CW Political and Social Thought

Bush Goes Crazy On Yo Ass!

I thought that maybe I was being a bit unfair to Clinton in titling my last entry, so I decided to counter that by including a video where Bush flies off the handle. It's obvious that he took this business about secret prisons and interrogations seriously and personally. Unlike Clinton, I don't feel Bush holds his own. He struggles to justify his reasoning. When Lauer tries to probe the president, Bush's response is that "I am not going to talk about tactics that our government uses". He says that by disclosing the tactics that the military uses, this will give the enemy some ammunition. You damn right! If you are doing the wrong thing, Americans and the international community have a right to know.

Anywho, let's just thank our lucky stars this man only has a two-term limit.

Clinton Goes Crazy On Yo Ass!

I find myself longing for the Clinton Administration. There's just something about a Democrat in the White House that rests my nerves. I believe that this president is putting our lives in danger by antagonizing radical fundamentalists. He's gambling, but it's not his life that is at stake, it is ours. We will be the victims. When we go aboard to fight for some empty cause, we will be the ones captured, decapitated, and murdered. When we go to visit some foreign resort, we will be the ones to disappear to never be seen again. I say that the only way the president can understand war is to draft his daughters for the war in Iraq. Surely, he will be less of a hawk then. Our president does not understand. As much as he thinks that he is in tune with Americans, he is quite out of touch. Bush, we do not want to fight your war, which is a war based on illegitmacy, false reports, and vengence.  More and more, he is crying wolf.  You will see that his party will try to run away as far as they can from him. They won't say that the War in Iraq is legal and internationally supported. They don't try to state any of the original reasons for going in. What they will attempt to do is A) Bash the Clinton Administration B) Make this Political Campaign about Morality and Values and C) Convey a Sense that We are Not Safe. Indeed, we are not safe, but that's because of Bush, not Al-Quaeda or Bin Laden. I am glad that Clinton fought back in the video. He had no choice really. Here was a demostration that the Republicans are desperate.

Part One

Part Two

Is There Anything Oprah Won't Conquer?

            Oprah has ventured into a new form of entertainment and education. For those who have been living in a cave for the past few years, Oprah signed a $55 million deal with XM Satellite to have a station called Oprah and Friends. To be sure, she will not really appear on any of the programs except for the show with Gayle, nevertheless she will make available some of her best mentors in physical, spiritial, and psychological development. Dr Oz will be on once a week I believe.  He's a down-to-earth doctor from Columbia University who makes sense of all the complicated. information out there on taking care of your body. He truly inspired me some months back by sharing what types of foods we should steer away from. High Fructose Corn Syrup. Enriched Flour. Sugar. Trans Fat.

            These things are found in so many of the things that we eat. I was having muffins with my partner, Kevin, and noticed that the muffin mix had enriched flour. Dr Oz explains enriched flour as a process where companies take all the good stuff like vitamins and such out of the product, then they attempt to put some of it back it. It's just not good for you. Also, I have learned to stay away from none-whole grains. I appreciate that Oprah really cares for her viewers.  I know some people may have their problems with her. I often hear from African Americans that she is phony and "white", but frankly Oprah is Oprah. Oprah knows that she is African American. She is proud of that. You need only think about her Legends' Weekend to know this. What Oprah is not willing to be is weighed down by the burden of being Black. In this way, she runs contrary to mainstream Black thought, which places a premium on victimization. Indeed, she is a model for progress. If only Blacks could have the gull to think of themselves as self-sufficient agents, that would understand Oprah.       

             Nate Berkus is also among Oprah's Friends. I remember when he lost his partner in the tsunami in Southeast Asia. He'll be teaching folks how to design their homes as a reflection of themselves. Though the idea of interior design on the radio sounds a bit strange, it certainly has a chance.

Ray Disturbs The View!

Ever since The View kicked the Star Jones off the show, I have hated The View. First of all, do you remember the old introduction for the show when Barbara said she wanted to bring women of all different backgrounds to a table for discussion? Well, now the show has become nothing but white women moaning and bitching how the world is so unfair. You are white women in a white society! You have got nothing to complain about! The show has lost its edge. It's one thing to say that something is not just, but when you have a generous helping of white privilege on your plate, there is little to talk about. I am relishing the fact that Rachel Ray is opposite The View. I hope she takes them down.  The View is doomed to fail, not just because Ray's upbeat, charismatic personality will draw more viewers, but because the Queen Bitch of daytime is still Queen Bitch of daytime. I wish Rachel all the best. There is no question in my mind that she will do well.

Here's a view of Queen Bitch and all her darlings. :)

                                           

                           

The Museum is Coming! The Museum is Coming!

While I was overjoyed  with the announcement that the National Museum for African American History and Culture is just a few years away, I can't but to think how this museum might be a redundant and superficial interpretation of African American history. Too often I see that we (Blacks and Whites alike) cast a shallow net when  engaging in African American history.

Recipe for a Fine History
1 cup of King
1/2 cup of Parks
1/3 cup of Jackson
generous sprinkle of Douglas and Truth
dash of DuBois
pinch of Washington

It's always the same figures. King. Parks. Jackson. Douglas. Truth. A lil bit of DuBois. A lil bit of Washington. Of course, White people tend to treat our history a little differently that we do. They tend to praise Coltrane, Davis, (Dinah) Washington, Fitzgerald. So, am I to expect the museum to regurgitate these same names and same stories? I do believe that I should expect these names, but with the vast space and interaction that a museum can offer, it's almost axiomatic to say that they won't dig more deeply in what is a rich and informative history. I doubt it will go really deep. I doubt it will tell the story of the Black community on the Eastern Shore of Virginia who enjoyed a somewhat tranquil and autonomous living in the US's early colonial history. I doubt it will tell the story of bastard children who were the result of Black women being rape by their white masters. I doubt it will tell the story of free slaves in the antebellum period who managed to make a living for themselves in the South. I doubt it will tell the story about Blacks connection to Africa.

I doubt many things about this museum,...

but no doubt I can still hope. 

Best of Olympus Fashion Week (So Far)

The Best and Worst of Olympus Fashion Week 

                                                   

                       September 8th-16th

 

The Worst of the Worst

Credits: http://www.olympusfashionweek.com/  

"Later For Ya Bobby"

Ok... I just received the best news! Actually, I received it yesterday, but it's still just as good. I would not usually celebrate celebrity couples when they are divorcing or separating, but I have been waiting for this separation for sometime now. Whitney Houston has filed for divorce according to some sources and filed for separation according to other sources! Either way, she's seriously contemplating her relationship with her husband. Yay! I know...I know...We've got to think it must be hard on all the people involved with this marriage especially the kids, but I truly believe that Whitney Houston's career comeback  as a world-wide sensation is just beyond the horizon. It's not that Bobby has been a negative influence on Whitney from the start. She has put out some really great stuff. The Preacher's Wife soundtrack topped records when it became the most successful gospel album of all time. I believe My Love is Your Love is one of the best records of the nineties. So Whitney has managed to have some success, but the fate that she befell was that Bobby became too much of a distraction. I do not doubt that he exposed her to drugs. I do not doubt that Bobby exposed her to the party lifestyle to which he was all too accustomed. I do not doubt that Whitney would have become someone quite different if she had not married Bobby.

All of this adds up to the opinion that this move is a positive one for Whitney.

I am sure she's probably getting clean because she wants custody of her Bobby Christina, but I also think she's doing it because she needs to make a change in her life. If I prayed, I'd say a little prayer for her, since I don't I hope you do. Here's a little throwback to the Whitney we all fell in love with.

Death of a (US) President?

In a new film that was all the rage at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, the assassination of George Bush prompts the United States to go on a world witch hunt for a Syrian-born suspect  who  did not commit the crime. In "Death of a President", the grieving nation experiences  "post-9/11 syndrome" which leads to expanding a tougher and more oppressive  version of the Patriot Act. While British filmmaker Gabriel Range claims that the media has mislabeled his film as being about the assassination rather than the national reaction; nevertheless, this film's portrayal of a world leader being assassinated at a time which has not even met us non-fictionally (October 2007), seriously questions the boundaries of where art can go. 

"No matter how much I hate Bush and think he's an absolute idiot, I would not wish harm upon him, if for no other reason than because that would mean Dick Cheney would be the president."

I will see this film when it is released. NewMarket Films, the same company that put out The Passion of the Christ, bought the distribution rights just a few days ago. The fear that I have is that this film will legitimize ideas that some perverse people have contemplated for sometime. My optimist voice hopes that the masses of Americans see the film and receive the real lesson of the film, that Iraq, represented by the supposed assassin, is not a legitimate nor moral means of conducting foreign policy, even when the most powerful nation feels overcome by terrorist threat.

Credits:  www.newsday.com

Come Aboard Noah's Arc

Ok for those who don't know, there is a new gay series in town. It's not a Will and Grace wannabe. It's not a Queer as Folk wannabe, though some peg it as an African American version of that show. Noah's Arc is a refreshing drama about the lives of four gay men who are all Black. This is for the record books folks! History in the making! More than that, though,

"I can't get enough of it!"

I have to admit that in the beginning the terrible acting and simple script made me doubt why the hell I was paying $1.99 per episode on iTunes, I quickly realized that I was paying all that money because I couldn't wait to see what developed between Junito and Ricky! Or if Guy was really trying to bunk up with Alex's man! Or even if the guys on the show would get hotter and hotter. Speaking of which, Noah's new love interest, is so freakin' hot, not the British rapper, though he is cute as a button. I LOVE LOVE this show!
Look what I found about Noah's Arc

Fun Facts

The original title was "Hot Chocolate."

Darryl (Noah) originially read for the part of Ricky.

Christian (Ricky) originially read for the part of Noah.

Doug Spearman, who plays Chance Counter, initially read for the part of Ricky Davis.

The first letter from Noah's friends' name spell ARC (Alex, Ricky and Chance).

Noah's original name was Jermaine.

Noah's car, a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair convertible, belongs to series creator and executive producer Patrik-Ian Polk.

Dwen Curry, who played Romeo, was also the costume designer for the show for Season One.

What? Iraq has no connection to 9/11?

Wait. Come again! Did the President say that there was no connection with 9/11 and Iraq?!

But I Do Know Day Does Not Become Night

       

As I reflect upon this menace that is quite unbearable to the beneficiary and victim, I cannot help but to think that something has gone awry. I see the faces of my intellectual superiors alongside me as I dodge from one room to another. I can't help but to think that entering through the back door, where the queue is less dense, is indeed what has taken place. It was not as if I intended to do this. I just assumed that the "secondary" entrance was the same as the primary. It looked similar though from my perspective, less discriminatory, if for no other reason than because I could craft a new identity; I was anew. It was similar in the way that I waited. My acceptance was not entirely determined, though my hopes were high. Did I slide by? Was I a fluke? Did like bodies also enter through the back door? Why is it that I don't see my intellectual equals here? Had they properly represented themselves, not attempting to pass as wolves in sheep clothing? I also think that there are some norms guiding all of this. Back when the shading was more limited and the way more treacherous, like bodies were rare. Hate determined perpetual status and my parents were predestined. I? Well, that is questionable. The quality does go a long way. The quantity of whom (plural), I am not sure. I have noticed my inferior like bodies here with me and my intellectual superiors; a large, large percentage of whom is unlike bodies.
                What am I to do with this? Shall I depart from the same back door from hence I entered? Should I not care? Then again, this is not my problem. I did not create it. I have properly channeled my energy, given my unique circumstances, to the quantity, nevertheless it is (in my mind) not sufficient. This specter haunts me so. My (plural) like bodies have hung on only by the meager provisions of those unlike bodies. Would it not be natural that an equal status be obtained through some development and with that development, inequality and consideration necessary.

"I woke up this morning and it was Day.
I went to bed and it was Night.
At Dawn I was in bed
At Dusk I rested
I cannot describe to you neither Dawn nor Dusk,
But I do know Day does not become Night"

Racism. Enough Said.

I strongly believe that racism has a modern form. To arrive at this point, I need not even demonstrate how racism might be relevant to social or political issues of the day, rather I need only understand racism as a "national principle of social determinism" in order to understand racism as an influential force.

In other words, how can racism have died out, as we suppose it has, when it has served as a guiding principle for so much of our nation's history? 

Certainly, no one has forgotten slavery, but what is it that we have forgotten is the lesson of slavery. The virulent racism that  supported slavery had to face an inevitable end. That war still remains the most devastaing in terms of American lives than any other war in U.S. history. When we turn our glances away from any victim who is on the receiving end of racism, there is a price to pay. History has taught us that when we choose to ignore one, hundreds will be ignored. Hundreds will suffer from a lack of help, equality, and freedom. The lost parents of today will bear the lost children of tomorrow, if we don't stop this pattern of racism. Demand...

Equal Access to Equal Education;

Civil Treatment of Immigrants;

Acknowledging and Abating White Privilege;

Greater Political Representation of Minorities

Attending More to the Needs of the Poor

Stop the Hate

Accept Difference not as a Value But Absolute

Tolerate Nothing But Equal Treatment of All Citizens

Demostrate Appreciation for Other Racial Groups' Contributions to American and World History by Giving Them Access to Their History

Hold  Every Citizen Accountable for Promoting National  Diversity Goals 

Credits:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/14941681.htm

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=8604

http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2523/

Was 9/11 a Conspiracy?

 

 

 

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I am not one to believe in conspiracy theories. Kennedy assasination, not a conspiracy. US government hiding information on extraterrestial life, not a conspiracy. 9/11, well...that is up for debate. According to a new video called "9/11 Cover Up", several inconsistencies bring the  common  take on the events into  question. I don't have the time to elucidate all of these issues, nevertheless below are some thought provoking questions that probe the claim by the government that 9/11 was the result of terrorists.

1) How can the metal used in the World Trade Center melt at 2700F for less than an hour when it was made to withstand was 2000F for six hours?

2) Why does the collapse of the World Trade Center more resemble a demolition than a weakened building  falling?

3) Why don't other examples of tall buildings having caught  fire, some even as long as nineteen hours,  result in the structure collasping to the ground?  (E.g.  Empire State Building  in 1945, North Tower in 1945, Los Angelos tower in 1988, Philadelphia skyscraper in 1991, Venezualen skyscraper in 2004, Madrid skyscraper in 2005 *)

4) What were the explosions heard after the plane crash? Could it have been explosives planted beforehand?

5) Why do the initial pictures of the Pentagon show areas that could not have been damaged by a plane? (Answer: it was a missile)

6) Why has the US government refused to release videos that could validate the story that a plane hit the Pentagon? These videos were confiscated shortly after the attack from nearby stores.

7) How come there were no footage or images of dead bodies at the scene in Pennsylvania? Not even bones.

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8) If as many as nine of the hijackers were found alive in various parts of the world, who in fact carried out the terrorist attacks?

9) Why did WTC 7 fall? No plane hit it. No fire.

10) Was Osama bin Laden in an American hospital  several weeks before 9/11?

Credits: http://judicial-inc.biz  www.youtube.com

Hello Katie! It's So Nice to Have You!

Amidst all the scandal about this doctored photo, one fact remains the same. We will see the first solo female news anchor on Tuesday. Katie will make history. It is up to use to honor her for her bravery, $5 million pay cut, not to mention that everyone will be watching her with a critical eye. Personally, she is not doomed to fail. She just has to prove that she is just as serious as her fellow male anchors and she will be fine. I never believed it before, but it is so true that women have it worse than men. Not only must they compete (i.e. mimic male behavior) with men but they somehow have to do it with more grace (i.e. femininity)  so that we will tune in. There is no doubt that the task before her is monumental. I wish her all the luck in the world. If she is anything like Max Robinson, first African American network news anchor, she will last about six years. Unlike Max however, Katie does not seem to possess the same demons nor is she inclined to confront racism (read up on Max). That should make for an easier landing and ride.

GOOD LUCK KATIE!

We Love You Fat or Skinny!

 

Credits: www.washingtonpost.com