And He's Got Good Taste in Beer, too!

Pictured above (courtesy of the Root, of which Prof. Gates is Editor-in-Chief) are the beverage choices, L-R with President Obama's being the Red Stripe. I do like this man. =)

(psssssst...now get us a Single Payer Option!!!!)

Thanks Dad!

Before you read this post, read this Op-Ed from the NYT.

What a crock of paternalistic shit. Thank you O Great White Man for trying to save the alcoholic injuns from themselves. I love it when Daddy runs to my rescue before I've said I need it. Where is this guy in the cities with a dozen pawn shops and check-cashing 'stores' on each block to take advantage of poor minorities? But no, he feels a 'deeper responsibility' to right what he sees as wrongs done to the poor widdle injuns of South Dakota.

When do the people of Pine Ridge get to grow up and eat at the big peoples' table? You'd think it's enough that they've been terrorized and reduced to poverty-stricken numbers.

According to Wikipedia (cause I'm lazy):

Although Pine Ridge is the eighth largest reservation in the United States, it is the poorest reservation. Unemployment on the reservation hovers around 80% and 49% live below the Federal poverty level.[2] Adolescent suicide is four times the national average. Many of the families have no electricity, telephone, running water, or sewer. Many families use wood stoves to heat their homes. The population on Pine Ridge has among the shortest life expectancies of any group in the Western Hemisphere: approximately 47 years for males and in the low 50s for females. The infant mortality rate is five times the United States national average. Reservation population was estimated at 15,000 in the 2000 census, but that number was raised to 28,787 by HUD, following a University of Colorado door-to-door study.[3]

So they drink and he thinks that taking away a source of alcohol is going to make things perfect for them? What about healthcare? What about schools? What about Wounded Knee, for fuck's sake? How about an apology for THAT - not because they get to buy booze. They are a sovereign nation so stop treating them like they attend a day care center for the mentally retarded!!

As if that weren't enough!

I've been reading Feministing and it does nothing but rile me up. Bah. Stories like this really piss me off.  I'm glad they have a trigger warning. Are things really getting worse for women and minorities, or am I oversensitive?