Journalist A.C. Thompson, writing for The Nation magazine, documented that white vigilantes shot black men at will during Hurricane Katrina in Algiers Point, part of the City of New Orleans, and no one has been investigated, much less prosecuted. Furthermore, associated video of white men boasting about their deeds indicates the men acted with police approval.

The verdict is in on Lori Drew, 49, the Missouri "MySpace Mom" accused of setting up a fake account to taunt 13-year-old Megan Meier, reports CNN.

Canadians got the good news yesterday that Canadian Broadcasting Company journalist Melissa Fung had been freed in Afghanistan, nearly a month after being kidnapped. Their happiness was leavened with surprise, though, because the public hadn't been told that Fung had been in danger.

When my children were younger and needed to be picked up after school or from summer camp, parents got maps with directional arrows and written instructions. The unspoken message was clear: Don't start no mess in car line, won't be no mess in car line. That's not what happened earlier this week in New Orleans, La., at the Treme Community Center. Parents in car line and the children waiting for them witnessed an off-duty New Orleans police officer gone mad.

Like millions of other Americans, the murder of Washington Redskins standout Sean Taylor has had me near tears most of the week. The violent, senseless death of 24-year-old star safety in his home Monday night has been like a Rorschach Test of the American racial psyche.

Cross Posted At Megan's Minute. I recently came across the website What About Our Daughters which was started by blogger Gina MacCauley. First let me say I know I'm a little late to this particular party since at BlogHer alone, weemsrj, Kim Pearson, and lainad have all written articles about the site. As I write this, there's a demonstration going on in Washington D.C. that Gina, her readers, an activist named Shane Johnson and others have been promoting. It's covered in this article by Marisol Bello in today's USA Today. Here are excerpts:

On August 2, Chauncey Bailey, a journalist known for his outspoken views and hard-hitting reporting on urban issues was gunned down in broad daylight on a street in Oakland, California.