There's a Strong Wind Blowing

We are on the verge of the 2nd anniversary or Hurricane Katrina, the largest natural disaster in United Sates history. Yes as I am typing this entry there is indeed a strong wind blowing but it's not a hurricane but rather ever growing discontent with the residents or in some cases former residents of parts of New Orleans. After two years there are still neighborhoods that have yet to be or have begun to be rebuilt. There are still displaced people living in FEMA trailers, trailers inhabited by entire families, trailers that aren't meant for long-term residency. I'm no Anderson Cooper but I have seen these trailers with my own eyes in person, and its not a pretty site. I've seen the abandoned houses with numbers written on them, numbers representing how many people died in the house during the flood. Yes I've seen it all. Well maybe not all, but you get my drift.

The most frequently asked question about Katrina is what is taking the rebuilding process so long. There's certainly money that is in place for rebuilding but it seems that most of it is not being used. I guess its just politics as usual. While local government officials play political games allocation, there are real people that are still displaced. Many of them in the now infamous 9th ward, the poorest section of New Orleans. I'm sure thee will be more news on this story during the week.

Also today Richard Jewell is dead at age 42. You know Richard Jewell, think hard...okay I'll tell you. He was the security guard who was thought to have plotting a bomb during 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. I don't know many details, but there is no foul play suspected in his death.

Until next time try not get caught in a hurricane.

Bang, Bang Borders.

Its been two weeks since the Newark, NJ shooting murders made national headlines. Now that all of the suspects have been caught new details are being brought to light. It now appears that one of the suspects, Rodolfo Godinez may be a MS-13 gang member or even a leader, and may have ordered the murders. Move over Bloods there's a new gang in town! Its a real mess in Newark these days. It seems like no matter how much they try to clean up that city, nothing much changes. Another dimension to this story is that one of the suspects Jose Lachira Carranza, is an illegal immigrant from Peru. Now the talking heads in the media are starting to change this into an illegal immigration debate. Now I'm not one of those people who has a lax stance on illegal immigration. I think that in most cases if you're here illegally then you should be deported. But to add the component of illegal immigration to the case is beyond stupid.

Does it matter if one of the suspect was an illegal immigrant? From what I know about the MS-13 gang, I know that there's are a Latino gang which are big throughout South America and out west in the United States, and here in America there are a lot of illegal immigrant in the gang. But it appears that Carranza is the only one of the suspects who is living the country illegally. So it would be a logical assumption, at least to me, that if it wasn't Carranza involved in the shootings then there would have been someone else, perhaps someone who is not an illegal immigrant. But of course not everyone share this kind of logic. I guess its not sensational enough to think that way, or should I say present that way of thinking to the masses.

Until next time watch out for I.C.E.!!!!

Game Over

This week Micheal Vick after a month or so of maintaining innocence, plead guilty to the charges levied against him the now infamous dog fighting case. Now as some people might contest that taking the plea is not a admission of guilt, that discussion is a rather mute point right now. As all of his co-defendants were looking after themselves, getting everything in place to turn incriminating information over to the Feds in hopes of a lighter sentence, Vick was seeing his loyalties and his plush life go down the drain. With these turn of events taking place its hard for anyone including me to contest the guilt of Micheal Vick, and with him changing his plea to guilty, his guilt should be undeniable.

This case has brought up some racial tensions in Atlanta, as some there is a historical justified notion that is shared by some in the Black community that a Black man cannot get a fair trial in the south, especially one that is a celebrity. Its a shame that there are still people who share that sentiment in the year 2007 ( insert any year into this cliche') but I guess this is the burden that America must bear for its past. But at this point I think black people must look beyond the fairness that may or haven't been given to Micheal Vick, the man is guilty plain and simple.

Another community that have been drawn into this scandal have been animal lovers, more importantly dog lovers. Not to encompass all dog lovers but some of them are just wackos. Some people calling for a death sentence for Vick. I fully understand some being passionate about protecting animals, as us humans are the ultimate predators on this planet, but some of these people put animal life, in this case dogs on the same regard as human life, which is truly sick. And yes I'm talking about those PETA assholes ,who attack people wearing fur coats, with non life threatening materials. I think that's the only way these guys don't get locked up or get his some serious assault charges. I would love to flaunt a pure mink coat just so I can beat the shit out of some of these people, but that's another story. Yes those the same PETA that caught serious flack for comparing animal abuse on farms to slavery specifically, American slavery. These were the same guys who were on the front lines outside of the court house calling for the death of Micheal Vick, honestly come on. Even last night a friend of mine made a unintentional racist comment ( which he does often) and said that Vick should be hung from a tree. After backlash from the comment he changed his punishment to firing squad. But still the punishment of a human being being put to death for killing or abusing a dog(s) is very absurd and I would like to question the sanity of anyone who does make these kinds of comments.

I guess after all that has gone down the only thing to say is game over.

Until next time try not to drown any dogs!!!!

The King is Here

Last night I watched sports history as Barry Bonds surpassed Henry Arron to become Major League Baseball's all-time home run hitter, hitting his 756th home run. I have posted my feelings on this before in a prior blog. To sum it up, I just feel that until there is any actual legal action, or action taken by MLB taken against Bonds leave the man alone and let him have his moment and career. Did the man take steroids, my gut says yes but can it be proven with certainty? No. So to me its seems silly for people to talk about putting an asterix next to his name regarding the home run record or trying to discount the man's legacy. This whole talk of the "Steroids Era" in baseball is getting repetitive and annoying. Sure people were talking steroids and performing enhancing drugs during the 80's and 90's but they weren't illegal at during those day, well at least not in Baseball as there were no internal laws against using them. The game(s) changes with the culture, that's something that can't be debated. Are we know going to investigate players like Roger Clemens, Ken Griffy Jr., or Tony Gywnn because well they all played during the "Steroids Era" and all have stellar careers in Baseball. Steroids , may give you extra power, but it can't make you a better player. All I have to say look out A-Rod cause you're up next in more ways than one.

Another story that have been making the rounds lately is the article written by Dionne Walker named " Could Mr. Right be White". The articles discuss the interracial relationships between Black women and White men, dating and marriage. One of the features in the article is that of Toinetta Jones, a 37 year old Black woman, who has grown tired of waiting for the perfect Black man to come into her life, as she's now going for anything she can get. The articles also goes onto to highlight the relationships of Venus Williams and Shar Jackson, as well as Star chef Wolfgang Puck, who took an Ethiopian wife. The article also boast that there are 117,000 black wife-white husband couples in America. But this isn't new. I mean what does guys like David Bowie, and Robert DeNiro have in common? Bingo both are married to Black women. And so are many famous white male celebrities, actors musicians etc. So this article is kinda late on the this news. In the article blogger Evia Moore, who has her own personal blog about her own interracial marriage says that this "phenomenon" is happening because in a nut shell, most women meet their husbands in college and well there just aren't enough Black men in college. Now the article itself isn't that bad even though rates for black men in college are rising. The article merely goes into describing a growing trend this country. Pretty harmless, as a stand alone story. But the media outlets have been picking this story up and on cable news shows and morning programs, it seems like they have turned this into an assault on Black men. The other day I was watching "The Mike and Julliette Morning Show" (How is this shit still on is mind boggling) They had on the current or former Miss America ( I don't really care), who is a Black women. She came on with her husband, a White man who is an Advertising executive. She goes on about her testimonial about how she could never meet the right black man, and she then in college around her Junior year she started dating her husband, they feel in love, and the rest is history. Again no big deal. That's when the snake-like tactics of the media comes in. Mike the host, kept pushing the fact that she had no luck with Black men, even with a relationship expert, a black man , tried to defend black men, he just kept up pushing negative stats about black males, the prison rates, the low college rates. It was like he was trying to shoot down almost everything positive this guy was saying. Now let me clear something up. I have no problem with Black women/White men couples and vice versa. Hell with out that my own sister wouldn't have been born. But what I do have a problem with is the intention to put down black men, with the old I can't find any good black man" routine. People are free to fall in love with and marry anyone they want to no matter of the "Race".That's clear. But the black man in me has to wonder if we will ever see an article written by a White woman discussing the White woman/Black man relationships in this country and around the world, with white women telling stories about how they can't find a suitable White man. I think most of us already know the answer, and the ones that don't can be contributed to naivety.

Well that's all for now, until next time......Hit Home Runs and Love without Colors!!!!