Flint Water Crisis In A Nutshell

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Weekend Humor

Random Thoughts

1. One on One between Allen Iverson and Steph Curry...Who would win?

2. Is Donald Trump's campaign for real or some big ruse?

3.Since the only thing they can do with the water in Flint, Michigan is flush the toilet...Why should they pay the water bill?

4.The FBI made the first arrests today in that Militia take over of the federal Wildlife reserve...I guess they were tired of being punked for two weeks.

5.Can anybody tell me what purpose snow serves?

6.Chris Christie the governor of New Jersey was asked why he was still in New Hampshire campaigning when there was flooding and  snowstorm damage in New Jersey...He replied flippantly-
''What do you want me to do, go down there with a mop?" What if President Obama addressed people like that? Can you imagine the outrage??

7.Donald Trump is not participating in the Republican debate tonight...Depending on your opinion of Donald Trump, you can either blame Megyn Kelly or send her flowers.

8. Beauty or Danger?

9.I love That McDonald's serves Breakfast All Day!

10.I'm sure Gonna Miss President Obama when he's gone!

The Lesson Of The Patricians

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Oscar Blues, Part 2

So the Question becomes...Can the Oscars solve it's race problem? Well...Has it ever tried to??


The Oscars made big news last week, but certainly not the way they intended.

When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed its picks for the year's best performances on Jan. 14, no Black or Latino actors were nominated for the second consecutive year.

What's more, acclaimed films with diverse casts including Straight Outta Compton, Creed, and Beasts of No Nation were shut out of the Best Picture category, and the nominations those films did receive went either to white screenwriters (for Compton) or to a white star (Sylvester Stallone for Creed).

As the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite began trending, just as it did last year, ceremony host Chris Rock joked in a Twitter promo that he was thrilled to be hosting "The White BET Awards."

Then it got serious. Spike Lee, who was honored at the Academy's Governors Awards months ago, and Jada Pinkett Smith announced they were boycotting this year's Oscars and encouraged others to join them. Rock began facing pressure to resign as host in protest.

Each day, more high-profile figures are lending their voices to the chorus calling for change. "For 20 opportunities to celebrate actors of color, actresses of color, to be missed last year is one thing," said David Oyelowo, who starred as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Oscar-nominated Selma, at an event on Jan. 18. "For that to happen again this year is unforgivable." I agree, but as I said yesterday...This is nothing new.

Although Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs (who has described herself as "heartbroken and frustrated" over the situation) has taken steps to make the Oscar telecast more inclusive -- e.g., recruiting Reginald Hudlin (Django Unchained), who's African-American, to co-produce the ceremony -- only the Academy members can select the nominees. And that's where the problem lies.

A 2012 Los Angeles Times study found that the roughly 6,000-member Academy is nearly 94 percent Caucasian and 77 percent male, with a median age of 62. Invitations to join the elite organization are typically limited to high-ranking professionals who are nominated by at least two peers; once admitted, membership is for life. Since Boone Isaacs was hired in 2013, the organization has added more members than usual, including many women and minorities, and she affirmed her commitment to that mission, vowing in a statement, "In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond." For many, progress can't come soon enough. "If we keep adding women and minorities at the rate we do, how long will it take? A hundred years?" asks one actress Academy member. "We can't wait that long."

This is the white boys club....I'm just speaking plain...62 year old White guys who vote each other in and come from a certain class are ,let's be honest here ,not likely to go see Straight Outta Compton, Creed, and Beasts of No Nation . ..And even if they did..they're not going to appreciate it the same way a younger minority audience might.

They may go to see the Butler because it's filled with well known stars, both Black and White and it still will get no love....

So how does the Academy fix its broken system? How does Oscar solve it's race problem??

DIVERSIFY MEMBERSHIP

Should the Academy add 1,000 new members? Should it admit only people of color for the next five years? That may seem extreme, but there's no question that young, diverse talent would shift the kinds of stories and performances Oscar celebrates. "I do think has to do with recruitment," says one Academy governor. "I don't think everyone is aware of who's out there making good movies, minority or not."

I would appreciate more women at this point...It's still the White BOYS club..Very few women....

REEXAMINE VOTING-

To determine the Best Picture nominees, members select five films in order of preference. That voting is weighted, meaning that first-place votes matter more than third-place ones. Some believe Compton received votes, just not enough in first or second place. Others speculate that voters never watched the N.W.A biopic. "I think the older members didn't think it was a movie for them," says one member. Adds another: "I haven't seen every movie. Who has that kind of time? Especially when you've got to watch Making a Murderer." The Academy might want to determine Best Picture the way it does Best Foreign Language Film: A diverse committee would choose the nominees and then members could only vote if they had seen all the films.

CONSIDER OUSTERS

Should someone be an active member of the Academy if he hasn't worked in 25 years? Perhaps it's time to allow only those people currently working, or mentoring young talent, to vote. It might help prevent conventional sensibilities from becoming entrenched. "Change is coming," says an Academy member. "It'll probably get more messy before it gets better ..." but that's fine...Change is often messy.

Oscar Blues

You might be surprised at my position on the proposed boycot of this years Oscars by Black Actors and Actresses...

I'm not with it...

But not for reasons Stacy Dash and white racists may think...

I'm just..what is the point? This is not news...The Oscars have been #so white for years now..with a few exceptions when they tossed us a few bones....

How many Latinos have won Oscars? For that matter how many Native Americans or Asians?

You see my point?

As I explained to a friend on Facebook yesterday...I used to watch them and get mad.....I was angry in 1972 when neither Diana Ross ,nor Cicely Tyson won ...I was so mad that by the time I was 18 ,I stopped watching and didn't watch again until the year Lou Gossett Jr. won best supporting actor for Officer and a Gentleman....I was 26 by then...They had gotten better handing out statutes to Denzel,Cuba,Whoopi, Halle,Morgan Freeman,Jennifer Hudson and a few others, and then for the past two years it's been a BLACKOUT...pun intended....I won't be watching this year either!

I can find better things to do with my free time...

I am so over the Oscars....And so should a lot of Black people...I am just tired ,Tired of needing White America for verification of my self worth...

For Stacey Dash and the white racists who say..."Well we don't get mad when White people don't win NAACP IMAGE Awards or BET awards..."which I found funny ,just think of something...Historically Black Colleges and Universities, NAACP Image Awards, BET Awards, Latin Grammys...et al...None of this would be necessary if we truly lived in a color blind society , a post racial society where everybody was recognized and rewarded equally....but we don't...We never have...

Up until 1950....Practically every movie that went through Holywood was 99 percent all white casts...And the only Black people you saw was maids and butlers and if they had speaking parts...It was comic relief...

The explosion of Black cinema in the 70's ..though admittedly cheesy went over most white people(with the exception of Quentin Tarrantino)'s heads....Still there were a few gems...Sounder, Lady Sings the Blues..Nothin But a Man, Watermelon Man , Sweet Sweetback's Badass song..Shaft that were all but ignored by Oscar...

Black people should have been boycotting back then when we were really being ignored....

People are up in the air now...but this is longgggg overdue...

The past two years in a row..There have been no Black nominees for anything...Why is anyone surprised?? Nothing new here...

I'll speak on this some more..

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Weekend Humor II

Soooo let me get this straight Sarah Palin.... You are saying that it is President Obama's fault that YOUR son punched HIS girlfriend in the face and got arrested....

REALLY?? Listen Sarah...Pick up your paycheck from Donald Trump, Get your dumb ratchet ass off the campaign trail, Take responsibility for YOUR family(Your son and your daughter) and get them the help they need (While you are at it...make yourself an appointment too)!

Weekend Humor

Everybody have a groovalicious weekend!

Democracy Is Not A Spectator Sport

Now more than ever...Exercise your right to vote~!

You Tell Em Coretta

True when she said it...Still True now!