The Boy Is Soft, America

A Little Dirt Doesn't Hurt

The bitch-assed-nigga who shot on-air former co-workers was a sissified punk.
Apparently the boy had been picked-on during his tenure at the same station.

Really?
By the time one becomes an adult one should be able to handle rejection.
By the time one becomes an adult he should be able to just move on and learn to stop identifying and dwelling upon his particular form of 'victimhood'.

Being different is what makes people great.
NOT fitting in is what sets people apart from the ordinary and mundane.
Being able to overcome setbacks is what makes ones successes even more satisfying.

But I just don't get this whole high-self-esteem/pampered/participation trophy/coddled generation.
When we'd get into a fight - we'd win or lose.
If we weren't good enough to make the team - we'd get cut (there was no such thing as a 'B' team).
When we messed up - we got our little bad asses whooped.
When we got teased - we had to learn to take or tell jokes.
When we went outside to play - we got dirty.
It was this exposure to dirt which built up our immune systems which helped us fight of illness later in life.
Maybe all these wanna-be-bad grown assed boys just needed to get a little bit dirty earlier in life.

Identifying as a Victim Creates MORE Victims.

I hate Single Women's Ministries.
Why? Because they seem to encourage women to stay single and dependent upon the Pastor - the bitter, divorced and single group leader - and the church.
If a woman wants to be trained in being a good wife - wouldn't it make more sense for her to inquire of the married members of the church?

It seems that Black churches are the most predatory in these teachings.
A single mother seems more impressed with and loyal to her pastor's sweet soothing words than she would be with a prospective husband's practical advice.
A single mother would fall for the whole, 'Name It and Claim It' misinterpretation of Biblical teachings and remain broke in doing so.
A single mother would rather listen to the 'You DESERVE the best' sermon instead of the 'YOU be your best (and the rest will fall into place)' sermon.
A single congregation will post photos and sayings on Facebook about their 'favor/blessings/destiny' but not be living a life which is in alignment with receiving such things.
A single mother could more easily be duped into tithing beyond what is right because her pastor puts on an entertaining show rather than teaches The Word.

But why would. Pastor do this?
'Money, status and power', come to mind.
How many of these Pimp Preachers would have what they have or be who they are if their whole congregation was actually Biblically literate and informed?
How many followers would these pastors have if they taught the words of Christ dealing with being virtuous beyond ones circumstances?

Like those who trade in racial tension, divisive politics, and/or 'Special Status' for persecuted LGBTs, etc...
These people NEED people to identify as victims in order for their 'leaders' to stay in power.

Black Lives Matter?

Power speaks to power - not it's victims.
Be careful what you fight for (and choose your friends and allies well) or you'll get stuck out on your own - even after you've 'won'.

Campaign Zero > Black Lives Matter

Ok, before all you useless African-American Studies majors get your panties in a bind - just hear me out.
BLACK LIVES DON'T MATTER - ALL LIVES MATTER.
(Now get back to writing/talking/complaining about change without having to do any of the hard work required to bring about any real and lasting change - you may be excused. Thank you.)

Black lives don't matter - not even to many other Black people.
Blacks are only 13% of the U.S. population. (Our numbers are not great enough to dictate our wants and desires on the national level.)
Ninety percent of Blacks are killed by other Blacks. These Black lives didn't matter.
Only 44% of Black mothers even bother to breast feed their babies. (The lowest rate among races or ethnic groups.) Many Black babies don't matter.
Seventy percent of Black children grow up in single-parent homes. Black families don't seem to matter.
The abortion rate for Blacks is twice the national average. The Black future doesn't matter even to Black people.
Sure, all lives matter but Black people will not understand this until Black lives matter to Black people.

IMOHO the BLM movement has run it's course - they are no longer useful in speaking on the national nor international levels.
The idea was good and the cause was just - but like the Million Man March or the Occupy Movement, they had no clearly stated goals or any means to accomplish anything beyond protest.
'The Counted' created by the Guardian counts ALL lives lost to the police in America, thus bringing attention to the larger systemic problem - while still not ignoring the almost exponential effect these practices have on the Black community.
Campaign Zero seems to going the same route. Their focus seems to be on the total problem not just on how this problem affects the relative few.
By bringing attention to the national problem, whites can see that the police issue affects their quality of life as well and will be more likely to side with justice.
Someone once paraphrased Klemens Von Metternich in saying that, 'When America sneezes, the whole world catches a cold.'. If this is still the case then; When America sneezes, it's minorities get pneumonia.

Power speaks to power - not it's victims.
BLM and the rest of the ockie-done Black movements have little to no real power - they need the likes of Campaign Zero and The Counted.
BLM came to the table as victims without focus or an agenda - Campaign Zero and The Counted stated their platforms from the start.
BLM were just a bunch of powerless angry negroes who could start a fight yet they seem too unprepared and too unqualified to finish it.

So, do Black Lives Matter? Of course they do, but not until we realize the ALL lives matter.

Campaign Zero > Black Lives Matter (Or; Black Lives DON'T Matter)

From the Abolitionist Movement of those like John Brown,

To the founding of the NAACP,

To the murders of white civil rights activists in Mississippi...

Black Lives NEVER Mattered.
What changed the hearts and minds of many was that white people were being killed or harmed in their efforts to fight for freedom for ALL.
It seemed that every fifty or so years we have this conversation.

Straight Outta' Lake Charles

Things must be getting pretty bad for old white curmudgeons when they start shooting at the Po-Po.

This Should Be Interesting...

Will 'Selma' director Ava DuVernay direct the upcoming MCU 'Black Panther' movie or won't she?
IMOHO - She should. (It would have the same impact as Uhura remaining on Star Trek. It would have shown a generation of minority children that we Blacks have a place in the future too.)
Stan Lee and Marvel have always made an attempt at creating and including Blacks in their books for decades. (And no, I'm not about the terribly missthought PC inclusion of a Black guy in the re-boot of the most recent 'Fantastic Four' studio effort.)
And a female and Black director at the helm  of a big-budget film would take Marvel's stance on inclusion to a whole other level.
Apparently Ms DuVernay has declined the studio's offer (which is a good position in which to be) but should the director have put her own interests aside in order to open the gates for others in this white male dominated field?

I used to read comic books back in the day but I have yet to read a single 'Black Panther' issue.
I don't know why, I just never needed a color model in order to self-identify with an ideal.
If a character possessed the requisite virtues to which I had hoped to aspire then that was all that mattered.
But upon reading about the Panther, maybe I should give him a look.

Apparently there came a time when all the leaders of all the major MCU teams (Avengers, Fantastic Four, Inhumans, X-Men,....) came together to form a secret group called the Illuminati.
The Black Panther was asked to join this all-stars of the all-stars group but he would walk away.
Sure he would support these different groups and their members as well as fight against them - depending on whether he believed in what each group (and this super group) were trying to accomplish.
The Black Panther was all about freedom and being a member of some secret all-powerful group went against his character.
Said to be the 8th smartest person in the world, the Panther could see where the creation of such a group would do more harm than good.
(I think his wife (Storm from the X-Men) would have been an interesting member of this group - she has already worked with most of the other member's teams)

'Black Panther' and the 'Illuminati'?
This sounds like a conspiracy theorist's wet dream.

Shut Up Craig...

I know you got jokes...

Umm... NO Thank You

Everyone likes to feel attractive to the opposite sex - some prefer the same sex.
But not me.
"Everyone loves John.", is a common statement heard around town.
My newest liquor-rep stated that, 'Even my white stores get excited and mention that they know/have me you.'

Now, I have a bartender - a tall, fit, fine and pretty girl.
She likes when I work the bar because she has to work less, everyone asks for me to make their drinks and she gets to keep the larger tips.
'Even my boyfriend makes it a point to stop by to see you when he's in town. These nigga's have man crushes.', she said.

I just laughed at her taunting.
I thought I was just a cool dude.
Every good bartender has groupies.
I thought the guys wanted to be around to meet the women that I turn down - and that IS the case (MOST of the time).

Apparently I have a large groupie following of male prison inmates.
I was informed of this by a group of prison gaurds who frequent my spot.
Ummm.. I've been raped before (All Summer long by a group of thirteen year old girls when I was eight years old.) but I doubt that what these dudes have in mind would quite be the same experience.

W.W.A. Straight Outta' London

Back in my Rude Boy days we always seemed to get along with the Teds.
(Well the Southern California incarnation of these British style tribes..)
By this time; Punk had been taken over by racist Skin Heads, New Romanticism was moving towards Goth, Soul Boys were mainstream Pop, and Hip Hop was just beginning to gain traction.

With the release of the NWA bio-pic, some are concerned that negroes will not be able to compose themselves in a civilized social setting.
If only Blacks could remember how perfect everything was before Hip-Hop, Integration and Obama.
If only we could go back to a time when Rock-n-Roll was the REAL music of choice, when the UK was the great example we all should follow.

It's odd that this movie would spark riots in movie theatres across the UK and that the Teddy Boys were given the blame.

The Machine Always Wins?

By always being at the club, my sleep hours are terrible.
Sometimes I have to go on a movie binge to wind down.
This weekend I watched three films dealing with the potential of A.I. ; 'Automata', 'Chappie' and 'Ex Machina'.
'Automata' attempts to be 'Bladerunner' but fails in every way.
'Chappie' is cute and more family (even with the R-rating - well, all of these films are rated R) friendly.
'Ex Machina' is probably the most thought provoking.

The Baddest Bitch in the Marvel Universe?

Storm has been a member of the three biggest Marvel franchises (and several other smaller and lesser known teams).
(I think only Namor Sub-Mainer has been on more teams.)
Storm has been the leader and/or in The X-Men, The Fantastic Four and The Avengers.
She's even squared off against The Silver Surfer.
The sista' is working harder than Sam Jackson.

Metics in America

Of course Black Lives Matter - ALL lives matter.
( pimppreacher.com wrote an essay citing sources stating that twice as many whites are killed in police custody as are Blacks )
But there is nothing new under the sun and the abuse of power by some of today's police officers is just another of those old-new things.