On May 18th, the Raise the Minimum Wage Coalition sent a letter to all the GOP Senators who said they would vote for $7.15 per hour as Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, given the chance. We also sent it to a few we think could be convinced. The list was dominated by Southeast Pennsylvania Republicans, and we are very happy that we picked up another vote for $7.15 with the election of Andy Dinniman.

The letter called for these Senators to pressure Labor and Industry Chairman, Sen. Scarnati, to schedule a vote on a minimum wage bill soon, and to send the same message to Senate leadership. It was signed by an array of leaders, including the heads of several unions, the Council of Churches, community leaders in the LeHigh Valley, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh and social service organizations.

Now we are going to put the same message through a mega-phone.

Readers here are more than welcome to join us for our trip to Harrisburg on June 5th. We’ll meet up in Philadelphia at Love Park, 16th and JFK, at 8:30 AM. We’ll probably be home by 5:30. There will be a rally and lots of lobby visits. The trip is free but you should bring a few bucks to buy lunch with.

If you want to come, an RSVP would be appreciated but not required. Email: brussell@philaup.org

For more info, visit: http://youngphillypolitics.com/

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So far, I have correctly predicted every NBA playoff series this season. In fact, with the exception of the Cleveland/Detroit series, which I thought would go 6, I have also correctly predicted the the number of games it would take each team to win the series.

For my next trick, I will provide my predictions for the conference finals. Admittedly, this is the hardest prediction I’ve had to make in years given the amount of parity in the league. Anyway, here goes:

Miami Heat vs. Detroit Pistons

Without question, Detroit is the best team in the league. Unfortunately, the Pistons seem content playing down to the level of their competition. Lebron’s all-world play aside, there is no earthly reason why it should have taken 7 games to dispose of a team as thin and inexperienced as the Cavs. Unless they decide to kick into high gear immediately, the Pistons won’t be able to coast against a deep and well coached Miami Heat team that is hitting its stride at the right time. Prediction: Heat in 6

Dallas Mavericks vs. Phoenix Suns

Despite Steve Nash’s MVP victory, Dirk Nowitzki has proven to be the most valuable player still alive in this year’s playoffs. Whether it’s a big shot, big rebound, or (gasp) big defensive stop, Dirk Diggler has been there for his team. His play, combined with the Mavs’ incredibly deep bench and new commitment to defense, will serve them well as they play an incredibly resilient Suns team. Unfortunately, the character that they displayed in the last two series will not be enough to make up for their porous defense. Prediction: Mavs in 6

According to local news, Philadelphia rapper Beanie Sigel was shot twice in the arm in an apparent robbery attempt. While he appears to be okay, let’s hope this doesn’t turn into (or already is) something major in the streets. We don’t need to lose any more soldiers.

Nicholas Minucci is a white teenager charged with a hate crime for last year’s baseball bat attack of a black man in New York. Despite evidence to the contrary, he has argued that he was acting in self-defense. More controversially, he has claimed that his use of the “N-word” (that’s “nigga” for the uninitiated) prior to cracking the victim’s skull had nothing to do with racism. Instead, he argued in court yesterday, he was speaking in the vernacular of hip-hop culture.

“There’s a very big difference in the hip-hop world that I come from,” Nicholas Minucci told reporters “I was the only Italian in a school of 2,000 mostly African-American kids. We always called each other ‘nigga’ all the time.”

Right. I wonder if they frequently used each other’s heads for batting practice at this high school too.

According to authorities, Minucci and his friends shouted racial epithets at Glenn Moore, the victim, and two of his friends. Eventually Minucci and his posse caught Moore, and Minucci hit him with the baseball bat and took his sneakers.

Based on the available evidence, this seems like a fairly simple case. Unfortunately, it is being complicated by another issue: the use of the “N-Word.”

In the aftermath of Glenn Moore’s attack, many Black leaders have used his case as further evidence that Black people should stop using the N-word. If Black people didn’t use the term, regardless of their intentions, White’s wouldn’t feel empowered to do the same.

I admit that I sometimes use the N-word rather comfortably (i.e. I like to call niggas, niggas) and I am willing to allow for the possibility that I’m part of the problem. Still, it seems that having such conversations in the same breath that we talk about the current trial is problematic. By placing the “N-Word” at the center of discussion, we are playing into the hands of Manucci’s attornies, who are cleverly creating a context in which the “N-Word” is being prosecuted and not the man who allegedly committed a vicious crime.

I hope that the jurors, even if they believe in the ridiculous notion that “nigga” can only be uttered by Black people if White people have the same right, will not ignore the other critical facts in the case.

Also, I hope that Black people aren’t fooled into believing incidents like these wouldn’t happen if Black people hadn’t implictly given license for White people to use the term. Even if that were true, which it isn’t, Minucci didn’t crack Moore’s skull because he thought he had “N-word” privileges. He did it because he was mean and racist.

To be clear, I’m open to a rigorous and productive public discussion about the virtues and vices of the “N-word.” I just don’t want it to confound an otherwise clear cut case.

A recent study says that 90 percent of college undergraduates currently use cell phones and 85 percent transmit text messages. After hearing these numbers, I couldn’t help but think about how different the world was before the most recent telecommunications revolution. Now it’s your turn.

Think back 10-15 years ago:

Remember how cool you were if you had a beeper?

Remember how you were even cooler if you had a Skypager that was colorful, had a “vibrate” setting, and voice mail (with background music, of course)?

Remember when the real ballers had a pager AND a cell phone?

Remember the cat around the way who sold “chipped up” (illegal) cell phones?

Remember how they would only work for a few days?

Remember when cell phones were a foot tall, a la Nino Brown and Zack Morris?

Remember when you had to be damn near rich to make phone calls because a call cost nearly five dollars a minute?

Remember when we were still too dumb to realize that they shouldn’t be charging us for long distance?

Remember when pay phones weren’t the most disgusting objects on the planet?

Remember when you had to actually get out of the car to let someone know you were outside, or walk through the entire club or restaurant to find your friend?

Remember how the world was before technology gave everyone 24/7 access to our lives?

Remember how we were just fine?