Because I said so

Nas responsed to the beating of Derrion Albert.

Dear Young Warriors fighting the wrong wars! Killing each other is definitely played out. Being hurt from the lost of a love one was never cool.

Dear Young Warriors fighting the wrong war! I know that feeling, that frustration with life and needing to take it out on someone, any one. But....

We chose the dumbest things to go the hardest for. I remember seeing deaths over 8 ball jackets, Fila sneakers, and name plate chains. Deaths over "he say, she say"!!!!! "I'm from this block or I'm from that block", or "my moms n pops is f*cked up now the whole world gotta pay"!!!

I remember feeling like I was the hardest "n*gga" breathing. And I couldn't wait to prove it. But let's think. What are we really proving?? And proving what to who?? Everybody knows Chicago breeds the strongest of the strong but I just feel, me, being ya brother from another state feels your pain as if I grew up with you in ya very own household.

You have the ability and mindpower to change they way we are looked at. Look who's watching us young warriors, look who's throwing us in jail constantly, look at the ignorance in the world. Look at the racist dogs who love to see us down. Loving to bury us in the ground or in jail where we continue this worthless war on one another.

Young warriors.... We are WASTING more and more time. We gotta get on our jobs and take over the world. Cuz this movie left the theaters years ago, Juice, Menace, Boys n the Hood , Blood n Blood Out, Belly!

When we see each other why do we see hatred? Why were we born in a storm, born soldiers, WARRIORS....and instead of building each other up we are at war with each other.. May the soul of this young person find peace with the almighty. I'm with you young warriors. You're me and I'm you. But trust me! you are fighting the wrong war.

This sh*t sucks !!

--Nas

The mentality that killed Derrion Albert is one I struggle to understand. What parent or family members pollute their children into believing they are nothing and will never be nothing. That is what killed Derrion Albert. A mentality of contemptible hatred for anyone that is doing what you ought to be doing. Instead of Obama visiting for the Olympics his visit should have been precipitated by the continued death toll of teenagers in his beloved Chicago. Derrion Albert was killed by a familiarity that breeds contempt within our black communities. Derrion Albert was killed because we don’t believe that we can be what he was working towards. Rest in Peace Derrion. The world loses too many like you and in turn is left with the reprehensible do nothings that continue the cycle of hatred and low self worth from generation to generation.

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Woke up Wednesday morning around 3:30 praying God please let it be heart burn. I already knew my body was attacking itself again. I tried to wait it out hoping this would pass quickly but my gall attacks never pass quickly its always at least four days of oscillating discomfort to intense pain. I finally broke Thursday morning and called my doctor he was able to find a hospital that would allow me to come in for an ultrasound quickly. Went on Friday at 11:30 then got a call from the Radiologist and he asked if I could come back in tomorrow (which is today) I told him no he asked when was the last time I ate, he said don’t eat anything else and come back later tonight for a second ultrasound. WTF did you find!

Thank God I work in a hospital I am going to find out myself because there is no way in hell I am waiting until Monday to hear the results of that second ultrasound. When he first told me to come back in I thought it was the spot on my liver which was found over a year ago when I first began having really serious gall attacks. But the spot turned out not to be cancerous because there is insufficient blood flow and I do go ever six months to make sure it’s not getting larger. Back to my current problem damitt I am now hoping my “elective” gall bladder surgery which I have been waiting for months will now turn into a medically necessary surgery. The throbbing not’s so bad it’s when my insides begin to feel as if someone is wringing out a wet towel that I can find no release because no position alleviates the pain, vicodin helps but a morphine drip is much betta. Anyway I’m functioning today I believe I am at the end of this attack I am going to attempt to workout today I have not run since Tuesday and I hate missing days.

I am getting really good at my runs. I am now able to run 5 complete miles in 1:01. I am preparing for the turkey trot this year which is an 8 mile jog on Thanksgiving Day. My husband and youngest brother will be doing the 8 mile along with me my mom is going to walk the 5k. I have gotten so much better than when I first started back in May. I really enjoy running it helps clear my mind.


Lord delivery me from the banality of stupidity that encompasses much of the Republican Party. Really Rush because this was not happening before Obama was elected President. For real you also think the reverse didn’t happen to black kids going to all white schools. For real. Bullies are bullies so you can cut the Obama’s America crap.

"It’s Obama’s America, is it not? Obama’s America, white kids getting beat up on school buses now. You put your kids on a school bus, you expect safety but in Obama’s America the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering, “Yay, right on, right on, right on, right on,” and, of course, everybody says the white kid deserved it, he was born a racist, he’s white."

Dick. I hope you are the first causality of “THE” race war you are trying desperately to incite, oh, might as well add that douche Hannity and just for grins Cheney.


Whitney, Whitney, Whitney, why lie! Yes I said lie because she did not keep it one hundred. Nothing will irk me more than someone who will not own their mistakes. Did anyone else watch the Oprah interview because she blamed Bobby and the industry for a lot of her unhappiness. I hate when women who are in abusive relationships once unconstrained by that relationship flip it and blame everything on the man. No, NO, NO. Whitney you were apart of this and you did not own that. I also don’t think she owned her drug usage either. Let me get this straight I don’t think Whitney had to talk to anyone about her drug usage but because she did then you should have at least been honest and forthright. I did not see that and I think denial will only cause her to relapse. I am far from wishing that on her but when you can’t admit to the full depth of your problem I only see a repeat of the behavior.

We are, or I should say I am (because my husband has been ready for quite sometime), finally ready to have a baby. I opted to find an OB/GYN that specializes in fertility because for the last year we have used nothing and nada, no baby, not even a grasp I think I could be preggers. Anyway she prescribed some prenatal pills we are not trying in earnest now but if it happens great I think I am really ready to be a mother now. This all came about thanks to Bush and his stupid Iraq war. When I was forced to keep my brothers kids while he and his wife were deployed last year. I was rarely around children until that point and I fell head over hills in love with my niece and nephews. I Love those kids soooooo much. So I guess I should thank Bush, ugh. Anyway we are not going to really try until after May. I turn 30 next may and we will be celebrating that and our 5th wedding anniversary in Europe. I am so excited we have saved for the past two years for this trip and I can’t wait.


Speaking of the trip I will be glad when it gets here my husband has such trip anxiety its ridamdiculous. He worries over the smallest minute details. I think I drive him crazy because whenever we travel I’m like oh if we forgot something we will get it when we get there its only TOOTHPASTE for God’s sake. I have yet to officially decide where we are going I was hoping to do at least four countries but my husband doesn’t really like to travel in the first place (he loves it when he gets there its just the getting him there part that sucks so much energy out of me). For sure we are going to Spain because it’s a direct flight from DFW and France I am really hoping to squeeze in a trip to Portugal as well.

On the corner of Wycliffe and Maple at 6am this morning a cop just ran the light. There was no emergency he did not have his lights on he just flat out ran the light and he made a left turn. Hell I want to run a light too. Asshole, cop.

Back to kids I have already decided on the names for my girls. Yes I think I am going to have girls whenever I have children and I am hoping for twins. My father is a twin, I had a twin, and my husband has six sets of twins on his side of the family. Their names will be Alexandria Cecily (and no that is not pronounced like Celie from the color purple) and Jacqueline Lynn. I know my husband would like a boy what man doesn’t but I also know he would like to make him a Jr. and my husband’s first name is so not cute. It makes him unique and we get plenty of odd looks and he is often asked to repeat his name but, no I don’t think our child should have to carry on THAT name.

And if there is such a thing as reincarnation I want to come back as a Puerto Rican. Puerto Ricans are the greatest people on earf. I really want to go back there instead of going to Europe, I enjoyed my time there. Beautiful water fun people it was all one love.

AHHHHHH I feel so much better now. I might actually be able to focus enough to produce an actual coherent post this weekend.

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House of Parliament and no I am not talking about George Clinton’s P-Funk. An apology is insufficient only punishment will deter another idiot from turning Capital Hill into the raucous parliaments witness across the globe. I know there is a demographic of conservative republicans which are rational yet fiercely dedicated to their cause. However, the people like Wilson and the other’s waving the Republican Bill and carrying signs as if they are at a rally, are the extremist and they are the burgeoning face of conservatism. Liberals and Progressives need only sit and watch the continued implosion created by sensationalist journalism and the inability to create rational arguments.

Wilson you are no better than a toddler who throws a tantrum because he can’t have his way. It is plainly obvious that you not only lack civility but the ability to discern your remarkable display of disrespect continued to perpetuate your party as the party of irrationality.

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Repost from Jack and Jill Politics

I spent the past several months away from politics. It was an involuntary hiatus made necessary by personal and professional commitments that demanded my utmost attention. When I left, we had a stimulus bill in place, a president with high approval ratings and some remaining afterglow from election night and inauguration day.

When I returned in mid August, it was to a country that had clearly lost its damn mind. I turned on one cable station to hear people demanding President Obama prove he’s an American citizen, an insane movement led by an Israeli citizen. I switched channels to see another group screeching in fear that Obama’s health care proposal would institute death panels to kill grandma. On yet another station, Glenn Beck accuses this president of having a deep-seated hatred for half of himself. Flip again to find parents removing their children from school because they don’t want their kids exposed to Obama’s socialist indoctrination. And yesterday, Green Jobs Czar Van Jones resigned after extreme pressure from right wing groups and extreme tepidness from the White House that hired him to do his very important work.

Great. After a brief respite, the most accessible American political discourse has returned to fearful, hate-filled, ignorant rants of a high-volume, low-intellect minority.

In such an environment, how does one govern? Does one try to “balance” such concepts as contradictory as a “public option” on one hand and “fear of death panels” on the other? Or does one realize that this is a false spectrum and to try to find a center in such a sea is a worthless and foolhardy expedition?

Too often, this White House has sent the signal that it seeks common ground and conciliation with parties interested in its total destruction. From my point of view, negotiating with ignorance, fear, hate and irrationality is insane. For example, when a major Republican figure in the health care negotiations spreads the death panel lie (Grassley), you see him for what he is, realize you’re dealing with a group of psychopaths, and reset the objectives. “Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be? Cool. Good to know what we’re dealing with. Thanks for your time. We won’t be needing your services anymore. We’re taking our ball and playing somewhere else.” Negotiations require trust and trust assumes that all parties are not completely batshit crazy.

I realize I’m lumping a variety of “opposition” camps together: birthers, deathers, those who accuse the president of racism and those who accuse him of socialism. I’m grouping them because to me they all come from the same place. They’re engaging in a form of terrorism. They are using psychological violence (and occasionally the threat of real violence) to pursue a political objective, and in so doing, inflicting harm upon non-combatants.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the movies, it’s that “The United States of America does not negotiate with terrorists.” Yet this White House is willing to let these psychological terrorists set the terms of the debate and negotiate from their insane positions. One group of people is trying to talk about co-pays. The other thinks the president is a secret Kenyan. One group of people sees the creation of domestic, sustainable jobs as a cornerstone of the 21st century economy. The other thinks the president is going to murder your grandmother. This is not legitimate political discourse and to make decisions acknowledging terms so far apart in their reality is just plain stupid.

Van Jones was one of the good guys. A really, really good guy. He used his education and his passion to combat police brutality and the massive, wasteful incarceration of so many of this nation’s young, brown people. Having fought in the trenches for so long, he saw an opportunity to build hope and jobs and tangible communities as the world responds to the climate crisis. He connected the dots and inspired action and had a vision. He was the rare outsider who got a chance to move inside, and move he did.

Van was the kind of guy that gave me real confidence in this administration’s seriousness. President Obama meets with generals every day and sees scary reports and wants to get re-elected. I can always make some politics-based allowances for his underwhelming actions. Van, however, was truly one of us. He got it. And to give someone like him power gave me more faith in the president. So when the lynch mob came after Van, it was a test. The same test so many Democratic administrations have failed time and time again. When the going gets tough, do you back your people, or do you fall back on excuses.

This White House, this administration and this president failed Van, failed its supporters and failed to honor the efforts of millions that got them into office in the first place. What’s the point of having power if you don’t use it? When will this White House realize that nothing it does will ever be acceptable to the loud-mouthed, ignorant minority? When will it learn that you cannot negotiate with terrorists??

I’m heartbroken over Van’s departure because it’s these little meaningless concessions that undermine people’s faith in the system. You get folks all riled up about change. You empower a man who embodies that change. And they you let him be run out of office by fucking Glenn Beck? So Glenn Beck is running the White House now? Is that how it’s gonna be? Just tell me that I knocked on all those doors for nothing, and I can start the grieving process, but don’t pretend this will solve anything.

I can’t help but look at this spineless response and see it in contrast to the previous administration. You know how gansta they are? DICK CHENEY IS STILL TALKING SMACK! You don’t see anyone of prominence telling him to shut up. The man who has been wrong about everything gets the full support of his party, yet President Obama can’t find enough audacity to stick up for a true change agent?

How do you expect folks to continue to go to the mat for your agenda, when you so easily sacrifice our best and brightest at the whim of an illegitimate lynch mob? How do you expect the next generation to invest themselves in the political process when they see that despite their good works, they can be taken out over nonsense, especially when the double standard is so abundantly clear? How can you ask from us what you won’t do for us? And when will you realize that you cannot negotiate with terrorists?

- Baratunde Thurston (aka Jack Turner)

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H/T to Go B. and TaulaZoeApple

Why do you hate yourself so much?

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Thank you Rippa: Mental Midgets indeed.

Republicans are running around claiming people are commies and socialists trying their best to undermine progress. I find it alarming that Republicans are resorting to the use of McCarthyism again to spread fear. Republicans have long since used this tactic to discredit progressive and liberals (there’s a difference) and to question their patriotism.

We all know that no one loves their country more than God-fearing, gun-toting, pro-life Republicans. I think it truly boggles the mind of conservatives that God-fearing and pro-choice progressive and liberals love this country as well. We differ in how we believe the country should run and function. To question whether someone loves their country because they don’t agree with your ideologue just makes you seem simple.

Van Jones announced his resignation today because the McCarthyist machine, now known as Fox News, has declared Jones to be a threat to the America Republic. I enjoyed reading Jones’s The Green Collar Economy. I thought he had some terrific ideas in how to move us into an independent nation (because you know we really aren’t if everything says made everywhere but the U.S.A.) however, his section on green jobs translating to relief from poverty in the hood rang a little hollow. I believe he saw his vision coming to fruition but alleviating the problems in inner cities across America will take more than Green production.

Maybe we are on the precipice of civil war again I think that is the direction the right is actively seeking.Well, congratulations Republicans, you are truly God’s chosen people you continue to uphold the principles of the bible such as:

Thy shall not commit murder – War in Afghanistan and Iraq
Thy shall not commit adultery – Too many to list
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

I understand why Jones resigned it’s him or healthcare reform, he understands this. Obama you had better tighten the hell up and go all out for health care because, how many sexy bald headed brothers can we afford to lose in the White House.

To Jones: please leave a sista your forwarding address.

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She’s joking but she’s really in pain. I have been very lucking in my marriage that I get along with most of my in-laws except one. In the beginning my husband’s youngest aunt and I would just do the head nod and keep it moving. One evening I decided to skip dinner because I knew she was going to be there and I didn’t feel like being tied in knots all evening. Well when my husband (fiancé) at the time came home I could tell something was wrong right away. Knowing my husband he needs a day or two to mull over the problem before he confides in me. A few days later he told me he had to have a talk with his aunt at the dinner because he didn’t like some of the things she was saying or how she was treating me. While he is talking I am doing figurative cartwheels in my head and I fell in love with him all over again. My husband is so close with his family that I know it took an incredible amount of nerve for him to possibly even consider severing ties with a member of his family.

A brief aside: Marriage in itself is rough enough without the interference of in-laws. There will be those days you ask why did I get married, better yet why did I marry this person. Perfect example, my husband did something today that he knows will set me off its really very trivial but dammit it irritates me. I get up to fill the dog’s bowl I come back to the kitchen and he is eating my food, BEFORE I get a chance to taste it. I don’t mind sharing but can I please taste it first. Hell he doesn’t know the meaning of bite or sip he consumes. Damn I am getting mad all over again just typing about it.

Anyway, I firmly believe it is your spouse’s duty to confront some out of order family member. My mom had a really hard time excepting my husband because we starting dating my senior year in college and she just knew I was going to give up everything I was working towards “for some man” her words. I actually skipped going home on breaks to keep from having to listen to her harangue him (when she had never met him, we were only dating at the time and only so-so serious). Finally I called in my granny and asked her to get mom to lay off. Now hell, most of the time my family doesn’t care if I come home or not as long as my husband stops in for a visit. Sickening really. I can honestly say that each of our families care and respect us and our spouses and that makes all the difference in the world.

My BFF was married for six months before she filed for divorce. I firmly believe the divorce could have been prevented had each of them placed their families in check from jump. As it is Mr. Man and I are coming up on five years and besides the occasional Gawd you get on my nerves, I guess I really can’t complain too much. Besides it helps living by my mom’s golden rule “never get involved in family squabbles, never.”

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I often buy store brand. Usually Target’s Archer Farms is superior to other brand name products. I dipped into Wal-mart earlier this week and I don’t like the new packaging for Great Value. I actually find the packaging disconcerting. Am I the only one that feels this way?

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