I Watch A Lot Of Television

 But not always what I want to watch.
It was nice to see a fit and attractive Black woman (Angola's Leila Lopes) being heralded as the face (and body) of human beauty in the recent Miss Universe pageant.

 This is a far cry from those who wished to dictate that someone like Gabby Sidibe was what most among the Black race think of when they think of Black beauty.
Many Black women were upset when others mentioned that Ms Sidibe was not attractive enough to be on the cover of a high-fashion magazine.
And this started a trend in finding 'Real" Black women to appear on television.

 Personally, I'm sick of the Mammy image being the standard for Black women.
Some say that Black women are just naturally 'big-bone-did"
(Really... show me a fat skeleton...?) - but this is not the case.

 Sure, Sherri Shepherd comes across and looks like a character from something written by Tyler Perry but even the older (and some would say, 'less attractive') Whoopi Goldberg comes across as having more class and being more attractive..,
Ms Shepherd is just another ghetto-fab Mammy character.

 The producers of Desperate Housewives got it right when they cast Vanessa Williams as one of the wives instead of featuring the token Alfre Woodard.
Ms Williams is just a better fit on a show which features women thought of as being attractive.

 Many of the elderly women I check in on complain about the new 'Malcolm' on The Young Young and the Restless as being 'ugly' compared to the old one.
But they're ready to fight when I say that Victoria Rowell is stunning while the new Black woman is nothing to look at.

 Really?
The Talk replaced Holly Robinson-Peete with...
Sheryl Underwood?
That's not even fair.
Holly is hot...
Sheryl is not...

And then I see a new 'Mammy' on General Hospital.
Sure, The Miss Universe pageant may be shallow...
But I east the woman are fit and attractive and none of them resemble Hattie McDaniel.

So Simple

I never understood why 'Tom' in Miller's Crossing never just took control of the organizations he built.
I never understood why he would just choose to serve those who needed him more than he needed them.

Sure, the money is good in running clubs, the perks are good and it's easy to always get the girl.
But people who own clubs must be doing so in order to feel important - in order to feed their egos.
I have little to no interest in popularity (While often useful it's largely overrated.) so I don't wish to own a club.
(Although another group has offered to hand over everything the club contains as long as I run it and no others.)

Recently, I've been busy.
Too busy, in fact, to host our bi-monthly BOSS meetings with various club owners.
This absence has led to a massacre.
The bosses are squabbling over everything. (Some are so trivial that they unfriended the others on facebook.)
The cartel is on the verge of collapse.

Now I understand Tom.
Tom just wanted the ability to walk away from anything and everybody at any given time and just say, "Fuck It.".

We KNEW When We Were Poor

 No, we didn't have it as bad as the people on Good Times - but sometimes things did get rough.
I'd always hated the show - I never understood how a family with four working adults could still live in The Projects for all those years.. (Although I used to watch it so I could check out 'Thelma'.)
Back in the day, kids ate what was on their plate or they didn't eat at all.
Back in the day, when kids messed up kids got whooped.
Back in the day, people wore hand-me-down clothes.
Back in the day, if one had a place to be and he had no transportation he would walk.
Back in the day, we knew when we were poor.

Sure, The Jeffersons moved on up but their home was fairly modest by today's standards.
No big-screen flat-panel TV's in most rooms, no i-Phones, no computers, one would wear his clothes until they would wear out (and then they'd just be patched), no fast-food or delivery, one (SOMETIMES two) full bathrooms for an entire family, no dishwashers (unless you count their maid), meals were cooked at home, one car garages were common,...
These days, even many "poor" people have these things.
These days, many of the poor don't even know that they are poor.

I'm not ballin'.
In fact, If DV is the Blackest man on the Internet then I'm the Third Poorest Person on the Internet.
Even crackheads walk by me saying, "Broke ass Nigga'.
Trying to help the poor often leads to one becoming (cash) poor himself.
Sure, I could sell off assets - but then what would I buy?
Sell some gold and old jewelery to buy.... some rapper-inspired bling?
Sell some houses to buy... a boat I'd never use?
Sell antiques and family heirlooms to buy... a country club membership?
Sell my (questionable) character to buy... status?

Learn To Kick Field Goals

Everyone wishes to play the glamor positions - to be the starting quarterback, running back or wide receiver who throws, runs for or catches the winning touchdown.
Others find pleasure punishing others while preventing the other team from scoring.
But the often unlauded (but all-important) position in many games falls to the lowly kicker.
Sure, he may not appear to be as big, strong, fast or as athletic as the other member of the the team - his uniform may even remain clean for the entire game.
But sometimes it's the little things that make a difference.
Sometimes it's timing or training or just dumb-luck.

Looking For "Q"

 There has to be more to life than material goods and the seeking of status.
Many Science Fiction movies have attempted to explain this religious dilemma through the use of the more enlightened of creations seeking his creator.
In A.I. most androids go about their 'lives' doing what they were created to do.
Even when some learn emotions such as fear - all just regress back to their primary code to function as they always had.
That is, all except for the more advanced "David" model.
David puts his fears aside in order to undertake an impossible quest in search of an impossible answer - even if it costs him his life.

 In Blade Runner - Replicants go about their business until one advanced model (Roy Batty) decides that he wants to live.
In the end, Roy allows himself to die for some unknown reason. (To save Rachael maybe?)

Even in a world of enlightened and free-minded citizens - it takes one who is at a higher level of consciousness, one who sees what and how others cannot, to save the day.
In the Matrix movies - Neo's purpose is save those around him.
But Neo has an even greater understanding and vision than those who seek to manipulate him - Neo seeks to become one with the original source.

Even if self-preservation is written into our DNA coding - could altruism and selflessness be a sign of being a more advanced model than the rest?
A sign of being, '...in the world but not of it...", as some religions put it?
Do such practices bring us closer to God, our creator, or to our original source for answers?

Bank On Disaster

 So Obama is set to deliver yet another speech - so what.
At this point he seems to be saying the same things as the teachers on the old Charlie Brown cartoons, "Wha, WHA, wha wha...".
Does the government really need to be in the business of creating jobs?
Isn't the Postal Service already going broke with their obsolete make-work business model?
Didn't the huge the investment in a a solar electricity company also fail to pan out?
THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT IN BUSINESS TO CREATE JOBS.
In fact, having far too many government jobs is part of the problem.

 There are jobs out there - just not the ones people want to do.
Many people imagined that a degree (not to be confused with an education) was the means to finding a better job and a better quality of life.
But what this created was a generation who imagined themselves as bosses rather than just degreed workers - and most of these workers still have the skill-set expected for one working at a fast food restaurant.
Most people don't want to work.

With the recent disasters, FEMA is hiring full-time inspectors who make $25+ an hour.
The requirements are minimal but one must be on the road for most of any given year.
Contractors doing the same work make about $70 per house inspected.
If one is well organized, one can earn $700 per day working seven days a week for three months (or more) at a time.
This is a quick $60k for three months worth of work.
But even so, FEMA is begging inspectors to go to disaster sites.

It's not that there are no high paying jobs - it's only that people think they should be paid large amounts for doing what it is they want to do where and when they want to do it.

 Some argue that owning ones own business the way to escape poverty.
Maybe... but Mumbai, and slums like it, have the highest levels of entrepreneurship than any other area - and they're still slums.
Maybe (in America) it is best to keep ones day job while simultaneously working at developing and growing ones own business to help ensure a constant positive cash flow.

Some say that "They" are holding us back.

Really? In what way?

Who are these who belong to this mysterious group often referred to as "They" or "Them"?

I know one cannot be speaking of those of European descent...

If being white was all that was needed to do well in this country, Cajuns living on the swamps of the Gulf, Hillbillies in Appalachia and those trailer park towns which sprinkle the country would not exist.
Since these areas can be almost all-white - these should be the most affluent areas in the country.

Many cite Malcolm X as their biggest influence when it comes to uplifting the race of Blacks in America.
Really?
Let's see what Brother Malcolm has to say;
http://www.malcolm-x.org/quotes.htm
I may be wrong, but I thought "By any means necessary..." included getting an education, doing the hard work and making sacrifices.
I don't see where Malcolm spoke of waiting on a monthly check from the government and wasting it on things which would not improve ones ability to make ones own choices in life.
In fact, I think Malcolm spoke more of responsibility of wealth more than the luxury of it.
Malcolm spoke of us doing for ourselves and ,unlike Obama and his make-work jobs program, creating ones own best life.

Are You Hungry Yet?

Tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires,...
Sure the weather seems to be in the news more than ever but what impact will this have on our ability to produce food?
The drought is so bad that many cattlemen here in Texas are deciding to sell their herds and get out of business.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/07/food-ark/siebert-text
Apparently, some have already begun to prepare for the looming food disaster.

Worthless Money

 The recent (current) failure of our banking system was the best opportunity for our government to reform a system in which many no longer believed.
(Yes, it takes faith to believe in any currency when such a currency is no longer backed by anything with a hard value.)
As we can now see, the bailouts didn't really help the common man.
Those who were helped were those who created this mess to begin with - not those who work and actually create real value.

A quick story on money which loses it's value when held can be found in one of those little Disinformation books.
(The Little Earth Book - page 72. Worgl money that is not worth keeping taken from Short Circuit by Richard Douthwaite 1996)
Or; http://www.panacea-bocaf.org/theworglschillings.htm

I LIke (Most of) My Little Cousins...

 But I hate when they look at porn sites on my computer which lead to viruses and a trip to the shop for repairs.
But the past two or three weeks were not wasted.
Besides getting these little Niglets ready for the new school year, I enjoyed watching yet another team of Little Leaguers from California win their version of the World Series.
(California teams are a combined 7-16 in the history of final games of this competition.)

But this was just a prelude to my real sports viewing season.
I'm a huge USC fan but the Trojans looked fairly pedestrian in their recent win against Minnesota.
Maybe the Trojans will take an over rated new member of their conference more seriously next week as they attempt to win the AP National Championship without even playing in a BCS bowl.