Paris Hilton at the Coffee Bean

Britney Spears gets inspiration from Michael Jackson CDs

Jenny Frost hitches up her long red dress to party after awards bash

Because I'm The King

Yesterday, an old woman I check on everyday quipped; "You're supposed to be here to help me - not to pick up my grand kids (great grand kids) from school. That's what my daughter pays you for."
When I told her that her daughter doesn't pay me - "Why would you do all this everyday for free?", was her reply.
"Because there is a need.", I said.

Yes, I'm the king.
The King Of Lazy.
Back when I used to wait on tables, I developed the habit of trying to make other waiters and bussers better.
Being that I was the new guy at the restaurant, I got stuck on the sorry shifts with the sorry workers.
You see, I could handle my tables and make money, but it seemed that many other waiters were always "In the weeds" (overwhelmed).
Because these guys and girls were sorry, they'd often require help - which took time away from me making tips.

There were two remedies for the problem.
One; Become even better and faster to enable myself to handle the responsibilities of mine and those around me.
Two; Teach those around me the skills to be better at their job (maybe even becoming good enough to help me when I needed it).
Being that I was The King Of Lazy, option Two seemed the most likely and the most profitable (for all involved).

Why do I try to help people better themselves?
Because I'm too lazy to do everything myself.

Like A Fellini Movie

Oingo Boingo once had a song titled; "Little Girls".
I liked the song, but I had no idea what it was about.

Are we the New Rome?
Let's go down the truncated list.
- The Catholic Church settles the cases with little boys who were molested by priests.
- R. Kelly knows that was him in that video pissing on that little girl.
- Michael Jackson's sins of "affection" seemed forgiven after his death.
- Push deals with a poverty stricken overweight girl and her troubles in dealing with her babies born to her incestuous father.
- And now Roman Polanski is arrested in Switzerland after thirty years on the run after being convicted of drugging and raping a thirteen year old girl.

Damn... this is was Danny Elfman was talking about?

All Too Common

While this beating death of a teen was caught and recorded on a camera phone - most are not.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/08/chicago.teen.beating/

But the thing is; this happens all the time.
Boys are taught from an early age that they must be aggressive.
That they must dominate instead of being dominated.
But the thing that is not being taught is when to be aggressive and when to stop before things go too far.

Back in the day, my youngest brother (a Blood) was involved in a gang fight with a group of opposing Crips.
He ended up in a coma for a few months but he lived.
The thing is; within the week after the gang fight, two of the most vocal Crips ended up dead and the others in jail.

Was I mad at the Crips?
No, not really.
I always told my brothers that the games they chose to play would have a huge impact on the events in their lives.
This time, it was just my brother's turn to be on the receiving end of a beat down.
It was just part of that game.
(And for the Crips, that was just part of the game too.)

Kids fight.
That's it.
Anyone who has gone to a hood school knows and expects this.
The days leading up to any break (Christmas, Spring, Summer,...) are often filled with fights and people getting jumped for something they'd earlier said or done, or sometimes for being in the right place at the wrong time.
And with crowds often encouraging such behavior, things often escalate to the point of death.

Is this beating case anomalous?
Nope.
These kids were taught and encouraged to act this way.
Sadly, it's all too common.

No, It's Not Neverland Ranch

It seems that life will continue, even without the presence of humans.
Just take a look at these photos of Chernobyl taken more than twenty years after their nuclear disaster;
http://villageofjoy.com/chernobyl-today-a-creepy-story-told-in-pictures/

It's not that a nuclear holocaust will kill the Earth - the Earth will recover.

It's just that any surviving humans will have huge quality of life issues.

Big Black Guy

When I was a kid, the worst thing that could happen to a guy was to loose a fight.
But even worse than this was losing a fight to a girl.
And even worse than that was losing a fight to a white kid. (Which was only slightly worse than to have a white kid be better than you in track, football or basketball.)

But this thinking is flawed.
Why is okay for a white kid to be smarter, just so long as thy aren't tougher?
Why do many Blacks view other Blacks as being big King Kong looking ne-ga-roes?
Because they don't know enough Black people.

Many Blacks have been promoting the image of the scary Black Man for years.
And now (as always) we seem to be paying the consequences as well as enjoying the benefits.
To many whites, when they see Barrack Obama - this (above photo) is what they see.
How is this possible?
Because thy don't interact with enough Black people.

Black v. Brown

Maybe it was where I was brought up or maybe it was how I was brought up - but I just don't quite understand all of the resentment that is going on between Blacks and Browns.

My hometown was far from perfect - but it makes the effort.
In the above photo, one can see the district football stadium at Martin Luther King High School.
Sure, a lot of municipalities put their stadiums in the "Black side" of town.
And a lot of towns have a school named after Martin Luther King Jr..
But look at the houses in the surrounding neighborhood.
Those are not small shacks in the ghetto - instead, they are nice homes in a nice part of town.

When the school was proposed and a name sought, many new residents from the O.C. wanted to name the school Ronald Reagan High or Bob Hope High.
But the district and long-time residents wanted to send a different message - that Dr. King's ideas were not important only to Black people, but for all people.

Being a product of a Black and Brown marriage, my perspective may be a little different from many others'.
When I first moved to this small Southern town; "I hate Mexicans", "Mexicans are dirty", and "They are taking all of our jobs" were the statements made by most Blacks with whom I'd come into contact when speaking about Hispanics/Latinos.
When I'd tell them that I was half Mexican, "Well, they're not all bad.", or "Yeah, you work hard and fast like a Mexican." were the most common responses.

I understand resource competition and having pride in one's culture - but when did things get this bad?
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/713/blacks-hispanics

Hip Hop is often thought of as a purely Black culture.
But one of the early elements (break dancing) in this culture was dominated and brought mainstream by the Hispanic group The Rock Steady Crew.
Another aspect of Hip-Hop was the art of graffiti.
For every Dondi White, there was a Zepyr.
Black and Brown used to get down to create art out of almost nothing.


Rollin' in your '64?
Got a long Steve Harvey type Zoot-Suit?
The Brown brotha's made these moves within the same communities that often included Blacks years ago.

Being that it is Hispanic Heritage Month - I just had to weigh in on the disconnect between our communities.
But what the heck is HHM?
HHM is a celebration of Hispanic/Latino culture that was endorsed by Lydon Johnson in the sixties as Hispanic Heritage Week.
In the eighties, Ronald Reagan expanded the week into a month.
Why is it celebrated from September 15 - October 15?
Because five countries celebrate their Independence days on September 15 (Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala) or close to it (Mexico-Sept.16, Chile-Sept.18,Belize -Sept.21.)

A Black v. Brown beef?
Well, that's between them.
As for me, I'll just enjoy a cerveza mas fina with my Brown brothers (until I celebrate Oktoberfest with my white homeboys).
On Christmas Eve I'll celebrate with my Brown brotha's once again as we eat tamales made by by boy Fernie's mom.
The beef in the tamales with a red sauce is the only beef I have with Mexicans.

Real Global Warming

There was once a time when one actually had to expend energy in order to obtain energy.
When hunters would hunt - the feast after of few hours or days of work would only last until it was time to hunt again.
The result was a lean and fit population.
But people thought that they could do better by getting more while doing less.

With the advent of cheap, quick and easy food - even many of our young are becoming human energy storage systems.

Have you even been in a large cool empty room that seems to suddenly become hot when it gets crowded?
Why is this?
It's because as the room fills with people, who have an average body temperature of 98.2 degrees, who take up more and more space and release more heat than the air within the empty room previously contained?
So if we use the Gaia model; Are humans a miniature example of what happens when we consume too many cheap resources for too long by too many?
Is the Earth feeling the side-effects in the same way as does an overweight person whose "success" seems to be the cause of their forthcoming demise?

USC Beats Number 4 Mississippi

Okay... so it wasn't the University of Southern California Trojans - but it felt good to say it anyway.
But the Trojans did manage to bounce back against the only team in their conference with a losing record with the return of freshman quarterback Matt Barkley.
It seemed like a cakewalk for the Trojans as they made easy work of Washington St. to settle for a split in the state.

1 Florida - Damn... that's why I like college football - you can actually hit the quarterback.
Sure, Florida beat Kentucky - but at what cost?
2 Texas - An easy win against a 1-3 UTEP team. Who says the Trojans don't play anybody?
3 Alabama - Okay, this game can always go either way regardless of rankings. The Tide won a game they should have won.
4 Mississippi - Lost to the other USC (South Carolina) ensuring that my USC (Southern California) will move up in the polls.
5 Penn State - C'mon Joe Pa, hang 'em up. Iowa looked like a contender in the Big-10 with this quality win.

-Perennial power Georgia struggled against perennial Pac-10 also ran Arizona St. with a narrow victory at home.
- Boise St. is still in the mix after a win against Bowling Green. Bowling Green? That's like beating Slippery Rock State.
- The Utes beat a Louisville team that seems to have seen it's best years pass.

Whitopia ?

Anon. asked; "Can you help me understand why white people are stocking up on guns?"
The short answer is; Because they are afraid.
Afraid of what?
Let's see...

Blackest cities in America (infoplease.com)
Gary, Indiana
Detroit, Michigan
Birmingham, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
New Orleans, Louisiana
Baltimore, Maryland
Atlanta, Georgia
Memphis, Tennessee
Washington, D.C.
Richmond, Virginia

Most Dangerous Cities in America (CQ Press)
New Orleans, Louisiana
Camden, New Jersey
Detroit, Michigan
St. Louis, Missouri
Oakland, California
Flint, Michigan
Gary, Indiana
Birmingham, Alabama
Richmond, Virginia
North Charleston, South Carolina

Gary, Indiana
Detroit, Michigan
Birmingham, Alabama
New Orleans, Louisiana
and Richmond, Virginia make both lists.
So most people would conclude that they (whites) are afraid of the crime associated with the influx of Blacks.

Whitest Cities in America (CBSnews.com)
Livonia, Michigan
Cape Corral, Florida
Boise City, Idaho
Independence, Missouri
Scottsdale, Arizona
Springfield, Missouri
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Warren, Michigan
Manchester, New Hampshire

Safest Cities in America (CQ Press)
Colonie, New York
Allen, Texas
Greece, New York
Amherst, New York
Clarkstown, New York
Brick Township, New Jersey
Newton, Massachusetts
O' Fallon Missouri
Mission Viejo, California
Ramapo, New York

But wait...
None of the cities from the "Whitest" list also appear on the "Safest".
Maybe there are more factors than race when one considers crime.
But for a more eye opening look at Whitopia, check out;
http://www.richbenjamin.com

Class

After a week of hearing about the poor behavior of Blacks in the spotlight (even from many Blacks) - it's good to see a story about a kid with a troubled past who seems to have found redemption in a sublime act;
http://arkansasvarsity.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=992976
For every Serena story there is one like this.
(Note to conservatives; Not every kid from a bad situation is a classless thug.)

Kourtney Kardashian Shopping At Kitson Kids

Two Words - "Bleach" and "Off"

Too bad much of the water dropped on Atlanta in the past week will be lost as run-off.
(Are y'all still having a drought?)
-Make sure you have enough bleach to kill most of the mold that will grow on anything that has been exposed to water.
-Make sure you have enough "Off" to fight all of the mosquitoes that will be looking for food once the water subsides.

It's Not The Gun But The Bullets

Let them buy all the guns they'd like,
but I as I said in an earlier post - without the bullets the guns are no good.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090923/ap_on_re_us/us_ammo_shortage

Can A Woman Raise A Boy To Be A Man ?

The simple answer is "Nope!".
Well not unless she thinks she can't.

Why?
Because if she believes that she can properly raise a boy to be a man she will rely on her maternal instincts in her decision making.
She will not notice when her son still sits down to pee.
She will not notice when her son is afraid of the same things she fears.
She will not notice when her son lacks heart.
She will not notice when her son lacks decision making skills that don't draw on emotion.
She will not notice when her son seeks comfort more than exploration.
She will not notice when her son spends most of his time talking on the phone, worrying about his hair style, and making sure every item of clothing matches.
She will not notice that her son has become a male version of her.

But if a woman does understand that she cannot raise a boy to be a man;
She will seek out challenging situations for her son to overcome.
She will push her son beyond the limitations he puts upon himself.
She will seek male role models who settle for nothing less than maximum effort.
She will not give in when her "baby" gets his feelings hurt.
She will speak to her son as though he were a man instead of trying to be his friend.
She will make sure her son understands that she is the boss of the house.
She will be the leader of the family and not a victim of her circumstance.
She will raise her son to be the man she wishes she'd married instead of the one she settled for.

How can a woman raise a boy to be a man?
By understanding that she can't.

Because WE Were Broke

Okay, I get it.
The kids are just trying to be cool.
Like leather jackets and jeans in the 50's,
Hippies in the 60's,
Afros and Dashiki's in the 70's,
the Punk Rock look of the 80's,
the Grunge look of the 90's - today's kids are just just making the statement that they are not of their parent's generation.

But why emulate a "poor" ghetto culture?
Because "cool" comes from the poor.
When has an established dominant culture created a new trend?

Slabbin' Pants
We used to pull our pants down low to enable us to prevent the detection of our pants being too short by school year's end. We didn't get new clothes because we outgrew them - we had to play it off the best way we knew how. No one wanted to be called out for "flooding".

Over Sized Shirts
Again, the product of necessity.
We often wore hand-me-downs.
When an older brother outgrew his clothes, they might still be a little big for his younger sibling.
But these big shirts also covered the fact that one had his pants pulled down past his hips.

Corn Rows and Short Hair
Back in the day, one wore a Shag (a Black version of the Mullet), or a curl.
But these styles require money to maintain.
To save money - we would just cut off almost all of our hair and place small lines and parts in strategic places to imitate a hairstyle.
If this was not an option - one's sister (or a girl down the block) could always be called on to plat ones naps.

White T's and Wife Beaters
Because they were cheap.
Any Swap Meet (Flea Market) sells three to five shirts for ten dollars.
And they match any jeans or Dickies.

Dickies
They were cheap and held a crease.
With a white dress shirt they could pass for a nice pair of Khakis.

Cons (or Chucks)
These shoes offered no support but they often acted as ghetto cross-trainers.
After a few hours at the local sandlots, open fields or basketball courts - one understands why they invented today's modern designs.
But these too were cheap.

I only lived in the hood until I was eight (and again for two years after my mom divorced my step-dad from the ages of 14-16.). The other half of my childhood was spent in the suburban hillsides of a small California desert town.
But those years spent in the hood enabled me to handle most situations.
Those years in the hood enabled me to interact with people who others might fear.
Today I laugh at the kids who feign poverty with ghetto styles with pants that cost more than my old wardrobe.
But I get it - they're just trying to be cool.

Because It Looks Like Fun

So it's the fault of rappers, Bloods and Crips that America is in a state of decline?
Puh-leese!
Americans have glamorised criminals since the invention of newspapers.
How many movies and books have been produced that make Jesse James seem like an American hero?

Do I even need to bring up the influence of John Dillinger, Bugsy, Legs Diamond, Lucky Luciano or Al Capone?

So when Frank Lucas gets the same treatment, it is more of an issue with American culture than it is the glamorization of a Black way of life.

Even Bernie Madoff thought the gangster role looked like fun.

It always does - until you get caught.

Man Bites Dog

If most crimes against Blacks are perpetrated by Blacks,

and most crimes against whites are perpetrated by whites -

why do we focus on the inter-racial crimes?

Simple. Because they are not as common.

Because it is not news if a dog bites a man,

but it is news if a man bites a dog.

kelly osbourne

Hayden Panettiere at The 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards