Saturday, February 28, 2009

Let your arms show

Isn't there more important things to discuss than Michelle Obama's bare arms? Probably the ones making the most noise are those who dare not show their bare arms!!! Leave the First Lady alone. She is not like the other first ladies. She has her own style and it is refreshing.

The real question is, what can you do to make this world a better place? I would think worrying about sleeveless dresses is not it. What do you think?

LOVE

News reports that teen pregnancy is on the rise. Wow!

Young men, you need to stop dropping your precious seed (translate babies) in any and every well you come across. Any male animal can produce offspring. Any human male can produce a child but that does not make you a father. And who is left with the result of that act while you move on to the next "starving-for-love" young lady? A young lady, who is a child herself, who now has a child that she and her mother and grandmother will raise.

And young lady, why is your body, your virginity so value-less to you and that young man? Why are you having sex anyway? Why are you so void of self pride and self respect that you feel you must have sex with someone, young or old, because he said, "if you love me, this is how you prove it." No! What it proved is that you fell for the same line he used on the other 2 or 3 young ladies who had his other babies. Then the baby mama drama begins.

THIS IS NOT LOVE. This is not respect. This is how many notches he can put on his belt (or bedpost.)

Young ladies (and young men). You are worth more than an orgasm (which probably only one of you experienced anyway.) Don't throw away your dreams to do or be whatever you are dreaming about. Break the cycle of single parent homes in the Black (or whatever) community. Look at the new President and his wife. Let that be your example.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Hiding money

It seems that some of the banks that received bailout money are helping wealthy customers hide money in offshore accounts in places like the Cayman Islands!!! Duh. Is anyone surprised to hear this when some execs are still getting billion dollar bonuses and the banks who got the money have so far refused to say where it went? And where does AIG get off asking for more money? I understand what the President says when he explains that the banks must not be allowed to fail so the economy can stabilize. But if it were up to me, I would be in their books EVERY week until this crisis is over and they would not get a cent unless I was satisfied about where the money was going.

Just one taxpayers opinion. Because the truth of the matter is that ALL money is taxpayer money whether you put it in a special account or it's part of the bailout money. What do you think?

RAPE IS NOT A GAME!!!!

So who is the rocket scientist who created a video game showing girls/women getting raped? What is entertaining about rape? If the makers of this game find it entertaining, they should be placed in mental institutions. I believe the game is created by a foreign company. I hope they go out of business. They should be shut down. This is as bad as the Post cartoon. These people also don't see what the problem is and why people (in their right mind) would take offense. Everyone knows rape is a power play and has nothing to do with sex. Totally disgusting. They should be glad our legal system is not "an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth." In some countries, men are castrated for such crimes.

Cruise Reviews - Read Celebrity Royal Caribbean & Norwegian Cruise Reviews and Vacation Blog Entries

Cruise Reviews - Read Celebrity Royal Caribbean & Norwegian Cruise Reviews and Vacation Blog Entries

Friday, February 20, 2009

Nation of cowards

The new and first African American attorney general said in reference to the New York Post racist cartoon that America is a nation of cowards. Of course the news media and others attacked him for those words but perhaps he is right. Let's face it. The police have not really endeared themselves in the African American community. Rodney King, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell and others come to mind. It's sad that this ugliness is still alive and well in America. It's also stupid. No one had anything to do with the color of their skin (at birth). Of course those same White people who spout racism spend millions of dollars yearly to get brown, risking skin cancer, but claim that people of color are inferior. Inferior to what? It's sad that some people think this way and it's equally sad that African Americans do not realize their own power. Think about it. You must be worth something great if one group of people tries so hard to keep another group of people down. Stop the put downs, the hatred, the stupidity. So much energy going into the negative. Enough already.

New York Post

Those who know me know that I was not going to let this one go by without comment. I'm sure you have seen the cartoon published by the New York Post linking 2 stories together, the stimulus package from President Obama and the chimp that was killed by police after it attacked a woman. So how is this not racist when it shows a cop holding a smoking gun, commenting about the stimulus package and a dead monkey on the ground? The Post said it was a parady (seems everyone uses this word to justify what can't be justified) and that it was really directed towards the speaker of the house who wrote the bill. And that makes it right??? It's an insult to her also. And what about the lady who lost her pet chimp? (Of course, that's another strange story but I digress.) So just what was the editor in chief really saying? That the President is a monkey? Anyone who lived through the Martin Luther King era and the history of racism in this country knows exactly what the symbolism means. Was this a veiled message to the idiots who would want to hurt the first African American president in this country? This is no parady and those responsible should step down. The non-apology issued by the paper means nothing. It is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Lets follow this example

African American Congressman John Lewis of Atlanta recently met with the White man, Elwin Wilson, who attacked him in 1961 during a protest when Lewis was a young civil rights leader. The confrontation took place at a bus station in South Carolina. Wilson apologized and he and Lewis embraced. Lewis said Wilson was the first person involved in attacks against him during that turbulent time to apologize and he offered forgiveness without hesitation.

I thought this was worthy of mentioning because I grew up in North Carolina during the sit-ins at places like Woolworth's 5 & 10. I also remember the hot waiting rooms for "Colored people" in bus and train stations (no fans), colored signs over water fountains (water was not cold if it worked at all), bathrooms, etc. And the entrance to the movie theater that was on a side street, around the corner from the main street white entrance, that lead to a small balcony. I was quite aware of racism as I grew up in the south and in New York. I had to remember which part of the country I was in and make the adjustment. Up north, I sat wherever I wanted on the bus; below Washington, DC, I sat in the back. In a store that serviced white and Black patrons, I had to wait until the white person was waited on first though I may have been first at the counter. I decided to leave NC after completing the 9th grade because I knew my New York state of mind would get me hung.

I am happy that this reconciliation occurred and hope others of all races follow suit.

Surprise. Surprise.

I hear that Etta James is now stating that the remarks she made about Beyonce and President Obama were jokes. Hummm. I've read that it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. In other words, what you say is what you feel.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Etta's tirade

What's with stars like Etta James (and Aretha Franklin's uproar about Beyonce calling Tina Turner "Queen") stomping on Beyonce for singing James' signature song, At Last, at the inauguration? I happen to like that song and thought Beyonce did a great job. Isn't imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Besides, Beyonce just played James in a movie. I don't recall James saying anything bad about that performance. If she had messed up the song, I could see James saying something about it. James also had negative words to say about President Obama. Whatever.

When are we (all people) going to learn or remember what we were taught as children? If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

I truly believe that if you know who you are and are comfortable in your skin, it shouldn't matter what people say about you. (Hope Beyonce reads this.) I stopped caring what others think of me years ago. My motto is, "you don't have a nickel in this dime - and if you do, I gave it to you. It's still my dime!"

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Big Bonuses

Just saw part of Meet the Press in which the panel was discussing the $18 billion bonuses some Wall Streeters received for work done last year. Panelists pointed out that this was not taxpayer money but money in a fund set aside for these perks. Everything is ultimately taxpayer money. AND YOUR POINT IS WHAT? I wouldn't care if that money had been set aside from when money was first created. What about perception? You have companies (obviously not all on Wall Street) asking workers to give up future raises, freeze their 401K and other pension plans, if they even have pension plans left, work less hours for the same pay, no overtime, people being laid off and you have other people "crying" because their bonus is a couple hundred thousand dollars less than usual. Don't get me wrong. I don't begrudge anyone getting compensated for their work but did it occur to the people running these companies who were asking for bailout assistance to say, "why don't we freeze bonuses if we are going to ask for help?" And what happened to the money that was already given out? How come no one seems to know where it went? Wall Street, banks, etc. should not get another dime until they account for what they already got and they should be made to show their books monthly.

I have a solution: get rid of those CEOs and other execs, etc. who ran their companies into the ground instead of giving them compensation "for a job well done." Like the CitiBank exec who was about to buy a $50 million jet.

Another solution: have execs of the companies laying off workers give up their bonuses, raises, etc. so the workers can continue to work and support their families because in the long run government (taxpayers) will end up paying for these workers through foreclosures, evictions, unemployment, public assistance, food stamps, and Medicaid.

Get real, Wall Street!!!