Cynique

EU. Well, at least Troy took a good picture. It was great to meet him in person! As soon as I entered the crowded room, I spotted him right away. When I got close enough I tapped him on the back. When he turned around, he immediately recognized me. It was a very pleasant and sentimental occasion to finally cap our 13 year cyber friendship with a big hug.

You're entitled to your opinions. Is there any documented proof that Africans didn't sell each other into slavery? Any version of either claim would all be examples of revisionist history. It's unrealistic to advocate that every country that subdues another one should pay the losers reparations.

A bill has been passed to pay Native Americans reparations Allowing Native Americans to run Casinos is a form of reparations, too. Also Japanese American have begun receiving reparations for their having been imprisoned and their property seized by the U.S. Government during World War I I. The bill to pay black farmers reparations is also on track to be passed. Why would America pay Africans who have emigrated to this country reparations, Pioneer??? Countries like Nigeria should pay black Americans reparations for selling them into slavery!

When I went to the U. of Illinois back in 1951, the tuition was $40 a semester which was about the average cost for all the members of the Big !0 midwestern college conference. Tuition stayed low for about the next 25 years. No entrance exams were required. Every resident of the state of Illinois with a HS diploma was eligible to enroll there, but you had to maintain at least a 3.0 average or you'd "flunk out".

It would seem that a lot depends on whether or not a person reviewing a book can be considered someone from the author's demograph. Not to mention that reviews can come to represent a showcase for the reviewer's style and skill, as opposed to those of the author, and this can be a distraction. If a book is aimed at a certain audience, then it becomes a genre and it can be argued that a reviewer should have the skill to critique said book from the viewpoint of those who are fans of the genre. There's a difference between a reviewer and an editor. So how well a book accomplishes the goal of appealing to its fans may not always coincide with its technical merits. Reviewers also face the pubic skepticism of those who routinely discount reviews. When the question of maintaining literary standards is added to the equation, then things become even more ambiguous. Since there are no rigid guidelines for reviewers to follow, those who self-appoint themselves to be a reviewer can be subjected to having their reviews reviewed.

To me, this is an election as much about questions as about answers. Why do millions of black Americans as well as their leaders support Hillary? Will Hillary pass up a chance to create a great legacy or just go along with business as usual? When people allow candidates to symbolize their hopes and grievances, are they setting themselves up for disappointment in view of past history? If a Democrat like Obama couldn't keep his promises, what kind of results can a Progressive independent like Sanders have in initiating reform? Would a Trump presidency allow America to openly become the bigoted anti-thesis of democracy that it has always been? How well-equipped are Bernie and Donald to operate in the global arena? Is the United States of America on track to implode with internal dissent and, like the Roman Empire, fall? As someone who has been retired for 24 years during which time, whomever was president made little difference in my day-to-day life, how many others are there like me who have simply stayed under the radar? Why should I even bother to vote?

I'm just now catching up with this, Shirley. I'm proud of you. You go, Girl. Keep up the good work!

In Eskimo culture, old people did their families a favor by wandering off into the wilderness where they’d simply lie down and freeze to death. In more advanced civilizations, especially ancient ones, families revered and respected their elders and this characterizes the indigenous black tradition in America. Blacks love their “Madeas”, So it is a little curious that the ageists on this board regard older people with disdain I suspect they would claim that it’s me who they dislike, and the fact that I am 82 years old provides them with another weapon to try and punish me for not looking upon them with awe. So they conjure up all kinds of things about me. (I am not feeble, I was married for 50 years to the late love of my life, I have 5 kids, 8 grandkids and 4 great grand ones, all of whom keep me up to date on what’s going on in all age brackets, plus I read and observe what’s going on around me.) This seems to repel those who want me to stay in my place and not conjure up things about them. However, i can't help but observe how these newly-arrived didactic pedants aspire to elitism. They think their degrees and academic credentials absolve them from having good character and integrity, while endowing them with the privilege of using superficial standards by which to judge others; they are supercilious prigs who look down on anyone who they don’t regard as their peer. They are as flawed as I am. Yes, I am a jaded, sarcastic contrarian but I always give credit where credit is due. Which brings us to the reason I have come to appreciate people like Troy and Chris, guys who came up the hard way but managed to obtain multiple degrees and run successful businesses yet didn’t let this go to their heads or rob them of their common touch. And worldly guys like Pioneer who has educated himself, acquiring knowledge through experience, and those like the delightfully eccentric Delano and the ever-vigilant social critic, Harry Brown, both of whom bring a different flavor to the board. Mel and Shirley are also smart engaging women. Or is any of this to say that I don’t appreciate wry humor, or that I don’t find some merit in a tongue-in-cheek tease like Celestial Grateness or sara's need to force feed us with what she thinks we should be hungry for. People are, who they are. Let’s hear it for diversity! Me, I’m content to still be alive. I don’t give a fuck about my “young” detractors. After all, in this youth- obsessed society, I outlived Prince and Michael and Whitney.

Just a final post to bid a farewell to The Board. I'm retiring because I have honestly lost interest in the subjects being discussed here. For over 60 years I've been there and heard that, and re-hashing the same ol political and social issues no longer ignites my enthusiasm or inspires my optimism. C'est la Vie. During whatever time I have left on this earth, I'm now more interested in fully immersing myself in spiritual introspection, pursuit of the truth, the nature of reality, the meaning of life, and whatever else that intrigues me. Or will I completely rule out popping up on this site once in a while. I had a dream about PRINCE last week. And now he's gone. A reminder that tomorrow is not promised, so why waste today? So long to everybody, it's been fun and thanks for everything, Troy!

SMH. For somebody who professes to be sane and intelligent, you are an incredibly childish and mentally unbalanced ditz. You hide behind your anonymity but your transparency will not be denied and it doesn't take long for your real self to transcend your cyber persona. You are an ugly, maladjusted, shallow liar. You have no class, no character, have a repulsive personality, are an educated fool and you have found a soul mate in ol sorry-assed wanna-be Carey who skulked off to start his own blog which tanked. LMAO. Frantically researching old posts, looking for dirt about me and cherry picking as usual, says more about you than it does me. How many orgasms did you experience when you found what you were looking for? Who is begging for attention and approval and seeking it at my expense any more than you? Why does it make a difference to you whether people like me or not? No matter how bad I come across, it does not elevate you. Your hysterical whining about not being treated fair really reveals your lack of insight about your true self. You think, everything you say is permissible but when you get it thrown back in your face, you go ballistic because you can't deal with the fact that someone isn't impressed with your shallow phoniness. That's the difference between you and me. I never professed to be Mary Sunshine; I've said this numerous times. Why do you think I adopted my screen name? But ol saran wrap clings to the idea that she is admirable and above reproach. tsk-tsk Pity poor old strapped up sara, the homo ho, a psychotic schizo who is obviously eaten up with hate for old women, as evidenced by how she goes into great detail to recreate memories from her sordid past. tsk-tsk. Obviously this board is not big enough for the both of us. And this feud with you has provided me with the excuse I've been looking for to retire from this forlorn forum. Maybe things will pick up if Troy renames it "Sara's Sink Hole", - undoubtedly your 16-year-old girlfriend's nickname for her favorite part of your anatomy. See ya, but I wouldn't wanna be ya!

I take exception to your comment, Pioneer. As someone who was a grown person in the late 1950s and 60's during the hey day of TV round table discussions hosted by white liberal moderators, and where people like Malcolm X and MLK and other prominent black activists and celebrities were frequent guests who, in this informal setting, very often said things just off the top of their heads, many of which I remember because they were provocative. Believe it or not, the myth about Ham being marked by his father Noah has been floating around for over a century propagated by white supremicists, like the KKK. I made the mistake of assuming that this was common knowledge. Malcolm X was who I remember turning the tables on white supremicists who claimed black skin was the curse of Noah. He said that white skin was actually the curse of Noah. He may have been kidding when he made this remark but I remember him saying it. There are a lot of things I know from being observant about the world around me and remembering noteworthy events down through the years, things that I don't have to go to Wiki about. This seems a foreign concept to liars who dismiss those who have lived history and who love to distort my recollections. And even if a person does double check things by googling them, why is such research scorned by someone who calls herself a writer to whom research should be essential. I continue to be amused by sara who so obviously doesn't have a broad scope of knowledge about a lot of different subjects. Just somebody who wants to play "gotcha" about obscure black history but didn't even know that the freedom rides and sit-in demonstrations happened during the 1960s, showing her ignorance when she pompously informed me that I stood on the shoulders of these demonstrators when, in fact, I started dooing my protest thing back in the 1950s. This is the same yammering wanna-be who was even less informed about how in the 1920s Jews dominated the movie industry and regularly anglicized their names. She's too busy dispensing the tired old legend about Napoleon shooting off the Sphinx's nose because it was flat. SMH. LOL

Paul was also a writer for "In Living Color" the wildly successful 1990's TV comedy series brainchild of Keenan Ivory Wayans..

I don't trust you. I think you are immersed in the hype of revisionist history. Many ethnicities contributed to the continued existence of the United States of America from Maine to California and all the territories in between, including places like North and South Dakota and Utah and Idaho. The difference was that black slave labor was free while the immigrants who helped build this country were paid low wages.

Guess ol lying, desperate, silly-assed sara is in her cups again which of course means one of her multiple personalities has emerged. This is triggered by her inflated ego reacting to my disregard for her being anything other than a mentally disturbed psycho. (Is that redundant, or what?) Poor fool. She tried so hard to be sane, but has apparently gotten off her meds and is at again. One look at her spamming was enough to keep me from actually reading what it is she posted by I'm sure everybody will find it entertaining. YAWN. What a nut case. I thought this loose cannon might've had a life, but I guess she doesn't. Poor ol wanna-be. LOL

It's all about interpretation, Dummy. No where in the bible does it say that women should not be licking each other's vaginas , but what you and your girlfriend do is considered an abomination by people who interpret the bible any way they choose. Chew on that and don't hurt her labia or she might not do your anus for you. And listen to the hypocritical sara, "lover of black people" talk about Blacks who don't conform to her phony standards. You are really a piece of work. A fool who knows not that she is a fool. SMH

LMAO. sara, the fool who knows not that she is a fool.

Yes, Dyson is a glib hustler who pimps publicity but, to me, his redeeming value is that he does well in one-on-one exchanges with white talk show hosts. He usually puts them in their place with his dazzling rhetoric. I feel confident when he is articulating the black message against a white adversary. I think everybody is hip to Dyson's game now. Does he really wield a lot of influence?

sara, the sincere, stupid, ignoramous just proved my point. Guess she doesn't realize she already posted the definition of herself. Nothing like "a fool who knows not that she is a fool", another perfect description of sara. LMAO.

Something you epitomize; it's the joke of your existence, that you don't realize this, LMAO.

That's not even a good try, sara. For somebody who calls herself a writer, you stink. Nothing you say makes sense, and what would you do without your talent for lying. LMAO.

Sayeth sara, the false prophet.

@TroyI touched on this subject briefly, during a discussion you and I recently had about reviewing the work of new authors. I observed that such writers, especially self-published ones, tended to be very sensitive about their work and resentful of unfavorable reviews, something they were most likely to get because the self-published are often people who think they can write, but can't. You remarked how there was no such thing as bad publicity implying that a bad review was better than none at all. Nobody wants to hear anything but good feed back about their endeavors. In a recent post by Mel she theorized how people lusted after being stroked and praised. I agree. Personally, once i accepted that I am far from perfect, criticism lost its sting. In the twilight of my years, I seek the truth. Others perceive this as being negative because so often the truth hurts and people like to preserve "feel-good" illusions. I would, however, be the first agree that the truth is relative. Certainly nowadays. This is why I try to take an overview, because there's the truth; then there's the whole truth. I find the phrase "it is, what it is" to be true.

I watched the debate between Hillary and Bernie off and on and I don't think there was any clear cut winner. Observing the body language of both candidates, I found it somewhat revealing. Hillary is cool and unflappable; criticism rolls off her back. Bernie is uptight and agitated and thin-skinned. IMO. I know polls are misleading and often wrong, but Clinton is leading in New York...

LOL Talking to yourself, huh sara? It figures. Speaking of silly, how silly is it of you to think that an 82 year old widow would have a man in her life. something you never had yourself because no man wanted you. that's why you "ended up" with a woman.