More than 15 Minutes

The year I was in 7th grade, I was so bad, and my grades were so awful, my mother refused to get me anything for Christmas. And true to her word, I woke up Christmas morning that year and there was nothing for me.

It's a horrible thing to do to a child of any age. My aunt & uncle, who hadn't gotten me a gift since I was a small child, took pity on me and later that afternoon, brought me a gift. They had somehow managed to get me one of the hardest to get gifts that Christmas for anyone anywhere: Michael Jackson's latest album Thriller. I didn't need anything else! When I went back to middle school and kid's posed the inevitable question - "What'dya get?" I could say as casually and offhandedly as possible, "Thriller." And the eye popping response and all the questions and the best words you could hear back in 1984 "Cool beans!" more than made up for not getting anything else.

I remember watching the making of the Thriller video in science class. I remember wearing a single white glove to school anytime I wore my parachute pants with a million zippers and penny loafers with the pennies carefully tucked in. It was the ultimate middle school fashion statement. A sign of the times that everyone got it and no one laughed. I was cool.

To this day I know every single word and note of that album and so many more. There has never been a world for me without Michael Jackson in it. Listening to the ABC album on 8 track. Watching the Jackson 5 cartoon on Saturday mornings. Learning to never blame it on the sunshine or the moonlight or the goodtimes, but to always blame the boogie. Through all his 80's super stardom that saw him injured during the filming of the Pepsi commercial and on into the 90's where, while I was in basic training, the camp stopped for the evening to be allowed to watch Michael put on the best half time show and we saw the entire stadium converted to children of the world holding hands while he sang "Heal the World."

For someone up so high, the only direction left was down. And despite allegations of child molestation and many trials, ill health and financial troubles, Michael Jackson could never quite be dragged down completely into the mire. It is a testament to his talent and humanitarian efforts that these gifts are what he will be remembered for.

The King is dead. Long live the King.
*********

Farah Fawcett - She was pretty. She fought her battle with cancer long and hard and is now at peace.

David Carradine - Damn. Helluva career, messed up way to die - hope he found what he was looking for. Just damn


Ed McMahon - Goodnight funny man.

Billy Mays - His death was a shock to me more than any of the others. Reports of Michael Jackson's ill health had been circulating for months. Farah Fawcett's battle had been widely publicized, Ed McMahaon was just old and Davaid Carradine wasn't exactly known for living easy.

But Billy Mays death, that was startling. He is fondly known around our house as "The Oxy Clean Guy" despite how many other products he went on to promote. Last summer, I wrote a piece called As Seen on TV about his influence on our household that ushered in an era of us buying things for the low, low price of 19.95. And like Michael Jackson, he was only 50 years old. A relatively young man who probably had a lot of infomercial items left to conquer. If Billy was selling, America was buying. He had a face you could trust and an undeniable energy that sent us running to telephones or at least the As Seen on TV aisle at Walgreens.

Billy Mays gave us more than just infomercial gadgets. He brought back that old-fashioned belief in Yankee ingenuity. Along with Ron Popeil he made us believe that the answers to some of life's knackiest little problems could be solved for 19.95 and the rest would be easy.

You'll Bring Honor to Us All

The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter.
~Mulan

Happy Belated Birthday Al Franken

It happens every so often. I go through my daily round of life, reading the news online, following the idiocy that is the news cycle of the MSM. Sometimes I have a nagging feeling that there is a piece of business left undone and the question hits me yet again: Has Al Franken won the election yet?

It's June, 2009. Election season has been over. Well, technically it's never over, but really, the song has been sung - it was At Last, sung by Beyonce, engendering Etta James' wrath. The confetti and plastic american flags have long been swept away by winds or garbage men. Obama's 100th day in office has come & gone.

Yet Al Franken remains, even today, on the outskirts as the only Senatorial candidate who it has been determined won his election, yet still remains....well, a candidate.

Here are the facts.

• The 2008 Senatorial Election in Minnesota had two candidates: incumbent Norman Coleman and his challenger, the popular comedian & political pundit Al Franken.

• The race was very close - to close to call and at first it seemed Coleman won. But Coleman's margin was so small that by state law Franken was entitled to a recount.

• Coleman had the audacity to ask Franken to waive his right to a recount and concede the election. Franken said, thanks but no thanks, we'll take the recount.
  

• The recount took place, this time including absentee ballots. Franken was determined the winner.
  

• The Coleman took Franken to court. There was another recount. Franken was determined the winner. The panel of three judges dismissed Coleman's suit "finding that his claims had no merit".

• Coleman has appealed to the Minnesota supreme court where it's fairly likely, they stand to lose.

At this point, you would think, that's it and that's all. But much like Dick Cheney refusing to sit down and shut up about ANYTHING lately the Republicans do not know when to quit. Their plan is two fold:

-Keep Franken in court long enough that he runs out of money to fight the legal battle. The Republicans will keep using their corporate & big oil folks to help their guy Coleman

-Keep Franken in court long enough to delay him being seated as long as possible, preferrably well into the next Senate term, so the Democracts, by sheer numbers, will be firmly in charge of the Senate - leaving the Republicans literally token protesters without even the power to fillibuster

So, Al Franken has asked people to donate to his campaign/ recount fund, any amount will do, but if you can, $58 in honor of his recenth 58th birthday For the second time in my life - I actually donated to a political campaign. Last time it was time. This is the first time I've ever donated actual cash.

I've been meaning to for sometime now but somehow I never got around to it. Until I read this headline today: Republicans Ready to Take Franken to Supreme Court.

It's pitiful that the Republican party is sacrificing the representation of the state of Minnesota for their own meager interests. Pitiful that they can never seem to do what is in the best of the American people instead of pursuing their neverending quest for power and continued corruption.

When will it end?

I'm sure Al Franken would like to know.

Excuse me....

Please allow me to interrupt my regularly scheduled rant about white folks (the unenlightened, the bigoted, the hell, you know who I mean....all well meaning, decent acting white folks, this doesn't mean you)....

So, yet again....please allow me to interrupt my regularly scheduled rant about white folks to take a word out and say something about my people.

Why are we, as a group, so pitifully rude? To society in general and particularly to each other.

There is an open computer area where I attend school. Granted it's an open area, but it's still a public area. Many a day I try to sit and study or merely surf the internet but I'm constantly disturbed by people playing music or watching YouTube without headphones. One day a young lady was loudly singing along with the music videos she was watching.

So....I turned up the music and started singing loudly...country music....Toby Keith, I Ain't as Good as I Once Was....loud and strong. Some other people got the point. They started smiling at each surreptitiously, glad someone had entered the fray. Well she stopped singing...but only as long as it took me to sing my song...then she started up again. Oh and did I mention that between verses of her R&B favorites, we were also treated to a loud conversation about her sex life and her speculation as to whether her next date was a virgin or no?

I finally left her a note.:

Dear Sista,

No one needs to be all in your business like that. You are loud & you are rude. Don't take it personal. Have a nice day.

I signed it with a smiley face = )

But today, I'm back in the open area. And I sit down and the guy next to me is blasting music. So I hand him the unopened pack of headphones I bought day before yesterday as my previous pair met an untimely end by a cycle through both my washer and dryer. He looks at me and my meaning is clear but he hands them back to me.

"I don't want to take your headphones."

"My brother, consider this a gift from me to you."

"I can't take them from you though."

"I would rather give you this gift then allow you to persist in rudeness."

"Well if I was bothering anybody, somebody would have said something."

Seriously? Does the average human being have to be TOLD that we are being rude to understand that our behaviors are rude? Hell no. We ignore the social clues that tell us our behavior is inappropriate and persist in rudeness as if it were our right....and even worse, we dare anyone with our continued rudeness to address us about it.

Well he returned the headphones. And he eventually left.

And I repeated this performance with another young woman about 15 minutes after he left. And Another young man not 15 seconds ago. That young man actually left with the headphones. Maybe he'll use them next time. I can only hope.

It's really not that difficult is it? To be polite. And to speak up when others are infringing on your right to simply be.

The reason I'm addressing this to black folks is because, although I've been at school for at entire year, I have yet to see any white folks of any age do this. Every instance of this has been a black person and NOT just young people - although I would say the majority have been below the age of 25 and definitely just may not get it - or may not have thought it a big deal.

But the people my age and older - obviously old enough to be parents and such, I must ask: Is this the best example we can set?

What every day rudeness do you come across and how do you address it, if at all? I'm afraid I've given up on smokers in doorways - particularly those who stand directly in front of no-smoking signs puffing away like chimneys. Now that's a societal infraction I have found among those of every race, color & creed.

Everyday People

Sometimes...it's not the superstars or the rich and powerful who amaze us. It's the quiet, determined strength of Everyday People - people who refuse to quit, never give up and always, always look for the silver lining.

Meet the Bedgood Family: Dad Brent, Mom Christie and the kids - Arianna, Poetrie & baby Parker. You cannot fail to be moved by their story and their fight to save Arianna's hearing.

From their blog:

Arriana is a talented, hearing impaired, 15 year old Dance Major with the goal of getting a Cochlear Implant this summer. Our family has just learned that the little hearing she does have, is deteriorating quickly – Ari will become deaf. A Cochlear Implant would give her a second chance... Our hope is to raise funds to help cover our family's out of pocket expenses. Any donation, no matter what the size, makes a difference. Thank you for your support! And, welcome to our journey...

Ye Old Matey has worked with Brent for the past five years. The Bedgoods are a wonderful family and their story is and incredible one of love, caring, support and making the best out of grief and sadness. Please read the blog - and make a donation. It really couldn't happen to a nicer girl.

FOX Network refuses to air the President of the United States

Can't help but start this off with WTF?

OK. And leave it to the mainstream media to completely miscontrue the message. EVERY single article I've read says something along the lines of 'Fox rejects Obama's request for primetime slot'. The link goes to a google search and down the whole PAGE every article title from the New York times to Variety paints the refusal as being from the netowrk to Obama.

NOT a single one of them has dared to even whisper that A. Fox has gone too damn far and B. Fox is not merely rejecting Obama, always mentioned offhandedly as if he was still a candidate not the guy who actually won. Why don't we, cough, call a spade a spade and spit this for what it truly is?

FOX Network is refusing to air a press conference given by the President of the United States.

Unheard of, unprecedented and just plain - disrespectful, anti-American, anti-Fourth Estate, unpatriotic, backwards and racist. Tea Party anyone?

Have you ever heard the term FUD? It's an acronymn that stands for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. It means that when people in power don't won't you to know the truth they will deliberately spread false messages to make you afraid, make you uncertain and make you doubt that anyone will ever know what the truth really is.

This is the stuff of conspiracy theories but there has been a buzz for weeks now about the clip of this GOP representative stating that Republicans own the Fox Network. Not only do they own it, but he also suggests acquiring ANOTHER network to spread Republican FUD so that their "message" is dissimenated through more than one source.

FOX is determined that any American who listens to their Network (and there are FAR too many - I don't care how much they say they don't - who watch, listen to, digest and worst of all BELIVE what they hear on the FOX Network.

You have to watch the clip to believe me. The quote is as follows:

If I had to recommend one single thing that the Republicans should be thinking of doing to help articulate the message, it is to acquire another television network so that there is not just FOX, but multiple sources of alternative information that will do a much better job than we did in 2008 to keep things honest.

So for now it's only one network (admittedly the most biased and racist propaganda spewing Network) but still - that's not enough. They want more and they want to start by thumbing their noses at anything that remotely resembles our Democratic Republic.

The time is not only for protest - it's for complete and utter revolution. Please refer to my Pimp Slap List - if you need to know who to begin to protest against.

Some issues do not have two valid sides. Sometimes there is a right side and a wrong side. FOX Network is definitively on the wrong side - of the President and the best interests of the American People.

Dear MSM

Dear Mainstream Media,

More fondly known as the MSM to those of us who have a love/hate relationship with you, at this point I would like to explain something.

Lately, the common buzz is that President Obama is currently feeling the rage of populist anger rising against him due to the American people's frustration at the economic crisis. Take, for instance, this gem of an article found on the Yahoo front page (pictured above, picture link goes to article) with the tag line: The president's TV event tonight is a chance to face growing public anger.

What you, the beloved/behated MSM fail to realize is that "the growing face of public anger" is not directed at President Obama. No, the bulk of their pisstivity is directed squarely at...well, You. And also the greedy bastards that make up Wall Street executives and speculators, but mostly our anger is directed at you, the MSM.

We realize that all media outlets in the US; television stations, radio stations, newspapers, cable providers are owned only by a grand total of 6 people, all rich republicans, with an industry to protect and propaganda to spin. However, those of us who were raised with the ideal of the Media being the Fourth Estate are very angry that you continue to bash President Obama over the head with all of former President Bush's failures.

It's very simple. Free yourselves from your totalitarian masters, stop looking so damn pretty, stop reading from the teleprompter and actually REPORT what the hell is going on and the real state of things.

We know that President Obama didn't insult the Special Olympics. We know that President Obama is not laughing at our misfortunes. We are on to the fact that you pick non-issues like this to focus on because for a man with literally a world of trouble at his feet and for only having been on the job two months he is doing a damn good job.

And he's doing it with you, the MSM, backbiting him at every turn, spreading the GOP message of "Obama's plans won't work" when honestly, NOTHING the GOP tried from War to well...hell anything, worked either. So, let's give the current President more than two months before we write him off as a failure, something the MSM still cannot allow itself to do in regards to former President Bush, despite the fact that the words "miserable failure" came to define his presidency.

The current economic crisis rides squarely on the shoulders of Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, George H. Bush, Sr and finally, George W. Bush for being the patsy that allowed it all to go down on his watch.

Blaming it all on President Obama after a couple of months in his new gig is stupid, we'll not even talk about unfair; but it does smack of the type of shallow reasoning that we would expect those in the national news spotlight NOT to exhibit.

So just know, we're not pissed at President Obama: MSM, we're pissed at you. For the spin, better known as misdirection, half-truths, utter fabrications and outright lies. For knowing that if your lips are moving you're more than likely only giving half the news that even a 30 second soundbite could actually cover. Knowing that I'll know more about the mother who had 8 children at once and that you'll give her the disgustingly hideous and disrespectful name Octomom, reducing her to something less than human - that I'll know more about the type of underwear Bruce's Willis' new Victoria Secret Model Wife wears - than I ever will about why we REALLY went to war, and exactly WHO knew about the economic crisis looming on the forefront and WHY there are people living in tent cities in America in the 21st Century and how on God's green Earth the MSM can possibly pin the 8 years of MASSIVE FAIL that was the George W. Bush administration of this country on the humble and hardworking shoulders of President Barack Obama who is working his ass off to fix the mess they created....

Seriously, MSM, get a clue - and once you do - report about it. Truthfully, honestly, insightfully.

Then maybe you'll realize that the American people aren't angry at Obama or You, but the people who got us into this mess in the first place.