)) {
				Dsq.$('dsq-append-post-' + post_id).style.display = 'block';
			} else {
				Dsq.$('dsq-append-post-' + post_id).innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.postBox(post_id);
				var container = Dsq.$('dsq-textarea-wrapper-' + post_id);
				if (!Dsq.frames['reply_' + post_id] && container) {
					var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
					Dsq.frames['reply_' + post_id] = new Dsq.ReplyFrame(container, post_id);
					Dsq.frames['reply_' + post_id].init(function() {

						Dsq.$('dsq-append-post-' + post_id).innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.postBox(post_id, true);
						Dsq.$('dsq-form-area-' + post_id).innerHTML = '';

						var theme = (typeof disqus_frame_theme == 'undefined') ? 'default' : disqus_frame_theme;
						Dsq.Iframes.showReplyIframeInContainer(Dsq.$('dsq-form-area-' + post_id), post_id, {theme: theme});

					});
					Dsq.frames['reply_' + post_id].setState(post_id, _meta.depth);
				}
			}
			Dsq.$('dsq-append-post-' + post_id).className = 'dsq-append-post';
			Dsq.$('dsq-comment-footer-reply-' + post_id).className = 'dsq-comment-footer-reply-active';
			
		} else {

			Dsq.$('dsq-append-post-' + post_id).style.display = 'none';
			Dsq.$('dsq-append-post-' + post_id).className = '';
			Dsq.$('dsq-comment-footer-reply-' + post_id).className = 'dsq-comment-footer-reply';
		}
		
		this.stateReplyToggled[post_id] = !this.stateReplyToggled[post_id];

		if(Dsq.Utils.ie && this.stateReplyToggled[post_id]) {

		}

		Dsq.Events.fire(Dsq.Events.REPLY_IFRAME_TOGGLED, {
			postId: post_id,
			opened: this.stateReplyToggled[post_id]
		});
	};
	
	this.moderateOptions = function(post_id) {
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][_meta.user_key];
		
		if(!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator && !Dsq.jsonData.request.is_global_moderator) { return false; }

		var html;
		
		html = ' \
		<div class="dsq-moderate-options"> \
		<table>'
		+ (_meta.email ? '<tr><td>Email</td><td>' + _meta.email + '</td></tr>' : '')
		+ (_meta.ip ? '<tr><td>IP address</td><td>' + _meta.ip + '</td></tr>' : '')
		+ '<tr> \
			<td>Actions</td> \
			<td><ul>'
			+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.moderator_can_edit
				? '<li><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.edit(this, ' + post_id + '); Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true); return false;">Edit Comment</a></li>'
				: '')
			+ '<li><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.removePost(' + post_id + ', 1); Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true); return false;">Delete Comment</a></li> \
			<li><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.reportSpam(' + post_id + '); Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true); return false;">Mark Spam</a></li> \
			<li><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup.blacklist(' + post_id + '); return false">Block User</a></li> \
			</ul></td> \
			</table> \
		</div> \
		';
		
		html += '<p>Go to the full <a href="http://disqus.com/comments/moderate/" target="_blank">moderate panel</a> for more options.</p>';
		
		return Dsq.Popup.popModal(html, 'Moderate Options', post_id);
	};
	
	this.placeholder = {
		'class': 'dsq-placeholder',
		'name': Dsq.Strings.NAME,
		'email': Dsq.Strings.EMAIL,
		'website': Dsq.Strings.WEBSITE + ' (' + Dsq.Strings.OPTIONAL.toLowerCase() + ')'
	};
	
	this.handlePlaceholder = function(evt, el, key) {
		var placeholder = Dsq.Templates.placeholder[key];
		var className = Dsq.Templates.placeholder['class'];
		
		switch(evt.type) {
			case 'focus':
				if(el.value == placeholder) {
					el.value = '';
					el.className = '';
				}
				break;

			case 'blur':
				if(el.value == '') {
					el.value = placeholder;
					el.className = className;
				}
				break;
			default:
				break;
		}
	};
	
	this.paginate = function(page, el_clicked) {

		var extra_params = '';

		if(typeof disqus_per_page != 'undefined') {
			extra_params += '&per_page=' + disqus_per_page;
		}
		if(typeof disqus_sort != 'undefined') {
			extra_params += '&sort=' + disqus_sort;
		}

		Dsq.$('dsq-pagination').innerHTML += '<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/loading-small.gif">';
		
		if(el_clicked) {
			Dsq.Templates.setLoadingButton(el_clicked);
		}
		
		Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/forums/jackandjillpolitics/thread.js'
			+ '?slug='	+ 'town_breaks_it_down8230again8230'
			+ '&p='		+ page
			+ extra_params);
	};
	
	
	this.rate = function(el, id, vote) {


		if(Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated || Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_votes) {
			if(vote == 1) {
				Dsq.$('dsq-like-' + id).innerHTML = '<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/loading-small.gif">';
			}
			Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/forums/jackandjillpolitics/vote.js'
				+ '?post_id='    + id
				+ '&vote='        + vote);
		} else {
			Dsq.Popup.login('To rate, please log in');
		}
	};

	this.voted = function(post_id, points, vote) {

		Dsq.$('dsq-like-pts-' + post_id).innerHTML = points + Dsq.Utils.pluralize(points, ' person', ' people') + ' liked this.';

		if(vote) {
			Dsq.$('dsq-like-' + post_id).innerHTML = 'You liked this.&nbsp;&nbsp;';
		}
	};




	this.postComment_onSuccess = function(response, parent_post_id, post_id) {
		var approved = response.message.post_meta.approved;

		if (parent_post_id) {
			Dsq.Post.toggleReply(parent_post_id);
		}

		Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true);
		
		if (approved) {
			Dsq.Post.incrementPostCount();
			Dsq.Post.outlineComment(post_id);
		} else {			
			var unapproved_msg = 'Thanks for posting!\
	 Your comment must be approved by a moderator before appearing here.\
			';
			Dsq.Popup.popModal(unapproved_msg, 'Comment awaiting approval', post_id);
		}

		var sharing_results = response.message.sharing_results;
		var sharing_errors = '';
		for (var service in sharing_results) {
			if (sharing_results.hasOwnProperty(service) === true) {
				if (sharing_results[service].error === true) {
					sharing_errors += service + ', ';
				}
			}
		}

		if (sharing_results.facebook && sharing_results.facebook.callback) {
			FB.ensureInit(function() {
				FB.Connect.streamPublish('', sharing_results.facebook.attachment);
			});
		}

		if (sharing_errors !== '') {
			var message = 'Your comment was posted, but there were errors sharing with the following connections: ';
			message += sharing_errors.replace(/,\s$/, '');
			message += '<p><a href="' + Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + '/profile/connections" target="_blank">Configure your connections here</a></p>'
			Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, 'Sharing options');
		}

		Dsq.Templates.setLoadingButton(false);
	};

	this.postComment_onFailure = function(response, parent_post_id, post_id) {

		Dsq.Templates.setLoadingButton(false);
	};
};




// TODO: It might be faster to use string methods to find all <li (...) </li> blocks and pass to Dsq.PostHandler manually.
Dsq.CommentsHandler = function(str, head, post_id, content, tail, offset, s) {
	var prepend_post = Dsq.Templates.prependPost(post_id);
	var append_post = Dsq.Templates.appendPost(post_id);

	content = content.replace(Dsq.POST_RE, Dsq.PostHandler);
	Dsq.Templates.postLoopCounter++;
	head = Dsq.Templates.Filters.commentContainer(post_id, head);
	return prepend_post + head + content + tail + append_post;
};

Dsq.PostHandler = function(str, h_head, post_id, h_content, h_tail, b_head, b_content, b_tail, offset, s) {
	var prepend_header = Dsq.Templates.postPrependHeader(post_id);
	var append_header = Dsq.Templates.postAppendHeader(post_id);
	var prepend_body = Dsq.Templates.preBody(post_id);
	var append_body = Dsq.Templates.postBody(post_id);
	var append_footer = Dsq.Templates.postFooter(post_id);

	b_content = b_content.replace(Dsq.POST_BODY_RE, Dsq.PostBodyHandler);
	return h_head + prepend_header + h_content + append_header + h_tail + b_head + prepend_body + b_content + append_body + b_tail + append_footer;
};

Dsq.PostBodyHandler = function(str, head, post_id, content, tail, offset, s) {
	content = Dsq.Templates.Filters.commentContent(post_id, content);
	return head + content + tail;
};

Dsq.MediaPostHandler = function(str, args, offset, s) {
	args = args.split(' ');
	if(args[0] == 'seesmic') {
		return '<br />' + Dsq.Templates.mediaSeesmic(args[1], args[2]);
	}
	return '';
};


/**
 * Shorcuts
 */
Dsq.$ = function(element) { return document.getElementById(element); };
Dsq.$b = document.body || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0];


/**
 * Dsq.Debug: Logging functions.
 */

Dsq.Debug = new function() {this.log=function(s){};this.profile=function(f){if(typeof f == 'function')return f();else return eval(f);};};


/**
 * Dsq.Urls: URL paths
 */
Dsq.Urls = new function() {
	this.LOGIN = '/profile/login/';
	this.LOGOUT = '/logout/';
	this.REPLY = 'http://jackandjillpolitics.disqus.com/town_breaks_it_down8230again8230/reply.html';
	this.REQUEST_USER_PROFILE = '/AnonymousUser/';
	this.REQUEST_USER_AVATAR = 'http://media.disqus.com/images/noavatar92.png';
};
// Dsq.Urls

/**
 * Dsq.Validators: Validation for form fields
 */
Dsq.Validators = new function() {
	this.VALID_EMAIL_RE = /^[a-z0-9\-\_\+]+(\.[a-z0-9\-\_\+]+)*\@(([a-z0-9\-\_\+]+(\.[a-z0-9\-\_\+]+)*)+\.[a-z]{2,}|([0-9]+\.){3}[0-9]+)$/i;
	this.name = function(name) {
		var error = false;

		if(typeof Dsq.Templates.placeholder !== 'undefined' &&
		   name == Dsq.Templates.placeholder.name) {
			error = true;
		}
		if(name.length <= 1) {
			error = true;
		}

		if(error) {
			return "Please enter a name to comment.";
		} else {
			return true;
		}
	};
	this.email = function(addr) {
		if(Dsq.Validators.VALID_EMAIL_RE.test(addr)) {
			return true;
		} else {
			return "Please enter a valid email to comment.";
		}
	};
	this.url = function(addr) {
		if(!addr || addr.indexOf('.') != -1) {
			return true;
		} else {
			return "Please check your website URL (this field is optional).";
		}
	};

	this.validate = function(bulk_validation, failure_callback) {
		failure_callback = failure_callback || function(e){ alert(e); };

		for(var i = 0; i < bulk_validation.length; i++) {
			v = bulk_validation[i];
			ret = v.validator(v.value);
			if(ret !== true) {
				failure_callback(ret);
				return false;
			}
		}
		return true;
	};
};

/**
 * Dsq.Utils: Generic utility functions.
 */
Dsq.Utils = new function() {
	this.ie = /msie/i.test(navigator.userAgent) && !/opera/i.test(navigator.userAgent);
	this.ie7 = (document.all && !window.opera && window.XMLHttpRequest) ? true : false;
	this.ie6 = (!window.XMLHttpRequest) ? true: false;
	this.webkit = navigator.userAgent.indexOf('AppleWebKit/') >= 0;
	this.gebiFromElementCollectionCache = {};
	this._styleSheet = null;

	this.gebiFromElement = function(el, id, tag) {
		// This only method only helps IE.
		if(!this.ie) {
			return Dsq.$(id);
		} else {
			var cacheKey = el.id + '-' + tag;
			tag = tag || 'div';
			if(typeof this.gebiFromElementCollectionCache[cacheKey] != 'undefined') {
				collection = this.gebiFromElementCollectionCache[cacheKey];
			} else {
				collection = el.getElementsByTagName(tag);
				this.gebiFromElementCollectionCache[cacheKey] = collection;
			}

			for(var i = 0; i < collection.length; i++) {
				if(collection[i].id == id) {
					return collection[i];
				}
			}
			return null;
		}
	};

	this.execOnReady = function(func) {
		var node = document.createElement('document:ready');
		try {
			node.doScroll('left');
			func();
			node = null;
		} catch(err) {
			setTimeout(function() { Dsq.Utils.execOnReady(func); }, 10);
		}
	};


	// Courtesy of http://www.quirksmode.org/js/cookies.html
	this.createCookie = function(name,value,days) {
		if (days) {
			var date = new Date();
			date.setTime(date.getTime()+(days*24*60*60*1000));
			var expires = "; expires="+date.toGMTString();
		}
		else var expires = "";
		document.cookie = name+"="+value+expires+"; path=/";
	};

	this.readCookie = function(name) {
		var nameEQ = name + "=";
		var ca = document.cookie.split(';');
		for(var i=0;i < ca.length;i++) {
			var c = ca[i];
			while (c.charAt(0)==' ') c = c.substring(1,c.length);
			if (c.indexOf(nameEQ) == 0) return c.substring(nameEQ.length,c.length);
		}
		return null;
	};

	this.eraseCookie = function(name) {
		Dsq.Utils.createCookie(name,"",-1);
	};

	this.deleteNode = function(node) {
		if(node) {
			this.deleteChildren(node);
			if(typeof node.outerHTML != 'undefined') { node.outerHTML = ''; }
			else if(node.parentNode) { node.parentNode.removeChild(node); }
			delete node;
		}
	};

	this.deleteChildren = function(node) {
		if(node) {
			for(var x = node.childNodes.length-1; x >= 0; x--) {
				var childNode = node.childNodes[x];
				if(childNode.hasChildNodes()) { this.deleteChildren(childNode); }
				if(typeof childNode.outerHTML != 'undefined') { childNode.outerHTML = ''; }
				else node.removeChild(childNode);
				delete childNode;
			}
		}
	};

	this.findPos = function(obj) {
		var curleft = 0;
		var curtop = 0;
		if (obj.offsetParent) {
			do {
				curleft += obj.offsetLeft;
				curtop += obj.offsetTop;
			} while (obj = obj.offsetParent);
		}
		return [curleft,curtop];
	};

	this.getWindowSize = function() {
		var windowWidth = -1;
		var windowHeight = -1;

		if(typeof(window.innerWidth) == 'number') { //Non-IE
			windowWidth = window.innerWidth;
			windowHeight = window.innerHeight;
		} else if(document.documentElement) { // IE 6+ in 'standards compliant mode'
			windowWidth = document.documentElement.clientWidth || document.body.clientWidth;
			windowHeight = document.documentElement.clientHeight || document.body.clientHeight;
		}

		return [windowWidth, windowHeight];
	}

	this.getScrollPos = function() {
		var scrollWidth, scrollTop;

		if(document.documentElement && (document.documentElement.scrollTop || document.documentElement.scrollWidth)) {
			scrollWidth = document.documentElement.scrollWidth;
			// IE is weird here.  If no doctype is provided, document.body.scrollTop is 0,
			// otherwise document.documentElement.scrollTop is 0.
			scrollTop = document.documentElement.scrollTop || document.body.scrollTop;
		} else if(document.body.scrollTop && document.body.scrollWidth) {
			scrollWidth = document.body.scrollWidth;
			scrollTop = document.body.scrollTop;
		}

		return [scrollWidth, scrollTop];
	}

	this.addEventListener = function(instance, eventName, listener) {
		var listenerFn = listener;
		if (instance.addEventListener) {
			instance.addEventListener(eventName, listenerFn, false);
		} else if (instance.attachEvent) {
			listenerFn = function() {
				listener(window.event);
			};
			instance.attachEvent("on" + eventName, listenerFn);
		} else {
			throw new Error("Event registration not supported");
		}
		return {
			instance: instance,
			name: eventName,
			listener: listenerFn
		};
	};

	this.removeEventListener = function(event) {
		var instance = event.instance;
		if (instance.removeEventListener) {
			instance.removeEventListener(event.name, event.listener, false);
		} else if (instance.detachEvent) {
			instance.detachEvent("on" + event.name, event.listener);
		}
	};

	this.fixIframesIE = function(id) {
		var disqusThread = Dsq.$(disqus_container_id);
		var iframes = disqusThread.getElementsByTagName('iframe');

		if(id) {
			var container = Dsq.$(id);
		} else {
			var container = Dsq.$('dsq-content');
		}

		for(i = 0; i < iframes.length; i++) {
			if (container) {
				iframes[i].style.width = container.offsetWidth;
			}
		}
	};

	this.getElementsByClassName = function(oElm, strTagName, strClassName) {
	/* Credit: Jonathan Snook [http://www.snook.ca/jonathan], Robert Nyman [http://www.robertnyman.com] */
		var arrElements = (strTagName == "*" && oElm.all)? oElm.all : oElm.getElementsByTagName(strTagName);
		var arrReturnElements = new Array();
		strClassName = strClassName.replace(/\-/g, "\\-");
		var oRegExp = new RegExp("(^|\\s)" + strClassName + "(\\s|$)");
		var oElement;
		for(var i = 0; i < arrElements.length; i++) {
			oElement = arrElements[i];
			if(oRegExp.test(oElement.className)) {
				arrReturnElements.push(oElement);
			}
		}
		return (arrReturnElements);
	};

	this.postToUrl = function(url, post_data, opt_redirect) {
		var form = document.createElement('form');
		var iframe_container = document.createElement('div');
		var id = 'dsq-temp-iframe-' + (new Date()).getTime();

		form.method = 'POST';
		form.action = url;
		if (!opt_redirect) {
			form.target = id;
		}
		iframe_container.innerHTML = '<iframe style="display:none" name="' + id + '" id="' + id + '"></iframe>';

		for(var key in post_data) {
			if(post_data.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
				var input = document.createElement('input');
				input.name = key;
				input.type = 'hidden';
				input.value = post_data[key];

				form.appendChild(input);
			}
		}

		Dsq.$b.appendChild(iframe_container);
		Dsq.$b.appendChild(form);
		form.submit();
	};

	// Strips integer id from id of element in the form ('some-id-###')
	this.extractId = function(e) {
		var chunks = e.id.split('-');
		if(chunks.length <= 1) {
			return 0;
		} else {
			return parseInt(chunks[chunks.length-1]);
		}
	};

	this.getStyle = function(el, styleProp) {
		if(el.currentStyle) {
			var y = el.currentStyle[styleProp];
		} else if(window.getComputedStyle) {
			var y = document.defaultView.getComputedStyle(el, null).getPropertyValue(styleProp);
		}

		if(y == 'transparent' || y == '') {
			this.getStyle(el.parentNode, styleProp);
		} else {
			return y;
		}
	};

	this.execScript = function(url, append_qs, container) {
		var script = document.createElement('script');
		append_qs = typeof append_qs == 'undefined' ? true : append_qs;
		container = container || Dsq.container;

		if(append_qs) {
			var j = (url.indexOf('?') >= 0) ? '&' : '?';
			url += j + (new Date()).getTime();
		}
		script.type = 'text/javascript';
		script.charset = 'UTF-8';
		script.src = url;
		container.appendChild(script);
		return script;
	};

	this.pluralize = function(num, singular, plural) {
		return (num != 1) ? plural || 's' : singular || '';
	};

	this.getRequestParams = function(queryString /* optional */) {
		var pairs, tuple;
		var params = {};

		queryString = queryString || window.location.search.substring(1);
		pairs = queryString.split('&');

		for (var i = 0, pair; pair = pairs[i]; i++) {
			tuple = pair.split('=');
			params[tuple[0]] = (tuple[1] || true);
		}

		return params;
	};

	this.addCssRule = function(selector, styleText, index) {
		var stylesheet;
		index = index || 0;

		if(!this._styleSheet) {
			var styleEl = document.createElement('style');
			document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(styleEl);
			this._styleSheet = styleEl.sheet;
			if(!this._styleSheet) {
				// IE does not like our newly created stylesheet.
				this._styleSheet = document.styleSheets[document.styleSheets.length-1];
			}
		}
		stylesheet = this._styleSheet;

		if(stylesheet.insertRule) {
			var ruleText = selector + ' { ' + styleText + ' }';
			if(index == -1) {
				index = stylesheet.cssRules.length;
			}
			stylesheet.insertRule(ruleText, index);
		} else if(stylesheet.addRule) {
			stylesheet.addRule(selector, styleText, index);
		}
	};

	this.forEachIn = function(obj, callback) {
		for(var key in obj) {
			if(obj.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
				callback(key, obj[key]);
			}
		}
	};

	this._interpolateGlobalContext = {
		// values that get used a lot and are global to the request
		'profile_url': Dsq.Urls.REQUEST_USER_PROFILE,

		'disqus_url': Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url,
		'media_url': Dsq.jsonData.settings.media_url,
		'request_username': Dsq.jsonData.request.username,
		'request_display_username': Dsq.jsonData.request.display_username,
		'forum_name': Dsq.jsonData.forum.name
	};

	this.renderFromContextStack = function(key, contexts) {
		// Returns the first instance of `key` in the array of objects `contexts` or else ''
		for (var i=0; i<contexts.length; i++) {
			if (contexts[i][key] !== undefined) {
				return String(contexts[i][key]);
			}
		}
		throw new Error('key ' + key + ' not found in context');
	};

	var that = this;
	this.interpolate = function(fmt, opt_localContext) {
		// Interpolate `fmt` named-format string with an assumed global context.
		// Based on `interpolate` in django.views.i18n
		var contextStack = [opt_localContext || {}, that._interpolateGlobalContext];
		return fmt.replace(/%\(\w+\)s/g, function(match){
			return that.renderFromContextStack(match.slice(2,-2), contextStack);
		});
	};

	this.stripTags = function(s) {
		// Removes HTML tags from `s`
		return s.replace(/(<([^>]+)>)/g,"");

	};

	this.assert = function(b) {
		if (!b) {
			throw new Error('Assertion error.');
		}
	};

};
// Dsq.Utils

/**
 * Dsq.Popup: Popup helper functions.
 */
Dsq.Popup = new function() {
	this.timeHide = new Array();
	this.timeShow = new Array();
	this.activePopup = {};
	this.profileCache = {};
	this.statusCache = {};

	this.showTimer = function(post_id) {
		// clear the hide timer
		clearTimeout(this.timeHide[post_id]);

		// start the timer
		if(!Dsq.Popup.profileIsOn && !Dsq.Thread.adminIsOn) {
			this.timeShow[post_id] = setTimeout("Dsq.Popup.popProfile(\"" + post_id + "\")", 400);
		}
	};

	this.hideTimer = function(post_id) {
		// clear the show timer
		clearTimeout(this.timeShow[post_id]);
	};

	this.updateProfile = function(username) {
		// Callback from /embed/profile.js
		if (this.statusCache[username]) {
			var statusEl = Dsq.$('dsq-profile-status-' + username);
			statusEl.innerHTML = this.statusCache[username];
			statusEl.style.display = 'block';
		}

		if (this.profileCache[username]) {
			var _cache = this.profileCache[username];

			var _genhtml = function(text) { return '<span><big>' + text + '</big></span>'; };
			var _no_comments = _genhtml(Dsq.FmtStrings.NUMBER_OF_COMMENTS(_cache.comments_count));
			var _no_likes = _genhtml(Dsq.FmtStrings.NUMBER_OF_LIKES(_cache.likes_count));
			var _no_points = _genhtml(Dsq.FmtStrings.NUMBER_OF_POINTS(_cache.points));

			var statsEl = Dsq.$('dsq-popup-profile-user-stats-' + username);
			statsEl.innerHTML = '';

			if (Dsq.jsonData.users[username].registered) {
				statsEl.innerHTML = _no_comments + _no_likes;
			}
			statsEl.innerHTML += _no_points;

			var activeSites = '';
			for (var i = 0; i < _cache.active_sites.length; i++) {
				var site = _cache.active_sites[i];
				activeSites += '<li><a href="' + site.url + '"> \
					<img src="' + site.favicon + '"/ width="16" height="16"/></a>\
					<a href="' + site.url + '">' + site.name + '</a></li>';
			}
			if (activeSites !== '') {
				Dsq.$('dsq-popup-profile-active-sites-' + username).innerHTML = activeSites;
			} else {
				Dsq.$('dsq-popup-profile-active-sites-' + username).innerHTML = 'This site.';
			}

			var moderatedSites = '';
			for (var i = 0; i < _cache.moderated_sites.length; i++) {
				var site = _cache.moderated_sites[i];
				moderatedSites += '<li><a href="' + site.url + '"> \
					<img src="' + site.favicon + '"/ width="16" height="16"/></a>\
					<a href="' + site.url + '">' + site.name + '</a></li>';
			}
			if (moderatedSites !== '') {
				Dsq.$('dsq-popup-profile-moderated-' + username).innerHTML = moderatedSites;
			} else {
				Dsq.$('dsq-popup-profile-moderated-wrapper-' + username).innerHTML = '';
			}
		}

		// Reposition popup after full HTML is rendered
		if(Dsq.Popup.activePopup && Dsq.Popup.activePopup.el) {
			Dsq.Popup.initPopup(Dsq.Popup.activePopup.el, Dsq.Popup.activePopup.id, Dsq.Popup.activePopup.type);
		}

	};

	this.showCookieMsgs = function() {
		var title = '';
		var message = '';
		var numAlerts = 0;

		Dsq.Utils.forEachIn(Dsq.jsonData.cookie_messages, function(k, v) {
			if (!v) return;

			switch(k) {
				// Cookie: Twitter
				case 'post_twitter':
					if (v === 'error') {
						title = 'Twitter Error!';
						message += '<li id="dsq-msg-twitter-error">Oops, we couldn\'t tweet this comment. Please check your <a href="http://disqus.com/account/services">account settings</a>.</li>';
					} else {
						var _msg = v.split(':');
						title = 'Tweeted!';
						message += '<li id="dsq-msg-twitter-success">Your comment was successfully tweeted. <a href="http://twitter.com/' + _msg[0] + '/status/' + _msg[1] + '">Click here to view the tweet</a>.</li>';
					}
					break;
				// Cookie: Unapproved Post
				case 'post_not_approved':
					title = 'Comment awaiting approval by a moderator';
					message += '<li id="dsq-msg-post-not-approved">Your comment must be approved by a moderator before appearing here.</li>';
					break;
				// Cookie: Profile Found
				case 'post_has_profile':
					title = 'Use your existing commenter profile';
					message += '<li id="dsq-msg-post-has-profile">You have just posted your commment as a <span class="dsq-badge-guest">Guest</span>, but you may already have a <span class="logo-disqus">Disqus</span> Profile.<br /><br /><a href="http://disqus.com/claim">Log in and claim this comment!</a></li>';
					break;
				case 'user_created':
					var _data = v.split(':');
					title = 'Profile created!';
					message += '<li id="dsq-msg-user-created">You have just created a <span class="logo-disqus">Disqus</span> Profile, the best way to claim, manage, and track your comments all over the web. \
					<br /><br />A confirmation is being sent to <strong>' + _data[1] + '</strong>. Please check for this email in order to verify your profile. \
					<ul class="dsq-list-tick"> \
						<li>Your username is <strong>' + _data[0] +'</strong>. <a href="http://disqus.com/people/' + _data[0] + '/" target="_blank">Click here to view your public profile</a>.</li> \
						<li>Be sure to set your profile picture, as well as connect your <span class="dsq-badge-facebook">Facebook</span> and <span class="dsq-badge-twitter">Twitter</span> accounts. <a href="http://disqus.com/account/" target="_blank">Click here for account settings</a>.</li> \
					</ul> \
					</li>'
					break;
				default:
					break;
			}
			numAlerts++;
		});

		if(numAlerts > 1) {
			message = '<ul class="dsq-list-bluebullet">' + message;
			message += '</ul>';
			title = 'Thanks for posting!';
		}
		if(numAlerts > 0) {
			if(typeof(disqus_cookie_msgs) == 'function') {
				disqus_cookie_msgs(message, title);
			} else {
				Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, title);
			}
		}
	};

	this.helpBadges = function(post_id) {
		var html = ' \
			<ul class="dsq-popup-help"> \
				<li><span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-verified">Verified</span> has a <span class="logo-disqus">Disqus</span> Profile with a confirmed email address.</li> \
				<li><span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-registered">Registered</span> has a <span class="logo-disqus">Disqus</span> Profile, but has not yet confirmed his or her email address.</li> \
				<li><span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-guest">Guest</span> is not logged in with any account and has not claimed his or her comments.</li> \
				<li class="dsq-help-otheraccts">Other accounts</li> \
				<li><span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-facebook">Facebook</span> is using his or her Facebook profile via Facebook Connect.</li> \
				<li><span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-twitter">Twitter</span> is using his or her Twitter profile via Twitter Sign-in.</li> \
				<li><span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-openid">OpenID</span> is using his or her OpenID.</li> \
			</ul> \
		';

		this.popModal(html, 'Help: Types of Commenters', post_id);
		return;
	};

	this.permalink = function(post_id) {
		var header = 'Link to this comment';
		var body = '<strong>You are anchored to</strong>:<br />' + document.location.protocol + '//' + document.location.host + document.location.pathname + document.location.search + '#comment-' + post_id;

		this.popModal(body, header, post_id);
	};

	this.login = function(header, body) {
		var h = header || 'Login or Register';
		var b = body || '';
		b += Dsq.Templates.frameLogin({id: 'dsq-popup-login'});
		b += '</iframe>'; // HACK: Sometimes there is something funky with the IFRAME SRC that causes no end tag
		this.popModal(b, h, null, true, 'dsq-popup-login');
	};

	this.blacklist = function(id) {
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[id];
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][_meta.user_key];
		var title = 'Add to Blacklist';
		var message = ' \
		Adding this person to the blacklist will block him or her from commenting on this site. Check the following types that you would like to add to the blacklist:'
		+ (userData['registered'] ?
			'<div class="dsq-blacklist-option"> \
				<input id="dsq-blacklist-username" type="checkbox" checked> \
				<label for="dsq-blacklist-username"><strong>Username</strong>: ' + userData['username'] + '</label> \
			</div>'
			: '')
		+ (_meta.email ?
			'<div class="dsq-blacklist-option"> \
				<input id="dsq-blacklist-email" type="checkbox" checked> \
				<label for="dsq-blacklist-email"><strong>Email address</strong>: ' + _meta.email + '</label> \
			</div>'
			: '')
		+ '<div class="dsq-blacklist-option"> \
			<input id="dsq-blacklist-ip" type="checkbox" onclick="Dsq.$(\'dsq-blacklist-ip-warning\').style.display=\'block\'"> \
			<label for="dsq-blacklist-ip"><strong>IP address</strong>: ' + _meta.ip + '</label> \
		</div> \
		';

		message += ' \
			<p id="dsq-blacklist-ip-warning" style="display:none">	\
				Note: Blocking this person\'s IP address may also unintentionally prevent others, who share his/her IP address, from commenting on this site. \
				This may include people who are sharing the same computer, living in the same house, or using the same Internet provider. Only block an IP address as a last resort. \
			</p> \
		';

		message += ' \
			<p style="text-align:center"><button onclick="Dsq.Post.blockUser(' + id + '); this.disabled=true; this.innerHTML=\'Just one moment...\'">Add to Blacklist</button></p> \
		';

		Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, title);
	};

	this.remoteAccountSettings = function() {
		var body = '';
		// Set up IFrame.
		var params = {};
		var base_url = 'http://disqus.com/forums/jackandjillpolitics/_auth/embed/remote_settings/';
		var attributes = {id: 'dsq-popup-account-settings'};
		if (typeof disqus_frame_theme != 'undefined') {
			params['theme'] = disqus_frame_theme;
		}

		body = Dsq.Templates._frameGeneric(base_url, params, attributes);
		this.popModal(body, 'Account Settings', null, true, 'dsq-popup-account-settings');
	};

	this.popModal = function(message, title, post_id, use_listener, extra_classes) {
		var container = document.createElement('div');
		var header, body;

		Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true);

		if(typeof(title) == 'undefined') { title = ''; }
		if(typeof(use_listener) == 'undefined') { use_listener = true; }

		if(post_id) {
			container.id = 'dsq-popup-message-' + post_id;
		} else {
			container.id = 'dsq-popup-message';
		}

		header = title;
		body = message;

		container.innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.popupModal(header, body);
		Dsq.Popup.initPopup(container, post_id, 'message', extra_classes);
		if(use_listener) {
			Dsq.Popup.popupListener = Dsq.Utils.addEventListener(document, 'mouseup', Dsq.Popup._closePopup);
		}
	};

	this.popAlert = this.popModal;

	this.loading = function(post_id) {
		var title = Dsq.Strings.JUST_A_MOMENT;
		var body = '<div style="text-align:center; padding: 5px 0 10px 0"><img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/loading.gif" alt="" /></div>'
		Dsq.Popup.lightbox(body, title, post_id);
	};

	this.lightbox = function(message, title, post_id) {
		// Wraps Dsq.Popup.popModal

		var overlay = document.createElement('div');
		overlay.id = 'dsq-overlay';
		overlay.className = 'dsq-overlay';
		Dsq.$b.appendChild(overlay);
		
		Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, title, post_id, false, 'dsq-lightbox');
	};

	this.popProfile = function(post_id, userKey) {
		var post = Dsq.jsonData['posts'][post_id];
		if (post && post.has_been_anonymized) {
			Dsq.Popup.popModal('This message was anonymized by its previous owner.', 'Anonymized', post_id);
			return;
		}

		if(post_id) {
			userKey = Dsq.jsonData['posts'][post_id].user_key;	
		}
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][userKey];
		var elId = 'dsq-popup-profile-' + userKey;
		var container = document.createElement('div');

		if(this.activePopup.el) {
			this._closePopup(null, true);
			if(this.activePopup.linkClicked) {
				this.activePopup.linkClicked = false;
				return;
			}
		}

		container.id = elId;
		container.innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.popupProfile(userKey);

		this.initPopup(container, post_id, 'profile');
		this.popupListener = Dsq.Utils.addEventListener(document, 'mouseup', this._closePopup);

		if(!this.profileCache[userKey]) {
			Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/embed/profile.js'
				+ '?username=' + userKey
				+ '&anon=' + (userData['registered'] ? 0 : 1)
				+ '&f=' + Dsq.jsonData['request'].forum);
		} else {
			this.updateProfile(userKey);
		}
	};

	this._closePopup = function(e, force) {
		var activePopup = Dsq.Popup.activePopup.el;
		var id = Dsq.Popup.activePopup.id;
		var link = 'dsq-avatar-' + id; // HACK: Specific to profile toggle target

		// HACK: This event should be gone if there is no active popup.
		if(!activePopup) {
			return;
		}
		if(force || !Dsq.Popup.isClicked(e, activePopup.id)) {
			// TODO: This is breaking iE?
			if(Dsq.Popup.popupListener) {
				Dsq.Utils.removeEventListener(Dsq.Popup.popupListener);
			}
			
			// Kill overlay
			var overlay = Dsq.$('dsq-overlay');
			if(overlay) { Dsq.Utils.deleteNode(overlay); }
			
			try {
				Dsq.Utils.deleteNode(activePopup);
			} catch(e) {
				// HACK: IE6 throws an error when using deleteNode() with a node containing a <table> in the html.
				activePopup.parentNode.removeChild(activePopup);
			}
			Dsq.Popup.activePopup = {};
		}

		if(!force && Dsq.Popup.isClicked(e, link)) {
 			Dsq.Popup.activePopup.linkClicked = true;
		}

	};

	this.initPopup = function(popup, post_id, type, extra_classes) {
		popup.className = 'dsq-popup dsq-popup-' + type + ' ' + (extra_classes ? extra_classes : '');
		if(Dsq.Utils.ie6 || Dsq.Utils.ie7) {
			// HACK: We can't modify the body before it's ready, so we need
			//       to use an IE-safe "DOMReady" workaround before loading
			//       our popup.
			Dsq.Utils.execOnReady(function() {Dsq.$b.appendChild(popup); });
		} else {
			Dsq.$b.appendChild(popup);
		}

		popup.style.display = 'block';

		var xPos = (Dsq.Utils.getWindowSize()[0] - popup.offsetWidth) / 2;
		var yPos = (Dsq.Utils.getWindowSize()[1] - popup.offsetHeight) / 2;

		if(Dsq.Utils.ie6) {
			yPos += Dsq.Utils.getScrollPos()[1];
		}

		popup.style.left = xPos + 'px';
		popup.style.top = yPos + 'px';

		Dsq.Popup.activePopup = {
			'el' : popup,
			'id' : post_id,
			'type': type,
			'linkClicked' : false
		};
	};

	this.isClicked = function(e, id) {
		var t = e.target || e.srcElement;
		while(t && t.parentNode) {
			if(t.id == id) {
				return true;
			}

			t = t.parentNode;
		}
		return false;
	};
};
// Dsq.Popup

/**
 * Dsq.Templates
 */
Dsq.Templates = new function() {
	/*
	 * Counter keeping track of the number of posts iterated over.
	 */
	this.postLoopCounter = 0;
	this.filters = {};
	this.addPostContainer = 'dsq-post-add';
	this.textareaContainer = 'dsq-post-add';

	this.registerTemplate = function(name, func) {
		this['$$_' + name] = func;

		if(typeof DsqLocal.Filters != 'undefined'
		&& typeof DsqLocal.Filters[name] == 'function') {
			// Push filters to this.filters to unify code.
			this.filters[name] = this.filters[name] || [];
			this.filters[name].push(DsqLocal.Filters[name]);
		}

		this[name] = function() {
			var ret;

			if(typeof DsqLocal.Templates != 'undefined'
			&& typeof DsqLocal.Templates[name] == 'function') {
				ret = DsqLocal.Templates[name].apply(this, arguments);
			}

			if(ret === undefined) {
				ret = this['$$_' + name].apply(this, arguments);
			}

			if(this.filters[name]) {
				var args = [ret];

				args.push.apply(args, arguments);
				for(var i = 0; i < this.filters[name].length; i++) {
					ret = this.filters[name][i].apply(this, args);
				}
			}

			return ret;
		};
	};

	this.registerFilter = function(name, func) {
		this.filters[name] = this.filters[name] || [];
		this.filters[name].push(func);
	};

	/**
	 * Dsq.Templates.Filters
	 */
	this.Filters = new function() {
		this.commentContainer = function(post_id, s) {
			var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
			var classes = [];
			if(Dsq.jsonData.request.page > 1) {
				classes.push('dsq-append');
			}

			//
			// Extra classes used for custom themes
			//

			if(_meta.depth) {
				classes.push('dsq-comment-child', 'dsq-depth-' + _meta.depth, 'dsq-parent-is-' + _meta.parent_post_id);
			}


			//

			if(_meta.author_is_creator) {
				// TODO: We need to deprecate the "special" class since it is not properly prefixed.
				classes.push('special', 'dsq-special');
			}
			if(_meta.author_is_moderator) {
				classes.push('dsq-moderator');
			}
			classes.push(['dsq-odd', 'dsq-even'][Dsq.Templates.postLoopCounter % 2]);

			s = s.substring(0, s.lastIndexOf('>'));
			return s + ' class="dsq-comment ' + classes.join(' ') + '" style="margin-left:' + _meta.depth*30 + 'px">';
		};

		this.commentContent = function(post_id, s) {
			var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
			if (_meta.killed) {
				return '<em>Comment removed.</em>';
			} else if (!_meta.approved) {
				return '<em>This comment was flagged for review.</em>';
			}

			s = s.replace(Dsq.MEDIA_POST_RE, Dsq.MediaPostHandler);
			return s;
		};
	};

	//
	// Thread
	//
	// TODO: These need to be stripped of all Django template tags.

	this.authPost = function() {
		if (!Dsq.jsonData.context.show_reply) {
			return '';
		}
		var result = [];
		result = result.concat([
				'<div id="dsq-auth"',
						Dsq.jsonData.integration.reply_position ? 'class="dsq-auth-bottom"' : '',
						'>',
					'<div class="dsq-by">',
						'<a href="http://disqus.com" target="_blank">',
							(Dsq.jsonData.integration.disqus_logo ?
								Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<img src="%(media_url)s/images/embed/by-disqus.png" alt="discussion by DISQUS">') :
								Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<img src="%(media_url)s/images/embed/dsq-button-120x19.png" alt="discussion by DISQUS">')
							),
						'</a>',
					'</div>',
					'<div class="dsq-auth-header">',
						'<h3 id="dsq-add-new-comment" class="dsq-h3-addcomment">',
								Dsq.Strings.ADD_NEW_COMMENT,
						'</h3>',
						'<div id="dsq-login">',
						(!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated && Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_post
								? '<p class="dsq-login-message" id="dsq-login-message">You are commenting as a <a class="dsq-help" title="Click for more information" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges(); return false">Guest</a>. You may select one to log into:</p>'
								: '')
		]);
		if (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated) {
			result = result.concat([
							Dsq.Utils.interpolate(
								'<a id="dsq-login-toggle" href="%(disqus_url)s%(login_url)s?next=article:%(thread_id)s" onclick="Dsq.Popup.login(); return false"><img class="dsq-login-icon" src="%(media_url)s/images/dsq-profile-btn.png" title="%(log_into)s" alt="%(log_into)s"/></a>',
								{login_url: Dsq.Urls.LOGIN, thread_id: Dsq.jsonData.thread.id, log_into: Dsq.Strings.LOG_INTO_DISQUS}
								),
							'&nbsp; ',
							(Dsq.jsonData.context.use_fb_connect ?
								'<div id="dsq-fbc-login" onlogin="DisqusFbcParentController.onLogin()" size="medium" background="light" length="short" style="display:inline; margin-right:7px"></div>' :
								''
							),
							(Dsq.jsonData.context.use_twitter_signin ?
								Dsq.Utils.interpolate(
									'<div id="dsq-twitter-login" class="dsq-twitter-login" onclick="Dsq.Twitter.startTwitterConnect();" style="display:inline; cursor: pointer"><img src="%(media_url)s/images/twitter-signin-short.png" style="margin-right:7px" /></div>', {}) : ''),
							(Dsq.jsonData.context.use_openid ?
								Dsq.Utils.interpolate(
									'<div id="dsq-openid-login" class="dsq-openid-login" onclick="Dsq.OpenID.requestURL();" style="display:inline; cursor:pointer;"><img src="%(media_url)s/images/openid-login-button.png"/></div>', {}
								) : '')
			]);
		}
		result = result.concat([
						'</div>', // dsq-login
					'</div>', // dsq-auth-header
					'<div id="dsq-authenticated" class="dsq-authenticated" ',
						Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated ? 'style="display:block"' : '',
						'>',
						'<div class="dsq-authenticated-pic">',
								Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<a href="%(url)s" title="%(request_display_username)s">' +
																			'<img class="dsq-post-avatar" src="%(avatar_url)s" alt="" /></a>',
																			{avatar_url: Dsq.Urls.REQUEST_USER_AVATAR,
																			url: (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote
																					 ? Dsq.jsonData.request.url
																					 : Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + Dsq.Urls.REQUEST_USER_PROFILE) }),
						'</div>',
						'<div class="dsq-authenticated-info">',
							'<ul>',
								'<li>',
									(Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote
										? Dsq.FmtStrings.LOGGED_IN_AS(
												Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<a href="%(url)s" title="%(request_display_username)s">%(request_display_username)s</a>', {url:Dsq.jsonData.request.url})
										  )
										: Dsq.FmtStrings.LOGGED_IN_AS(
												Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<a href="%(disqus_url)s%(profile_url)s" title="%(request_display_username)s">%(request_display_username)s</a>')
											)
									),
								'</li>',
								'<li class="logout">',
									(!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote
										? Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<img class="dsq-login-icon" src="%(media_url)s/images/dsqicon12.png" alt="%(logged_in_as)s"/>&nbsp',
											{logged_in_as: Dsq.FmtStrings.LOGGED_IN_AS(Dsq.jsonData.request.display_username)})
										: ''),

									(!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote
										? Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<a href="%(disqus_url)s%(logout_url)s?ctkn=%(csrf_token)s" title="%(logout_from_disqus)s">',
											{logout_url: Dsq.Urls.LOGOUT, csrf_token: Dsq.CSRF_TOKEN, logout_from_disqus: Dsq.FmtStrings.LOGOUT_FROM('DISQUS')})
										: ((Dsq.jsonData.request.remote_domain == 'twitter')
												? Dsq.Utils.interpolate('using Twitter (<a href="%(disqus_url)s%(logout_url)s?ctkn=%(csrf_token)s" title="Logout">Logout</a>)',
												 {logout_url: Dsq.Urls.LOGOUT, csrf_token: Dsq.CSRF_TOKEN})
												: ((Dsq.jsonData.request.remote_domain == 'openid')
													 ? Dsq.Utils.interpolate('using OpenID (<a href="%(disqus_url)s%(logout_url)s?ctkn=%(csrf_token)s" title="Logout">Logout</a>)',
													 {logout_url: Dsq.Urls.LOGOUT, csrf_token: Dsq.CSRF_TOKEN})
													 : ''
													)
											)
									),

									(!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote ? Dsq.FmtStrings.LOGOUT_FROM('<span class="logo-disqus">DISQUS</span>') : ''),
									'</a>',
								'</li>',
							'</ul>',
						'</div>',
					'</div>'
		]);
		if (Dsq.jsonData.context.use_fb_connect) {
			result = result.concat([
					'<div id="dsq-fbc-authenticated" class="dsq-authenticated">',
						'<div id="dsq-fbc-profilepic" class="dsq-authenticated-pic" uid="loggedinuser" type="FB.XFBML.ProfilePic" size="square" facebook-logo="true"></div>',
						'<div class="dsq-authenticated-info">',
							'<ul>',
								'<li>',
									'Logged in as <span id="dsq-fbc-name" uid="loggedinuser" type="FB.XFBML.Name" linked="true" useyou="false"></span>',
								'</li>',
								'<li class="logout">using Facebook Connect <a href="#" onclick="javascript:DisqusFbcParentController.logout();return false;">(Logout)</a></li>',
							'</ul>',
						'</div>',
					'</div>'
			]);
		}
		result = result.concat([
				'</div>', // dsq-auth
				'<div id="dsq-toolbar-items">',
				'</div>'
		]);
		result = result.concat([
					//
					//
					//
				((!Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_post && !Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated) ?
					// Needs to be translated:
					('<p id="dsq-no-anon-msg">Required: Please log into <span class="logo-disqus">Disqus</span> ' +
					(Dsq.jsonData.context.use_fb_connect ? 'or connect with Facebook ' : '') +
					(Dsq.jsonData.context.use_twitter_signin ? 'or sign in with Twitter ' : '') +
					(Dsq.jsonData.context.use_openid ? 'or sign in using OpenID ' : '') +
					Dsq.Utils.interpolate('to comment on <strong>%(forum_name)s</strong>.</p>')) :
					''
				),
				'<div id="dsq-post-add"></div>',
				'<div style="margin:10px 0">',
				((Dsq.jsonData.forum.use_media) ?
						'<a href="#" id="dsq-media-link" onclick="Dsq.Post.showMenu(this, false, \'media\'); return false">' + Dsq.Strings.USE_MEDIA + ' <small>&#9660;</small></a>' :
						''),
				'</div>'
		]);
		return result.join('');
	};


	this.header = function() {

		var html = '\<h3 id="dsq-comments-count" class="dsq-h3-commentcount">\
	 <span id="dsq-num-posts">106</span> Comments\
	 &nbsp;\
	 <span class="dsq-item-feed">\
	 <a href="http://jackandjillpolitics.disqus.com/town_breaks_it_down8230again8230/latest.rss"><img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/embed/bullet-feed.png"></a>\
	 </span>\
	 </h3>\
	 <div id="dsq-options" style="margin:15px 0">\
	 <span class="dsq-item-sort">\
	 Sort by\
	 <select id="dsq-sort-select" onchange="Dsq.Thread.sortBy(this.value);">\
	 <option value="hot" selected="selected">Popular now</option>\
	 <option value="best" >Best Rating</option>\
	 <option value="newest" >Newest first</option>\
	 <option value="oldest" >Oldest first</option>\
	 </select>\
	 &nbsp;\
	 </span>\
	 <span class="dsq-item-cp"><a href="http://jackandjillpolitics.disqus.com/town_breaks_it_down8230again8230/">Community Page</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>\
	 <span class="dsq-item-subscribe">\
	 <img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/embed/email.png" style="width:12px;height:12px;vertical-align:middle">\
	 <span id="dsq-subscribe">\
	 <a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Thread.subscribe(1); return false">Subscribe by email</a>\
	 </span>\
	 </span>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-alerts">\
	 <p><a href="http://disqus.com/profile/login/?next=article:26104778" onclick="Dsq.Popup.login(); return false">You must log into your Disqus Profile in order to post comments.</a></p>\
	 </div>\
		';

		

		
		if (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator) { 
			html = ' \
			<div class="dsq-alert-message dsq-upgrade-message"> \
				<strong>Disqus upgrade available.</strong> Hi ' + Dsq.jsonData.request.display_username + ', this message is being displayed to you because you are a moderator of this site. <a href="#" onclick="Dsq.$(\'dsq-upgrade-message\').style.display=\'block\';this.style.display=\'none\';return false">Click here for details.</a> \
				<div style="display:none; margin-top:10px;" id="dsq-upgrade-message"> \
					A new theme is available with added features. <a href="http://disqus.com/comments/settings/' + Dsq.jsonData.forum.url + '/?p=customize">To change your theme, click here</a> and choose the theme Narcissus. \
					If you do not upgrade, you are missing out on features such as: real-time commenting, new sign-in integrations, and an upgrade interface. \
					<strong>This message will automatically go away in one week.</strong> \
				</div> \
			</div> \
			' + html; 
		}
		return html;
	};

	this.footer = function() {
		var html = Dsq.Templates.pagination();

		
			html += Dsq.Templates.authPost();
		

		html += Dsq.Templates.reactions();

		
			html += Dsq.Templates.trackbacks();
		

		return html;
	};

	this.pagination = function() {
		var html = '';
		
		if (Dsq.$('dsq-pagination')) { Dsq.$('dsq-pagination').innerHTML = ''; }
		if (!Dsq.jsonData.thread.paginate) { return ''; }

		//
		// TODO: num_paginator still uses the template tag for pagination, 
		// 		while append_paginator does it all in JavaScript.
		//		This should all be in JavaScript.
		//

		if (Dsq.jsonData.thread.num_pages > 1 && Dsq.jsonData.request.page < Dsq.jsonData.thread.num_pages) {
			html = ' \<a class="dsq-paginate-append-text" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Thread.paginate(Dsq.jsonData.request.page + 1, this); return false">Show more comments...</a>\
	 <button class="dsq-button-small dsq-paginate-append-button" onclick="Dsq.Thread.paginate(Dsq.jsonData.request.page + 1, this);">Load more comments</button>\
			';
		}
		
		if (Dsq.$('dsq-pagination')) {
			Dsq.$('dsq-pagination').innerHTML = html;
			return '';
		} else {
			return '<div id="dsq-pagination" class="dsq-pagination">' + html + '</div>';
		}
	};

	this.trackbacks = function() {
		var html = '';

		if(typeof DsqLocal != 'undefined' && DsqLocal.trackback_url && DsqLocal.trackbacks) {
			var trackbacks = DsqLocal.trackbacks;
			var trackback_url = DsqLocal.trackback_url;
		} else {
			var trackbacks = [
			
			
			];
			var trackback_url = 'http://jackandjillpolitics.disqus.com/town_breaks_it_down8230again8230/trackback/';
		}

		html += '<div class="dsq-item-trackback">Trackback URL&nbsp;&nbsp;<input class="dsq-trackback-url" onclick="this.select()" readonly="true" value="' + trackback_url + '"></div>';

		if(trackbacks.length) {
			html += '<ul id="dsq-references">'
			for(var i = 0; i < trackbacks.length; i++) {
				var trackback = trackbacks[i];
				html += '<li><cite><a href="' + trackback.author_url + '" rel="nofollow">' + trackback.author_name + '</a></cite> \
						<p class="dsq-meta">' + trackback.date + '</p> \
						<p class="dsq-content">' + trackback.excerpt + '</p></li>';
			}
			html += '</ul>';
			html = '<h3 class="dsq-h3-trackbacks">Trackbacks</h3>' + html;
		}

		return html;
	}

	this.showRetweets = function(id, limit, element_id /* Optional */) {
		var source, html = '';

		for (var i = 0, reaction; reaction = Dsq.jsonData.reactions[i]; i++) {
			if (reaction.id === id) {
				source = reaction.retweets;
			}
		}

		if (source) {
			if (limit === 0) {
				limit = source.length;
			}

			for (var j = 0; j < limit; j++) {
				var rt = source[j];
				html += '<a href="' + rt.url + '">' + rt.author_name + '</a>'	+ ((j === (limit - 1)) ? '.' : ', ');
			}
		}

		if (element_id === undefined) {
			return html;
		}

		var element = document.getElementById(element_id);
		element.innerHTML = html;
		return element;
	};

	this.showMoreReactions = function(reactions, has_more, start, limit) {
		var link = document.getElementById('dsq-show-more-reactions');
		var container = link.parentNode;
		container.removeChild(link);

		for (var i = 0, reaction; reaction = reactions[i]; i++) {
			var el = Dsq.Templates.generateReactionHTML(reaction);
			if (el) {
				container.innerHTML += el;
			}
		}

		if (has_more) {
			var d = Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url;
			var f = Dsq.jsonData.forum.url;
			var t = Dsq.jsonData.thread.id;
			var s = start;
			var l = limit;

			var handler = 'Dsq.Utils.execScript(\'' + d + '/forums/' + f + '/more_reactions.js?t=' + t + '&s=' + s + '&l=' + l + '\', true); return false;';
			container.innerHTML += '<li id="dsq-show-more-reactions"><a href="#" onclick="' + handler + '">Show more reactions</a></li>';
		}
	};

	this.generateReactionHTML = function(reaction) {
		if (reaction.body === null || reaction.body == '') {
			return;
		}

		if (reaction.author_name === '') {
			reaction.author_name = '&nbsp;';
		}

		if (reaction.url === '') {
			reaction.url = reaction.get_service_url;
		}

		/* Reaction HTML begins */
		var item = '<li class="dsq-reaction" id="dsq-reaction-' + reaction.id + '">'
			+ '<div class="dsq-reaction-header">'
			+ '<div class="dsq-header-avatar">';

		if (reaction.author_url && reaction.author_url !== '') {
			item += '<a target="_blank" href="' + reaction.author_url +'">';
		} else {
			item += '<a target="_blank" href="#" onclick="return false;">';
		}

		if (reaction.avatar_url && reaction.avatar_url !== '') {
			item += '<img src="' + reaction.avatar_url + '"/>';
		} else {
			item += '<img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.media_url + '/images/noavatar32.png"/>';
		}

		var service_icon = (reaction.get_service_name == 'trackback' || reaction.get_service_name == 'pingback' ? 'rss' : reaction.get_service_name.replace(' ', ''));
		item += '<img class="dsq-service-icon" src="' + Dsq.jsonData.media_url + '/images/reactions/services/' + service_icon + '.png"/>'
			+ '</a></div>'
			+ '<cite><span>' + reaction.author_name + '</span></cite>'
			+ '<span class="dsq-header-meta"><a class="dsq-header-time">' + reaction.date_created + '</a></span>'
			+ '</div><div class="dsq-reaction-body">'
			+ '<div class="dsq-reaction-message">' + reaction.body + '</div>'
			+ '<div class="dsq-reaction-footer">From <a class="dsq-service-name" target="_blank" href="' + reaction.url + '">' + reaction.get_service_name + '</a> '
			+ 'via ' + (reaction.source == 'backtype' ? '<a href="http://backtype.com/">BackType</a>' : '<a href="' + reaction.source_url + '">UberVU</a>')
			+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator || Dsq.jsonData.request.is_global_moderator ? '&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;<a class="dsq-hide-reaction" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Reaction.hide(' + reaction.id + '); return false;">Hide</a>' : '') + '</div></div>';

		if(reaction.retweets) {
			var num_retweets = reaction.retweets.length;
			if (num_retweets > 0) {
				item += '<div class="dsq-reaction-retweets">';
				if (num_retweets == 1) {
					item += 'One more retweet from <a href="' + reaction.retweets[0].url + '">'  + reaction.retweets[0].author_name + '</a>';
				} else {
					item += (num_retweets + ' more retweets from ');

					item += '<span id="dsq-reaction-retweets-' + reaction.id + '">';
					var n_tweets = (num_retweets > 15) ? 15 : num_retweets;
					item += Dsq.Templates.showRetweets(reaction.id, n_tweets);

					if (n_tweets != num_retweets) {
						item += '</span> <a onclick="Dsq.Templates.showRetweets(' + reaction.id + ', 0, \'dsq-reaction-retweets-' + reaction.id + '\');'
							+ 'this.parentNode.removeChild(this); return false;" href="#">Show all</a>';
					}
				}
				item += '</div>';
			}
		}

		item += '</li>'; /* Reaction HTML ends */
		return item;
	};

	this.reactions = function() {
		var html, reaction;

		if (Dsq.jsonData.reactions === undefined || Dsq.jsonData.reactions.length === 0) {
			return '';
		}

		html = '';
		for (var i = 0; reaction = Dsq.jsonData.reactions[i]; i++) {
			var item = Dsq.Templates.generateReactionHTML(reaction);
			if (item) {
				html += item;
			}
		}

		if (Dsq.jsonData.has_more_reactions) {
			var d = Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url;
			var f = Dsq.jsonData.forum.url;
			var t = Dsq.jsonData.thread.id;
			var s = Dsq.jsonData.reactions_start;
			var l = Dsq.jsonData.reactions_limit;

			var handler = 'Dsq.Utils.execScript(\'' + d + '/forums/' + f + '/more_reactions.js?t=' + t + '&s=' + s + '&l=' + l + '\', true); return false;';
			html += '<li id="dsq-show-more-reactions"><a href="#" onclick="' + handler + '">Show more reactions</a></li>';
		}

		return '<h3 class="dsq-h3-reactions">Reactions</h3><ul id="dsq-reactions" class="dsq-reactions">' + html + '</ul>';
	};
	
	this.missingPermissions = function() {
		return '	<p><a href="http://disqus.com/profile/login/?next=article:26104778" onclick="Dsq.Popup.login(); return false">You must log into your Disqus Profile in order to post comments.</a></p> \n';
	};

	//
	// Post
	//

	this.prependPost = function(post_id) {
		var html = '<div id="comment-' + post_id + '"></div>';
		return html;
	};

	this.appendPost = function(post_id) {
		var html = '<div id="dsq-comment-reply-' + post_id + '"></div>';
		return html;
	};

	this.postPrependHeader = function(post_id) {
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][_meta.user_key];

		var _includeServices = function() {
			var userServices = Dsq.Post.getUserServices(null, post_id);
			var html = '';
			var hiddenThreshold = 3; // Define # of services to show before stuffing them in hidden div

			for(var i = 0; i < userServices.length; i++) {
				html +=
				(i == hiddenThreshold
					? '<li id="dsq-drop-hidden-' + post_id +'" class="dsq-drop-hidden"><ul>'
					: '')
				+ '<li class="dsq-drop-services"> \
					<a class="dsq-service-' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '" href="' + userServices[i].url + '" target="_blank"> \
						<img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.media_url + '/images/embed/services/' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '.png" alt="' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '">'
					+ userServices[i].name
					+ '</a> \
				</li>';
			}

			if(i >= hiddenThreshold) {
				html += '</ul></li> \
				<li id="dsq-drop-more-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-drop-more"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.dropProfileMore(this, '+ post_id + '); return false"><small>&#9660;</small></a></li> \
				';
			}
			return html;
		};

		return ' \
			<div class="dsq-header-avatar" id="dsq-header-avatar-' + post_id + '" onmouseover="Dsq.Post.dropProfile(' + post_id + ')"> \
				<a id="dsq-avatar-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-avatar" href="' + userData.url + '" onclick="Dsq.Popup.popProfile(' + post_id + '); return false;">'
			+ (Dsq.jsonData.forum.show_avatar
				? '<img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.users[_meta.user_key].avatar + '" alt="" />'
				: '')
			+ '</a>'
			+ '</div> \
		';
	};

	this.postAppendHeader = function(post_id) {
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];

		return ''
			+ (_meta.author_is_moderator
				? '<img class="dsq-mod-star" src="http://media.disqus.com/images/bullet-star.png" title="Moderator" alt="" />'
				: '')
			+ '<span class="dsq-header-meta"> \
				<a id="dsq-time-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-header-time" href="#comment-' + post_id + '" title="Permalink">' + _meta.date + '</a> \
			</span>';
	};

	this.preBody = function(post_id) {
		return '';
	}

	this.postBody = function(post_id) {
		// TODO: Deprecate flagging conditional
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		return ''
			+ (_meta.edited
				? '<p class="dsq-editedtxt">(Edited by a moderator)</p>'
				: '')
			;
	};

	this.postFooter = function(post_id) {
		// TODO: Use media should be conditional
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		if(_meta.killed) { return ''; }

		return ' \
			<div class="dsq-comment-footer" id="dsq-comment-footer-' + post_id + '"> \
				<div id="dsq-points-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-likedtxt">'
				+ (_meta.points
					? _meta.points + Dsq.Utils.pluralize(_meta.points, ' person', ' people') + ' liked this comment.'
					: '')
				+ '</div>'
				+ '<ul class="dsq-comment-options dsq-list-style">'
				+ (_meta.votable
					? '<li class="dsq-list-first dsq-rate" id="dsq-rate-cont-' + post_id + '">'
					+ (!_meta.up_voted
						? '<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.rate(this, ' + post_id + ', 1); return false;">Like</a>'
						: 'You liked this.') + '</li>'
					: '')
				+ '<li class="dsq-report' + (!_meta.votable ? ' dsq-list-first' : '') + '" id="dsq-post-report-' + post_id + '"><a href="#" class="dsq-post-report" onclick="Dsq.Post.report(' + post_id + ', false); return false;">Report</a></li> \
				</ul> \
				<ul class="dsq-list-style">'
				+ (_meta.can_reply
					? '<li class="dsq-list-first"><a href="#" id="dsq-reply-link-' + post_id +'" onclick="Dsq.Post.toggleReply(this, ' + post_id +'); return false;">Reply</a></li>'
					: '')
				+ (_meta.can_reply && !_meta.has_replies && _meta.from_request_user
					? '<li id="dsq-edit-el-' + post_id + '"><a id="dsq-edit-link-' + post_id + '" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.edit(this, ' + post_id + '); return false;">Edit</a></li>'
					: '')
				+ '<li class="' + (!_meta.can_reply ? 'dsq-list-first' : '') + '" id="dsq-more-el-' + post_id + '"><a id="dsq-more-link-' + post_id + '" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.showMenu(this, ' + post_id + ', \'more\'); return false">More <small>&#9660;</small></a></li>'
				+ (Dsq.jsonData.forum.use_media
					? '<li id="dsq-media-el-' + post_id +'" style="display:none"><a id="dsq-media-link-' + post_id + '" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.showMenu(this, ' + post_id + ', \'media\'); return false">Use Media <small>&#9660;</small></a></li>'
					: '')
				+ '</ul>'
				+ '<div id="dsq-reply-bar-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-reply-bar" style="display:none"> \
						<div id="dsq-reply-bar-items-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-reply-bar-items"> \
						</div> \
						<div id="dsq-reply-bar-auth-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-reply-bar-auth"> \
							 \
								 \
									<a href="#" class="dsq-help dsq-reply-req-opt" title="You must log into an account in order to comment on Jack and Jill Politics" onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges(); return false">Required:</a> \
								 \
								<img class="dsq-login-icon" src="http://media.disqus.com/images/dsq-favicon-16x16.png" alt="" /> \
								<a id="dsq-reply-login-' + post_id + '" href="http://disqus.com/profile/login/?next=article:26104778" onclick="Dsq.Popup.login(); return false">Login</a> \
								 \
									&nbsp;or&nbsp; \
									<img class="fb_login_image" src="http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/images/fbconnect/login-buttons/connect_light_small_short.gif" alt="Facebook Connect"/> \
									<a href="#" onclick="FB.Connect.requireSession(DisqusFbcParentController.onLogin); return false;">Connect</a> \
								 \
								&nbsp;or&nbsp; \
									<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/twitter-signin-icon.png" alt="" /> \
									<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Twitter.startTwitterConnect(); return false">Sign-in</a> \
								 \
								 \
							 \
						</div> \
					</div> \
					<div id="dsq-reply-' + post_id + '"></div> \
			</div> \
		';
	};

	//
	// Iframes
	//

	this._makeAttributes = function(attributes) {
		// Makes a tag attributes string out of an object.
		// Caller is responsible for making sure nothing needs to be escaped.
		var result = [];
		for (key in attributes) {
			result.push(' ' + key + '="' + attributes[key] + '"');
		}
		result = result.join('');
		return result;
	};

	this._frameGeneric = function(base_url, params, attributes) {
		if(typeof(disqus_callback_params) == 'undefined') {
			disqus_callback_params = '';
		}

		var default_params = {
			// TODO: These should be moved to Dsq.jsonData.
			'f'				: 'jackandjillpolitics',
			't'				: 'town_breaks_it_down8230again8230',
			// Do we need encodeURIComponent here?
			'ifrs'			: encodeURIComponent(disqus_iframe_css),
			'to_redirect'	: encodeURIComponent(window.location),
			'cbp'			: disqus_callback_params,
			'ff'			: Dsq.Thread.ff,
			'fc'			: Dsq.Thread.fc,
			'ac'			: Dsq.Thread.ac,
			'default_text'	: disqus_default_text
		};

		base_url += '?' + (new Date()).getTime();
		// Add params to default_params.
		if(params) {
			for(var key in params) {
				if(params.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
					default_params[key] = encodeURIComponent(params[key]);
				}
			}
		}
		// Build querystring.
		for(var key in default_params) {
			if(default_params[key] && default_params.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
				base_url += '&' + key + '=' + default_params[key];
			}
		}

		return [
			'<iframe marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" hspace="0" vspace="0" frameborder="0"',
			(' allowtransparency="true" src="' + base_url + '"'),
			this._makeAttributes(attributes),
			'</iframe>'].join('');
	};

	this.frameLogin = function(opt_attributes) {
		var params = {};
		var base_url = 'http://disqus.com/embed/login.html';
		var attributes = opt_attributes || {};
		attributes['class'] = 'dsq-post-login';

		if(typeof disqus_frame_theme != 'undefined') {
			params['theme'] = disqus_frame_theme;
		}
		return this._frameGeneric(base_url, params, attributes);
	};

	this.frameReply = function(post_id, extra_params, attributes) {
		// Returns the HTML for a reply iframe. Called by Dsq.Iframes.setReplyIframeToContainer
		var _meta = (typeof post_id != 'undefined') ? Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id] : false;
		var base_url = Dsq.Urls.REPLY;
		var params = {
			'def_email'		: disqus_def_email,
			'def_name'		: disqus_def_name
		};
		if(extra_params) {
			for(var key in extra_params) {
				if(extra_params.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
					params[key] = extra_params[key];
				}
			}
		}
		if(_meta) {
			params['parent_post'] = post_id;
		}
		if(typeof disqus_per_page != 'undefined') {
			params['per_page'] = disqus_per_page;
		}
		if(typeof disqus_frame_theme != 'undefined') {
			params['theme'] = disqus_frame_theme;
		}
		if(Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated) {
			attributes['class'] += '-authenticated';
		}
		return this._frameGeneric(base_url, params, attributes);
	};

	this.frameEdit = function(post_id) {
		var _meta = (typeof post_id != 'undefined') ? Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id] : false;
		var base_url = 'http://disqus.com/embed/edit.html';
		var params = {
			'p' : post_id
		};
		return this._frameGeneric(base_url, params, {'class': 'dsq-post-edit', 'name': 'dsq-edit_' + post_id + '-frame'});
	};

	//
	// Menus
	//

	this.menuMore = function(post_id) {
		// TODO: "Remove post" button should hide menu.
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][_meta.user_key];
		return ' \
			<li><a href="#comment-' + post_id + '" onclick="Dsq.Popup.permalink(' + post_id + ')">Link</a></li> \
			<li><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup.popProfile(' + post_id + '); return false;">Profile</a></li>'
	+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator || Dsq.jsonData.request.is_global_moderator
		? '	<li class="dsq-menu-sep"></li>' + (_meta.email ? '<li class="dsq-admin-email">' + _meta.email + '</li>' : '')
		+ '	<li class="dsq-admin-ip">' + _meta.ip + '</li> \
			<li class="dsq-menu-sep"></li>'
		+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.moderator_can_edit
			? ' <li class="dsq-admin-edit"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.edit(this, ' + post_id + '); return false;">Edit Comment</a></li>'
			: '')
		+ ' <li class="dsq-remove"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.removePost(' + post_id + ', 1); return false;">Remove Comment</a></li> \
			<li class="dsq-report-spam"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.reportSpam(' + post_id + '); return false;">Mark Spam</a></li> \
			<li class="dsq-block-user"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup.blacklist(' + post_id + '); return false">Block User</a></li>'
		: '');
	};

	this.menuMedia = function(post_id) {
		return ' \
			<li><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.toggleMediaReply(this, ' + post_id + ', \'seesmic\'); return false;">Record video</a></li> \
		';
	};

	this.dropProfile = function(post_id) {
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][_meta.user_key];

		var _includeServices = function() {
			var userServices = Dsq.Post.getUserServices(null, post_id);
			var html = '';
			var hiddenThreshold = 3; // Define # of services to show before stuffing them in hidden div

			for(var i = 0; i < userServices.length; i++) {
				html +=
				(i == hiddenThreshold
					? '<li id="dsq-drop-hidden-' + post_id +'" class="dsq-drop-hidden"><ul>'
					: '')
				+ '<li class="dsq-drop-services"> \
					<a class="dsq-service-' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '" href="' + userServices[i].url + '" target="_blank"> \
						<img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.media_url + '/images/embed/services/' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '.png" alt="' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '">'
					+ userServices[i].name
					+ '</a> \
				</li>';
			}

			if(i >= hiddenThreshold) {
				html += '</ul></li> \
				<li id="dsq-drop-more-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-drop-more"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.dropProfileMore(this, '+ post_id + '); return false"><small>&#9660;</small></a></li> \
				';
			}
			return html;
		};


		var menu = '<li class="dsq-drop-showlnk"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup.popProfile(' + post_id + '); return false;">Expand &#8663;</a></li>';
		var pointsMessage = '';
		if (userData['registered']) {
			pointsMessage = 'with ' + userData['points'] + ' points (more points are better).';
		}

		if (userData['is_remote']) {
			var domain = userData['remote_domain_name'];
			menu += '<li class="dsq-drop-badge" title="' + userData['display_name'] + ' is a ' + domain + ' user ' + pointsMessage + '" onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges()">';
			menu += '<span class="dsq-badge-' + domain.toLowerCase() + '">' + domain + '</span></li>';
		} else if (userData['registered']) {
			if (userData['verified']) {
				menu += '<li class="dsq-drop-badge" title="' + userData['display_name'] + ' has a verified commenter profile ' + pointsMessage + '" onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges()">';
				menu += '<span class="dsq-badge-verified">Verified</span></li>';
			} else {
				menu += '<li class="dsq-drop-badge" title="' + userData['display_name'] + ' has a registered, but unverified, commenter profile ' + pointsMessage + '" onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges()">';
				menu += '<span class="dsq-badge-registered">Registered</span></li>';
			}
		} else {
			menu += '<li class="dsq-drop-badge" title="' + userData['display_name'] + ' has not claimed this commenter profile." onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges()"><span class="dsq-badge-guest">Guest</span></li>';
		}

		menu += _includeServices();
		return menu;
	};

	//
	// Popups
	//

	this._popupGeneric = function(content) {
		return ' \
		<div class="dsq-popup-content"> \
			<div class="dsq-popup-top"></div> \
			<div class="dsq-popup-body" class="clearfix"> \
				<div class="dsq-popup-body-padding"> \
					<div class="dsq-popup-header"> \
						<a class="dsq-close-link" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true); return false"><img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/modal-close.png" alt="" /></a>'
						+ content['header']
					+ '</div>'
					+ content['body']
					+ '<div class="powered-by"><a href="http://disqus.com/comments/">Powered by <img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/embed/disqus-logo.png" alt="Disqus Comments" style="margin-bottom:-5px" /></a></div> \
				</div> <!-- padding --> \
			</div> <!-- body --> \
			<div class="dsq-popup-bottom"></div> \
		</div> \
		';
	};

	this.popupProfile = function(user_key) {
		var userServices = Dsq.Post.getUserServices(user_key, null);
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][user_key];
		var headerHtml = '';
		var bodyHtml = '';
		var content = {};

		var _includeServices = function() {
			var html = '';
			for(var i = 0; i < userServices.length; i++) {
				html +=
				(i == 0
					? '<h4>Connections</h4><ul>'
					: '')
				+ '<li> \
					<img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.media_url + '/images/embed/services/' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '.png" alt="' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '" title="' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '" /> \
					<a class="dsq-service-' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '" href="' + userServices[i].url + '" target="_blank">'
					+ userServices[i].name
					+ '</a> \
				</li>'
				+ (i+1 == userServices.length ? '</ul>' : '');
			}
			return html;
		};

		headerHtml = ' \
			<table> \
				<tr> \
					<td> \
						<a class="dsq-profile-userurl" href="' + userData.url + '"><img class="dsq-popup-profile-avatar" src="' + userData['avatar'] + '" alt="" /></a> \
					</td> \
					<td> \
						<div class="dsq-popup-profile-user"> \
							<h3>' + userData['display_name'] + '</h3> \
							<div class="dsq-popup-profile-user-stats" id="dsq-popup-profile-user-stats-' + user_key + '">Loading...</div> \
						</div> \
					</td> \
				</tr> \
			</table> \
		';

		bodyHtml = ' \
			<div class="dsq-popup-profile-state"> \
				This is a&nbsp;<span class="'
					+ (userData['registered']
						? (userData['verified']
							? ' dsq-badge-verified'
							: (userData['is_remote']
								? ' dsq-badge-' + userData['remote_domain_name'].toLowerCase()
								: ' dsq-badge-registered')
							)
							: ' dsq-badge-guest') + '">'
			+ (userData['registered']
				? (userData['verified']
					? 'Verified'
					: (userData['is_remote']
						 ? userData['remote_domain_name']
						 : 'Registered')
					)
				: 'Guest')
			+ '</span>&nbsp;commenter profile.'
			+ '&nbsp;<a class="dsq-profile-userurl" href="' + userData.url + '"><strong>View more comments </strong></a>'
			+ (!userData['points']
				? '<p class="dsq-popup-notice">If this is you, <a href="http://disqus.com/profile" target="_blank">claim it now</a> to manage your comments.</p>'
				: '')
			+ ((userData['registered'] && !userData['verified'] && (Dsq.jsonData.request.username && (Dsq.jsonData.request.username == userData['username'])) && !userData['is_remote'])
				? '<p class="dsq-popup-notice"><strong>Alert</strong>: You have not verified this account. <a href="http://disqus.com/verify">Verify it now.</a></p>'
				: '')
			+ '</div> \
			<div id="dsq-profile-status-' + user_key + '" class="dsq-popup-profile-status" style="display:none"></div> \
			<div class="dsq-popup-profile-snapshot"> \
				<table> \
					<tr> \
						<td> \
							<div id="dsq-popup-profile-active-sites-wrapper-' + user_key + '"> \
								<h4>Most active sites</h4> \
								<ul id="dsq-popup-profile-active-sites-' + user_key + '"> \
									<li>Loading...</li> \
								</ul> \
							</div> \
						</td> \
						<td>'
							+ _includeServices()
							+ '<div id="dsq-popup-profile-moderated-wrapper-' + user_key + '"> \
								<h4>Moderator of</h4> \
								<ul id="dsq-popup-profile-moderated-' + user_key + '"> \
									<li>Loading...</li> \
								</ul> \
							</div> \
						</td> \
					</tr> \
				</table> \
			</div> \
			';

		content = {
			'header': headerHtml,
			'body': bodyHtml
		};

		return this._popupGeneric(content);
	};

	this.popupReblog = function() {
		var headerHtml = '';
		var bodyHtml = '';
		var content = {};

		headerHtml = ' \
			<cite><span>Reblog this comment</span></cite> \
		';

		bodyHtml = ' \
			<div id="dsq-reblog-form" class="dsq-reblog-form"> \
			</div> \
		';

		content = {
			'header': headerHtml,
			'body': bodyHtml
		};

		return this._popupGeneric(content);
	};

	this.popupModal = function(title, message) {
		var headerHtml = '';
		var bodyHtml = '';
		var content = {};

		headerHtml = ' \
			<h3>' + title + '</h3> \
		';

		bodyHtml = message;

		content = {
			'header': headerHtml,
			'body': bodyHtml
		};

		return this._popupGeneric(content);
	};

	this.alertContent = function(name, post_id) {
		var alert = {
			'post_not_approved': {
				'title': 'Comment awaiting approval by a moderator',
				'message': 'Thanks for posting. Your comment must be approved by a moderator before appearing here.'
			},
			'post_has_profile': {
				'title': 'Use your existing commenter profile',
				'message': 'You have just posted your commment as a <span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-guest">Guest</span>, but you may already have a <span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-registered">Registered</span> commenter profile.<br /><br /><a href="http://disqus.com/claim">Log in and claim this comment!</a>'
			}
		};
		return alert[name] || false;
	};

	//
	// Actions
	//

	this.voted = function(post_id, points, vote) {
		// Update number of points
		Dsq.$('dsq-points-' + post_id).innerHTML = points + Dsq.Utils.pluralize(points, ' person', ' people') + ' liked this comment.';

		// Update link text
		if(vote) {
			Dsq.$('dsq-rate-cont-' + post_id).innerHTML = 'You liked this.';
		}
	};

	this.subscribed = function(status) {
		var title, message;

		if(status) {
			title = 'Subscribed!';
			message = 'You have subscribed to this comment thread. New comments will be sent directly to your email inbox, where you may read and respond by email.';
			Dsq.$('dsq-subscribe').innerHTML = ' \
				<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Thread.subscribe(0); return false">Unsubscribe</a> \
			';
		} else {
			title = 'Unsubscribed';
			message = 'You have unsubscribed to this comment thread. New comments will no longer be sent to your email inbox.';
			Dsq.$('dsq-subscribe').innerHTML = ' \
				<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Thread.subscribe(1); return false">Subscribe by email</a> \
			';
		}

		Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, title);

	};
	
	this.highlighted = function() {
		Dsq.Popup.popModal('This comment has been highlighted.', 'Highlighted comment');
	};

	//
	// Media
	//

	this.mediaSeesmic = function(id, thumb) {
		return ' \
			<div id="dsq-seesmic-' + id + '_preview" class="dsq-seesmic-preview"><a href="http://www.seesmic.com/video/' + id + '" target="_blank" class="see_link">&nbsp;</a> \
				<div style="display:block;width:160px; height:120px; border:none; background-image:url(http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/' + thumb + ')"> \
					<div id="dsq-seesmic-' + id + '_hide" class="seePlayOverlay" style="display:none;"><img onclick="see_play_video(\'' + id + '\',false)" src="http://media.disqus.com/images/seesmic/stopOverlay.png" width="50" height="50" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; padding-top: 30px; padding-left: 50px" alt="" /></div> \
					<div id="dsq-seesmic-' + id + '_show" class="seePlayOverlay"><img onclick="see_play_video(\'' + id + '\',true)" src="http://media.disqus.com/images/seesmic/playOverlay.png" width="50" height="50" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; border:none; padding-top: 30px; padding-left: 50px" alt="" /></div> \
				</div> \
			</div> \
			<div id="' + id + '_content" style="display:block; width:100%; padding-top:5px"></div> \
		';
	};

	//
	// Callbacks
	//

	this.postComment_onSuccess = function(parent_post_id) {
		// Increment post count
		var num_posts = Dsq.$('dsq-num-posts');
		var total_posts = Dsq.$('dsq-total-posts');
		
		if (num_posts) { 
			num_posts.innerHTML = parseInt(num_posts.innerHTML) + 1;
		}
		if (total_posts) { 
			total_posts.innerHTML = parseInt(total_posts.innerHTML) + 1;
		}
	};
};
// Dsq.Templates


/**
 * Dsq.Post
 */
Dsq.Post = new function() {
	this.openedMenu = {};
	this.menuEventListener = null;
	this.stateReplyToggled = {};
	this.stateEditToggled = {};
	this.stateRecordLink = {};

	/**
	 * Inserts a new post into the document.
	 *
	 * @param after_id {Number}	Insert a post before specified id.  If after_id
	 *							evaluates to false, then post in the front.  If
	 *							after_id is -1, post at the end.
	 */
	this.insert = function(after_id, id, message, author) {
		// Skeleton template from thread_posts.html.
		var skeleton = ' \
			<li id="dsq-comment-%(id)s"> \
				<div id="dsq-comment-header-%(id)s" class="dsq-comment-header"> \
					<cite id="dsq-cite-%(id)s" class="dsq-comment-cite"> \
						<a id="dsq-author-user-%(id)s" href="%(author_url)s" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">%(author_name)s</a> \
					</cite> \
				</div> \
				<div id="dsq-comment-body-%(id)s" class="dsq-comment-body"> \
					<div id="dsq-comment-message-%(id)s" class="dsq-comment-message">%(message)s</div> \
				</div> \
			</li> \
		';
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[id];
		var _user_meta = Dsq.jsonData.users[_meta.user_key];
		var markup = Dsq.Utils.interpolate(skeleton, {
			id: id,
			message: message,
			author_url: _user_meta.blog,
			author_name: _user_meta.display_name
		});
		var div = document.createElement('div');
		markup = markup.replace(Dsq.COMMENTS_RE, Dsq.CommentsHandler);
		div.innerHTML = markup;

		if (after_id === -1) {
			Dsq.$('dsq-comments').appendChild(div);
		} else if (!after_id) {
			Dsq.$('dsq-comments').insertBefore(div, Dsq.$('dsq-comments').firstChild);
		} else if (Dsq.$('dsq-comment-' + after_id)) {
			// Get next node after "after_id", so we can insert before it.
			// If "after_id" is the last comment, the target node is the
			// last node.
			
			// var append_post_id = Dsq.Templates.appendPost(after_id).replace('<div id="','').replace('"></div>', '');
			var append_post_id = 'dsq-append-post-' + after_id;
			var node = Dsq.$(append_post_id);
			while (node = node.nextSibling) {
				if (!node || node.nodeType == 1) { // 1 == Node.ELEMENT_NODE
					break;
				}
			}
			if (!node) {
				node = Dsq.$(append_post_id);
			}
			node.parentNode.insertBefore(div, node);
		}
	};

	this.incrementPostCount = function() {
		
		var num_posts = Dsq.$('dsq-num-posts');
		var total_posts = Dsq.$('dsq-total-posts');

		if (num_posts) {
			num_posts.innerHTML = parseInt(num_posts.innerHTML, 10) + 1;
		}
		if (total_posts) {
			total_posts.innerHTML = parseInt(total_posts.innerHTML, 10) + 1;
		}
	}
	
	this.outlineComment = function(post_id) {
		Dsq.$('dsq-comment-' + post_id).className += ' dsq-comment-outline';
		setTimeout("(function () { Dsq.Post.clearOutlineComment(" + post_id + ") })()", 3000);
	};
	
	this.clearOutlineComment = function(post_id) {
		Dsq.$('dsq-comment-' + post_id).className = Dsq.$('dsq-comment-' + post_id).className.replace('dsq-comment-outline', '');
	};

	this.showMenu = function(el, id, name) {
		var anchorPos = Dsq.Utils.findPos(el);
		var menu = document.createElement('ul');

		if(this.openedMenu) {
			if(this.openedMenu.linkClicked) {
				this.openedMenu.linkClicked = false;
				return;
			}
		}

		switch(name) {
			case 'more':
				menu.innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.menuMore(id);
				break;
			case 'media':
				menu.innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.menuMedia(id);
				break;
			default:
				break;
		}

		// Add menu to document body
		menu.id = 'dsq-menu-' + id;
		menu.className = 'dsq-menu';
		Dsq.$b.appendChild(menu);

		// Position and show
		anchorPos[1] += 15;
		menu.style.left = anchorPos[0] + 'px';
		menu.style.top = anchorPos[1] + 'px';
		menu.style.display = 'block';

		// Set global reference
		this.openedMenu = {
			'el' : menu,
			'id' : id,
			'name' : name,
			'linkClicked' : false
		};

		// Set listener
		this.menuEventListener = Dsq.Utils.addEventListener(document, 'mouseup', this._hideMenu);
	};

	this._hideMenu = function(e) {
		var el = e.target || e.srcElement;
		var openedMenu = Dsq.Post.openedMenu.el;
		var id = Dsq.Post.openedMenu.id;

		if(!id) {
			var link = 'dsq-' + Dsq.Post.openedMenu.name + '-link';
		} else {
			var link = 'dsq-' + Dsq.Post.openedMenu.name + '-link-' + id;
		}

		if(!openedMenu) {
			return;
		}

		if(!Dsq.Popup.isClicked(e, openedMenu.id)) {
			openedMenu.style.display = 'none';
			Dsq.Utils.removeEventListener(Dsq.Post.menuEventListener);
			Dsq.Utils.deleteNode(openedMenu);

		} else {
			// Hide the menu if a link was clicked inside the menu.  We can't
			// completely remove the menu until the onclick event on the link
			// fires, but the menuEventListener will prevent multiple menus
			// from polluting the DOM.
			if(el && typeof el.href != 'undefined') {
				openedMenu.style.display = 'none';
				Dsq.Post.openedMenu.el = null;
			}
		}

		if(Dsq.Popup.isClicked(e, link)) {
 			Dsq.Post.openedMenu.linkClicked = true;
		}
	};


	this.getUserServices = function(user_key, id) {
		if(!user_key && id) {
			var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[id];
			user_key = _meta.user_key;
		}
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][user_key];
		var userServices = [];

		// Keep a full list of supported services. This is the order they will display in the drop-profile.
		// Each service must have a corresponding case in _buildServiceUrl()
		var supportedServices = ['blog', 'twitter', 'facebook', 'tumblr'];

		function _buildServiceUrl(serviceName) {
			var data = userData[serviceName];
			var services = {
				blog:		function(d) { return d; },
				twitter:	function(d) { return d; },
				facebook:	function(d) { return d; },
				tumblr:		function(d) { return 'http://' + d + '.tumblr.com'; }
			};
			return services[serviceName](data);
		}

		for(var i = 0; i < supportedServices.length; i++) {
			if(userData[supportedServices[i]]) {
				var serviceUrl = _buildServiceUrl(supportedServices[i]);
				userServices.push({'name' : supportedServices[i], 'url' : serviceUrl});
			}
		}
		return userServices;
	}

	this.dropProfile = function(id) {
		var dp = Dsq.$('dsq-drop-profile-' + id);

		// IE6 needs JS to display/hide. All other browsers use CSS.
		if(dp) {
			if(Dsq.Utils.ie6) dp.style.display = (dp.style.display == 'inline') ? 'none' : 'inline';
			return false;
		} else {
			dp = document.createElement('ul');
		}

		dp.id = 'dsq-drop-profile-' + id;
		dp.className = 'dsq-drop-profile';

		if(Dsq.Utils.ie6) { dp.style.display = 'inline'; }

		var container = Dsq.$('dsq-header-avatar-' + id);
		dp.innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.dropProfile(id);
		container.appendChild(dp);
	};

	this.dropProfileMore = function(el, id) {
		var hiddenItems = Dsq.$('dsq-drop-hidden-' + id);

		hiddenItems.style.display = 'inline';
		el.parentNode.style.display = 'none';
	};

	this._updateReplyLinks = function(el, id) {
		// Update "reply / cancel" links based on state.
		var displayDict = {};

		if(id) {
			if(this.stateReplyToggled[id]) {
				el.innerHTML = 'Cancel';
				displayDict['media'] = 'inline';
				displayDict['edit'] = 'none';
			} else {
				el.innerHTML = 'Reply';
				displayDict['media'] = 'none';
				displayDict['edit'] = 'inline';
			}
		}

		for(var key in displayDict) {
			if(displayDict.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
				var	linkEl = Dsq.$('dsq-' + key + '-el-' + id),
					spacer = Dsq.$('dsq-' + key + '-spacer-' + id);

				if(linkEl) {
					linkEl.style.display = displayDict[key];
					if(spacer) spacer.style.display = displayDict[key];
				}
			}
		}
	};

	this._updateMediaLinks = function(el, id) {
		// Update "use media / cancel" links based on state.
		var appendId = (id) ? ('-' + id) : '';
		var link = Dsq.$('dsq-media-link' + appendId);

		if(this.stateRecordLink[id]) {
			link.innerHTML = 'Cancel Media';
			link.onclick = function() { Dsq.Post.toggleMediaReply(link, id); return false; };
		} else {
			link.innerHTML = 'Use Media <small>&#9660;</small>';
			link.onclick = function() { Dsq.Post.showMenu(link, id, 'media'); return false; };
		}
	};

	this.toggleReply = function(el, id) {
		// Create reply IFrame
		if (window.disqus_use_postmessage) {
			if (!this.stateReplyToggled[id]) {
				Dsq.$('dsq-reply-' + id).style.display = 'block';
				Dsq.$('dsq-reply-bar-' + id).style.display = 'block';
				// Create IFrame if it doesn't exist.
				if (!Dsq.frames['reply_' + id]) {
					var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[id];
					Dsq.frames['reply_' + id] = new Dsq.ReplyFrame(Dsq.$('dsq-reply-frame-' + id), id);
					Dsq.frames['reply_' + id].init();
					Dsq.frames['reply_' + id].setState(id, _meta.depth);
				}
			} else {
				Dsq.$('dsq-reply-' + id).style.display = 'none';
				Dsq.$('dsq-reply-bar-' + id).style.display = 'none';
			}
		} else {
			// DEPRECATED
			if(!this.stateReplyToggled[id]) {
				// Reply toolbar
				Dsq.$('dsq-reply-bar-' + id).style.display = 'block';
				Dsq.Iframes.showReplyIframeInContainerIfAllowed(Dsq.$('dsq-reply-' + id), id);
			} else {
				Dsq.$('dsq-reply-bar-' + id).style.display = 'none';
				Dsq.Iframes.hideAllInContainer(Dsq.$('dsq-reply-' + id));
				if(this.stateRecordLink[id]) {
					// HACK: Cancel media before canceling self.
					this.toggleMediaReply(Dsq.$('dsq-media-link-' + id), id);
				}
			}
		}

		this.stateReplyToggled[id] = !this.stateReplyToggled[id];
		this._updateReplyLinks(el, id);

		if(Dsq.Utils.ie) { Dsq.Utils.fixIframesIE('dsq-reply-' + id); }

		Dsq.Events.fire(Dsq.Events.REPLY_IFRAME_TOGGLED, {
			postId: id,
			opened: this.stateReplyToggled[id]
		});
	};

	this.toggleMediaReply = function(el, id, xtype) {
		id = id || 0;
		if(id) {
			var container = Dsq.$('dsq-reply-' + id);
		} else {
			var container = Dsq.$('dsq-post-add');
		}

		if(!this.stateRecordLink[id]) {
			Dsq.Iframes.showReplyIframeInContainer(container, id, {xtype:xtype}, 'dsq-post-video');
		} else {
			Dsq.Iframes.showReplyIframeInContainer(container, id);
		}
		this.stateRecordLink[id] = !this.stateRecordLink[id];
		this._updateMediaLinks(el, id);

		if(Dsq.Utils.ie) { Dsq.Utils.fixIframesIE(); }
	};

	this.edit = function(el, id) {
		Dsq.$('dsq-comment-message-' + id).innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.frameEdit(id);
		el.parentNode.style.display = 'none';
		if(Dsq.Utils.ie) { Dsq.Utils.fixIframesIE('dsq-comment-message-' + id); }
	};

    this.rate = function(el, id, vote) {
		if(Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated || Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_votes) {
			if(vote == 1) {
                Dsq.$('dsq-rate-cont-' + id).innerHTML = '<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/loading-small.gif">';
            }

            Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/forums/jackandjillpolitics/vote.js'
                + '?post_id='    + id
                + '&vote='        + vote);

		} else {
			Dsq.Popup.login(Dsq.Strings.TO_RATE_PLEASE_LOG_IN);
		}
    };

	this.report = function(id, confirmed) {
		if(confirmed) {
			Dsq.Utils.postToUrl('http://disqus.com/forums/jackandjillpolitics/town_breaks_it_down8230again8230/post_report/', {'post_id': id});
			Dsq.Popup.popModal('Thank you. This comment has been flagged for moderator attention.', 'Successfully flagged');
			Dsq.Utils.deleteNode(Dsq.$('dsq-post-report-' + id));
		} else {
			var title = Dsq.Strings.FLAG_INAPPROPRIATE_COMMENT;
			var message = Dsq.Strings.ARE_YOU_SURE_YOU_WOULD_LIKE_TO_REPORT_THIS_COMMENT_TO_A_MODERATOR + '? \
			<br /><br /> \
			<button onclick="Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true)"><strong>' + Dsq.Strings.NO + '</strong>, ' + Dsq.Strings.NEVER_MIND + '</button>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<button onclick="Dsq.Post.report(' + id + ', true);"><strong>' + Dsq.Strings.YES + '</strong>, ' + Dsq.Strings.FLAG_INAPPROPRIATE_COMMENT + '</button><br /><br />'
			+ Dsq.Strings.THIS_WILL_FLAG_COMMENTS_FOR_MODERATORS_TO_TAKE_ACTION + '. \
			';

			Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, title, id);
		}
	};



	this.showAlert = function(id, msg) {
		var msgEl = Dsq.$('dsq-comment-message-' + id);
		var alert = '<div class="dsq-comment-alert">' + msg + '</div>';

		msgEl.innerHTML = alert + msgEl.innerHTML;
	};

};
// Dsq.Post


/**
 * Dsq.Thread
 */
Dsq.Thread = new function() {
	this.fc = null;
	this.ff = null;
	this.ac = null;

	
	this.adminIsOn = false;

	
	
	

	this.hlComment = null;
	this.hlCommentClass = null;

	this.getNextComment = function(el) {
		var start_id = el.id;
		while(el = el.nextSibling) {
			if(el.id && el.id.indexOf('dsq-comment-') != -1 && el.id != start_id) {
				return el;
			}
		}
		return null;
	};

	this.getActiveCommentId = function() {
		if (document.URL.indexOf('#comment-') >= 0) {
			var anchor = document.URL.slice(document.URL.indexOf('#') + 1);
			return anchor.replace('comment-', '');
		}
		return null;
	};

	this.highlightAnchor = function() {
		var i = this.getActiveCommentId();
		if (i == null) return false;
		var id = 'dsq-comment-' + i;
		var hash = window.location.hash;

		// Toggle the hash incase the comment isn't available when the page loads
		// for WebKit-based browsers.
		if (Dsq.Utils.webkit) {
			window.location.hash = '';
			window.location.hash = hash;
		}

		this.hlComment = Dsq.$(id);
		// Adding this conditional guard pending #289
		if (!this.hlComment) {
			return;
		}
		this.hlCommentClass = this.hlComment.className;
		this.hlComment.className += ' dsq-hl-anchor';

		setTimeout("Dsq.Thread.highlightClear()", 3000);
	};

	this.highlightClear = function() {
		if (!this.hlComment) {
			return;
		}
		this.hlComment.className = this.hlCommentClass;
	};

	this.login = function(toggle) {
		// toggle id is #dsq-reply-login-[id]
		var postId;
		if(toggle.id.indexOf('dsq-reply-login') != -1) {
			postId = toggle.id.slice(16);
			var container = Dsq.$('dsq-reply-' + postId);
		} else {
			var container = Dsq.$('dsq-post-add');
		}

		if(toggle) {
			if(toggle.className == 'dsq-login-active') {
				Dsq.Iframes.showReplyIframeInContainerIfAllowed(container, postId);
				toggle.className = '';
			} else {
				Dsq.Iframes.showLoginIframeInContainer(container, postId);
				toggle.className = 'dsq-login-active';
			}
		} else {
			Dsq.Iframes.showLoginIframeInContainer(container, postId);
		}

		if(Dsq.Utils.ie) { Dsq.Utils.fixIframesIE(); }
	};


	this.paginate = function(page, el_clicked, per_page) {
		// Use extra_params to pass any override parameters that we need to persist.
		var extra_params = '';

		// "Per page" can either be overriden by providing it as an argument
		// (per-call) or setting the disqus_per_page override variable (global).
		if(typeof per_page == 'undefined') {
			per_page = null;
		}
		if(typeof disqus_per_page != 'undefined' && per_page === null) {
			per_page = disqus_per_page;
		}

		if(typeof disqus_sort != 'undefined') {
			extra_params += '&sort=' + disqus_sort;
		}
		if(per_page !== null) {
			extra_params += '&per_page=' + per_page;
		}

		Dsq.$('dsq-pagination').innerHTML += '<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/loading-small.gif">';
		
		if(el_clicked) {
			el_clicked.style.display = 'none';
		}
		
		Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/forums/jackandjillpolitics/thread.js'
			+ '?slug='	+ 'town_breaks_it_down8230again8230'
			+ '&p='		+ page
			+ extra_params);
	};

	this.sortBy = function(sort) {
		var disqus_script = document.createElement('script');
		var disqus_date = new Date();

		if (location.hash != '') {
			location.hash = '#disqus_thread';
		}

		if(typeof(disqus_url) == 'undefined') {
			disqus_url = disqus_href;
		}
		disqus_script.type = 'text/javascript';
		disqus_script.src = 'http://disqus.com/forums/jackandjillpolitics/thread.js'
			+ '?slug='	+ 'town_breaks_it_down8230again8230'
			+ '&sort='	+ sort
			+ '&title='
			+ '&'		+ disqus_date.getTime();

		Dsq.$('dsq-comments').innerHTML = '<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/loading.gif">';
		Dsq.container.appendChild(disqus_script);
	};

	this.subscribe = function(status, email) {
		// `status` is an int -- 1 to subscribe, 0 to unsubscribe
		if(Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated || email) {
			// If authenticated user OR anonymous email provided

			if(email) {
				Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true);
			}

			Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/forums/jackandjillpolitics/subscribe.js'
				+'?status=' 	+ status
				+ '&slug='		+ 'town_breaks_it_down8230again8230'
				+ '&email=' 	+ encodeURIComponent(email));

		} else if(!email) {
			// If anonymous user and no email has been provided yet, prompt for email

			var title = 'Subscribe to this comment thread';
			var message = ' \
				New comments will be sent directly to your email inbox! \
				<div class="dsq-subscribe-submit"> \
					<p><strong>Enter your email address below.</strong></p> \
					<input type="text" id="dsq-subscribe-email"> \
					<button onclick="Dsq.Thread.subscribe(1, Dsq.$(\'dsq-subscribe-email\').value)">Subscribe</button> \
				</div> \
			';

			Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, title);
		}
	};

	this.showSettings = function() {
		if (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator) {
			return;
		}

		/* The form has to be re-designed when more options will come out. */
		var html = 'Automatically close comments after <input size="3" id="dsq-thread-days-alive" value="' + Dsq.jsonData.thread.days_alive + '" type="text" /> days. Existing comments will still be displayed.<br /><br />(Using 0 days will disable this feature)<br /><br />'
								 + '<button onclick="Dsq.Thread.updateDaysAlive();" class="dsq-button-small"><span>Save</span></button>'
								 + '<span id="dsq-thread-settings-status" class="dsq-options-status"></span>';
		Dsq.Popup.popModal(html, 'Settings');
	};

	this.updateDaysAlive = function() {
		var days = Dsq.$('dsq-thread-days-alive').value;
		var status = Dsq.$('dsq-thread-settings-status');
		Dsq.Utils.postToUrl('http://disqus.com/forums/jackandjillpolitics/update_days_alive.js', {days:days,thread:Dsq.jsonData.thread.id});
		status.innerHTML = 'Saved!';
		window.setTimeout(function() { status.innerHTML = ''; }, 1000);
	};
};
// Dsq.Thread

Dsq.Events = function() {
	var obj = {};

	// Private
	var handlers = {};
	var getHandlers = function(event) {
		if (handlers[event] === undefined) {
			handlers[event] = [];
		}
		return handlers[event];
	};

	// Public
	// Value keys : postId, node, xtype
	obj.REPLY_IFRAME_CREATED = 1;
	// Value keys : postId, opened
	obj.REPLY_IFRAME_TOGGLED = 2;
	obj.fire = function(event, opt_value) {
		if (!event) {
			throw new Error('Unknown event');
		}
		var value = opt_value || {};
		for (var i=0; i<getHandlers(event).length; i++) {
			getHandlers(event)[i](value);
		}
	};
	obj.addHandler = function(event, callback) {
		getHandlers(event).push(callback);
	};

	return obj;
}();

/**
 * Dsq.Realtime
 */
Dsq.Realtime = new function() {
	var initialized = false;
	var interval = null;
	var last_checked = Dsq.jsonData.request.timestamp;
	var new_posts = [];
	var ongoing_request = false;
	var prev_script = null;

	function updateNewPostCount() {
		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-alert').style.display = new_posts.length ? 'block' : 'none';

		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-queued').innerHTML = new_posts.length
		+ ' new '
		+ Dsq.Utils.pluralize(new_posts.length, 'comment', 'comments')
		+ Dsq.Utils.pluralize(new_posts.length, ' was', ' were')
		+ ' just posted.';

		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-show').innerHTML = '(' + Dsq.Strings.SHOW + ')';
	}

	function insertNewPosts() {
		var post_id = null;
		var after_id = Dsq.$('dsq-sort-select').value === 'oldest' ? -1 : null;

		for (var i=0; i<new_posts.length; i++) {
			post_id = new_posts[i];
			Dsq.Post.insert(after_id, post_id, Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id].message);
			Dsq.Post.incrementPostCount();
			Dsq.Post.outlineComment(post_id);
		}
		new_posts = [];
	}

	this.enableInterval = function() {
		interval = setInterval(Dsq.Realtime.check, Dsq.jsonData.context.realtime_speed);
		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-status').innerHTML = Dsq.Strings.ENABLED;
		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-toggle').innerHTML = '(' + Dsq.Strings.PAUSE + ')';
	}

	this.disableInterval = function() {
		if (interval) {
			clearInterval(interval);
			interval = null;
		}
		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-status').innerHTML = Dsq.Strings.PAUSED;
		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-toggle').innerHTML = '(' + Dsq.Strings.RESUME + ')';
	}

	this.toggleInterval = function() {
		if (!interval) {
			Dsq.Realtime.enableInterval();
		} else {
			Dsq.Realtime.disableInterval();
		}
		return false;
	}

	this.initialize = function() {
		if (!initialized) {
			initialized = true;
			Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-toggle').onclick = this.toggleInterval;
			if (!Dsq.jsonData.forum.streaming_realtime) {
				Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-show').onclick = this.show;
				updateNewPostCount();
			}
			if (Dsq.jsonData.thread.realtime_paused) {
				Dsq.Realtime.disableInterval();
			} else {
				Dsq.Realtime.enableInterval();
			}
		}
	}

	this.show = function() {
		insertNewPosts();
		updateNewPostCount();
		return false;
	}

	this.check = function() {
		if (!ongoing_request && Dsq.jsonData.realtime_enabled) {
			if (prev_script) {
				prev_script.parentNode.removeChild(prev_script);
			}
			ongoing_request = true;
			prev_script = Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/forums/26104778/realtime.js?timestamp=' + last_checked);
		}
	};

	this.update = function(timestamp, posts, users) {
		ongoing_request = false;
		last_checked = timestamp;

		if (users) {
			for (var user_id in users) {
				if (users.hasOwnProperty(user_id)) {
					if (!Dsq.jsonData.users[user_id]) {
						Dsq.jsonData.users[user_id] = users[user_id];
					}
				}
			}
		}

		if (posts) {
			for (var post_id in posts) {
				if (posts.hasOwnProperty(post_id)) {
					if (!Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id]) {
						Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id] = posts[post_id];
						new_posts.push(post_id);
					}
				}
			}

			if (Dsq.jsonData.forum.streaming_realtime) {
				insertNewPosts();
			} else {
				updateNewPostCount();
			}
		}
	};

}();

// DEPRECATED
Dsq.Iframes = function() {
	// Different style of object from the above. Hoping to switch to this for some reason.
	var obj = {};

	// Private
	var showIframeInContainer = function(container, id, markup) {
		// Look through container for iframes, hiding them, except show one that matches id
		// If none of them matched id, create a new iframe using markup and insert it.
		// Returns the iframe node if and only if it was newly created.
		var found = false;
		for (var i=0; i<container.childNodes.length; i++) {
			var child = container.childNodes[i];
			if (child.nodeName == 'IFRAME') {
				if (child.id == id) {
					child.style.display = 'block';
					found = true;
				} else {
					child.style.display = 'none';
				}
			}
		}
		if (found) {
			return;
		}
		// The iframe wasn't found, so construct it and add it to the container.
		// Don't use innerHTML because it might reload iframes
		var div = document.createElement('div');
		div.innerHTML = markup;
		var iframe = div.childNodes[0];
		div.removeChild(iframe);
		container.appendChild(iframe);
		return iframe;
	};

	// Public
	obj.makeReplyIframeId = function(opt_postId, opt_xtype) {
		var id = 'dsq-post-add-iframe';
		if (opt_xtype) {
			id += '-' + opt_xtype;
		}
		if (opt_postId) {
			id += '-' + opt_postId;
		}
		return id;
	};
	obj.makeLoginIframeId = function(opt_postId) {
		if (!opt_postId) {
			return 'dsq-login-iframe';
		}
		return 'dsq-login-iframe-' + opt_postId;
	};
	obj.makeReplyIframeName = function(opt_postId, opt_xtype) {
		var name = 'dsq-reply-frame';
		if (opt_xtype) {
			name += '-' + opt_xtype;
		}
		if (opt_postId) {
			name += '-' + opt_postId;
		}
		return name;
	};
	obj.showReplyIframeInContainer = function(container, opt_postId, opt_extraParams, opt_className) {
		// Construct the id so we can check if it's already present.
		// Hide any other iframes we find, and show this one if it's found.
		var params = opt_extraParams || {};
		// use xtype in the id and name so we can distinguish media replies from text replies:
		var id = Dsq.Iframes.makeReplyIframeId(opt_postId, params.xtype);
		var name = Dsq.Iframes.makeReplyIframeName(opt_postId, params.xtype);
		var attributes = {
			'id': id,
			'name': name,
			'class': opt_className || 'dsq-post-reply'
			};
		var markup = Dsq.Templates.frameReply(opt_postId, opt_extraParams, attributes);
		var iframe = showIframeInContainer(container, id, markup);
		// It was newly created
		if (iframe) {
			Dsq.Events.fire(Dsq.Events.REPLY_IFRAME_CREATED, {
				postId: opt_postId,
				node: iframe,
				xtype: params.xtype
			});
		}
	};
	obj.showLoginIframeInContainer = function(container, opt_postId) {
		var id = Dsq.Iframes.makeLoginIframeId(opt_postId);
		var markup = Dsq.Templates.frameLogin({id: id});
		showIframeInContainer(container, id, markup);
	};
	obj.showReplyIframeInContainerIfAllowed = function(container, opt_postId) {
		if (Dsq.jsonData.context.show_reply) {
			obj.showReplyIframeInContainer(container, opt_postId);
		} else {
			obj.hideAllInContainer(container);
		}
	};
	obj.hideAllInContainer = function(container) {
		for (var i=0; i<container.childNodes.length; i++) {
			var child = container.childNodes[i];
			if (child.nodeName == 'IFRAME') {
				child.style.display = 'none';
			}
		}
	};

	return obj;
}();

Dsq.Twitter = new function() {
	var that = this;

	this.startTwitterConnect = function() {
		var popupParams = 'location=0,status=0,width=800,height=400';
		that._twitterWindow = window.open(Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + '/_ax/twitter/begin/', 'twitterWindow', popupParams);
		that._twitterInterval = window.setInterval(that.completeTwitterConnect, 1000);
	};

	this.completeTwitterConnect = function() {
		if (that._twitterWindow.closed) {
			window.clearInterval(that._twitterInterval);
			window.location.reload();
		}
	};
};

Dsq.Yahoo = new function() {
	var that = this;

	this.startYahooConnect = function() {
		var popupParams = 'location=0,status=0,width=800,height=400';
		that._yahooWindow = window.open(Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + '/_ax/yahoo/begin/', 'yahooWindow', popupParams);
		that._yahooInterval = window.setInterval(that.completeYahooConnect, 1000);
	};

	this.completeYahooConnect = function() {
		if (that._yahooWindow.closed) {
			window.clearInterval(that._yahooInterval);
			window.location.reload();
		}
	};
};

Dsq.OpenID = new function() {
	var that = this;

	this.requestURL = function() {
		var message = '<table class="dsq-openid-form"><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;" rowspan="2"><img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.settings.media_url + '/images/openid-icon-100x100.png" /></td>';
		message += '<td><label for="dsq-openid-url">OpenID URL:</label></td><td><input type="text" id="dsq-openid-url" /></td></tr>';
		message += '<tr><td><label for="dsq-openid-username">Display name:</label></td><td><input type="text" id="dsq-openid-username" /></td></tr>';
		message += '<tr><td class="dsq-openid-submit" colspan="3"><input type="button" value="Sign in" onclick="Dsq.OpenID.startConnect();" /></td></tr>';
		message += "</table>";

		Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, 'Sign in using OpenID');
	};

	this.startConnect = function() {
		var isblank = function(str) {
			return /^\s*$/.test(str);
		};

		var openid_url = Dsq.$('dsq-openid-url').value;
		var username = Dsq.$('dsq-openid-username').value;

		if (isblank(openid_url)) {
			return;
		}

		var popupParams = 'location=0,status=0,width=800,height=500';
		var url = Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + '/_ax/openid/begin/' + '?url=' + encodeURIComponent(openid_url) + '&username=' + encodeURIComponent(username);
		that._openidWindow = window.open(url, 'openidWindow', popupParams);
		that._openidInterval = window.setInterval(that.completeConnect, 1000);
	};

	this.completeConnect = function() {
		if (that._openidWindow.closed) {
			window.clearInterval(that._openidInterval);
			window.location.reload();
		}
	};
};

Dsq.Reaction = new function() {
	var that = this;

	this.hide = function(id) {
		Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/forums/jackandjillpolitics/hidereaction.js?' + 'reaction_id=' + id);
	};

	this.reportMissingReactions = function() {
		if (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator || !Dsq.jsonData.forum.reactions_enabled) {
			return;
		}

		if (Dsq.jsonData.thread.queued) {
			Dsq.Popup.popModal('Your report has been received. The system will automatically search for new reactions; if any are found, they will be displayed on this comment thread.<br/><br/>Thank&nbsp;you.',
												 'Reported missing reactions');
			return;
		}

		Dsq.Utils.execScript(Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + '/forums/jackandjillpolitics/queueurl.js');
	};
};

Dsq.CNN = function() {
	var obj = {};

	obj.authenticate = function() {
		var url = Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + "/saml/cnn/try/";
		Dsq.Utils.postToUrl(url, {'target': document.location}, true);
	};

	return obj;
}();


if(Dsq.Utils.ie6) {
	(function() {
		DSQ_HEADER_AVATAR_RE = /<div class="dsq-header-avatar"(.*?)>/gim;
		Dsq.Templates.registerFilter('postPrependHeader', function(html, post_id) {
			// Add "onmouseout" for dsq-header-avatar for dropProfile
			// functionality since IE6 cannot use :hover.
			function _headerAvatarReplace(content, inner, _unused, html) {
				return '<div class="dsq-header-avatar" '
					+ inner
					+ ' onmouseout="Dsq.Post.dropProfile(' + post_id + ')">';
			}
			html = html.replace(DSQ_HEADER_AVATAR_RE, _headerAvatarReplace);
			return html;
		});
	})();
}





	// TODO: Move Seesmic code outside of the main script.  Don't let this script clobber the global namespace.
	if(typeof seesmic == 'undefined') { var seesmic = {}; }
	seesmic.widget = new function () {
		this.callback = function (data) {
			playerVersion = data.disqusplayer;
		};
	};

	
	var scriptEl = document.createElement('script');
	scriptEl.setAttribute('type', 'text/javascript');
	scriptEl.setAttribute('src', 'http://seesmic.com/version.js?callback=seesmic.widget.callback');
	document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(scriptEl);

	
	var scriptEl = document.createElement('script');
	scriptEl.setAttribute('type', 'text/javascript');
	scriptEl.setAttribute('src', 'http://media.disqus.com/javascript/library/swfobject.js');
	document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(scriptEl);

	function see_play_video(_videoUri, _add) {
		var swf = !!playerVersion ? playerVersion : 'http://seesmic.com/embeds/StandalonePlayer.swf';

		flashcontentDiv = Dsq.$(_videoUri + '_content');
		previewDiv = Dsq.$('dsq-seesmic-' + _videoUri + '_preview');
		hideDiv = Dsq.$('dsq-seesmic-' + _videoUri + '_hide');
		showDiv = Dsq.$('dsq-seesmic-' + _videoUri + '_show');
		if(_add) {
			// push flash widget
			var so = new SWFObject(swf, 'sotester', '300', '270', '9', '#000000');
			so.addVariable('video', _videoUri);
			so.addParam('allowFullScreen', 'true');
			so.addParam('allowScriptAccess','always');
			so.useExpressInstall('swfobject/expressinstall.swf');
			so.write(_videoUri + '_content');

			previewDiv.style.display = 'none';
			hideDiv.style.display = 'block';
			showDiv.style.display = 'none';
		}
		else {
			flashcontentDiv.innerHTML = '';
			previewDiv.style.display = 'block';
			hideDiv.style.display = 'none';
			showDiv.style.display = 'block';
		}
	};





(function() {
	//
	// Load theme.  This overrides the base templates with template functions
	// from the respective themes.
	//
	if (Dsq.jsonData.integration.theme == 4) {
		var theme = 'narcissus';
		// HACK: Set variable on window to use post message.
		window.disqus_use_postmessage = true;

		
		for(var prop in Dsq.Themes[theme]) {
			if(Dsq.Themes[theme] && Dsq.Themes[theme].hasOwnProperty(prop)) {
				Dsq.Templates[prop] = Dsq.Themes[theme][prop];
			}
		}
		
		for(var prop in Dsq.Post) {
			if(Dsq.Themes[theme] && Dsq.Themes[theme].hasOwnProperty(prop)) {
				Dsq.Post[prop] = Dsq.Themes[theme][prop];
			}
		}
	}

	//
	// Register templates.  This must be done after all themes are loaded.
	//
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('authPost', Dsq.Templates.authPost);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('header', Dsq.Templates.header);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('footer', Dsq.Templates.footer);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('trackbacks', Dsq.Templates.trackbacks);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('reactions', Dsq.Templates.reactions);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('prependPost', Dsq.Templates.prependPost);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('appendPost', Dsq.Templates.appendPost);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('postPrependHeader', Dsq.Templates.postPrependHeader);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('postAppendHeader', Dsq.Templates.postAppendHeader);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('preBody', Dsq.Templates.preBody);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('postBody', Dsq.Templates.postBody);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('postFooter', Dsq.Templates.postFooter);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('_popupGeneric', Dsq.Templates._popupGeneric);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('voted', Dsq.Templates.voted);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('popupProfile', Dsq.Templates.popupProfile);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('postBox', Dsq.Templates.postBox);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('pagination', Dsq.Templates.pagination);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('postComment_onSuccess', Dsq.Templates.postComment_onSuccess);

})();

Dsq.container.className = "clearfix";
Dsq.container.innerHTML = ' \
<ul id="dsq-comments">\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926774">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926774" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926774" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-12926774" href="http://www.brownmanthinkinghard.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Brown Man</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926774" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926774" class="dsq-comment-message">Are you guys serious?<br><br>If "taking it the streets" is all we are, then kill me now.<br><br>I hear all this talk about "Afrocentric", but most motherfuckers who can\'t read don\'t really know anything about Africa except kente cloth, Roots, and the STUFF THEY SEE ON TV that has been programmed by the same "whitey" you say you are afraid of acting like.<br><br>Nobody here is going back to Africa.  NOBODY!  Certainly not anybody I see standing on the corner, talking about "the man" is holding him down.<br><br>You can start a business IN THE HOOD with practically no money if you have an education.  Brand new lawyers who have next to no experience do it everyday.  Young doctors with 125K in loans do it and get paid year one if they take Medicaid patients, which our HOODS are full of.  Even if you don\'t get that far in school, you can either learn how to navigate the government grant system to get a loan to rehab your block, or start a small retail shop - IF YOU CAN FUCKING READ.<br><br>If I was Martin, or the beloved Malcolm that so many dumb ass thug wannabees holler about while they wave their 9mm\'s around, killing US, I\'d look down on your ridiculous asses and say "damn all of you fools who don\'t know any better than to believe this bullshit."<br><br>Malcolm didn\'t get to be Malcolm cause he sold drugs or wore a conk.  He got to be Malcolm because when his ass could have been rotting in that jail, he took the time to learn the language of the land.<br><br>Every African in Africa who has a bit of sense and the middle class luxuries many of us enjoy know two, three, or more languages, and they live on the biggest continent in the world.<br><br>So what the fuck are we afraid of?<br><br>If you can learn to cook crack properly, you can learn to be a pharmaceutical technician, and mix legal drugs.<br><br>If you can hotwire a car, you can learn to pull conduit and wire a house.<br><br>The only reason tunnel vision, "keeping it real" negroes like you even have half a chance to spew this nonsense is because some EDUCATED NEGROES took one for the team for the last hundred and fifty years, all the way back to Frederick Douglas, a real "G" if their ever was one.<br><br>Take these nursery rhyme fantasies back where you got them and quit fooling our youth.  <br><br>Do you see any rappers still living on the streets they came from?<br><br>Hell No!<br><br>So why brainwash our children into believing that attitude and swagger mean anything when they have no brainpower to back it up, no knowledge base to anchor it, and no way to communicate with the rest of the world, whether they are white, black or brown?</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12927695">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12927695" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12927695" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12927695">spirit_55z</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12927695" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12927695" class="dsq-comment-message">Thank you!<br><br>I mentor Black teenage girls twice a month, and it is all about EDUCATION.  <br><br>I tell these young girls education is the key to LIFE.  They need to hear repeatedly how precious, exciting, and glorious education is.  <br><br>Our youth  need to be encouraged to read, to journal their experiences, to think critically, and to be curious about life by asking questions.  <br><br>It is their right; Knowledge is power. <br>Power to navigate life, and it\'s not limited to our communities.  <br><br>Our kids need to be taught there are NO LIMITATIONS.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12927940">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12927940" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12927940" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12927940">rikyrah</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12927940" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12927940" class="dsq-comment-message">Brown Man,<br><br>I don\'t think you and Town are as far apart as you think you are.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12928188">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12928188" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12928188" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12928188">Miranda</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12928188" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12928188" class="dsq-comment-message">I agree. I thought Brown Man\'s comment ran parallel to Town\'s - both were making two different points that really compliment each other, headed in the same direction, reaching the same goal.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929586">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929586" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929586" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929586">spirit_55z</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929586" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929586" class="dsq-comment-message">I Agree; the sticking point from both is that EDUCATION is important.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929644">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929644" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929644" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929644">Miranda</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929644" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929644" class="dsq-comment-message">Exactly - what seems to be the fundamental difference between the posters is HOW to get that point across to our youth.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12928263">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12928263" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12928263" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-12928263" href="http://www.brownmanthinkinghard.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Brown Man</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12928263" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12928263" class="dsq-comment-message">I don\'t think so - what happens to the Sarah Palins of the world has no relevance for Joe "I Don\'t Know" Negro.  <br><br>For every Sarah Palin who barely crawled out of college and made it big, there are three white chicks who get treated like total tricks when their ignorance shows, because all white chicks don\'t look like Sarah after having 5 kids, and if you don\'t believe how she looks didn\'t have anything to do with her skating her way into the governors mansion, I\'ve got a stack of Martin Luther King\'s paper\'s to sell you.<br><br>Predicating the importance of the educations of our children on whether or not white people are overlooking these same standards for themselves is illogical.  Not kinda dumb, not sorta stupid - its the most idiotic motherfucking reasoning I can think of for just throwing in the towel.<br><br>The people - slaves, remember them -  whose educations were eked out by candlelight when their lives were at stake didn\'t worry about how white men looked out for each other even if they were stupid, BECAUSE THEY KNEW HOW POWERFUL IT WAS TO BE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT THE MORE COMPLEX THINGS IN THIS WORLD FOR THEMSELVES.<br><br>Negroes who can make up any old bullshit reason why we shouldn\'t be putting on a fucking Carlton outfit if we have to in order to get the knowledge we need can catch one of those "keeping it real" bullets in my book.<br><br>The only thing that will be "good in the hood" is when the last light finally goes out.<br><br>They play rap music in the suburbs too.  <br><br>Cats at my Starbucks wear more Sean John than black folks.<br><br>We would still be black, though, if we never rapped, break danced, ate collard greens or corn bread, or ripped a jazz solo.<br><br>Trust me.  <br><br>This is really the same steam I had from the last post, Rikyrah, so it is still directed at this "Town" person and all the other lackeys who jumped on his bandwagon.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929781">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929781" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929781" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929781">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929781" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929781" class="dsq-comment-message">"The only thing that will be "good in the hood" is when the last light finally goes out.<br><br>They play rap music in the suburbs too. <br><br>Cats at my Starbucks wear more Sean John than black folks.<br><br>We would still be black, though, if we never rapped, break danced, ate collard greens or corn bread, or ripped a jazz solo.<br><br>Trust me."<br><br>Say it loud!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926868">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926868" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926868" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12926868">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926868" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926868" class="dsq-comment-message">Brown Man.  Break.It.Down  Trust me you weren\'t the only one that had a WTH moment.  <br><br>One of my favorite lines -- "If I was Martin, or the beloved Malcolm that so many dumb ass thug wannabees holler about while they wave their 9mm\'s around, killing US, I\'d look down on your ridiculous asses and say "damn all of you fools who don\'t know any better than to believe this bullshit."<br><br>We need more men like you saying these things.  Excellent post and 100% true.  Excellent.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926400">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926400" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926400" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12926400">Miranda</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926400" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926400" class="dsq-comment-message">"I think black and hispanic communities should stress education NOT as a way to assimilate and gain acceptance into the larger white society (that’s never going to happen) but stress education as a way to build up their own communities instead."<br><br>I really wish our children would/could learn the history of what once was....Beale Street in Memphis, Black Wall Street in Tulsa and Durham, Auburn Ave in Atlanta, and yes Harlem in NYC and many many others all across the country. It would amaze you (or at least it amazed me) how very little teens know about the history in the very cities they live in. The average American history class teaches "there were slaves, there was a civil war, slavery ended, there was a civil rights movement, MLK Jr was shot...the end". Ask a 16 year old right now if they know what the "Harlem Renaissance" was, and they\'re liable to say "ummmm, a church?" To me, history has always been the most important subject for high schoolers - if they dont know where they\'ve been, they damn sure can\'t tell where they\'re going.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926792">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926792" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926792" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12926792">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926792" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926792" class="dsq-comment-message">"It would amaze you (or at least it amazed me) how very little teens know about the history in the very cities they live in. "<br><br>Miranda - ask a teen . . . heck ask anyone under 25 to summarize the much JJP cited "Bill Cosby accountability" speech and they would look at you all crazy which to me repeatedly proved Cosby\'s point.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12927264">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12927264" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12927264" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12927264">malletgirl02</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12927264" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12927264" class="dsq-comment-message">First of all not all young people are ignorant. Secondly if they are it is not all their fault. I\'m sure they could read books, but isn\'t educating want schools and parents are for. Remember, "Children will listen".</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12928001">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12928001" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12928001" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12928001">Miranda</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12928001" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12928001" class="dsq-comment-message">I completely agree.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926608">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926608" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926608" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-12926608" href="http://herecomethatgirl.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">No1KState</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926608" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926608" class="dsq-comment-message">There\'s no doubt that the soft subjects are Eurocentric, deceitful, and racist.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925546">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925546" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925546" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12925546">Lisa_J</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925546" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925546" class="dsq-comment-message">You hit it Town.  I have lived and been educated around plenty of white folks and have met more than my share of anti-intellectual, ill-educated, and willfully ign\'ant white folk to know that "acting white" i.e., being educated and striving to learn, is most certainly not soley a white trait and is something plenty of white folks do not live up to.  And you are right about seeing the hbcu\'s  on t-shirts sweat shirts on old older shows.  I noticed that watching "Martin" and "Living Single" re-runs recently.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926272">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926272" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926272" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12926272">Miranda</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926272" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926272" class="dsq-comment-message">LOL..how bout I said the same thing earlier, but I mentioned Martin and The Fresh Prince (noticed Will wearing a Howard sweatshirt one day and a Tuskegee the next)!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926432">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926432" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926432" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12926432">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926432" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926432" class="dsq-comment-message">Yep!  Even when they said we could not go to their schools, we created instituitions of learning to produce black folks that were not only their peers but intellecutally superior.  Because we KNEW we were as more if not MORE than them.  Even if the playing field was not level, we set out to defy the odds and be even greater!!<br><br>The reason RAYRAY and the hood BELIEVE this " ICAN"T" mess today is because their mothers had them too young, when they had not themselves learned they could be great, and so they had nothing to give back to their kiddies to tell them and show them let alone teach them how, they could do more and go farther.<br><br>And then, some of those moms, had the twisted mindsets, they did not want their child to \'be different\' than them, there own fear of losing their child kept the child in a failure mindset.<br><br>I have heard so many stories of that, it just breaks your heart.<br><br>JoeJackson\'s methods may  have been far from kind but one thing no one can deny is that he did have a dream, he did BELIEVE in MJ...and he did everything he could to maximize his TALENTS. He knew the odds and he BEAT them STILL.<br><br>And b4 anyone says anything NO I am not ENDORSing JoeJackson...just saying...big barriers and great odds..call for even greater determination and belief in one\'s self and abilities..</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925601">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925601" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925601" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12925601">McDaddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925601" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925601" class="dsq-comment-message">Very good post. You hit on why I was not  impressed with Obama\'s speech to the NAACP. He talked about education as if that in itself would assure black success. I\'ve worked with young blacks for  years. I\'d say 95% don\'t believe it. They believe an academic education works but for white kids. Why? Because white kids, more than not, usually have parents and friends of their parents who will help them to get a job and get started moving up escalators of success. On the other hand, they believe that white people don\'t want to hire them, just  as they don\'t want to hire their dads or their moms. Research backs them up. That\'s why you have 49% black unemployment in New York City.<br><br>If black people build up the institutions in their own communities-- create businesses and processes where young blacks see themselves fitting in, getting a job and being a positive force in t he community-- then getting an education will make more sense, seem like a more practical idea. Right now, they don\'t know if they\'re going to live long enough to finish a GED. <br><br>Personally, I think the Obamas and the Cosbys ought to call a moratorium on all sermons about education and listen to kids for a change and see why 75% of them don\'t graduate from high school. If they do, they\'ll find out as my organization did that kids are walking around in total fear. They\'re afraid to ride on the bus, to wait at t he bus stop, to go out to recess, to go skating, to even hang out in their yard. And they don\'t think we adults are listening. They already know that it\'s different than when we were growing up. At least we had some adults figures looking out  for us. They\'ve told me this over and over again. They live in fear and without hope. <br><br>We need to start listening and begin t o figure out how we can protect them as we develop institutions to sustain them and us as a people</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926237">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926237" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926237" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12926237">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926237" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926237" class="dsq-comment-message">"I\'ve worked with young blacks for years. I\'d say 95% don\'t believe it. They believe an academic education works but for white kids. Why? Because white kids, more than not, usually have parents and friends of their parents who will help them to get a job and get started moving up escalators of success. On the other hand, they believe that white people don\'t want to hire them, just as they don\'t want to hire their dads or their moms. Research backs them up. That\'s why you have 49% black unemployment in New York City."<br><br>This is called self-defeating mindset.  Millions of slaves had no reason to believe they would ever be free due to the oppressive conditions of slavery. Nevertheless they fought and died for freedom.  Millions of blacks lived under separatebutequal and drank from separate drinking foundations and were hired as train porters despite having college degrees.  Nevertheless, they fought for civil rights.<br><br>To GIVE UP and believe that the conditions you were born into is what life is about is the absolute worse thing that can be done.  Just because you are born poor or in the slums does not mean the slums or poverty RESIDES IN YOU.  It does not matter how many examples you can give of the odds being stacked. Those are merely obstacles.  <br><br>And <br><br>Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.<br><br>What these kids need to see are models of white failure, show them trailer trash, cite them the true numbers on welfare, tell them the attrition rate for whites. Let them see that failure is not racially discriminatory. Lots of white folks are horrible models of humanity.  Show them those as well. Let them see that being white is NO panacea!  White folks fail too!!<br><br>RayRay and the hood have to understand that no one shapes your destiny, it is in their  hands to use all theirGod given talents to EXCELL, perservere and PREVAIL....always knowing that no matter how many studies or naysayers the TRUTH is everyone who fails to plan, plans to fail.<br><br>Let them know our people went to Harvard during the height of segregation. Show them how those people endured far more and tell them<br><br>YES WE CAN!!  The human spirit is indomitable when it is focused, determined and will not be deterred.  As the saying goes.  Keep your eyes on the PRIZE.<br><br>We CAN rise above, we CAN achieve more, we CAN make our dreams come true.<br><br>The first thing you have to do is believe!!  <br><br>Despair and hopelessness is nothing but a self imposed sentence of poverty and ignorance.<br><br>Hope and hard work have CONSISTENTLY triumphed over those odds, and the barriers for our ancestors were far greater and they KNOCKED them down.<br><br>So, I don\'t wanna hear nothing about what RayRAY believes..they need to look around for the SUCCESSFUL models, and not focus on the failures and hardships.<br><br>Focus on being ALL you can be...and YOU WILL...because<br><br>YES WE CAN...history demonstrates that!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12928652">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12928652" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12928652" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12928652">McDaddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12928652" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12928652" class="dsq-comment-message">There you go-preaching. Not once did you mention listening. Not once did you ask, "What\'s going on with kids today that\'s different from when we were growing up?" Not once did you leave your role as preacher and try to see the world from someone\'s else\'s point of view?<br><br>As for people growing up in segregated South (apartheid), I\'m one of them. But as a kid in Atlanta, Georgia, I saw more positive things there than up North. We had good schools, fine teachers and lots of black businesses. It was our misadventure with so-called integration that took a lot of those businesses away. But we had fine role models. We need to figure out a way to bring some of those role models back, people who inspire like Benjamin Mays, Janetta Cole, and Dr. King and Coretta King. We need them up North just as much as we need them down South.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926335">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926335" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926335" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12926335">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926335" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926335" class="dsq-comment-message">Whiterose - we were BOTH headed in the same direction.  The only part of your post I disagree with is "What these kids need to see are models of white failure, show them trailer trash, cite them the true numbers on welfare, tell them the attrition rate for whites." simply because they don\'t need to see that.  <br><br>What they really need is for us (parents, peers, and well meaning folks in our communities and churches, race) to stop spewing that self defeating crap and help them study, find resources, support them, become their mentors etc. to help them succeed.  Let them know up front, it will not work unless they commit to their own future.  My perspective is that you can\'t sustain building someone up if it is dependent on tearing someone else down.  Doesn\'t matter what race you are or what they did to you.  Completely co-sign on everything else.  <br><br><br>I am waiting for McDaddy to clarify his statements that I cited below.  I want to understand why he supports this position and his reasoning behind it. I want to know who exactly our kids are afraid of when riding the bus or playing in the yard and my guess is . . .it isn\'t another white kid so in isolating black children, who exactly are we supposedly protecting them from?<br><br>I appreciate this dialogue.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926364">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926364" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926364" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12926364">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926364" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926364" class="dsq-comment-message">I feel ya...and just was not in the mood to hear more...WE CAN"T.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12927008">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12927008" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12927008" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-12927008" href="http://leftistmoon.wordpress.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">WordSmith</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12927008" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12927008" class="dsq-comment-message">That entire gotta tear someone down to see how great we really are HAS TO GO!   Different circumstances, but I heard that shit all my life growing up from my parents -- directed at me and my siblings as well as other people.  It\'s not true and never has been.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926512">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926512" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926512" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12926512">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926512" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926512" class="dsq-comment-message">hope you don\'t mind but I want to copy your response and share it with a few folks.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12927683">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12927683" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12927683" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12927683">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12927683" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12927683" class="dsq-comment-message">Val,<br>Let me say this about this:<br><br>"The only part of your post I disagree with is "What these kids need to see are models of white failure, show them trailer trash, cite them the true numbers on welfare, tell them the attrition rate for whites." simply because they don\'t need to see that."<br><br>If the perception of RayRay in the hood, is that all you need to succeed is white, then that myth also has to be dispelled.<br>They need to be shown that just being white is NOT all it takes, even if it SEEMS that it is SOLELY about race...there are LOTS of whites who fail, too. These kids need to know that just being white don\'t mean you are going to be ALL THAT.  They get that about sports/entertainment...but not about academics and hard work. But just being white ain\'t ALL it takes, now if they work hard do they have an advantage? YES...but so DO THEY.<br><br>It\'s just like my kids, when they came home talking about ALL the white kids hate us, I said no that\'s not true. SOME of the white kids might...but your job is to find those who don\'t. Cause white folks are not ALL the same when it comes to that.  And they did, and they were happier, because there were white kids that were fine with them. Don\'t mean they loved them, BUT they did give them a chance and they didn\'t hate them.<br><br>is all I am sayin...I know we are on the same page for the most part.<br><br>It just hurts my heart, when folks say kids see white folks get things they don\'t deserve, so I don\'t need to try...well they need to be shown how many losers are white, who had THEIR same mindset despite being white.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12928823">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12928823" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12928823" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12928823">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12928823" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12928823" class="dsq-comment-message">Oh okay.  I understand your perspective.  <br><br>WhiteRose - I have found from my own personal experiences (can\'t speak for anyone else) that 9 times out of 10 failure of our black at risk kids has nothing to do with whites.  Instead it is has much to do with advice given by family members, peers and community members and the child\'s lack of interest or effort.  <br> <br>I can say that as an unpaid volunteer for at risk black kids for over 21 years.  I have a full time job but I volunteer often and my passions are school programs, at risk black males and the elderly.  <br><br>Here are some examples -- At our school our PTA personally sent invitations to our minority parents to attend a meeting that we hoped would start the discussions and lead to a plan to address bridging the gap between blacks and the school to get more parent/family involvement.  Our Principal made the decision to go into the neighborhoods and knock on the parents’ front doors to invite them.   She also made personal phone calls and followed up with her own postcard asking them to attend.  She and I stayed outside of the administrative offices every evening for 2 weeks and personally stopped and talked to every minority parent that walked into the school.  4 black parents attended.  1 was a grandmother, there was my husband and me and one other parent whose cell phone rang and she got up and left the room 10 minutes into the session.<br><br>My husband and I are the only blacks that attended PTA meetings in 2008 – 2009 school year.<br> <br>PTA offered Enrichment programs at the school and expanded the program to include languages, science, math, arts and provided full scholarships to students.  We set aside scholarships specifically for kids with financial needs and for minorities and no black students (ZERO) took advantage of the classes even when PTA offered full tuition.   <br><br>We have an annual county wide Black History competition.  In the last 5 years of participation, our school always ranks 1 or 2 in competitions but we have ZERO participation by our black students.  Per our white principal, "it is an embarrassment to her because no matter what she does or how often she reaches out . . . she gets NO participation from black students."  She is owning that failure but has no idea on how to resolve it.<br><br>Over the years I have become connected to a few of the at risk kids that I mentor and offered to pay for 2 years tuition and books at a local community college to at least give them a leg up.  The only requirement - finish the task and maintain a basic C average.  Complete college - no reimbursement required.  If you drop out, you have to reimburse the money. I got NO takers.  It was too much work or I get . . . the parent or Aunt so and so says it was better to go find a job.<br><br>I offered to pay for classes for kids I know needed the financial help or personally take kids who were high school drop outs to GED classes and pick them up. But they had to commit to it.  I had a contract that said if they completed the sessions no repayment was required but if they dropped out, they had to reimburse the money.  Many of the PARENTS said it was inconvenient.  Too much work and discouraged the kids from taking the class.<br><br>What I can’t understand is when we sit and talk about opportunities for the kids; parents quickly cite the reasoning cited by McDaddy and others and I just don’t get it.  I can’t understand it.  But I do know that unless we break that toxic thinking . . . those kids suffer.<br><br>My family is fine.  My parents had 8 kids.  Yes eight.  Mom was a nurse (now deceased) and Dad (now 79) worked local hardware store.  Between them they earned less than $30,000 annually but they owned a house and took care of us.  I always remember in my childhood that somebody was always living with us because they needed a place to stay and we either shared our beds with young cousins or had to give up our beds often to family members, some friends and sometimes folks we didn’t even know.  Someone was always knocking on our doors for a plate of food and my mother was always handing out our clothes to folks while telling us we should be happy to help lend a hand to someone who needed it and grateful that we could.<br><br>We had to pay our own way through college because they simply couldn’t afford it but my mother knows her kids understood their sacrifice and their desire that we create our own path and reach our own personal goals.  Her legacy (she has been dead over a decade now) includes a doctor who is the head of a NY hospital and a plastic surgeon with his own private practice for over 20 something years, two RNs, a son who served 20 years in the military and is now a director at Microsoft, 2 small business owners, an electrician with a brilliant mind and a penchant for alcoholism and me.<br><br>So a lot of this self defeating without  recognizing personal accountability commentary  . . . I just don’t get it.  I don’t understand it but I do know we need to stop it.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929438">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929438" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929438" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929438">spirit_55z</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929438" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929438" class="dsq-comment-message">I work with at risk teenage girls, and when I first started working with them, they were of the mindset that they didn\'t have the right to dream and dream big.<br><br>When I asked them who told taught them this foolishness, they said their friends and cousins-family.  They weren\'t white friends.... Now who told their friends and family this foolishness?<br><br>It\'s a viscious cricle.<br><br>So, the first thing I did with these girls is have them write down all their dreams.  As time went on, we created dream/goal collages and made concrete action plans to help them.<br><br>If some wanted to go to college, we helped each other come up with steps... small ones to start..something they could achieve, and then take it to the next level.<br><br>We hold each other accountable,and don\'t accept any excuses, put on the thinking caps, and just look for another option.<br><br>"So a lot of this self defeating without commentary recognizing personal accountability ."<br><br>YOU BET IT IS!<br><br>President Obama is RIGHT; NO EXCUSES</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929861">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929861" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929861" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929861">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929861" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929861" class="dsq-comment-message">lol sometimes I think -- Why couldn\'t I just stick to mentoring girls?  They are so much easier.  lolol  young men . . . . it is HARD.<br><br>I keep pushing though.  Every once in awhile a few of these kids get it.  And they make a difference in their own lives. . . and I am thankful.  It is the successes that gives me that extra jolt and determination to reach just one more male child. <br><br>Kudos for the work you do Spirit.  We need all the help we can get.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12931622">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12931622" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12931622" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12931622">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12931622" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12931622" class="dsq-comment-message">"They are so much easier. lolol young men . . . . it is HARD."<br><br>Yes it is. Maleness is based on superiority. Completely different from feminity.<br><br>Men COMPETE to be the best, and if the playing field is tilted...they choose to find another venue where they CAN demonstrate superiority.<br><br>A whole different ballgame.<br><br>Which is why momma\'sboys succeed.  Those boys listen when momma explains HOW to compete DIFFERNTLY and WIN.<br><br>Most boys consider that paradigm hogwash. Cause what does \'SHE know about what I"m dealing with" she ain\'t no MAN. She don\'t get it! Is how they think. <br><br>Which also contributes to blacksinglemoms not being able to raise men...there are FAR more who will NOT listen and need a MAN to tell them how to do it.<br><br>Because if he is a male they know HE gets it unlike the female that is not dealing with his male challenges. A male child might need to be nurtured but they don\'t wanna be nurtured they want to WIN.<br><br>And that male tells/shows them how to win on MALE terms and be a success.<br><br>Which is the entire point of emasculation of the black male by white men...they KNOW this...<br><br>which is a whole NUTHER discussion.<br><br>But it speaks to why black females are out suceeding their male counterparts from singleblackfemale households.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12931036">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12931036" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12931036" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12931036">spirit_55z</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12931036" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12931036" class="dsq-comment-message">I think male or female, the bottom line is acknowledging, validating, andd nurturing them.<br><br>Sometimes it is challenging, but I beleive the greater the resistance, the greater the impact on the results.<br><br>NEVER GIVE UP ON A GOOD THING!<br><br><a href="http://www.ilike.com/artist/George+Benson/track/Never+Give+Up+On+A+Good+Thing" rel="nofollow">http://www.ilike.com/artist/George+Benson/track...</a></div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929704">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929704" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929704" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929704">Justice58</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929704" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929704" class="dsq-comment-message"><i>So, the first thing I did with these girls is have them write down all their dreams. As time went on, we created dream/goal collages and made concrete action plans to help them.</i><br><br><br>Spirit,<br><br>I remember when you first told us @ JJP that you had the girls to write down their dreams.<br><br>You\'re doing a fine job with the girls. Big Up to you...God bless you!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12960333">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12960333" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12960333" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12960333">TyrenM</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12960333" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12960333" class="dsq-comment-message">Please keep on doing what you\'re doing. If I\'m on point, my daugher won\'t need your services, but it\'s nice to know you\'re there if she does.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12931427">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12931427" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12931427" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12931427">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12931427" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12931427" class="dsq-comment-message">"My family is fine. My parents had 8 kids."<br><br>I hear you, I come from a family of six. Sad to say, but I was the only one to make it out. So, to me the odds are real and personal.<br><br>But to show you how strongly I believe in success, when I read the lies, I just discarded them and said they were WRONG.  Took, a friend of mine to tell me NO, you are the exception.  ERgo, my response to this:<br><br>"What I can’t understand is when we sit and talk about opportunities for the kids; parents quickly cite the reasoning cited by McDaddy and others and I just don’t get it."<br><br>It\'s real and we can\'t save everyone, but we do need to identify early those who can make a difference and give them the tools to succeed.<br><br>"that 9 times out of 10 failure of our black at risk kids has nothing to do with whites. "<br><br>I agree. That is why the new \'sub-culture mentailty" is far more of an obstacle than being black. It is why I agree with Cosby. If you believe that \'slumming\' is the status quo..then you are lost.<br>And unfortuantely for too many of our children today, the thug/gangsta, incarceration mindset is the status quo for blackness.<br><br>It is worse than slavery. At least the slaves wanted to be free. Imagine if they had believe slavery was the status quo? THAT is what we are dealing with today. Black kids believeing that their gangsta/thug mentality is what it means to black. <br><br>They BELIEVE THAT...how do you change that?<br><br>It is like changing racism, when your white/black  parents teach you to be racist, how do you change that. Who can go up against familial teaching and win.<br><br>Our parents didn\'t teach us racism, but black parents today DO! They actually teach their kids that racism is the problem. IMAGINE that? Not even when we were slaves did we teach our kids racism..they had to experience it. Because we KNEW what a mind shackle it was!!<br><br>That is why our job today is worse than slavery.<br><br>No one strived to be a slave...but kids today DO strive to be the biggest gangsta/thug..to prove they are \'real BLACKNESS"  <br><br>AND<br><br>countering that means going up against they momma and missing daddy!!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12931634">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12931634" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12931634" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12931634">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12931634" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12931634" class="dsq-comment-message">"Our parents didn\'t teach us racism, but black parents today DO! They actually teach their kids that racism is the problem. IMAGINE that? Not even when we were slaves did we teach our kids racism..they had to experience it. Because we KNEW what a mind shackle it was!!"<br><br>OMG!!! that is IT.  All these years and I missed that simple truth. <br><br>"That is why our job today is worse than slavery. No one strived to be a slave...but kids today DO strive to be the biggest gangsta/thug..to prove they are \'real BLACKNESS" AND countering that means going up against they momma and missing daddy!!"<br><br>This is definately something I have to take time and think about.  I never understood that.  You are so right.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12932251">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12932251" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12932251" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12932251">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12932251" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12932251" class="dsq-comment-message">"OMG!!! that is IT. All these years and I missed that simple truth."<br><br>Yes. When you buy into racism you buy into being a victim. If you believe you are a victim, then you are defeated from jump. You CAN\'t win.  <br><br>Our parents NEVA ALLOWED that. They only talked about racism, in the sense of your personal experience, when you WERe doing your BEST and not getting ahead!  <br><br>We were never victims. We were casualties of prejudice!!<br><br>Not VICTIMS. <br><br>It makes a huge difference..to tell someone they cannot win at the start of the race vs. having them compete against the most incredible odds and SUCCEED!!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929086">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929086" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929086" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929086">spirit_55z</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929086" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929086" class="dsq-comment-message">"It just hurts my heart, when folks say kids see white folks get things they don\'t deserve, so I don\'t need to try..."<br><br>I beleive we have to fill in the "NO EXCUSES" with what our children CAN DO and BE.  and FOCUSING on white folks fuckups, is a distraction, another way to use it as an excuse..... no limitations, means excelling against all odds.<br><br>I agree with keeping our eyes on the prize.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12930067">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12930067" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12930067" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12930067">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12930067" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12930067" class="dsq-comment-message">I couldn\'t agree with you more Spirit that focusing on it is a distraction...BUT,when you are dealing with kids..and they SEE white folks getting stuff they do did NOT earn..you have to addressit. That distraction is a WEED and you have to KILL it. Kids see that WEED growing!!<br><br>Just a personal aside. Our family has been blessed. We have lived in predominately affluent areas. And my kids had to learn THAT.  I identified that WEED and gave them the tools to KILL it. They learned it so well that by SECOND grade..my son could callit out. He SAID to us...mom, Mike is on the team cause his dad is the VP at bank so and so, but he did not have the skills of Caleb.  <br><br>My response was he was right!  He was right that Mke did not earn it.  My response was NOT that cause he didn\'t earn it, he TOO, did not need to work hard to be the BEST.  Caleb, of course was a poor white boy from the wrong end of town, and I told him SEE they discriminate against their OWN not just you. Because, as I told him, in the END, Caleb will be on the HS team, not MIKE.  <br><br>And so it was!<br><br>We also discussed parental influence,cause he asked me, why do adults LET someone without the ability on the team cause they DADDY is so& so.<br><br>AND I told him that.  I told him, there will always be folks who get ahead based on who they know but YOU cannot rely on that!  You STILL have to be the best..cause those same guys, when they KNOW you the shyt and you the best, they are gonna select you cause the wanna win.<br><br>So, I told him \'keep your eyes on the prize\'..be the BEST and KNOW...they will come for you. And when they do..DEMAND the TOP dollar for your skills.<br><br>But don\'t not work hard, cause that is the kiss of death.<br><br>Are other white boys gonna get ahead that don\'t handle a candle to you?  You BET...don;t MATTER<br>someBODY is gonna REALIZE that with you on their team they are gonna win...and sure enough he found that out.<br><br>In the work world it is no different. You have to focus on being the best,, don\'t mean it\'s fair...but like I told him LIFE ain\'t fair, and when you black it is more UNfair.<br><br>But be YOUR best ANYWAY!!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12930772">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12930772" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12930772" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12930772">spirit_55z</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12930772" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12930772" class="dsq-comment-message">I have no problem addressing the youth\'s questions when they ask why come folks are getting ahead when they haven\'t done the work.<br><br>I schooled my daughters from day one, and I told them to JUST KEEPING MOVING AHEAD.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12931350">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12931350" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12931350" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12931350">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12931350" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12931350" class="dsq-comment-message">yepper!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926609">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926609" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926609" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12926609">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926609" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926609" class="dsq-comment-message">No problem...this is the public domain. lol</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12927874">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12927874" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12927874" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12927874">spirit_55z</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12927874" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12927874" class="dsq-comment-message">Keep dialouging, Val!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925797">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925797" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925797" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12925797">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925797" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925797" class="dsq-comment-message">"If black people build up the institutions in their own communities-- create businesses and processes where young blacks see themselves fitting in, getting a job and being a positive force in t he community-- then getting an education will make more sense, seem like a more practical idea."<br><br>I completely disagree with your first paragraph but that is not relevant.  <br><br>McDaddy - I am asking that you clarify your second paragraph please.  Are you suggesting we move our children backward to a segregated society because only then can they fit in.  And are you also suggesting that because kids say they live in fear and without hope we should further isolate them instead of pushing them to become educated, demand and expect equality and respect from employeers and peers because only then can we protect them?  <br><br>Just curious.  Who and what are they afraid of and why exactly are they afraid to wait at the bus top, ride the bus, go out to recess, hang out in their yards or go skating?</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12928303">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12928303" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12928303" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12928303">McDaddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12928303" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12928303" class="dsq-comment-message">Val: You say you disagree with the first paragraph, but it\'s not relevant. It is. What I\'m saying is that we, Obama, Cosby, blacks who have become "successful" like myself and many who come to this blog, oftentimes go back to black communities, or to a few institutions in the communities (usually a church), and talk at black people, especially young people, but say the same thing. We act like young blacks have never heard this before. We act like they\'re hearing this for the very first time. But everybody from mom to dad to uncle Joe to teachers to social workers to the garbage man...Jesus, even pimps on a break from slapping prostitutes tell young bucks to get an education. Then, if they go to church on Sunday, they hear it from a preacher. After a point, it has a diminishing effect, no matter who says it.<br><br>Second, I\'m saying before seeking to be understood, seek to understand. Before sharing our vast knowledge of the universe, we need to gather facts. We need to listen. But we don\'t do this with our own kids, because we think that they\'re going through the exact things we went through and all we have to do is tell them to hang in there and get an education. I\'m saying we should step back and hear their autobiography and stop playing the same tape of our own. If we do, we\'ll learn what\'s going on with them and how to protect and support them. In the process, we may even find a key to our own survival as a people.<br><br>No, it doesn\'t necessarily mean we have to move back into segregated black communities? We can do just what the Carribeans in New York did or the SE Asians did: Build where we are. If there\'s three black families, that\'s a black community in need of a barbershop, aa grocery store, an alternative school, and a salon, even if it sells nails come from South, Korea.<br><br>That\'s what I love about what Rikyrah said about building institutions. Kids want to be inspired, and not just listen to raps anymore. Build a bank, have some blacks folks working there and a brotha or sista who run it, and they\'ll be inspired. Sermons without anything tangible behind it to protect and sustain black people are lame. Kids will tell us this, if we only listen. <br>Building institutions within which kids can see themselves someday is what will give the dream and therefore the motivation to get a good education-- for their families and black communities and not just working for white folks who hate their guts.<br><br>But even before that, we need to hear that kids are walking in fear; and we need to find ways to protect them. It\'s very hard to concentrate when you\'re wondering how you\'re going to dodge a "crew" that\'s coming to kick your ass. <br><br>Blessings.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12931831">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12931831" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12931831" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12931831">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12931831" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12931831" class="dsq-comment-message">"We act like young blacks have never heard this before. We act like they\'re hearing this for the very first time. But everybody from mom to dad to uncle Joe to teachers to social workers to the garbage man...Jesus, even pimps on a break from slapping prostitutes tell young bucks to get an education."<br><br>Role MODELS are far more important than WORDS.  No different from the Kennedy family after they killed off the STRONGEST role MODELS as  males. Killing all the strong males in that family was NO accident, and allowing the least effectual to survive was not either.  That family has NEVA been the same!! The powers that be were AFRAID of the Kennedy dynasty becasue it was powerful.  Make no mistake had JFK and RFK succeeded him as  PResidnent, then Teddy like Dubya would also have been President.<br><br>They killed Martin& Malcolm for the same reason, have those families been the same?<br><br>It is the essence of MANHOOD that builds strong men. Not WORDS alone.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929348">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929348" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929348" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929348">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929348" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929348" class="dsq-comment-message">"I\'m saying before seeking to be understood, seek to understand. Before sharing our vast knowledge of the universe, we need to gather facts. We need to listen. But we don\'t do this with our own kids, because we think that they\'re going through the exact things we went through and all we have to do is tell them to hang in there and get an education. I\'m saying we should step back and hear their autobiography and stop playing the same tape of our own."<br><br>To borrow a phrase from your comment to Whiterosebuddy -- "There you go-preaching."  Sensei :-)<br><br>I am not seeking to be understood.  I know who I am.  These kids need to prepare themselves to know who they are.  It is THEIR future.  Not ours.  THEY are the decision makers.  Those kids don\'t need protection in terms of the views we are discussing on this post. We can offer help to ensure they are prepared and that is our responsibility.  Tools, knowledge, resources and the understanding that they are the final decision makers for their own future.  The thing is. . . while their future is their own . . . it does impact ours.  That can be a scary or comforting thing depending on the outcome.<br><br>now back to the rest of your note . . .<br><br>There are many black businesses in communities already with black managers and owners so. . . . Not sure what you are alluding to.  Kids already see this and that has not fixed the problem.  Last year I committed 500 volunteer hours at a school and over 750 hours on community programs while working full time and I am not even counting hours given at my church.  So . . .I want to say that I don\'t just "visit" at risk black and other communities, I financially invest in them, physically support them by participating and volunteering in their sponsored events and activities, most of those kids visit my home, eat in my kitchen and laid their heads in my guest rooms many times, and the mileage on my car covered many a distance in support of those kids.  <br><br>Want to understand your perception that we don\'t need to push the point of relevance of having an education to kids instead somehow these kids will be able to live where and how exactly?   Just to make clear -- white people are not the only groups that hate.  Every group has some racial animosity (i.e. some blacks based on light skinned vs. dark skinned, some just because someone is white or from another country etc.). and want to add that whites do not factor into this discussion as far as I am concerned.  They are not the problem.<br><br>Back to my last question.  Why exactly are the kids walking in fear and who are they afraid of that they don\'t want to sit at the bus stop, ride the bus or play in their yards or playground.  What "crew" are we protecting them from that is coming to kick their as*? White kids or not????<br><br><br>Blessings back at you.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12932013">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12932013" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12932013" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12932013">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12932013" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12932013" class="dsq-comment-message">"Why exactly are the kids walking in fear and who are they afraid of that they don\'t want to sit at the bus stop, ride the bus or play in their yards or playground. What "crew" are we protecting them from that is coming to kick their as*? White kids or not????"<br><br><br>Today, it is the IMAGES of \'blackness\' on TV that whites buy into and thus our kids buy into as what \'blackness is\'.<br><br>You are in a battle between the pervasive negative stereotypes on TV and the marketed image of blackness, that whites believe and that they EXPECT your BLACK child to be.  AND that your BLACK child ALSO believes is blackness...uncouth, buffoonery, illiternate, speaks ignorant and just is material into drugs/drugdealer...OUR children are as susceptible to those image as whites.<br><br>Worse of all, they attempt to LIVE UP to the white perception of what black is!!<br><br>WE have to counter that in our homes, withOUT the benefit of role models and a community of black folks that belie that!!<br><br>It is hard..very hard to teach a child not raised in a predominately black community that what they see on TV is NOT what it means to be black!<br><br>After all, those ARE the images projected as blackness...sports, entertainments, crude and lewd comedians, class clowns, fiscall irresponsibility with blingbling!!<br><br>YOU have to teach your child that AIN\'t BLACK that is TV just like that Mattel toy that does not do what the commercials SAY!<br><br>Only it is not a product it is PEOPLE who LOOK like them!!<br><br><br>AAAAAARgh!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12935044">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12935044" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12935044" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12935044">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12935044" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12935044" class="dsq-comment-message">WhiteRose - that is the thing.   Sometimes I think we create the stereotype, own it, portray it, others see it and throws it back at us. i.e. the Tyler Perry sitcoms that I refuse to watch.<br><br>The President is a great case and point.  He does not fit any of these stereotypes.  He does not accept it.  His family is a melting pot of diversity but yet he stands as "himself".  So folks are having major problems trying to categorize him.  He reflects intelligence, calm, seriousness, competence etc.  so .  . . America doesn\'t know what to do.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925717">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925717" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925717" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-12925717" href="http://herecomethatgirl.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">No1KState</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925717" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925717" class="dsq-comment-message">The whole "acting white" thing only happens in very specific circumstances and is more about race politics than anti-intellectualism.<br><br>Studies all prove what Town is saying, including the fact that the higher you go in education, the more Eurocentric it becomes.<br><br>Since "amen" has been done, I\'ll just say, "Tell the truth and shame the devil!"</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12932926">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12932926" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12932926" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12932926">McDaddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12932926" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12932926" class="dsq-comment-message">Who\'s preaching now? If you\'re not seeking to be understood, you\'re certainly not seeking to understand, at least not from the kids point of view. Here you have kids being intimidated by bullies in school, other young thugs after school and are often kept in their houses by parents; and all you can think of is to tell them what they need to do. <br><br>Listen. Find out specifically what\'s going on, and ask the kids what he or she think needs to happen and how you can help them. Believe it or not, they\'re not stupid and they\'ll surprise with their insights. <br><br>I know you want them to get an education, but protect them first. Form a group of men to work in shifts to wait at the bus stop; volunteer in schools and watch kids in the bathrooms, around corners, during recess and after school. Form a group to take kids to museums, bowling, to events they want to see and, of course, pizza afterwards. <br><br>Most kids just want to go to school, but they are afraid of their peers, inside and outside of school. If the kids tell on other kids, they are labeled rats which puts them in a more fearful position. The girls are afraid men of males in the home and outside of it. They have to come way before dark. And sometimes mom takes up with men who are more interested in their daughter than the mom. The biggest thing happening with black kids in inner-cities is fear; and the extent you harp on education and neglect that fact, it\'s to that very extent they will turn you off and go to someone they think might protect them such as a gang. And you\'ll still be preaching. I\'m done.<br><br>The main thing about the fear-- and what makes it different from when we were growing up-- is the fact that guns are involved and kids are quite willing to use them. So all the kids know someone who has been shot or killed. Parents, who have to work, don\'t know about it. Teachers, who usually don\'t live in the community, don\'t know about it and don\'t have time to deal with it anyway.<br><br>Sometimes kids want to talk about things with us but oftentimes we sidetrack them with our sermons and autobiographies. And we don\'t even realize it. I wish you could hear this: kids need us to listen and believe that they mean well. They need us to cool it with the quick solutions and just be with them as they tell their autobiography. <br><br>Give yourself a test: get with a kid and see if you can go 5 minutes without preaching but asking follow-up questions...we can\'t talk to kids like our ministers talk to us. Preaching is their job. As parents and community people, our job is to try and understand and help our kids survive and thrive in the future.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12935177">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12935177" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12935177" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12935177">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12935177" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12935177" class="dsq-comment-message">disregard.  you won\'t answer my question.  <br><br>good night all</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925684">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925684" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925684" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12925684">devessel</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925684" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925684" class="dsq-comment-message">So Town:<br><br>When are you going to become the next thoughtful columnist on TVOne?</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12924004">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12924004" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12924004" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12924004">Miranda</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12924004" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12924004" class="dsq-comment-message">I just noticed watching old episodes of Martin, The Fresh Prince - how often they wore HBCU sweatshirts and tees...and when VH1 Soul did a Teddy Riley countdown of the top twenty New Jack Swing, that was ALL you saw....interesting how that\'s all gone now.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12934677">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12934677" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12934677" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12934677">ch555x</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12934677" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12934677" class="dsq-comment-message">Interesting observation.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925503">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925503" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925503" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12925503">Justice58</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925503" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925503" class="dsq-comment-message"><i>I think it’s interesting that conservatives/GOP admonish hispanics for not knowing English and tell them they better learn English, no Spanish allowed…but when hispanics try to learn English, they are mocked.</i><br><br><br><br>Tom Coburn! I See You!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925665">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925665" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925665" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12925665">spirit_55z</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925665" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925665" class="dsq-comment-message">You got that right, Justice.  Coburn\'s got some"splainin" to do!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926095">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926095" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926095" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12926095">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926095" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926095" class="dsq-comment-message">"Maybe the problem in this society isn’t education, because it really doesn’t matter if blacks and hispanics go to school and get an education because many whites will regard somebody like Palin, who went to 5 colleges in 6 years, has no command of the English language and is intellectually incurious as much more smarter and qualified than a black/hispanic summa cum laude graduate of an Ivy League school who continously strives to learn.<br><br>I suspect RayRay in the hood knows this. He doesn’t need a State of the Black Union to tell him what he already knows."<br><br>Yes, they do. But while RayRay in the hood experiences and watches this INJUSTICE occur, they ALSO need to know that many, Many, MANY more people of color do excell and get ahead despite the IGNORANT white person that may leap frog over them!<br><br>It is better to have an education and not need it ( hundreds of athletes/entertainers/entrepreneurs)... than to need an education and not have it (millions incarcerated, millions on welfare, and millions without dads)!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12923859">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12923859" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12923859" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12923859">zackboston</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12923859" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12923859" class="dsq-comment-message">joining the "amen corner."  smile.<br><br>one interesting thing --- a couple of years ago in the (very diverse) boston youth of color program i work with, we got the young people to call bill cosby to express their feelings about how the way he put down young people is making worse the negative stereotypes they are up against in schools, on the street and in the msm.  <br><br>we were also trying to figure out this "acting white" thing.  when we asked the youth about their experiences being accused of "acting white" they looked at us like we were crazy.  they said they had never heard young people talking about "acting white" but they do hear a lot of talk about "acting asian."<br><br>well as you can imagine, that created a lot of lively conversation between the latino & black youth and the asian youth, many of whom had family roots in cambodia and viet nam and who did not fit the "model minority" stereotype.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925498">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925498" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925498" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12925498">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925498" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925498" class="dsq-comment-message">"we got the young people to call bill cosby to express their feelings about how the way he put down young people is making worse the negative stereotypes they are up against in schools, on the street and in the msm. "<br><br>Top Grade Hogwash and a disservice to our young people.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925591">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925591" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925591" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12925591">zackboston</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925591" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925591" class="dsq-comment-message">just sayin that\'s how they felt and what they wanted to say. . .</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925682">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925682" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925682" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12925682">malletgirl02</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925682" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925682" class="dsq-comment-message">I appreciate you posting that. It is good that you listen to young people. Way too many people dismiss their concerns.<br><br>As you know they have just as much the right to say what they feels as $100,000+ a speech Cosby.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925861">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925861" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925861" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12925861">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925861" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925861" class="dsq-comment-message">and what was your response zackboston.  I am listening.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925652">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925652" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925652" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-12925652" href="http://herecomethatgirl.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">No1KState</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925652" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925652" class="dsq-comment-message">His comments ARE making things worse.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925921">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925921" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925921" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12925921">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925921" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925921" class="dsq-comment-message">whose comments make things worse?</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12927638">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12927638" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12927638" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-12927638" href="http://herecomethatgirl.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">No1KState</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12927638" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12927638" class="dsq-comment-message">Cosby\'s. He\'s just giving cover to negative, and false, stereotypes about black youths, who spend as much time studying as white students; who\'re regularly placed in academic tracks lower than where their standardized test scores show they should be; who are punished more often and more harshly than white student despite not misbehaving anymore than white students. Also, over around 85% of black parents check their kids\' homework and just around 75% of white parents check their kids\' homework. Black and white students score and just about the same level until middle school when puberty sets in and black boys start looking like black men, whom these mostly white, female teachers have been raised to fear, and the black girls start looking like black "angry" women. White America doesn\'t listen to Cosby and say, "Okay, I can expect my black student to start achieving." They here him and say, "I told you so."</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12928015">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12928015" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12928015" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12928015">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12928015" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12928015" class="dsq-comment-message">"Cosby\'s. He\'s just giving cover to negative, and false, stereotypes about black youths, "<br><br>That\'s one perspective. The other is that he is speaking to those who ARE as he gave clear examples of. Those who do not speak correctly, who DO glorify ignorance, who ARE touting their \'differentness\' as somehow RIGHT and the definition of blackness.<br><br>Cosby\'s statements cannot be generalized to ALL blacks, but then it was focused on those who ARE as he described. Cosby was right.<br><br>I never once thought Cosby was talking about blacks who DEFY those stereotypes.  IOW\'s just like when folks call blacks shiftless and lazy spout that racism, I don\'t buy into it and neither should any person buy into what DOES NOT FIT them.<br><br><br>IOW you can\'t perpetrate on me what I don\'t perpetuate.<br><br>I am tired of folks speaking against truth that ain\'t theirs, as if it doesn\'t exist, when there are thousands that NEED to hear those truths.<br><br>If you not HIT why you hollering?...as Sepia would say. : )</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12928643">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12928643" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12928643" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12928643">morphus</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12928643" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12928643" class="dsq-comment-message">The urban centers that Cosby addresses are also known in some circles as "asphalt jungles".  And, I believe sometimes that there is a lack of understanding of what daily life is like in the asphalt jungles. <br><br>Can you think of any time when Cosby addressed the school to prison pipeline? Or, schools that already look like prisons with metal detectors?</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12928798">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12928798" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12928798" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12928798">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12928798" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12928798" class="dsq-comment-message">"Can you think of any time when Cosby addressed the school to prison pipeline?"<br><br>No, what he addressed were the ills that CREATE the pipeline.<br><br>"schools that already look like prisons with metal detectors?"<br><br>Schools respond to the ills, that CREATE the pipeline.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929554">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929554" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929554" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929554">morphus</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929554" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929554" class="dsq-comment-message">"No, what he addressed were the ills that CREATE the pipeline."<br><br>No really. <br><br><a href="http://www.aclu.org/crimjustice/juv/35550res20080606.html" rel="nofollow">School to Prison Pipeline: Talking Points</a>:<br><br>The school-to-prison pipeline refers to the national trend of criminalizing, rather than educating, our nation’s children.<br><br>The pipeline encompasses the growing use of zero-tolerance discipline, school-based arrests, disciplinary alternative schools, and secured detention to marginalize our most at-risk youth and deny them access to education. <br><br>Although, I presented the above talking points, I am not offering an excuse for lack of personal responsibility.  But, it is also necessary to know that there are other forces at work.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929650">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929650" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929650" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929650">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929650" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929650" class="dsq-comment-message">I don\'t know the source of those \'talking points\'<br><br>What I know is that the ills of the black community are what contribute to their ABILITY to criminalize.<br><br>And I agree with you if we, in the black community are taking care of busineess, then those ills/behaviors diminish the ability to criminalize us.<br><br>Instead, we have developed in our communitys, a sub-culture that revels in and supports those behaviors/ills as \'blackness\'<br><br>IOW\'s the incarcerated have reached a critical mass in our communities to become the DOMINATE culture.<br><br>Nothing says this more than the reality that of 2.4M incarcerated ONE million are black.<br><br>That is far, Far, FAR more  than the numbers we make up in the society.<br><br>Thus the predominace of crime and a prison culture as the STANDARD for black culture!!<br><br>ugh</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12930226">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12930226" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12930226" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12930226">morphus</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12930226" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12930226" class="dsq-comment-message"><a href="http://www.aclu.org/crimjustice/juv/35550res20080606.html" rel="nofollow">School-To-Prison</a> is a subset of Marian Wright Edelman\'s (Childrens Defense Fund) <a href="http://www.childrensdefense.org/helping-americas-children/cradle-to-prison-pipeline-campaign/" rel="nofollow">Cradle to Prison campaign</a>.  The campaign recognizes that the lowering of bar (zero tolerance policies) to control students in schools create a situation where what was once look upon a normal child activity, that activity is now criminalized. <br><br>Something as simple as taking an aspirin to school could put a child on a juvenile justice track in some school district. Some see the zero tolerance policies as part of the problem.  And, in some instances the source of children being "pushed" out of school.  <br><br>Trust me, in some places, combating zero tolerance policies is a full-time activity. <br><br><a href="http://www.naacpldf.org/content.aspx?article=828" rel="nofollow">Florida State Conference NAACP, Advancement Project, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) released "Arresting Development: Addressing the School Discipline Crisis in Florida</a></div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12932093">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12932093" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12932093" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12932093">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12932093" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12932093" class="dsq-comment-message">"in some places, combating zero tolerance policies is a full-time activity. "<br><br>Which is why ONE million blacks are incarcerated.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12932192">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12932192" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12932192" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12932192">Plantsmantx</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12932192" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12932192" class="dsq-comment-message">...which means that instances of zero tolerance (of blacks) shouldn\'t be complained about? Remember Derek Jackson, the kid in Austin who was "zero tolerated" because he had a close haircut?</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12932330">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12932330" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12932330" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12932330">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12932330" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12932330" class="dsq-comment-message">NO. I loathe zero tolerance. It is a complete abdication of adult responsiblity,<br><br>There are clear Rights and Wrongs and distinctions in degrees.<br><br>Not to stand in judgment and exercise that authority is an abdication of adulthood authority.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12932419">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12932419" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12932419" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12932419">morphus</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12932419" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12932419" class="dsq-comment-message">Or, 15 yo Shaquanda Cotton (Paris, TX) sent to prison for 7 years about an incident with hall monitor. It took nationwide action to get her out of prison.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12931513">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12931513" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12931513" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-12931513" href="http://herecomethatgirl.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">No1KState</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12931513" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12931513" class="dsq-comment-message">Whoa! The justice system is racist through and through! You can just google that!<br><br>It\'s actually a minority of blacks who actually participate in crime and violence. It\'s racism that makes it some all-black issue.<br><br>Notice, Cosby\'s book wasn\'t done with a sociologist who would\'ve known better. He\'s talking to a minority of black people, and it\'s used against all of us.<br><br>And for your random surveys, what\'s the racial breakdown?</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12931583">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12931583" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12931583" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-12931583" href="http://herecomethatgirl.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">No1KState</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12931583" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12931583" class="dsq-comment-message">PLUS, black children are disciplined more often and more harshly even though that act out/misbehave equally as much.<br><br>We spend far more money on prison than education. FAR more!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12931714">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12931714" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12931714" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12931714">morphus</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12931714" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12931714" class="dsq-comment-message">The FBI crime stats have been proven wrong and they have admitted to the stats being wrong.  Recently, LA was caught fudging their crime stats by lowering the actual crime numbers.  No one can trust the numbers that are being tossed around.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12932063">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12932063" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12932063" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12932063">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12932063" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12932063" class="dsq-comment-message">"The justice system is racist through and through! You can just google that!"<br><br>I agree. That was the point of the stat.<br><br>"And for your random surveys, what\'s the racial breakdown?"<br><br>Huh?  Again, 2.5M Americans are incarcerated.  ONE Million of those are black.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12938070">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12938070" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12938070" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-12938070" href="http://herecomethatgirl.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">No1KState</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12938070" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12938070" class="dsq-comment-message">The survey to 10 random people.<br><br>Blacks are more likely to be arrested. For the same crime, if a case goes to trial - more likely to be convicted, more likely to receive a sentence, more likely to receive a harsher penalty. So forth and so on. Plus, the war on drugs has been waged predominantly against people of color. For example, in NYC, black people are randomly stopped all the time, while in communities around NYU, white student get high with impunity.<br><br>PLUS, the prison industrial complex . . . the system is the problem, not the black community.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12930026">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12930026" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12930026" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12930026">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12930026" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12930026" class="dsq-comment-message">This false argument to me is . . . . you know what. .. .I have an idea.  Tomorrow commit to doing a survey.  Tomorrow, stop any black male/female on the street/in the store etc.  under  25 years old and ask their assessment of the Bill Cosby school/education accountability speech.<br><br>Don\'t provide any additional information.  Ask 10 random people.<br><br>Am curious to know the results from your impromtu survey.  I have done it at least 4 separate times and the results are always the same.  It would be interesting to see if you get a different result.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12931433">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12931433" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12931433" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-12931433" href="http://herecomethatgirl.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">No1KState</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12931433" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12931433" class="dsq-comment-message">It\'d be easier if you just told me, cause I probably won\'t do that survey.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12934862">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12934862" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12934862" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12934862">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12934862" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12934862" class="dsq-comment-message">lol.  You are honest.  :-) The results -- Not one person knew anything about that speech.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12942532">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12942532" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12942532" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12942532">chris_i_am</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12942532" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12942532" class="dsq-comment-message">As Ruth J Simmons Pres of Brown Univ. A black Woman running an IVY LEAGUE institution said in a 60 minutes interview a few years back<br><br>Do not continue your education to get a good job. Continue your education because<br><br>"KNOWLEDGE IS POWER"....PERIOD!<br><br>And she ain\'t never lied!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12944755">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12944755" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12944755" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12944755">morphus</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12944755" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12944755" class="dsq-comment-message">Agreed. Much being discussed here feel in some ways similar to "The Great Debate (W.E.B Dubois vs Booker T. Washington)".  What appear to be missing is <i>what type of education/knowledge</i>. I have repeatedly had encounters with the homeless who had degrees and I wondered "what was missing".   <br><br>I think somewhere along the way, we, POC, have been mislead about what type of education we need<br><br>Washington said: <b><i>"The Negro intellectual must deal intimately with the white power Structure and cultural apparatus, and the inner realties of the black World <u>at one and the same time</u></i></b>. But in order to function successfully in this role, he has to be acutely aware of the nature of the American social dynamics and how to monitors the ingredient of class stratification in American society…Therefore the Negro intellectual must learn how one might control such forces."<br><br>There were earlier discussions  where it was said that it is hard to convince our youth that education is a necessity because they could pierce the veil of societal lies and see that the playing field wasn\'t even.  They knew that their white peers did not need to travel the same path to reach the same results.  <br><br>I am convinced if we use Washington\'s observation to teach our children they will trust us again.  As it is, they have no cause to trust us because they believe we are lying to them when we say that an education will set you free.<br><br>It doesn\'t matter which HOOD you go into, there are bright and inquiring minds there.  There are people in the HOOD with  little to no formal education who can look up at the sky at night and can describe a constellation.<br><br>Buying into POC have an education problem is the great lie.  <br><br>We are all born with a genius inside of us.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925517">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925517" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925517" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12925517">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925517" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925517" class="dsq-comment-message">"Maybe the problem in this society isn’t education, because it really doesn’t matter if blacks and hispanics go to school and get an education because many whites will regard somebody like Palin, who went to 5 colleges in 6 years, has no command of the English language and is intellectually incurious as much more smarter and qualified than a black/hispanic summa cum laude graduate of an Ivy League school who continously strives to learn.<br><br>I suspect RayRay in the hood knows this. He doesn’t need a State of the Black Union to tell him what he already knows."<br><br>Excellent post Town.  Now all we have to do is to figure out how to break the cycle of some of our kids who subscribe to that intelligence = "acting white" type of mentality especially when most of them learned this from their parents/family members or well meaning folks in our communities.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12925992">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12925992" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12925992" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-12925992" href="http://leftistmoon.wordpress.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">WordSmith</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12925992" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12925992" class="dsq-comment-message"><i>It’s funny how some people mock non-whites for getting an education by claiming they are “acting white.”<br><br>I have long held the belief that the “doing well in school = acting white” thing was started up by racist whites.</i><br><br>Dammmn!!  I can honestly tell you - that is something I\'ve NEVER even thought about occurring.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12926625">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12926625" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12926625" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12926625">Val</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12926625" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12926625" class="dsq-comment-message">Want to level the scales here a bit  cause you all know that\'s what I do and you all know how I feel about old folks and children. . . . so I want to add . . . <br><br>Even if the theory (“doing well in school = acting white” thing was started up by racist whites) was 100% true . . .  what is more important and has more impact is the question of  who chose to wholeheartedly accept that premise and then passed it on to our children who readily adopted that perception?  That is what we need to fix otherwise, all that extra stuff is just superflous noise and does not help our children recognize their role in being responsible, accountable, set their own goals, and commit to working hard to allow them to compete on a global level or in their own communities.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12923601">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12923601" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12923601" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12923601">Lilytiger</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12923601" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12923601" class="dsq-comment-message">Yes!!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12923719">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12923719" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12923719" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12923719">spirit_55z</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12923719" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12923719" class="dsq-comment-message">THERE IT IS, RIGHT HERE:<br><br>"I think black and hispanic communities should stress education NOT as a way to assimilate and gain acceptance into the larger white society (that’s never going to happen) but stress education as a way to build up their own communities instead.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12928855">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12928855" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12928855" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12928855">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12928855" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12928855" class="dsq-comment-message">"I think black and hispanic communities should stress education NOT as a way to assimilate and gain acceptance into the larger white society"<br><br>Schools need to stress education as the means to success in a society that discriminates, as WELL AS the route to success in a capitalist society that does not give a shyt whether you were born into a slum. IOW\'s it is the dollar that rules,.If you have a means that will make money and you have the drive to create a successful route to MORE MONEY, or independant financial success no one cares if you came from the slums.<br><br>YOU have to PLEDGE to the ALMIGHTY DOLLAR!!  Titans of industry and moguls don\'t make RACE distinctions..they only care about the POWER of the dollar.<br><br>Assimilation is not the deal. You can have your Italian,German, Jewish, Black culture WITH money.  Don\'t mean folks gone like you cause you a wop, kike, hymie or nigger..but the dollar WILL mitigate that.IOWs Booker T was right! You STILL get to revel in your own culture. Assimilation means capitalist not race/ethnicity. See the Godfather2 for reference.<br><br>Our country, OVERALL was far more classicist than it is was racist. EXCEpt when it came to black folks. They allowed classicism to transcend your roots if you were white, but if you were black and rich...you were STILL black with all the ignominies and indignities that black carried with it.<br><br>Which is why the civil rights movement came about, when Dubois prevailed. Blacks folks hated the social discimination more than the financial. Had it been about money and hard work in a capitalist society, most blacks would not have signed up for civil rights. Had America accepted those who were black and successful and treated them as the class they were based on finances..there NEVER would have been a civil rights movement.<br><br>Because RACE was a barrier with capitalistic success is why there was a movement. Had ALL Americans with captalistic success been accepted no blacks who were financial successful would have fought against racial discrimination. Because they would have shared in the Amer$can Dream independent of race.<br><br>Thus protecting their interests, regardless of race.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929918">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929918" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929918" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929918">Sepia</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929918" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929918" class="dsq-comment-message"><i>Blacks folks hated the social discimination more than the financial.</i><br><br>That\'s because most of those Civil Rights leaders had the money, but they didn\'t have the social equality. Notice that after the social equality was attained, the movement ended for most while poor blacks were left by their more affluent brothers and sisters to dangle in the wind. Before he died, Dr. King realized that social equality was not enough, saying "What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn\'t earn enough money to buy a hamburger?"</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12931074">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12931074" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12931074" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12931074">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12931074" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12931074" class="dsq-comment-message">"Notice that after the social equality was attained, the movement ended for most while poor blacks were left by their more affluent brothers and sisters to dangle in the wind."<br><br>False. <br><br>Theywere left to earn based on their own efforts. The affluent had succeeded against the odds. Now that they had broke down what they believed to be the biggest odds, there was no need, in their minds to give a hand up. The biggest obstacles had been demolished, so why could they who had NOT succeeded NOT succeed now?  They were left to their own aspirations and ability to do the hard work to achieve them WITHOUT the odds of those who had perserved against far greater odds. IOW\'s it would be even easier for hard workers to achieve without the social discrimination.<br><br>"What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn\'t earn enough money to buy a hamburger?"<br><br>King, pursued Dubois\' point, from the Great Debate and now he was turning to BookerT\'s. He now too saw that it was economic parity not social parity that would make Negros successful as Americans. He too, had been blinded, by the overwhelming EMOTION of human indignities. Far easier, to galvanize against emotion than the economics of hard work, isn\'t it? <br><br> What say you Sepia, which would you have chosen in MLK\'s time?  Social or economic discrimination to fight against? I presume you are familiar with the GREAT DEBATES, which side would you have chose?<br><br>MLK was NOT dissing those who were affluent. Rather, he saw how BookerT was right. Economic discrimination in AMERICA was far more ENCOMPASSING, prevalent and significant than the social discrimination.<br><br>In short, again, the ONLY reason those who had prevailed economically supported the civil rights movement, is because that was the remaining barrier to success for THEM in America, given that they had achieved already finaniclly.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12932499">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12932499" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12932499" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12932499">Sepia</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12932499" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12932499" class="dsq-comment-message">WRB, I don\'t subscribe to the "I\'ve got mine, get your own the best way you can belief". I think that type of thinking is exactly why our community is so far behind in the 21st century. If you look at immigrant groups, once they attain a certain amount of success, they reach back to their brothers and sisters who need a hand. They educate them on how to work the system to their best advantage. That\'s not giving someone a hand up, that\'s giving someone a hand. <br> <br>Now, getting back to my point about how financially affluent CRM leaders left poor black men, women and children to fend for themselves..... Back then, they realized that they need the "po\' folk" in order to get their social equality. So, I believe the least they could\'ve done was to follow Dr. King\'s lead and fight for economic equality for ALL black people. Anything less than that was/is nothing more than affluent blacks using poor blacks to achieve their goals thus showing they are no better than the white racist establishment. <br><br>BTW, I NEVER stated or implied that MLK was dissing affluent black people. Rather, he understood that true equality for black people included social equality AND economic power. <br><br>I beg to differ that MLK was following Booker T\'s philosophy, for Booker T sought to ensure white people that black people were not seeking to rock the boat and disrupt their white supremacy. MLK, on the other hand, sought to turn the boat over, which is why he was assassinated. <br><br><i>In short, again, the ONLY reason those who had prevailed economically supported the civil rights movement, is because that was the remaining barrier to success for THEM in America, given that they had achieved already finaniclly.</i><br><br>Which was exactly my point: Sadly, most of the affluent black CRM leaders were out for themselves.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12932833">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12932833" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12932833" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12932833">Justice58</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12932833" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12932833" class="dsq-comment-message"><i>I don\'t subscribe to the "I\'ve got mine, get your own the best way you can belief". I think that type of thinking is exactly why our community is so far behind in the 21st century.</i><br><br><br>Thank You!  I concur 100%!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12933712">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12933712" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12933712" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12933712">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12933712" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12933712" class="dsq-comment-message">Also, I just have to quibble with this:<br><br>"That\'s because most of those Civil Rights leaders had the money,"<br><br>What the heck are you talking about \'they had money"  no black CRM leader in the sixties, had ANY damn money, they were poor as hell on the scale of money in the 60s. Where did you get the view, they had money....not only did theyNOT have money..it was BECAUSE they had none that they had NOTHING to lose!!  Facts, please.<br><br><br>"WRB, I don\'t subscribe to the "I\'ve got mine, get your own the best way you can belief".<br><br>OK, but I do not believe that having the expectation that those who incur far less discrimination being able to EARN there own is \'get your own best you can\' in any sense. It is a real notion, that if social discrimination was the problem, and I succeed with those odds, then surely you too with HARD WORK can achieve EVEN MORE.  <br><br>Many many blacks reach back and by far the black church stands at the top of that list.<br><br>"Now, getting back to my point about how financially affluent CRM leaders left poor black men, women and children to fend for themselves"<br><br>While that may be your belief, there are no facts to support it. It is a cop-out.  A statement of victimhood, to rail against successful blacks who have NOT sought in anyway not to help those who need help, Rather, there are numerous instances of affluent blacks donating thousands of dollars to the black community.  So, to assert such a sweeping generalization is unfounded.<br><br>"BTW, I NEVER stated or implied that MLK was dissing affluent black people."<br><br>Well, I wasn\'t saying such, not sure how you drew that assessment.  But<br><br>"I believe the least they could\'ve done was to follow Dr. King\'s lead and fight for economic equality for ALL black people."<br><br>Hmmm, what does this entail to you? The UrbanLeague does precisely this. Where do you come by your assertion that CRM leaders failed to fight for economic equality? This is America, it is capitalistic..it is dog eat dog. No one gives anyone a hand up economically. What America has done is give a handup to opportunity for education and jobs. EEOC does that and colleges do that..what are you looking for?<br><br>"I NEVER stated or implied that MLK was dissing affluent black people. Rather, he understood that true equality for black people included social equality AND economic power."<br><br>Not sure how you came to your assessment about \'dissing\' I certainly did not imply that. MLK, was not focused on economic parity. Your quote was SUBSEQUENT to the success of the civil rights movement. MLK did  fight for economic parity  which is why he went to Memphis, and was assassinated, he was there to support their strike, BUT economic parity was not the central focus of the CRM, that was following SOCIAL Justice.<br><br>"I beg to differ that MLK was following Booker T\'s philosophy, for Booker T sought to ensure white people that black people were not seeking to rock the boat and disrupt their white supremacy"<br><br>While I disagree with your view. I can certainly see how BookerT would ESPOUSE that KNOWING that economic parity WOULD dismantle their white supremacy. What better way to deceive them?  You want us to be hard working..well let us compete in the economic marketplace fairly, BookerT KNEW we would excell and that all that mattered in a capitalistic society was money.<br><br>BookerT wanted blacks to have economic parity because he knew that in the end, that was all that mattered in a capitalistic society.<br><br>For instance, one of the biggest incongruities in black America is that we cannot support our politicians economically to ensure the enactment of our politics. They are therefore prey to special interests who can finance them but who have goals antithesis to blacks to our political aims Most groups in America achieve economic prowess FIRST. Only Black Americans have achieved politic office and  social prominence without the FINANCEs to back our policies and political goals which is why we struggle mightily. We can\'t BUY politicians. Jews, Cubans,Irish and Italians can. Those groups only came to political power AFTER their ethnic groups had the money to sustain a politician.  WE alone are unique in not being able to support our black politicians and make them beholden to the black community.  Which is WHY we struggle.  Not at all because of CRM leaders, but because of MONEY.<br><br>In short I think the meme that CRM leaders deserted blacks with less monetary means paints a very broad brush that is not substantiated by the political reality.<br><br>AGAIN<br><br>What say you Sepia, which would you have chosen in MLK\'s time? Social or economic discrimination to fight against? I presume you are familiar with the GREAT DEBATES, which side would you have chose?</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12978018">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12978018" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12978018" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12978018">jelana</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12978018" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12978018" class="dsq-comment-message">But obviously, it has taken both approaches for us to be successful.  It is not an either or proposition.  Those who already had financial success were not happy without the social success.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12928358">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12928358" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12928358" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12928358">Plantsmantx</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12928358" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12928358" class="dsq-comment-message">...but stress education as a way to build up their communities <i>and</i> compete in the larger community. You know, everyone who has commented here is right, to some extent, but are taking such stark positions.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929543">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929543" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929543" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929543">spirit_55z</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929543" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929543" class="dsq-comment-message">Agree that our youth must be able to compete on a global scale, thus the "NO LIMITATIONS."</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12929853">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12929853" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12929853" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12929853">Plantsmantx</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12929853" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12929853" class="dsq-comment-message">It\'s just not easy, and there is just not one pat, neat, linear answer to the whole problem. Yes, no limitations...except when there are some. Which is to say, even with that education, that commitment, that hard work, they will run into situations where they will see whites being given things they don\'t deserve, and see themselves being denied things they do deserve. That\'s the hardest part...getting across the fact that it\'s better, and ultimately easier, to persue those commitments, even with the unfairness. I mean, even as you persue those commitments, you <i>still</i> find yourself in those "What the hell is the point?" moments.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12930616">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12930616" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12930616" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12930616">Miranda</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12930616" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12930616" class="dsq-comment-message">This reminds me of a situation that happened with my old high school. I\'m from a small town in Alabama where back in the 60s, as opposed to integrate, a private school popped up and that\'s where 95% of the white kids in that county went to school (its like that all over the more rural areas in Alabama). The football stadium in our little town is city owned and across town from the high school (and by across town, I mean 7 minutes away - 10 if a train happens to be going through that moment).  Now back in the 90s, my little high school was a football powerhouse - kicking butt left and right..mind you, in Alabama, the private and public schools compete against each other for the state championships. Now the football stadium did not have on-site locker rooms. The visiting schools would have to change at the high school and then go to the stadium.<br><br>Do you know after our school had won like 2 or 3 state championships (or had been in the title game) in a row, the AL High School Athletic Association voted that unless the school had on-site locker rooms at the playing facility, that they could NOT HOST A PLAYOFF GAME? Now something like this might not seem like a big deal to some, but to the students at my little school, it was a lot. The team was one of a few sources of pride for a small town such as this one. The students had a lot of spirit and because the team always had the better record, were accustomed to HOSTING the games where EVERYBODY could attend and be proud. When my dad told me what the state athletic board did, all I could say was "what the hell"..and my daddy replied "well you knew they\'d have to find a way to stop us". Just fucking changed the damn RULES to stop this little black high school which barely had the basics to put out a football team, but managed to put out a powerhouse. The damn rule was ALL because of that one high school. The school whose ass was being KICKED by my little high school, was a very prominent, very predominately white private school (with a few black "scholarship" students on the football team).<br><br>Fortunately, one of the guys on the team in my little town went on to become the school\'s only first round draft pick - and some years ago, he built the on-site locker rooms and renovated the stadium - because he was on the team when they fucking changed the rules just to help the other team that my little school kept whooping every November. He built that facility because he remembered how he felt upon hearing the news that our little school was being penalized, for being successful against the wrong ones. <br><br>Aint that a bitch?</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12930913">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12930913" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12930913" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12930913">morphus</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12930913" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12930913" class="dsq-comment-message">Great post.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12931326">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12931326" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12931326" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12931326">whiterosebuddy</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12931326" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12931326" class="dsq-comment-message">Sounds like the flag, baseball, & apple pie  just ALL AMERICAN to me!!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12934519">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12934519" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12934519" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12934519">ch555x</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12934519" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12934519" class="dsq-comment-message">I suppose if we could repeat that across the board, we needn\'t worry about THEM changing rules every so often to keep it "fair"...LOL!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12942311">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12942311" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12942311" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12942311">Amaya</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12942311" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12942311" class="dsq-comment-message">"being penalized, for being successful against the wrong ones."<br><br>It is a bitch.   On the other hand, how much would it have cost to build those on-site locker rooms if all the parents had pitched in instead of waiting for the one in a million success story to do it?  Or was that explicitly not allowed?</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-12944166">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-12944166" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-12944166" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-12944166">Miranda</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-12944166" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-12944166" class="dsq-comment-message">This is a very poor area. Like I said, just having the basics for a football team is hard enough, building something that would meet the codes and standards was not an option at that time.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-13174315">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-13174315" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-13174315" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <a id="dsq-author-user-13174315" href="http://www.facebook.com/onome" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Onome Oma</a>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-13174315" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-13174315" class="dsq-comment-message">What an amazing story!</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 </ul>\
';

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	} catch (x) {
		if (typeof(console) != 'undefined' && typeof(console.log) == 'function') {
			// But it would be nice to let developers know about them
			console.log(x);
		}
		// pass
	}

	// HACK: We don't know if the callback wraps our container, which may
	// possibly result in a new DOM element.
	Dsq.container = document.getElementById('dsq-content');
}

})();




