Mint Condition

Sorry!

I noticed today that I  have a spam inbox folder on my blogs.  In that folder for this blog, there were 37 comments, some from 4yrs ago-only 3 of which were actually spam. I just published them. Please forgive me for not knowing about them before, and thank you for reading my blog and taking the time to comment on things. I promise to do better myself!

White mother lied on innocent black boys; murdered her own son in Georgia

De’Marquis Elkins, 17, and Dominique Lang, 15, were arrested and charged with murdering the 13-month-old. Their trial was set for this August but their public defender, Jonathan Lockwood, uncovered some shocking evidence.
She lied! The gunshot residue was found on both West and baby Antonio’s father, Louis, who was initially reported no where near the crime scene.
Back in March, West told police that while on her way home from the post office two black boys attempted to rob her. When she told them that she didn’t have any money, they shot baby Antonio in the face, then shot her in the leg before running away.
The state forensic report says, “This supports the possibility that [Louis Santiago] discharged a firearm, was in close proximity to a firearm upon discharge, or came into contact with an item whose surface bears GSR [gunshot residue].”
Remember, accused Elkins’ mother Karimah Aisha Elkins, 36, and aunt Katrina Latrelle Elkins, 33, were arrested and charged with making false statements. A gun was found but authorities never indicated it was a murder weapon.
Also, West’s daughter Ashley Glassey, 21, said she didn’t want to wrongly accuse her mother but had her doubts because her stories were conflicting and she may have committed the murder for insurance money.
Police have not named Sherry West or Louis Santiago suspects in their son’s murder; however, Santiago is in jail for aggravated stalking of West.
“He went nuts … he was throwing things through the window and terrorizing me, saying that I killed my baby and it should have been me,” West tells CBS.

U can dance if U want 2

The reason that you're cool
is 'cuz you're from the old school, and they know it


Prince,  All the critics love U in New York

No other choice

Sometimes I feel like God doesn’t hear my call, but since I believe in Him, I have no choice but to believe He’s hearing me. I have to hold on and hope that what I’m praying for are the same things He wants me to have.

Friday Flashback

Are you a forgiving person?

Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs.

 

-- Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

 

I used to hold grudges. I used to walk around ignoring the existence of people who had done me wrong even if they asked for forgiveness. It was like putting on a 10-lb backpack every time I saw them. Then one day I did something I shouldn’t have done and I really hurt someone’s feelings. I had begged her for forgiveness and while doing so, I realized I was asking to receive what I wasn’t willing to give. In doing so, I went immediately to the person with whom I was holding grudges- and I forgave them. 

Today, when someone has done me wrong, I automatically forgive them. They do have to ask for forgiveness before I let them know I’ve forgiven them though, but once they ask, they’ll know I’ve forgiven them.

 

What say you?

I am

     

 I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart. I am. I am. I am.

                                     --Sylvia Plath

-Wendy & Lisa

Listening to--

La Vie

There are some things about people that I don't see when I approach them or they approach me  during my journey on this road called life that only make sense once I realize that either they prefer walking the path with someone else or they are going where I'm not willing to go. 

And then when I look back in the distance, I am so glad I moved on when I did.

Let’s have an honest discussion about race

If we talk about what ails us, that will make it better. When will black Americans stop getting short shrift? After the Supreme Court’s invalidated Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) described it as “a central pillar of the civil rights laws that helped bring America’s ideals closer to reality for all.” Leahy said he “feared the ruling would jeopardize the rights of racial minorities.”
A familiar activist chant of activists is “Black life is valued less than white life.” And that has gained currency in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. Now, the national conversation is about “race in America.” What we really need across America is “a conversation on race” that helps blacks to rearrange some priorities.
As President Barack Obama said after the Zimmerman verdict, “We should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our communities. What Americans need are a series of race dialogues toward garnering ongoing commitments to combat prejudice and strengthening understanding among all.”
Republican Sen. John McCain should be recognized as an ally for saying America has “a long way to go” before racial disparities end. The senior senator from Arizona said that Obama’s impromptu speech about being a black in America, “…proved there needs to be more conversation about the issue of race. We cannot become complacent when we still have a dramatic disparity in black youth unemployment.”
It wouldn’t be as ironic as some blacks think that Republicans might follow McCain’s lead to bring about a conversation on race in America. Race and racism are the most challenging issues confronting America. Yet, polite society refuses to discuss it. Racial inequality in the United State underlies a wide range of societal issues that affect different groups disproportionately. The total wealth gap between white and African American families increased from $85,000 in 1984 to $236,500 in 2009. The biggest drivers of the racial wealth gap are homeownership; household income; employment; inheritance; financial support from families or friends; and pre-existing family wealth. Whites have 22 times more wealth than blacks.
The story of race in America has been at the center of some of our greatest national traumas, as well as serving as the yardstick by which progress toward a more equal and fair society is measured. It’s apparent both from the varied reactions to Obama’s presidency and events beyond it, that race still serves as a critical stumbling block in American society.
Times of challenge provide the opportunity to create change. There has never been a better time to re-examine and correct racial inequalities in American society. Instead of allowing the taboo on the subject to continue, the nation needs to start an honest discussion about race. We all need to pay more attention to the growing wealth inequality and expanding racial wealth. There needs to be some systematic, organizational commitment to making policy that helps blacks to gain grants, and investment in our communities and businesses. Let no one tell you “all is equal” with demonstrated disparities in health care, education, housing and criminal justice continuing.
Don’t let the “talking heads” that regularly represent the country’s wealth interest have you believe “all things are equal.” White Americans have continued to enjoy material advantages based on past racially exclusionary practices and current institutionalized discrimination. However, this long history of racism has created social costs in terms of social instability and loss of economic productivity. African Americans bear costs of low self-esteem, high unemployment, low socioeconomic status, and limited opportunities.
As we march from one unemployment line to another, don’t let American politicians and media weasel out on this one. A dialogue on the role race currently plays in the economy from the workplace to the criminal justice system is needed. Politicians should be encouraged to expedite a series of conversations on race across the country.

By William Reed.
William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects through BaileyGroup.org/.

Top Ten Human Resource orientation items for women in the San Diego Mayor's office

1. Gloria Allred on speed-dial.

2. Tasers.

3. Pepper-spray.

4. Cattle-prod.

5. Brass-knuckles.

6. Mace.

7. Air-horns. ...

8. Chinese Throwing Stars.

9. Large husbands or butch girlfriends.

10. Assorted medieval weaponry.

Usain Bolt reigns at World Athletics Championships in Moscow

Usain Bolt won three gold medals Sunday, making him the most decorated athlete at the world competition with 8 gold medals and 2 silver. The next athlete to win as many medals was Carl Lewis with 8 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze.

Yes, I'm rooting for USA as well, but Jamaica even more.

Even this Conservative Brainless, Heartless Asshole thinks marijuana is safer than alcohol

The U.S. government might officially consider marijuana more dangerous than alcohol, but at least one Fox News personality thinks otherwise.
On Tuesday night, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly was fretting about children smoking marijuana now that Washington state and Colorado had legalized it Columnist Charles Krauthammer, however, informed him marijuana was safer than alcohol.
“If I were starting a society from scratch and had to choose the intoxicant, I would outlaw alcohol and I’d allow marijuana,” Krauthammer said. “It’s benign compared to alcohol. The problem is this, Bill, you never start society from scratch. Alcohol is engrained in the culture. We learned that in prohibition. You have to regulate it. My question is, do we really want to add a second intoxicant onto that? Because who knows, it leads to other things.”
O’Reilly continued to complain that American culture — and rap music in particular — was actively harming children by promoting the use of marijuana.
Krauthammer responded by voicing his support for the noncontroversial view that children shouldn’t be stoned.
“The worst thing about a stoned child is that they’re missing out on periods of learning,” he said.

The Best Man Holiday, November !!!

Can't wait!

Bloomberg Admits He Might Reconsider Stop-and-Frisk If He Had a (Black) Son

A usually defiant Michael Bloomberg showed the faintest crack in his stubborn stop-and-frisk reasoning in an interview with The New Yorker's Ken Auletta. "If I had a son who was stopped, I might feel differently about it, but nevertheless," the mayor "conceded," according to Auletta, who called the mayor's comments on the issue occasionally "callous." (Of course, for Bloomberg to have a son that would be stopped, odds are he'd have to at least appear to be a man of color.) Bloomberg continued, promptly pivoting away from his personal admission. "Maybe I was inelegant, but I don't think anybody thinks I am anything but — I hope not, anyway — supportive of trying to help all people," he said. "With my own money as well as time, thank you very much. I've spent twelve years of my life doing this."

--courtesy  nymag.com

One commenter said it best-

"That's mighty white of him!"

Lee Daniels Blasts Film Critic For Disrespectful Comment About ‘The Butler’

The Waldorf Astoria in NYC welcomed journalists, reports and bloggers for an intimate conversation with the director Lee Daniels (“Precious”)– of  "The Butler" and the thespians of what is being hailed the best film of 2013. We (the press) gathered on the 18th floor and were served breakfast and greeted by friendly staffers.  The press conference began with an introduction of the panel– Oprah, Cuba Gooding Jr, Mariah Carey, Terrence Howard and more names that reek of super-stardom were introduced individually as they walked to their seats and made themselves available for questioning. Things began cordial enough, acclaim for the movie filled the room until one film critic, by the name of Lavar Renee, announced herself. Oprah, Forest Whitaker and Lee Daniels immediately grabbed hands, noticeably praying for mercy. Turns out, they were correct in their assumptions, because the “critic” was ready to dish out an unnecessary and tactless lashing. In Daniel’s defense, he gave the bet answer anyone could dream of!

Lavar Renee: Thank you and congratulations to each of you. My name is Lavar Renee (sp) and I’m a film critic, so my question is going to be a concern that I had in watching the movie. No Lee, that’s not necessary… And a trend that I see in many current movies and that is the inauthenticity in casting. When I saw the young man who was to portray John F. Kennedy. I was concerned because there was a disconnect between the president and what I saw. And that was true for Reagan as well as LBJ. My question is will you explain how you cast when you are producing and directing a biopic which is supposed to reflect truth of reality?

Lee Daniels: Well let me first, let me ask you a question, did you like them as those characters?

LR: I did not.

Daniels: Ok. Well that is…I’m sorry that you felt that way…

LR: I liked the movie…

Daniels: Oh good…

LR: I just was concerned, when I saw these I said ‘why aren’t they real?’ Another point and then I’ll sit down. When Louis was presenting himself at the table as a panther, I interviewed panthers, they did not look the way he was dressed and attired. So that’s what threw me off but I liked the movie and I commend each of you. Thank you.

Daniels: Thank you. Let me first address the panther. I’ve had uncles that were panthers and Louis was based on my uncles that were panthers. So you might have interviewed panthers, ma’am, but I have lived with them and I’m proud of my uncles that were panthers. And in regards to the presidents I think they have done  a tour de forcible job and I think that’s what makes me a filmmaker and you an interviewer. Next!

--courtesy, Madamenoire.com

 

The Way Out Is Through

The Horror You Face Today Will Become The Funny Story You Tell Tomorrow. In The End, Everything Is Overcome And A Life Is Lived. 

The best relationships and conversations I have are the ones where you can turn yourself inside out and pour all of your contents out on the floor. I want to see all your pieces. I love to hear your stories of how you transformed, and what might have hurt you along the way. Most importantly what you learned and why you're better for it and how it's all worth it.

 

Every single person and experience that comes into your life is because you picked them.

Stacey Dash, have a seat, and STFU

Actress Stacey Dash has turned her ire toward Oprah Winfrey over comments the TV mogul made comparing slain teen Trayvon Martin to Emmett Till.

The “Clueless” actress took to Twitter on Friday (Aug. 16) to express her two cents. She offered a quote by Malcolm X, then linked to a Fox News article criticizing Winfrey over the comparison.

She tweeted: “If You aren’t careful, The newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed And loving the people who are doing the oppressing-Malcolm X.” It was followed by the Fox News article titled: Oprah Compares Trayvon Martin to Emmett Till.”

This isn’t the first time Dash has made headlines for her comments on the social media site.

In April, she blasted Jay Z and Beyonce for taking a vacation to Cuba.

In the last U.S. presidential election, Dash also voiced her backing for Mitt Romney, who ran against President Barack Obama.

 

--Courtesy , The Root.com

 

One of the comments says it best-

"The title of the movie she costarred in explains Stacey perfectly!! she is CLUELESS!! and brainless on top of it!!"

-Chante Moore on the Tom Joyner Morning Show

this morning

I heard this song on Pandora this morning  ( Kirk Franklin's station) and I had to share it.  Perhaps it's for you.

The Butler an inspired history lesson with Oscar-possible acting: review

Lee Daniels’The Butler serves up multiple stories of great moment and purpose over more than 80 years of U.S. ferment, and they’re almost too much for one movie to bear.

The film is the factually “inspired” account of one black butler’s devotion to eight U.S. presidents in the aptly named White House.

It’s an emotional father/son love story across multiple decades.

The Butler is also a sweeping history of the American civil rights movement, from the cotton-field slavery of the 1920s through the social unrest of the 1960s and up to the 2008 election of Barack Obama as the first African-American U.S. president.

To pack all this and more into a two-hour movie seems like madness, especially considering that title character Cecil Gaines (played by Forest Whitaker and loosely based on real White House butler Eugene Allen) is required to keep his emotions bottled up for most of the film. It’s a bravura feat that is almost entirely interior, a marvel of containment, but we can always intuit what he’s thinking.

Cecil’s job serving America’s top leader requires absolute focus and discretion: “You hear nothing, you say nothing. You only serve,” he’s told on Day 1 of his White House assignment.

That’s tough to illustrate, much less make dramatic, but Daniels (Precious, The Paperboy) has never been one to shirk from a challenge. And this one comes with the Oscar catnip of not only Whitaker’s shining performance but also strong turns by Oprah Winfrey (as Cecil’s alcoholic wife Gloria) and David Oyelowo (as Cecil’s righteous and rebellious son Louis).

The movie opens in current times, with a 90-year-old Cecil staring at a portrait of George Washington, as he awaits a White House meeting that will symbolize his life’s work and dreams.

Daniels and screenwriter Danny Strong (Game Change) soon flash us back to Cecil’s younger days, as a cotton picker in Macon, Ga., where he witnesses horrific brutality to his family at the hands of a racist white sharecropper.

A plantation elder (Vanessa Redgrave) takes pity on young Cecil and, in a gesture considered kindly for the era, she promises to train him to be a “house n---er” so he can escape violence.

Some 31 years and a mentor or two later, Cecil finds himself with a wife and two young sons and a new job as butler to President Dwight D. Eisenhower (Robin Williams) at the start of Ike’s second term of office.

The clock seems to tick faster as Cecil gets to know the White House backstage routines, with the kibitzing help of a cook and a fellow butler, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. and Lenny Kravitz, respectively.

He’s obliged to keep up with changing administrations, from Republican to Democratic and back again, as Eisenhower is followed by John F. Kennedy (James Marsden), Lyndon B. Johnson (Liev Schreiber), Richard Nixon (John Cusack) and later Ronald Reagan (Alan Rickman). A few presidents are skipped, wisely, avoiding a numbing countdown and allowing us to savour presidential turns that sometimes yield to caricature but are never less than entertaining. Some are even revealing, as is the case with Rickman’s multi-layered Reagan.

 

Outside of the dignified calm of the White House, there’s a riot goin’ on, with racially charged civil rights confrontations that involve Cecil’s headstrong son Louis, who is determined to participate in every protest going, from diner sit-ins to Freedom Rides to Black Panther fist-waving.

The life roles of Cecil and Louis couldn’t be different, something Daniels underscores by cutting between scenes of the father sedately serving toffs while the son is noisily assaulted by racist yokels.

The tension between a father espousing devotion and dignity and a son demanding justice helps maintain continuity in The Butler, as does another subplot involving Gloria’s depression and her illicit interest in a neighbour (Terrence Howard). Love bonds are really put to the test in the film.

Daniels isn’t the most subtle of directors, but he’s an arresting one. His casting choices are frequently inspired and he can be surprisingly conservative. The soundtrack, for example, has more classical music in it than it does rock, soul and R&B.

“We got two faces: ours and the ones we’ve got to show white people,” Cecil says in The Butler, giving voice to America’s unjust racial divide. The film covers a lot of ground with many players, sometimes risking collapse, but it never lets us forget the quest for wholeness at the heart of the story.

--courtesy , The Toronto Sun

 

 

“We got two faces: ours and the ones we’ve got to show white people.”  My grandfather told me about the two faces when I was about 10 years old. It still applies today.

Canada and Chorizo Gravy

I'm in one of the 3 largest cities in Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia, over the weekend. Cloudy and rainy today but I still love it here. Last year my friend Rob from Malaysia came to visit, and I cooked every meal. What he liked the most was my buttermilk biscuits with chorizo gravy that I made every morning because he kept asking for it. . Anyway,  he got married today-it was last minute; he had been talking to his fiancé , Diane for months about my cooking. She surprised him by paying for my flight to Vancouver. She picked me up at the airport and drove me to her fiance's Bachelor's Party.  The look on his face.- he was so happy and surprised.  This morning for breakfast, I made
Brouillade de Truffes ( eggs with black truffles),  my buttermilk biscuits with chorizo gravy, and something new that I been making recently- sweet potato biscuits with apple butter spread and Canadian bacon, for the happy couple, the best man and his wife, and Rob's parents.   
They all asked for seconds of everything, and I had to make more. I didn't mind. Asking for seconds of my food is one of the my favorite compliments.

Buttermilk Biscuits & Chorizo Gravy

 

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Laura Ingraham says Black People NEED Stop And Frisk

The first step

I've decided that people must see me as someone they should respect, or they have no place in my life.
-me

#selfrespect, #lovingmyself

Note to self

I had an interesting dream this morning that I’m convinced was a message God was giving me. From what I recall, it was dark and I had a girlfriend. She was angry with me about something, I don’t recall why. She was out in the backyard, where some of our mutual friends were, and I knew she was talking about me, and so I went out to the yard to see that she was telling everyone about something terrible I had done. Everyone was sitting in chairs in a row, facing her, as she spoke from the back porch.

I managed to grab her and pull her inside the house and I asked her why she was angry with me. She then thanked me for doing all the cooking for her friends and making her favorite cakes. Then I asked her about another guy she was seeing, and she wouldn’t admit to it, but she wanted to thank me for treating her 10 children like they were my flesh and blood, that I was a really good dad to her kids even though they’re not mine, and I asked her if she was dating another man while I was raising her 10 kids that she had with other men before me. She wouldn’t admit to it, but she started laughing, which told me all I needed to know. Then instead of being a man, I fell to the floor and began wallowing like a pig in mud. I was crying, and I remember thinking, in my dream- why am I on this dirty wooden floor crying while she’s standing there? Why am I not dealing with the situation? Why don’t I get up?

Then my alarm clock rang and I woke up. 

After I said my morning prayer, I began to wonder about the dream. I wondered if God was telling me that I wasn’t facing my demons the way He would like for me to face them, or if it was time that I faced them.  I know that I tend to not face my problems head on, but do I procrastinate too much? I think I do. I think it’s time for me to stop being fearful, to stop putting off for tomorrow what needs to be dealt with today, appropriately and promptly.

Note to self.

My Isaiah 54:17

No Weapon That Is Formed Against Thee    ( by  G*d knows who thou art ) Shall Prosper.

Amen

-Sheila E

Friday Flashback

Dr Martin Luther King Jr Quote

Thursday Throwback

Finding it

       How many people do you need to love, before you learn to love yourself? 

Only Three Things Matter

In The End, Only Three Things Matter: How Much You Loved, How Gently You Lived, And How Gracefully You Let Go Of Things Not Meant For You. 

These are the thoughts I try to remember. Why did I choose for this to happen? What is the lesson here? It's as if I have a check-list of lessons to learn in a limited amount of time. One big obstacle course and scavenger hunt and labyrinth and capture-the-flag and hide and seek game all combined into what we call life.
So when it rains, I remember that it is on purpose.
When I can't see clearly through the window, I accept that maybe I'm not meant to.
When the doors don't open, I trust that I'm meant to take the longer way through for a better reason.
When I make a mistake, I know that tests can be taken again. Wrong sizes can be exchanged. Pencils have erasers. Computers allow us to cut and paste. Wounds heal and scar tissue is stronger.

 

WORD

#Realtalk

Question of the day

Have you ever cut someone out of your life because you saw yourself in them?

I was in a J Dilla Mood

Good or bad, I'm here

Song in my head

If we don't know our past, we are doomed to repeat it

Last night

      I was tired after work and I had fallen asleep at about 7pm and I woke up about 130 am and  I couldn't go back to sleep. I tossed and turned for about 40 minutes and I gave up and decided to bake a cake to bring to work tomorrow. I'm popular with the sales department for my cakes.  Usually I'll bake a cake and bring it to work (not my department -they all eat very daintily) and I'll inform Sales and within half and hour all thats left are cake crumbs. The cake is devoured, which alone is a compliment.  This time its an avocado Chocolate Chip cake.

Thursday Throwback