Saturday, July 30, 2011

Soulja Boy Buys A Private Jet For $55 Million?


If true, file this one under,
A fool and his money are soon parted.
And since I already blogged on this issue here is the link - wealthy v rich - check it out.

Soulja Boy has allegedly purchased a private jet for $35 million with an addition $20million in accessories to “pimp” out the aircraft. A member of Soulja Boy’s camp told TMZ.com he bought the G5 as a birthday gift this week. Soulja Boy plans to deck the jet out with a full bathroom and several flat screens. read more

Dr. Runoko Rashidi Presents: African Glory and Majesty


Where you can find me tonight:

Dr Runoko Rashidi will return to Banneker City DC on Saturday July 30th, 2011 for a Lecture and Slide Presentation on AFRICAN GLORY & MAJESTY:

The event is co-sponsored by Baye Services and the Garvey's Voice. It will be held at The Tree of Life Public Charter School 2315- 18th Place NE WDC. Between 4PM to 8PM. Runoko will be publicly sworn in as UNIA-ACL Traveling Ambassador by the UNIA-ACL President General Senghor Jawara Baye.

He will be just returning from Egypt. Runoko has now traveled to over 100 countries and continues to share vital information on our global African Presence the world over. While serving as an active member of the UNIA-ACL for many years and also serving as an Associate Editor for the Garvey's Voice, he has been an Garveyite for over 30 years.

The event will also feature PaPa Aziz the Master Drummer, an African Market Place and Food Sales. Donation is $10.00 and advance tickets can be purchase at Blue Nile Trading Company 2826 Georgia Ave NW WDC or by calling 202-256-2518 or 202-427-6116.

Bill O'Reilly The Voice Of Reason?


Jon Stewart famously stated that FIX News has become so extreme that O'Reilly is now the FIX's voice of reason, and this is like being the skinniest kid at a fat camp.

Well, the skinniest fat kid is now trying to calm down the lunatic right (tea baggers) from driving our economy - and the world economy - off the cliff. When you have O'Reilly calling them hateful and crazy, it is truly time we take off the gloves with these folks (are you listening Mr. President - with all due respect).

Billspeak:

Bill O'Reilly took some Republicans to task on his Thursday show, saying that they needed to stop their "craziness," tone down their "hateful rhetoric" and pass a debt ceiling increase.

"The only thing that can save Barack Obama at this point is craziness on the right," he said. "...It's not only going to hurt the Republican party, which has already been hurt, but it's going to save President Obama who they hate."

"Exactly," Ingraham said.

"The irony is, the people who dislike President Obama the most...are helping him the most," O'Reilly said. "You've got to stop this hateful rhetoric. Some of the rhetoric is so hateful...it'd spin your head around. You have to say, listen, we're at a point in the history when we have to save the country."
read more

As one commentor rhetorically pondered: Did Hell Freeze Over?

Look, Tea Baggers are by-in-large a FIX created Frankenstein. FIX News planted the seeds and nourished the growth - and now the beast is (as even O'Reilly and the very conservative Laura Ingraham agree) out of control with their hate speech.

FIX News if you are upset and befuddled, you have no one to blame but yourself!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Is Obama a Wartime President?


My fellow Godfather film aficionados can appreciate the following question:

Is President Obama a good wartime leader?

Or, similar to Tom Hayden – Sonny Corleon’s wartime consigliere – does Obama lack the temperament required to be a good war-leader?

And by war, I am not referring to Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya.

No, I am referring to the Tea Party/GOP lead war against Middle- America. The Tea Party has high jacked the GOP platform and has declared war on the American government and people. They have manufactured a party-made crisis (debt ceiling) in order to impose their will.

Their war objective: Rob the poor and not so poor to give to the extremely rich!

We need a war-time leader.

In the Godfather, no one questioned Tom Hayden’s skill set, intelligence or loyalty. However, Hayden’s personality – not combative enough to wage war – was better suited for bringing people together.

Likewise, Obama has a one in a millennium skill set. His grasp of the political issues is without a peer (except Bill Clinton) and his stamina/work effort is indefatigable.

Obama aims to be a unifier not a divider. He relishes reconciling people with different politics, ideas, ethnic backgrounds and religions. He doesn’t see Red state or Blue state, he sees fellow Americans.

In times of peace, these qualities are admirable. These qualities are what attracted many Obama supporters.

Right now we need a leader for the time we live in; a leader that recognizes the true nature and ulterior agenda of the GOP. Now is the time to fight and not hold hands singing We Are The World with an adversary that is dedicated to sabotaging said world.

Is Obama the man of the hour? To be frank, I hope so but I am not sure. Only history will tell. The legendary Winston Churchill – seen as a great wartime leader – faced the reverse problem:

Although Churchill's role in the Second World War had generated much support for him amongst the British population, he was defeated in the 1945 election. Many reasons for this have been given, key among them being that a desire for post-war reform was widespread amongst the population and that the man who had led Britain in war was not seen as the man to lead the nation in peace. Wikipedia.

The People and our American Way is too big to fail.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

I Have Survived Cell Phonelessness


I am without cell phone.

I am off-line and unable to reach out and touch somebody. I have not uttered,
can you hear me now
nor
you are breaking up
for some time. Neither have I texted a message in almost a week.

And how do I feel?

Strangely, I feel liberated. Being unburdened by the demanding beck and call of a phone vibrating or playing some annoying tune (it was catchy the first 200 calls) 24/7 is blissfully serene.

Don't get me wrong, my initial response was panic. I tried to chase down and yell down the rental car I exited - but to no avail, my car-pool mate left me in a dust not noticing my frantic arm waving gestures.

After 24 hours of cell phone withdraw, I became consumed with an eerie tranquility. And when via e-mail communication (I'm not 100% digital free), I confirmed that my phone was safe and secure, I decided that I am not in a rush to retrieve it.

Of course, my cell and I will be reunited sooner rather than later; yet in still, I feel empowered by the knowledge that I can live a quality life absent my ubiquitous companion. And I feel a sense of superiority to all those cell phone slaves I see yammering on this communication devise as if their life depends on it.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Radical Shrinking of The Middle-Class


Statistical data regarding the radical shrinking of the middle-class serve as a stubborn fact that can not be swept under the rug.

Neither fancy propaganda, political rhetoric nor diversionary tactics (in other words FOX News programing) can hide the fact that the GOP designed supply side economics - ushered in by Ronald Reagan - has been a catastrophic disaster for the middle class.

Thirty years of more and more income and capital gains tax cuts, corporate deregulation, estate tax reduction, social program cutting has bankrupted our economy. The rich got super rich, the middle-class got squeezed and the poor became a permanent under-class.

And guess what - after the middle-class economic tsunami - the GOP wants even more tax reduction for the uber rich and more reduction of the social safety net that keeps our society from falling into feudalism.

The best explanation of the importance of a viable and strong middle-class was written in a Nigerian news website called The Nation:

The middle class, it needs to be stressed, is the bedrock of national stability and democracy. The middle class is the buffer and safety net between the filthy rich and the filthy poor. As it so happens with the ever changing dynamics of human society, on their way down, the super rich can be contained without a precipitate fall into cantankerous penury. On their way up, the once poor can be accommodated before they threaten the entire system.

The middle class serves as the guarantor of peace and prosperity in the modern society. Without them, there can be no democracy or national stability. It is the armistice zone which prevents the underprivileged from openly colliding with the over-privileged. A nation which destroys its middle class has killed the capacity of the people to dream of a better tomorrow and has added a dispossessed intellectual class to its list of mortal and implacable enemies.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

MSNBC Host Fired For Criticizing Obama?

Cenk Uygur, who had been host of the MSNBC program The Young Turks up until Wednesday night, announced to his viewers that the show and his employment with the cable news network was coming to an end. That, in and of itself, isn't all that spectacular. After all, shows come and go all the time. Within the last month, in fact, Glenn Beck said goodbye at Fox News while Eliot Spitzer was dumped at CNNRead more

Cenk, of the online news program Young Turks, is very progressive and passionate about his views.

Cenk has often questioned President Obama's progressive street cred. He has accused Obama of caving in to the demands of the GOP and Wall Street.

Apparently, the suits at MSNBC asked him to tone it down and he refused, hence both parties agreed to go their separate way.

"I didn't want to work at a place that, you know, wouldn't let me do my kind of show, that wasn't interested in my kind of show, that didn't want to challenge power," Uygur said


I may be very critical about people that wantonly criticize Obama - Tavis Smiley, Cornel West and others - regarding his style while overlooking his huge and historical legislative victories.

But I will vigorously support their right to express any their views. Cenk had good ratings and MSNBC knew his style before they hired him.

This leaves the question, who pressured MSNBC to request Cenk to tone it down?