ProfD

The Wu-Tang Clan said it best..."cash rules everything around me..." I'm just as guilty of stopping at the gas pump, looking at the ridiculous price and filling up my truck. Same goes for the prices I see in the grocery store. I just shake my head and spend the money. A few months ago, when there was a cyber attack on the computer system controlling the east coast gas pipeline, the media told us the disruption would lead to a price increase at the pump and fuel shortages. Nevermind that before computers existed, we knew how to get gas from one place to another just fine. On cue, panic buying made it happen. When the pandemic started, there was a run on food, toilet paper, bottled water, Lysol, bleach, cleaning supplies, masks, etc. I've never known Americans to be so hungry or sh8tty or clean in my half century on the planet. Panic buying. Now, we have supply shortages and empty shelves and price gouging. Rinse and repeat. So, I wouldn't be surprised if they used a Ukrainian invasion to jack up prices on natural gas and everything else. They aren't doing it out of necessity. It's only because they can get away with it.

@Mzuri, in our litigious country, we cannot run around hurting people's feeling. @Stefan, when folks put themselves out there, they become a target for crooks, comedians and haters alike. As a natural born comedian, I can see and/or find humor in a lot of things that others may not find funny at all. I don't take life too seriously. I believe laughter is great for the soul. That being said, I don't believe humor should be mean spirited. So, I would not call Cardi B a prostitute but she d8mn sure dresses liike one and then, there's the lyrics in her songs. Madonna used more than her looks and voice to sell. Back in the late 80s through 90s, she was considered a bad girl. LIghtweight by today's standards. Now, the Kartrashians are a family full of ho's. Their mother is a madam. On TV and in the press, these women have no shortage of AfroAmerican athletes, rappers and celebrities playing around in their background. Their father, Robert Kardashian has to be fully cooked by now for as many times as he's had to turn over in his grave. Nonetheless, the sins of greed, jealousy, envy and hate will consume those of lower self-esteem as they continue to dine on junk food.

@Stefan, your concern is valid as it relates to the market stability and natural gas production. IMO, it would be disingenuous to use fallout from a Ukrainian invasion as an excuse to jack up heating and fuel prices domestically or internationally. The world has enough natural gas in reserve to maintain current levels for several years. In fact, I believe we've been overpaying for several decades. Unfortunately, the middle class and poor have been satiated with just enough material consumption to keep them from protesting rising prices, food shortages and anything else that would make life better. As a result, the global elite get to sit around playing games with real lives. Always watch their hands and follow the money.

That is the ugly side of fame and celebrity and the tabloid industry built upon it. Even worse is that people actually consume it. Then again, it's junk food for the brain. I saw the potential for tabloid media and it's modern form (social media) to spiral out of control way back in the 1980s when the paparazzi were hiding in trees and bushes to take pictures of the newly crowned King of Pop Michael Jackson. Of course, they also wrote bizarre stories about him too. We know what they did to Princess Diana. It doesn't appear that journalistic integrity is a high ranking factor in the tabloid world. In the age of social media, fact checking seems to be going the way of the doo doo bird too. I hate when people tell me something and the 1st question I have to ask is...cite the source. if they form the letter F (book) or Twit or Gram, I don't want to hear it. That isn't news. It's gossip. OTOH, celebrities do walk a thin line when it comes to using the media to sell their image and brand. That camera or mic could go either way in being an asset or liability. Watch your steps. But, I'm glad Cardi B won her lawsuit. Nobody deserves to be slandered. I do hope she uses the money to buy some classier clothes and maybe even take a Toastmasters class.

Right now, every non-white individual and the entire population of non-white people (group) are pawns in the system of white supremacy. Only if/when non-white people organize collectively to dismantle the system of white supremacy will they have exercised their real power. Oprah is classified as a billionaire. Yet, her perceived "wealth" isn't enriching the lives of millions of black folks. Powerless. OTOH, Jeff Bezos is considered the richest man in the world. His company employs 1.4 million people. The proof is everywhere. Powerful. The collective wealth of non-white people could bankrupt the planet. That's why white supremacists have a ton of guns, strong militaries and nuclear weapons. If non-white people wake up one day deciding they've had enough of the system of white supremacy, rest assured that all h8ll would break loose.

In recent news, the US sees a Russian invasion of Ukraine as imminent. But, hold the phone, the Ukrainians see a Russian invasion as dangerous but not imminent. As the late, great Aretha Franklin once sang, "who's zoomin' who". if we've learned anything from the Russian invasion of Crimea, the end result will be the same. The US and NATO will hit Russia with soft sanctions. Nothing detrimental to their existence. Smoke.

Unfortunate that Chris Washburn fell into drug addiction. im glad he was able to redeem himself. Even worse, Len Bias was in the same draft class. The 2nd pick of the Boston Celtics, he never got a chance to play in the NBA.

@Delano, thanks for posting that link. Great to read that an AfroAmerican is creating in that space. I'm always going to be a proponent of ownership. Black folks have to think more like entrepreneurs and less like worker bees trading labor and intellectual property for a wage. Typically, an AfroAmerican who comes up with a video game or anything for that matter will be working for a white or foreign-owned company. That game becomes the intellectual property of the company. The AfroAmerican will make his hourly wage, no commission or profit-sharing. The company will make a windfall of money. OTOH, if a white man comes up with a video game, he'll quit his job and start his own video game company. He might even take some of his former coworkers along for the ride, er, riches.

@richardmurray, thanks for posting this thread. If I can emphasize a salient point here... white American private schools, colleges and universities are the epicenter of networking to maintain white supremacy. There is a reason that piece of paper from an Ivy League school carries so much weight. It has little or nothing to do with brain power and everything to do with connections. H8ll, George Bush went to Yale. Black folks should be using their institutions of higher learning in a similar manner. Network and make strategic alliances. Not just to get a piece of paper and have to beg a dumb white supremacist for a job.

Facts. In addition to the folks onscreen there were a whole lot of Black folks behind the scenes earning a living too....music, lights, cameras, caterers, wardrobe, drivers, make-up artists, beauticians, barbers, etc. Look at the end credits of any movie to get an idea.

I do have a band. No links. Contrary to my presence on this site, I'm not a social media guy.

@Chevdove, nothing wrong with taking the thread in another direction. I was joking that we could start a new topic based on that subject.

Hopefully, it will encourage more Blacks to attend HBCUs and increase investments in those institutions.

Sanger's vision backfired as many whites have taken advantage of the program which has negatively affected their population growth. The whole idea of overturning Roe v Wade isn't about saving non-white lives. White folks are trying to stop killing their future.

IMO, a Russian invasion of Ukraine will not adversely affect blacks in that region or anywhere else. Russian President Vlady Putin is gangster. He doesn't want the US building strategic alliances in that region. Too close for comfort. That’s why he invaded Crimea in 2014. Putin sees the US as weak. Troop build up around Ukraine is his way of saber rattling. He's hedging bets that Russia might face sanctions if it invades Ukraine but the US nor its allies wants any real smoke.

Great news on the hire. Both the Mayor and Police Commissioner have the huge challenge of coming up with initiatives to reduce crime in NYC. Across the board, we need to figure out why people are senselessly killing each other in the first place. I don't believe it's all because of video games.

I thought this thread was about film censorship within the black community at large. Otherwise, it is a given that parents should censor/monitor consumption of movies, TV, music, internet, etc. when it comes to their children. Unfortunately, too many parents are using entertainment to babysit and raise their children. But, that's a different thread topic.

Politics are fueled by greed and corruption. Different teams playing the same games.

Absolutely. That person should still be considered a racist/white supremacist or a race suspect.

They have been allowed to either hold a position and/or have material wealth but no power. As long as the system of white supremacy exists, no singular person of color has real power. However, if we were a unified group, black folks would be the most powerful force on the planet.

White supremacy cannot be ignored. It is a constant threat to peace, prosperity and the existence of non-white people.

Replace white supremacy with a system of justice. Fair and equal balance between all people.

Music. The opiate of my life.

Eugenics has been thrown around for several hundred years in the pursuit of genetically superior human beings. America slaveowners practiced a crude form of eugenics in breeding slaves. Hitler was on a quest to build the master race only to be defeated during WWII. China had a one child policy for 35 years which essentially slowed down population growth by a generation. India has local laws that impose penalties for having more than two children. Between morality and bioethics considerations, eugenicists have resorted to other measures of genetic selection and population control. That leads me to wonder if a pandemic and everything that follows it could be ancillary to eugenics.

Black voters running from one pimp, er, party to another one will not make their lives better. It would be more prudent for black folks to define their interests to which elected folks can be held accountable.