Black Desi & HP high tech camera

I want this blog to focus on books but when I first read a blurb about racist camera I had to go find the video. The first thing I found was this BBC article about it, which means its getting a lot of serious attention worldwide. Then I found the video



The thing that catches everyone's attention is the word "racist." After seeing the video it seems like he is using the word as a joke, a really expensive and bad joke, but something to get a laugh at none the less. When Desi uses the word "racist" in this video he doesn't mean that it systematically disenfranchises people of color, rather Desi uses the word to merely express frustration at the way the technology wasn't working for this particular black person right now. That's my take on this video.

Here is one video response to the technical aspect of the video worth seeing.

Prohibition Hangover

Garrett Peck talks about his book Prohibition Hangover while walking BookTV through one of the temperance tours he does in D.C. Not so surprising is the news that the temperance movement was led by protestants, however Garrett expands on this dynamic of the movement by talking about how this effected ethnic groups, and how the 18th amendment got passed. I had no idea that Prohibition and the temperance movement had a lot of racist sentiments and was born out of a pre-wartime fever.