“THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING...LOOK OUT! BETTER DUCK, QUICK!”
Did you flinch?
Me neither. Dubya has taken his fearmongering to a whole new level. Now he’s uttering the BIGGGGGG “W” word.....WAR....as in World War III..
He says the world has to disarm Iran if we want to avoid WWIII. Anyone who has been listening with a tin ear for the past year and a half knows that the neocons can’t wait to drop a bomb on Iran. If we weren’t already in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Cheney-Bush cabal would probably already have troops on the ground playing find the ayatollah.
I agree that Iran represents a threat. But I don’t agree that military action is the answer. I’m still waiting for Condi to grow some cojones and do the job she is paid to do...be a diplomat and stop this craziness. Enough of this “stand by your man” crap. That’s Laura’s job. She married him.
Dubya’s ratings have dropped to a new low. He’s lower than tricky dick Nixon and that’s low. Dubya just doesn’t get it. He thinks he’s still relevant and is telling anyone who will listen.
The difference is Nixon was smart enough to understand his self inflicted predicament. Nixon was a lot of things..a crook, a racist, a misogynist, an egotist...but he was not stupid...Nixon was a very intelligent and politically astute man. He knew when to say “when.”
Dubya just wants you to pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth no matter what he says, whether or not it makes sense.
Since I’ve never liked beating up on weaklings, this is my last column on Dubya. I am relegating him to the honorary Ann Coulter closet that I reserve for all those people who I deem to be walking wastes of oxygen.
So Dubya now joins the likes of Rush, and Michelle and Alan, and Nancy and Mitch and Glen and Oprah and Mitt and FDT and of course her majesty, the one and only Ann Coulter, the republican party’s Paris Hilton, inside the lock box.
I will find other things to talk about. I promise.
10.18.2007
10.17.2007
Real News
A noted American scientist, DNA pioneer and former Nobel Prize winner says blacks are dumber than whites if you believe the testing evidence.
No stranger to controversy, Dr. James Watson who won the Nobel prize back in 1962 for his research into genetic DNA says all you have to do is ask white employers who deal with black employees. Further, Watson, who was addressing a group of British scientists stated that Western social policies are misdirected and misguided because they are based on the assumption that blacks in Africa are as smart as white westerners.
Watson who, for the past 50 years has headed a renown genetic think tank and laboratory in New York is currently embarked on a book tour promoting a book about his racial and pseudo scientific theories. In the book he alleges that the genes that prove his theory will be found within the decade.
Back in 1997 Watson hit the headlines when he stated that women should be allowed to abort any fetus if tests could prove that the child would turn out to be homosexual. He backed off that comment, saying he was just thinking out loud.
Round about that same time he drew links between skin color and sex drive, arguing that blacks have higher libidos. We do like our sex, but then who doesn’t.
He also is alleged to have said “stupidity” will one day be cured.
Given what continues to come out of his mouth....I think not.
I think stupid is genetic...no testing needed....just open your mouth and prove it to the world, and if you happen to be an old dried up white guy attempting to be relevant,then you will at least have a bigger audience of witnesses.
Case closed.
No stranger to controversy, Dr. James Watson who won the Nobel prize back in 1962 for his research into genetic DNA says all you have to do is ask white employers who deal with black employees. Further, Watson, who was addressing a group of British scientists stated that Western social policies are misdirected and misguided because they are based on the assumption that blacks in Africa are as smart as white westerners.
Watson who, for the past 50 years has headed a renown genetic think tank and laboratory in New York is currently embarked on a book tour promoting a book about his racial and pseudo scientific theories. In the book he alleges that the genes that prove his theory will be found within the decade.
Back in 1997 Watson hit the headlines when he stated that women should be allowed to abort any fetus if tests could prove that the child would turn out to be homosexual. He backed off that comment, saying he was just thinking out loud.
Round about that same time he drew links between skin color and sex drive, arguing that blacks have higher libidos. We do like our sex, but then who doesn’t.
He also is alleged to have said “stupidity” will one day be cured.
Given what continues to come out of his mouth....I think not.
I think stupid is genetic...no testing needed....just open your mouth and prove it to the world, and if you happen to be an old dried up white guy attempting to be relevant,then you will at least have a bigger audience of witnesses.
Case closed.
10.15.2007
Genius in the Family
The first born child in the family is always the smartest. It’s a proven fact, just look at me. I’m number one in my family and I’m sure that the number ones among my friends will agree with me, that we are the smartest kids our parents had.
Now our siblings may disagree, but then what do they know? They came second, third and a distant fourth in my case. They didn’t know anything until I told them. So case closed. The first kid rocks. The second is pretty cool too. But the babies...well, no one will ever accuse them of having common sense or natural intelligence.
We number ones excelled in school, our professions, our playtime. We were and still are, the leaders of our social circles.
Face it, we’re just plain good as well as smart.
So why do we need studies to document what all of us already know?
I don’t know, but maybe it’s different for boys. A recently completed Norwegian study looked only at boys and came to the same conclusion, that first born boys rule, but not by much. According to the study, IQs among siblings only differed by a couple of points. In other words if the first boy has an IQ of 103, the next boy has an IQ of 101 and on down to the baby.
The only conclusion I can draw from this study is to have only one kid because the more you have the dumber they get, so stop at one and be happy...
*********
Quick Hits Monday..
Yet another ball-less wonder has stepped forward to tell us in retrospect that Bush’s war is a fiasco. General Rick Sanchez, one of the real live commanders of this quagmire has now spoken up from rear and said the surge isn’t working. He joins the ranks of Colin Powell, General Pace and a few others who now show up on cable talk shows powered by lucrative book deals..
##
FDT
Fred Dalton Thompson....c’mon down! Please! The uninformed masses think you’re their savior.
They think you will rescue them from the unchristian Romney, the perverted Guiliani, the big bad black man Obama or god forbid that loose woman, no name needed, who is only one who really wears a dress.
Sorry Fred, but you’re no Ronald Reagan. You’re not even a “B” actor....It was painfully obvious during the last debate that you really, really do need a script to get by. Keep your day job, honey. You’ll feel better.
##
Condi has surfaced. She’s in Gaza holding news conferences, the topic of which escapes us. But she says her boss is totally focused on peace in the Middle East.
##
Bush’s other woman is focused on the Buddhist monks in Burma. Well, she is a school teacher, so she can tell her husband where Burma is and why the monks are mad.
Now our siblings may disagree, but then what do they know? They came second, third and a distant fourth in my case. They didn’t know anything until I told them. So case closed. The first kid rocks. The second is pretty cool too. But the babies...well, no one will ever accuse them of having common sense or natural intelligence.
We number ones excelled in school, our professions, our playtime. We were and still are, the leaders of our social circles.
Face it, we’re just plain good as well as smart.
So why do we need studies to document what all of us already know?
I don’t know, but maybe it’s different for boys. A recently completed Norwegian study looked only at boys and came to the same conclusion, that first born boys rule, but not by much. According to the study, IQs among siblings only differed by a couple of points. In other words if the first boy has an IQ of 103, the next boy has an IQ of 101 and on down to the baby.
The only conclusion I can draw from this study is to have only one kid because the more you have the dumber they get, so stop at one and be happy...
*********
Quick Hits Monday..
Yet another ball-less wonder has stepped forward to tell us in retrospect that Bush’s war is a fiasco. General Rick Sanchez, one of the real live commanders of this quagmire has now spoken up from rear and said the surge isn’t working. He joins the ranks of Colin Powell, General Pace and a few others who now show up on cable talk shows powered by lucrative book deals..
##
FDT
Fred Dalton Thompson....c’mon down! Please! The uninformed masses think you’re their savior.
They think you will rescue them from the unchristian Romney, the perverted Guiliani, the big bad black man Obama or god forbid that loose woman, no name needed, who is only one who really wears a dress.
Sorry Fred, but you’re no Ronald Reagan. You’re not even a “B” actor....It was painfully obvious during the last debate that you really, really do need a script to get by. Keep your day job, honey. You’ll feel better.
##
Condi has surfaced. She’s in Gaza holding news conferences, the topic of which escapes us. But she says her boss is totally focused on peace in the Middle East.
##
Bush’s other woman is focused on the Buddhist monks in Burma. Well, she is a school teacher, so she can tell her husband where Burma is and why the monks are mad.
10.03.2007
Isaiah Thomas: Classless and Clueless
No one who knows of Isaiah Thomas should be surprised by the recent sexual harassment court decision that went against him and the officials of Madison Square Garden in New York. Thomas has been showing his colors for years.
He has no class and it doesn’t surprise me that someone would accuse him of sexual harassment. His ego proceeds him, wherever he goes. For years he’s hidden behind okay basketball talent and a megawatt smile that apparently gets him what he wants.
Jock that I am, I once had Zeke on a basketball pedestal. I liked watching him and the Detroit Pistons play. They were rough and took no prisoners. They dominated until Michael Jordan came along. For the first couple of years it was Pistons’ basketball. The Bulls made it to the playoffs only to be dismissed, because as good as Michael was, he couldn’t beat an entire team by himself.
When the Bulls finally got their act together, they played Piston ball and beat the Pistons at their own game. But Thomas had to have the last word. In the final seconds of the game, Thomas led his teammates off the floor, rather than shake hands with the victorious Bulls. Rather than say “good game” he skulked off to the locker room with that stupid smile on his face.
It was thuggish and ugly, it was a slap in the face to the young Bulls and showed Thomas to be the dirty player he had become, both on and off the court.
The Bulls went on to history, Thomas went on to labor as a mediocre coach, general manager, misguided team owner, forever lost in Michael’s gigantic shadow.
Now, just like back then, he hid behind his smile, his big eyes and his momma....”she taught me better than that......”I’m totally, totally, innocent..”
Yeah, right...look deeper...there are probably more victims, run over by the Isaiah train, who haven’t surfaced yet..
He has no class and it doesn’t surprise me that someone would accuse him of sexual harassment. His ego proceeds him, wherever he goes. For years he’s hidden behind okay basketball talent and a megawatt smile that apparently gets him what he wants.
Jock that I am, I once had Zeke on a basketball pedestal. I liked watching him and the Detroit Pistons play. They were rough and took no prisoners. They dominated until Michael Jordan came along. For the first couple of years it was Pistons’ basketball. The Bulls made it to the playoffs only to be dismissed, because as good as Michael was, he couldn’t beat an entire team by himself.
When the Bulls finally got their act together, they played Piston ball and beat the Pistons at their own game. But Thomas had to have the last word. In the final seconds of the game, Thomas led his teammates off the floor, rather than shake hands with the victorious Bulls. Rather than say “good game” he skulked off to the locker room with that stupid smile on his face.
It was thuggish and ugly, it was a slap in the face to the young Bulls and showed Thomas to be the dirty player he had become, both on and off the court.
The Bulls went on to history, Thomas went on to labor as a mediocre coach, general manager, misguided team owner, forever lost in Michael’s gigantic shadow.
Now, just like back then, he hid behind his smile, his big eyes and his momma....”she taught me better than that......”I’m totally, totally, innocent..”
Yeah, right...look deeper...there are probably more victims, run over by the Isaiah train, who haven’t surfaced yet..
10.02.2007
Another Uppity Black Man?! HA!
When pigs fly! That’s what we say in Cincinnati when bullshit floats to the surface...When pigs fly...
Clarence Thomas...Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas calls himself an “uppity black man.” If he is uppity, then I need to change my name to Angela or Harriet or Sojourner. If he’s uppity, I need to buy a gun to protect myself from coming lynch parties that routinely materialize when “uppity blacks” speak their minds.
Uppity? Clarence Thomas wouldn’t know “Uppity” if it bit him in the ass...excuse my disrespect, please. I try to give respect to all human beings, but only if you earn it...and don’t twist your mouth around to say stupid shit like that....The term “uppity” has to be earned...you can’t self proclaim that, fool!
Let me give you some examples of “uppity” black folks.......Muhammed Ali, he refused to be drafted to go to Vietnam and got stripped of his heavyweight title.
Mike Tyson is an uppity black man...does anything and everything he wants, good or bad..he is also very very crazy...
Barack Obama is an uppity black man...he dares to run for the White House.....You want conservative black uppityness...try Alan Keyes...another crazy MF...but definitely uppity..
Justice Thurgood Marshall was an uppity black man...Bill Cosby is uppity...
RuPaul is uppity and very very fashionable!
Hell, even P Diddy or whatever the hell he calls himself these days is uppity...How about Ice T, Ice Cube, Wesley Snipes, and lord don’t let us forget Danny Glover..
Uppity? How about Whoopie Goldberg on the distaff side? How about Angela Bassett..
How about any black person who dares to speak out against the system called America and pays a price....Can you say Eartha Kitt?
Malcolm, Martin, Eldridge....I’m just sticking with the uppity names you know..there are countless others who have gone so far as to have given their lives in anonymity because they were “uppity.”
I’ve read Thomas’ book...I’ve read the books about Thomas...I’ve watched Thomas from jump...all the way from his nomination by Daddy Bush...through Anita Hill...and all his years to date, on the Supreme Court....
Uppity? No!
How about ego driven, under achiever with a huge chip on his shoulder, who is very obviously mad at the world.
As we say in the ghetto...”A brother’s got some issues that need working out..”:
Try love and honesty with self first, Mr. Thomas...then maybe all that uppityness will one day really shine through....
Clarence Thomas...Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas calls himself an “uppity black man.” If he is uppity, then I need to change my name to Angela or Harriet or Sojourner. If he’s uppity, I need to buy a gun to protect myself from coming lynch parties that routinely materialize when “uppity blacks” speak their minds.
Uppity? Clarence Thomas wouldn’t know “Uppity” if it bit him in the ass...excuse my disrespect, please. I try to give respect to all human beings, but only if you earn it...and don’t twist your mouth around to say stupid shit like that....The term “uppity” has to be earned...you can’t self proclaim that, fool!
Let me give you some examples of “uppity” black folks.......Muhammed Ali, he refused to be drafted to go to Vietnam and got stripped of his heavyweight title.
Mike Tyson is an uppity black man...does anything and everything he wants, good or bad..he is also very very crazy...
Barack Obama is an uppity black man...he dares to run for the White House.....You want conservative black uppityness...try Alan Keyes...another crazy MF...but definitely uppity..
Justice Thurgood Marshall was an uppity black man...Bill Cosby is uppity...
RuPaul is uppity and very very fashionable!
Hell, even P Diddy or whatever the hell he calls himself these days is uppity...How about Ice T, Ice Cube, Wesley Snipes, and lord don’t let us forget Danny Glover..
Uppity? How about Whoopie Goldberg on the distaff side? How about Angela Bassett..
How about any black person who dares to speak out against the system called America and pays a price....Can you say Eartha Kitt?
Malcolm, Martin, Eldridge....I’m just sticking with the uppity names you know..there are countless others who have gone so far as to have given their lives in anonymity because they were “uppity.”
I’ve read Thomas’ book...I’ve read the books about Thomas...I’ve watched Thomas from jump...all the way from his nomination by Daddy Bush...through Anita Hill...and all his years to date, on the Supreme Court....
Uppity? No!
How about ego driven, under achiever with a huge chip on his shoulder, who is very obviously mad at the world.
As we say in the ghetto...”A brother’s got some issues that need working out..”:
Try love and honesty with self first, Mr. Thomas...then maybe all that uppityness will one day really shine through....
9.20.2007
Questions, Questions, Questions!
Where in the world is Condi Rice? Isn’t she the main United States diplomat in charge of making things better in the world politically between our enemies and us? Why isn’t she over in Iraq attempting to bring calm from chaos?
It was reported that she has been seeking an interview with the Pope and got turned down. He reportedly didn’t want to interrupt his vacation just to see her. We aren’t at war with the Vatican, so why visit him when there are plenty of other people in need of our attention? Who needs a new photo op? Just asking.
*****
Did anyone besides me think that the Petraeus report was just more smoke and mirrors from the White House? Did anyone think the prez’ handpicked boy was going to knock the surge and say it’s not working?
And all that happy horsesh*t about drawing down troops....please....my nephew got shipped out to Iraq last Friday. He is a marine and I’m pissed and getting madder everyday that this quagmire continues unabated.
*****
Alan Greenspan says the war is about oil...why the hell didn’t he say that when he was still working? Now it just looks like he is trying to sell books.
*****
The lynching of Orenthal James Simpson is in full swing....don’t get me wrong...the man killed his ex-wife and her friend...he is a self centered, violent sociopathic egotist of the first order...so arrogant that he continues to surround himself with walking Nicole look alikes and expects everyone to bow down in his wake.....But this whole Las Vegas thing is feeling like a set up....A tape is made in the process and ends up on the internet the next day....c’mon...
I have no sympathy for this man. Justice was not served the last time he was on trial....He literally got away with two murders...white people, it seems, are divided into two camps..there are those who want their pound of flesh...and those who continue to support this walking train wreck called Juice. Black people continue to support him because he is black...that is not enough...he is a bad man...who continues to thumb his nose at the black community until he “needs” us.
If he goes to jail...I prefer to think of this as a Karma smack down...He does deserve to be locked up...but it still won’t bring Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman back...
*****
Donovan McNabb says white quarterbacks are treated differently than black quarterbacks...did he lie? NO! He did not. Carson Palmer keeps hanging his receivers out to dry...what’s it gonna take for someone to notice....TJ or Ocho Cinco in the hospital or paralyzed from a mid air hit by a defender? If Donovan did that..he would be highly criticized and maybe even yanked from the game. Up until a few years ago black quarterbacks were routinely switched to wide receiver because it was commonly thought that we weren’t smart enough to direct things...hmmmmm!
Which reminds me of an old saying....”the only sport or position that we (blacks) can’t play is the one we haven’t tried, yet.”
****
Got a new Attorney General and Minister of Disinformation at the White House...more rats deserting the sinking ship! Is there a question here...no...just a comment...
It was reported that she has been seeking an interview with the Pope and got turned down. He reportedly didn’t want to interrupt his vacation just to see her. We aren’t at war with the Vatican, so why visit him when there are plenty of other people in need of our attention? Who needs a new photo op? Just asking.
*****
Did anyone besides me think that the Petraeus report was just more smoke and mirrors from the White House? Did anyone think the prez’ handpicked boy was going to knock the surge and say it’s not working?
And all that happy horsesh*t about drawing down troops....please....my nephew got shipped out to Iraq last Friday. He is a marine and I’m pissed and getting madder everyday that this quagmire continues unabated.
*****
Alan Greenspan says the war is about oil...why the hell didn’t he say that when he was still working? Now it just looks like he is trying to sell books.
*****
The lynching of Orenthal James Simpson is in full swing....don’t get me wrong...the man killed his ex-wife and her friend...he is a self centered, violent sociopathic egotist of the first order...so arrogant that he continues to surround himself with walking Nicole look alikes and expects everyone to bow down in his wake.....But this whole Las Vegas thing is feeling like a set up....A tape is made in the process and ends up on the internet the next day....c’mon...
I have no sympathy for this man. Justice was not served the last time he was on trial....He literally got away with two murders...white people, it seems, are divided into two camps..there are those who want their pound of flesh...and those who continue to support this walking train wreck called Juice. Black people continue to support him because he is black...that is not enough...he is a bad man...who continues to thumb his nose at the black community until he “needs” us.
If he goes to jail...I prefer to think of this as a Karma smack down...He does deserve to be locked up...but it still won’t bring Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman back...
*****
Donovan McNabb says white quarterbacks are treated differently than black quarterbacks...did he lie? NO! He did not. Carson Palmer keeps hanging his receivers out to dry...what’s it gonna take for someone to notice....TJ or Ocho Cinco in the hospital or paralyzed from a mid air hit by a defender? If Donovan did that..he would be highly criticized and maybe even yanked from the game. Up until a few years ago black quarterbacks were routinely switched to wide receiver because it was commonly thought that we weren’t smart enough to direct things...hmmmmm!
Which reminds me of an old saying....”the only sport or position that we (blacks) can’t play is the one we haven’t tried, yet.”
****
Got a new Attorney General and Minister of Disinformation at the White House...more rats deserting the sinking ship! Is there a question here...no...just a comment...
9.07.2007
Cincinnati Justice
Examining recent court rulings in Cincinnati might lead one to believe that letting a dog die in your back yard is infinitely worse than leaving your kid to die strapped in the back seat of your car. I have already talked about the Clermont County vice principal whose daughter was found in the back seat of her Mercedes in the school parking lot. The prosecutor refused to bring charges alleging the death was an accident. He claimed he followed the letter of the law in not seeking a grand jury indictment.
Now comes word about the woman who left the dog in her backyard. It was a pit bull. She didn’t own the dog. It belonged to her brother, and he admitted putting the dog back there. She was jailed because it was her house and was sentenced to two weeks in jail for cruelty to animals. She actually was let go for time already served. The judge claimed she followed the letter of the law in making her decision.
Follow up on both stories shows that Ms Clermont County had been warned about leaving her daughter in the car on at least two other occasions prior to the child’s death, the last happening just a couple of days before the fatal incident. Yet, there was no crime committed.
The pit bull lady apparently got charged more than ten years ago with child endangering..she apparently left her kid alone while she went out drinking. Nothing recent had happened in the pit bull lady’s life...she was a hardworking homeowner these days and her kids are okay. Crime committed.
Similarities....both female, both working women, both with children, both apparently expert multi-taskers at juggling life
Differences....one white, one black....., one upper middle class, school teacher, one, urban, fast food worker......, one with husband who fixes Mercedes, one, no husband talked about..one kid dead, the other, brother’s dog dead.....one jailed and convicted....one not even charged...hmmmmm!
Cincinnati keeps saying it is working hard to erase it’s racist image, but snapshots like these make it damn near impossible. In Cincinnati and Ohio in general, it really is Justice for them and Just us for us.
If both court officers followed the letter of the law, then the laws of Ohio need to be changed. Not only that but enforcement needs to be changed.
When blacks are arrested they are first and foremost drug tested and locked up, until stuff is sorted out. The same goes for poor white people. When non poor whites are arrested they are asked down the station, interviewed and maybe arrested a couple of days, weeks or months later.
No justice....still
Now comes word about the woman who left the dog in her backyard. It was a pit bull. She didn’t own the dog. It belonged to her brother, and he admitted putting the dog back there. She was jailed because it was her house and was sentenced to two weeks in jail for cruelty to animals. She actually was let go for time already served. The judge claimed she followed the letter of the law in making her decision.
Follow up on both stories shows that Ms Clermont County had been warned about leaving her daughter in the car on at least two other occasions prior to the child’s death, the last happening just a couple of days before the fatal incident. Yet, there was no crime committed.
The pit bull lady apparently got charged more than ten years ago with child endangering..she apparently left her kid alone while she went out drinking. Nothing recent had happened in the pit bull lady’s life...she was a hardworking homeowner these days and her kids are okay. Crime committed.
Similarities....both female, both working women, both with children, both apparently expert multi-taskers at juggling life
Differences....one white, one black....., one upper middle class, school teacher, one, urban, fast food worker......, one with husband who fixes Mercedes, one, no husband talked about..one kid dead, the other, brother’s dog dead.....one jailed and convicted....one not even charged...hmmmmm!
Cincinnati keeps saying it is working hard to erase it’s racist image, but snapshots like these make it damn near impossible. In Cincinnati and Ohio in general, it really is Justice for them and Just us for us.
If both court officers followed the letter of the law, then the laws of Ohio need to be changed. Not only that but enforcement needs to be changed.
When blacks are arrested they are first and foremost drug tested and locked up, until stuff is sorted out. The same goes for poor white people. When non poor whites are arrested they are asked down the station, interviewed and maybe arrested a couple of days, weeks or months later.
No justice....still
9.05.2007
Baubles, Bangles and Designer Kids
I don’t have children, and that I don’t was both choice and luck. When I was experimenting with sex in my younger days, I was lucky enough not to have gotten pregnant. When I realized the ramifications of having children, I made the choice not to have them. Call me selfish, if you will. I wanted a career. I wanted to see the world, and being a black woman, I did not see how I could do that with a kid in tow, the way I wanted to do it. The same applies for marriage. I don’t believe in marriage, not for women, anyway. Besides, as I have said before in previous writings, that I am gay. I admitted that fact to myself and came to acceptance without having to deal with the consequences of children and marriage. My sexuality is not a choice. It simply is. Children and marriage are choices. Were I married and or pregnant or were raising children, I would still be a lesbian. It is my norm, just like being a woman, being black or being left handed.
I have never regretted that decision. I like kids, as long as I can send them home when I’m tired of them. The four years I spent living with my sister and her four children were the longest four years of my life. I love them all, but I was glad and relieved when they finally moved into a home of their own.
I have been watching with interest the story unfolding around the school teacher who forgot that her two year old was strapped in a car seat in her SUV as she drove to work on one of the hottest days of this year. The mother parked the car in the school parking lot, took doughnuts out of the trunk for a faculty meeting and left the baby in the car seat. She died after going unattended for 8 hours. The body was discovered by somebody else who was parked next to the mother’s SUV
Union Township police wanted the woman charged with child endangering. The Clermont County prosecutor said the whole situation was an accident. Since she didn’t intend to neglect her kid she did not commit a crime and therefore will not be punished.
The Cincinnati community is split with half wanting the woman jailed, while the other half agrees with the prosecutor.
It never occurred to me that the woman would be charged with a crime. Not because I don’t believe one was committed, but because of the surrounding circumstance.
If the woman had been poor, and lived in the inner city, married or not, working or not, she would have been jailed from day one. She would have been charged immediately convicted by the public, written off as an unfit mother and quickly forgotten. That is not a judgement, it is simply fact.
There is a woman in jail as I write this. A young girl, single, poor, who left her two kids in the closet at home while she went to work. This was a bad, bad decision. This was a dangerous decision. But was it criminal? Was there intent to harm? The children are okay, but as I said the mother is in jail, already labeled and in the court of public opinion, convicted. No one that I can see has jumped to her defense.
The offender in this case was a successful, career woman. She is married, living in the burbs, vice principal of a large suburban school. She is probably an expert multi tasker. She drove a Mercedes SUV, although it must be interjected that the car was purchased second hand after a wreck and her husband did the repairs himself. That has somehow been thrown out as a mitigating circumstance in this tragic affair.
In making his decision not to prosecute, the prosecutor said there was no intent to harm.
There was a young woman busted last week because her children were found walking down the street at daybreak while she slept in the house. She didn’t put them outside. She didn’t intend for them to get into a dangerous, life threatening situation. It just happened, an accident. She too, is jailed. The kids survived their ordeal.
Our suburbanite hasn’t spent one day in jail. She did talk with police and apparently cried during the interview, another apparent mitigating factor tossed out. She has an attorney instead of an overworked public defender.
Why is it that our compassion and justice system are apparently driven by economics and station in life? Why can’t poor people catch a break sometimes, like wealthier suburbanites?
A lot of us have too much on our minds. A lot of us spend too much time collecting stuff...cars, houses, jewelry and yes even children.
The decision to have children is a monumental one. It is not a decision that should simply be left to biology. Kids are life altering. They are the number one priority when you choose to have them, not the doughnuts, or the golf clubs, or the job or the house or the car. If they can’t be your number one priority, then you shouldn’t have them, period. Anyone who thinks otherwise, is deluding themselves.
It’s illegal in the state of California to leave a dog unattended in the car. The same should apply to kids regardless of your economic situation.
I have never regretted that decision. I like kids, as long as I can send them home when I’m tired of them. The four years I spent living with my sister and her four children were the longest four years of my life. I love them all, but I was glad and relieved when they finally moved into a home of their own.
I have been watching with interest the story unfolding around the school teacher who forgot that her two year old was strapped in a car seat in her SUV as she drove to work on one of the hottest days of this year. The mother parked the car in the school parking lot, took doughnuts out of the trunk for a faculty meeting and left the baby in the car seat. She died after going unattended for 8 hours. The body was discovered by somebody else who was parked next to the mother’s SUV
Union Township police wanted the woman charged with child endangering. The Clermont County prosecutor said the whole situation was an accident. Since she didn’t intend to neglect her kid she did not commit a crime and therefore will not be punished.
The Cincinnati community is split with half wanting the woman jailed, while the other half agrees with the prosecutor.
It never occurred to me that the woman would be charged with a crime. Not because I don’t believe one was committed, but because of the surrounding circumstance.
If the woman had been poor, and lived in the inner city, married or not, working or not, she would have been jailed from day one. She would have been charged immediately convicted by the public, written off as an unfit mother and quickly forgotten. That is not a judgement, it is simply fact.
There is a woman in jail as I write this. A young girl, single, poor, who left her two kids in the closet at home while she went to work. This was a bad, bad decision. This was a dangerous decision. But was it criminal? Was there intent to harm? The children are okay, but as I said the mother is in jail, already labeled and in the court of public opinion, convicted. No one that I can see has jumped to her defense.
The offender in this case was a successful, career woman. She is married, living in the burbs, vice principal of a large suburban school. She is probably an expert multi tasker. She drove a Mercedes SUV, although it must be interjected that the car was purchased second hand after a wreck and her husband did the repairs himself. That has somehow been thrown out as a mitigating circumstance in this tragic affair.
In making his decision not to prosecute, the prosecutor said there was no intent to harm.
There was a young woman busted last week because her children were found walking down the street at daybreak while she slept in the house. She didn’t put them outside. She didn’t intend for them to get into a dangerous, life threatening situation. It just happened, an accident. She too, is jailed. The kids survived their ordeal.
Our suburbanite hasn’t spent one day in jail. She did talk with police and apparently cried during the interview, another apparent mitigating factor tossed out. She has an attorney instead of an overworked public defender.
Why is it that our compassion and justice system are apparently driven by economics and station in life? Why can’t poor people catch a break sometimes, like wealthier suburbanites?
A lot of us have too much on our minds. A lot of us spend too much time collecting stuff...cars, houses, jewelry and yes even children.
The decision to have children is a monumental one. It is not a decision that should simply be left to biology. Kids are life altering. They are the number one priority when you choose to have them, not the doughnuts, or the golf clubs, or the job or the house or the car. If they can’t be your number one priority, then you shouldn’t have them, period. Anyone who thinks otherwise, is deluding themselves.
It’s illegal in the state of California to leave a dog unattended in the car. The same should apply to kids regardless of your economic situation.
8.31.2007
Now see, What had happened was....
Coincidence rules the world. How many times have we all ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, or even the right place at the right time. Coincidence right....When it’s a good thing we’re happy. We go on. But if it’s a bad thing, well then your life may take a turn and you may end up in the middle of a Karma smack down.
Which brings me around to good ole boy Senator Larry Craig who, if you believe his version, heard the call of nature while changing planes and went into a restroom at the airport. Much as luck would have it, he chose to squat in a stall next to an undercover policeman out to trap gay men who like anonymous sex in bathrooms.
The officer was on stakeout looking for illegal activity. He was there because of numerous complaints about this particular restroom. In fact, this particular restroom is listed on the internets as a good place for sex if you happen to be in Minneapolis.
Well, poor unsuspecting Senator Craig, apparently made some strange gestures with his hands like dangling his fingers under the stall wall and bumping the policeman’s foot with his own foot, again under the stall wall and got arrested for disorderly conduct. He was not charged with soliciting, but in his statement after his arrest, Craig accused the officer of soliciting him and entrapping him.
Later, Craig quietly pleaded guilty to reduced charges, paid a fine. He did all of this by mail a couple of months after the incident. He even signed a statement saying he understood the allegations. I believe him, after all, isn’t he a United States Senator? Aren’t these the guys who write our laws....so he must have understood what he signed, right?
Now that the story has come out the Senator is claiming he is innocent.......”I AM NOT GAY” he said in a news conference with his wife fixed firmly to his side, proving that he is a straight man.
At least I think she was a woman, drag queens don’t usually look so dowdy, so she must have been real. But, “I AM NOT GAY!” Ranks right up there with ‘I AM NOT A CROOK!” or “I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THAT WOMAN!”
Craig has long been rumored to be gay. The talk keeps coming back every time the very conservative Senator votes against legislation affecting gays and lesbians.
I don’t know what he is, and I don’t really care.
I just think it’s yucky to touch bathroom walls and stalls. And I certainly don’t want to talk to anyone while I’m trying to do the doo. It’s hard to grunt, push and expel while holding a conversation.
But then maybe I’m not as talented as the Senator from Idaho. Judging from the way his fellow republicans are acting, I guess they can’t talk and shit at the same time either.
Which brings me around to good ole boy Senator Larry Craig who, if you believe his version, heard the call of nature while changing planes and went into a restroom at the airport. Much as luck would have it, he chose to squat in a stall next to an undercover policeman out to trap gay men who like anonymous sex in bathrooms.
The officer was on stakeout looking for illegal activity. He was there because of numerous complaints about this particular restroom. In fact, this particular restroom is listed on the internets as a good place for sex if you happen to be in Minneapolis.
Well, poor unsuspecting Senator Craig, apparently made some strange gestures with his hands like dangling his fingers under the stall wall and bumping the policeman’s foot with his own foot, again under the stall wall and got arrested for disorderly conduct. He was not charged with soliciting, but in his statement after his arrest, Craig accused the officer of soliciting him and entrapping him.
Later, Craig quietly pleaded guilty to reduced charges, paid a fine. He did all of this by mail a couple of months after the incident. He even signed a statement saying he understood the allegations. I believe him, after all, isn’t he a United States Senator? Aren’t these the guys who write our laws....so he must have understood what he signed, right?
Now that the story has come out the Senator is claiming he is innocent.......”I AM NOT GAY” he said in a news conference with his wife fixed firmly to his side, proving that he is a straight man.
At least I think she was a woman, drag queens don’t usually look so dowdy, so she must have been real. But, “I AM NOT GAY!” Ranks right up there with ‘I AM NOT A CROOK!” or “I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THAT WOMAN!”
Craig has long been rumored to be gay. The talk keeps coming back every time the very conservative Senator votes against legislation affecting gays and lesbians.
I don’t know what he is, and I don’t really care.
I just think it’s yucky to touch bathroom walls and stalls. And I certainly don’t want to talk to anyone while I’m trying to do the doo. It’s hard to grunt, push and expel while holding a conversation.
But then maybe I’m not as talented as the Senator from Idaho. Judging from the way his fellow republicans are acting, I guess they can’t talk and shit at the same time either.
8.28.2007
The Question of Michael Vick
Let me say right up front that I have a problem with dumb jocks. Before I start calling names I have to tell you that back in the day and even now, I’m a jock. I like sports. I love sports. I breathe sports. But I have always had a problem with guys and women who feel that because they can dunk a basketball, score a touchdown or slam a ball where ever the hell they want, that the rest of us should bow down and kiss their ass, or look the other way...just because...
I revel in their athletic ability, and like the fact that they can cash in on their talent and get rich and support their families. But that doesn’t give them the right to live above the law, or the moral boundaries that bind us as a society.
Michael Vick, that beautiful, graceful, talented man....is a dumb jock. He is stupid. So wrapped up in his “I am the world” that he failed to see the lessons of the past.....the lesson....”what the man giveth...the man will taketh away...if you screw up...” And he screwed up.
In this country....you don’t mess with his women and you don’t mess with dogs. OJ committed the first sin, Vick committed the second.
It’s okay to sin against your fellow athletes, jock sniffers and other fans...Pete Rose did it and lied about it...Ray Lewis did it..Packman Jones makes a habit of it, Chris Henry flaunts it and is serving an eight game suspension when the season starts. Screw up and you will be docked some money, but you will still get to play.....unless you do the dirty or carry the lie to infinity like Pete Rose.
Vick bankrolled dog fighting. Americans love their pets. I love my dogs. I have three of them. I abhor dog fighting. I can’t even watch that movie with Jet Li where he plays a man trained to be an attack dog.
Vick got caught and after a little hesitation, has pleaded guilty, will probably do some jail time and lose a whole lot of money. He was contrite and even said he found God.... Bull crap...everybody finds God when it serves their purpose. Keeping God in your life is the trick. Vick needs to work on that one a little. But after watching his off the cuff mea culpa, he does seem to have located his manhood hiding behind the dumb jock peter pan who never quite grew up.
The NFL is trying to disavow him and take back the spotlight that has made him and them so much money. His shoe company has dumped him.
The Atlanta Falcons, it seems are trying to “undraft” him, by demanding he give back his signing bonus..
I don’t agree...he earned that money. He should be allowed to keep it, just as he should be allowed to play ball, if he can make it back into the league once he serves his time and pays his fines.
Punishment shouldn’t go on forever, unless you manage to get away with murder. Vick is like every other one of us....we all deserve a second chance and usually get it.
Michael Vick should be allowed a second chance, too.
I revel in their athletic ability, and like the fact that they can cash in on their talent and get rich and support their families. But that doesn’t give them the right to live above the law, or the moral boundaries that bind us as a society.
Michael Vick, that beautiful, graceful, talented man....is a dumb jock. He is stupid. So wrapped up in his “I am the world” that he failed to see the lessons of the past.....the lesson....”what the man giveth...the man will taketh away...if you screw up...” And he screwed up.
In this country....you don’t mess with his women and you don’t mess with dogs. OJ committed the first sin, Vick committed the second.
It’s okay to sin against your fellow athletes, jock sniffers and other fans...Pete Rose did it and lied about it...Ray Lewis did it..Packman Jones makes a habit of it, Chris Henry flaunts it and is serving an eight game suspension when the season starts. Screw up and you will be docked some money, but you will still get to play.....unless you do the dirty or carry the lie to infinity like Pete Rose.
Vick bankrolled dog fighting. Americans love their pets. I love my dogs. I have three of them. I abhor dog fighting. I can’t even watch that movie with Jet Li where he plays a man trained to be an attack dog.
Vick got caught and after a little hesitation, has pleaded guilty, will probably do some jail time and lose a whole lot of money. He was contrite and even said he found God.... Bull crap...everybody finds God when it serves their purpose. Keeping God in your life is the trick. Vick needs to work on that one a little. But after watching his off the cuff mea culpa, he does seem to have located his manhood hiding behind the dumb jock peter pan who never quite grew up.
The NFL is trying to disavow him and take back the spotlight that has made him and them so much money. His shoe company has dumped him.
The Atlanta Falcons, it seems are trying to “undraft” him, by demanding he give back his signing bonus..
I don’t agree...he earned that money. He should be allowed to keep it, just as he should be allowed to play ball, if he can make it back into the league once he serves his time and pays his fines.
Punishment shouldn’t go on forever, unless you manage to get away with murder. Vick is like every other one of us....we all deserve a second chance and usually get it.
Michael Vick should be allowed a second chance, too.
8.21.2007
Reality Bites
PUT THE PHONE DOWN!......texting while walking can get you run over by a train...an 18 year old Elmwood Place youth was apparently so busy letting his fingers do the walking that he literally walked in front of a train yesterday...Luckily he lived to tell about it. Witnesses said he was knocked some 50 feet, landed and was unconscious for a while, but woke up. He is hospitalized with some bumps and bruises and a helluva story to tell his grandkids...if he lives that long....
******
Another indication that Dubya screwed up by taking us into an unprovoked war with Iraq...We’re apparently running out of bullets...our police that is...I guess we only have finite ammunition and that it’s being used up in Iraq...hmmmmmm....That goes along with not enough manpower for the surge...not enough troops to continue fighting or securing a country....not enough troops to secure America...if the war happens to come to our shores...
*****
Money is another thing running out in America...we keep borrowing from China to make ends meet as a country...deficit is through the roof and circling Mars...
Now comes word, yet again, that the richest 1 percent are getting all the pay raises while the rest of us are forced to live on pre 2000 salaries...
******
Beloit College has released a list of things that the class of 2011 knows...IE...the word “lame” means stupid rather than someone who walks with a limp....or that rap music has always been main stream..The complete list is in USA TODAY...
Got me thinking about my younger relatives....My six year old nephew...born in the year 2000..once asked me what kind of video games I played when I was little. I told him I didn’t have video games when I was little...He then asked me...if I was “poor” when I was little...He couldn’t grasp the idea that video games did not exist and that it was a matter of not having enough money rather than no one had thought it up yet....His older siblings...teenagers, born in the early 1990's...once learned that just because the microwave is broken....doesn’t mean you have no way to pop popcorn...you can take it out of the bag...add a little oil to a pan and do it the old fashion way....NEAT!
Other things I grew up with.....party lines...black and white TV...in fact, my grandfather went out and bought a color TV so we could watch the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights...WWD was the first show to go all color on TV....We weren’t allowed to use calculators in school...got you a failing grade and charges of cheating..We didn’t even know what a laptop was....no cell phones...and the windows in cars...well they roll down...you didn’t push a button....
So...what’s your reality growing up?
******
Another indication that Dubya screwed up by taking us into an unprovoked war with Iraq...We’re apparently running out of bullets...our police that is...I guess we only have finite ammunition and that it’s being used up in Iraq...hmmmmmm....That goes along with not enough manpower for the surge...not enough troops to continue fighting or securing a country....not enough troops to secure America...if the war happens to come to our shores...
*****
Money is another thing running out in America...we keep borrowing from China to make ends meet as a country...deficit is through the roof and circling Mars...
Now comes word, yet again, that the richest 1 percent are getting all the pay raises while the rest of us are forced to live on pre 2000 salaries...
******
Beloit College has released a list of things that the class of 2011 knows...IE...the word “lame” means stupid rather than someone who walks with a limp....or that rap music has always been main stream..The complete list is in USA TODAY...
Got me thinking about my younger relatives....My six year old nephew...born in the year 2000..once asked me what kind of video games I played when I was little. I told him I didn’t have video games when I was little...He then asked me...if I was “poor” when I was little...He couldn’t grasp the idea that video games did not exist and that it was a matter of not having enough money rather than no one had thought it up yet....His older siblings...teenagers, born in the early 1990's...once learned that just because the microwave is broken....doesn’t mean you have no way to pop popcorn...you can take it out of the bag...add a little oil to a pan and do it the old fashion way....NEAT!
Other things I grew up with.....party lines...black and white TV...in fact, my grandfather went out and bought a color TV so we could watch the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights...WWD was the first show to go all color on TV....We weren’t allowed to use calculators in school...got you a failing grade and charges of cheating..We didn’t even know what a laptop was....no cell phones...and the windows in cars...well they roll down...you didn’t push a button....
So...what’s your reality growing up?
8.20.2007
Movie Star Prez and Trophy Wife
Are we ready for yet another movie star in the White House? Apparently some are, if you believe the hype around the maybe presidential run of Fred Dalton Thompson, former congressman, lobbyist and sometime movie and television actor.
He looks good, is tall, speaks well, has a deep voice...all the things that Americans like in their presidents. He also likes blondes. He even married his latest trophy and she reportedly plays a big role in his maybe campaign. Is middle America ready for another bossy blonde female in the White House? Or does she know that her place is really in the great man’s shadow, quietly clutching his hand while whispering orders once the bedroom door is closed.
She has political experience. She was one of Thompson’s campaign assistants when he was in congress, when he was married to wife number two, I think. Thompson’s had several wives. It’s kind of hard to gauge his time line, he’s been in and out of marriage so often. But his penchant for marriage shouldn’t hinder his moral stance, should it? I mean at least he marries em after he beds em. Any blow jobs in the White House would be legal, unless they involved interns.
The no nonsense make believe prosecutor is having trouble raising money, but word is he will jump into the ring anyway. He hasn’t debated yet, but has taken a stance on Roe v Wade and gay and lesbian civil rights.
I don’t know what his stand is on Iraq, but I would guess that it mirrors our current president’s
view. In fact, Thompson and his wife seem pretty, pretty conservative despite their Hollywood lifestyle.
Makes me think he’s more of the same.....”do as I say....not as I do.”
I like him in his day job on Law and Order...but there is no way in hell I’d vote for him..even if he declares...even if he wins the nomination....no way...no how...
He looks good, is tall, speaks well, has a deep voice...all the things that Americans like in their presidents. He also likes blondes. He even married his latest trophy and she reportedly plays a big role in his maybe campaign. Is middle America ready for another bossy blonde female in the White House? Or does she know that her place is really in the great man’s shadow, quietly clutching his hand while whispering orders once the bedroom door is closed.
She has political experience. She was one of Thompson’s campaign assistants when he was in congress, when he was married to wife number two, I think. Thompson’s had several wives. It’s kind of hard to gauge his time line, he’s been in and out of marriage so often. But his penchant for marriage shouldn’t hinder his moral stance, should it? I mean at least he marries em after he beds em. Any blow jobs in the White House would be legal, unless they involved interns.
The no nonsense make believe prosecutor is having trouble raising money, but word is he will jump into the ring anyway. He hasn’t debated yet, but has taken a stance on Roe v Wade and gay and lesbian civil rights.
I don’t know what his stand is on Iraq, but I would guess that it mirrors our current president’s
view. In fact, Thompson and his wife seem pretty, pretty conservative despite their Hollywood lifestyle.
Makes me think he’s more of the same.....”do as I say....not as I do.”
I like him in his day job on Law and Order...but there is no way in hell I’d vote for him..even if he declares...even if he wins the nomination....no way...no how...
8.13.2007
Monday Headlines
Bush loses brain...so what else is new....didn’t know he had one to lose in the first place. Really, now, Karl Rove is resigning effective August 31st. The architect of this most recent political disaster is stepping down to pursue other adventures. Probably going to hook up with Fred Dalton Thompson for a presidential run...
Found out something new today...Rove never graduated from college...any college. Gee, wonder how far the rest of us would get in this world without a diploma or without the sponsorship of one of the scions of America’s first family....always separate and never equal when it comes to the masters of the universe...
*********
Anyone seen Condi lately? Just asking...She hasn’t been heard from for a while...now I guess it is no longer necessary for her to be seen either since we all now know that Dubya’s “compassionate conservatism” was a sham from jump street....
*********
Mitt Romney won the straw vote in Iowa this past weekend....He got a whopping 3500 votes with Huckabee coming in second and Brownback coming third....any minorities cast votes....any women other than GOP stepford wives? Just asking....
*********
Interesting report out this past weekend talking about the least trusted industries in America...the bottom of the barrel.....health insurance industry...the oil industry....the airline industry....
*******
Tiger won another major....I was glad that the other golfers, specifically Ernie Els and Woodie Austin didn’t fold down the stretch and actually made a run at Young Eldrick...It’s good to know that some golfers are finally finding their balls someplace other than the bottom of their golf bag.
He needs the competition...We need the competition...I’m tired of the parades of adoration...If golf is a sport...then let the combatants act like it for a change....
Found out something new today...Rove never graduated from college...any college. Gee, wonder how far the rest of us would get in this world without a diploma or without the sponsorship of one of the scions of America’s first family....always separate and never equal when it comes to the masters of the universe...
*********
Anyone seen Condi lately? Just asking...She hasn’t been heard from for a while...now I guess it is no longer necessary for her to be seen either since we all now know that Dubya’s “compassionate conservatism” was a sham from jump street....
*********
Mitt Romney won the straw vote in Iowa this past weekend....He got a whopping 3500 votes with Huckabee coming in second and Brownback coming third....any minorities cast votes....any women other than GOP stepford wives? Just asking....
*********
Interesting report out this past weekend talking about the least trusted industries in America...the bottom of the barrel.....health insurance industry...the oil industry....the airline industry....
*******
Tiger won another major....I was glad that the other golfers, specifically Ernie Els and Woodie Austin didn’t fold down the stretch and actually made a run at Young Eldrick...It’s good to know that some golfers are finally finding their balls someplace other than the bottom of their golf bag.
He needs the competition...We need the competition...I’m tired of the parades of adoration...If golf is a sport...then let the combatants act like it for a change....
8.10.2007
No Respect, No Love for Life
Another report from the Justice Department confirms once again that “we” are our own worst enemy. The report deals with the latest increases in crime and basically tells us what we already know...that black people kill black people and white people kill white people.
What is so disheartening about this report is that it claims that most black murder victims..93% in fact, are between the ages of 17 and 29 and male. Conversely, white victims tend to be older, only 37% are between the ages of 17 and 29.
Blacks make up 13% of this country’s population yet account for 49% of all murders and 15% of rapes, assaults and other non fatal violent crimes. The only people who die younger and faster than black youth are native americans.
The experts blame easy access to illegal drugs and guns and generations of young black men locked out of economic opportunity.
As I look at these statistics, I guess my own outlook has changed. Usually I am outraged at this senseless loss. My anger usually pores out on the page. But today is different. I’m, well, maybe I’m tired. Maybe I’m resigned. Maybe I’ve given up trying to reach anyone through my words. Outrage doesn’t work. Nobody listens...not the kids, not the parents, not the community, not the politicians, not the police.
I drive through my neighborhood, a once and future vibrant corner of city life and see the hopelessness on every street corner. Young men in white t-shirts and baggy jeans blatantly displaying their designer boxers shorts above their sagging waistbands disrespecting all who bother to glance their way. They’re out there at all hours, no matter what time I pass by. Girls, young women, standing in the shadows admiring the young men, visibly pregnant, with maybe a baby or two in tow. Anytime of the day, this drama unfolds itself for anyone watching.
While the young men pose on the corner, Avondale, one of the oldest of Cincinnati neighborhoods is being taken away from them. It is being revitalized by whites moving back into the neighborhoods in answer to the gasoline crisis. Real estate is cheap. Older black homeowners who bought from the Jews when Avondale was a Jewish ghetto, are dying out being replaced by younger white speculators with cash to burn and money to invest, spawning a new generation of absentee landlords. Avondale is going green and getting a new coat of paint. It is getting set to sparkle once again like when I was kid, some 50 years ago.
The young men and their absent families are being pushed out. I don’t know where the young men on the corner go when and if they go home. Their neighborhood, the very thing that could save them, is being taken. The sidewalks are being pulled out from under their feet as they claw for existence and survival. Home is the foundation for economic well being. They have none. Their families have none. Even if they have a home, they don’t have the skills to take part in the buildup. No one makes them go to school.
They propagate and perpetuate the cycle, making babies, and baby mommas, with no support or way to get a leg up in society, chewed up almost before they’re spit out.
Soon they will be gone from the corners in Avondale. Police crackdowns and enforcement cameras will push them away from the newly revitalized areas. Out of sight, out of mind. The cycle will resume again somewhere else, if they live.
And maybe that is the answer....dying rather than living...their only way out of a bleak and seemingly endless waking nightmare.
What is so disheartening about this report is that it claims that most black murder victims..93% in fact, are between the ages of 17 and 29 and male. Conversely, white victims tend to be older, only 37% are between the ages of 17 and 29.
Blacks make up 13% of this country’s population yet account for 49% of all murders and 15% of rapes, assaults and other non fatal violent crimes. The only people who die younger and faster than black youth are native americans.
The experts blame easy access to illegal drugs and guns and generations of young black men locked out of economic opportunity.
As I look at these statistics, I guess my own outlook has changed. Usually I am outraged at this senseless loss. My anger usually pores out on the page. But today is different. I’m, well, maybe I’m tired. Maybe I’m resigned. Maybe I’ve given up trying to reach anyone through my words. Outrage doesn’t work. Nobody listens...not the kids, not the parents, not the community, not the politicians, not the police.
I drive through my neighborhood, a once and future vibrant corner of city life and see the hopelessness on every street corner. Young men in white t-shirts and baggy jeans blatantly displaying their designer boxers shorts above their sagging waistbands disrespecting all who bother to glance their way. They’re out there at all hours, no matter what time I pass by. Girls, young women, standing in the shadows admiring the young men, visibly pregnant, with maybe a baby or two in tow. Anytime of the day, this drama unfolds itself for anyone watching.
While the young men pose on the corner, Avondale, one of the oldest of Cincinnati neighborhoods is being taken away from them. It is being revitalized by whites moving back into the neighborhoods in answer to the gasoline crisis. Real estate is cheap. Older black homeowners who bought from the Jews when Avondale was a Jewish ghetto, are dying out being replaced by younger white speculators with cash to burn and money to invest, spawning a new generation of absentee landlords. Avondale is going green and getting a new coat of paint. It is getting set to sparkle once again like when I was kid, some 50 years ago.
The young men and their absent families are being pushed out. I don’t know where the young men on the corner go when and if they go home. Their neighborhood, the very thing that could save them, is being taken. The sidewalks are being pulled out from under their feet as they claw for existence and survival. Home is the foundation for economic well being. They have none. Their families have none. Even if they have a home, they don’t have the skills to take part in the buildup. No one makes them go to school.
They propagate and perpetuate the cycle, making babies, and baby mommas, with no support or way to get a leg up in society, chewed up almost before they’re spit out.
Soon they will be gone from the corners in Avondale. Police crackdowns and enforcement cameras will push them away from the newly revitalized areas. Out of sight, out of mind. The cycle will resume again somewhere else, if they live.
And maybe that is the answer....dying rather than living...their only way out of a bleak and seemingly endless waking nightmare.
8.06.2007
George Orwell Bush
Sunday, while the rest of us were engaged in Sunday summer activities, Dubya was signing new legislation further curtailing our rights to privacy as spelled out by the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Under this latest assault on American freedom, Bush has given the go ahead for the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on our phone conversations without getting a warrant. This latest attack by the prez is an attempt to legalize the nebulous spy program that is supposedly aimed at terrorists.
What the law does is allow government agents to listen in on all international phone calls without a warrant. For example, if I live in Cincinnati and decided to call my niece in Qatar, our government could listen in to our conversations on the bogus assumption that my niece may be a terrorist. They don’t have to prove the allegation or show evidence up front. All they have to do is tap the channel and listen in.
The new law gives oversight power to the Attorney General and the director of National Intelligence.
Hmmmmmmmmmm...I wonder if this is also an attempt to make Gonzo more relevant.
Under this latest assault on American freedom, Bush has given the go ahead for the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on our phone conversations without getting a warrant. This latest attack by the prez is an attempt to legalize the nebulous spy program that is supposedly aimed at terrorists.
What the law does is allow government agents to listen in on all international phone calls without a warrant. For example, if I live in Cincinnati and decided to call my niece in Qatar, our government could listen in to our conversations on the bogus assumption that my niece may be a terrorist. They don’t have to prove the allegation or show evidence up front. All they have to do is tap the channel and listen in.
The new law gives oversight power to the Attorney General and the director of National Intelligence.
Hmmmmmmmmmm...I wonder if this is also an attempt to make Gonzo more relevant.
8.01.2007
Too Much Info
Who cares if beer is only 135 calories, or a glass of red wine is 125 calories or a shot of tequila is only 53 calories?
Our government is becoming expert at avoidance. Rather than deal with the real problems facing our country, our so called leaders want to put nutrition labels on booze. Give me a break!
Who drinks alcohol for nutritional reasons? I certainly don’t. If booze was nutritional alcoholics would be the healthiest people on planet earth.
I drink because I don’t want to think about my current diet or how the war in Iraq is going, or how I’m about to turn 57 and still haven’t reached half the goals I set for myself when I was a sexy, vivacious young fox of 30. I drink because I want to pretend I’m a member of the roundtable at the Algonquin trading quips and barbs with Dorothy Parker. I drink because I want to get smashed and feel like I’m still the queen of the dance floor, not that I ever was, but southern comfort mixed with cranberry juice and a slice of lime, makes me think I am or was. I drink because I need sex and have more courage to ask for it after I’ve swallowed more than my share of tequila worms from the bottom of the bottle.
Booze can teach you a lot about yourself, that is if you’re paying attention. For instance, I’ve learned seven salty dogs makes my bed spin, and that I can stop the spinning by placing one foot firmly on the floor as an anchor.
Four whiskey sours gave me the courage to ask Morgana if I could feel her 55 double D breast implants when I met her at Loll 43. She loved the attention. It was the first time I fondled a woman in public. Whiskey sours also fueled my first visit to the legendary Brass Ass in Kentucky where I saw my first strippers. Man, were they tired looking women. Broke up my fantasy.
I’ve learned not to trade jack Daniels shots with the person who is supposed to be the designated driver and then really let them drive home. We made it, but I don’t know how.
Even hangovers have their uses, like diverting my attention away from, and delaying my self recriminations for going home with the loser with whom I was engaged in sparkling conversation the night before.
C’mon people, who needs another label to remind us that we are overweight, don’t exercise enough and don’t eat right. If you’re like me, you can’t even read the booze label before you start drinking, much less during or after you finish drinking.
Before you know it the government will force women to tattoo their uterus opening with a sign telling babies....Life, extremely dangerous!...enter at your own risk!...sheeesh!
Our government is becoming expert at avoidance. Rather than deal with the real problems facing our country, our so called leaders want to put nutrition labels on booze. Give me a break!
Who drinks alcohol for nutritional reasons? I certainly don’t. If booze was nutritional alcoholics would be the healthiest people on planet earth.
I drink because I don’t want to think about my current diet or how the war in Iraq is going, or how I’m about to turn 57 and still haven’t reached half the goals I set for myself when I was a sexy, vivacious young fox of 30. I drink because I want to pretend I’m a member of the roundtable at the Algonquin trading quips and barbs with Dorothy Parker. I drink because I want to get smashed and feel like I’m still the queen of the dance floor, not that I ever was, but southern comfort mixed with cranberry juice and a slice of lime, makes me think I am or was. I drink because I need sex and have more courage to ask for it after I’ve swallowed more than my share of tequila worms from the bottom of the bottle.
Booze can teach you a lot about yourself, that is if you’re paying attention. For instance, I’ve learned seven salty dogs makes my bed spin, and that I can stop the spinning by placing one foot firmly on the floor as an anchor.
Four whiskey sours gave me the courage to ask Morgana if I could feel her 55 double D breast implants when I met her at Loll 43. She loved the attention. It was the first time I fondled a woman in public. Whiskey sours also fueled my first visit to the legendary Brass Ass in Kentucky where I saw my first strippers. Man, were they tired looking women. Broke up my fantasy.
I’ve learned not to trade jack Daniels shots with the person who is supposed to be the designated driver and then really let them drive home. We made it, but I don’t know how.
Even hangovers have their uses, like diverting my attention away from, and delaying my self recriminations for going home with the loser with whom I was engaged in sparkling conversation the night before.
C’mon people, who needs another label to remind us that we are overweight, don’t exercise enough and don’t eat right. If you’re like me, you can’t even read the booze label before you start drinking, much less during or after you finish drinking.
Before you know it the government will force women to tattoo their uterus opening with a sign telling babies....Life, extremely dangerous!...enter at your own risk!...sheeesh!
7.30.2007
Monday Meanderings
Contempt for Congress
Congress has issued a subpoena for Karl Rove. Does anybody really think he is going to show up? And while we’re at it.....Just what does Congress think Gonzo can clarify, this time? He seems to be compounding his lies about the AG firings rather than explaining what happened. And without a special prosecutor who is going to conduct the investigation of the Justice Dept....the Justice Dept?!
Did you know that Dubya, by order of executive mandate has...
Done away with special prosecutors
Done away with habeas corpus
and
Can declare martial law in the USA if and when he wants to?
All hail King George!
The last time this stuff happened we had a revolution.
*********
Ohio got it right!
Turns out it’s not okay to beat the crap out of your live in girlfriend in Ohio. The State Supreme Court has finally ruled in the Michael Carswell case. Mr Carswell had argued that he could not be charged under Ohio’s domestic violence laws because the state’s newly enacted Defense of Marriage Law did away with all common law legality. According to Mr. Carswell, the term “spouse” could only apply within the confines of a legal marriage between a man and woman. Common law wives and husbands and all LGBT couples were living illegally under DOMA, according to Mr, Carswell’s interpretation and therefore domestic violence couldn’t happen between two unmarried people.
The High Court ruled that while the state can define what constitutes marriage, cohabitation happens when two people decide to live together and therefore domestic violence can happen and is covered by law, DOMA not withstanding.
Congress has issued a subpoena for Karl Rove. Does anybody really think he is going to show up? And while we’re at it.....Just what does Congress think Gonzo can clarify, this time? He seems to be compounding his lies about the AG firings rather than explaining what happened. And without a special prosecutor who is going to conduct the investigation of the Justice Dept....the Justice Dept?!
Did you know that Dubya, by order of executive mandate has...
Done away with special prosecutors
Done away with habeas corpus
and
Can declare martial law in the USA if and when he wants to?
All hail King George!
The last time this stuff happened we had a revolution.
*********
Ohio got it right!
Turns out it’s not okay to beat the crap out of your live in girlfriend in Ohio. The State Supreme Court has finally ruled in the Michael Carswell case. Mr Carswell had argued that he could not be charged under Ohio’s domestic violence laws because the state’s newly enacted Defense of Marriage Law did away with all common law legality. According to Mr. Carswell, the term “spouse” could only apply within the confines of a legal marriage between a man and woman. Common law wives and husbands and all LGBT couples were living illegally under DOMA, according to Mr, Carswell’s interpretation and therefore domestic violence couldn’t happen between two unmarried people.
The High Court ruled that while the state can define what constitutes marriage, cohabitation happens when two people decide to live together and therefore domestic violence can happen and is covered by law, DOMA not withstanding.
7.20.2007
A scary thought....
Dubya is having a colonoscopy. That means that while he is unconscious (for real), Dick Cheney will be in charge of the government for a couple of hours.
Somebody please...please go hide the red button so that fool can’t fire nukes at Iran. We’ve got enough trouble now. We don’t need another war front.
We don’t need expansion of the Patriot Act or suspension of more of our civil liberties.
Hell, he’s already declared himself outside government. He refuses to talk to anyone except his assistants...Is he still even talking to Dubya, except to say, “I don’t have to...I’m the VP?”
Anyone looking at us from outer space would see Dubya in the White House and think that Cheney was emperor of the USA the way he behaves.
After looking at Cheney, I can understand why his daughter feels she can be a lesbian, have a baby and not have to face the consequences that others of us have to live with daily.
Can’t Bush appoint someone else to take over...someone with common sense, common decency and an understanding that other people live in this world beside him, his family and his business friends and associates.
Somebody please...please go hide the red button so that fool can’t fire nukes at Iran. We’ve got enough trouble now. We don’t need another war front.
We don’t need expansion of the Patriot Act or suspension of more of our civil liberties.
Hell, he’s already declared himself outside government. He refuses to talk to anyone except his assistants...Is he still even talking to Dubya, except to say, “I don’t have to...I’m the VP?”
Anyone looking at us from outer space would see Dubya in the White House and think that Cheney was emperor of the USA the way he behaves.
After looking at Cheney, I can understand why his daughter feels she can be a lesbian, have a baby and not have to face the consequences that others of us have to live with daily.
Can’t Bush appoint someone else to take over...someone with common sense, common decency and an understanding that other people live in this world beside him, his family and his business friends and associates.
7.10.2007
Morality Plays
Yesterday, the NAACP buried the “N” word...literally. The organization held a funeral for the word, duplicating it’s actions of a couple of decades ago, when it buried Jim Crow.
Burying Jim Crow will prove to be the easier entombment, I think. That’s because so many of us use the “N” word when talking to each other. We only have a problem with it when white people use it.
It’s always been considered a bad word. I come from the generation where parents didn’t curse in front of the kids. And, we never, ever used the “N” word for any reason to refer to anyone else. It was a term of disrespect with the obvious racist connotations. We were taught not to denigrate ourselves because we would get enough of that when we stepped into the white professional world. Trust me, as someone who has spent her entire life being the “first black this and only female that,” there are actually hundreds of ways somebody can call you a nigger without using the word itself.
Nowadays, kids toss the word around like a water balloon and people have become desensitized to it. The problem with using it so freely is that people with no sense of history or anything else for that matter, think they can use it like we do. That’s when it becomes offensive.
As blacks we can’t be so hypocritical. If we’re going to use it, we must expect that others will too. We need to get over ourselves and really, really make the word inoffensive, much like gay and lesbians did with the word “Queer.” The LGBT community owns that word, having taken possession of it a long time ago. You can’t hurt us with it anymore. Blacks need to do the same with the “N” word. If we intend to use it, then we have to stop reacting to its use by others. Once it loses it’s shock value, then it is buried for real, not symbolically like the NAACP tried to do yesterday.
The NAACP would do better recapturing its relevance if it would go after the things that are killing our communities, like AIDS, Poverty, black on black violence, out of wedlock children, and the school dropout rate.
Remember, the old nursery rhyme....”sticks and stones can break my bones...but words will never hurt me..”
Good words to live by..
Burying Jim Crow will prove to be the easier entombment, I think. That’s because so many of us use the “N” word when talking to each other. We only have a problem with it when white people use it.
It’s always been considered a bad word. I come from the generation where parents didn’t curse in front of the kids. And, we never, ever used the “N” word for any reason to refer to anyone else. It was a term of disrespect with the obvious racist connotations. We were taught not to denigrate ourselves because we would get enough of that when we stepped into the white professional world. Trust me, as someone who has spent her entire life being the “first black this and only female that,” there are actually hundreds of ways somebody can call you a nigger without using the word itself.
Nowadays, kids toss the word around like a water balloon and people have become desensitized to it. The problem with using it so freely is that people with no sense of history or anything else for that matter, think they can use it like we do. That’s when it becomes offensive.
As blacks we can’t be so hypocritical. If we’re going to use it, we must expect that others will too. We need to get over ourselves and really, really make the word inoffensive, much like gay and lesbians did with the word “Queer.” The LGBT community owns that word, having taken possession of it a long time ago. You can’t hurt us with it anymore. Blacks need to do the same with the “N” word. If we intend to use it, then we have to stop reacting to its use by others. Once it loses it’s shock value, then it is buried for real, not symbolically like the NAACP tried to do yesterday.
The NAACP would do better recapturing its relevance if it would go after the things that are killing our communities, like AIDS, Poverty, black on black violence, out of wedlock children, and the school dropout rate.
Remember, the old nursery rhyme....”sticks and stones can break my bones...but words will never hurt me..”
Good words to live by..
7.03.2007
His World
In the wee small hours after midnight, when Dubya is out of the public eye and into his own little world under the covers, I want to know what he is smoking/drinking/snorting. I mean he’s got to be using something to maintain this Buddha-like calm he displays while standing in the midst of his self created shit storm. I haven’t seen this kind of calm exhibited since the self medicating days of the sixties. “Hey man, got any ‘ludes?”
For the past seven years he’s done stuff.....started a war, ripped up the constitution, trashed civil liberties and flooded the judicial branch with inexperienced hacks and extreme right wing politically driven judges. He’s gutted the justice department, compromised and outed our spies to our enemies. He’s lied to the American public, repeatedly. Dubya has all but erased the line that separates church and state. He’s killed scientific study and research. He’s replaced learning with testing in our schools.
His court, after first giving him the election, has now reversed Brown vs the Board of Education. Can Roe v. Wade be far behind? Ladies throw away your Manolos it’s back to bare foot and pregnant unless you have the money to circumvent the law.
His politically appointed cronies have killed the great city of New Orleans, set back women’s health initiatives, and practically done away with birth control in favor of sticking your head in the sand and hoping that no pregnancy results.
He’s thumbed his nose at the rest of the world and sits on his daddy’s yacht while the planet goes to hell in a hand basket.
How is it that this out of control, ex crack head frat boy got elected to the most powerful office on the face of the earth?
Scooter gets tried and convicted and sentenced to jail. Dubya commutes the sentence claiming his boy had been treated harshly and his family is suffering. Well, what about the family of Valerie Plame? He outed her as a spy to get back at her husband. His vindictiveness could have gotten her killed. Does he care? Apparently not.
Generations in the future are screwed because of his irresponsible fiscal policies. Does he care?
Dubya is the original bubble boy...hiding behind his calm inside his dome while his rogue vice president runs rampant, trampling our laws and system of checks and balances.
Dubya needs to share whatever he’s toking, because the rest of us are a bundle of nerves. We’re so stressed out, we don’t take vacations. We’ve got a president who tells us that except for his war on terror, the rest of the stuff is not that serious. Oh, but it is.
I want your drugs Dubya. That way I may be able to relax and share your vision. Your world must be wonderful. I need some of that virtual reality inside your bubble.
Yeah, you really need to share your stuff, man, so that we can all escape this hell on earth world that you’ve bequeathed upon us. Passing the bong, it's the American way.
For the past seven years he’s done stuff.....started a war, ripped up the constitution, trashed civil liberties and flooded the judicial branch with inexperienced hacks and extreme right wing politically driven judges. He’s gutted the justice department, compromised and outed our spies to our enemies. He’s lied to the American public, repeatedly. Dubya has all but erased the line that separates church and state. He’s killed scientific study and research. He’s replaced learning with testing in our schools.
His court, after first giving him the election, has now reversed Brown vs the Board of Education. Can Roe v. Wade be far behind? Ladies throw away your Manolos it’s back to bare foot and pregnant unless you have the money to circumvent the law.
His politically appointed cronies have killed the great city of New Orleans, set back women’s health initiatives, and practically done away with birth control in favor of sticking your head in the sand and hoping that no pregnancy results.
He’s thumbed his nose at the rest of the world and sits on his daddy’s yacht while the planet goes to hell in a hand basket.
How is it that this out of control, ex crack head frat boy got elected to the most powerful office on the face of the earth?
Scooter gets tried and convicted and sentenced to jail. Dubya commutes the sentence claiming his boy had been treated harshly and his family is suffering. Well, what about the family of Valerie Plame? He outed her as a spy to get back at her husband. His vindictiveness could have gotten her killed. Does he care? Apparently not.
Generations in the future are screwed because of his irresponsible fiscal policies. Does he care?
Dubya is the original bubble boy...hiding behind his calm inside his dome while his rogue vice president runs rampant, trampling our laws and system of checks and balances.
Dubya needs to share whatever he’s toking, because the rest of us are a bundle of nerves. We’re so stressed out, we don’t take vacations. We’ve got a president who tells us that except for his war on terror, the rest of the stuff is not that serious. Oh, but it is.
I want your drugs Dubya. That way I may be able to relax and share your vision. Your world must be wonderful. I need some of that virtual reality inside your bubble.
Yeah, you really need to share your stuff, man, so that we can all escape this hell on earth world that you’ve bequeathed upon us. Passing the bong, it's the American way.
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