Mormons ?

- We are taught cleanliness inwardly and outwardly with the practice of good manners and respect to one and all.

- We are taught that the family is the backbone of society and that our children must be reared to the highest morals and training to perfect our society.

- We are taught to eat and prepare the best of food for the longevity of life, without the use of alcohol, smoking and substance abuse which endangers the ethics of healthy living.

- We are taught to respect and protect our women who are the mothers of our civilization.

- Our women are taught to a dress code of modesty that will lead to the practice of high morality.
- We are taught to be an exemplary community expressing the highest spiritual goals for the reform of ourselves and others based on wisdom, knowledge and beauty.

Mormons?

Nope... NOI.
http://www.noi.org/history_of_noi.htm

Have A Drink

Here you go FreeMan - have a Strong Island Tea.
Here you go brohammas - have some pineapple and cranberry juice.
RunningMom - sit back and have a Margarita.

The thing about these blogs is that it's like having people over for drinks and dinner.
Most are written in the way people speak (without regard for grammar or punctuation), a few are more deliberate and didactic.
But most share the common trait of being a vehicle to provide normally disparate people a place to interact.

I read the comment "I like your spot - I can curse here but not at my blog" on another site.
But that is disrespectful.
People go to New Orleans to have fun - but to leave a mess behind.
Most people act in a way that they wouldn't in their own home or their own environment.

So FreeMan and brohammas,
Sit back and have a drink and realize how similar your social beliefs are.
(See above post.)

As Long As It's Not Kobe

Sorry Lebron...

Gay Is NOT The New Black

Q: Why are so many Black preachers speaking out against support for Same-Sex marriage?
A: The imagery is wrong.

Even though some of these same preachers are are the biggest hoes in town - Gay is still taboo.
My next door neighbors likes to brag about being a former Deacon at his church... but in the next breath, he likes to brag that his wife permits him to receive one blow-job a month from a hooker because she won't do it.
Then he tells me that it's even okay for a guy to give him one. (I don't speak to the guy anymore - I think he was trying to hit on me.)

Black is still seen as something fierce,
something strong,
something to be feared.
Black is not seen by Blacks as Gay.

Smart and Black is seen as something less than desirable.

Gay and Black is something to be hidden. (Or something to kill one's self over.)

Feminine and Black is just wrong...

Unless you're Prince.

So why do so many Black preachers speak out against an issue that won't effect their congregation as much as one like extra-marital sex?

(And with a "friendly" choir director to boot?)

Because most Blacks are conservative in their values.

Because many still see themselves as those African warriors - not as Lamar from Revenge of the Nerds.

Maybe That Was A Stretch

So cockfighting was okay as long as it was legal in Louisiana (until mid 2008)?

But dog fighting is wrong because it is illegal?

Moral or Legal

So is the argument a moral one or a legal one?

And according to whose morals?

He Did It Again ?

Man...
Somebody's gotta' lock this guy up.
Why is he always carving Cyrillic letters on women's faces, or robbing or raping or killing women, and now he's gone and kidnapped another woman and her child?
To Disney World?

I always thought the Boogie Man was green or something,
and an Urban Myth,
but apparently - He's Black.

(Photo - Police composite of "The Boogie Man" aka - Alvin Blackguy or A. Blackguy)

Sativex And The False Notion Of Better Living Through Science

What's wrong with an altered version of Cannabis?
Nothing, according to GW Pharmaceuticals - a British company pushing for legalization of their marijuana derived oromycosal spray.
http://www.slate.com/id/2219152/

But why bother buying the fake stuff when one can just grow and smoke their own?
Q; But why does one have to smoke weed to get the medicinal benefits?
A; Taking a pill orally is not possible when one is inclined to nausea.
(I guess shoving a pill up one's rectum would work, but... .)

But is man's preoccupation with making the perfect solution "better" always wise?
Chewing a willow bark would relieve pain, reduce swelling and prevent clots.
Taking an Aspirin does the same - but also causes gastrointestinal ulcers, stomach bleeding and tinnitus.

It's the altered delivery system and purity of product that causes the problems.
It's just another example of a 'solution' causing a bigger problem.
Like petro-chemical rich fertilizers on our crops.
The new "improved" fertilizers burn through the nutrients in soil.
The way to remedy this is by creating another product to amend the nutrient strapped soil.
But this further dilutes the soil - and inevitably, the quality of our food supply.
The natural solution of cow manure or the resting of the fields was deemed too contrary to maximizing profits.
Now farmers must spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on farm equipment to produce inferior food products while acquiring an ever growing mountain of debt.
How is this "better"?

Or our reliance on steroids and antibiotics in our food production.
Sure the chickens and cows are bigger - but are they as good for us as the meat products of old?
Are we building a resistance to microbes that our bodies used to fight on their own?

And now we are told to wash our hands with anti-bacterial soaps to prevent Swine Flu.
But aren't all soaps already inherently anti-bacterial?
Are we also killing the good bacteria, microbes or germs? (Leaving us susceptible to illness from previously harmless - and possibly beneficial - germs.)
And in doing so (like most of what we call "progress") - has our 'solution' really caused an even bigger problem?
Have you read the warning labels on medicines?
Sometimes the illness seems a better alternative than the cure.

Black Test

Mr Jaycee brings up some good points on his post regarding when the line of being Black gets crossed.
http://achoiceofweapons.blogspot.com/2008/06/box-marked-other.html


Sure, everyone has their own definition of when one is black and when one is "Black".
(Sorry brohammas, but your daughter is Black.)
But many people who accuse Tiger of denying his Blackness do the same thing when they point out how "Ghetto" or "Hood" other Blacks can be.
Many of those same people would love to change places with Eldrick (sans white wife - or maybe even with).
Most Black sites do this (point out how they are not like those other Blacks whom they choose to ridicule).
But few understand that they are taking part in a mentality that has lead to failure after failure.
What makes some people just black (skinned) while others are Black?
And is this limited definition of Blackness really the cause of years of failure?

MV vs. PC

I hate to get all DV on y'all but...
Who is worse?

Is She Black

Soledad O'Brien ?

Robin Roberts ?

Hoda Kotb ?

Richelle Carey ?

Allison Stewart ?

All; are in the same medium, get national exposure, speak in SAE, and have parents whose ancestry can be traced back to Africa.

None (currently) live the lives of the average American - let alone the average Black American.

But are these women considered Black?

Soledad is of Irish and Cuban decent.

Robin Roberts can't escape her Creole connections.

Hoda is an Egyptian/American and raised in the South.

Richelle is just hot.

And Allison went to Brown.

But does any of this make any of these obviously attractive ladies (I have a thing for tall, lean, educated and pretty women.) - Black?

Black+"Ugly"+Chanequa = No Harvard Degree ?

So Chanequa Campbell gets dismissed from Harvard - Why?
Is it because she's Black?
Probably not.
Is it because does not look like Rihanna or Solidad O'Brien?
Probably not.
Is it because her name is Chanequa?
Probably not (Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama and Eldrick Woods all have uncommon names.).
Is it it the Vick/Pac Man Jones syndrome (When keeping it real goes wrong.?
Maybe.
But really it's a combination of all of the above.
When you have that much going against you (socially speaking) - you walk a tight rope.
Is it fair? Nope.
But that's just how things are. Sometimes one can just get caught up. (Kind of like being an overweight poorly spoken Italian man who lives in New Jersey - People are going to think "Mafia".)
Sometimes the images associated with one's public persona are often given more weight than one's accomplishments.
Was she involved with the murder?
I don't know.
But is her name, plus her looks, plus her race, plus her associations even more to blame?
More than likely, yes.

Are Ellen And Porcia Still Married

Yeah... Ellen and Porcia get to stay married.
The recent ruling of the California Supreme Court let stand the voter approved measure to deny the civil right of marriage to gay and lesbian couples.

But this is all that the courts could have done.
In re Marriage Cases deemed the California law preventing the recognition of marriage between same-sex couples unconstitutional.
But the anti-GLBT lobbyist thought that the courts had overstepped their limit of power and the measure went before the public in the hotly contested and controversial Prop.8.
After the voters decided to overturn the courts (as per the California constitution - Remember... Lex Rex (The law is king)), same-sex marriage again became illegal in the state.

The recent decision to let the couples who were married during the time it was legal, but to prevent any more marriages, is all the courts could have done.
Really, it's all the courts should have done.

So, according to the California Supreme Court, these lesbians can't get married in the state... for now.
Is that Bad?
(Okay, it's a gratuitous use of a lesbians photo here).


Nope.
If the courts would have ruled against Prop.8 - The time needed to sort through all of the legal wranglings would have taken up years of the process to recognize a civil right.
A civil right?
Yep - just not a Civil Right.
(IMO - The biggest problem with the marketing team at GLBT Central is in trying to make the case of same-sex marriage the same as the Civil Rights Movement of the '60s.)

Canada, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Spain and even South Africa recognize same-sex marriage.
Afghanistan has no need - there are no gays in that country.
The states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont (as of Sept. 1 '09), Maine (mid Sept. '09) and New Hampshire (with protection for religious institutions) all recognize same-sex marriage.
And New York recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.

California won't be far behind.
It's just that people don't like being told how they must think.
The people would rebel.
The courts made the right decision.

"Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man"...fundamental to our very existence and survival..." (Ruling in Loving v.)

Nope

Nope. Maybe she looked a little less 'fish' and a little too 'stud'.

Nope. Even though she has a Rachael Maddow look going for her.

Nope. W.A.S.P. is out of style.

Yes.

C'mon. You knew it was going to be a woman - and not a Black one.

Pamela Karlan, Elena Kagan and Kathleen Sullivan all had that part of the questionnaire down pat.

But the ideal candidate for the next Supreme Court Judge would have to fit as much of the imagined criteria possible for an "Inclusive" administration.

(Female, Lesbian, Ethnic and Atheist.)

Not that Sonia Sotomayor (or anyone else on the shortlist) is a lesbian or an Atheist - but she is an ethnic female.

Is it a form of Affirmative-Action?

Sure.

Is all Affirmative-Action beneficial to those it is intended to help?

I only have a thousands words in response to that.

Perfect Church

John 7:14 "Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the Temple, and taught"

Most people hate (or love) church because of the floor show.
"What was sister Bertha wearing today", or "Did you hear the choir?" are all most people can talk about after the services.
Most of the rhetoric has become a symbolic exercise done by rote.

But what about having a small building with one bible.
Everyone could take turns teaching and defending what they've learned in the past week.
There would be no official "leader" - only he who was appointed as having to teach on the topic given for that week.
The group could take up a collection to be given to any member of that group who may need financial assistance.
If no one could be found among them - they could decide on a charity or foundation to which to donate that week's collection.

Even if one discounts the ceremony and tradition involved in most formal contemporary churches - they could still take away moral, social or historical lessons from the newer (but seemingly original) versions of these sessions.
If an "unlearned" man such as Christ could just stand before the Temple during his times - when did we decide to give the power over our own salvation to "leaders" who don't know anything about our lives?
When did being a profitable church become more important than being prophetical?

Get A Job

Luke 16:3 - "...I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed."

It's not that there are no jobs; it's just that the jobs that people thought they wanted to do (and for a wage that they wanted to make) are drying up.

If you want to make $1000 a week in tax free cash - Just get a pair of knee pads and a couple of folding chairs and offer phalacio at ten dollars a head at the local truck stop.
Sure, just let Bubba rest his sweaty beer belly on the top of your head and have at it.
If you're a guy, you could probably charge more.

No, it won't end up like Julia Robert's character in Pretty Woman - but you're not Julia Roberts.
You need to make money - not just act like you need to make money.
So the problem isn't that there are no jobs - the problem is that there are no jobs that people want to do.
But that's why it's called work.
That's why you are being paid.
That's why they don't pay people to masturbate, or to sit on the couch eating bon-bons while watching the judge shows all day, or to get drunk or get high - unless you're on the public dole.

Ours is not really a lack of jobs issue - it's a lack of desirable jobs issue.
Who knows - maybe we'll be able to get good service at a fast food restaurant or gas station at some time in the near future.
But this is nothing new - even the guy in Luke had the same problem.

A Seminal Point In Time

When did everyone start believing that they could afford a life that could be featured on Robin Leach's show?
While only making $50k a year?
With both parents working?

When did it all start?
Some would say that we went through the same cycle of extravagance during the Roaring Twenties, or the Rockin' Fifties or the "Greed Is Good" 80's.

But our current economic downturn started in the 80's. (Reaganomics)
It was no longer acceptable to shop at J.C. Penny's Sears or Montgomery Wards.
"Designer" was the minimal expectation for even the poorest among us.

Crockett and Tubbs could afford a Ferrari or classic muscle car and to wear Yoji Yamamotto suits?
As cops?
And the woman who Eddie Murphy wanted so desperately to hook-up with in 48 Hours was cast as the "ugly" female cop?
The show even made Miami-Dade look glamorous.

Shows like Dallas and Dynasty brought the (fake) rich into most homes on a weekly basis.

MTV showed the world a lifestyle that many just imagined as occurring in some neighborhoods of Bel Aire.

Videos by groups like Duran Duran rolling on the Sri Lankan beaches with Black women now made international travel something to be desired by even those who were pirating their cable.

(Yeah... I liked Hungry Like The Wolf - but I really liked Late Bar (b/w of the Planet Earth 12")

Even Black people moved on up.

From Good Times to The Jeffersons - the next step was The Cosby Show.

It was no longer imagined that Blacks had to be aspirational -

Cosby even inspired a new generation of Blacks to imagine a life that included college (A Different World).

Obsession

Citizen Ojo said: "The American Dream is fallacy. It's an advertising tool for us to buy cars, homes, boats, plastic surgery and lord knows what else."

Blame Calvin Klein.
Calvin was smart enough to know that most people couldn't afford his Couture collection,
so he came up with a Pret a Porter line.
For those who couldn't afford a hundred dollar shirt - Calvin came out with a more affordable line of boxers and briefs with a more affordable price point of under twenty dollars.
But the real money maker was his fragrance line.
People who couldn't really afford to wear Calvins could wear Calvin's cologne.

Soon, everyone was fakin' da funk.
How many times have you seen a set of rims that were worth more than the car?

A lot of that Blang is really just blung.

A lot of it is rolled gold plate with a 10k clasp.

(Do I really need to go here?)

Blue eyed Black girls are not that common - but it is an option.

Sure, I like Asian hair.

It's so long and thick.

But it belongs on Asian women.

And what ever happened to the old fashioned usage of a toothbrush and dental floss?

Even homes are now made to "look just like" the real thing.

If I see another person spending tens of thousands of dollars on Melamine made to look like real wood...

Plastic Crown Molding?

The collapse of the economy should have been expected.

It was just an illusion of real wealth.

Okay... I Get It

That women 'flip' over a pair of Chrtian Louboutin's red soled shoes is easy to see when, recently, I took a look at my shoe closet.

What in the hell do I need with twenty seven pairs of mostly all white Nike Shox (17 white/10 other)?

About twenty pairs were gifts.

But did I really need twenty seven pairs?

Did that little blue lettering or patent leather trim or gold stitching really make that much of a difference?

After a recent trip to the Goodwill, I'm down to seven.

But it's a far cry from those K-Swiss classics that would always rub your Achilles tendon raw.

Funny thing is - K-Swiss, Fila and Elisee were meant as luxury brands.

But K's, 501's and a white Polo were the ghetto ballin' uniform.