† Now Is Not The Time To Talk About Race: Des Moines police arrested several people for a series of racially-motivated attacks outside the Iowa State Fairgrounds this past weekend, reports The Des Moines Register:

There are indications that some of the fights - which appear to involve mostly teenagers and young adults - were racially motivated, police said.

"We don't know if this was juveniles fighting or a group of kids singling out white citizens leaving the fairgrounds," Sgt. Lori Lavorato said. "It's all under investigation, but it's very possible it has racial overtones." …

Sgt. David Murillo stated in a report on Friday night, "On-duty officers at the fairgrounds advise there was a group of 30 to 40 individuals roaming the fairgrounds openly calling it 'beat whitey night.' "

Jammie Carroll, 36, of Polk City, was seriously injured in the 3000 block of East Grand Avenue Friday night after a group of people beat him up, causing severe injuries to his eyes, cheekbones and nose, Murillo wrote. Carroll is white, and many of the suspects are black, police said.

State Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines, who has worked to fight gang-related violence, said he doesn't have enough information to decide if the fights were racially motivated. He said police comments that race was involved could miss other factors, such as nonracial taunting.

"Unfortunately, like any other city, you have certain parts of town that individuals congregate in," Abdul-Samad said. "You have those that go into that area with no problem, and those who cannot."

The Stiletto wonders whether Abdul-Samad would have been willing to give a group of white assailants who set upon a black man the same benefit of the doubt as regards their motives.

† Living In These Mad, Mad, Madoff Times: Hardship withdrawals from 401(k) retirement saving plans rose to the highest level in 10 years through 2Q 2010, according to Fidelity Investments said on Friday, suggesting that cash-strapped Americans are now looting their retirement accounts to make ends meet, reports CNNMoney.com:

As of the second quarter, 2.2% of all 401(k) participants had made a hardship withdrawal at some point over the preceding 12 months. That's up from 2% in the prior year, and was the highest level in 10 years.

At the same time, the percentage of 401(k) participants that had an outstanding loan from their account rose to a record high of 22% in the second quarter. The average loan amount was $8,650 at the end of the quarter. …

The top reasons people took loans and made withdrawals were to prevent foreclosure or eviction, pay for college, or purchase a home, according to the firm.

"The current economy has forced some workers to borrow from their 401(k) accounts in order to pay for critical living expenses, ultimately jeopardizing their future retirement," said James MacDonald, president of workplace investing for Fidelity Investments.

He added that for some investors "taking a loan or a hardship withdrawal from their 401(k) may be their only option because it's their only form of savings.

Such withdrawals made by people younger than 59½-years-old are not only taxed as income, but are also slapped with a 10% penalty.

† The Right To Bear Arms Belongs To Us All: Part II: John Howard Jr. (AKA “Killa”) and another man, William Omar Jacobs, threw a rock through a glass door at the home of Superior Court Judge Carlisle Overstreet, entered the premises and headed upstairs. Overstreet, 65, grabbed his gun and shot Howard in the chest when he saw him coming down the stairs with a bandana covering his face and socks on his hands. The 20-year-old, who has a history of break-ins and was abusing OTC cold medicine Coricidin, was pronounced dead at Medical College of Georgia Hospital. Sheriff Ronnie Strength, who “has known Overstreet for about 45 years and called him a ‘good marksman,’” tells The Augusta Chronicle that “[p]hysically, the judge is fine but upset”:

Strength said his office advocates that people be armed and follow the judge's example.

"We support that 100 percent," the sheriff said. "If somebody breaks into your home, we expect and hope that what Judge Overstreet did this morning would be done by any other citizen."

Jacobs, who had previously been arrested on criminal trespass, family violence battery and drug possession charges, escaped but later turned himself in.

† Negating The N-Word: The Washington Post’s Courtland Milloy ruminates on how to communicate the N-word without writing the N part:

[T]he N-word - the euphemism for that taboo sound, the racial curse: in eye, double g and … er, excuse me; I almost cast a spell. You can't spell it, either.

We can, however, play a game that linguists call circumlocution - where we speak or write around the word so that you don't actually see or hear it but still know what it means. That way, the idea of what's being referred to sinks imperceptibly into the subconscious and thus keeps the taboo strong. …

Some news organizations will relent and publish the actual word, but only if it is used in an innocuous quote about the word itself. On the other hand, if the quote about the word is not so innocuous - say, a white person like [Laura] Schlessinger is trying to tell a black caller not to be so sensitive about the word - then it's back to euphemisms.

Or, more accurately, our superstitions about "the one that must not be spoken." If race relations in America are so bad that we can't look at a word, then we are doomed.

In quoting some of what Schlessinger said on the show, the Huffington Post said: "Turn on HBO and listen to a black comic, and all you hear is n****, n*****, n*****."

Now we're spelling the word with snowflakes.

Some would say that's fitting 'cause snowflakes are, um, white.

† Updates To Previous Posts (The Uniter: Part III): President Barack Hussein Obama has not only alienated an important voting block in NYC, but has incurred the wrath of two high-ranking NY pols in his own party who, like him, are black. Gov. David Paterson remains resentful of Obama’s efforts to throw him under the bus by pressuring him to step aside to give Attorney General Andrew Cuomo a clear field in the 2010 gubernatorial primary race - and is holding a grudge over it. And commenting on Obama’s suggestion that he “end his career with dignity” instead of fighting ethics charges in the House, Rep. Charlie Rangel was dismissive: “Frankly, he has not been around long enough to determine what my dignity is. For the next two years, I will be more likely to protect his dignity” (translation: “Go away kid, you bother me”). Oh, and his fellow man doesn’t think much of Obama, either.

† Updates To Previous Posts (fifth item, Garbage In, Garbage Out: Part II): Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is backing off his pledge to use federal stimulus money to overhaul 1,000 schools a year, because “negotiations among federal regulators, state officials and local educators have led to delays and confusion,” reports The New York Times:

In this sprawling district east of Los Angeles, for example, the authorities announced plans earlier this year to use the program to convert Pacific High, one of California’s worst-performing schools, to a charter school, involving a comprehensive makeover.

But with time running short this summer, the San Bernardino district switched course, adopting only smaller changes - a crackdown on tardiness and extending the school day, among others - that officials said would be more manageable.

When students returned for classes on Aug. 3, even the plan for a longer school day was delayed because California had still not distributed the $5.2 million in federal money the district hopes to spend on the school. …

[E]xperts have been warning for months that the administration’s timetable was too tight, forcing schools and districts to create last-minute plans.

“To do this right, schools needed to know probably nine months ago that they’d be funded, but many are only finding out now,” said Robert Manwaring, an expert on school turnaround efforts at Education Sector, a nonprofit research center in Washington. …

But the program is financed with stimulus money that by law must be awarded this fall, so federal officials have rushed to inaugurate it this year.

Yet another unwieldy, ill-conceived rushed, government bailout that wastes taxpayer funds. Call it “Cash For Flunkers.”

Editorial Note: Coincidentally - or not – Barack Obama Elementary School, a new environmentally friendly "green" school just opened its doors in Upper Marlboro, MD.