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September 15, 2005
Where's Tyrone Bigsby?
This is from the Inside the Beltway section of the
Washington Times:
"We've learned of a major shake-up at the Washington-based National Black Republican Association, with six of the 10 NBRA board members resigning in recent days over various disagreements.
"The organization and its current leadership is heading down a much different direction than was envisioned by myself and the other board members," says Christopher R. Arps. Similarly, the Rev. Eric M. Wallace, chairman of the African American Republican Council of Illinois and a candidate for lieutenant governor, writes in a resignation letter obtained by Inside the Beltway: "If you guys decide to formulate another organization based on actually helping our people, let me know. If you choose people with a servant's heart, then I am in. I serve because of my relationship with my Savior. I am a Christian first, a father second, a minister and scholar third, and a black man fourth, and then a Republican. Heaven help me if I ever get these out of order." Three resigning board members, we're told, frowned on signing a "statement of commitment" sent to them by NBRA Chairman Frances Rice, concluding with: "My failure to sign this statement confirms that I am not a member in good standing of the NBRA and am not eligible to be an officer in the NBRA or a member of the NBRA Board of Directors." Board member Bill Calhoun, in a memo to Ms. Rice also obtained by this column, wrote: "Regarding your request for me to sign a letter of commitment, is this being requested of all board members? This appears discriminatory." Meanwhile, there also were questions surrounding approval of the latest news release issued by the NBRA, praising President Bush's leadership after Hurricane Katrina. "President Bush is to be commended for deploying all of the resources of the federal government to help the refugees," Ms. Rice stated in the release. "
A follow-up brief was printed a few days later.
Growing Up but Going Down
Oh how fast they grow up. Several of my friends have children, and it seems like
just yesterday we (my friends and I, not the kids) were all hanging out at the club.
Some of the kids are getting to that age already when they become interested,
or at least curious, about the opposite sex. One minute we're all in the club,
next I'm helping pick out infant clothes, then I'm hearing about crushes
and puppy love.
What's next? An article in the Washington Post prepares today's parents
of what half of them can expect. According to the most
comprehensive national survey of sexual behaviors ever released by the federal
government, just over half of American teenagers between the ages of 15-19 have engaged in oral sex.
Most parents I'm sure are already shaking their heads saying, "Nope, not my kid.
He/she is a good little angel." Well I seriously doubt any of the parents whose
kid(s) experienced oral sex was saying, "I bet my kid is a downtowner."
Here's another interesting factoid that may or may not shock or concern you. A release
by the [National Center for Health Statistics] six months ago, based on the same
survey results, showed that slightly more girls than boys have intercourse before
they turn 20.
I find these statistics alarming, but then again, I don't have any kids yet. When I do,
though, I am not going to hesitate to talk to them about these issues before my kids
come home with blisters on the lip or a child of their own on the way.
So What's In Your, Uhhh, Food?
My cousin Shanna Wiley and I were talking about conspiracies yesterday and I shared some stuff
with her she wasn't aware of yet. Some of the stuff we talked about was
dubious, others very much real. She made a comment about how we can bring children
into this world which is just so messed up. I guess that's for every individual to decide,
but I explained to her that everything is packaged so we never really know
what's going on. All these "news" reports about missing kids and identity
theft is simply conditioning us to accept the concept of having microchips
inserted somewhere into our bodies. Have you seen the commercial in which
you swipe your finger on your laptop to enter your passwords and information?
Do you think your information is embedded into your skin? I mean, people are already
injecting their pets with these tracking devices.
Well, another thing that affects everyone everyday that is well packaged
and at times simply disguised is what we eat. I dug up a few websites
that went into more detail about the history and affects of
monosodium glutamate, better known as MSG.
You may be quite surprised of what it is, what it does and where you'll find it.
September 13, 2005
My Two Cents on the Ramsey Benching
Just before the Redskins visit Dallas on Monday Night Football, coach Joe Gibbs
announces Mark Brunell will start. And after losing 14 of the last 15 games against
the Cowgirls, Redskins fans are a bit concerned. I share
my two cents about why I am confortable about the decision.
September 12, 2005
Who Needs Medical Insurance?
I was once posed with the question, "What industry is designed so that, if you do
your job effectively, you eliminate their customer base?" The answer is none.
When you have a headache, it is your body telling you it's dehydrated and
needs more water. Instead people take pain relievers which numbs the nerves
that send the signal to the brain begging for water, but the cause of the headache
is never cured. It is simply masked. Drinking water greatly reduces headaches.
The pharmaceutical industry has to be one of the most scandalous industries out there.
If patients back in the day didn't become crackheads, drugmakers would still
be using cocaine as a medicine. Look at what's becoming the most popular
drugs being abused today. It used to be that funky green stuff prescribed
in California, but Mary is taking a back seat to today's prescription drugs
(oxycotins, vicodin, hydrocodone, valium and xanax).
Look at the uproar over Vioxx and how studies are coming to light showing it may
reduce (or mask) the arthritic pain people suffer, but it also reduces
the number of beats your heart has left. People have died because of this drug.
September 9, 2005
It's That Time of Year Again
If you're an NFL junkie such as myself, yesterday was our New Year's Day.
The New England Patriots are off to a good start, beating the Oakland Raiders
30-20 for the 2005 season's opening game. This weekend everyone will see their
teams get their first piece of action. My squad, the Washington Redskins,
open the season against a rookie-led Chicago Bears team which may not score
a single point.
This year I'm going to make my NFC predictions
for what to expect for the year. I would do the AFC, but there's no use. The Patriots
may go back to the Super Bowl if they have home field advantage going into the playoffs,
but look for Peyton Manning to finally prove to everyone he's not Dan Marino.
As I've gotten wiser, I stopped predicting the
Skins winning the Super Bowl, but I do expect them to slip into the playoffs.
I warn all you Cowboy fans to prepare for another letdown season after all the
so-called experts convinced you that the Cowboys are a sleeper team this year.
I will be in Washington, DC, for Monday Night Football next week when the Redskins
travel to Dallas. After years of disappointment, I can't pass up on the opportunity
to see my boy's Devin's face when the Cowboys fall on national TV.
September 7, 2005
So That's Where All The Money Went
I received a couple of emails from one of my homeboys about the first couple, George and Barb (Wire) Bush.
Apparently the War on Terror is costing us more than we bargained for. Initially,
Congress gave him a blank check to buy a bunch of weapons to make his cronies rich
but no armor for the military (and its teenagers) dodging bullets.
And when the money ran out he borrowed it from wherever he could find it.
Actually borrowing money implies he was going to pay it back. Not only did he
take the money that would have helped prevent many deaths, he change a lot
of government policies that contributed to the devastation and destruction
of New Orleans.
One email contained an article written by Sidney Blumenthal,
a former assistant and senior advisor to former President Clinton. She explains
where some of the money for the War on Terror came from. You may find it a bit
disturbing to think when the money is spent, we do know exactly where it comes
from and what we're sacrificing in the process.
Another email had the following article from Editor & Publisher. Barb (Wire) Bush
speaks about the rescue efforts with evacuating survivors to Texas. After
losing everything they own, their homes, jobs, family and everything else,
she says because of the hospitality in Texas that this worked out for some of the
victims and that they may never go back. You know, like, this turned out all right after all (sic).
I've also received a few more articles about the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina.
Accompanying her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, on a tour of hurricane relief centers in Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, "This is working very well for them."
The former First Lady's remarks were aired this evening on American Public Media's "Marketplace" program. She was part of a group in Houston today at the Astrodome that included her husband and former President Bill Clinton, who were chosen by her son, the current president, to head fundraising efforts for the recovery. Sen. Hilary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama were also present. In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I've talked to says we're going to move to Houston." Then she added: "What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."
Labor Day 2005
Lock & Load, We're Headed to New Orleans
Throughtout the weekend I've been watching footage from the devastation
of Hurricane Katrina. It is absolutely overwhelming. Initially when the reports began
to trickle in, I thought it was the media doing what they do best: sensationalism.
But as the video footage reached our homes, I was in a perpetual state
of shock from the destruction of an entire city.
I prefer to refrain from watching such horrific images of human loss and
tragedy. I couldn't even watch Willis McGahee's leg getting snapped
in the NCAA football championship game a few years ago more than once.
Katrina's destruction is heart-wrenching and frustrating to watch.
But it's like watching Being Bobby Brown: you try to refrain from watching
something you don't want to watch, but you find yourself unable to pull yourself
away from the set.
Then, what I was hoping to avoid witnessing began. Politics. I must say I
am 100% impressed, encouraged and proud of the mayor of New Orleans for
speaking from the heart and telling it like it is. This is not a time for painting
pretty pictures or worrying about an image. People in New Orleans are suffering.
He said it like it was supposed to be said about the government's initial reaction.
Four new words to describe our administration: "Get Off Your Ass."
But don't think for a split second the administration would admit to any wrongdoing.
I believe I was reading that 10,000 soldiers of the National Guard were headed
to New Orleans. The disturbing part is they were armed as if they were headed
to Balad, Iraq.
The media was back in full swing. The image painted was not of an area
in which the residents were in need of immediate help. This was a scene of
heavily armed soldiers heading into an area we're supposed to feel is dangerous because
of the images of low-income people either "looting" (if they were black) or
"finding survival items such as food and clothes" (if they weren't black).
All of the sudden it looked as if going to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina
was stepping into a war zone with the enemy. I told myself I wasn't going
to address the issues surrounding the hurricane
because I couldn't express how I feel inside after watching the turmoil it has created.
What could I possibly write to make people answer the call to action or
take away the pain of those who have lost everything they own, including family?
But I cannot help but to express my disdain for the fourth branch of the government
protecting the executive branch for lack of execution. The media almost made
me feel as if the victims (I REPEAT: THE VICTIMS!) were dangerous, killing people
and resisting any form of help they could to survive. Image after image
of the same dozen people doing what some dumb people do and that's why it took
an army of battle dressed soldiers to rescue the other THOUSANDS of victims.
Say whatever you want, but as soon as the levee broke, Bush should have cut his
vacation short and did his job of protecting and serving the American people. Where's
Guiliani? Even Clinton would've sent the women home immediately so he could
do what he's expected to do as the President of the United States. I guess Bush just isn't
as good at pulling people out of areas that have been destroyed, whether
by our bullets and bombs or Mother Nature. But he's good at sending armed soldiers
in.
Check out this video
(if it's still up...) and let me know if our soliders were stepping into an American
city in desperate need of all the help they can get or the Sunni Triangle.
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