I Hear Banjo Music

Accusations against Roy Moore - the GOP's US Senate hopeful from Alabama (And founder of Foundation for Moral Law ?) - that he initiated sexual contact with a then 14 year old are being defended by Breitbart and others on the right using examples found in the Bible and past age of consent laws in the state at the time

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Age of Consent varies by state and each state has it's own exceptions (sometimes contradictory) to their these laws.

When I was 14, I knew a girl named Sophia who was 12.

When she'd come to the community pool, we'd avoid her as though she had the cooties.

The thing was, she looked and was built like Pam Grier - at TWELVE!

For horny teenaged boys - she was just too much.

We'd heard stories that she had already been sexually active but to us she was just too young.

Except for our homeboy Willie.

Willie didn't care.

Willie did what we all thought about but that we could not bring ourselves to actually doing.

Willie came back and told us about how he had gotten together with the girl.

'Man, she's in the sixth grade!?', we'd reply.

For the whole while the girl lived in our complex she became our 'little sister'.

Our job was then to protect her from all the older guys trying to hook-up with her.

We teamed her up with an older girl named Stephanie (another bodied-up and pretty - but age appropriate for us - girl) who was tasked with keeping the young girl out of trouble.

Willie was shunned and teased for his indiscretion and no excuses were made to justify his actions.

We were kids,

in the hood - and we knew what was right and what was wrong.

Heard Any Good Jokes Lately?

What someone does in private with another (or many) consenting adult(s) is none of my business - I have ninety-nine problems of my own to worry about...

But when did just whipping it out and masturbating in front of an imposed-upon woman become the go-to move?

Did these men think such a thirsty act would convince these women (and in some cases, men) that they were somehow missing out on something good?

That if they could only see what they were missing, only then would they become convinced that these men were desirable?

It was just over twenty-five years ago when Paul Rueben's career came crashing down after police interrupted his 'personal time' in a Sarasota, Florida adult theatre.

I'm not saying his 'hole in a bucket of popcorn' move was the most elegant, but no one else was violated. 

Many in Hollywood shunned Pee-Wee.

But not Bill Cosby.

Hmmm, go figure.

Louis C.K., Bill O'Reilly, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Steven Seagal, Dustin Hoffman, Brett Ratner, Jeremy Piven, Andy Dick, and a litany of other high-profile coaches, bosses and politicians (even down to George H W Bush) have all made #MeToo into a rallying cry for women to out men for past indiscretions. 

These days, even in an extremely censorious environment, Pee Wee's indiscretion would be back page news.

Why Does Africa Fail?

Let's dismiss 'scientific' reasons for now.

It's too big.
It's too diverse.
There are too many different ethnicities.
There is no one single religious belief...

All those things may be true but the primary reason Africa fails is that it cannot unite.
The continent has all of the natural resources required for many of its countries to become global players on the world stage - yet they just can't seem to get their shit together.

Myanmar Gaddafi wanted to change all that.
He was dictator, sure - but hard times call for hard leaders.
His calls for a United Africa and his plan to create an African Dinar to replace the Euro and American Dollar were just too much.

But this is not an African thing.
It's not even a Black thing.
The main goal of power is to obtain even more power - by any means necessary.

Like MLK and his Poor People's Campaign - Gaddafi's concept of giving more power to the people who should actually control their local resources was a threat to the establishment's power structure.
As soon as a player can no longer be controlled, they are of no use to the owners and then they are summarily dismissed or eliminated.

Okay, this isn't really about Africa, but America.
The Democrats in particular.

The Democrat party has nothing to hold them together.
Latinx issues are not women's issues.
Women's issues are not LGBTQ issues.
LGBTQ issues are not Black issues.
And so on and so forth,...

The Republican party has something greater than hate to hold them together - they have fear.
Fear of  their White Privilege no longer entitling them to a better life than their parents.
Fear of disparate groups coming together and treating them the way they treated these groups in the past.
Fear of their hallowed institutions and beliefs becoming obsolete.
Fear, is the strongest tool in Trump's repertoire.

Race, in many cases, doesn't matter.
Obama won the election because he promised 'hope'.
People recognized that the country was broken and Obama (as a perceived outsider) was just the man to fix it.
But a president is not a dictator and Obama's hope did not translate to action.
Sure, Obama bailed out the banks,
but he should have bailed out the people.
Sure the stock market improved, but people's bank accounts didn't.
Sure, we had a Black man in the country's highest office,
but this didn't help the Black man in the hood.
Obama proved to be the safe bet for the elites.
(And I have no problem with the elites - I aspire to be one one day.)

As soon as Americans begin to focus on the good of all (even those different from ourselves) and not the illusion of a two-party system - maybe then we will be able to get things done.
As soon as we can put our petty differences aside and begin to focus on what's really important to each individual (Abortion rights, Gay Marriage, or whatever... I don't have dogs in those fights so they're not divisive or definitive issues for me.), maybe then things will change for the better.

Trump is not the answer.
Trump is the new dog with the same fleas and I expect nothing to change for the better.
The real agent of change will represent the little people - all of the little people - and he'll create real problems for the establishment.
Then again, the real change agent will probably be assassinated.

Jan Shedd

Things are a-changin' and many who won in the past will not win in the future.

Many who won by default in the past cannot compete in the present.

It seems that some Tea Party members are not comfortable in accepting their displacement.

It seems that some still hold onto a Twiggy or Audrey Hepburn ideal of beauty (Which is still attractive but it's a level of beauty she could never attain.) and they fail to embrace the more rubenesque body type favored by many men today.

Ms Shedd took to social media in an attempt to throw shade on the thick Dallas weather-bae Demetria Obilor.

But social media wasn't hearing it and no f's were given.

The thing Ms Shedd failed to realize, across almost all racial lines, is that BODY is in.

Ms Obilor resembles J-Lo, Kim-K and Beyonce - today's ideals of beauty.

Racially ambiguous, thick women with curves and a flat stomach are winning.

Ms Shedd failed to realize that she is now deemed obsolete.

Planned Obsolescence (I Blame the Kardashians)

The days of the WASP-dominated media created American may be over.

Sure, they still run things,

but to them - they're slowly being replaced.

And to a point, they are correct.

Gone are the days of the (mostly) virtuous, disciplined, strong-willed leaders.

They've been replaced by thin-skinned, languid and feckless imitators of manhood.

They've been replaced by those who see themselves as victims.

To them, they are being replaced by people who look and act nothing like them.

I blame the Kardashians.

The Kardashian women range from young and thin to mature and thick.

But they're all rich and represent the social exceptionalism most Americans once strived to obtain.

They live the lifestyle most Americans used to aspire to.

For many, they helped to redefine what is considered 'attractive' in America.

And a Kardashian/Jenner woman with a white guy is about as common as a sensible Trump minion.

Even the family's men have deviated from their social programming.

Robert Kardashian helped get a Black man acquitted of killing a blonde white woman.

Jr. knocked-up a sista'.

And Bruce became 'Caitlyn'.

The world is a-changing and it's all the Kardashian's fault.

The Ninth Commandment

If history has taught us anything, the whole Air Force Academy - Racist Graffiti Hoax will not end well for anyone.

Apparently the hoax was perpetrated by a Black cadet in an attempt to deflect attention away from his own previous misconduct at the institution.

The cadet has since been dismissed from the academy but the damage to himself is already done.

It was a little over ten years ago (2006) when Crystal Magnum falsely accused Duke LaCrosse Players of rape.

The judge in the case was a little too anxious to put forth a 'Poor Black Female Victim v. Elite White Males' narrative on the case.

The media jumped all over the story.

Mike Nifong (The judge in the case.) has since been debarred and has spent time in jail.

Crystal Magnum is now serving time for the murder of her then boyfriend.

Karma is a bitch.

It was thirty years ago (1987) that the Reverend Al made his career.

The rotund polemical race baiter presented Tawana Brawley to the media in a case that would gain national attention.

The Good Rev continued to use racial issues to further his career until employers and consumers deemed him obsolete.

Ms Brawley (aka - Thompson or Gutierrez) is now a nurse who owed the former state prosecuting attorney $191,000.00. (With the 9% interest the amount has swelled to a whopping $413,000.00.)

And now this (currently) unknown cadet.

I know those who wrote his reference letters to the academy are regretting their support.

I know fakehatecrimes.org are having a field day.

Lt. Gen. Silverman should be fine. He handled the case with a stern yet cool hand so his reputation and career should remain intact.

'Crying Wolf' doesn't often turn out the way it does in cartoons.

Same as it Ever Was

Legal drug use has always been a problem in in America.
From those suffering from morphine addiction after catching 'Army Disease' during and after the civil war,
to the commonly prescribed Valium during the tumultuous Sixties,
to over prescribed ADHD medications in the nineties,
and everything in between and since - many Americans have looked to prescription drugs to relieve their common angst.

Protesting the Protesters

Maybe if Papa John's offered better products they wouldn't see their sales decline.
Pizza Hut and Domino's haven't posted anything about the NFL boycotts affecting their business.

But help me, I'm confused.
While I initially failed to see the benefit of Colin Kaepernick's National Anthem protest - it has raised awareness of the racial and cultural divides that exist in America today.
But who is protesting/boycotting whom and why?

Kaepernick was protesting the National Anthem ceremony until the country could deal with the disparity in protection under the law and the unequal application of that law.
The Alt-Right is boycotting in protest to the Kaepernick-led NFL player protests.
Black people are asked to protest the NFL in response to the NFL's treatment of Kaepernick.
And some church groups, women's groups and others are protesting the NFL for a myriad of personal social justice issues.

I'm boycotting the NFL as well.

The rules have changed.

I'm boycotting until they once again allow the hard hits and stop coddling the quarterbacks.

Corrupt Kids

Recently, I was on SeeNew's page and noticed this Musical Chairs video used to illustrate a point.
Silly childhood games.
Or are they?

As I watched the video I was reminded of my old techniques.
I'd 'cheat'.
See the biggest kid in the video?
The one who seems to be taking over?
This would be my target.

Usually the strong overestimate the value of strength and they fail to defend.
I'd play behind this kid in an attempt to take him out of the game early.
This kid would often assume that because he was bigger and stronger that he could take the seat away from anyone in front of him - most of the time, he was right.
While he was constantly battling what was in front of him, I'd attempt to slide into the seat that was open right behind him but would also slide right under him if he attempted to retreat back if the seat in front of him was taken.

Or we'd team-up to eliminate people we didn't like.

I'd curry favor with the other kids after having eliminated the biggest threat so any subsequent ties would be awarded to me based on the voting of those already eliminated.

It seemed that most of my teachers offered rewards for doing well.
I'd acquire, save and trade these prizes to get what I wanted.
I had boxes of won school supplies and toys in my cubbyhole. I'd have earned credits for pizza days, McDonald's lunches, and ice cream coupons.
I'd use these prizes (or the possibility of sharing these prizes) as bribes to get what I wanted.

I wasn't the best at anything but I was pretty good in everything.
I'd use friendships to create enemies and I'd use enemies to create allies.
I don't recall being popular - it was just that all my friends were the most popular.
Maybe I was just popular-adjacent?
Maybe it was my ability to just walk away from people and perceived status that made the popular kids want to hang out with me. I don't know, I still can't figure out why people still view me as one to be around.

The main club just had our relaunch this past weekend. Sections and bottles were presold, people were turned away, the concerts went off without a hitch, politicians and VIPs were catered to and money was made.

The thing is: I still use many of the same skills from childhood games in my adult life.
I still manipulate, feign weakness, use popularity as a weapon, and 'cheat' and 'bribe' to get what I want.
Maybe those childhood games weren't so silly after all.
Maybe those games were intended to teach us normative adult business behaviors.