aka Contrarian

@DelanoIt helps if you are good company for yourself. The ol saw about "idle time being the playground of the devil" should probably be heeded, however. 😉

And your point is?

Watta crock of shit coming from a letcher who misses no opportunity to salivate over and objectify black women as sex objects, who just recently boasted about expecting sexual compensation from any organization that accepted the dubious distinction of his membership. Your hypocrisy is incredible, your homophobia and misogny toxic.

It's like the above picture had a mind of its own and expanded into a huge image, coupled with another photo that latched on to it and which I deleted Strange.

I bad mouth Chi-town a lot but I question whether the movers and shakers and powers-that- be are OK with the criminal element that has led to Chicago's reputation of being a dangerous city! A high crime rate is a liability that scares off new businesses and tourism and can, for one thing, affect enollment in its many colleges like the prestigious University of Chicago, and UIC, the University of Illinois' extension. It should also be noted that crime is not restricted to Chicago's south and west sides. A lot of the shootings and killings occur in the Hispanic barrios where gang activity is well-organized. Also, Chicago's population is over a million and the relationship between the number of people killed in proportion to the total population should be kept in mind. In addition to its picturesque, upscale lake front, Chicago is also made up of a lot of different municipalities within the city, quiet beautiful enclaves with their own names, and far-removed from what goes on in the inner-city. If you just go by the media reports, or Trump's rants you'd think Chicago was the wild west or a combat zone and this isn't the case. Trump is just punishing and tarnishing Chicago because it's in a blue state and is a shelter city for immigrants!

Suddenly I've drifted into a crazy zone. I have nothing but time on my hands, and I live around the clock, only sleeping when I'm sleepy, only eating when I'm hungry, suspended in limbo. My Samsung smart phone is my ever present companion and it's like there's a connection between my fingers and its keyboard and I have a compulsion to just write long dissertations or crazy vignettes, my words and thoughts feeding on each other like i'm overtaken by a rogue AI entity that compels me to write about things I didn't know I knew, - like my subconcious mind is on overdrive. Like now. Fortunately, I'm not immobile nor in dire health. But I do tire easily, and like to curl up on my recliner, where i still set aside time to do patternless crossword puzzles that seem to work themselves and play Bridge on line with computerized robots - who seem to becoming more human by the day... Family relationships are normal, but there's this other world that I drift in and out of and when I sleep I have vivid dreams about all those who have gone ahead. In a recent one it seemed like my husband had hooked up with an old girlfriend. Why do I find this funny??? Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining, not lonely nor depressed, just curious about this weird state I'm caught up in. I still sometimes sneak out at night and look up at the stars... Now i'm about to gear up for my daily walk up and down the driveway. Stay tuned, - or tune out if you have better things to do than read the ramblings of a crazy ol lady. Hoping some winning POWERBALLnumbers will pop into my head. Nothing like a billion dollars to calm your impulses.

Maybe - individual acts of courage and defiance will gain momentum and snowball, and before we know it - crowds rise up, coming together, surging forth, bringing about change and reform, successfully achieving where political parties have failed and - nah... Not happening. The flutterimg American flag goes limp and the strains of Glory Hallelujah fade away. THE END

They're coming...

Well, after closer scrutiny, I realized I made the mistake of assuming the judges were made up of movie reviewers who had some film school or journalistic credentials - critics whose criteria would automatically call for each one of these films to be judged by how well it represented its genre. Not so. Apparently, these folks just indulged their personal favorites, and kissed the feet of Spike Lee, Sydney Poitier, and Denzel Washington. Anyhow, in her defense, the MADEA films fall into the "low humor" bracket. (Like the 3 Stooges ones, whose movies are now considered classic examples of the low humor genre that appeals to the "great unwashed masses".) MADEA ticks all the boxes when it comes to low humor and she is like a folk hero. I assume y'all know that her name is an ebonic version of "Mother Dear", the fond term of endearment lotsa black folks bestow upon their beloved mamas. Moreover, none of her films ever lost money, and that counts for something. "BAMBOOZLED", for further instance, is a perfect example of the satire genre which, imo is the only reason it should be on the list. I don't recall seeing on the list any of the mainstream movies made about the Tuskeegee Airmen. Yet, the "I'm Gonna Get You, Sucka" farce about a returning army veteraran made it. So much for recognizing unsung black heroes. I personally have a problem with "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" being included. Imo, it was an awkard, self-conscious movie which pandered to white Liberals and patronized Negroes. This opinion was shared by many other Blacks when this movie first came out in 1967. But, everybody's entitled to their own opinion.

I've been meaning to check this post out. The list was an interesting compilation. I've seen and am familar with most of the films on it. Surprised there was no mention of any of those priceless all-black films from the 1920s and '30s written, directed, and produced by the legendary Oscar Marceaux (and which used to be shown on TV at one time) ) Also conspicuously absent from the list were any Tyler Perry "Madea" movies, some of which were as deserving as other entries they scraped the bottom of the barrel to include. I think Perry's special brand of humor deserves recognition. His Madea movies are in a class all by themselves, and certainly have a degree of authenticity. I just finished watching the recently released "Sinners" starring Michael B. Jordan, an excursion into the vampire horror genre. A very stylistic surreal outing. It got good reviews but I thought it could've benefitted from some editing. I also recently watched "Moonlight". I liked its off-beat plot and was riveted by the charismatic Mahershala Ali's screen presence. To me, however, the only thing some of the listed films had going for them was that they had all-black casts. And, too bad the movie she appeared in and won an Oscar for prevented Hattie McDaniel from being cited on the list. But "Gone With The Wind" and its romanticizing of the plantation days of slavery eliminated her from getting any props for how much she immortalized the black character she portrayed in this film classic. Btw, my movie-going experience dates waay back to my early childhood when my mother worked at the local theater and I got into the movies for free. I actually saw the "Wizard of Oz" when it first came out in 1939. This movie is still around enchanting viewers of all ages(as is "Gone with the Wind" which also came out in 1939) All of this contributes to my being a subscriber to the "Mandela Effect" because many if these old movies i now see on the TCM and Starz Encore channels are not exactly as I remember them, giving credence to the idea that I have shifted into a parallel universe where things are slightly different. This reaction being a variation of the "Mandela Effect". For a better explanation, Google "The Mandela Effect" or ask an AI search engine about this bizarre phenomenon many others have experienced in different versions.

One of the recent killings involved a 5 year old being shot and killed by an adult female relative. I know young kids can try your patience but - come on, now... I always like it, however, when a person being robbed pulls out their own gun and shoots the robber.

So many of the shootings seem to be impulsive or one-on-one crimes that don't involve robbery or burglery. To me, it's about gun control not police or troops. Folks have just lost their respect for human life.

Well,Prof. In the real world, sometimes you have to settle for small victories. I gather that you, as an individual, are doin well fir yourself, and as a spectator, can afford to sit back and watch the big farce play out. Life ain't never promised nobody nothin. But, sometimes you catch a break and since you can't save the world, you just go with the flow and when it comes to your peeps, ya just dos da best ya can... 🥹 a chorus of negro voices humming an old spiritual in the background...

Looks like the National Guard is on its way to Chicago. Unfotunately the holiday weekend has been a pretty violent one. Shootings and killings of the kind that a military presence can't prevent. Just fools offing each other spontaneously or over vendettas. Whatever.

@ProfDHey, Guy, you haven't posted lately. Hope you haven't run afoul of the Trump storm troopers occupying DC. Seriously, I miss your updates on current events. Check in!

@Pioneer1Puleeze. What I do and who I agree with is none if your goddamned business. In truth, I never rejected Troy's one race argument, and on many occasions I have referred to myself as belonging to the "hybrid slave descendant" tribe! As usual, you and your sulking self don't know what the hell you're talking about. So take your lying, obnoxious, wanna-be, over-the-hill, attention-seeking ass, along with your made-up scenarios and crawl back under your rock. You apparently can't handle the fact that all you represent to me is a good case study to be observed and poked at. It's amusing to watch you in action as you skitter around, grasping at straws, resorting to every trick of the trade in an attempt to prevail. However, like everyone else here, I'm hip to your ego-driven, pathetic, devious, ploys. Your transparency is blatant. Bottom line:I simply don't like you. Deal with that, and move on. TaTa.

Nobody has ever claimed that vaccines are perfect and don't have side effects. What if the Government had proclaimed that the vaccine would only be available to upperclass white people? The rest of the population would've been clamouring for "the jab", crying "discrimination", maybe even rioting in the streets to get it. Black folks, in particular, would be goin crazy! Or, what if the scientific authorities had just stood around, wringing their hands, lamenting that there was nothing they could do about the pandemic? They would've been criticized and condemned by the very people who are now anti-vaxxers. Reactions are influenced by circumstances, obviously. People will always find something to bitch and moan about. Especially the ones who think they are too. smart. to. be. fooled. zzzzzzzz

The person who believes there is an organized "conspiracy" afoot because they trust the YouTube videos by nutjobs who say so. 🤪

@Troy I may be off the mark about the cause of my worry - but not the effect which I fear will benefit Trump.

Who does what?? I dont have a problem with the one race concept - and the "tribes" contained therein.

@Pioneer1 In your ongoing attempt to aggrandize black men, contrary to your implications, black men do not have a monopoly on "strong dominate masculinity and sexual power".These traits are common among men of all ethnicities. You are biased; the black counterpart of a white supremacist. Not surprising since you reject the idea that there is only one race.

I'm getting a little worried. 'Glad I probably won't be around to be subjected to the final results, but it seems like the rank and file of silent Americans might be coming around to Trump's vision of America. We can thank the Progressives who are rubbing our noses in the whims of the LBGQT community, and the persistentency of racism, and things like body shaming, not to mention rampant crime. Being bombarded with interracial couples, and obese people in TV commercials are turn-offs to the general population which is actually made up of bigots who support "law and order". America, the beautiful😠

There was a school of thought back in my day which had to do with using integration as a gateway to "infilterating" predominately white schools. This provided the opportunity to observe and learn to function in the white corporate world. Both the highschool and college I attended were at that time 95% white so it was possible to get a good, well-rounded education by osmosis. This came in handy later on when "code switching" became a weapon in the arsenal of upwardly mobile Blacks manueuvering their way through the white collar world of America. This manipulation of your "slave masters" dates back to slavery days. LOL

As much as some persist in boasting, black men are probably no different from any other species, and run the gamut from impotent nerds to virile studs. Many have embraced the mythical image originally perpetuated by whites who portray them all as animalistic oversexed brutes, and this has become their claim to fame.

@Troy& @Delanoyou guys are 2 of my favorite people. Over the years, you have contributed so much to making my cyber world interesting and enlightened. 👍🫶