• Has BET blocked two episodes of The Boondocks that blast the much-criticized network's programming and executives? [HHDX]

• The city of Compton wants to ban Suge Knight. [AHH]

• Tracey Edmonds bounces back quickly. [SP]

• This guy has been slapped with federal charges for driving around near Jena with two nooses hanging from the back of his (of course) pick up truck. [CNN]

• How well did blacks really fare under Bill Clinton? [Slate]

I always like to end the year on a high note. While 2007 definitely had its low points, it also had great moments, particularly in the realm of entertainment and politics. After the jump, let's celebrate the good things this year had to offer.

CONTINUED »

Ah, hate. In one sense, it's talked about way, way too much. In another, it's not talked about enough.

In the wake of last week's march to protest the Justice Dept.'s handling hate crimes, the FBI has released a report that indicates hate crimes were up almost 10 percent.

Police across the nation reported 7,722 criminal incidents in 2006 targeting victims or property as a result of bias against a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic or national origin or physical or mental disability. That was up 7.8 percent from the 7,163 incidents reported in 2005…

Only 12,600 of the nation’s more than 17,000 local, county, state and federal police agencies participated in the hate crime reporting program in 2006 and neither Jena nor LaSalle Parish, in which the town is located, were among the agencies reporting.

This stats don't include Jena, and they also don't include any of the acts of hate that have occurred in 2007, which might win the prize for being the most hateful year we've experienced in the 21st century. Although, I'll have to check the stats on how Arabs fared around 2002-ish to be sure. [MSNBC]

• As long as there's no sex in the champagne room… [PS]

• Dissecting a public figure's classic "apology" for saying something racist. [RR]

• Birdman thinks Lil Wayne is greater than Tupac, Biggie and Jay-Z. [MNT]

• White supremacists plan a rally in Jena on Martin Luther King day. How innovative! [SPLC]

• Mekhi Phifer spawns. [E!]

• A bad marriage can kill you. Literally. [CNN]

• Republicans want more minority involvement? Could have fooled me. [TBO]

• The Jena mayor is pissed about John Mellencamp and Mos Def's Jena Six video, but no one really cares. [SFGate]

• The price is wrong, Barker. [TWN]

• An African Burial Ground Memorial opened in NYC last week in a spot that was supposed to be turned into a parking lot. [Reuters]

Are nooses fun? If you're an avowed member of the KKK and trying to navigate your way through throngs of black Jena protesters, I guess they are. I also guess that Louisiana police, who are maybe tired of being called racist, have decided to crack down on the noose game in their state. Hence 18-year-old KKK member Jeremiah Munsen getting arrested for driving around in a red pickup (so cliche!) with nooses flying from the back. The kid also had brass knuckles and a rifle. And it was just last year that police in Jena found nooses to be totally harmless fun!

[CNN]

• Donovan McNabb says America has it out for black QBs. When one of them gets caught fighting killing dogs, it probably makes things a little worse. [MSNBC]

• As more details come out about the West Virginia kidnapping/torture/rape case, police pile more charges against the six suspects. Do any of the new charges carry a mandatory sentence of burning in hell for all eternity? [MSNBC]

• Stars are not immune to acne any more than we are, and it's also not a secret that Alicia Keys has some skin problems. But if you're beautiful with cover-up on, then I don't buy the argument that if you have acne you aren't pretty. [SR]

• Lou Gosset, Jr.'s bringing the social activism in his old age. [NR]

• From what I know about Jena, the residents are just going to love it when swarms of unhappy black folk/northern white liberals swarm their town for the Sept. 20th rally. [USAT]