Weekend Humor

A woman is in bed with her lover who happens to be her husband's best friend. They make love for hours, and afterwards, while they're just laying there, the phone rings.

Since it is the woman's house, she picks up the receiver. Her lover looks at her and listens, only hearing her side of the conversation ...

(She is speaking in a cheery voice) "Hello? Oh, hi. I'm so glad that you called. Really? That's wonderful. I am so happy for you. That sounds terrific. Great! Thanks. Okay. Bye." She hangs up the telephone, and her lover asks, "Who was that?" "Oh," she replies," that was my husband telling me all about the wonderful time he's having with you on his fishing trip."


Have a groovy weekend everybody!

What Just Happened?

I was just singing the praises of this Supreme Court last week for a ruling they made in a particular case...I should have known that the honeymoon wouldn't last long....
I am shaking my head....

First they punked out on Affirmative action and sent the vote back to the state court of it's origin.....and now...These gutless wonders just shredded one of the key achievements of the civil rights movemant....The Voting Rights Act of 1965......

This United States Supreme Court handed down a decision in the case of Shelby County v. Holder that has basically destroyed the Voting Rights Act, ending 40 years of protection for minorities against discriminatory and unfair attempts to limit voting based on one's race.

It's a shameful decision, and after hearing oral arguments, it sadly comes as no surprise. During the oral arguments in this case, Justice Anton Scalia described the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act as "the perpetuation of a racial entitlement," and other justices questioned whether racial discrimination even still exists. Can you believe this? What planet do these guys live on???

While the Supreme Court did not invalidate Section 5, a key part of the Voting Rights Act, it threw out the basic formula that has been used practically since the bill's passage in 1965 to determine where the Justice Department must provide approval before local election rules that would suppress the votes of African American and Latino citizens can be put into effect.

While voter suppression rules can still be challenged by the Department of Justice after the fact, this will most likely happen too late to prevent minority voters from being blocked from the polls. The court's decision effectively guts the Voting Rights Act, rendering it useless until we elect a Congress willing to update this formula — which could take years.

For decades the Voting Rights Act protected voters in pockets of the country with a history of racially discriminatory voting practices. Just this past election, it allowed the Justice Department to block attempts by Texas, South Carolina and Florida to implement discriminatory voting rules.

For decades, the Voting Rights Act has helped narrow the gap that exists between civic participation rates of white voters and voters from communities of color. But now, right-wing efforts to make it harder for African Americans and Latino citizens to vote will be completely unfettered. With so many state legislatures and governorships held by these right-wing extremists, efforts to block voting access will be widespread, targeted and coordinated.

I just want to tell Anton Scalia and everybody who believes the nonsense he  believes...that for Desperate disenfranchized men like myself and other African Americans and my Latino brothers and sisters, voting has never been a “racial entitlement.” It is a right that was earned through extraordinary sacrifice. It's a right that my grandfather, who had been in this country longer than Scalia's descendents didn't have.

The Voting Rights Act was the result of decades of hard work, of advocacy, of protests and marches and courage before fire hoses and police dogs. It was one of the crowning achievements of a generation....and I don't know about anyone else...but I'll be damned if I see everything those wonderful,brave and valiant people struggled and died for shredded...

I'll be at the booth every election!!!  And I plan to do more than just this blog...My voice is going to be heard in your newspapers...on your internet...all over it and in the crowds....

All you congressmen, all you senators, all you state officials...Don't you come to my neighborhood next year shilling for re-election...Because I'm going to be in the crowd....I'm serving notice now...I aint forgetting and I aint forgiving...

You have made one Black man sorely displeased and if all I can do is let you know how displeased I am...Then you're all going to know...

You've been warned!

And I know somebody is reading this that shouldn't be....Don't worry...I didn't send this to Akbar or Amir!

Trayvon's Trial Begins!

The trial began yesterday and already,I have a feeling that it's not going to end the way I feel it should end...With a conviction for 2nd degree murder for George Zimmerman.

Defense attorney Don West used a joke in his opening statements to illustrate the difficulty of picking a jury amid such widespread publicity.

"'Knock. Knock,'" West said.
"'Who is there?'"
"'George Zimmerman.'"
"'George Zimmerman who?'"
"'Ah, good. You're on the jury.'"

Huh?, WHAT???

In Sanford ,Florida yesterday,a prosecutor told jurors in opening statements that George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin "because he wanted to," not because he had to, while the neighborhood watch volunteer's attorney said the deadly shooting of the teen was carried out in self-defense.

The opposing attorneys squared off on the first day of testimony in a trial that has attracted international attention and prompted nationwide debates about racial profiling, vigilantism and the laws governing the use of deadly force.


Included among the millions likely to be following the case are civil rights leaders the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who joined national protests in the weeks before prosecutors filed second-degree murder charges against Zimmerman. The charges came 44 days after the shooting.

George Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic, has denied that his confrontation with Martin before the shooting had anything to do with race. His mother was born in Peru. His father is a white American. Martin was black.


But just before opening statements began, Martin's parents sent out an urgent plea to their supporters to pray with them for justice, while their family attorney, Benjamin Crump, described the case as clear cut.
"There are two important facts in this case: No. 1: George Zimmerman was a grown man with a gun, and No. 2: Trayvon Martin was a minor who had no blood on his hands. Literally no blood on his hands. ... We believe that the evidence is overwhelming to hold George Zimmerman accountable for killing Trayvon Martin."

Prosecutor John Guy's first words to jurors recounted what Zimmerman told a police dispatcher in a call shortly before the fatal confrontation with Martin: "F------ punks. These a-------. They always get away."
Zimmerman was profiling Martin as he followed him through the gated community where Zimmerman lived and Martin was visiting, Guy said. He said Zimmerman viewed the teen "as someone about to a commit a crime in his neighborhood."

"And he acted on it. That's why we're here," the prosecutor said. "Zimmerman didn't have to shoot Martin", Guy said.

"He shot him for the worst of all reasons: because he wanted to," he said.

West told jurors that Zimmerman was being viciously attacked when he shot Martin. Zimmerman was sucker-punched by Martin, who then pounded Zimmerman's head into the concrete sidewalk, West said. He played for jurors the call to a police dispatcher in which Zimmerman used the obscenities.

Martin had opportunities to go home after Zimmerman followed him and then lost track of him, West said, but instead the teen confronted the neighborhood watch volunteer.
"He had just taken tremendous blows to his face, tremendous blows to his head," said West after showing jurors photos taken by Zimmerman's neighbors of a bloodied and bruised neighborhood watch volunteer.


The prosecutor described  George Zimmerman as someone who wanted to be a police officer, and he dismantled the story Zimmerman has told investigators about what happened during the fight between the neighborhood watch volunteer and the Miami-area teen that left young TrayvonnMartin dead from a bullet to his chest.

George Zimmerman's claim that Trayvon Martin had his hands over the neighborhood watch volunteer's mouth is false since none of George Zimmerman's DNA was found on Trayvon Martin's body, Guy said. The prosecutor also said George Zimmerman's claim that he had to fire because Trayvon Martin was reaching for his firearm is false since none of Martin's DNA was on the gun or holster either.

George Zimmerman is pleading not guilty to second-degree murder, claiming self-defense. Here is what happened...in case some of you forgot..

On Feb. 26, 2012, George Zimmerman spotted Trayvonn Martin, whom he did not recognize, walking in the gated townhome community where Zimmerman and the fiancee of Martin's father lived. There had been a rash of recent break-ins and George Zimmerman was wary of strangers walking through the complex.

The two eventually got into some type of struggle and George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin in the chest with his 9mm handgun. He was charged 44 days after the shooting, only after a special prosecutor was appointed to review the case and after nationwide protests. The delay in the arrest prompted protests nationwide.

Two police dispatch phone calls will be important evidence for both sides' cases.
The first is a call Goerge Zimmerman made to a non emergency police dispatcher, who told him he didn't need to be following Martin.

The second 911 call captures screams from the confrontation between Zimmerman and
Martin. Martin's parents said the screams are from their son while Zimmerman's father contends they belong to his son.

Nelson ruled last weekend that audio experts for the prosecution won't be able to testify that the screams belong to Martin, saying the methods the experts used were unreliable.

Both calls were played for jurors by the defense in opening statements. Trayvon's mother, Sybrina Fulton, left the courtroom before the second call was played.

 Opening statements were made two weeks after jury selection began. Attorneys picked six jurors and four alternates after quizzing the jury pool questions about how much they knew about the case and their views on guns and self-defense.

All six jurors are women!   Not that I have anything against women jurors...but an entire jury of women?  I've just never seen this before...

The trial is bizzare....I have a feeling that this is going to be another circus trial like O.J. Simpson's trial in the 90's... and it's not going to end well for anyone involved....These are just my early observations...Let the games begin!

Add Butter,Then place Foot In Mouth!

So, Unless you live under a rock or in one of Osama Bin Laden's now vacant caves in Afghanistan, you have no doubt heard about the latest controversy surrounding former Food Network cooking guru,Paula Deen...
And most morally upright decent Americans are outraged!!!

Every week most morally upright decent Americans are outraged!!! We are constantly outraged about something...We lead the world in outrage...


The Food Network said Friday it's dumping Paula Deen, barely an hour after the celebrity cook posted the first of two videotaped apologies online begging forgiveness from fans and critics troubled by her admission to having used racial slurs in the past.

The 66-year-old Savannah kitchen celebrity has been swamped in controversy since court documents filed this week revealed Deen told an attorney questioning her under oath last month that she has used the N-word. "Yes, of course,"Paula Deen said, though she added, "It's been a very long time."
The Food Network, which made Paula Deen a star with "Paula's Home Cooking" in 2002 and later "Paula's Home Cooking" in 2008, weighed in with a terse statement Friday afternoon.

"Food Network will not renew Paula Deen's contract when it expires at the end of this month," the statement said. Network representatives declined further comment. A representative for Deen did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment on the decision.
The news came as Deen worked to repair the damage to her image, which has spawned a vast empire of cookbooks, a bimonthly cooking magazine, a full line of cookware, food items like spices and even furniture.
She abruptly canceled a scheduled interview on NBC's "Today" show Friday morning, instead opting for a direct appeal via online video – one that allowed her and her staff complete control of what she said and how she said it.

"Inappropriate, hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable,"  Paula Deen said in the first 45-second video posted on YouTube. "I've made plenty of mistakes along the way but I beg you, my children, my team, my fans, my partners - I beg for your forgiveness."

Paula Deen adopted a solemn tone as she looked straight into the camera. Still, her recorded apology featured three obvious edits – with the picture quickly fading out between splices – during a statement just five sentences long.

It was soon scrapped and replaced with a second video of her talking unedited for nearly two minutes as she insists: "Your color of your skin, your religion, your sexual preference does not matter to me."
""I want people to understand that my family and I are not the kind of people that the press is wanting to say we are," Deen says in the later video. "The pain has been tremendous that I have caused to myself and to others."

She never mentions Food Network or its decision to drop her in either of her online videos.
Deen initially planned to give her first interview on the controversy Friday to the "Today" show, which promoted her scheduled appearance as a live exclusive. Instead, host Matt Lauer ended up telling viewers that Deen's representatives pulled the plug because she was exhausted after her flight to New York. Deen said in her video she was "physically not able" to appear.

Court records show Paula Deen sat down for a deposition May 17 in a discrimination lawsuit filed last year by a former employee who managed Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House, a Savannah restaurant owned by Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers. The ex-employee, Lisa Jackson, says she was sexually harassed and worked in a hostile environment rife with innuendo and racial slurs.

During the deposition, Paula Deen was peppered with questions about her racial attitudes. At one point she's asked if she thinks jokes using the N-word are "mean." Paula Deen says jokes often target minority groups and "I can't, myself, determine what offends another person."
Deen also acknowledged she briefly considered hiring all black waiters for her brother's 2007 wedding, an idea inspired by the staff at a restaurant she had visited with her husband. She insisted she quickly dismissed the idea.

But she also insisted she and her brother have no tolerance for bigotry.
"Bubba and I, neither one of us, care what the color of your skin is" or what gender a person is, Deen said. "It's what's in your heart and in your head that matters to us"


Yeah, she supposedly used the so called "N" word...she said Nigger...okay,let's stop with the foolishness and on Facebook most African-Americans are OUTRAGED!!!!!  On Twitter most Afican -Americans are
OUTRAGED!!!  But none are outraged when Jay-Z, Kanye West,Little Wayne and you can fill in the blank
here, rapper, comedian, athlete whatever says the same word over and over again...No, we don't get angry over that, but we get bent out of shape over an old white woman from the deep south and of a certain generation that said nigger...Really?  Really? Why you mad? and more so...Why are you surprised???

The Food Network promptly said that they would not renew her contract when it expires...But guess what?
sometime next year when all you good people are OUTRAGED at someone else that the media programs you to be outraged about...They will quietly rehire Paula Deen and none of you outraged folks will do or say a damn thing about it...

Think Don Imus!!! A few years ago he called some young ladies on a Basketball team "Nappy Headed Ho's."  I thought that he was out of line and I called for his immediate dismisal..Then guess what ? Black comedian D.L. Hugely said the same thing and something worse a few nights later on CNN and no Black person said a thing...Not one word of protest! Crickets....Then Don Imus was rehired almost a year to the day of his being fired and not one word of protest was heard! Not One...Crickets!

I am about through with you niggers right now!  That's right I said it!  Some of yall say it too...Some of yall say it too much and yet you get all bent out of shape when a white person says it.

And I've heard and even argued that when we say nigger to each other it means something different ,it's not as vile as when THEY say it to us!.. Yeah..I argued that logic for years...but you know what...I have never heard a Jewish person say to another Jewish person..."What's Up my Kike?"  or a Puerto Rican say to another Puerto Rican -''Hey Spic, you crazy baby!"  or an Italian say to another Italian " Hey you Greaseball,I love you baby!" See where I'm going with this??... Only us..by Us..I mean African Americans...Only we call each other a name that was used to debase us....''What's up niggas? "  , "You niggas is drawn!..."That my nigga man!"..."That's my muhfuckin niggahhhh!"

Yeah!  But you all are so upset because this Old white woman may have said  nigger twenty years ago ,when you all say it to each other every day....I'm shaking my head.....See, Vile is Vile...I don't use the word...I haven't said that word since I was in my twenties....Not as a term of endearment...And if I'm called that today..I will go ballistic....It's a bad word...It's a hateful word...just like Kike, Spic, Greaseball and all of the other ugly names we call each other...They shouldn't be used by anybody...

If Paula Dean said Nigger and told inappropriate jokes years ago or even last year....I can forgive her ,if she wants forgiveness and realizes how foul she has been..,.What I can't forgive is hypocrites in both races...
Right about now...I'm about through with you niggas!

Weekend Humor

A man and wife were celebrating their 50-year anniversary, so the man
bought his wife a $250 see-through nightgown. (Shown on the model above)

 Later that night she was getting ready for bed and realized the
... nightgown was still in the box downstairs.

Walking naked through the  house, she passed her husband who said,

"My word, for $250 they  could've at least ironed it!"


Have a groovy weekend everyone!

A Pretty Tired Act

You know....My niece said that she walked to her post office today and a small group of people were protesting in front of it with signs that read "Impeach Obama."  The last remnants of the Tea Party... Maybe a few years ago I would have flown into a rage, but I don't anymore....Let them protest, let them threaten to secede from the union...Let them continue with their openly subtle racism if they want to...It's going nowhere...

Today a Republican leader had to step down after making some openly subtle racist remarks about a candidate who is running for office, who just happens to be bi-racial...Incredible...and while I would normally fly into a rage...I just shake my head....I guess they are not even going to try to hide it now....

The local Illinois Republican Party official who called a biracial congressional candidate a "street walker" resigned Thursday, after his comments were widely denounced as offensive.


Jim Allen referred to Erika Harold, a lawyer and former Miss America, as a "street walker" and "love child" in an e-mail with racial overtones to the conservative website, Republican News Watch.
Ms. Harold is challenging Rep. Rodney Davis in a GOP primary in Illinois' 13th Congressional District.

"Today, I accepted the resignation of Jim Allen as Montgomery County chairman. These types of offensive and inappropriate remarks have no place in our Republican Party," said Jack Dorgan, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, in a statement posted on the state GOP's Facebook page.

Jim Allen's resignation came shortly after Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and other GOP officials called on him to step down. The national party has been undergoing a rebranding effort aimed at improving its standing with minorities, who voted overwhelmingly for President Obama in last year's election.

"The astonishingly offensive views expressed by Chairman Allen have absolutely no place among the leaders of our party at any level," Priebus said. "His behavior is inexcusable and must not be tolerated." I on the one hand am at least glad that something is being done about him...Maybe this is a sign that sanity is being restored in the Republican Party.

In his original comments, Allen mocked Harold's Miss America platform focused on abstinence and bullying in schools before making comments about her candidacy. "Now, Miss Queen is being used like a street walker and her pimps are the DEMOCRAT PARTY and RINO REPUBLICANS," he wrote.

Jim Allen had predicted that Davis would defeat Harold, saying she would end up "working for some law firm that needs to meet their quota for minority hires." My My My.......

Davis, a freshman elected in November, already had distanced himself from Allen's comments and removed him from a list of campaign supporters.

Priebus and the national Republican Party have been stepping up their outreach in minority communities after a scathing internal report outlined the GOP's 2012 election failures and shortcomings. The party is investing $10 million on outreach, and Priebus recently held a "listening session" in Cleveland with black community leaders.

 Let this be a lesson that trying to appeal to the people's basest instincts and race fears is a pretty tired act.
The buzz words and the code words might have worked maybe even six years ago....but most people...most decent people don't have time for that...

Did You Know That.......(A Man Had An 8 Month Erection?)

Okay..It's a slow news day....I mean really slow...and this may go down as one of the most bizzare posts I've ever written.

Before I go into this in detail..here is a disclaimer!  I didn't make this up..It's actually true...

A jury on Monday cleared a doctor of negligence in a lawsuit filed by a Delaware truck driver who underwent a penile implant procedure and ended up with an erection that lasted eight months. YES! Eight months!

"We're stunned," attorney Michael Heyden said as he left the New Castle County courthouse, where his client Daniel Metzgar, 44, of Newark, Del., was suing urologist Thomas Desperito of Wilmington.
In April 2010, four months after the procedure was performed, Metzgar experienced swelling and went to a hospital, where he underwent testing. Before going to the hospital, Metzgar had been unable to reach Desperito. They're stunned? I'm stunned...This defies science, almost!

The doctor's lawyer argued that hospital staff who performed tests were unfamiiar with penile implants and were not properly trained to do them. Therefore, the results from the tests, including images showing swelling, did not prove negligence.
Metzgar and his attorney during the one-week trial described the frequent discomfort and daily embarrassment he experienced after the procedure, including trouble riding a motorcycle, wearing normal clothes and joining family social events.

"I could hardly dance with an erection poking my partner," Metzgar told jurors at the start of the trial.
Metzgar's stepson, Alexander King, 18, described a once close relationship that grew distant after the procedure. King felt uncomfortable having friends over and noticed his stepfather stopped showing up at school and sporting events.

"I was — I'm sorry — highly embarrassed," he testified during the trial.   I'll bet he was!!

The device was ultimately removed in 2010 after tubing punctured Metzgar's scrotum. He received a replacement implant from another doctor.

Metzgar had no comment on the jury verdict.
The doctor's lawyer, Colleen Shields, said, "We think the jury reached the appropriate verdict."

I'm wondering what Mrs. Metzgar had to say about the whole thing?  Hmmmm!

Supremes Get Something Right.

Every Now and Then, The Supreme Court...Well this Supreme Court anyway...

Yesterday,This Supreme Court  struck down an Arizona law that requires people to submit proof of citizenship when they register to vote.

The vote was 7-2. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, said that a 1993 federal law known as the Motor Voter Act takes precedence over the Arizona law because of its requirement that states “accept and use” the federal voter registration form.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two members of the court’s conservative wing, naturally dissented. I'm surprised that Thomas even voted..

Only a handful of states have similar laws, which the states say are meant to reduce voter fraud. Civil rights groups said the Arizona law was an effort to discourage voting by legal immigrants, and they worried that more states would have followed if the Supreme Court had upheld it.,

Groups opposed to the Arizona law said that the court had blocked an attempt at voter suppression. Now naturally people on the right side of the political pendelum will not see it this way.

I'm amazed that this wasn't even as issue until this President faced re-election, then all of a sudden people were concerned about voter fraud.. Didn't hear a peep about it in 2000..When actually voter fraud may have occurred in Florida...But I digress...I'm not even going to go there.

“Today’s decision sends a strong message that states cannot block their citizens from registering to vote by superimposing burdensome paperwork requirements on top of federal law,” said Nina Perales, vice president of litigation for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Citizenship is a requirement to vote in any federal election, and the federal registration form requires people to state, under penalty of perjury, that they are American citizens. States can use their own forms, but they must be equivalent to the federal form.

The Arizona law, known as Proposition 200 and adopted by Arizona voters in 2004, went further than the federal form by requiring applicants to provide proof of citizenship. Arizona has used the law to reject 30,000 voter applications, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Challengers to the law argued that it put an extra burden on naturalized citizens. Using a naturalization document as proof would require an applicant to register in person, as opposed to through the mail, because federal law prohibits copying the document.

A federal appeals court said that Arizona had gone too far and essentially rejected the federal form. Arizona said it was not a rejection of the federal form any more than asking for ID at an airport is a rejection of a plane ticket.

The Supreme Court ruling pointed out that Arizona still has an option: It can ask the federal government to include state-specific instructions on the federal form, and go to court if the government says no.

Three other states — Alabama, Georgia and Kansas — have laws almost identical to Arizona’s and joined it in urging the court to uphold the additional requirement for proof of citizenship.

At an oral argument in March, Thomas Horne, a lawyer for Arizona, told the justices that the state was within its rights to ask for additional information beyond the simple federal form.

“It’s extremely inadequate,” Horne said. “It’s essentially an honor system. It does not do the job.”
“Well,” answered Justice Sonia Sotomayor, “that’s what the federal system decided was enough.”

The court’s conservatives had appeared sympathetic to the Arizona side. Scalia said during the argument that federal law clearly empowers the states to take additional action to assess a potential voter’s eligibility.

“Under oath is not proof at all,” he said. “It’s just a statement.”

Patricia Millett, a lawyer for groups opposed to the law, countered: “Statements under oath in a criminal case are proof beyond a reasonable doubt” in criminal cases that result in execution.

“It’s a very serious oath,” she said.

Arizona is known for its tough stance on immigration. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down some key provisions of a state law meant to crack down on illegal immigration.

But it let stand the most controversial part — a requirement that police making traffic stops check the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally.

Another blog post for another day....I'm not a big fan of this Supreme Court...but I give credit where credit is due and this time...just this rare time...The Supremes got something right!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Taken  sometime in the1990's....Me and my daughter......Now I'm going to play this song because it's one of the only positive Father's day songs I can think of at the moment!

Keith's Music SpotLight

This morning...I'm spotlighting three current soul men....Soul men who actually sing SOUL music, but rarely get the credit and accolades that they deserve...Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank...

These three solo artists took a page out of the Gerald Levert-Keith Sweat & Johnny Gill playbook of the late 90's (LSG) and formed their own Supergroup TGT...

I often wonder how long these supergroups can last...Supergroup...Super ego...Three very talented Lead singers....Hmmmm!  It does make one wonder....But in the meanwhile, while you are wondering...there is the most important thing...The music...and so ladies....and guys...Here is "(Sex) Aint Never Felt Better"

Weekend Humor!

Stupid joke of the day...why do elephants drink so much? 

 

Answer: To try to forget.

 

 

Have a groovy weekend everybody!

Two Cities (2013 NBA Finals)

I am enjoying these NBA finals!   For the first time in a long time...I'm not hoarse.....
For those of you who have followed me on social media ,have you noticed that I've had little to no comment about the NBA Finals!!  on Facebook or Twitter???

That's because I'm really not rooting for either team....But I find I am enjoying the finals more...I have no emotional stake in the outcome like I would if the Sixers were playing...I feel that one of my three grandchildren will be expecting their first child by the time the Sixers become relevant again.

I have emotional ties to both cities... I spent several summers of my childhood in Miami.  I have a lot of family there....My Grandmother and my mother used to send me and my cousin Tamera to Florida for the summer.  They called it "keeping us out of harms way."  I have to laugh at that.

I did my basic training for the United States Air Force in San -Antonio....and years later,I did a two week tour of duty there...Had a fabulous time...

How can I root for one over the other, when I've  left so much of me in both towns? 

I'm just sitting in fron of the television with some popcorn and a coke and enjoying some good basketball...If The Sixers were playing..I'd be yelling until I was hoarse...Pacing the floor and just generally a wreck until the game was over....

This is better...Well kinda sorta!

Shame On This City

I read the latest news about what is in store for the school system in this, the city of my birth and I shake my head...This is a sad day indeed... I also get angry....People need an accounting of how their tax dollars have been spent..Specifically our property tax dollars that are supposed to fund the school system...

On the heels of  yet another “doomsday” school budget for 2013-14 that has no funding for things as basic as paper and new books, the Philadelphia school system is now laying off 3,783 employees, including 676 teachers and 283 counselors, effective July 1.  Unbelievable!!!!

Superintendent William Hite Jr. announced that the pink slips were in the mail on Friday, while calling the layoffs “nothing less than catastrophic for our schools and students,” according to this Philadelphia Inquirer story.

Along with teachers and counselors, those losing their jobs include 127 assistant principals and 1,202 aides who monitor the cafeteria and playgrounds. Among the targeted teachers are those that teach reading, math, English, special education and music. Teacher layoffs are being conducted based on seniority, according to the current district-union contract.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

And get this!! more jobs are expected to be lost on top of these if the city doesn’t find more money for the school district, which is said to be trying to deal with a projected $304 million deficit. Mayor Michael Nutter said he is looking for ways to raise more revenue for the schools, but so far, nothing has been definitively done to stop the cuts.

Funny...When I was growing up in this same city...The school system actually had money...the school system actually worked and I managed to get a pretty decent education in this city school system...This was before all things Philadelphia became political football in Harrisburg, our state capital...Before people from upstate Pennsylvania who hate all things Philadelphia got a foothold in the state capital...
In March the Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted to close 23 public schools at a meeting where American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten was arrested for protesting the action. About a week ago, the commission approved what was called a doomsday budget for the next school year because it includes no money for items such as new books, paper, counselors, assistant principals, arts and music programs, athletic programs, secretaries and librarians

.
Randi Weingarten released this statement after the news of the layoffs:

"What was Superintendent Hite brought in to do? Mass-close schools even though it makes the corridors and streets less safe for kids and destabilizes neighborhoods? Make draconian budget cuts that strip schools of nurses, libraries, guidance counselors, art, music and after-school activities, and rob children of the rich learning experience they deserve? And now impose nearly 3,800 layoffs that public schools can’t function?"

Even though Hite is my fraternity brother, I want to ask him the same thing!

 This is a  damn travesty. What we have before our very eyes the evisceration and destruction of public education in the City of Brotherly Love as we knew it. And what really galls me is that instead of an all-hands-on-deck approach, instead of investing in our children’s futures, we see Gov. Corbett and Mayor Nutter sit on their hands while Superintendent Hite and the School Reform Commission have the gall to strip our schools to the bone and blame the very people who work closest with kids—the very people who devote their lives to helping children achieve their dreams,Teachers, for this mess. Where are the priorities of the governor, the mayor, the superintendent and the SRC? It's for damn sure that it's certainly not with the children of Philadelphia!!!...Certainly not with the parents and taxpayers....

All this and my property taxes are still going up....What the f^&%???

SHAME!  SHAME ON THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA!!! OUR KIDS DESERVE BETTER!!!

Who is Eric Snowden?

Before a few days ago...I had never heard of Eric Snowden...And when I first saw his photo in USA TODAY, I thought he was an actor in a new movie...

He may be a hero...He may be a traitor...You have to decide that....What he is right now though is a wanted man!!

Eric Snowden, a 29-year-old contractor with the National Security Agency (NSA), fled to Hong Kong after divulging the agency's secrets to the public. In the wake of these revelations, including of a massive U.S. internet spying program, many are hailing young Snowden as a hero while some are condemning him as a traitor.


A petition was created Sunday to pardon Mr. Snowden.

 "Edward Snowden is a national hero and should be immediately issued a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs," the petition says. It had almost 75,000 signatures by Monday afternoon.


Reddit users turned Snowden into a meme and Twitter users as far away as China praised him, according to The Wall Street Journal.
But some say Snowden is a traitor to his country. An editorial in The New Yorker says Snowden sabotaged a program he disagreed with, a dangerous precedent for government employees and contractors to potentially follow.

The editorial also points out that by deciding to flee to Hong Kong, Snowden – and all his secrets – could end up in China, not exactly a bastion of internet freedom.

Other internet privacy activists have faced similar controversies.
Aaron Swartz committed suicide while facing criminal charges for allegedly using MIT’s computer networks to make JSTOR articles public.

The attorney pursuing the charges defended her actions after the suicide.
More recently a 26-year-old man said his home was raided by the FBI because of his part in a hacking operation by the group Anonymous that revealed the Steubenville rape case. The man, Deric Lostutter, faces a longer jail sentence than the convicted Steubenville rapists. Go figure...

Regardless of how you feel about these people and what they may or may not have exposed... Do you really think you have privacy? Really?   You gave that up when you got a credit card or a debit card... What you buy and where you shop and how frequently you make purchases are monitored by credit card companies who sell that information to advertisers so they know how to market products to your demographic( Age, Race,Gender,et al.)

If you're on Facebook,Twitter or any other form of social media...You gave up a lot of information to get there...And most of it can be viewed by more than just your friends and followers.

If you've got a smart phone, if you've got insurance... Even a discount card for a store...Your information has been compromised...The only way you have any real privacy is if you live in a shack in the woods with no phone or cable and own no credit cards....

So let's stop getting bent out of shape because it's just been EXPOSED that Big Brother is watching you...
BIG BROTHER has been watching you for close to 60 years!

Did You Know That?.......

This is the first of a new series of recurring posts in the same vein as "Saturday 7", "What I've Learned", "Keith's Music Spotlight" and "Keith's Favorite Quotes"

Well, while Republicans are busy creating phony scandals such as Benghazi, The IRS-Tea Party Scandal and the Marine holding the umbrella scandal....Did you know that Under President Obama's leadership, we've had 39 consecutive months of private sector job creation and last month our economy added 175,000 jobs. Now more than ever, we need to elect Democrats and Progressives who will stop the obstruction in Washington and help President Obama move us forward. Join us and help fight Republican and Right wing obstruction.

Just a some facts I wanted to drop on you...Something the folks who watch Fox News and listen to Rush Limbaugh know little about.

The World's Fastest Human Is an American (Maybe!)

It was one of those obscure races that occur during an off Olympic year...Maybe it doesn't mean anything, maybe it's a fluke...but Usain Bolt...got beat!  Yup...Got beat by an American!!

Justin Gatlin beat Usain Bolt two days ago to little international fanfare by one-hundredth of a second Thursday to win the 100 meters at the Golden Gala meet — the Jamaican's first significant loss since his false-start disqualification at the 2011 world championships in South Korea.



Justin Gatlin was timed in 9.94 seconds and was restrained in his celebration. The American has won all five of his 100-meter races this year and is shaping up as a serious threat to Bolt at the world championships in Moscow in August.

Usain Bolt briefly covered his face with his hands after the race, then saluted the crowd.

"That was ridiculous — a perfect start and then I just cropped off," he said. "I think it was this perfect start that threw my game off. I have to do more strength work, I guess. I think it needs just some time to get it all back together. At the end it was just not me."

Maybe not...But it was Justin Gatlin....At least two days ago it was!


On a delightful spring evening before a Stadio Olimpico crowd of 52,305, Bolt was second in 9.95 and Jimmy Vicaut of France third in 10.02.

Usain Bolt, the world-record holder and six-time Olympic champion, struggled in the first 50 meters despite his strong start. He started to gain ground on  Justin Gatlin nearing the finish but would have needed a bit more track to overtake him.

"At least I got under 10 seconds," Bolt said. "My legs did not feel the energy. At 50 meters I had some problems, but the rest of the race was not bad." said Bolt.

I'm being over enthusiastic...and that's partially because it's a slow news day and I have little to nothing else to write about! This is not the first time Bolt has been beaten in a race..

Still, it was a vast improvement for Usain Bolt from his first 100 this year. A month ago, he won in a relatively slow 10.09 in the Cayman Islands while he dealing with a hamstring injury. Bolt beat one of his training partners, Kemar Bailey-Cole, in a photo finish. Both recorded the same time. Bolt also was beaten by Tyson Gay in August 2010 in Stockholm.

Again...as I said...I'm being overly enthusiastic. Just an obscure race in an off year...couldn't happen again...could it?

"For me it is just going through the season," Bolt said. "Put things together for the world championships. The season is still very early."

This was  Justin Gatlin's third Diamond League win in the 100 this year, He ran 9.97 seconds in Doha, Qatar, and a wind-aided 9.88 in Eugene, Ore., last weekend. The wind this time was well within the limit.


Justin Gatlin was racing  Usain Bolt for the first time since last year's London Olympics final, which was the fastest final in track history. Bolt won in 9.63 – 0.05 off his world record from 2009. Yohan Blake took the silver in 9.75, with Gatlin the bronze medalist in 9.79 and Tyson Gay fourth in 9.80.

That was Justin Gatlin's first major medal since his career was derailed in 2006 by a positive drug test that led to a four-year ban. He had been the reigning Olympic champion when he tested positive, having won the 100 at the 2004 Athens Games.

  He will next run the 200 in Oslo, Norway, next week before he returns home for the Jamaican championships.Justin Gatlin has the U.S. trials this month.

Shame we have to wait until 2016 when maybe these guys will meet again (when it counts) to see who really is the world's fastest human!

Weekend Humor

For a couple years I 've been blaming it on lack of sleep and too much pressure from my job, but now I found out the real reason: I'm tired because I'm overworked. 

The population of this country is 237 million. 104 million are retired. That leaves 133 million to do the work. There are 85 million in school, which leaves 48 million to do the work. Of this there are 29 million employed by the federal government, leaving 19 million to do the work. 2.8 million are in the Armed Forces, which leaves 16.2 million to do the work. 

 Take from the total the 14,800,000 people who work for State and City Governments and that leaves 1.4 million to do the work. At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals, leaving 1,212,000 to do the work. Now, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons. That leaves just two people to do the work. You and me. And you're sitting at your computer reading this dumb joke.

Peace! Have a groovy weekend everybody!

Southside Shelly

The First lady may be married to Barack "No Drama" Obama...but let's be perfectly clear....She is from the south side of Chicago where they don't play the disrespect game....

So all future hecklers better know...Southside Shelly aint got time for that!

First Lady,Michelle Obama threatened to walk out of a private fundraiser Tuesday night when a heckler interrupted her speech. After lesbian activist Ellen Sturtz demanded more action on LGBT issues, the first lady made eye contact with her and, according to a White House transcript of the event, said "One of the things that I don't do well is this. Do you understand?"  If she didn't...I'm betting she does now!

Reports from the room say Mrs. Obama then "left the lectern and moved over to the protester." She was quoted as telling Ms.Sturtz, "Listen to me or you can take the mic, but I'm leaving. You all decide. You have one choice." After the audience reportedly asked Mrs. Obama to stay, Sturtz was escorted out. "[Mrs. Obama] came right down in my face ... I was taken aback," Sturtz said in a later interview..

Taken Aback? Why is it people feel they can be as rude as all get up and yet are taken aback when they get the rudeness back??

Can you imagine what would have happened if President Obama had stepped to that guy that yelled out -"YOU LIE" a few years back during his address of Congress?? What if Barack had left the podium and walked up to him and said- "Say what ? What did you say?" He'd of been taken aback too...But I tell you what...There wouldn't be any more heckling....

I heard Ronald Reagon tell a reporter to shut up during a  press conference once.

She wasn't half as bad as that...While I'm sure the people at Fox Network are spinning this in the negative.. one thing remains true...Even they will think before they heckle Southside Shelly.

What I've Learned

1. It's Not so much that time flies...It's just that you're so busy living...You don't notice it's passing.

2.All We are is dust in the wind..

3.If somebody is purposely trying to piss you off...The calmer you get, the angrier they'll get!

4.The worst thing in the world for me is boredom!

5.Friendship requires investment.

6.If you're lazy...don't bother getting married.

7.It may be cliche' ,but you shouldn't ever let em see you sweat...Regardless of the situation..I portray myself as the coolest person in the room...It infuriates my enemies and gives hope to my allies.

8.I'm beginning to realize as I've gotten older, that I've always liked drama...Makes life worth living at times!

9.I can't know a person by Facebook, Twitter or a text...I've got to meet them, look them in the eye, See how they react in crisis situations to truly know them!

10.More times then not...I love stating the obvious!

Peace!

Here,Here For Cheerios

Instead of Honey Nut,I think I'm going to cut up some bananas and strawberries and have them with a bowl of Cheerios Today!

Cheerios recently ran this video of an inter-racial couple and their bi-racial child in a few markets...The racist comments on youtube were so many and so vile that Cheerios disabled the comment section of this video's youtube....

But the important thing is....They are still running the commercial, which let's me know that this is indeed 2013 and not 1963 or 1913...Despite the fact that some people still long for those "good ole days"

To people who still haven't evolved in 2013,I say...Get over it..Deal with it...We got a bi-racial President...I know....Some of you  guys still can't deal with that!

24 Years & Counting.......

I can't believe that it was 24 years ago today that I placed a ring on my best friend's finger and she placed one on mine and we both said I do!

Keith's Music Spotlight

Here is some more grown folks grown folks music...From Joe, who consistantly gives us good r&b , the way it was meant to be sung and recorded....Enjoy!