i.q.

Is 'intellegence' measured by the ability to manipulate conditions to benefit oneself? (Short term)

 Or is it the ability to adapt to conditions to benefit oneself? (Long term)

Vanity Kills

Deodorant - Aluminum (Alzheimer's)
Shampoo - Parabens (Breast Cancer), SLS (Immune System Damage)
Toothpaste - Sodium Fluoride
Lip Gloss and Lotions - Prevent the natural shedding of dead skin
Perfumes - Alcohol base kills good bacteria.

Is our reliance on too many products the cause of the rise of diseases?
If 'Global Warming" has reached a tipping point for the Earth - maybe we're experiencing the Gaia effect on our own biological eco-system.

Dead Cities

1910 Census
New York City
Chicago
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Boston
Cleveland
Baltimore
Pittsburgh
Detroit
Buffalo

Some social observers blame the demise of cities, such as Detroit, on the increase in government aid, minority populations and immigration.
The thing is, these factors only rise once the original population has strip mined the area for most of it's natural resources.Once these areas are depleted of all it's natural resources (which also includes innovation, originality and artistic talents), the areas then become affordable enough to attract those belonging to the lower classes.

1810 Census
New York
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Boston
Charleston
Northern Liberty, PA
New Orleans
District of Southward, PA
Salem, Mass.
Albany, NY

Populations are still migratory.
Notice how New York City remains at the top of the list.
New York succeeds because New York continues to attract immigrants who enable the city to reinvent itself through the influx of new cultures and ideas.

2010 Census
New York City
Los Angeles
Chicago
Houston
Philadelphia
Phoenix
San Antonio
San Diego
Dallas
San Jose

The same could be said of Chicago.
'Culture' is a more important factor than is 'race' in determining the vibrancy of a city.
Of the country's largest cities - most can attribute their growth to immigration as being the primary factor.

New York also grew by annexation - the same could be said of Philadelphia.
Of the cities listed 200 years ago - three of them are now a part of Philadelphia.

I once thought of cities such as Kansas City, St. Louis, New Orleans, and  many other cities in the North or in industrial areas as being necessary for America to prosper.
But maybe Detroit has just run it's course as far as being a major American City is concerned.
Maybe the future lies in warmer areas where there is still (almost) clean water and farm able land.

You Can't Handle It

Chances are - you could not handle getting everything you wanted.
NASCAR uses a restrictor plate to reduce speeds at it's races and to lower the chances of deadly crashes.
Addictions, fame, wealth, an overabundance of food, big houses, pimped-out cars, bling, and status would kill you.
If you cannot handle what you already have without being jealous, spiteful or arrogant - why would you expect to be given more of what you ask? 
If you are unteachable with a little - you would not heed wisdom with a lot.
"Want" is the restrictor plate used by nature.

The worst case scenario would be that wherein one has more 'fans' than friends - when no one can tell you nothin'.
The best case scenario is that wherein one might end up sans-teeth for breaking the social codes of any given group.
This is where one finds true happiness.
(Notice; The Fishbone cameo in the Pepper's video?)

Replace the man of which Mary J. Blige sings with anything - piety, wealth, fame, status, anything...
Her conclusion is that she has to matter to herself - that her happiness begins with herself and not in some outside source.

@ Miss AJ

One of my all-time favorite movies is Australia.
The treatment of the indigenous and mixed-race people portrayed in the movie has been repeated the world over.
My mother's side of the family (Native American/Spanish) had their acculturation/assimilation done at the Judson Academy in Arizona.
My father's side went through the same thing with the Catholic Church organizations in Louisiana.
It seems that the Spaniards wanted to eliminate any remnants of being part-Native American while the French wanted to mitigate any vestiges of being of African descent.
(But this is not the point behind this post.)

Former rockers such as Joe Strummer formed the Mescaleros, Peter Gabriel has worked with Deep Forest, while many others have also set out to find the most basic and pure forms of music by using indigenous music from all over the world.
Q; (While it predates Motown) Would the music of the Aborigines be a form of the original Soul Music?

"If All You Care About Is Yourself...

...All you'll have is yourself.", I explained to the former owners of the club.
Yeah... I understand that one should be able to stand on his own two feet  but I also understand that one cannot do everything by himself all the time - sometimes we need help.
'Nosce te ipsum' does not mean that one should always do everything alone.

 The best case scenario is to have a crew of capable individuals.
While many may remember the "Cool Walk" scene of Reservoir Dogs,

Others will remember the even cooler "Cool Walk" scene of the original Oceans 11.
Each member of this crew was the shit in his own right but they could overcome almost impossible odds by working together.

Between my liquor reps, professional athletes who happen to be back to town, local media personalities and sales reps, business owners and politicians - my club stays packed.
Most days of most weeks I get free shouts out from media personalities relating how much they enjoyed coming to my club.
Most days of most weeks I get - and then pass along - passes or tickets to events which I'm too busy to attend.
(Those receiving these tickets then end up hooking me up in what ever way they can - it's a seemingly endless cycle for which I am the current hub.)

I'm not the best financed club owner in town - but I do manage to get others to play for me.
I'm the Tim Tebow (Lacking any great talent but able to win by getting the team to play together.) of club owners.

Is Country Music, Soul Music?

 Ray Charles thought so,

And so did "Hootie".
Both genres were heavily influenced by Gospel music - although from different (yet similar) perspectives.

Poor Black parishioners were not singing hymnals in a way to which they could relate.
Many added beats and sounds from their native lands in an effort to refine their music (prayers) to suit their own ears.
Poor white ethnic parishioners (not part of The Establishment) added sounds and beats from their own lands to their services as well.
Maybe Dolly Parton is correct when she states that Country Music is Soul Music.

Soul Music

 Many of today's most popular female artists paid tribute to American Soul Music in VH1's most recent incarnation of it's Diva's series.
The one interlude which caught my eye was the Soulboy/Casual piece which brought up the 80's New Wave of acts who dominated early MTV by selling Black music back to the States presented by mostly white people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulboy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casuals

Wham, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, Simply Red, ABC, Human League, Heaven 17... The list of British Soulboys/Casuals reads like a "Best of MTVVH1" list.
Odd... When a culture seems to be on the verge of dying, it is only with the injection of Soul that it can be saved.

If Music is Prayer...

Matthew 6:7 - "But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking."

If birds can sing, are they praying as well?
Well... sometimes...
At other times they may just be reciting vain repetitions.
Check out SeeNew (Subrealism);
http://subrealism.blogspot.com/2011/12/neurobiology-of-vocal-communication.html

If birds seem to have activated genes which would allow them to communicate with each other using some type of musical language - is this how humans began to speak?

Some point to babies dancing to Hip-Hop or R&B as being proof of some type of 'Global Black Superemacy'.
These forms of music are often thought of as being simplistic and unintelligent.
But like Barney or The Doodlbops - maybe this type of music manages to communicate on a deeper and more primal level.
Maybe this is a just a visceral response demonstrated by babies.
Maybe these tones and beats remind them of their mother's heartbeat - the life source beat.
As we pray in an effort to get back to God, to a time before we were born - maybe music is the Innocent's method for searching for his perfect past as well.
Maybe music is true prayer.

Money Changers

I have a cousin who works for The Dallas area Bishop.
"Oprah is coming, do you want me to save you a seat?" she asked recently.
I understand the need for church, I even like church - but all too often I view many churches as being more about appearance than content.

Mosques, temples and churches have always been grand in an effort to affect a sense of 'otherness'.
When one entered traditional places of worship he would put off his worldly persona in favor of his deeper and more true self.
These days one feels as though he is entering the lobby of a Las Vegas casino.

If a guy has a television show - chances are, I'm not going to be attending his services.
If the church has a book stores and gift shops selling their latest CD's and DVD's  - I don't think I'll be going there either.
If there is an ATM in the lobby - the church is more concerned with it's profits than it is with The Prophets.
  (Okay..., New IRS rules now require a paper trail of more than a diary entry to verify gifts under $250, so this may seem like more of a convenience to some. But I never fill out the paperwork when paying tithes or making offerings. "But we need you to fill this out so we know how much you gave us.", church members tell me. "I'm not giving you the money I'm giving it to God and He knows what I've given.", I say as I walk out the door. I don't believe in donating as a tax write off.)
If the Pastor, Bishop or church leader goes on a national tour in a private jet - his is not the church for me.

If the Christian Era began while most of the rest of the world failed to notice - maybe the Mayans are correct.
Maybe 2112 will be the end of our current era.
Maybe things have gotten so bad that we deserve to have our beliefs, governments and institutions destroyed.

Football Prayers

 What's the big deal about Tim Tebow and his praying habits?
I'm no Tim Tebow fan - I was a Chris Leak fan though.
But if Tim is more of a motivational leader than he is a stereotypical NFL quarterback - so what?
Tebow may loft floating ducks instead of launching tight spirals - but the guy wins games.
Dan Marino could light up the box-scores but he failed to win a single Superbowl in seventeen seasons - and in the NFL, winning is everything.

 The players, fans and media expect football players to act more like Ndamukong Suh.
The NFL is thought of as being a league of sinners not

 Saints.

 But one does not have to be a Saint in the NFL in order for them to pray - other teams pray and thank God as well.

 One would expect a school like Notre Dame to nickname this mural, "Touchdown Jesus" - it is a Catholic school after all.

Prayer by entertainers is nothing new.

Watch any awards show and one will see more winners thanking God than he will see them thanking spouses.

Lolo Jones Tweeted, "How To PRAY;  P-raise God for what He has done. R-equest what you need. A-sk Him for forgiveness. Y-ield your life to his plan."

Athletes pray all the time.

Does God care whether you make a deadline at your job, whether you get to work on time, whether you get a promotion, or whether you even get the job to begin with?

Yet many people pray for these things all the time and most have no problem expecting God to answer them..  

 In this photo - was Barry Bonds;
a) High on Steroids?
b) Looking at the Top of the Golden Gate Bridge?
c) Thanking God?

Tim Tebow's hype has as much to do with his being the antithesis of someone like Michael Vick as it does with his throwing arm.
While both have their potential as long-term NFL quarterbacks questioned because each is just as likely to run as he is to pass - only one is seen as marketable.
If one wishes to put horns on Vick, he is just as likely to place a nimbus around the head of Tebow.

Insecurity Guard

I hate taking risks but I tend to do so anyway.
A professor once told me that I possess this trait because I am insecure.
He stated that I take big risks because there is no chance of my losing anything.
If I accomplish my goal - great.
If I fail - I was attempting the impossible anyway so there is really nothing lost.

I prefer easy wins but I tend to avoid them.
I like the rush of the come from behind victory.
It's not only important that I win but I seem to focus more on the way I win.
I'll try to position myself to have every tactical advantage but I tend to help my opponent improve his own skills during any given battle.

I'm a Cancer, an anomaly, a heretic... and I should be destroyed.
There is a natural flow to things, a traditional way of doing things and the establishment always rules.
But I cannot constrain myself to being part of the pack - even if given a leadership position.
I upset the cart, cause problems and stir the pot.
There is no reason we should become soft, luke-warm beings who have lost the God-given life which makes us unique.

I get whooped... A LOT.
I've lost fights, lost money, lost friends,... lost everything - yet I keep coming back.
Competition should be desired.
Moves are sometimes helpful.
Resistance builds strength.
Riches and comfort are the enemy of progress.

Cancers are 'cured', anomalies are 'corrected' or misunderstood, and heretics are burned - why would I expect to gain the approval of those who desire comfort and riches?
Why should I expect accolades from those who see me as being the problem I am?

I don't seek to be gaudy, ostentatious, bombastic, showy, grandiloquent nor pompous - I'm just trying to be a 'regular guy'.
But trying to fit in is the opposite of what those who seek to stand apart from or above others do.
Doesn't the media teach us that we are all suposed to be Super-Stars?

Maybe I lack the self-esteem to see my real value.
Maybe I'm too insecure to set myself above others.
Maybe I need to hang out with more self-proclaimed Divas, Kings and/or Queens.
Maybe I need a false title as well.
Maybe that professor was right.


http://subrealism.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-abuse-changes-childs-brain.html

The Next Financial Bubble?

Many consider education as the best possible means of bettering ones life.
But is the cost of  'education' even worth it?

Bill Gates (In a Black Enterprise magazine interview) proposes that school districts run their schools the same way sports franchises run their teams. (He is against tenured teachers retaining their jobs when they consistently fail to produce the desired results.)
He says that spending per student has increased dramatically over the past thirty years while results have remained flat.
He noticed that there are more than twice as many adults being paid to educate (per student) as there were thirty years ago.
Mr. Gates also points out that some school districts in New Jersey spend as much as $25,000.00 per student yet these districts cannot outperform some districts in Utah which only spend $6,000.00 per student.
Money alone is not the answer to a better eduction.

Then there is college...
As student loan debt is approaching one trillion dollars - it is second only to mortgage debt as the being the biggest personal debt held by many Americans.
Since 70% of student loan debt is sponsored by the US Government (taxpayers) - should we be concerned?
The average price of a four year public university education has increased more than 128% in the past thirty years while the financial value of such an education has decreased. 

Since the value of public school K-12 education is decreasing while the costs continue to increase - at what point does the taxpayer decide that the public school monopoly is also "Too Big to Fail" and that this monopoly should be broken?
At what point does the taxpayer decide that funding student loans for college is not worth driving the market price for such an education?
If 'education' is no longer worth the ever-increasing price tag - is education the next financial bubble?

Too Much Competition ?

"You work like a Mexican.", a guy from a construction crew said to me.
My young cousins hear the same thing when they do work for other construction crews.
Their experiences in hiring their friends (and friends of friends) has led them to believe many of the negative stereotypes of the 'Lazy Black Worker'.
"They always want to come to work late and leave early", one said.
"They're  always talking on their phones when it's time to work.", said his brother.
"They always want to get paid early.", "...get paid more for doing less work." and "..want to borrow money." were also complained about.
"But Mexicans WORK!", they concluded.

I had to explain that they work hard and don't do any of those things.
"But you wouldn't let us.", said one.
"Exactly. You had to be taught how to work like you were the owner - not as though you were just waiting for a pay check.", I replied. 
"Most people who own a business don't have the extra time or money to acclimate their employees to a competitive market. Most cannot afford to teach what should have been taught in ones childhood. Most of the Mexicans you see in trades have been doing those jobs alongside their fathers since their childhoods. They were brought up working hard... not being spoiled by their grandmothers.", I continued.
"Just hire the best workers you can find while still being able to make a profit.", I concluded.
"I'm hiring Mexicans.", they each said.

Later in the week, one cousin complained that his friends were saying that he was becoming 'Bougie"and that he "Thought he was white".
"This is a common complaint heard from those who cannot compete." I said.
"These same people complain about Slavery when they have never picked a bag of cotton in their lives. These people blame every failure on racism when in reality they are not even qualified to be discriminated against predicated on race.". I continued.
"Sometimes you just have to move along and leave these people behind.", I concluded.

I don't think these young men were satisfied with my response.
I think that they still believe that they can make a difference in the lives of others.
(Naive little kids...(SMH))

Too Much Competition ?

"You ruined the price for pussy...", someone once said as I gave a few hookers enough money and a ride to a nearby Walgreens so they could buy a few things for themselves and their kids.
No, not toys but things like formula, diapers, toilet paper, soap,... .
These women are not attractive to me in any way whatsoever - they just each had a need.

In giving these women money, I allowed them to raise their prices for sexual favors.
If they could get money from me for doing nothing - they should be able to get more if they are required to do something.
It seems that I am not a welcome sight to the guys who use the services of these women - I've heard the same complaint before from many other men in the area.
It's just odd to me that many people who complain about being victimized by others are the same people who take advantage of the poor circumstances and conditions of others.

Too Much Competition ?

"There are too many fine women at your club", someone said to me as I was visiting another club recently.
The reputation of my club is that it is 'Too Bougie" and that the women there require too much effort.
Other - less attractive - women complained that they never get asked to dance while in my club.
This wouldn't seem to be a problem but in smaller markets like mine one has to have as broad an audience as possible.
My crossover success in attracting whites, Hispanics and Asians has also raised the level of competition within the club.

There are more fat, under-educated and unattractive (by most standards) women in this market than are are those who could do well in most  bigger cities.
The market here is primarily one of lower-class Blacks,
of overweight women.
of desperate and underachieving men.
Most men who do well in other clubs tend to fail miserably in mine.
The largest market in this small town is one which is not accustomed to making much effort.

Is This How "Faith" Works?

Later in the cartoon, Bugs bunny is knock unconscious.
It is in this state that happenstance, luck, providence, or whatever occurs so that no harm comes to the bunny even when calamity should have been expected.