tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30236409582772219862024-02-19T23:39:12.552-05:00soulbrother v.2a new man, a new day, same ol' foolishnessMax Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comBlogger378125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-46213944566419964702010-05-19T17:06:00.000-04:002010-05-19T17:10:55.849-04:00Whats Hot in the Streetz: People Who Drive Minivans<center><object height="222" width="310"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ql-N3F1FhW4&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ql-N3F1FhW4&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="310.75" height="222.67"></embed></object></center><br />
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This just goes to prove something that I already knew. People who drive minivans have a unmatchable level of cool. Posse up!Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-3360887560744038092010-05-19T13:06:00.000-04:002010-05-19T13:58:07.367-04:00Identifying the object of our outrage: Some notes on the death of Aiyana Stanley-Jones<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuSR8c5Jj3rLFOtf5Pm_kh5aBHEBMsuhdfS3-np9Z9BlxRmT2dibvTDWnXcj4JGTLVKHj0GtFyJGcLgvIwLwC8Pznogc-pylBoz3e0M8HNEquEpfKZezsn4f-6eXa8gfELAuvUoFrGzBg/s1600/aiyana_stanley_jones2010-med-big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuSR8c5Jj3rLFOtf5Pm_kh5aBHEBMsuhdfS3-np9Z9BlxRmT2dibvTDWnXcj4JGTLVKHj0GtFyJGcLgvIwLwC8Pznogc-pylBoz3e0M8HNEquEpfKZezsn4f-6eXa8gfELAuvUoFrGzBg/s320/aiyana_stanley_jones2010-med-big.jpg" /></a></div><br />
On Sunday, May 16, at a little after 12:40 am, Detroit police executed a raid on a home in which a murder suspect was thought to be hiding, and in the process of executing that raid, a police bullet entered the neck and head area of a seven year old girl, Aiyana Stanley Jones, sleeping in that home, and she subsequently died.<br />
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That much is known for sure; however, practically every other aspect of Aiyana’s tragic death is in dispute. And since I first learned of the incident, I have been calling around and scouring the internet for additional news, but the only thing forthcoming are accusations, speculation, and calls for and promises of justice.<br />
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And in my best estimation, we seem so caught up in the swirl of emotions surrounding the moment that the moment itself is momentarily forgotten and has become a victim of politics and personal agendas.<br />
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Everyone seems angry to the point of utter outrage that police should be so careless in their part in setting the stage for this child to lose her life, and rightly so, but this should not be the only reason we are outraged, and our outrage should not stop here.<br />
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First and foremost, we should be outraged that another child’s life has violently and tragically ended all too early. Keep in mind that <strong><a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20100515/NEWS01/5150355/1003/Boy-17-argues-then-is-killed">it was the violent death of another child that led to the violent death of this child</a></strong>.<br />
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And we should be in a constant and unwavering state of rage that the violent deaths of children are not even that unusual anymore; they are, in fact, quite commonplace now. The United States has the dubious distinction of leading the world in homicides against children; this country alone accounts for about seventy-three percent (73%) of these homicides.<br />
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But it seems that only when such stories make the front page does our shock and outrage manifest itself; suddenly for a week or two, if that long, we are up in arms. We rant, and we rave. We point fingers and demand change. But the moment the media moves on to the next story, we forget.<br />
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<a href="http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/video_derrion_albert">Remember Derrion Albert</a>? How long did we sustain our outrage over his death? A week after his death it was all but forgotten.<br />
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Why are we not outraged all the time? Why is it not enough just knowing that somewhere right now some child is being abused to the point that death seems more desirable than life? Or that somewhere some child is being raped or otherwise sexually abused? Or that children are being sold for the purpose of sexual exploitation?<br />
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There are a number of questions that arise from this case. For instance, why would police stage a commando like raid using military style weapons and tactics in a residential neighborhood in a home in which they knew children were present? That seems just an blatant and absolute disregard for the safety of everyone else in the home. They seemed so intent on getting their man that nothing else mattered.<br />
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And why would the suspect, if he is indeed guilty of the charges brought against him, seek refuge in a home and area populated with children knowing that police were hot on his tail and how they would react once they found him? He, in effect, put that child in harm’s way. What is his culpability in this matter?<br />
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I am not saying that there is something inherently wrong with being angry; often anger is a natural and understandable response given the gravity of the situation. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that there is a certain romance in anger. Often anger and discontent with the status quo become impetuses for change.<br />
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However, anger just for the sake of being angry, anger just because everyone else is angry and/or because you think you should be angry, anger un-sustained even while the antecedent of that anger remains unchecked and unchallenged, is simply self-serving. I understand that you are angry. You very well should be. But as we move forward, what are you going to do about it?<br />
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<strong><a href="http://www.childwelfare.com/kids/links.htm">A comprehensive list of links of organizations concerned with the welfare of our children.</a></strong>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-82059749515972782262010-05-17T16:06:00.004-04:002010-05-19T17:04:51.560-04:00John McCain’s circle of humiliation is now complete. “Just Build the Danged Fence” campaign ad now a Star Wars mash-up spoof.<center><object height="222" width="310"><param name="movie"
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">The humiliation of John McCain is now complete. His “Just Build the Danged Fence” campaign ad has now been made in a Star Wars mash-up spoof. Senator McCain, please just retire because I hate to see you humiliated like this.<br />
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<b>For the original "Just Build the Danged Fence" campaign ad, </b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0lwusMxiHc&feature=player_embedded"><b>click here</b></a><b>.</b></div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-15350767241794531182010-05-17T11:12:00.000-04:002010-05-17T11:12:15.307-04:00The Long Shadow Cast by Arizona SB 1070: Georgian College Senior Brought to this Country Illegally at Eleven Faces Deportation<div class="MsoNormal"></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Lately when bigots sense just a little bigotry afoot, they swarm to be a part of it. I guess all those years living in such a politically correct society have left them eager to practice their bigotry openly now that racial prejudice and animus seem to be making a comeback.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Take, for instance, this case near <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Atlanta</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Georgia</st1:country-region></st1:place>. A young Mexican girl, Jessica Coliti, was brought into this country illegally at the age of eleven. Now she is a senior in college. But recently during a traffic stop, she was found by police to be an undocumented alien.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After a month in detention, officials finally released her with a year long reprieve before being sent back to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region> so that she might finish her degree. Tragic story, but this is when the real foolishness begins in earnest.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As has become a common, recurring theme, a local politician running for higher office, Sheriff Neil Warren, seized upon the moment as an opportunity to score a few political points and strengthen his base.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Perhaps emboldened by the passage of <st1:state w:st="on"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Arizona</i></st1:state><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Senate Bill 1070</i>, Sheriff Warren rearrested Coliti citing her presence in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region> without authority, violating <st1:country-region w:st="on">Georgia</st1:country-region> law by operating a vehicle without a license, and “her blatant disregard for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Georgia</st1:country-region></st1:place> law by giving false information.” [<b><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/14/georgia.student.immigration/index.html">source</a></b>]</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m sure Boss Hogg would have been so proud.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:state> state officials have one thing right. This nation needs a comprehensive immigration bill. This case highlights just how desperately so. However, their lamentations ring hollow when it has been Republicans who have consistently blocked any efforts to pass such a bill. Maybe now that the topic is foremost on everyone’s mind, congress will be forced to act.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What do you think? Should she be allowed to stay, or should she be made to return to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></b><br />
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<b>h/t <a href="http://www.rippdemup.com/">RiPPa</a></b></div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-69893479365169159022010-05-16T14:06:00.001-04:002010-05-16T14:08:14.435-04:00The Black Vote: Taken for granted, ignored, or necessary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYz4uy9jRqgzeGVaqxfM_-pikM98gIVce82ujQvI2esC9D4dCX3VxyYBljLsEJL_5K-oiZozX4DceUzZda4HJONJW25W24JeSga5lSrAKY203dgYxGxeyA8ESv6mHKsGYA_SnFqhVRyzI/s1600/Voting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYz4uy9jRqgzeGVaqxfM_-pikM98gIVce82ujQvI2esC9D4dCX3VxyYBljLsEJL_5K-oiZozX4DceUzZda4HJONJW25W24JeSga5lSrAKY203dgYxGxeyA8ESv6mHKsGYA_SnFqhVRyzI/s320/Voting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">The black vote is important because it represents the behavior of a group of people whose voting power had been denied for many years, both by political mandate and by threat of physical violence. However, the black vote is unique because African American voting behavior is intrinsically rooted in the people's history.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Since the Reconstruction, the general behavior of blacks is to vote in block, either for one party or the other. Until </span><st1:place w:st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Roosevelt</span></st1:place><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> came into the presidency and began the New Deal, blacks were committed to the Republican Party.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">So what happened? Looking back at the 2008 presidential elections, where blacks voted overwhelmingly Democrat, the question still remains: Just what went wrong or has changed? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Tonight we'll break it down with a robust panel of guests representative of Democrats, Republican, and Independents. Most notably to present the case for the Republican party, will be Lenny McAllister, the Hip Hop Republican. Central to our discussion is the question: Which party today, best represents the interest of black </span><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">? Tonight, our guests will all make their best case for the parties with whom they identify. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Do join us, feel free to share your opinions, and you be the judge, on </span><b><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ftsr/2010/05/17/the-black-vote-taken-for-granted-ignored-or-necess"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Freedom Thru Speech Radio</span></a></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> at </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">8pm EST/7pm CST. </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">You can listen through </span><b><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ftsr/2010/05/17/the-black-vote-taken-for-granted-ignored-or-necess"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">the show's platform by clicking here</span></a></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">, or you can dial in on our special dial-in number at </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">914-803-8441</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-67211045804187971622010-05-16T06:06:00.002-04:002010-05-16T06:18:52.861-04:00Reason vs. Unreason: The Right's Argument Supporting the Arizona Ban on Ethnic Studies Is Falling Apart, but Do They Even Care?<center><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="234" id="ep" width="325"><param name="allowfullscreen"
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As the discussion centered around the new Arizona law banning ethnic studies continues, the racist motivations and underpinnings of the law become plainer. Opponents are definitely winning the war of reason, but does that even matter when proponents seem so unreasonable? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Watch as sociologist Michael Eric Dyson completely annihilates Arizona state school superintendent Eric Horne. Dyson posits a very concise, well-informed argument. Too bad the right values racist, jingoistic, xenophobic rhetoric over reason.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>h/t Chauncey Vega of </b><a href="http://wearerespectablenegroes.blogspot.com/"><b>We Are Respectable Negroes</b></a></div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-31848598330595269942010-05-15T17:06:00.001-04:002010-05-15T17:32:17.951-04:00Easy Listening Gangsta Rap for You Aging Hip-Hop Heads: Boyz in the Hood by Dynamite Hack [NSFW]<div class="MsoNormal"></div><br />
<center><object height="222.67" width="310.75"><param name="movie"
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allowfullscreen="true" width="310.75" height="222.67"></embed></object></center>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-79771411226377738552010-05-15T12:06:00.001-04:002010-05-15T12:54:56.873-04:00A Few Burning Questions: Things that Make Me Go Hmmm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfd-gEsW9C424bxgTAaILBqNoAJPQ-6btk-9Tq_R2_C_PEYDiqFr_W5aSUY5X_Ldqyqzhu_agGkjmIrtlcaR7BmFOu2ztYuCohduDpZa3OHsp-bUeIigeV7P_yEqwASfKCgwzV2j54Pk/s1600/question-mark_cartoon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfd-gEsW9C424bxgTAaILBqNoAJPQ-6btk-9Tq_R2_C_PEYDiqFr_W5aSUY5X_Ldqyqzhu_agGkjmIrtlcaR7BmFOu2ztYuCohduDpZa3OHsp-bUeIigeV7P_yEqwASfKCgwzV2j54Pk/s320/question-mark_cartoon.jpeg" width="304" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Okay, the weekend is upon us again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been a pretty good week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was pretty productive for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How about you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got a lot done, and I was still able to get me some rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even managed to get a little time in for myself this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">But in my idleness, I began to think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I think all the time, but during this time, a number of questions came to me that I just can’t seem to answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe you can help.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZK9ysZWlCdKjY8UZwcXA2HlV5D8dfanH1qMd8-DBfNTzNV7ixA4DcPV1uP2leYv3N7XqjZxX7WUH_gKQNpD3PHcREVUVv76xB25qYfsobKuSQzivEjfLMFBAxJ92iTlKtlvDIBxAZtE/s1600/breath-BAD.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZK9ysZWlCdKjY8UZwcXA2HlV5D8dfanH1qMd8-DBfNTzNV7ixA4DcPV1uP2leYv3N7XqjZxX7WUH_gKQNpD3PHcREVUVv76xB25qYfsobKuSQzivEjfLMFBAxJ92iTlKtlvDIBxAZtE/s200/breath-BAD.gif" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Why do people with foul breath like to chat so much?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>I have a good friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s a very amicable fellow, loves to talk, and is an excellent conversationalist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He can go on for hours and never be boring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But his breath stinks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He seems to have the condition that my uncle always referred to as zack-ly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is when your breath smells exactly like your behind.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And when you are talking to him, it’s almost like you get caught up in this foul green miasma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even after you are out of his presence, you can still smell his breath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s almost as if it gets caught up in the fabric of your clothing or something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has to know his breath stinks to high heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can’t he see the disturbed, pained expressions on people’s face as they talk to him?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why doesn’t he just shut up?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But speaking of chatty people…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizDbw1D1HzFZU2rRjI3jF8v0jRArFDyOjRjqi2IpiA2GQkx9ASJnWDQOzxOGuhuHM7BjZOyIpm1mFCJ9uZDBfnOZB3oiVhbNMPhircvCXL475rP83lXWjiTS9kewIfU2TZEpr1I-i9Za0/s1600/Long%20Line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizDbw1D1HzFZU2rRjI3jF8v0jRArFDyOjRjqi2IpiA2GQkx9ASJnWDQOzxOGuhuHM7BjZOyIpm1mFCJ9uZDBfnOZB3oiVhbNMPhircvCXL475rP83lXWjiTS9kewIfU2TZEpr1I-i9Za0/s200/Long%20Line.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Every time I am in a hurry and run into the store just to pick up a few items, I always end up in the line with the chatty check-out person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>I know this has happened to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are in a hurry, but you have to stop by the store to quickly pick up just one item.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there is just one line open, and that one line stretches to the back of the store, and the check-out person is the jolliest person who has ever lived and is holding marathon conversations with every customer.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">All the while, you are looking on from your place at the back of the line and checking your watch, silently seething.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do believe in service with a smile, and I love a cheerful check-out person, but by all means, greet the customer, smile, and keep the line moving.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But speaking of long lines…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF7iJtgrLT0NmhWSWu5RuZP8hEcPRHAQcrYxZ6GV0yCVe7Ukh9orwmQkRfW6_hxYNOtX0EqrgBDg8f1TfmPeGp_lWYCFCFTAuydMgJKZZzNwdcBn7zJODoPldRBGD02-RSGzh429jUjdQ/s1600/Walmart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF7iJtgrLT0NmhWSWu5RuZP8hEcPRHAQcrYxZ6GV0yCVe7Ukh9orwmQkRfW6_hxYNOtX0EqrgBDg8f1TfmPeGp_lWYCFCFTAuydMgJKZZzNwdcBn7zJODoPldRBGD02-RSGzh429jUjdQ/s200/Walmart.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Did Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton sell his soul to the devil in exchange for success?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Recently, I ran out of ink at about three in the morning, and I desperately needed to print a document.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I saddled up and headed to Wal-Mart since that is the only thing seemingly open at that hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, once I got there, I could not believe my eyes.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It was three in the morning, but at Wal-mart, it was like high noon on Main Street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What in the hell of department stores are all these people doing out shopping at Wal-Mart in the wee hours of the morning?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And not only that, it was the motley-est, half-nakedest, most oddly clad, weirdest, most inbred, most tattooed and pierced bunch of human beings I have ever witnessed in the same place at the same time in my life.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It was if the dregs of the earth seemed to converge on Wal-Mart at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there I was standing right in the midst of it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly the thought came to mind, if I am here with them, what is wrong with me?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But speaking of tattoos and piercings…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2eLGN9qm4wdB4Z9DnXP3pizXQsso-LtI3HXLk4g4AU8LdogKzihei-l3Z_T__oxkJHlrIX1JbNXyr9idffyodX6Xr1lgdwZs9UOCskUVUUxIOyhoMsseGwmAAWXNWfwXQmL4Bevhw4qw/s1600/Tattoos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2eLGN9qm4wdB4Z9DnXP3pizXQsso-LtI3HXLk4g4AU8LdogKzihei-l3Z_T__oxkJHlrIX1JbNXyr9idffyodX6Xr1lgdwZs9UOCskUVUUxIOyhoMsseGwmAAWXNWfwXQmL4Bevhw4qw/s200/Tattoos.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">It seems that a number of young people are choosing to adorn themselves with a multiplicity of tattoos and piercings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do they ever expect to find a job?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>In one of my classes, I have two students who are actually a married couple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are about nineteen or twenty years old and both are very smart and very attractive individuals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are perhaps the very best students I have had in quite a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But both are covered from head to toe in tattoos and piercings.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The young man even has this disk through his earlobes that is opening this big hole that is about one inch in diameter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It certainly occurred to be that if they are in college, it could reasonably be assumed that they do desire to enter the workforce one day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But who is going to hire them with them looking like that?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I checked my class rooster so that I might ascertain just what their majors might be, but it said undecided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, curiosity finally drove me to just ask them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both said that they planned to be elementary teachers after college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elementary teachers, huh?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But speaking of jobs to do…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfbr2FW5oBEaH3W7341XKAE8gHSjqysH3qW0uSfgFRlywesIKhEXI3WSYPvej-NsEH18SSUl0UA_8UoiPmT6DVVGm2YJsTNS34Eh2jt6KyqSMogkmEDqU1_0n4TAebNzWDfRNhZ7Xu5ak/s1600/Honey%20do.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfbr2FW5oBEaH3W7341XKAE8gHSjqysH3qW0uSfgFRlywesIKhEXI3WSYPvej-NsEH18SSUl0UA_8UoiPmT6DVVGm2YJsTNS34Eh2jt6KyqSMogkmEDqU1_0n4TAebNzWDfRNhZ7Xu5ak/s200/Honey%20do.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Why does my wife get to dictate what I do with my weekends?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Every weekend, my wife presents me with this honey-do list a mile long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But she doesn’t refer to it as a honey-do list or a to do lists, but a list of “suggestions.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She suggests that I do these things that weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I know that if I don’t at least make an attempt to get to some of the things on the list, they’ll be repercussions and consequences.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nothing on that list coincides with what I had planned for the weekend, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my weekend </i>that I earned through a week of tiresome, unrelenting work in the salt mines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, today is my day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Damn that list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She knows what she can do with that list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tell you what I am going to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wait a minute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here she comes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gotta go. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holla.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Do you have any burning questions to add to the list?<o:p></o:p></b></div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-43783625069548644112010-05-15T09:06:00.000-04:002010-05-15T09:56:02.400-04:00I’ve Been to the Mountaintop: Stephen Colbert castigates Glenn Beck for his pitiful attempt at channeling MLK<div class="MsoNormal"></div><center><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="222.67" style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #333333; font: normal normal normal 11px/normal arial; width: 310.75px;"><tbody>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Could some please help me with something?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could someone please answer one simple question for me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do people continue to even listen to Glenn Beck and his unique brand of pious, pretentious pomposity?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recently I saw pictures of a Tea Party protest, and some lady was holding a sign which read, “Think you for telling us the truth, Glenn Beck!”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huh?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And why does it take supposedly comedy themed shows like Jon Stewart’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Daily Show</i> and Stephen Colbert’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Colbert Report</i> to point out the gross inconsistencies in his message?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it because everything Beck says is so absolutely absurd that Comedy Central is perhaps the only logical place for it?</div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-4250234503211396062010-05-14T10:06:00.011-04:002010-05-14T10:49:26.842-04:00[Guest Post] Max, I am a white woman who dates Black men, but I absolutely abhor other white women who do the same. What do you think about that?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrBlhFZNlRZoKCYe7OT0f-cyBYypiwEshIxgKcyW8K-KqnvAofWCzhNtbhJQYJfn8t_NqVhKpTDZ1CpWUaAcaH4Z4csE5b5WQGUiVzunL7ulEDeHlccqDZaYjetnI8-UgjUD7Lf7HgZ8Q/s1600/White+women+and+black+man+and+dating.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrBlhFZNlRZoKCYe7OT0f-cyBYypiwEshIxgKcyW8K-KqnvAofWCzhNtbhJQYJfn8t_NqVhKpTDZ1CpWUaAcaH4Z4csE5b5WQGUiVzunL7ulEDeHlccqDZaYjetnI8-UgjUD7Lf7HgZ8Q/s320/White+women+and+black+man+and+dating.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">One thing I really enjoying about blogging is that you come in contact with a wide range of people you might never have come into contact with otherwise. JuJuBe, a brand new voice in the brown blogosphere, is one of those persons. Please do </span></span></span><a href="http://mynameisjujube.blogspot.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">check out her site and give her encouragement</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">.</span></span></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Anyway, we had a discussion around a post I did almost a year ago entitled </span></span></span><a href="http://soulbrotherv2.blogspot.com/2009/06/black-mothers-black-sons-and-little.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">“Black Mothers, Black Sons, and Little White Girls.”</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> I found her take on the issue interesting, so I had her write it up. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">I really dislike seeing white women with Black men. Although I do not have children yet, I have always said I would be extremely upset if I</span></span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">had a son, and he brought home a white woman. The thing is, I AM a white woman. AND, I date Black men. So, why do I have an issue with</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">OTHER white women dating Black men?</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="apple-style-span"></span> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">First of all, I find that most of the white women who DO date Black</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">men do it for all the wrong reasons. Either they look at dating a</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Black man as some sort of exciting new adventure, OR they believe certain myths about Black male sexuality, OR they are trying to rebel</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">against their parents, OR they want a "bad boy" and to them all Black</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">men are "bad". It is not too often that I see white women with a Black</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">man simply because she loves him.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="apple-style-span"></span> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">The second issue I have with BM/WF couples is that MOST of the time,</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">the white female wants NOTHING to do with Black females, and in fact</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">disrespects Black females every chance she gets. She insists that if a</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Black female disagrees with something she says or does it is because</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">all Black females are jealous of her. </span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">I have heard it time and time</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">again: a white woman saying they she is not racist because she dates a</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Black men, and in the next breath go on to enumerate the reasons why</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">she is better than a Black woman.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="apple-style-span"></span> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">I also cringe when I hear that white women get offended when someone</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">says her child is Black, protesting that her child is, in fact,</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">biracial. It seems to me that they think that being biracial is</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">somehow better than being Black. And, they often insist on raising</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">their children in their own little lily white world, surrounded only</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">by their WHITE family, living in neighborhoods where their child is</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">the only person of color, having their child attend schools with only</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">white children.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="apple-style-span"></span> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Another issue I have with IR dating is with Black men who ONLY date</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">white women. They give all sorts of reasons for why they prefer white</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">women, and it usually has nothing to do with love, or even with</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">attraction. To them, dating a white woman is "easier" than dating a</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Black woman. They have the impression that they can do whatever they</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">want and not have to answer for it if they choose to be with only</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">white women. For this reason, I will not date a man who ONLY dates</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">white women. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">A Black man who disrespects all Black women and embraces</span></span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">a white woman is disrespecting women as a whole because he is dating</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">a woman based on a stereotyped assumption of behavior. Plus, these men</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">often allow white women to disrespect Black woman, including his</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">mothers, sisters, aunts, and grandmothers. This is deplorable.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> <span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Personally, I see so much racism in the white community, including</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">from people who are in interracial relationships, that when I have a</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">child, I would not want my child to date a white man or woman. But of</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">course, I cannot say I would feel that way if the situation actually</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">presented itself. Maybe if I got to know the individual, they may show</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">me something that makes me change my mind about them. </span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">I know, from my</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">experience, friends and family members of men I date are often</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">reluctant to accept me, for good reason. If 95% of white people ARE</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">racists, which I believe to be true, then it is only natural for the</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">friends and families of my boyfriends to be wary of me until I prove</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">myself to them.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="apple-style-span"></span> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">And, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying I am perfect by any means. I</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">grew up in my little insular white world believing the same</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">stereotypes that are forced down our throats by the media, the</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">educational system, friends and neighbors. Even though my parents were</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">not blatantly racist, this society teaches white children that they</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">are somehow better than other races. Even when it is not put in terms</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">of race, the implication is there. It is there in the television shows</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">we watch, the books we read, the things we are taught in school.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="apple-style-span"></span> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Personally, when I reached college, I realized there was a whole world</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">out there that I knew nothing about, and I was determined to counter</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">my own ignorance with the truth. Most white women do not feel the need</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">to do that. The think that by having a few Black friends, or dating a</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Black man, they are “proving” they are not racist. Yet they still hold</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">all of these prejudices near and dear to their hearts.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="apple-style-span"></span> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Until a woman is willing to reject and counter the racism in herself,</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">she really should not be dating or marrying Black men, and she</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">certainly should not be raising a Black child!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">[</span></span></span><a href="http://mynameisjujube.blogspot.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">For more JuJuBe, just click here.</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">]</span></span></span></span></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-83960366867887644062010-05-14T09:06:00.002-04:002010-05-14T13:10:38.202-04:00This ain’t your grandparents’ drug dealer. Or maybe it is. Eighty-three year old woman charged with selling crack.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bxIIujwrVd2WVJvDA9F_P3eVAGQXRurqCLMjqJrPUUThM7rHlDOIomkU_0Pfyl-SIp2ttd7EoXgism5pdoQnidotINFut4ROoOuvjq3iThMbPAHq_tcnkS4-gqRQlx_qRsbZlyfLlV0/s1600/Ola+Mae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bxIIujwrVd2WVJvDA9F_P3eVAGQXRurqCLMjqJrPUUThM7rHlDOIomkU_0Pfyl-SIp2ttd7EoXgism5pdoQnidotINFut4ROoOuvjq3iThMbPAHq_tcnkS4-gqRQlx_qRsbZlyfLlV0/s200/Ola+Mae.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">When I saw this one, I didn’t know what to think. We all have our own stereotypical ideas of what a drug dealer looks like. But with <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/2273774,florida-elderly-crack-dealer-051410.article">the arrest of eighty-seven year old Ola Mae Agee</a>, that stereotype has been completely and utterly shattered.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On Thursday, May 13, Police arrested the eighty-seven year old Pensacola, Florida, resident and charged her with selling cocaine after undercover sheriff’s deputies video-taped her selling a twenty dollar piece of crack.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ola Mae got them jumbos y’all.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At first I approached this news item as the story of an elderly lady who was forced to do the unthinkable just to provide herself with the barest necessities, but then I found out that when she was seventy-three, she was charged with the same crime and served two years on probation. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That makes her a habitual offender. Ola Mae is a straight hustla’, baby!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But in all fairness, the sheriff’s department also speculates that others may also be dealing drugs from the house. So, I would like to believe that perhaps she was somehow being manipulated by others due to her old age. Or at least, I certainly hope so.</div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-14847609744188048462010-05-13T16:06:00.002-04:002010-05-13T16:55:21.459-04:00California Newsreel Doc Blacking Up: Hip-Hop's Remix of Race and Culture Free Online Until the End of May<div class="MsoNormal"></div><center><object height="222.67" width="310.75"><param name="movie"
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<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">California Newsreel is offering up another documentary for free viewing. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><a href="http://www.newsreel.org/Preview.htm">Black Up: Hip-Hop’s Remix of Race and Identity</a></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></b>critically examines the popularity of hip-hop among white youths in America. What is driving this phenomenon, admiration or mockery? Is this simply another episode of cultural theft?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The video will be available for perusal without charge until the end of May. After then the documentary can be purchased simply by going to <a href="http://www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0229">California Newreel's site</a>. A short trailer is embedded above. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And a big hat-tip once again to <a href="http://www.prometheus6.org/">Prometheus 6</a>. He has a definite knack for finding free stuff, but I ain’t mad at him though.</div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-64301841517382674142010-05-13T15:06:00.001-04:002010-05-13T15:55:06.234-04:00And John McCain Finally Nears Rock Bottom: Fellow Republicans Mock His Newest Campaign Ad<div class="MsoNormal"></div><center><object height="222.67" width="310.75"><param
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<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Conclusive proof that Senator John McCain has outlived his efficacy as well as his facilities of good judgment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watch as Joe Scarborough and fellow Republican Arizona Republican John Shadegg, along with the rest of the panel, laugh at McCain’s campaign ad, “Just finish the danged fence.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">He probably will win his re-election bid, but in doing so he will have also lost any self-respect he might have left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a shame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who would have thought he would go from presidential candidate to this desperate, pandering foolishness?</div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-75090949333153527962010-05-13T11:06:00.005-04:002010-05-13T11:51:54.792-04:00So, Lawrence Taylor, you didn't have intercourse with that child but only masturbated? And that makes it better?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifzdK0o03iYtqn4vfulSUNTuZmyx2GkgeeZLntWcG8IYh7FH4OHMlD2ffioksQwDKxcCqqw2km9cuQ-rlW0BO8fWo0O20fkDqPt9bFa5WsL6NkW1gaqx_K1Sq0dd69SsE__gjox6ZIgQ/s1600/Lawrence+Taylor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifzdK0o03iYtqn4vfulSUNTuZmyx2GkgeeZLntWcG8IYh7FH4OHMlD2ffioksQwDKxcCqqw2km9cuQ-rlW0BO8fWo0O20fkDqPt9bFa5WsL6NkW1gaqx_K1Sq0dd69SsE__gjox6ZIgQ/s320/Lawrence+Taylor.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Yesterday morning <i><a href="http://www.tmz.com/2010/05/11/lawrence-taylor-rape-masturbation-sexual-intercourse-new-york-law-nfl/">TMZ</a></i> reported that troubled former New York Giants linebacker and Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor now claims that he did not have sex with the underage prostitute he procured with the help of a gentleman who now faces charges under federal child trafficking statues for kidnapping, drugging, and offering the child up for prostitution. And additionally, the condom found in the hotel room in which the sexual act was to have taken place did not belong to him but to someone else.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Instead, Taylor now claims through his lawyers that his purposes for hiring the young girl were purely masturbatory. No intercourse took place between the two.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You don’t know how much better that makes me feel because when I first heard of the complaints against Taylor, I was somewhat disgusted and more than a bit outraged. But now I’m relieved to know that he displayed such character in choosing not to participate in the further exploitation of this young lady and took his carnal pleasure into his own hands.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Man, Lawrence Taylor, you have got to be out of your drug-addled monkey mind. You just masturbated and that makes it alright, huh? Perhaps this latest claim, if believed by the court may result in lesser penalty, but that in no way makes it in the least bit better. In my mind, you are still a lowlife degenerate perv bastard.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And it dawns on me that you may have a daughter or daughters yourself. I remember a while back you were in hot water for not paying your child support. What would be your reaction if someone kidnapped them, drugged them, and offered them for sex to some perv-ish former professional athlete?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Or perhaps you haven’t spent a whole lot of time with them. It seems that after football you have spent the lion’s share of your time in and out of jail on crack cocaine charges and procuring prostitutes. You, and people like you, make me cringe, Lawrence Taylor.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And speaking of cringing,</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This video seems to be making the rounds on the internet as of late. I actually came across it in several places before I decided to take a look:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Is it just me, or is this some abject foolishness? What is wrong with us? One the one hand, we claim to be appalled and outraged when our girls are exploited or otherwise misused, but on the other, we cheer and applaud when they are dolled up and paraded before us in hyper-sexualized situations labeled as harmless performances. A bunch of pre-pubescent girls gyrating suggestively on stage ain’t in the least bit cute.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvlsHQj_e614XzFhcoC6F0JwjbW_1N9QsEggLhnIXkR8pc7i-RMIggZ8dxl-FkXmC726n1ra50cTAtmdeenFUv1TJSS2ZqwfDUQt4SFu5VnPyyo0vf-fyutPq3kFWkB2hoFyFx_qL5hc/s1600/Toddlers+and+Tiaras.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvlsHQj_e614XzFhcoC6F0JwjbW_1N9QsEggLhnIXkR8pc7i-RMIggZ8dxl-FkXmC726n1ra50cTAtmdeenFUv1TJSS2ZqwfDUQt4SFu5VnPyyo0vf-fyutPq3kFWkB2hoFyFx_qL5hc/s200/Toddlers+and+Tiaras.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">And recently, I came across a series on TLC entitled <i><a href="http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/toddlers-and-tiaras/">Toddlers and Tiaras</a></i> which features a number of very young girls competing in beauty pageants across the country. The girls were made up and glammed up to be damned, and wearing sometimes the very skimpiest of costumes, encouraged to strut about the stage in the most suggestive of manners. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That’s simply disgusting to me. And from all appearances, it seems this whole spectacle is for the benefit of the overbearing parents attempting to live through their children. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m in no way a prude, or at least I don’t believe myself to be, but there seems to be something wholly contradictory in our behavior. And I really hope that I don’t seem to be speaking to you from atop a soapbox. But from where I’m sitting, we cannot decry the sexualization and exploitation of our children in one arena while encouraging and applauding their sexualization and exploitation in another.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Certainly, the kidnapping and prostitution of children is not commensurate with these over-sexualized performances, but they do seem to be simply flip sides of the same coin.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />
</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Am I wrong? Am I over-reacting?<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-42072947650414643292010-05-13T09:06:00.001-04:002010-05-13T11:36:39.841-04:00Lewis Black Concludes that Glen Beck Has Nazi Tourettes<center><div style="text-align: auto;"><br />
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<tr style="height: 14px;" valign="middle"><td colspan="2" style="padding: 2px 1px 0px 5px;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-may-12-2010/back-in-black---glenn-beck-s-nazi-tourette-s" style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3023640958277221986"></a></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Sitting in on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Lewis Black delivers one of his trademark over the top rants in pointing out the irony of Glen Beck taking offense at protesters labeling the Arizona immigration law as Nazi-like. I always enjoy a good Lewis Black rant, but this one is one of the best. </div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-83079457422391375582010-05-11T21:06:00.000-04:002010-05-11T21:24:13.719-04:00The Shopping Cart with the Shaky Wheel Theorem: Is It Just Me, or Does President Obama Seem to Be Veering a Bit to the Right?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0Z-2HuleyFsxjs10_7mSvEy8of1kh0HTou4YNDrIpqmEJk7wlBf4nycrJNS2RQxchpNIilnUCUyTb-ZavCJ_MZSeOMkpI-A9tYaXKj4MAmJL_Tzj9x9Nk7Gj9mLmkOfonjZa53zWMz4/s1600/Colourful_shopping_carts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0Z-2HuleyFsxjs10_7mSvEy8of1kh0HTou4YNDrIpqmEJk7wlBf4nycrJNS2RQxchpNIilnUCUyTb-ZavCJ_MZSeOMkpI-A9tYaXKj4MAmJL_Tzj9x9Nk7Gj9mLmkOfonjZa53zWMz4/s320/Colourful_shopping_carts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Since President Obama assumed the presidency, he seems to be doing a credible job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He got off to a shaky start, mind you, but since his early mis-steps and mis-calculations, he has come into his own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do believe, however, that his early mis-steps and mis-calculations may have given the GOP a foot in the door in the mid-term elections that they might not have otherwise. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But the president does have a certain predilection that I find curious, that I cannot quite figure out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s see if I can explain it with this analogy.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Have you ever gone to the supermarket and gotten that grocery cart with the shaky wheel?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know the one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter how hard you try to prevent it, the cart keeps veering in one direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes it’s simply a minor annoyance, but at other times, it bgecomess so utterly aggravating that you just leave the cart there in the aisle in the middle of the store and stamp back to the front to get another cart.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That’s how President Obama’s presidency appears at times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems that despite the direction we would like him to go, he keeps seemingly veering right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Take for instance his nomination of Harvard legal scholar Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Admittedly, I know very little about Kagan, but that’s just it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one seems to know much about Kagan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since she has never been a sitting judge, she has no important rulings that we might have to examine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">And despite her being a long time legal scholar, it appears she has produced very little in the way of scholarly writing that we might examine to determine her legal inclinations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides that, her record of hiring minorities while serving as the dean of the Harvard’s law school leaves a lot to be desired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">She’s basically an unknown quantity;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we have no idea what we are getting , so we cannot be positively sure it’s what we really want, if she’s really the change we voted for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">And in addition to Kagan’s nomination, the evidence of President Obama’s tendency to veer right abounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he assumed office, he kept many of his predecessor’s policies in place much to our chagrin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in putting together the HCR package, he seemed to stack concession to the demands of the right on top of concession even when it became apparent that the right just might not be negotiating in good faith.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When we throw in his reluctance to do away with DADT once and for all, his Bush-lite like policies toward the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, his plans to expand offshore drilling, and numerous other lingering glances to the right, you just have to stop and wonder.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Perhaps it is simply a case of political exigency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly, Kagan’s nomination might be considered to be a shrewd move;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the paucity of information to sift through gives the GOP little ammunition in attacking her which, of course, we know they’ll do anyway no matter who the nominee might have been.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And in the uber-contentious, partisan climate of today’s Washington, such forays rightward might be necessary in order to gain political traction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And keep in mind that to win elections, to remain in favor, President Obama must appeal to moderates and Independents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">It is the base from which you receive your support, your energy;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>however, no national politician can win without the votes of moderates and Independents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s always a precarious balancing act, placating your base while maintaining the support of moderates and Independents.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And if this is the case, I do understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, the game’s chess not checkers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But again I believe President Obama to be doing a great job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not being critical just for the sake of being critical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just wish that every once in a while, he would give just a nod and a wink to those of us who are just a bit left of center.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Do you think that President Obama has a tendency to veer left?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, what do you think of this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it simply a case of political necessity?<o:p></o:p></b></div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-27175840491937336662010-05-10T12:06:00.004-04:002010-05-10T13:24:43.375-04:00This Sistah Here Can Sang!: Presenting Avery*Sunshine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtY1MlqliAw5_yDbXFSB7HJTWMMm842x2yoDn9G5j6P9pOExtzgNiBWJosleSt_Cq_SCovpOwILTmidc_XVAQbNsfH1b76NEEtyjC0OIxXlDW-7QZj4fMXulscgrYTtxV-DQXJB8GOI8g/s1600/Avery+Sunshine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtY1MlqliAw5_yDbXFSB7HJTWMMm842x2yoDn9G5j6P9pOExtzgNiBWJosleSt_Cq_SCovpOwILTmidc_XVAQbNsfH1b76NEEtyjC0OIxXlDW-7QZj4fMXulscgrYTtxV-DQXJB8GOI8g/s320/Avery+Sunshine.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You know, I always say that the very best music cannot be found on mainstream radio, or even on the top ten charts, but reside somewhere off the beaten path, sometimes out of an open window, sometimes in a small smoky room, sometimes at some obscure, small town soul food festival, sometimes sitting on a blanket in a park on a lazy Sunday afternoon armed only with a beautiful smile, dimples, and an acoustic guitar.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Good music sometimes sounds best when it surprises you, grabs you, and demands that you sit and listen.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And as of late, my main man <a href="http://soulreservoir.wordpress.com/">Dewan of Soul Reservoir</a> and I have been on a mission to find these hidden jewels and bring them to you. We complain about the lack of quality music, but we often overlook that which is right there within earshot.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Take this sistah here out of Pennsylvania, Avery<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">*</span>Sunshine, that Dewan pulled my coat to. So, I’m sitting here listening to a few cuts she is offering as downloads on her site, and scrolling through the picture gallery, and I thanks to myself, “Dang, girl child.” And you know when I cease thinking and begin thanking, I usually end up in some kind of trouble. But that sultry, soulful voice coupled with those looks and a personality that shines through even in photographs, even on stage is where the whole concept of soul begins.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Her musical journey has taken her from the church to the stage, even to a number of private performances during President Obama’s inaugural celebrations. On her first CD which is due out soon, she states that she sings about the possibilities of being a single woman and the promise of God.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But anyway, check out the cuts embedded below, let me know what you think, and throw your full support behind this sister’s career. And one day when you are driving down the street with her beautiful voice serenading you, and in that brief moment in which everything seems just right in your world, remember that the soulbrother told you so.</div><center><div style="text-align: auto;"><div style="text-align: auto;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" height="0" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyNzM1NjQ1OTA4OTkmcHQ9MTI3MzU2NTAyMTY*MiZwPTI3MDgxJmQ9d2lkZ2V*UGxheWVyJmc9MiZvPTFhNGI4ZDI5/MTc4ODQ*MTg4NzhlNTUxNjBiODIxMmQxJm9mPTA=.gif" style="height: 0px; visibility: hidden; width: 0px;" width="0" /><br />
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<div><b>Avery</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>*</b></span><b>Sunshine </b><a href="http://www.averysunshine.com/Avery_Sunshine/Home.html"><b>Homepage</b></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Avery</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>*</b></span><b>Sunshine </b><a href="http://www.myspace.com/averysunshine"><b>MySpace</b></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Avery</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>*</b></span><b>Sunshine on </b><a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/averysunshine"><b>ReverbNation</b></a><b> </b></div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-80175599902492004202010-05-10T01:06:00.003-04:002010-05-10T08:11:58.757-04:00Really, George Rekers, Really?: Just Give Us the Straight Story about the Whole Rentboy Debacle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kv3BEym6uuP10MhE9sXJ4qAUIhwN7bMRTjwXvFpEuPJgyMUd0TD6uREdPw6wmKe-kXJBR64Iq3c9yDpWRWb041nROhNev1m0bLn15iiQX-jjG7hKdiv8eLOXEtjykvBDmM5AaXiCCoU/s1600/rekersatmia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kv3BEym6uuP10MhE9sXJ4qAUIhwN7bMRTjwXvFpEuPJgyMUd0TD6uREdPw6wmKe-kXJBR64Iq3c9yDpWRWb041nROhNev1m0bLn15iiQX-jjG7hKdiv8eLOXEtjykvBDmM5AaXiCCoU/s320/rekersatmia.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When the GOP and the right cloaked themselves in the mantle of “family values,” they made a very politically astute move. In one bold, decisive stroke the party managed both to claim the moral high ground and align themselves with God. Therefore by challenging the GOP party and its ideology, by extension you also challenge divine law and pre-established notions of normalcy and morality.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This position becomes exceptionally useful in a nation most people incorrectly identify as a Christian nation founded on Christian principles despite much evidence to the contrary.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">However, by claiming the moral high ground as its own, the GOP and those on the right also invite added scrutiny; every moral failing, every lapse in judgment, takes on a heightened significance. And because we are human beings and, as such, given to human frailties, foolishness is bound to happen at some juncture. Then comes the charges of hypocrisy and rightly so.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Take for instance one Professor George Rekers. Professor Rekers has made a career out of persecuting the gay and lesbian community. Then just last week, reports surfaced in various media of Professor Rekers’ recent trip to Europe on which he was accompanied by a twenty year old male escort he picked up on an online site entitled <a href="http://rentboy.com/">rentboy.com</a>. According to Professor Rekers, the young man accompanied him to Europe because he, Rekers, had recently had surgery and needed someone to carry his bags.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Really, Professor Rekers, really?</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Because if I needed someone to accompany me on a trip to carry my bags, I would probably first call my young nephew who just graduated from college in December and cannot yet find a job. He could more that likely use the money. Or I would call the lazy, good for nothing son of my fourth cousin, once removed, on my step-father’s side. He’s lazy, but he will work when pressured. At the very least, I wouldn’t have sought out an aide from some site named <a href="http://rentboy.com/">rentboy.com</a>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And I don’t want to be judgmental, so let’s just conclude he really didn’t know what <a href="http://rentboy.com/">rentboy.com</a> really was. But the strapping, shirtless youth on the landing page should have been a clue, along with the warning that “This site might contain content or materials of a graphic and/or sexual nature.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">However, Professor Rekers may very well have missed these clues and assumed that the strapping, shirtless lad was just an example of the strong young workers on hand to be rented for odd jobs like bag carrying. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Yet, once you enter the site there is no way you can miss the assorted collection of scantly clothed men and throbbing blue veiners that seem to kind of jump out at you like pages in a really naughty pop-up book. You didn’t realize it was a gay escort site then, Professor Rekers?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Really, Professor Rekers, really?</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But let’s still give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he was in a hurry and noted the young men pictured in the sidebar gently cupping each other’s naughty bits and reasoned that if they could hold private parts like that, then certainly they possessed the manual dexterity requisite for carrying bags.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">However, that does not explain the contract he drew up with the young man he chose, Lucien:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Young Lucien had to be in his presence eight hours a day? Two meals together? And a one hour sexual message a day? What is a sexual message anyway? And why would a straight man really desire another man to give him a sexual message?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Really, Professor Rekers, really?</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Let’s just drop the whole charade and assume Professor George Rekers is queer. And I think no less of him because he is queer; however, I do take great umbrage at the fact that not only has he spent his life in denial of just who and what he is, as is his right, but he then made it his pronounced mission to make the lives of others of the same orientation a living hell. There is a certain hypocrisy here that cannot be excused, that must be decried in the loudest, shrillest tones.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Why don’t we try this? Why don’t we just embrace our humanity and relinquish our control of the moral high ground to whatever gods may be, and then seek to live the best lives we can lead while assisting others to live the best lives they can lead without judgment.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Professor Rekers, if you did this, you could go on trips all around the world and get absolutely whoever you want to carry your bags without consequence. That is unless some asshole like you comes along and tries to use it against you for political and financial gain. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Really.</i></div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-44810216085173689962010-05-09T06:06:00.005-04:002010-05-09T08:47:12.232-04:00The Writing Lesson; or, My Exquisite First Lie: A Short Narrative by Max Reddick for My Mother on Mother’s Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirplkj0CJIdah9i6B4z8lYjwpDHp1IWp4OK1LyEBFsXGv9Iwu9pEDDYHkIgF4g-eMwpK6Rcdm7TVTR8UW081Vt0PKbJC4zkOcscKgxT9fy1_aYI1Nz8bf0D_RajtZYQT6LJT6SPu94YCY/s1600/writing+lesson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirplkj0CJIdah9i6B4z8lYjwpDHp1IWp4OK1LyEBFsXGv9Iwu9pEDDYHkIgF4g-eMwpK6Rcdm7TVTR8UW081Vt0PKbJC4zkOcscKgxT9fy1_aYI1Nz8bf0D_RajtZYQT6LJT6SPu94YCY/s320/writing+lesson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You know, I owe my mother so much. In a number of ways, she is most responsible for the man I have become. At least, all the positive stuff. My mother gave me so many things and taught me so many more. However, there is one lesson that stands out in particular.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You see, in the very beginning it was just me and my mother. She and my natural father separated soon after I was born. And between then and the time she met and married the right Reverend L.G. Reddick, I was being raised by committee in a very rural area of West Tennessee with my mother and maternal grandmother being the co-chairpersons of that committee.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">And it seems that their complete child-raising efforts went into assuring that I did not turn out like my natural father. Truthfully, they spoiled me rotten, and I got away with almost everything. But if I exhibited any negative trait that seemed to in anyway be a product of my natural father, they went absolutely nuts. And the foremost of these negative traits was lying. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">However, I could not ever understand this extreme disdain for my father because everyone else seemed to adore him to no end. He was this diminutive, pigeon-toed, round headed man. He was maybe five foot seven or five foot eight, but his personality was about seven feet tall.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">He was a popular minister in the C.M.E. church, and admittedly, he had his peccadilloes, but people forgave him for it. People overlooked them because they loved him so. And admittedly, he was a bit unorthodox, but the thing is that as much as people loved him, he loved people right back. While most ministers set themselves apart, he was always out right in the middle of people, laughing with them, trading stories and more than a few lies with them.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Perhaps, this love for people and being around people persuaded him to construct that thing that my mother and grandmother held up as prime evidence of his depravity and all-around no-good-ness. At some point doing my childhood, he founded a juke joint.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My father built this little cinderblock structure on the empty tract of land next to his home where my grandfather had once farmed. Now, he says he built it for some other purpose which we never fully knew or understood, but it eventually ended up being a juke joint.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And during the spring and summer, on Saturday afternoons at about two o’clock, he would begin setting up shop outside his juke joint. He would begin to barbq, and he would set the pigs feet and the hog maws and the greens or whatever else he was serving his customers that night to boiling. Around five o’clock, everyone would be returning from town, and little by little, they would drift over to his juke joint where he would be outside cooking and sit for a spell.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I call this the period of preliminary sin. If I were around at this time, he would put me to work bringing more firewood or running this errand or that errand for him. But I couldn’t tell my mother or grandmother that because had they found out that I was an active and willing participant in his little den of iniquity, there would have been smoke in the city. For those early comers gathered, he would sell them a little corn whiskey and pass out small samples of whatever it was he was cooking. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But as soon as it got dark, he would plug up the juke box, and the sinning would begin in earnest. Now, I was never around for the real sin, but my maternal grandmother seemed to be a bona fide expert on the scandalous debauchery that took place there though I’m not so sure how she had such intimate knowledge of the comings and goings of my father’s juke joint since I don’t ever recall her being in very close proximity to the place.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This went on for about two or three summers before the church establishment shut him down. The governing body of the C.M.E. church cited some obscure scripture about not being able to serve two masters or something like that. However, I couldn’t exactly follow their reasoning. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It seems to me that my father had a pretty good set-up which worked in the best interests of all involved. People are going to sin. That’s a fact. So why not let a minister of the church be on hand to supervise the sinning so it doesn’t get out of hand? Then, in the morning, he could just absolve them of that sin, and their souls would not be in jeopardy. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now, if something dreadful happened to befall them between the time they entered the juke joint on Saturday night and the time they reached the church on Sunday morning, it seems to me that they were pretty much meant to go to hell anyway. No one’s luck could conceivably be that bad.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, in the fallout that followed, my mother and grandmother found out that I had been witness to, at the very least, the preliminary stages of the foolishness, so my mother decided to move from the country to the closest city, Jackson, Tennessee partly because I would have better educational opportunities there, mostly to get me away from the horrible influence of my father.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, we moved out of my maternal grandparents’ home, and she bought this little house on Hayes Avenue, right around the corner from Lane College, a local HBCU. During the day, she continued to teach English at Tigret High School, and sometimes in the evening she worked part time at the new J.C. Penneys. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This meant that when I got out of school, often she would not be there, and my grandparents lived so far away in the country that it would not have been prudent for them to drive into town to get me, or if they did, that would mean that my mother would have to drive out to the country to pick me up when she did finally get off work, and then drive back to the city. So, they enlisted the help of this older couple who knew our family and who had made the migration from the country to the city much earlier who just happened to live next door to us in the city.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Please forgive me, but it’s been so long that I have forgotten this older couple’s names. However, their faces are forever etched in my memory. And they were good people too, salt of the earth. Their children had long moved away, and they did not have ready access to their grandchildren, so they readily jumped at the opportunity to allow me to spend the evenings with them until my mother arrived home.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And if I was spoiled before I began to stay there with them in the evenings, I surely got spoiled really quickly once the arrangement kicked off in earnest. They literally adopted me as their new grandchild. These two elderly people doted on me. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When I would get off the bus in the evenings, they would have a snack all ready for me. And they would just sit there across the table from me side-by-side as I did my homework and stare at me, literally stare at me, in anticipation with eyes all wide. With every stroke of my pencil or every turn of the page, they would go on and on about how smart I was, what a little intellect I was. I cannot understate just how much love and affection these two had invested in me.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But then one day I got off the bus in a sullen, morose mood. I don’t know what was wrong with me. I really don’t. It’s just that day, for whatever reason, I felt a little down, and my demeanor reflected that.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And this upset the couple to no end. Normally I was this cheerful, happy little fellow with a big smile on my face and a spring in my step, but this evening my face wore an implacable frown, and I moved about lethargically, and they could not figure out why. So, they begged and pleaded with me to tell them why so they could make it better. However, I could not because I did not know myself.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, the wife disappeared in the kitchen while the husband kept close watch on me as I lazed languidly on the sofa. The concern could be seen on his face. And I felt bad for them. I really did because they were so upset because I seemed so upset, but I could not even articulate why I was so upset. I guess it’s just one of those things kids go through.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, momentarily the wife emerged from the kitchen carrying this big platter of cookies and a glass of milk. I sniffed the air. Oh my goodness! Cinnamon raisin oatmeal. My absolute favorite. And I don’t exaggerate in the least bit when I say that each of these cookies was as big as a saucer. Instantly I began to feel just a wee bit better.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, I sat up, took a cookie from the platter, and took a bite. You won’t believe what happened next. I didn’t even have to chew the cookie. It literally dissolved in my mouth sending reports of cinnamony goodness to the deepest recesses of the pleasure center of my brain. After dissolving the rest of the cookie, I decided to cleanse my palate with a quick gulp of milk, and then it got even better.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This milk was so very cold that it had little tiny flakes of ice in it. After taking a few quick sips, I fell back on the sofa thinking to myself that this must be what heaven is like, spending the afternoon dissolving cinnamon raisin oatmeal cookies on your tongue and washing it all down with ice cold milk.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Just then this couple sensed that they have made some kind of breakthrough, and they then moved to either side of me, imploring me to finally tell them what was bothering me. After the whole cookies and milk thing, I did feel that I owed them something, so I decided to just make something up.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I told them that my grandfather, my mother’s father, was sick. I thought this would be the end of the inquiry, but they pressed for details, so I felt further obliged to give them the details they sought. I told them that he was practically on his death bed, and suddenly my imagination kicked in, and on the spot, I composed a whole narrative around the “illness” of my grandfather. The narrative was so affective that I even made myself just that much more morose, and ended up having to dissolve another cookie or two to ease the pain. They, too, had pools of tears standing in their eyes.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But just as my pitiful narrative of woe and commiseration was reaching its apogee, we heard a familiar knock on the door. My mother. So they let her in, and before she could even get inside the door good, they smothered her with hugs and tearful kisses much to her surprise. Then they laid out the yarn that I had been spinning for about the last hour.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My mother took the time to assure them that her father was in no way ill and certainly not at death’s door as I had told them. She apologized profusely for my overactive imagination, and with her last words, reminded them of who my father was. They nodded knowingly. With the mention of my father, I knew that I was really in for it the moment we got outside. </div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal">But for the first time since I had known them, this old couple looked upon me in disappointment. Suddenly the cookies I had dissolved in my mouth began to feel like wet concrete sitting at the bottom of my stomach. So I quickly dissolved another to see if I could make that feeling of guilt go away, but I could not.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And just as I predicted, the moment we got out of their home and crossed the yard into ours, my mother went to work on my behind. She waded into the very center of the hedges in our yard and came out with the longest, thickest switch I had ever seen in my life up to that time and I have ever seen since. Then she went to work in earnest.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But suddenly during her angry strokes of the switch and frenzied shouts of “Imma whip the lies right out of your black behind” and “I betcha won’t do it again, will you?” and my yelps of physical and psychological pain, she just stopped and looked at me there writhing in the dust. Suddenly the look on her face transformed from aggrieved malice to pity. Muttering “My God, my God, what am I doing?”, she threw the remainder of the switch aside, picked me up out of the dust, and carried me into the house.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Upon entering the house, she sat me in a chair at the dining room table. Presently she returned and placed a plate of cookies and glass of milk in front of me. But I wasn’t touching either at this point; that’s what got all this trouble started in the first place. It looked quite like a trap to me.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, she sat down next to me, and using a warm, moist tile, she began to sooth the many angry red welts that covered my arms and legs. As she did, she apologized to me for disciplining me in anger, in such a rage. She explained to me that my father had many, many amazing talents and gifts; this is what attracted her to him in the first place. But, she explained further, for every talent he had, for every gift he had, he also displayed a conflicting predilection for abject foolishness.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">She closed her monologue by explaining that all she really wanted was to see the very best of my father in me while eschewing the negative. She hugged me and kissed me on my forehead, and I rewarded her by smiling and taking a bite of cookie and a drink of milk.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then she said, “Now there. Tell me all about your day at school today. Did you enjoy your day? Did something happen to make you so sad?”.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Again, she was being so kind to me, and we had just shared such an honest moment that I felt I had to give her something. But because of my most recent experience, I was more than a bit leery. But she pressed, and my imagination took over.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“Well,” I began, “we did get to go out to the playground today. But as I was playing over by the bushes, I heard these strange noises coming out of the bushes.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Instantly, my mother looked concerned. Her eyes widened, and one hand went to her face, covering her mouth, and the other clutched her pearls. “Oh my God! What kind of sounds did you hear? Could you tell what it was?”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I continued my story. “It sounded like a loud, deep roar, like a lion or a tiger. But it could have been a bear. It’s very hard for me to distinguish between the three types of roars. Anyway, I…”.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My mother stopped me in mid sentence. First this look of utter disbelief crossed her face, followed by a look of abject surrender. “Max, Max, Max,” she said, shaking her head. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">She left the room, and then returned carrying a pad and a pen. She then placed both in front of me and bade me, “Just write it down, Max. Just write it down and put a title on it.”</div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-86082815279244531402010-05-08T05:06:00.005-04:002010-05-09T08:31:06.537-04:00The Chronicles of Max Reddick #1: #housemackfail<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTr3nf_LDQHYlwqz4w-PDX8d47RI0st0l2kgYbLDp01zyNOv0cTtKwTIoFnndRJ3O9shw79rVK3WBItp2iORMoP4TY0ZZf2PBxavGuli3ANdtLbQyzRjcqAZl-NwOQfUQB74yhPAx5yK4/s1600/house+mack+fail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTr3nf_LDQHYlwqz4w-PDX8d47RI0st0l2kgYbLDp01zyNOv0cTtKwTIoFnndRJ3O9shw79rVK3WBItp2iORMoP4TY0ZZf2PBxavGuli3ANdtLbQyzRjcqAZl-NwOQfUQB74yhPAx5yK4/s320/house+mack+fail.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This one goes out to all the young and up-and-coming housemacks, those who put in work at the crib on the daily. I want to give you this advice and leave you with this lesson so that what happened to me does not happen to you.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, my wife and I were in the bathroom getting ready for work, and as our custom, we had this deep philosophical conversation going on. And that’s not unusual because often we’ll debate the same subject for days. But this morning she made the mistake of re-hashing old material so I found myself losing interest until finally I turned my attention to the television.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And she was in mid-sentence when I burst out with, “Hey, baby. You should see this. During this baseball game this fan jumped on the field and started running around, and they tasered him. This is hilarious!”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, she stops in mid-sentence and gives me this incredulous look. “You mean I’ve been going on and on, and you’re not even listening to me? You’re watching some stupid baseball stunt on television?”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I knew I had been caught, and she looked more than a little perturbed, so I tried to convince her that I had indeed been listening. But she called my bluff, and asked me what to tell her just what she said last.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course, I had not been listening, and I had no earthly idea what she said last, but I intrepidly took a shot in the dark: “You said, ‘I believe that children are the future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside?’”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We had been talking about education, so I thought this was a pretty good guess. But evidently I was way off the mark because she gave me this nasty look, went back to making up her face, and refused to say anything else. I took this as a reprieve, so I gathered my things and headed on out the door.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, later that night after as the day was winding down and the children had retired to their bedroom, I sat in my home office completing one or two miscellaneous tasks. When I was done I got up and headed into our bedroom, and there she was sprawled across the divan looking like some naughty librarian.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">She was wearing my huge University of Florida College of Arts and Sciences sweatshirt, and had her hair pulled back in this tight, severe bun with these sexy, sexy reading glasses perched right on the very tip of her nose.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But get this. This is the clincher. She was reading this big, thick book. And she knows what big, thick books do to me. Big, thick books drive me absolutely wild! But I played it cool. That’s the first rule of housemacking. Always play it cool.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, I went on in the bathroom and took me a nice hot shower. Then I applied three separate layers of lotion. The second layer I applied because I really needed it. I’m an extra ashy brother, and if I apply less than two layers, I stand the chance of turning goose gray. The third layer, though, I applied purely for effect. I wanted that shiny look.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then I strategically applied a little something, something I picked up in Spain, this exotic fragrance called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pheromones de un Toro Muy Virilo. </i>Roughly translated, that’s Pheromones of a Very Virile Bull. I figured that if it worked for that bull, it would certainly work for the Max-ster.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I finished it all off by slipping into this pair of silk, golden pajama bottoms, and a pair of suede house slippers complete with my monogram, MRR. This is my official housemack uniform that I wear for those special occasions.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Now, peep game! Peep game! </i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I stepped out of the bathroom, and stood there posing in the archway. I dimmed the lights in the main room, but left the lights on behind me so that as I stood there posing, the light from behind me created this soft silhouette. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then I used the remote to turn on the stereo and went straight to that old Al Green’s Greatest Hits CD. I turned down the sound just low enough to hear the music and hear Al hit those high notes, but I set the bass really, really high so that when Al moaned, it would cause the speakers to vibrate sending a shiver up your spine. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But you wouldn’t know anything about that. That’s advanced housemacking, and I wouldn’t suggest you try this except under the tutelage of an expert. You have to crawl before you can walk.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, I’m standing there looking like some shiny Nubian king and smelling all bull-sy. I know those bull pheromones were working because the moment I stepped into the room, my wife asked me if I smelled something.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And in the back of my mind, I have this image of the motherland, and the ancestors drumming and singing around this huge bonfire in the village center in celebration of black love. I could practically hear the rhythm of the drums in my head: boom-back-ticka-ticka, boom-back-ticka-ticka, boom-back-ticka-ticka.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, then she looks up and sees me standing there, and she smiles this coy smile and chuckles just a little. “Umph. It looks like a have your full attention now,” she says.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, I kick in with my Barry White voice, all deep and stuff: “Baby, you got everything Max has, now and forever.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now those ancestors drumming and dancing in the village center in my head have worked themselves into a virtual frenzy. The bonfire had reached about twenty-five feet high, and they are beating those drums and dancing like their lives depend on it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“You sure about that?,” she asks.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“I’m two hundred percent sure,” I growl back, my voice one octave lower.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“Then this is what I would like you to do for me,” she says as she lets that big, thick book slide down those big, pretty legs of hers to the floor. She pats the divan right next to her with her hands. “Sit down right here, and let’s finish the conversation we were having this morning.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And just then in the back of my head, the ancestors stopped drumming and stopped singing. They looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and began putting up the drums and unplugging the amplifiers and the microphones before they extinguished the bonfire and retired to the ancestral huts for the night. Nothing to celebrate here.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i>#housemackfail</i></b></div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-30208563598290679572010-05-07T18:06:00.002-04:002010-05-07T18:06:00.161-04:00Because I’m (Sometimes) Immature: My Chick Bad GLEE AUDITION (NSFW)<div class="MsoNormal"></div><center><object height="219.67" width="310.75"><param
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<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOxK2oyewxs">Original video</a></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Ludacris My Chick Bad remix ft. Diamond, Trina, and Eve <o:p></o:p></b></div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-77762866667062723262010-05-07T11:06:00.004-04:002010-05-07T11:51:47.648-04:00God’s Law, Man’s Law, or Just a Cynical Attempt to Change the Political Trajectory in Arizona: Why the Constitutionality of Arizona State Senate Bill 1070 Does Not Matter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eAhpa-t2Ucbv5vSTXiL-3M5-59qKQtZX28WL1oblhQhMc7VMpNdqZ3RDYa7hT00IvkY9Kk-ujjcIMHc-q0BhTlNMeOtT9oj9QFUfWQtaQXmMeK7R2aQWiguz3n760U75VkC3IQZOPJc/s1600/No+Mexicans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eAhpa-t2Ucbv5vSTXiL-3M5-59qKQtZX28WL1oblhQhMc7VMpNdqZ3RDYa7hT00IvkY9Kk-ujjcIMHc-q0BhTlNMeOtT9oj9QFUfWQtaQXmMeK7R2aQWiguz3n760U75VkC3IQZOPJc/s320/No+Mexicans.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Yesterday the spring semester ended for me, and I spent the first day of summer idleness reading<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1781776850"> </a><i><a href="http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf">Arizona State Senate Bill 1070</a></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>the notorious “show me your papers” immigration bill. And I read the whole thing too, not just the naughty bits. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">I guess I’m just a big nerd, but I was curious just as to what the bill contained so that I might make my own informed judgments about the bill before I wrote about it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And honestly I expected the bill to read like the old <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Codes_(United_States)">Southern Black Codes</a> though not as explicit in its aim and targets. But I was disappointed. No real fireworks here. Everything in the bill is pretty much run of the mill and simply replicates laws already on the books. However, the only thing that stands out is that infamous, oft-quoted line, “WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULL PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But herein lies the greatest point of contention; does this line negative render the whole bill unconstitutional?</div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course, the most obvious question is just what is it that might arouse “reasonable suspicion” of being an illegal immigrant? The only thing I can think of that might draw such scrutiny is ethnicity. But does that make the law unconstitutional?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But let’s take a second to step back and look at what causes a law to be unconstitutional or not. Now, I’m not a lawyer or a constitutional scholar; my expertise is in reading, explicating, and teaching texts; however, the only real difference between what I do and what a lawyer or constitutional scholar does is the type of texts.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, from what understanding I have, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">U.S. Constitution</i> gains its authority from this notion of a certain natural law that precedes directly from God by the very virtue of our humanity that guarantees us certain rights—the foremost being freedom—that may not be taken or abridged by any man or government.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
These rights include, among others, exercising our free will, thinking whatever thoughts we would like to think, saying whatever we would like to say, worshipping as we wish to worship, protecting ourselves, owning and using personal property as we see fit, and moving about freely.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In my best estimation, then, and you lawyers and constitutional scholars might be able to help me with this, the measure of the constitutionality of any statue becomes whether or not the statute violates natural law by impinging on or impeding the exercise of one’s God given rights. If the statute does, then it falls possibly into the realm of positivism.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Positivism runs counter to natural law; positivism accords authority to the government and government officials by virtue of their position as elected legislators. Through positivism the government enacts laws that seek to regulate human beings by virtue of the groups to which they belong.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, does <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Arizona State Senate Bill 1070</i> violate this natural law? Does it impinge upon or impede the exercise of one’s natural rights?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prima facie</i> the bill does perhaps not violate the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">U.S. Constitution</i> simply because those the bill is aimed at, illegal aliens, are not covered under the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">U.S. Constitution. </i>But in the same instance, the enforcement of the bill does threaten to violate the rights of Mexican Americans. So, the problem is not the bill, but the enforcement of the bill. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But, and this is the meat of my argument, the bill was never meant to be enforced; the bill was enacted in a predominantly Republican state by a Republican senate and signed by a Republican governor simply for the effect that bill might have. It was enacted as a measure of self-preservation.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At this time, Arizona’s population is approximately one third Hispanic, and the number of Hispanics is rapidly growing. And Arizona’s growing Hispanic population is tending more and more to vote Republican, so conceivably this bright red state stands the chance of turning blue should this trend continue.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Keep in mind that when Jan Brewer served as the secretary of state in Arizona, <a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/behind-the-arizona-immigration-lawgop-game-to-swipe-the-november-election/">following the 2004 elections, she led an effort that either purged or blocked from voting about 100,000 Arizonians</a>, mostly Hispanic. The following year in the city of Phoenix, which was trending Democratic and Hispanic, one in three new voter registration applications were rejected with no real explanation.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, regardless of this talk of protecting the good people of Arizona from this brown horde of illegal aliens, the Republican legislature in the state of Arizona hopes that the effect of this bill is to drive from the state of Arizona those brown bodies it deems undesirable, who might just vote Democratic, and make entering the state as undesirable as possible to any other brown bodies.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Incidentally, this same desired effect drove the implementation of the Black Codes in the post-Civil War South. The codes were meant to hamper the movement of African Americans, make movement from one place to the next as difficult as possible with the hope that tired of the restrictions and harassment, current African American residents of those states would just pick up and leave, and other African Americans would not move to these areas. Coincidentally, at the time African Americans were overwhelmingly voting Republican in a predominantly Democratic South.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course, this went against their own interests just as the immigration bill does now, because these undesirable bodies they sought to rid themselves of were integral to the economy in those states. With these brown bodies gone, where does the cheap labor come from? Who does those jobs no one else will do? It is a precarious balancing acting trying to balance racial and ethnic prejudice and political expediency on the one hand with economic exigency on the other.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But again, the GOP has chosen political expediency and self-preservation over any real solutions to real problems. However, I believe in doing so, the state of Arizona simply postpones the inevitable and grows and cements its own opposition.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal">So, in the end, I wouldn’t be so worried about whether or not the bill is unconstitutional or not; I would concentrate on the effect it has. The is what the Arizona GOP is closely watching.</div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-49205782559020159752010-05-05T06:06:00.004-04:002010-05-05T13:47:30.378-04:00Book Review: Glorious by Bernice L. McFadden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsW7LU31rwM8zkrb7kKT-EEZjWnb71eqVHdEjKr0abAP7-FLP-u_T1SOZTbDmwqN1ljvYD4yU9_Mov9g-1ydM__ElOHp8rXFbP-2OecCqwPFROR_Uf3agFQ3oDhyphenhyphen12xO7oPs0bjBVAaVY/s1600/Bernice%20Glorious.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsW7LU31rwM8zkrb7kKT-EEZjWnb71eqVHdEjKr0abAP7-FLP-u_T1SOZTbDmwqN1ljvYD4yU9_Mov9g-1ydM__ElOHp8rXFbP-2OecCqwPFROR_Uf3agFQ3oDhyphenhyphen12xO7oPs0bjBVAaVY/s320/Bernice%20Glorious.jpg" tt="true" width="201" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1936070111?ie=UTF8&tag=soulbrotherv2-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1936070111"><strong><em>Glorious</em></strong></a><strong><em><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=soulbrotherv2-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1936070111" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></em> by Bernice L. McFadden</strong></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXYy6D8DZOtZNdH68qYNWxcAk7Me6qUvfQ-8yakKmXtFHSKJjw00QBcX9i8IvkUtCLRvFl3Xn3vIVuZso0wSToFT3rl77w0YMhAMqDvXCMjNljy7vlNsLrkVDcRlG9pNkZOqsNUTNWfTI/s1600/bernic4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXYy6D8DZOtZNdH68qYNWxcAk7Me6qUvfQ-8yakKmXtFHSKJjw00QBcX9i8IvkUtCLRvFl3Xn3vIVuZso0wSToFT3rl77w0YMhAMqDvXCMjNljy7vlNsLrkVDcRlG9pNkZOqsNUTNWfTI/s200/bernic4.jpg" tt="true" width="148" /></a></div>I have waited a while for a book like this one. Quite a while. Sometimes when you read texts for a living, the pure joy of reading, the ecstasy of wallowing fully and wholly in the language of the text is crushed by a cinderblock of deadlines and expectations.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>However, this text broke the tedium of uneventful text after uneventful text; it managed to capture my imagination, to excite and incite me. From the time I picked the text up, I could not put it down, and read on and on throughout the night until the morning when I finally achieved the last word and gingerly searched for a place of rest, exhausted and spent, but nonetheless satisfied as in the aftermath of an episode with a rapacious, talented lover.<br />
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In a style and voice reminiscent of famed writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Toni Morrison, author Bernice L. McFadden composes a narrative journey set against and bracketed by the historical coordinates of the infamous 1910 Jack Johnson victory over “great white hope” James J. Jeffries and the onset of the Civil Rights Movement. <br />
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Paralleling the life of renowned writer Zora Neale Hurston, the narrative chronicles one woman’s search for self, for a place, in a world that seems to despise her because she is black, broke, and a woman; it is every bit a narrative about the creation of a narrative.<br />
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After a moment of good fortune by her father begets a heart-breaking atrocity which, in turn, leads to the gradual destruction of her family and threatens her psyche, the protagonist Easter symbolically buries the word “hate” in a tin in the ground and sets out on a journey which takes her throughout the South and finally to a Harlem, New York, caught up in the cultural transformations wrought by the Harlem Renaissance.<br />
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Along the way Easter documents the highs and the lows, the pleasure and the pain, the great triumphs and the crushing defeats, in a narrative which she revisits and revises often. It is this text, this narrative that eventually defines her, imprisons then releases her, that eventually forces her to step back and reclaim and reassess those pages from her narrative that she mentally and symbolically discards to include that long buried and forgotten “hate” so that her journey might reach completeness.<br />
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Ms. McFadden creates a work that masterfully weaves fact and fiction into a beautiful tapestry of passionate language that leaves the reader impatient for her next offering. Let us take the time to applaud her for yet another riveting, passionate narrative. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1936070111?ie=UTF8&tag=soulbrotherv2-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1936070111"><strong><em>Glorious</em></strong></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=soulbrotherv2-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1936070111" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /> will be released on May 1, 2010.Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-47085828636592341582010-05-04T18:06:00.001-04:002010-05-04T18:06:00.418-04:00Game On!: Spanx for Men Are Hitting Store Shelves Near You<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG07o5sOyfxdbgh4jmaW6EnFU2CahF5R-6u665saqDNIPLlQj1Oxkqfmk89rTKPCoGJ3a9s0MdT01cHi8nzEDferzSMwqIiwQAtRJvEeN4_v5ev9G9ifoT8Q-pEMZ3928JqWrJtJ_IO2M/s1600/Spanx+for+Men.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG07o5sOyfxdbgh4jmaW6EnFU2CahF5R-6u665saqDNIPLlQj1Oxkqfmk89rTKPCoGJ3a9s0MdT01cHi8nzEDferzSMwqIiwQAtRJvEeN4_v5ev9G9ifoT8Q-pEMZ3928JqWrJtJ_IO2M/s320/Spanx+for+Men.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For the last few weeks I have been watching what I eat and when I can, getting a little exercise in here and there in an effort to trim down a bit and reclaim my health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it just did not seem to be happening fast enough for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, now it seems like I’ll be getting a bit of help because <a href="http://www.spanx.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=3955558">Spanx has come out with Spanx for Men</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you know how well Spanx have worked for the sisters.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That’s right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All you brothers walking around with a little extra around the waist can now look all brand new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just pick up you a pair of Spanx for Men, squeeze your behind into them, and the illusion is complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know I’ll be picking up one or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about you? And you can thank me later.</div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3023640958277221986.post-76703801322085677532010-05-04T00:06:00.002-04:002010-05-04T16:10:24.170-04:00Endangered and Missing Animals: Will the Tea Party Movement Follow the PUMA PACs into Obscurity?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi32GvT5Oz-ITROygYZ-wgn7F9FZ0b1dHvcyEcH878CkV2q4y9Kbsubo_oYn-m3uFpdniJTdvrwxN2islzCRykxwueT3WnCYyQ_hbKHuZADEi0c3NG70T5waPAzmT1ZsJtHlNaETrQvfp4/s1600/puma-logo-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi32GvT5Oz-ITROygYZ-wgn7F9FZ0b1dHvcyEcH878CkV2q4y9Kbsubo_oYn-m3uFpdniJTdvrwxN2islzCRykxwueT3WnCYyQ_hbKHuZADEi0c3NG70T5waPAzmT1ZsJtHlNaETrQvfp4/s320/puma-logo-8.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Hey, whatever happened to the whole PUMA PAC movement? I had all but forgotten the PUMAs, People United Means Action or Party Unity My Ass, whoever you wish to believe, but as I was cleaning out my inbox this morning, I came across some information about the PUMAs that someone had forwarded to me some time ago.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Interesting stuff. It seems like that for a brief time they were a red hot news item. The media practically fell all over themselves trying to cover the PUMAs. Anyone identifying themselves as even tangentially associated with the PUMAs was thrust before the camera to voice their outrage and their determination to fight until the bloody end. They vowed they would not give up.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But as the 2008 presidential campaign kicked into high gear, and the MSM found bigger stories elsewhere, their enthusiasm tapered off. And then election night came and went, seemingly ending the PUMA’s whole <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">raison d’etre</i>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Today, I did take the time to Google PUMA PAC. Most of the many blogs supporting their cause that proliferated during that time are no longer active; it is like they are stuck in time. Most abruptly end around July of 2008. Some continued through the election, though, but eventually the blog authors seemed to just give up and throw the towel in.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Chief PUMAPAC spokesperson and founder Darragh Murphy still has her page, <a href="http://pumapac.org/">pumapac.org</a>, up, but it now reads more like a personal site rather than a site representing a nascent political movement with the potential of changing the American political system as the PUMAs were reported to be.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">However, in assaying the meteoric rise and fall of the PUMAs, I could not help but recognizing the parallels between the PUMA’s and the Tea Party Movement.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">First and foremost, both groups were founded primarily to protest the legitimacy of the winning candidate in a political contest. According to their line of reasoning, somehow collecting the most actual ballots cast and the most of any other measuring apparatus somehow means the will of the people has been subverted. I don’t actually understand it; perhaps it’s some kind of Falstaff-ian Jedi mind trick.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And both were born of a bored media, desperate for a sensational story, and driven and buoyed by an over-exaggeration of actual numbers leading to an over-exaggerated sense of importance. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The PUMA’s and the Tea Party Movement both tendered estimates in the millions of members. However, closer examination revealed actual membership and participation was far below estimations, and furthermore, leaders and members were not who they claimed to be. In the case of the PUMA’s, the most prominent leaders were purported to actually be Republican operatives attempting to disrupt the unity of the Democratic Party.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the case of the Tea Party Movement, it was found that what was maintained to be a grassroots movement was actually being organized and supported by a number of conservative organizations and think tanks. In addition, what was thought to be a broad coalition of disaffected voters was discovered to simply be the most radical and vocal members of the Republican party.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Yet, while the PUMA’s quickly fizzled out, the Tea Party Movement remains strong. But can it continue to flourish? I think not. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">First of all, history is against the Tea Party Movement. No third party has ever had any significant success. And while they have managed to influence the trajectory of the GOP, how long before that influence wanes? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
Even now they have succeeded in pushing the party further and further to the right. Many GOP party leaders who were once considered too extreme and controversial are now writing policy on the right, while the best and brightest are being pushed out because they do not meet some conservative litmus test. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And while the base may be aroused and enthused, Independents and moderates are slowly walking away, turned off by the vitriol. At some point, the GOP will look around from its place in the back of the line running behind the Tea Party Movement and realize that those they most need to be successful are retreating in the opposite direction.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And just like the PUMA’s, the Tea Party Movement will have then outlived its usefulness and it will have run its course. The Tea Party Movement leaders talk about making history but at some point in the future, just like the PUMA’s, they will become history.</div>Max Reddickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360630810931410487noreply@blogger.com