Thursday, April 30, 2009

Get A Job

When I first moved to this town - I had planned on being a country squire who would sit on the front porch and drink lemonade and living off the rent I collected from my properties.
Okay, I don't really have a front porch. The image just seemed nice when I'd imagine it.

But being retired at 33 gets old really fast.
I had to go do something.
Volunteer work got depressing - I got tired of seeing a bunch white people helping a bunch of Black people who used these services as another level of dependency.

I had to actually work to make some money.
But after being out of work for a few years with no references - I was stuck.
I could run clubs or construction sites - but here, nobody knew or believed me.

My first construction job was gained from driving by a house being built in my neighborhood and seeing the lack of progress.
I had helped the owner's parents earlier when they were having problems making a repair to their home.
When the owner's mother told them that I could do construction - "No, he's just a California pretty boy" was their response. "Look how soft his hands are" was another common response from neighbors.

But one day I happened to have my tools in my truck from making repairs to some of my rentals.
I stopped and said,"You need help".
"No thank you", they said.
I told them that I wasn't asking them if they needed help, but that I was telling them that they needed help.
After a few hours of making corrections (The old California earthquake codes are similar to the new Texas hurricane building codes), I went home.
That night, the owners and the mother came to my home to pay me and to ask whether I could finish building their home.
I had only stopped to help them make some corrections at no cost to them.
But they wanted to pay me a pretty nice sum to finish building a three bedroom 5,000 square foot home.
After I finished building the home, I couldn't keep up with the offers for employment I'd received.

It gets hot and humid here during the summer months.
I didn't feel like sweating all day.
So, I decided that I would do a little bar work to enable me to sleep late and to keep cool.
But no one would hire me.

I came across a struggling club that was looking for a bartender.
But all of my references were out of state.
I told the owners that I would work two weeks for free and that if they liked my work, they could hire me.
At the least, it would be two free weeks worth of labor - it was a win-win for the club.
After the first day, I was hired.
After two months - I was part owner.
After six month - I was a full partner.

After this stint, I had created a service of setting up and opening bars.
I can pick and choose with whom and for how long I wish to work.
So, what's the point?
To be creative in proving your worth in a tough economic or social environment.

Pink Slip

I'm done.
My last hope has fallen.
The last family that I mentor on making the leap from the 'hood to the middle class has just seen their primary bread winner receive her pink slip.

This woman has only a high school education and has worked for the same refinery for the past thirty years.
She just bought a new home in a middle class neighborhood two years ago.
She had never NOT lived in the ghetto - in spite of having a $130k a year job in the second cheapest market in which to live in America.

I convinced her to keep her old home and to rent it out for a price that would cover her mortgage payments, insurance, taxes and maintenance.
I convinced her to stop eating out at restaurants twenty meals a week.
I convinced her to consolidate her credit card debts.
I convinced her to sell her time-share. (Well... really, to just stop making payments.)
I convinced her to buy the best quality products she could afford and to take care of them.
I convinced her to only buy the clothes, furnishings and products she really wanted or needed(and not just because she liked how they looked).
I convinced her that it didn't matter how much she made if she never had anything to show for it.
I convinced her that just because she had the money to buy something - that didn't mean that she could afford it.

All this came to an end today.
Her three grown children are so dependant on her that they will be of little help to her in keeping her home.
Two of her grown children have been fired from their jobs in the last month for not producing at work.
Her grown children treat her new home like it is a resort that offers free; maid service, cook, laundry service and free financial grants in aid.
She caused her family to fail because she demanded little of her children - and getting what she demanded (little) in return.

Now she plans on walking away from her nice, but not extravagant, home.
Now she plans on going back to her old ghetto home.
Now her grown children are nowhere to be found.

36,000 A Year

Before you rush out and buy this spiffy bio-gear,
Remember - pandemics and plagues are nothing new.
What does seem to be more prevalent are the multi-derived (and not known to exist in nature) strains of these diseases.
It seems as though the followers of Joseph Mengele have found a new population on which to test their ideas.
But according to the CDC - the most common causes of death in America in any given year (about 2,448,017) will be;
- Heart Disease - 652,091
- Cancer - 559,312
- Stroke - 143,579
- Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases - 130,933
- Accidents - 117,809
- Diabetes - 75,119
- Influenza/Pneumonia - 63,001
(36,000 from Flu alone and with 220,000 hospitalized)
Yep, that's right.
Thirty-six thousand people die from the flu every year.
Most of the other deaths could be eliminated by diet, exercise and abstaining from tobacco products.
How much of this new panic is much ado about nothing?

Monday, April 27, 2009

A Third Of Mankind ...

Revelation 9:20 "A third of mankind were killed by three plagues..."

Leviticus 20:22 (NIRU) "So you must be able to tell the difference between animals that are clean and those that are not."

James 16:2 "...yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service."


Before some people succeed in going all Hester Prynne on us and create a virus that delineates one group from another...

You may want to stock up on HEPA masks and filters.
Forget those little cloth ditties that were all the rage in Asia - these beauties can filter airborne particulates down to 0.3 microns.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA),

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Mad Cow Disease)

Avian (Bird) Flu (H5N1 Virus)
With the feared spread (intentional or accidental) of plagues (The current Swine Flu epidemic in Mexico being the latest example) - maybe it's time for us to go all Ultraviolet and prepare for what may be a foregone conclusion.
http://flunewsnetwork.ning.com/

(And you think that "Race" is the biggest thing we have to worry about?)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Fat Girls Don't Listen

Every year, I get a group of big girls who have fallen off of their New Years Resolution wagon and have decided to recommit to losing a bit of unwanted fat.
Every year most of these women don't take advice on eating habits and exercise.
Every year most of these women tell me that they'll try again next year.

I'm not Mr. Universe or anything.
It's just that these women see the results of their sons' conditioning regimines and decide that this must be the year to do something about their own conditions.

My biggest complaints?
I can't get them to understand that;
-Five or six small and well balanced meals a day is better than three large meals - or even worse, one meal.
-Just because something says "Diet" on the packaging doesn't mean that it's alright to have twenty of them in one sitting.
-Two weeks of working out can't get rid of a lifetime of bad eating habits and complacency.
-I'm helping them as a trainer - but I am NOT a genie.

Most of these women ask for advice on their kid's bad grades.
(They're terrible parents who focus on appearance instead of performance.)
They ask for advice on finances.
(Most of them waist more money on getting Polo, Jordans or iPhones for themselves and their kids instead of paying bills on time and establishing good credit ratings.)
They ask my advice on men.
(Most of them give it away to so many and so often that no man would value what they think they have too offer.)
Most of them can't keep jobs.
(They spend too much time worrying about everyone else's business instead of tending to their own. They show up late and leave early. And they're always on the phone. When I ask them if they would hire someone like themselves if they owned a business - most say "No". But they still think that it's their bosses' fault.)
They have bad attitudes.
(But they blame their lack of promotion on being Black.)
Their kids are unruly.
(The kids don't respect their mothers. If they don't respect someone at home, they won't respect people out in society.)

I'm just venting.
Everyone I know (here in this town) needs something from me every time they see me.
I don't mind helping people. In fact., I enjoy it.
It's just that I'm tired of people thinking that all of the stereotypes in the media are the standards to which to aspire.

Lois ?

Mr NoFace said; (In response to "brohammas' Heffernan Theory")
"...I still find it hard to suspend my disbelief and accept that someone like Lois would ever marry someone like Peter."
As a kid, I used to think that Blondie was way too hot for Dagwood - so I kinda' get what he's sayin'.
Francine Smith from American Dad kinda' has a Chelsea Clinton thing goin'.
But She's not sexy.I read a lot of opinions thinking that Lois was in fact sexy. Maybe it's the slutty thing (She did almost sleep with a dog.).

Leela from Futurama has that cheap one eyed Peg Bundy thing working for her.

If Sarah Palin is your cup of tea - you may find King of the Hill's (forgot her name) sexy.

Nope.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Prince's Women

Okay... Pebbles wasn't one of Prince's women - but she was bad!
Neither was Jody Whatley - but she was bad too.

Apollonia just had some big tiddys - but little talent (musically speaking).

Everyone thought that Vanity was the shit - but I liked Susan better. (When a Girl Answers is still hella' funny)

But in catching Sheila E on the Ellen Show performing with Prince - I had to remember that Sheila was my favorite Prince girl.
Maybe because she actually had talent on the drums.
Maybe because I got caught 'car dancing' this afternoon when The Glamorous Life came on the radio today.

Paula White

More Black blogger discord can be found in the Internet concerning Paula White receiving a Trumpet Award.
I watched some of the show even though Sherry Sheppard was a host (She just reminds me of a shorter version of Mo'Nique - just a greasy and hungry looking beast.).
Does she deserve to be honored by a "Black" Foundation?
Well... the awards were first presented by a less than Black... Ted Turner.
People like Andre Agassi do a lot for Black people when other Blacks fail to do so.
(But see Tracy's Blacks Give Back for balance to this statement.)
This award may have been as 'token' as Halle Berry winning an Oscar for Monster's Ball.
Saying that Black awards shows should only honor Blacks is as racist as saying that only whites deserve to win Oscars, Grammys, Tonys or Emmys.
Saying that a preacher should not have won this award would eliminate Jakes, Dollar or the old school Rev. Ike from receiving this award.
So is the protest against Ms White really just racism, but from another group?

Arise

Ebony and Jet are said to be in trouble.
I've read other bloggers propose buying subscriptions in the old school mags to save them from extinction.
But their day is over.
A new and more aspirational magazine has arisen to take their place.
http://www.arisemagazine.net/
Nope, it's not 'Black This' or 'Black That' - the publishers have gone a more subtle route.
It's not King or Smoove (Smooth) - with a bunch of stuff most of their readers could only dream of having.
Check out Arise.
(Hey, FreeMan - see how it looks to own our own image, and from an International perspective!)

Pop Culture

When a dumpy punk-ass-bitch can get away with calling a contestant in the Miss USA pageant a "Dumb Bitch"
(And have that contestant lose because she gives a thoughtful answer that articulates her opinion)
Even though this chubby social commentator is only "famous" for having opinions about people who are actually famous.
(IMO- Only good looking people should be able to judge other good looking people's looks.)

And a 'Crazy Bitch' like Lindsay Lohan is in need of a career boost after fighting with Brit-Brit and the real Paris Hilton for the covers of fanzines.
(All Ms Lohan needs is an arc on Desperate Housewives as the redhead character's long lost daughter)

And a real life Crazy Bitch who wants the life of a formerly thought of "Crazy Bitch" is set to receive a reality show...
I'm at a loss for hope in our current culture.

Sanchez First

Tailback U has become Quarterback U,
and with Mark Sanchez projected to go as high as number 4 to the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of this weekend's Pro draft,
the Trojans seem to have reloaded yet again.
(IMO - Detroit should pick Sanchez as the number 1 pick. If he only leads the Lions to one win - that would be an improvement over last year.)

Mitch Mustain (the highly touted but under qualified former high school star) has yet to impress the coaches at USC - slipping to as low as third on the quarterback depth chart.
Aaron Corp seems to be the likely starter in a season that is less than five months away.

But recent controversies (OJ Mayo in basketball and Reggie Bush in football) would imply that L.A. does in fact have a pro football team, and that team is the USC Trojans.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Almost Right

For those who have lost all hope and have begun to search for answers to the future in the mythologies of the past - your year is near.
http://www.whowillsurvive2012.com/
http://www.2012dvd.com/
I'm thinking more like 11-11-11.
Why?
Because it's a balanced trinity symbolizing a new beginning.

What Inspires ?

What inspires us?
Or - From where does creativity come?
Earlier cultures have given the rights of creativity to the Muses.
But who are these Muses?
If these Muses are wrong - are they really Demons?

Artists are known to go through spells of madness.
But it is during these spells when they are most creative.
(John Nash and his mental disorders being an example.)
Or;
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/print/2687/do-you-have-be-nuts-be-a-genius
Some creative people need drugs, alcohol or bouts of depression to reach a level of being to be able to communicate with these Muses.
(Although a lack of sleep - or maybe a lack of dreams - also gets one to this point)


Is creation (or creativity) a natural reaction to an altered state?
Or a higher level of consciousness (or unconsciousness)?

Get Paid

Wanna' make a few million?
Become the next Miss Cleo.
As people begin to lose faith in their rulers, beliefs systems and institutions - the next step becomes divination.
In truth, these institutions were never the answer to our problems.
They were only place holders while we realized that the power to create a change was already embedded within us.
So, make a killing by becoming the next Oracle, false prophet or prosperity preacher.
Getting paid is easy...
just tell the people what the think they want to hear.

More On Prayer...

How are prayers answered?
When I was a young buck working construction, my crew and I were at the end of a long day and attempting to raise a twenty feet tall chimney frame on the forth floor of a home we were building in Lake Arrowhead.
As we were lifting the frame into place, we realized that we had too much momentum and that the frame was going to fall to the hillside below.
Not wanting to rebuild the frame, I grabbed one of it's supports with the claw of my hammer and began to slide towards the edge of the sawdust filled floor.
Just as I was sure that I was about to fall over the edge along with the frame... "God!" I said (In a quiet but firm voice - as if to wake Him from His sleep or to distract Him from something else He may have been doing).
Just then... a small gust of wind came from the other direction causing the frame to settle into it's planned (by us) place.
As I watched the form wobble and then settle in place, I noticed my friends looking at me as though I was crazy.
I whispered a quiet "Thank You" and then I went back to work.
When my friends later asked me why I didn't let go of the frame and run back from the ledge as they did - "I don't know" was all I could think of to say.
Was the gust of wind a "Miracle"?
It was for me.

I've burned through brakes racing down from the mountains, crashed into ditches, spun out across a five lane freeway and hit the center divider head-on, and totaled a few cars.
I walked away from every episode with little more than a bad attitude.

I've had more guns pointed at me than I would have liked, been missed by gunfire, and walked through riots without even a scratch.

I've had some bad-ass brotha's back down when I was at a disadvantage or outnumbered, and have been distracted from being in my usual places when someone was there intending to do more than just fight with me.

I know that there is some natural or scientific explanation for for all of this - but do these explanations make the incidents any less miraculous?
I'm not saying that my prayers can dictate the rules of the Cosmos - I mean, I barely have control keeping the weed to grass ratio of my lawn at an acceptable level.
But prayers do have an influence over one's life.
(I'm just not sure "how".)

When I was a kid...
I used to think that if I failed to say my prayers at night, the Sun would fail to rise in the morning.
So I always said my prayers.
And the Sun always came up.
But does my "evidence" prove anything?
Of course not. One thing had nothing to do with the other.

I thought that if I prayed long enough and hard enough - I could cause the Sun to be hidden from the Earth.
Even if I was to live billions of years and my prayers actually seemed to be answered by the burning out of the Sun - would this mean that my faith was the cause of the result?
How does one know when their prayers are answered?

Prayers are always answered.
Maybe not in the way one would like (Often getting a "No" for a reply) - but always answered.

Would you give a five year old a Mercedes Benz to drive at his will?
Probably not.
How about a sixteen year old?
Maybe...
If you could afford to buy if for him.
And if the kid had a licence and insurance.
And if the kid was responsible.

You see, there is a time and a procedure and work involved in being able to receive a "Yes" reply to a request.
Most people don't have their prayers answered (in a way they'd like) because they couldn't handle or manage the thing for which they are praying.

What usually happens when someone who isn't used to money all of a sudden receives large amounts?
Usually they end up broke and in a worse situation than they were in to begin with.
Not getting the money would have actually been better for them.

How do you pray?
Most people make cerebral prayers (going through the machinations and explaining to God and themselves "why" they should have something that they know they are not ready to have) and not visceral (the most natural, primitive and basic language and form that can ask for a "miracle" with the same ease as a child asking his mother for a cookie - and getting the same result).

If someone hates their job, their boss, and their co-workers - but they pray for a promotion - what are they praying for?
Maybe God would ask why He should promote them at a job that they really don't even want.
Or if they pray for a new job - have they learned everything from their current job that will enable them to excel at the new job?
Probably not.
Usually the person will become a bitter worker and end up working against that which they are praying for.
So who failed?
God, or themselves?

Most people don't even know what it is that they want.
When I was in Cali., all of my friends would ask why I wouldn't move to L.A..
I liked going to L.A. - I just didn't want to live there.
I liked being able to sit back and relax with friends at the Mission Inn pool and breathing in the stench of skunk/orange blossoms/ smog that we called 'air' in Riverside.
I knew what I wanted.
(Although when I thought I wanted to move to a place with blue skies, green fields, rivers and trees - and I prayed for a home in such a place - I ended up in a place with all those things here in this dump called Beaumont, Texas.)

Most people don't really even want what they pray for.
They know what everyone tells them they should want.
But few even take the time to think about, and make a list of, what they really want and the effects of having such things would have on their lives.
Those that have done this... probably have those things.

Most people pray for what they see everyone else having.
Their prayers are usually for those things.
Do you really want a Benz?
Can you pay a couple grand for an oil change or a blown headlamp?
If you can't afford to keep something, why should you have it?

Prayers are only answered with a "Yes" in relation to your ability to handle (or manage or maintain) what would be given with an affirmative response.
If your prayers aren't working;
Don't blame God,
Blame yourself.

But blaming oneself can lead to guilt.
Guilt is another reason why prayers seem to go unanswered.
Even when God says "Yes" - a guilty person cannot accept the gift that He has given by His grace.
A person who feels guilty sees no reason why he should be favored.
A guilty person becomes his own adversary.

Let's say that one day you came home and you flipped your light switch and your lights came on.
Chances are, you wouldn't worry about "How" the light switched worked.
Chances are, as long as the switch works.... the "How" and "Why" isn't important.
These questions are usually only asked when the light switch fails to do it's intended job.
If the lights failed to come on - the "How" and "Why" of the unit's workings then become important.

Or - If your lights at your home were working.
And the rest of the city was dark.
The "How" and "Why" of this situation would again be a sensible question.
But why?
Your switch is doing what it was intended to do.
Why does everyone else's failure mean that something must be "wrong" with your switch?
The group think tells you that your right is somehow wrong.
So even a "Yes" can be rejected as a "No" because it fails to comply with the norms of the larger population.

I don't care.
I really don't care "How" prayer works, or even "Why".
Just let it be enough to know that it does.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Blackface/Whiteface

Upon looking at this old image of Al Jolson - many people become upset, while others dismiss it as a vestige from a bygone era.
But what is so offensive about some burnt cork spread across one's face?
Gul Tuysuy (on a Turkish news show) seems to think that when speaking about the Black POTUS - it's okay to wear blackface to emphasize... what?
That he agrees or disagrees with Obama's policies?
That Obama is Black?
That he is stereotypically Black?
Or that he still harbours some hostility for the Muslims renaming Constantinople... Istanbul?
But who, that is white, can wear blackface and get away with it?
Is it okay for an actor who is playing an actor who is from another country?

Or if it is an actor in a movie with Richard Pryor, in an earlier stage of our racial consciousness, who wears the cork to save his characters life?

But not if an actor dons the stuff to fit through a loophole to benefit his character chances at a better education?

Or is it okay if your hittin' Whoopi Goldberg and the joke is on her?

Even Dave Chapelle wore whiteface (although an actual photo is hard to get).

Eddie Murphy played a white guy on several occasions.

Are the Wayans "Racist" for mocking the silliness of white heiresses?

Is the Zulu Crewe acting coonish when they wear blackface during their Mardi Gras parades in NOLA?
According to one source;
the laws that established blackface in the Jim Crow laws were first created in NOLA to prevent marijuana smoking Blacks from thinking that they were equal to whites.
So, what are the rules when wearing makeup to look like another race?
As long as the joke/skit/performance is funny?
As long as one is not mocking or degrading another race?
As long as you're not white?
As long as you're not Black?
As long as the makeup has some context to what you are referring?
Am I offended by Mr. Tuysuy's blackface?
Nope. I'm more dismissive of him as being simple. In fact, seeing the image, I have no interest in what he has to say.
So the bottom line is - what was his point?

Friday, April 17, 2009

Eye 2 Eye

The common assumption is that almost everyone sees objects in the same way.
But SeeNew points out an example of different perceptions of the same object based on different perspectives.
The Noh mask
can be interpreted as having a "different" expression based on the angles which one views it - even though the mask itself has a static expression.
So... if one person views someone else's face at eye level - that would be a "normal" expression (neither antagonistic nor gleeful).
If one views the same individual from below (with the seemingly larger eyes, open nostrils and terse lips) - the person being viewed would seem more threatening and authoritative.
If one is taller than the person being viewed - their face may come across as more passive, submissive and less threatening.
Interesting...
Maybe this is why politicians convey different messages based on whether they are speaking from a podium, walking and talking at eye level, or are being looked down upon in an arena. Maybe this is why preachers speak from above their parishioners or students are seated while listening to teachers.
Maybe this is why parents seem threatening when admonishing young children - but less so when a child reaches adulthood.
Maybe it's not the size of an individual that is seen as submissive or dominant - but their projected image.

That Crazy Guy

Everyone has seen at least one guy that kinda' scares the hell out of you.
You know the guy - always walking around talking to people who aren't there.
But maybe these guys have a better ability to see the truth than the rest of us
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2677/schizophrenics-not-fooled-visual-illusions
Maybe this can offer some insight into whether visions are actually a more clear sense of reality.

Fear Of Flying ?

Thirteen billion will turn into 26 billion.
But as we become more dependant on technology for our day-to-day activities, rail may be a viable alternative to driving and flight.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123989461947625407.html

Taxed Enough Already ?

Do they even know what they're protesting?
Or did they just want to be part of the scene? Or to be heard? Or were they just mad that the country may be slipping away from the homogeneous few to the multi-geneous many?
Were they protesting Obama's stimulus plan?
Or the popularity of the man?

Were they just recovering from the shock that their fear mongering hyperbole lost much of it's effect (or affect) in the last election cycle?
Or were they upset that some brash new usurper had taken the power that many believed was rightfully theirs to split among themselves, and that Obama even translated his popularity overseas?
Was this "Grass Roots" protest really the result of deposed despots seeking to regain power?
Or were these well informed and concerned citizens exercising their Constitutionally given rights?
It seems that Fat Man Limbaugh and Fox had an agenda - to get Obama to fail.
I'm not a fan of most of Obama's current plans. In fact, I think that most of them are wrongheaded and over-reaching.
But I must ask;
Where was all this righteous indignation during the Bush years? Aren't 95% of the population's taxes lower? How many of those at these rallies made over $250k last year?
What ever happened to "Respecting the Office"? Or is that only applicable when one of the few insiders is in office?
Secede? Hasn't Texas already tried that?
Didn't these people have jobs to be at? Or is this just a question that gets asked at Immigration Reform rallies?
I hate to place race in the context of politics - but in this case, is this just a case of "wrong vs. white"?