Cynique

Yep. Whatever floats your boat.

Just for the sake of argument, what does religion liberate you from? You can't be a free-thinker if you embrace Christianity. You have to be obedient and obey what the interpreters of the bible, - a combination almanac, historical chronicle, self-help manual, infused with meta-physical mysticism and Egyptian and Greek mythology, all rolled into one, - declare as the gospel.

Moreover, in order to hope for redemption and eternal life, you have to be enslaved to the idea that you are not entitled to any blessings unless you worship and adore a vengeful, petty, jealous old man in the sky and indulge his suicidal, multiple personality disorder by accepting that the son, - who is really him - is your savior since he was crucified for the sins which Man comitted through no fault of his own because his creator screwed up when he made him imperfect. And just for good measure if you're Catholic, you have to bring a Jewish virgin into the mix and designate her as an arbitrator between you and her son.

You also have to believe that any one who disputes all of this is doing the work of Satan, - a bad ol devil who seems to be more powerful than the Almighty.

But, I guess some people do consider Blind Faith liberating. Others might find it stifling.

I agree.Troy. Christianity is the most entrenched cult in the world. I've never found any reason to disagree with the statement that religion is the opiate of the masses.

NEWS covers everything noteworthy that is happening around the globe. News is not concerned with the ordinary, it's about the extraordinary. You know what they say: if dog bites man that's old, but if man bites dog that's news. Pop cultures is just one aspect of the news, and it is, indeed, frivlous and sensationalized. But there is also serious reporting about serious matters out there for public consumption. If the news is crappy, it's because what's happening in the world is crappy. It's kinda like art imitating life.

Visa-vis my post, - more and more I am encountering people who back off arguing about current events because they don't want to hear opposing views. When people choose to stay in their comfort zone and eschew controversay, then traffic to discussion forums comes to a crawl. And when I, myself, have become so case-hardened about the impossible state of the country that I've given up, then my days of being the resident contrarian around these parts are on the wane. And so it goes.

My trivia tid-bit for the day: On average, 100 people choke to death on ball point pens every year, so be careful.

Well, 2011 is winding down and on December 21^st the date of the winter solstice, after mulling through the shortest day of the year, we earthlings will be heading out of darkness, trudging toward the light which will dawn in its full radiance on June 21st, the year’s longest day and the beginning of summer.

I don’t know what significance this has for all the other inhabitants of planet earth but - for me - the waning days of November are the first stages of a descent into the doldrums of cold weather, and the hibernation of cabin fever. Sorry. Wish I could project a rosier outlook but the state of the world plays a major influence in my not being energized. Every day, everywhere, the news is discouraging. The economy, the government, the amorality, the violence, the superficiality, not exactly a breeding ground for cheerful enthusiasm. More like an atmosphere that lends itself to simply endeavoring to endure. Of course, my age cannot be discounted when it come to the gloom and doom that stunts my inspiration. I’ve seen so many better days but now I’m old and worn, ready to bequeathe hope to the younger generation.

So it is that posting on this site has become a casualty of the pall that stalls my motivation. Thanks to the media, everything that can be said about the state of the country is being reported daily, be it liberal or conservative, radical or moderate, sensible or crazy, rumor or real. it‘s all out there on the menu along with a buffet of finger food in the form of iphones and ipads, blackberrys and kindles, topped off with the whipped cream of the social network. What can I say?

In the realm of internet commuication it’s a challenge to compete when it comes to being original and interesting. So much so that it’s tempting to revert to trivia. And in a vapid world, trivia ain’t a bad alternative.

Our tidbit for today:Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.

Is this picture more to your liking, Troy? Has it become evident that I have become detached and jaded on so many levels by what's going on in the world? As a result, I prefer to be amused rather than agitated. Maybe my mood will lift if the NBA settles its lock-out and I can enjoy the distraction provided by watching grown men bounce balls. .

For those taking a break from Kim and Herman and Penn State

I continue to find this Adam Mansbach connection interesting. ABM always impressed me as being a genuine Chicago by-product, while frequently mentioning his wife and 2 daughters, also being very eager to represent "do-right" black men. He also mentioned that he was related to a well-known black music producer whose name I can't remember.I had problems with his approach to the obvious when offerig his comments;but I never got the feeling that he was anything other than what he revealed himself to be. Just goes to show you how differently people see things, Oh, well.

Maybe ABM will come forward and have his say.

Are we hard up for a topic to discuss, - or what?

Hummmm. Interesting. I never thought ABM was Adam Mansback who I never heard of until recently. I always believed ABM was A Black Man, a regular guy from Chicago who liked his privacy. He may have been romantic with you, Kola, but the exchanges between him and me were usually adversarial. I'm also sorry he no longer posts and I've always wondered if this was because he got tired of my sniping. Whatever.

Sorry I missed your Chicago tour stop but the date crept upon me and then everybody I depend on to take me places, since I gave up driving, had other plans, so I didn't have a way to get to the venue where your signing was being held, - a place that is quite a way from where I live. I trust all went well.

Don't ask me how the A Chapter A Month project if faring because I have no idea. I suspect this experimental installment plan didn't generate a lot of interest. Glad I'm not young and aspiring.

A glaring example of how screwed up this country has become is how Republican conservatives are defending Herman Cain against sexual harrassment charges, making up excuses for the doofus they are supporting for president by saying Cain is the victim of a smear campaign - totally ignoring the seriousness of these allegations as if a sexually aggressive black man is no big deal. Adding insult to injury is conservative harpie Ann Colter laying claim to Republicans like Cain and Justice Clarence Thomas by referring to them as "our" Blacks. I am almost reduced to silence by the digust I feel for this situation.

Meanwhile, the news of Kim Kardashian's putting her latest black stud out to pasture is grabbing more headlines than the the "Occupy Wall Street protesters who at least have the best interest of the "have-nots" in mind while seeking publicity.

And, amid snide implications that dumb jocks are no match for the ruthless greedy owners they are attempting to negotiate with in order to end the NBA lockout, baseball's World Series played itself out, hard pressed to stir wide-spread interest in America' favorite passtime, the professional sport which in the past boasted a wealth of black players but which in the just completed series had only one native born African American playing on either the AL and NL rosters.

President Obama? The only success he's having with the promise of jobs is the approval he garnered when acknowledging the innovative genius of the late Steve Jobs. So much for Black Barry.

As a cynical pundit recently commented, the light at the end of the tunnel appears to have been put out. And so it goes...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Nobody ever said Life was fair.

What would be equally mind-blowing would be a presidential race that pitted Cain against Abel - oops - I mean Obama. White people would then have to do what Blacks have done since they were granted the right to vote: choose between 2 candidates of the same race.

Cain serves a valuable purpose. He deflects accusations of racism being hurled at the Republican party, and would make an ideal figure head president, serving at the behest of the powers behind the throne. He would be America's token CEO, beholden only to the shareholders represented by corporate America.

But you do remember him saying "people make me sick....You offer someone a sincere compliment on their mustache and suddenly she's not your friend anymore."

"If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth. But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success".

A caveat to keep in mind as election year approachs and candidates will be bombarding voters with simplistic slogans like: "999 is the solution" or "less taxes, more jobs", or "Fighting for Peace".

Talk about thinking outside the box! Has Steve Jobs managed to transcend his casket and hack into Blackberry's technology, causing it to crash just in time to coincide with the release of Apple's latest IPhone??

According to metaphysicists, electronic currents are a perfect channel to the physical world for souls seeking to make contact from another dimension. Woooooooooo.

Misery loves company. The black man's burden: America's promise.

Kola, did Dr. Bell ever express any opinons about Cornell West's criticism of Obama?

Also read that Jobs was a Buddhist. That figures. Everything about his approach to life including his being a visionary resonates with ZEN.

Could be that voting for Obama was a demonstration for change that didn't pan out. So people who scoff at the Wall Stret protesters have lost confidence in demonstrations as a way to bring about change.

The above message is one of the many making the rounds on Facebook pages and the e-mail circuit. Invariably, it is met with approval and a chorus of “amens“. Me, I ask myself why do people trivalize "god" as some kind of petty old man who pits people against each other, picking and choosing who he's going to let gloat, deciding which ones he will allow to survive a plane crash, or win an award or defeat the other team. Is God really on the side of the person or group or country that happens get what they want at the expense of those who have their hopes dashed or lives ended? Any god that's gonna promise me an alternate to revenge by letting me enjoy the suffering of somebody who outdid me is neither forgiving nor magnanimous. “He” is an entity who Man made over in his image…

Another popular post dispenses this advice to man-hunters: DON'T BE A WOMAN WHO NEEDS A MAN. BE A WOMAN WHO A MAN NEEDS. Puleeze. Why are sistas eating this up. Being needed by a man can be a draining experience; especially if what he NEEDS is for you to be is a sex object or a cash cow or a babysitter for his 4 kids from another relationship. tsk-tsk. A better suggestion would be for a female to “be a woman who fills her own needs.”;

Unfortunately, along with all of its benefits, the internet has become a hotbed of exploitation. But it does try to monitor itself by circulating the advice that follows.

Any time you see an email that says "forward this on to '10' (or however many) of your friends", "sign this petition", or "you'll get bad luck" or "you'll get good luck" or "you'll see something funny on your screen after you send it" or whatever --- it almost always has an email tracker program attached that tracks the cookies and emails of those folks you forward to. The host sender is getting a copy each time it gets forwarded and then is able to get lists of 'active' email addresses to use in SPAM emails or sell to other spammers. Even when you get emails that demand you send the email on if you're not ashamed of God/Jesus --- that is email tracking, and they are playing on our conscience. These people don't care how they get your email addresses - just as long as they get them.

No denying that computer honcho Steve Jobs was phenomenal. A man of, and for his times. Upon his untimely death, to me, the most surprising thing revealed about this "think- outside-the-box college drop-out", - an adopted child raised by a white middleclass family, was that his biological father was Syrian, making Jobs half-Arab. Small world, made even smaller by how we have all become electronically connected thanks to the genius of Jobs.

Looks like good white men are hard to find, too. The fairy tale dream of living happily ever has become a big laugh....