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The photo history of Lena Horne was beautiful. She aged so gracefully Both versions of these versions were great. I'll have to listen a few more times to each to pick a favorite (not sure why I feel compelled to pick a favorite -- just the way my brain works I guess). Still hard to believe this tune is almost 90 years old. When it debuted the only way you would likely here it is was when it was performed live or if you caught it on the radio. The idea that we can call up so many different version of this song, play it on demand, share it with others, download to portable devices -- without paying for it is mind boggling. Often people draw analogies between where music has gone with digital files and where books are going with eBooks as if they were analogous. Few have really considered a world where books are shared as freely as music files are today -- even if they talk about it as if it inevitable. But that is a different conversation. Here is Frank

Because gang related violence has become so rampant in this country’s inner cities, attempts to focus on this problem have taken on celebrity involvement. Recently ABC news anchor, Diane Sawyer, showed up in Chicago to cover a gang summit being sponsored by Father Michael Pfleger, local hero, activist Catholic priest, and the white leader of an all black congregation. These high level meetings between the hierarchy of Chicago’s gangs have been held before and have not worked or will they ever because guards can never be lowered and ground never conceded. Reputations have to be maintained. What I find compelling about the situation is the reaity of what is at the root of a lot of the violence. Poverty and lack of jobs and the breakdown of the family don’t tell the whole story. It’s assumed that the wanton slayings are all gang-related, all about turfs and drugs and retaliations . But a lot of the killings are actually personal vendettas by macho cowards, - nonentities who are so consumed with their need to feel important that they cannot deal with rejection. Time and time again a familiar scenario is what triggers murder and mayhem. Someone is having a party with family and friends when an individual or a group crashes the affair and after stirring up trouble, are asked to leave. The second act of this drama plays out with the resentful offenders showing back up with a gun to shoot up the place. Other situations involve love triangles where one rival will gun down his cock-blocking competitor. Even making longer than necessary eye contact between adversaries can lead to drawn weapons. Any act of disrespect shown by one homie toward another, be it on a playground or at the club or on a FaceBook wall, or at a funeral for a murdered friend is grounds for pulled triggers. What used to be settled with fists is now finalized with guns in the hands of those who invaribly slaughter innocent bystanders, all in the ritual of proving one’s manhood by getting even. Unfortunately, this need to beat one’s chest doesn’t restrict itself to the ghetto. A more cold-blooded version exists across the board on all levels of society and can even lead to war. When the collective ego of one country is insulted by the collective ego of another country, battle lines are drawn. It's a fact life that an insatiable ego is an intrinsic part of all living creatures. It’s the nature of the beast to take offense at anything that constitutes a slight, and threatens one’s self esteem or, worse yet, exposes one’s insecurity. All cooler heads advocate replacing false pride with peace and love, citing these virtues as being the source of true strength because they call for the restraint that saves lives. "Blessed be the peacemakers", but everybody didn’t get the memo. The ruthless ego will not be denied. It rules everywhere as lions fight to be king of the jungle, - and men fight to be king of the hill. Crushing a threat to your status gives the ego an erection. That damned ego is at the root of all the problems of the world because it goes hand in hand with the quest for power. And power corrupts. God, you sure screwed up when you created us - in your image...

The Presidential election is coming up in November. In October the jobless rate, the lowest in 44 months, is back where it was when President Obama took the oath office. That means President Obama has cleaned up much of the prior damage done by Republicans, now they want to move back into the White House and tear things up again with the same behavior that destroyed everything the last time around. Don’t allow President Obama to be the Republican’s garbage man. http://pollardpost.blogspot.com/2012/10/dont-make-president-obama-republicans.html

I, myself, am experiencing a reading block, Troy. And I'm not happy about it, either. All my life I"ve been an avid reader and it's as if that has now caught up with me because the subject matter of so many today's fiction books does not elicit my interest. It's like I've been there, done that. Now instead of being riveted by the printed word, I am more mesmerized by what's visual. All I want to do is watch historical and scientific documentaries or specials like "Boardwalk Empire and "Game of Thrones". Or track down old songs on YouTube. Tracking down old songs is like being a time traveler because they can vividly take you back to the era that they bring to mind. They call also provide you with the joy of reminscence. I'm afraid my waning interest in books has something to do with my declining years and the short memory span that comes with this territory. Growing old is a challenging process. It has even affected my writing because sometimes when I re-read posts I have written, I can't believe how disjointed they are. What is also frustrating is how my mind and body are not in sync. I think I'm still my young self, but my body regularly reminds me that I'm not the girl I used to be. As my health begins to wane I am confronted with my own mortality; a sobering experience even as I am rejuvenated by memories of good times past. Even as I endeavor to conquer my fear of death... Sorry. I got carried away. As I was saying, Troy, I sympathize with you. Reading is fundamental and there's no better companion than a good book, no better teacher than a knowledgeable volume.

Someone to waaaatch over me... now this song will be stuck in my head for days! not a bad thing...much better than BANDS TO MAKE HER DANCE! lol Awww...I remember when Lena was on Sesame Street! childhood throwback ...such wonderful voices! all of them - so pretty!

Lena Horne version: http://youtu.be/g8J2Gb-hMIY Sarah Vaughn version:

Thanks, Troy!

Wow...that voice! Beautiful! (Ella...not MJ...I didn't even click the MJ doc vid. )

I found the article below which not surprisingly appeared on the Fox News site interesting because it's an example of how this election is not only polarizing the country but is reinforcing a rift in the black community. Voting for Obama has become a litmus test for a person's blackness. Race still matters. This time next month what will the situation be?? I hope the election is not a close one because I don't know what Blacks will do if Obama loses. Will they simply be demoralized or will they be in a rebellious state of mind?? I think white people will handle a Romney loss better. They are not passionate in their support for his candidacy but have lost confidence in Obama and simply want change. I also believe the electoral college might be on its last legs as America embarks on a path where in the future the "United States" will be a misnomer. We shall see... “Clueless” star Stacey Dash recently tweeted her support for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, accompanied by a patriotic swimsuit picture of herself. But now her political viewpoint has become the subject of online attacks, with many expressing crude distaste that she isn’t endorsing President Obama – and race has become a key motivator behind the digital abuse. “You’re an unemployed black woman endorsing Mitt Romney. You’re voting against yourself thrice. You poor beautiful idiot,” one Twitter user wrote, while @Black Voice wrote, “Stacey Dash had a perm since birth. I knew I couldn’t trust her.. lol.” Others accused the actress of “voting for white supremacy,” claiming she “is white with a dark tan,” and calling Dash a slew of offensive names. Several other Obama supporters even went as far as to encourage “the old hag” to “kill herself.” One suicide encourager is listed as a doctor and politically active Democrat in Washington D.C., and although he reportedly has deleted the inflammatory “kill yourself” tweet, it was captured by social media news site, Twitchy.com. But Dash seems to be taking the backlash in stride. “My humble opinion… EVERYONE is entitled to one,” she tweeted in response. But the 46-year-old's plug for Romney attracted plenty of applause, too. “Thank you for being willing to think for yourself despite what your haters have to say,” tweeted one user, while another noted, “You can NEVER, EVER (did I say never?) NEVER leave the Dem party if you r Black. Once you do, the name calling begins.” Dash did not respond to a request for further comment.

THEY ARE COMPARING HURRICANE- STORM SANDY TO HURRICANE KATRINA....UNLIKE BUSH THE PRESIDENT SEEMS CONCERNED.. LIKE NEW ORLEANS SOME PARTS WHERE STORM HIT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS BOMBED.. HOUSES DESTROYED, HIGH WATER IN THE STREETS, CARS ON TOP OF CARS... NOT RICH BUT MIDDLE CLASS STATEN ISLAND, WHITE PEOPLE ANGRY ON NEWS, FEMA , RED CROSS SLOW..NOT AS SLOW AS NEW ORLEANS WITH HURRICANE KATRINA....RICH BUSINESS ,CORPORATIONS, WALL STREET SLOWED DOWN...RICHEST CITY IN THE COUNTRY.. DID NOT SEE PEOPLE ON ROOF TOPS WAITING TO BE RESCUED, SOME PROBALY WERE...............SEE IF THINGS WILL BE QUICKER IN THIS RICH CITY, THAN THE POOR IN NEW ORLEANS.////////.

IN DEUTERONOMY , IT SAYS ADULTERERS SHOULD BE PUT TO DEATH.....MEN WHO CHEAT ON WIVES, THE WOMEN THEY CHEAT WITH, EVERYBODY WHO COMMITS ADULTERY SHOULD BE STONED TO DEATH//THAT WOULD ALSO INCLUDE PREACHERS THAT CHEAT ON THEIR WIVES. .LET'S SEE, JESSE JACKSON, BISHOP EDDIE LONG, HENRY LYONS, WHO WAS LOCKED UP FOR STEALING 4 MILLION ..3 BLACK PREACHERS BEHIND BARS FOR KILLING THEIR WIVES...KILLING, ADULTERY,2 OF THE COMMANDMENTS....IT IS A LOT MORE,,..BABYLON AND SODOM GOMMORAH SEXUAL WICKEDNESS PREACH SERMONS EVERY SUNDAY FROM THE BIBLE NO ONE LIVES BY...AMAZING.....WHAT DEFINES RELIGION..////

Has anyone seen the video going viral on youtube? Teen girl talking trash to city bus driver. Bus driver says something like "I'll get my granddaughter on you" and the teen continues to be loud, disrespectful, in his face, yadda yadda yadda until she hauls off and hits him. And then it goes completely downhill from there. What in the world is happening? I'm sure those of us who have ridden the city bus in many parts of Chicago and other major cities have seen this type of aggressive behavior out of our youth. So in a way, this isn't a surprise. But now with youtube, the whole world gets to see some of the ignorance that REALLY goes on in some of our communities. I can recall riding the bus and seeing something similar to this, although in that case the adult was a passenger and chose not to fight the child. I also recall shopping on the West Side of Chicago w my daughter when a group of teens wanted to jump her merely because they didn't like the way she talked - too proper, too "white"...yes, in this day and age we're still doing that. So we've always known that we've got these types of issues in our community. But how do you feel about the world, through youtube, having the inside scoop on our dirty laundry? Nowadays everybody's got their phones out, willing and waiting to post the outrageous behaviors. Will seeing ourselves on camera like this - knowing that the whole world sees it to - help us to think twice before embarrassing ourselves? Or does it make matters worse? Or neither?

EX COACH SADUSKY GOT OVER 30 YEARS FOR CHILD MOLESTING AT PENN STATE.WHY HAS BISHOP EDDIE LONG NOT BEEN CONFRONED BY, THE NAACP,BLACK CHURCHES AND BLACK POLITICIANS FOR BEING SEXUALLY INVOLVED WITH YOUNG BLACK BOYS.////...CHURCH IS AS BAD AS PIMP AND DRUG HOUSES..///

BLACK COLLEGE FAMU-FLORIDA A AND M IS AS BAD AS PENN STATE..PENN STATE HIGH UP WAS IGNORING THE EX COACH BEING A CHILD MOLESTER TO PROTECT COLLEGE AND FOOTBALL.WHERE WAS THE BLACK LEADERS AND COMMUNITIES WITH ROBERT CHAMPION HAZED BEATEN TO DEATH ON THE BAND BUS.../NAACP,BLACK CHURCHES AND POLITICIANS SHOULD HAVE PROTESTED FOR THE FAMU PRESIDENT TO BE FIRED, BAND DIRECTOR AND THE MURDERS THE BAND MEMBERS WHO HAZED BEAT ROBERT CHAMPION TO DEATH TO BE BEHIND BARS......LIKE THERE WAS FOR TRAYVON MARTIN DELIBERATELY KILLED BY THAT LUNATIC MURDER GEORGE ZIMMERMAN.... WHY WAS THERE UNCONCERN AND SILENCE/.....

Affirmation by Assata Shakur I believe in living. I believe in the spectrum of Beta days and Gamma people. I believe in sunshine in windmills and waterfalls, tricycles and rocking chairs. And I believe that seeds grow into sprouts, And sprouts grow into trees. I believe in the magic of the hands. And in the wisdom of the eyes. I believe in rain and tears. And in the blood of infinity. I believe in life. And I have seen the death parade march through the torso of the earth, sculpting mud bodies in its path. I have seen the destruction of the daylight, and seen the bloodthirsty maggots prayed to and saluted. I have seen the kind become the blind and the blind become the bind in one easy lesson. I have walked on cut glass. I have eaten crow and blunder bread and breathed the stench of indifference. I have been locked by the lawless. Handcuffed by the haters. Gagged by the greedy. And, if I know anything at all, it is that a wall is just a wall and nothing more at all. It can be broken down. I believe in living. I believe in birth. I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth. And I believe that a lost ship, steered by tired, seasick sailors, can still be guided home to port.

WITHIN AMERICAN FLAGS RAISED ,EACH DAY AS THE SUN RISE..THE AMERICAN BALD EAGLE ABOVE FREELY FLIES..SHE ALONG WITH HISTORIC IMAGES,LIKE THE WHITE HOUSE,LIBERTY BELL AND STATUE OF LIBERTY.THE FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA IN THIS LAND OF THE FREE..HER ANCESTORS WERE SLAVES ON SLAVE PLANTATIONS..NOW SHE IS THE FIRST LADY IN THIS GREAT NATION...HER HUSBAND THE PRESIDENT,WHO WAS BORN IN THIS COUNTRY,HIS SELF DISCIPLINE SHE HELPS HIM MAINTAIN..DEMONIC PEOPLE,AN ANGRY BLACK MAN ,THEY WANT HIS SOUL AND MIND TO CONTAIN..DESPITE DEMONIC PEOPLE,TRYING TO MAKE HER AN ANGRY BLACK WOMAN,SHE PEACEFUL AND CALM LIKE THE RIVER'S FLOW..HER SPIRIT SHINES BRIGHT AS THE SUMMER SUN'S GLOW....CONFIDENCE,SHOWN ALONG WITH THE SMILE UPON HER FACE..HER ESSENCE,KNOWLEDGE,INNER STRENGTH AND HUMANITARIAN WITH GRACE..FOR MANY,THE FIRST LADY,MICHELLE OBAMA IS A EXAMPLE OF MOTIVATION.FOR MANY SHE IS A VOICE OF INSPIRATION..WIFE,FIRST LADY AND MOTHER HERSELF SHE DEFINES...THIS STRONG BLACK WOMAN, WITH A WORLDLY MIND..../.

IN CHURCH BLACK MEN ARE ON SUNDAY MORNING..AFTER THE SERMON,AND PREACHERS PULPIT DRAMA,WHAT ,VISIONS,IN THE MINDS OF BLACK MEN ARE FORMING/..DOES THE BLACK MAN HAVE HIS OWN BIBLE INTERPRETATION/..OR IS THE BLACK MAN LOST IN SPIRITUAL TRANSLATION/.BLACK MEN READING THE BIBLE, THEY SHOULD, THEIR OWN UNDERSTANDING THEY NEED TO OBTAIN..NOT EMBRACING THE PREACHERS RELIGIOUS THEORY,AND BECOMING SPIRITUALLY DEATAINED...