Episode Forty-Four: Iced Tea + Skittles + Hoodie = America Back to Square One

On the evening of February 26^th, a 17-year-old teenager named Trayvon Martin left his father’s fiancé’s home in Stamford, Florida to get an iced tea drink and some Skittles during the NBA All-Star game.

He never made it back home that night alive. And because of this, the country has once again reverted back to massive fear, ignorance, race baiting, and the inevitable opportunity of profit.

Back to the dearly departed Mr. Martin: a neighborhood watch leader by the name of George Zimmerman assumed Trayvon Martin for a suspicious suspect, mostly due to the fact that Trayvon was wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Mr. Zimmerman followed the boy, even after calling 911 to report the suspicion. A scuffle ensued, shots were fired, neighbors could hear someone crying for help, and then another shot was fired. Trayvon was dead. These are the facts.

Everything else has been a toss-up, and the focal point of America’s latest racial controversy. From what may have been said on the 911 call to who came after who, the story has been one huge tragic disaster. There have been several YouTube videos displaying not only Mr. Zimmerman’s call, in which the self-appointed gun-toting watch leader was heard uttering a racial slur to the term of, “coons get away with everything”. Also, there are videos of the neighbor’s call to the police, a 13-year-old witness’s account of the incident, and a new witness coming forward. The truth is, no one really knows now what happened but two people; one is unable to speak about it, while the other is in fear for their own life.

What has developed throughout this incident has definitely put America into a time machine of a segregated South. Due to the “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida, Mr. Zimmerman has not been charged with any crime by the Samford police. Of course, the black community is outraged, as expected. Protests have sprouted all over the country from a “Million Hoodie March” to rallies in Ohio, to the Miami Heat basketball team donning hooded sweatshirts in support of Mr. Martin. Now, these types of non-violent protests are exactly what should be done to let the government know that an injustice like this shouldn’t be tolerated by the population. Of course, there’s always a flip side to this. The New Black Panther party has put out a “bounty” on Mr. Zimmerman for his ‘capture’ to the tune of $10,000.

Now, I have a question for this. Exactly what are people supposed to do if they catch Mr. Zimmerman? Being as those has he not been formally charged with anything, where would someone seeking this bounty turn him into? How is THIS even justice anyway, especially knowing that this type of action could result in more violence, possibly with innocent people ending up hurt or killed trying to capture this man (or Zimmerman himself)? How does promoting vigilantism help the cause for justice here?

If this action on the side of ‘doing what’s right’ isn’t bad enough, the discrediting of young Trayvon has already begun. Geraldo has already stated (albeit very foolish-like) that Trayvon was practically asking to be profiled by wearing a hooded sweatshirt at night. What sense does that make at all? In fact, in all the anti-Trayvon stories that have recently surfaced (his grades), how is any of this relevant to that one night that ended his life? I’m not going to portray the kid as an angel, but if he was followed home by a man seemingly on a power trip enough to disobey an order from an 911 operator, how is discrediting the victim post death help his case at all?

Now, in being the Devil’s #1 Advocate I am, while I am happy to see the African-American community let their voices be heard on this, I am also troubled at one simple concept regarding this: why does it take a tragedy of this magnitude for us to finally get involved in the killing of our youth? Every day, we hear about how a young black person (or older black person, for that matter) has been gunned down, with normally the killer being of the same dark color. You see it on 30-second short stories on the news, in eight inch columns in our local papers. Killings happen in the streets, in community centers, even in our schools. And yet, the black community as a whole has gotten almost desensitized to hearing story after story of another black person being taken away from us. However, because Mr. Zimmerman has white features (when in all actuality, he is of majority Latino decent); now it the time that we point fingers at the white population, and blame the system for failing the black community. How about when Bill Cosby warned us that black people were killing themselves off for nearly an entire generation and that until we learned how to stop this, we are all an endangered species in America? He was rewarded with jeers of “haterism” and accusations of being condescending for his approach. Does that not seem like providence now?

Also, I’ve seen people capitalize off this tragedy, which has further disgusted me. Party flyers have popped up for “Trayvon” parties at local clubs, giving free admission to people who come in with bags of Skittles. I would be lying if I didn’t say things like these are why America as a whole can’t take this generation of Black America seriously.

So, what do we do? How does this get resolved in a way that America can feel like justice has been served? The protests are a bold statement, yes. The wearing of hoodies in support of Trayvon have been especially touching. However, how does Black America made their voices heard that if in fact we are tired of seeing our youth murdered, whether racially-motivated or not? There needs to first and foremost be more accountability held to our homes and communities. After all, they are the most basic staple of society. Making improvements in those will go very long ways in improving the quality of life in black communities. Secondly, there needs to be more of an accountability held to the police departments that are designed to “serve and protect”, to make sure that every citizen, regardless of race, deserves the same level of service and protection.

Maybe this incident woke America up a bit. Maybe this will be just another “hot topic” then fade into the background, like so many others. I hope everyone learns at least one thing from this: EACH life is precious, and injustices everywhere must be met with action, not just those of the ‘black vs. white’ variety. Until that happens, the only thing that’s achieved is that the country in racial killings are just that people get mentally reverted back to the days of Emmitt Till, pretty much guaranteeing that age-old sentiment of “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

3/26/12

Episode Forty-Three: The Day That Football Trumped ALL.

I once mentioned in my blog of how valuable sports can be to our nation. How the spirit of competition enriches our lives, and takes our minds off of whatever else seems to be going on we want to forget about. I also said that the people who play and coach these games we love so much are often times given special status in society: millions of dollars, instant celebrity perks, and sometimes passes when trouble may find them.

Unfortunately, it seems that this was one case where football pretty much took priority over everything…including the safety of children.

Unless you’ve been living in a cauldron for the last week, I’m sure you’ve heard all about the very, very sad and outrageous state of affairs at Penn State University. If you didn’t here’s the shortened sentence synopsis.

An assistant coach. Trobuled kids. Gifts. Pedophilia. Sordid Showers. Eyewitnesses. Blind eyes. Buck passing. Little to no effort to stop it. And finally, a massive cover-up. (By the way here is the report: http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/uploadedFiles/Press/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf – Warning: this is VERY explict and graphic…and pretty goddammed gross.)

(I agree. This definitely sounds like a future “Law & Order: SVU” episode)

Well, it’s seems as though the past caught up with the administration at Penn State. The assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, the man accused of molesting kids for almost 20 years is now about to go on trial, the athletic director is also going to have his day in court for his role, and the university president was fired by the board of trustees.

…and then, there’s the head football coach, Joe Paterno.

For the last half-century, “Joe Pa” has not only been the head coach of the Penn State, he’s pretty much been the face of the university and the town of State College, PA. The NCAA’s most winningest coach, he also led the school to two national titles along the way. At 84 years young, the man has been an inspiration to thousands of Penn State alumni, both on and off the field with his leadership and commitment to not only making champions on the field, but champions in life. In the shortest terms: if he died tomorrow, I’m sure he’d be up for sainthood someday really soon in Happy Valley.

But, even he apparently couldn’t escape the outrage and anger caused by this ever-growing scandal. Just as the president was relieved of his duties, Joe Pa was also shown the door by the board of trustees for his role, or non-role in the scandal. You see, Coach Paterno had been told of one particular incident by Sandusky involving sodomizing a 10-year old boy in the locker room one night by a witness to said incident nine years ago. Having heard this, Paterno then alerted the Athletic Director, but that was the end of his involvement in the matter. Now, why was the country calling for HIS head, especially when he had fulfilled his obligation in the matter? Simple. Every person around the area knows that Paterno simply did the bare minimum in this matter. He could’ve called the police and had they investigate it; he could’ve banned Sandusky from the facilities. Neither was done, and Sandusky was allowed to use PSU facilities as he pleased.

Well, the news of Joe Pa’s firing wasn’t received well at all by the student body. That night, many students rallied…then rioted on campus, to the point where tear gas had to be used to calm the situation down.

Now here’s what’s troubling me about everything:

1)    Exactly why are the students rioting? Joe Pa himself stated that he was told a man was abusing children and didn’t do all that was required to protect those kids. He took his punishment (albeit, very reluctantly) like a man and accepted everything handed to him. So, the student body – even if they wanted him to stay – really shouldn’t have gotten that much up in arms about this. No, he didn’t touch the kids, but not stopping it was pretty much enabling it to happen. So, if he’s guilty of at least that, how can the students get that mad? Is the career of a well-respected coach that much more important than sordid details of sexually abused kids on the campus? Really?

2)    Why does it seem as this was more about Joe Pa and less about everyone involved? There is a TON of culpability to go around here, not just on Paterno’s shoulders.  The Graduate Assistant who saw it, the janitors, the victim’s parents who knew previously, etc, etc. I think America saw a major name in college sports with the word “scandal” next to it, and simply got bloodthirsty. As much as I hate to admit it, this isn’t about the kids or even the monster molesting them. This was about power, privilege, and status. Yeah, everyone’s been saying the right things, but I wonder who will really have those kids’ (some of whom are now grown) interests at heart? And this country…honestly,  if you’re outside the Penn State family, will you really care what happens three months, six months, a year down the road?

I see these things, and it still serves as a reminder that no one is above the law. However, the more we want to say this, the more we have incidents that try to prove quite the opposite. So, what ARE we saying to the youth out there? That status triumphs all? That the rules really only apply to normal people?

I can only hope that the Penn State family takes a LONG look at itself, and its actions over the last couple of days. Because I’m having a hard time taking them seriously as an “institution of higher learning”, and I’m sure I’m not alone. When football takes precedent over kids getting abused, that speaks volumes about all of us. Yes, the games are fun to watch. Yes, they help greatly in recruiting, not just players but students. But football isn’t that big to where it gets put over children….it just isn’t.

Someday, we’ll all learn this….at least, I hope we will. Maybe this scandal is the wake-up call we needed.

Episode Forty-Two: 10 years later….a 9/11 introspective

On the very bright and clear Tuesday morning of September 11th, 2001, I was headed to convocation at Delaware State University, to signal the official start to the school year, which would be my sophomore year. Being a member in the concert band, we all just figured it would be just another morning performance, and then we’d be going to class as usual.

Then, history decided to intervene.

Somewhere during the end of the ceremony, we were all told something we thought would never happen in America; that buildings in New York – the Twin Towers – were attacked and fell, and that someone flew a plane into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

WHAT?! How could this….BE??

I guess my reaction upon seeing the scenes provided by CNN in the café after convocation ended was the initial reaction that pretty much everyone else had.

Shock. Bewilderment. Disbelief.

Followed by horror, fear, and widespread panic.

Little did we know, but the “future” of America that we always talked about in the 20^th century had begun. Except there were no flying cars, robot maids, or one-course meals like we saw for years in The Jetsons. It was this. The nation in tears, the world on pause, and the country pretty much on edge.

America, for the first time in its history, had been attacked by a foreign entity on its soil. That freaked everyone out enough, but it happened in the epicenter of not only the cultural population of New York, but the business center of the modern free world. Services were on hold for several days to absorb the tragedy and mourn those who were victim to it. Sporting events were cancelled for a week out to let everyone understand just how serious this was.

However, what’s important about 9/11 is not only the horrible event that happened on it, but the aftermath – both immediate and long-term – effects of it.

Well, as we all know, this act lead to war….LOTS of war. Two of them that America personally decided to lead up. Since then, tens of thousands of American troops have died defending their freedom, the country has spent hundreds of billions of dollars, and a nation that once seemed invincible had been broadcasted to the world the proverbial first chink in the armor.

As the decade went on, some of America’s changes were directly a result of the WTC attack: security in airports felt more checking through fortresses (I know firsthand; the band flew to San Diego, CA for a game just two months after 9/11….unpleasant is an understatement of that airport experience), the Patriot Act has been established to ensure America would never endure this again, and the general psyche of Americans have changed. Unfortunately, for our Middle Eastern-oriented Americans, they are constantly reminded – as well as blamed, persecuted, and sought out – of the horrible events of that day.

While nationalism has come to the general forefront in American life in the last decade, those who practice the religion that is also worshipped by the group responsible for attacking this country has faced near segregation-levels of prejudice. Hate attacks, mosque defacement, out casting those with that decent and ridicule has befallen some of our fellow countrymen, and have pretty made them choose between their God and their country, which is something that was pretty much outlawed on the founding of this nation. Even in helping to heal this country has proved extraordinarily difficult to do, with the country pretty much wanting the mosque near “Ground Zero” to be nowhere near the spot where our future was changed.

Tomorrow will mark the 10^th year remembrance of this attack. We will reflect, but we also have to accept EVERYTHING that has come with this, so we can continue to move on. I’m aware that some measure of justice has been extracted with the killing of Osama bin Laden, leader of the “Al-Qaeda” organization responsible for this horrific attack a few months ago, and that many of the co-conspirators of 9/11 have been caught, arrested, convicted, and sentenced to live the rest of their lives in federal prison, that’s only a minor role in getting this nation’s “swag” back. Yes, there will be honor of those that were taken away from us; yes, we will continue to cheer for the heroes who’ve sacrificed their own lives to help those that were trapped in the rubble and risked their own lives to rescue survivors; yes, the nation’s flag will fly in pretty much every major gathering in this country as we will remind ourselves that we are one of the strongest nations on Earth, and we have endured and will continue to persevere. However, there is still much work to be done to get this country back to the future we were promised many moons ago.

Look, I realize that for most of my peers in this generation, patriotism isn’t one of our strongest suits. In fact, most of the people I know in my age range pretty much think America is corrupt, elistist-driven, moraless, and headed for a massive collapse if things keep going the way they are. But, despite all of this, we still care about this country and the welfare (for the most part) of ALL Americans who live here. After all: unofficially for us, 9/11 can be called our generation’s “defining” moment, just as Pearl Harbor was to the youth who lived through World War II, or just as Vietnam helped define the 70s generation, or the Berlin Wall finally coming down and the Cold War between USA and the Soviet Union help tale the tale of 80s youth. For the last 10 years, we ‘ve seen a lot and experience some pretty amazing things on both sides of the spectrum – a black man becoming president of these United States, live revolutions in African countries, natural disasters both in America and abroad, technology rapidly evolving and bringing us new ideas to improve our lives….NONE of which have hit more personally than this.

That was a day that will burn in our memories not only for the rest our lives, but will seemingly live forever in American history. And to properly respect that, we will always remember those lost.

WE SHALL NEVER FORGET!

9/10/2011

Episode Fourty-One: Surviving America’s Financial Implosion

Ok, by now, you all should know the score with what has now happened to the ongoing punchline that is the American economy.  Thanks to a political pissing contest, America’s pretty much has been pretty much labeled to be untrustworthy, spendthrift, and fiscally irresponsible. Unfortunately, all of us that are not super-wealthy are the ones that have to deal with this quandary head-on in the next coming months and maybe even years as the daily grind just got that much harder.

No, this episode isn’t to place blame on any ONE entity, because quite honestly, all  of Congress – from President Obama on down to every member of the House – needs to be beaten with paddles and sent to corners with dunce caps on to think about what they’ve done to America. So, this will shy away from that notion.

What this episode will serve as is a “how to survive” type of guide in this very slippery slope this economic downturn has led us. Following the following tips from a true penny-pincher such as myself (with a degree in Finance) will help you save, save, and save some more.

1)     Keeping up with the Joneses’ normally is the main vice of middle-class folk that eventually breaks them financially. Honestly, do you really need that 60-inch TV with the HD just to outdo your next door neighbor’s 57-inch? Anything after 45” really doesn’t matter when watching either the Super Bowl or The Dark Knight. It’s all pretty visually stunning, and you don’t have to go on crazy-interest laced payment plans from marked-up department stores to enjoy it. This also goes for those $200 pairs of Jordans your kids simply have to have to be ‘accepted’ at school. Speaking of which….

2)     Leave the store-promoted cards ALONE. That 30% your first purchase at Sears or Champs seems nice, but wait till the payments come in on 10% interest for $1,200 worth of stuff you broke three months after you got it.

3)     It’s still very possible to have a very enjoyable social life without breaking your wallet to do so. Museums, outdoor concerts, various shows are often shown for free…or pretty close. And they also let your mate know you can broaden your horizons instead of the usual club/movies/Dinner at TGIFriday’s.

4)      Don’t be afraid of the “4 for $5” deals at the supermarket. The stores are selling stuff like this for a REASON. They simply have too much of it, and need to get it out. Besides, most of the stuff is “name brand” goods that go on sale. Be a very cautious shopper. Investigate. The money you’ll save on grocery is worth putting in a few minutes of market research.

5)     I’m sure this has been mentioned a million times by every “financial expert” on the planet, but I’ll repeat it again….PAY YOURSELF FIRST. Every check, put aside a small portion, possibly in a separate account, for a emergency/rainy day fund. You’d be surprised how much you’d have over a period of a few months.

6)     Minimize your bills, as best you can. If you have a premium cable package, but don’t watch none of the premium channels except HBO, then you’re just throwing money out the window. Shrink it down. If you hardly talk on the cell phone, a 3000-minute per month plan seems unnecessary and foolish. Give yourself some leeway, but be reasonable.

7)     For you college students, I’m going to be as blunt as I can: refund checks are NOT winning lottery tickets. There’s no way a student should receive a check of $1500 after one semester, but be totally broke by the next, cause they spent the whole thing on a shopping binge over Christmas break. Put aside that money to help pay for next semester. The less you pay out of your pocket (or with scholarships/grants), they less you’ll ultimately have to borrow, which will save thousands on interest after you graduate and begin to pay these things back.

8)     Have some willpower in controlling your money. All those fast food lunches at work add up over a month, running that AC all day will crush your electric bill. It’s no shame to seek alternatives for things. Pack a lunch, get some fans, ride the bus to work, be creative.

9)     I guess the biggest point I can make. Kids = $$$$ spent. LOTS of it. Look, everyone (for the most part) wants a family, and I dig that. But raising children is TOUGH; tough mentally, tough spiritually, and ultra-tough financially, especially when they come at a time you aren’t ready for them. Regardless of what people may think, pregnancy is 100% preventable. Be smart. Use birth control if you’re not ready for the joys – and potential burden – that a child can bring to your life.

8/11/2011

Episode Fourty: The Socially Irresponsible Networking Conundrum

The Internet. What else to say about it?

Powerful. Informative. Revolutionary.

And apparently, the home of attention whores and idiots, both common folk and famous people alike.

So, what’s up with this? Why are people so prone to ruin their careers (and in some cases, their lives) for the admiration of people they may never see in person? What is it about the internet that makes people so…stupid?

Well, my first guess is that the sheer power of promotion that cyberspace provides. Ever since social network sites came along, people have seized this opportunity to broadcast themselves to anyone who would click on their pages, be it through Blackplanet, Myspace, and later on, Youtube and the uber-popular device, Facebook. Anyone who had music to share, photos to show, or stories to tell could simply post them up, and watch the people subscribe, “like”, or join to.  However, the early sites were mostly off-limits to celebrities, as the amount of work needed to be done to design, update, and maintain a personal page usually required more work than a celebrity would want to spend time managing.

Then Twitter came along.

Convient. Easy to have people “follow” them. And more importantly, easier to posts thoughts, tour dates…and pictures.

Now, I will say this; when Twitter is used for noble purposes, it actually can be a big vessel of awareness and gathering, since so many people get on it, and access to a famous person’s page is so easy. Twitter can also entertain us to hear what most celebrities are going through almost instantly as they put it out. Charlie Sheen’s Twitter revolution of amassing 1.2 million people to follow him just a mere 24 hours after he announced he had come onto the Twitter scene is an amazing example of popularity amped up.

However, as we all know, Twitter has been everything but noble these days. More often than not, celebs get on there and they post very inane things, or just outright offensive stuff. Occasionally, a celeb will put out something that actually seems harmless, but people will be offended by it just the same. Take the case of Pittsburgh Steeler running back Rashard Mendenhall. His tweet about question people cheering upon hearing about the death of Osama Bin Laden drew many an angry fan, thinking that he’s siding with the man responsible for 9/11. Honestly, I just think that he was question whether it’s right to cheer for anyone’s death – no matter how evil they may have been to their fellow man – but, with so many people affected by the attacks, having someone diminish the “closure” that was felt with the announcing of Bin Laden’s death upset them even more, which drew angry responses on his page and other websites.

Of course, there’s the now defeated LeBron James. Shortly after tweeting how “The Greater Man upstairs knows when it was his time to win a title”, people everyone compiled the ever-growing animosity to LeBron, claiming he blamed God for the Miami Heat losing the NBA title.

Then, there are pictures. Nude pictures. Yes, those pictures. What makes a person want to put up a picture of themselves nude, I don’t know. In some cases, most of the pictures “accidentally” loaded gets when a celeb send a picture to a private person, than that person puts them out, and unfortunately, that comes off as being just stupid, which in that case is unfair. (Although, it should serve a warning about sending nude pictures to ANYONE, especially if they’re famous sending it to a non-famous person). And we’ve seen the damage they can do, as in the case of Greg Oden, or even more recently, NY state rep Anthony Weiner, who put out nude pictures of himself, lied and said his account was hacked, then finally admitted that he released those photos. Now, because of this, pretty much every politician in the country wants him to resign from his seat. If that doesn’t work, I’m sure he won’t be elected to serve again. So, his career, for all intents and purposes, is over. All because he let his cyber irresponsibility get the better of him.

Look, by now all know that these social networks have both their upsides and downsides. But what amazes me is how celebs keep falling into the same cyber-trap, either with their posts or their pictures. They should know by now that being a person of stature, fame, and/or fortune makes their world so much more scrutinized, that any indiscretion gets that much more magnified

Oh well. I guess that the one bright side to the internet. Since we all like watching train wrecks, the internet is just one trap loaded up to another. So, keep ‘em coming!

6/14/2011

Episode Thirty-Nine: Born in the U.S.A. (Now with proof!)

*Sighs*

So finally, the mystery is revealed. I can finally say my president’s a natural-born citizen of the United States.

Dear God, how did we as a country honestly get to this point? Two years ago, when President Obama first ran for the office, amongst other things his detractors wondered about him, the most significant detail about him was whether or not he was an actual American citizen from birth. Well today, they and the rest of the country finally got their answer. The documentation of the president’s birth was finally published for all to see and some to shut up about.

My whole thing with this is: how did people really get THAT petty to demand this from the leader of the free world?

Look, I understand that when someone runs for public office, the people have a right to know about that person’s basic background: birthdate, birthplace, family, etc. It’s no different than any other job’s requirements. Actually, it should be lots more, considering their going for the most powerful position this country has to offer and the most influential title (so far) on Earth. So, with all of modern media’s techniques is digging up info on pretty much anyone, you mean to tell me that NO ONE could get a copy of this before now? I’m pretty sure Mr. President didn’t have his birth certificate locked in a laser-netted vault inside of Fort Knox, and that he was required to provide proof of his citizenship before his announced his candidacy. I find it near impossible to believe that if there wasn’t a sound document the media couldn’t have obtained back then, they wouldn’t have already gotten. This just sounded like one more complaint in the long lines of which done by folks who never wanted the man to win the office in the first place.

What’s really irking me over this whole episode is more so who’s behind this latest round of going after President Obama on the trivial stuff. Billionaire tycoon and mogul, reality game show star, and now presidential candidate hopeful Donald Trump has been for the last few weeks the driving force behind President Obama making sure he can be viewed as a legitimate American citizen. At first, I wanted to just chalk this up as Trump being a media junkie starving for free press. Something tells me this is only the beginning, however. My thing is; does Trump truly believe that getting the president’s birth certificate will help him in the long climb to what he thinks is the next President of America, even after most of his own political party (let alone 98% the American public) wants nothing to do with him leading this country due to his very sordid history as a businessman?

There is one final thing I wonder about with President Obama. Now that he’s produced this record (or re-produced it, since it was first put out in 2008), I’m sure that this won’t be the only thing people who be satisfied with him about, outside of normal politics and how he’s done running this country over the last two plus years. This all being said, it is really worth running for four more years of this? Counting the mega-heightened scrutiny of people salivating at the mouth for the tiniest blemish on this guy to lead an impeachment campaign, going to the way-too-personal attacks of his whole family’s history, from his father to his wife. This aslo doesn’t count the record amount of death threats a president has gotten in their term in office, or the fact that his Republican counterparts that have been elected to serve in Washington have mostly tried to either block or simply undo every policy he’s put forth to the country since taking the Oath of Office.  None of this seems really worth it to endure until 2016.

You’d think in a time where unemployment is still on skyrocket status, right up there with gas prices, in a society where moral outrage is at dangerously high status, while the country is still in numberous wars, that politicans – even ones running for office next year – would have something, anything more important to worry about. You’d think that people would’ve created whole  movements for this “birther” law the Repbulican party has conjured up, who’s sole main objective was to prove that Obama wasn’t a natural-born citizen, to which this document all but crushed that. You’d think so, anyway….

One thing’s for sure. At least my president’s made in the U.S. of A….for whatever that’s worth these days.

4/27/11

Episode Thirty-Eight: When Ticked-Off Chairs Meet Hypocritical Windows

In life, everyone has a past, present, and future. We are all told that was we do in the past can seriously alter the present and either enhance or destroy our futures. More often than not, one event in a person past can stay with them for the rest of their lives, and sometimes, no matter what else they do, or had bad they want to escape this stigma, they’ll be forever linked to this incident.

For example, baseball fan, Steve Bartman. We’ll all remember him as “the guy who stopped the Cubs from reaching the World Series.” All he wanted to do was catch a simple foul ball at a playoff game. What we did was stop Moises Alou from making an 8^th-inning out, when they were seemingly four outs away from winning the pennant, and going to the World Series. From there, the Cubs collapsed and lost National League Pennant. Now, was that one catch the reason why the Cubbies lost? Of course, not. Bartman was branded with this ‘jinx’, nonetheless, and all-but-ran out of Chicago because of it, forever going down in baseball infamy.

Today’s episode pops up in the wake of one Chris Brown, a young singer/entertainer, who for the last two years, has been battling his past and seemingly losing. As most of you know, back in 2009, Brown was arrested on domestic charges of brutally assaulting his then-girlfriend, R&B sensation, Rhianna. Images of the beating were released, court bargains were made, fans disowned him, the public blasted Brown for being a woman-beater, and rightfully so. Over the next two years, Brown went through various degrees of trying to rehabilitate his image: anger management training, counseling, and court-ordered community service.

Let’s fast forward Brown’s life to yesterday on ABC’s Good Morning America, a nationally syndicated daytime show. Brown was scheduled to go on to help promote the release of his new album, F.A.M.E, an album that he hoped would get his career back to his meteoric rise before the incident derailed it. As Brown went on the interview with the show’s anchor, Robin Roberts, he was asked several questions of how his life has been since the domestic incident. He simply shrugged them off; stating that he was looking more towards the release of the album and hoping his fans would appreciate the music that would be featured on it. Instead of the interview shifting to what would be expected on the album, instead he got another question from Ms. Roberts about the restraining order originally imposed on him as a result of the incident. Brown, slightly frustrated, shook of the question and stated that he was hoping the fans would love the album. Another Rhianna-related question was asked, and another answer was given that he was done with that chapter of his life and looking foward to moving on and embracing his future.

After the show apparently, Brown was so angry that Rhianna-related questions was asked at all instead of focusing his interview on the release of his new album, he went on a all-out tirade backstage, cursing in the dressing room, screaming at people, and cultivating it all with throwing a chair through the dressing room window on the 2^nd floor. It seems as though the two years he had spent trying to escape this incident was still there, haunting him and in still very much in his reality.

If that’s not bad enough; for this meltdown, he may face prison time as a violation of his probation.

Now, here’s what I have to ask; at what point does a person’s history is allowed to keep holding them in their past, especially if it was altered criminally, that sentence has been served and in the eyes of the law, their debt to society is paid?

I’m not naïve enough to know that with being a celebrity, there comes a higher degree of scrutiny for any wrongdoing. Certainly, this young man wasn’t naïve either. During those two years, he sat down on numerous shows and talked about how horrible that act was he committed against that young girl, and how truly sorry he was, while admitting some very personal things in his life which may have played a role in his anger getting the better of him.  However, even he believed that in admitting these things, and expressing remorse for this, there would be some sort of way he could redeem himself in the public eye….while putting this whole ordeal in his past. This interview, if nothing else, proved that he was wrong.…really wrong.

OK, I will state this for the record: I am not, nor have even been a Chris Brown fan. In the 10.5 gigabytes of music that is stored on my iPod, not one song exclusively features him, so I didn’t choose to make him the target of this episode to be perceived as a “fan boy”, or some biased malarkey like that. I also don’t give the guy a pass for wailing on a woman. That was a sucker move, and every bit of hell he caught cause of it was deservedly justified.

However, in playing the #1 Devil’s Advocate as I so like to do, I’m just trying to call a spade a spade here.

Most people talk about the guy flipping out as “he’s still hasn’t accepted humility in his situation.” For that I have to ask how much humility does the guy need to “accept” for the public to, if not forgive the guy, then to at least go on with his life and career? The heavy scrutiny, the title of being a woman-beater, being banned by other countries (Yes, the UK banned him from putting on shows there)…when does it stop? When would it stop? I don’t see any of this going forward as “accepting humility” at all. Seems to me people still want to see the guy suffer, and disguise it as “humility”. That’s not humility; that’s further punishment. Going on talk shows and still having to talk about this when he’s said all he needed to, apologized all he could, and expressed remorse all he should’ve is punishment. There’s nothing humble in this situation.

However, I also blame the handlers around Brown. If they had any inkling at all that he would be subjected to these questions previously, they should’ve never let him go on Good Morning America. Take Michael Vick, who had the chance of sitting down with Oprah, but declined it. I think he and his people knew that by going on that show, this could end up become a reoccurring nightmare, and Oprah would’ve probably made 95% of that show about his dog fighting case that landed him in prison, rather than the strives he made as a person, spokesman for PETA and, his resurgence as one of the NFL’s best talents. And yet, if Vick would’ve went on Oprah, hoping for a public relations boost to those that still feel he should be locked in prison, permanently banned from the NFL, or even executed for his crimes, would sitting on Oprah’s couch, allowing himself to be grilled worse than a Triple Whopper at BK, and opening up to the general public – again – change their opinions that much about the guy….honestly?

Yeah. I thought so, too.

Yes, like you, I agree; young Chris Brown should’ve kept his emotions in check yesterday. Throwing chairs through windows – no matter how upset you are – is no way to convey anger, even if he was blindsided in an interview by either an overzealous reporter or the producer who got Ms. Roberts to ask those questions repeatedly, ignoring any signs of changing subjects. Yes, I agree; Dude needs a lot more help to manage his anger, or this trait he has will get worse and worse in the upcoming years. I don’t condone what he did in the least, but I understand why.

The thing of it is, especially if you are a celebrity, you are still human. Still flesh and bone, still wired with emotions that range from eternal joy to never-ending rage.  And Chris, like every human, wanted to be left alone about a part of his life that caused him great shame. It’s outright hypocritical to assume that he can’t have this wish respected due to his status as being an entertainer. It’s not “the nature of the beast” or “something that goes along with the territory”, or even “it is what it is.” It’s hypocritical, no matter how you sort it out.

Also, this is pretty laughable when people complain about how they should feel “entitled” to ask questions about private lives just because someone has reached a plateau in social standing or economic stature that hasn’t been attained by the general populous, more so when other people on higher statuses are doing worse things behind closed doors and are being revered and seemingly praised (or at least, not lambasted enough) for their actions, like the suddenly uber-popular Charlie Sheen, or movie star sensation/Jewish crazy man, Mel Gibson.

Look, in the eyes of the law, once a person has served their sentence, then they – by all rights – are redeemed and allowed to rejoin society. This is the furthest from the truth when it comes to the court of public opinion. However, if people ever truly wish folks to move on with their lives in the event an ugly incident finds them in the middle of one, then regardless of what status they hold on this planet, this will never happen as long as people can’t allow folk to move on themselves. Chris deserves, if nothing else, that. No one questions Rhianna anymore about what happened two years ago. She’s moved on, put out an album (and half-nude pics), and dated about three people by now. Perhaps his questions need to end, too.

3/24/11

Episode Thirty-Seven: A Sexually Sexy Truth…

Here’s something we all know: It’s all around us these days.  No matter how hard you try to escape it, censor it, shield it, the topic of sex coming up in today’s society is as rampant as the air we breathe or the food we eat.

And here are two things that you may or may not know: it always been there, and it’s NEVER going to go away.

Today’s episode has made me ponder on something that for whatever reason still seems to be a very taboo subject here in America. I question all of it because in this day and age, for one reason or another, people still either are too naïve or simply believe sex should be shut out in the air of America, no matter what else is going on in the world around them.

OK, we all got our reasons why this is very dangerous thinking. The first one being religious-based, with the belief is that a sexually crazed nation will ultimately lead to a doomed nation. No matter how you spin it, God (or the Gods, depending on who you pray to, if anyone) frowns upon promiscuity and relations either before or outside of marriage. While I don’t doubt what the books say, I DO doubt that religion will be expected to trump human desire every day. That’s not to make up some lame excuse as “people makes mistakes”, but that IS to say “we’re only human”. After a certain age, there will come a need to interact with other humans in that manner, and most of us fail fighting it at one point in time or another. It’s called puberty. I don’t think that makes us bad people, deviants, or ungodly, but folks decide apparently that in life, some of these things are worth facing wrath later to experience and enjoy sex now.  Especially since some of these interactions can have a part in leading to – and sustaining – a happy marriage.

This leads me to take the case of one Brandon Davies, a now-former member of the BYU men’s basketball team. BYU – Bingham Young University – has suspended him off the team for violating part of their “honor code” in which students that attend the school must abide by. The rule he broke? Celibacy. As BYU is populated by people of the Mormon belief, they have implemented into their code of conduct that no sex shall be permitted to take place on the campus. Unfortunately, Mr. Davies and his girlfriend were found to have broken that when allegedly she became pregnant, and he was suspended off the team for the rest of the school year. Who is wrong here? If anything, this is the fault of Mr. Davies. If he knew that was one of the rules going to the school, then why sign that contract, knowing he might one day succumb to his urges and break them. That being said, I’d be wrong if I said BYU really needs to take a look at its social circle if they believe their entire campus is 100% celibate.

The second reason sex seems to be too taboo in America is that it sends a bad message to our children. This is where the practical side in me has to come to play. Turn on the TV; more than likely, you’ll see a program or commercial that has some sort of innuendo of sexual relation. Listen to the radio, there’s sexual lyrics being sung, rapped, and yodeled all day everyday in the urban setting, except, of course, for the 9-1 Sunday morning Gospel music block. Read the news; more and more, stories are breaking out that not only adults are getting hit with cases of sex with minors what seemed like on a regular basis, the kids themselves are “getting it on”, in the schools, no less. The point? Most of these kids ALREADY know what’s going on in terms of sex. Schools are now giving out condoms loud in Sex Education classes. In this new age where that kind of info can be accessed instantly, the more that adults or the powers that be attempt to hide it, the more curious the youth get to seek it out.

Now, does this mean that we should give up, and start putting on “Debbie Does D.C.” at 12:30 PM on the Disney Channel? Absolutely not. There are still standards and morals that society has to maintain on both ends of the spectrum. But, where is the middle ground for this? I’m sure everyone will agree that kids under the age of 13 shouldn’t be exposed to this type of stuff, but why is America still so disillusioned to believe that at the ages of 14 and 15, young teens aren’t aware of the sexual nature they’ve inherited, and that they should be totally ignorant to it until they hit 16, 17, or even 18 years old? Am I saying to start letting 14 and 15-year-olds have sex like it was the 70s? No way. Irresponsible behavior like that is what has teen pregnancies, abortions, and STDs all all-time highs in this country, not to mention the rise in pedophilic activity. What I am saying is ignorance to this subject does just as much harm as well, normally resulting in sexual mutinies of sorts once the sheltered one’s eyes are “revealed” . In one of my earliest episodes, I used an example of young teens that are sheltered their whole lives, who get “turned out” once they start to experience the world on their own for the first time in college when they finally leave home. It happens more often than we would.

What really bugs me out as to why America is so morally outraged against sex these days, is the outright hypocrisy that’s popping up with it. What’s seemingly like a record number of politicians, who are supposed to be the leaders of this country, are more and more getting caught in sexual scandals of either infidelity with their spouses, engaging in wild sexual behaviors, fathering children out of wedlock, or some other deed. Even in the churches, where sexual restraint is pretty much demanded, there aren’t immunities to human nature and also deception happens in this department. My whole argument with all of this is: you can’t try to tell one young person how to live if you’re secretly living the other way (or even lived that way and now reformed yourself)? No, I’m not condoning the philosophy of “they messed up, so I can mess up to”. What I am saying is that people need to realize that this topic is out there so much, that while it’s morally crazy to let kids have free reign to explore it, it’s equally insane to totally deny it exists. Not when every music video has half-naked women in it. Not when pornography sells billions of dollars of merchandise and videos every year. Not when former presidents of the country are being investigated – and admitting to –  accusations of cheating on their wives in some form.

In conclusion, I don’t knock how parents raise their kids at home. You all think sex is shown too much on TV? Turn it off. Put the blocks on certain channel; that’s why products have them now. Regulate the music they listen to, and the friends they hang out with. Just beware: eventually, the day will come when they find out, one way or another. I just hope they’re ready to deal with it, or they may some serious mistakes from not knowing about it. Sex is essential to survival, so the day that comes where people won’t need it to reproduce or for pleasure, that will be the day America can be super prude and back to 1950s mentality on the subject.  Since that day won’t be coming anytime soon, the naïveté needs to be curtailed.

3/3/2011

Episode Thirty-Six: The Egyptian Uprising

Who says a revolution can’t be televised?

Today’s episode will focus on one happening as I type this, as the people of the country of Egypt are leading a full-scale rebellion against the government and the current president, Hosni Mubarak.

What started out as a mass protest in late January in the city of Cairo has erupted into an all-out civil war in all of Egypt, with ordinary citizens marching, protesting, gathering in massive numbers, wanting the president of Egypt to step down and removing himself from office. Apparently, the citizens have spoken out against the government’s current policies regarding human right, police brutality, corruption, lack of free speech, and current economic policies like minimum wage laws and the high employment rate. (Sounds like I place I know…)

The main issue is that President Mubarak has made it crystal clear that he’s not leaving anytime soon. What troubles me about the guy is that he’s willing to throw everyone else in his cabinet under the political bus but him. He has already made several – if not all – of his cabinet members resign their positions and stated he won’t run for re-election in September’s next Egyptian election. That’s not doing anything to quell the people’s desire to see him go. Apparently, they want this guy GONE. Like last week gone.

Personally, it seems kind of selfish and arrogant of him. If you are the leader of a democratic country that elected you, that means you weren’t inherited a throne, lead a coup to power, or appointed leader by the family of rulers. This also means you’re first and foremost duty is to the people of your country, and if they want you out, the best thing for your people is to be graceful about it, cut your losses, and go. I guess the saying is true, that “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Unfortunately, in his quest to keep the power, those demonstrations of civil unrest turned very violent as he has apparently recruited his own forces to counteract the protestors (with weapons like machetes, bombs, and of course, guns) , leaving thousands injured and so far about 400 people dead, which I’m sure will rise exponentially by the time this is all over.

Now, the question for us in America has been, “Why should we care?” Personally, I don’t think we should care, past making sure American reporters are safe. (Honestly, THEY don’t need to be there; I saw Anderson Cooper catch a right hook to him yesterday. Yeah, I think they need to seriously considered packing it up) America is not the world’s police station; hell, we got our own problems over here. I understand that President Obama made comments about the situation; well, of course he was expected to. But the notion that troops are being considered to be sent in seems a little radical. That’s not America’s fight, and you can cry “oil” all you want. Unless the UN as a whole decides to take action to help resolve this – which I don’t see how they can – there’s no reason any outside forces should stop this conflict.

Now, I’m a practical person, and so while I understand what this revolution could ultimately trickle-down to in terms of gas prices in the U.S. shooting up to $4/gallon, no way am I putting the value of human life on that. No one in Egypt should be dying because they want to protest a leader they feel is no longer capable of leading that country. Nor should anyone else feel it’s in their best interest to get involved. I also find it funny that the same people trying to get the US involved in this fight are screaming for troops to be let go in Afghanistan. It sounds a little hypocritical, if you ask me. Especially if troops end up dying in Egypt. That would be nothing more that Iraq/Afghanistan Part 2.

While this episode won’t go into too much detail (quite honestly, because things are changing in Egypt what seems to be by the second), I’m going to end it on this note: Just how important is TRUE freedom? If you know it something that’s worth marching, protesting, and possibly dying for, how can you NOT side with the people on this?

2/3/11

Episode Thirty-Five: Darth Brizzle and the Basketball Prophecy

“I can feel your anger. It makes you stronger. Gives you focus.”  Darth Sidious, Star Wars – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Today’s episode is a look at the transformation into the guy who went from one of the most loved players in the NBA to now what seems as its most despised player, one Mr. LeBron James.

Now, if you ever read this blog before, there was an episode where I chronicled the upcoming free-agency period he would undergo after the 2009-2010 season, and how the entire sports world would view his decision. This picks up where that left off. Now, as we all know, LeBron shocked the sports universe by deciding not only to leave his home state’s team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, but to join two of the Top 10 players in the NBA in Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh for an essential super-team in the Miami Heat.

What followed after this “decision” while was media backlash of epic proportions. First, the country was almost horrified to see that James had basically turned his back on his home state by leaving them on national TV. That night, the country saw - on ESPN, the network that pretty much promoted all this - the city of Cleveland pretty much denounce the guy overnight: merchandise was thrown away or destroyed, jerseys burned, and the name “LeBron James” became the arch-nemesis to Clevelanders, Ohioans, and basketball purists everywhere. And then there was the open letter by Cavs owner, Dan Gilbert. Too funny to be taken serious. Too serious to be ignored.

But this is all history. We’ve seen the jilted venom all summer that was hurled towards this man.

(For the record: I was never a Cavs fan, nor much a LeBron fan, but I’m trying to call a spade a spade here.)

Fast forward to the start of the new NBA season, with this new Miami team pretty much being the focal point.  The collective energy of the fans was that Miami was now the team to beat – and hate – throughout their campaign. So, for the most part of the early months, he’s been bombarded by boos, jeers, even racial gestures both on and off the court.

My question is “Why?” Why should this man be treated as the worst person in the world simply because he went to a team he thought had an exponentially better chance to win NBA titles over the next six years then the team he left behind?

I guess the first reason for what seems like sincere hatred for this man is because most of the American public took the sympathy for Clevelanders and blamed LeBron for their continuing misery. To most of America, LeBron leaving that city was LIKE driving a silver spike through their hearts. For a city that hasn’t seen a major sports title in either football with the Browns, basketball with the Cavs, or baseball with the Indians come to their hometown since the Korean War or so, we felt bad. We thought that LeBron would eventually take them to the first championship and give them hope. Seeing him leave was very familiar to the way Anakin Skywalker – who was also referred to as the Chosen One – switched sides to become Darth Vader and help almost extinct the Jedi. The empathy felt towards Cleveland pretty much had the rest of the country hating LeBron.

The second reason is purists everywhere were claiming that LeBron cheated the game by teaming up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, superstars in the NBA as well to form this new team. They claimed that these three – spearheaded by James, of course – crushed the idea of fair and balanced competition towards the game and were very quick to point out that none of the game’s all-time legends: namely Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, or Magic Johnson who would never think of aligning with each other to win championships.

So, as I now go back to my original question of “Why”, I’m going to try to offer different perspectives of the major questions asked about this move.

Perspective #1 - He gave up on the city of Cleveland. I find that to be nothing more than the worst analyzing of basketball ever.  For years, even the most casual fan was often left wondering as to who would finally be the last piece to a championship puzzle for the Cavs, in being a suitable sidekick to back-up LeBron. We never got an answer to that question. The Cavs front office failed to provide the right person to assist LeBron, mostly relying on him to save them every night. I believe his main reason to leave was based on this. He didn’t want to be on a team that matter how hard he tried, his supporting cast couldn’t help in delivering a title to Cleveland. And isn’t basketball a team sport, after all? I mean, look at the Cavs right now. As of today, they are the worst team in the league. If ownership was any good and confident that could win a title without LeBron (as Gilbert’s crazy break-up letter pretty much guaranteed they’d do), them him leaving wouldn’t have caused the Cavs to totally implode the way they have this season, no matter how great his skills are in today’s game.

Perspective #2 - He cheated competition to win. OK, going on the notion that basketball takes more than one guy to get a title, no one person has been able to do this. Mike had Scottie Pippen (a hall-of-fame player), Larry had Kevin McHale (HoF), Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson (HoF). Magic had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (one of THE greatest players of all-time), and James Worthy (HoF as well), and the list goes on. So, if this is true, and it’s been pretty much proven that no matter how talented, special, gifted, or basketball savvy one guy is, why should he shoulder his own championship load alone?  The decision that was made for all three of them to play in Miami for the next five or six years was mutually done by all three, and they even took less money they could get elsewhere to do so.  Besides, no one’s crowning the Heat champs yet. The games still have to be played. We’ll see how that pans out. (Because I still believe at this moment, the Boston Celtics are the team to beat)

Perspective #3 – James is an egomaniac, and the “Decision” show was the worst showing of selfishness in sports EVER. Honestly, I don’t have a defense for this. He may very well be (and that special may have topped them all), but he wouldn’t be the first ultra star athlete to be on that level. And why should he stop now? The people pretty much made him this way. He didn’t nickname himself “King James” coming out of high school; ESPN did. He wasn’t going around calling himself “The Chosen One”, every sports magazine on the planet did that, which spread to the people.  So, if after 10 years of global – not national, global - praise, admiration, elite status amongst the people (while making nine-figures of income per year), can you blame the guy if he thinks he’s better than 99.9999975% of the Earth’s population, and has been since the day he came into the NBA? I’m not excusing it, but I’m just trying to explain as to why “all of sudden, James’ ego has come full circle.” My point in this; don’t hate him now, when he was like this all the while Cleveland, just because he’s not on the Cavs anymore. Don’t be hypocrites about the situation.

To be honest, as I go back to the title of this episode, I’ve made one rational conclusion of what LeBron should do with all this newfound negativity surrounding him: love it.

Cherish it.

Embrace it.

Hell, become one with it.

He should  appreciate the new role of “King Villain” that’s been bestowed upon him. For one, it seems to have given him a new focus for the game into helping the Heat dominate the league in becoming that feared team people though they’d reach with this line-up. For another, it would take away some of the phoniness I felt James was giving off in justifying his decision, hoping people would still like him. Honestly, why should he care that everyone outside of the city of Miami and his fan base thinks? As long as he’s playing at high levels, his team accepts him, his family and friends are backing him, then SCREW everyone else. It’s not their concern, and the sooner he realizes this, the better off he and the Heat will be. Besides, becoming one with the role he been given seems to give him more of an edge on the league anyways. And everyone seems to love anti-heroes these days. Trust me, if it worked for Kobe, it’ll work for LeBron. Watch. All it will take is time…and rings.

So, you know what? I’ll never call LeBron “King James” again. Not that I ever did, but instead, I’m making up a nickname for him that’s tons more cooler and more descriptive to who he’s been molded to through all these events: Darth Brizzle. The Chosen One’s darker persona. Use the hate from the jeers, the articles, sports stories, blogs, Q ratings, and everywhere else to destroy all who opposed (and still do) your decision.

Darth Brizzle could be the best nickname ever if the prophecy holds true.

1/12/2011