• Jermaine Jackson was allowed to keep full control of his company in his divorce from wife Alejandra. I don't know if thats a victory for Jermaine or Alejandra, though. [RWS]

• A 911 operator told a black female caller, "I don't give a shit what happens to you." It's just the sort of attitude we're looking for in 911 operators. [WAOD]

• West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, formerly of the Klu Klux Klan, is now all about some Barack Obama. [BV]

• Who the hell cares if Wendy Williams' husband has a sex tape? [C&D]

I've been to West Virginia a few times. It has some nice scenery and some very nice people. If I were one of those nice people, I'd be really embarrassed by some of my neighbors who have agreed to be interviewed. As Jon Stewart said on the Daily Show Wednesday, the new rule for West Virginians is that they shouldn't do interviews. All that's to say that if Obama wins the nomination, it's probably best to just chalk West Virginia up to a permanent loss and move on. It's going to take way more than half a year to change perceptions that have gone unchallenged for decades.

Thanks, B.H.!

Victory is Hillary Clinton's today after what can only be described as a "thorough trouncing" of Obama in West Virginia yesterday. Clinton said during her victory speech that she was "more determined than ever," even though everyone, including the numerous pundits who have concluded that the math makes this race as good as over, knew she was going to win by a wide margin. To them, the victory shouldn't mean much of anything in the long run. To her, it means everything. Or at least that's what she's saying. For his part, Obama conceded the win before West Virginians even started voting. Donna Brazile said that Hillary Clinton's "hard-working Americans" argument might have changed some minds, "but more minds have been changed right now in favor of Sen. Obama." [CNN]

Oh, those idealistic, young Obama campaign volunteers. Campaigning in the heart of Indiana and Pennsylvania, they probably set out on their missions excited to bring willing voters over to their side. Instead, many of them had quite the opposite experience. The Washington Post heard from a number of Obama campaign volunteers from Indiana and Pennsylvania who said that their efforts often resulted in racist language (even directed toward white volunteers), name calling, and lots of doors slammed in faces.

Voters in Muncie, Ind., told Danielle Ross, a 20-year-old white woman who took the year off from college to campaign for Obama, "'I'll never vote for a black person." People just weren't receptive."

One phone bank volunteer charged with calling her 98-percent-white hometown in Pennsylvania, recalled one person saying to her, after vowing to never vote for Obama, "Hang that darky from a tree!"

Later, Obama's headquarter's in Vincennes, Ind., were vandalized. The Obama campaign downplays these incidents, saying that they are isolated and that support has been overwhelmingly positive. True: the man is winning.

CONTINUED »

GUILTY Karen Burton, one of the seven men and women charged with the kidnap and torture of Megan Williams in West Virginia, pleaded guilty yesterday to a hate crime and other charges.

Authorities say Karen Burton's crimes include stabbing Megan Williams in the ankle while saying, "This is what we do to n—— down here." She is the third in a group of seven people charged to plead guilty in the case, and the only one charged with a hate crime.

Authorities say her action was clearly a hate crime (just hers?????) because she used a racial slur while stabbing Williams. She faces up to 30 years in prison. [AP]

• 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]

For a week, 20-year-old Megan Williams was beaten, raped, forced to drink out of the toilet and eat rat shit, shaved, and stabbed. Even though she was repeatedly called racial epithets and, at one point, told by one of the six suspects that this was happening to her because she was black, officials won't pursue federal hate crime charges against the subjects. According to MSNBC, there's reason to believe Williams had a previous relationship with one of her attackers, which calls into question the actual motive of the attack.

In West Virginia, hate crimes convictions carry a punishment of up to 10 years in jail, and prosecutors there say they will pursue the sexual assault and kidnapping charges first, since they carry stronger sentences. Prosecutors can and should pile on the charges — the six suspects in the case are no strangers to a courtroom, having racked up a total 108 criminal charges, including a first degree murder rap, since 1991. Innocent first-timers they are not, which you can pretty much tell by looking at the mug shots.

[MSNBC]

A black West Virginia woman, who police say had "indescribable things done to her" by six white men and women during a week of captivity is recovering from multiple stab wounds, beatings, and sexual assault as officials try to figure out her connection to the suspects.

During her capture, the victim was forced to eat rat and dog feces and drink from the toilet, according to the criminal complaint filed in magistrate court. The woman also was choked with a cable cord and her hair was cut, it alleges.

One of those arrested, Karen Burton, is accused of cutting the woman's ankle with a knife. She used the N-word in telling the woman she was victimized because she is black, according to the criminal complaint.

Deputies say the woman was also doused with hot water while being sexually assaulted.

It sounds like the hate crime angle is more than just a "possibility."

P.S. Sorry to ruin the festive "J. Hud in Manolos!" mood.

[MSNBC]