Cynique

Information comes from many sources. Knowledge is simply tweaked information.

@Pioneer1You have, indeed, complained. What else do you call your constant harping about homosexuality being foisted upon black people by the media. You bitch so much about this that it's almost as if you are trying to convince yourself that you aren't being turned on by the thought of a male lover, thanks to the frequent exposure to this.

Well, you point is your opinion and your have not substantiated your speculation with any facts or references, so what you claim is just a case of you bitching about something that irritates you.

It would still be anecdotal, Dummy.

@Pioneer1You've been known to lie as when you said i was sending you suggestive pictures of myself. The obvious question is why would you pass up a chance to prove me wrong by giving details of your residency in or around Chicago and Atlanta. Actually, i don't think anybody, including me, really gives a damn whether you lived in these places or not.

Michelle Obama and Beyonce are cardboard paragons who, in endeavoring to be inspirational role models, inspire me to yawn. Good night, All.

All of these observations are something i can relate to. Of late i am consumed by melancholy and jolted by the relentless thud of another one biting the dust. As A.E. Housman so succinctly put it; With rue my heart is laden, for golden friends i had, for many a rose-lipped maiden, and many a light-foot lad. By brooks too broad for leaping, the light-foot lads are laid, And the rose-lipped maids are sleeping in fields where roses fade...

The reason why i, personally, don't like the look of these wigs which are designed to replicate black tresses is because i don't think dense, drab-colored exploding hair with no sheen or flow is attractive and i've always thought this even as a little girl before they had the medium of TV to captivate me. (the only brainwash i underwent was when i wore my hair in a bushy Afro.) i always look for parallels in nature when judging humanity because i trust my eyes to perceive what represents beauty. No where in nature is there a growth that is comparable to wooly black hair except sheeps' wool which, unlike the slick glossy coat of a black panther or the luxurious brown mane of a lion, doesn't become beautiful until it is processed and dyed into fabric. Nobody has to brainwash me into thinking what occurs in nature is beautiful, that what silk worms produce is pleasing or that the color of a cloudless sky is soothing, or that gleaming gold so like the sun, or a sparkling diamond so reminiscent of a twinkling star, or a lustrous pearl so captive of the moon, or the darkness of an onyx so like the deep of night, are breathtaking treasures of the Earth. Nobody has to convince me that a shiny red apple is appealing or ripe yellow banana is appetizing. I reject all the psycho-babbo about why i prefer what i prefer. The personification of what is comparable to the glory of nature are what infuse themselves into my world view. Nor do i even have to justify what stirs my innate affinities. And if what i say offends anybody, so be it. To each his own.

@Pioneer1Your idea of culture is one that western civilization has defined and to which you have deferred just like you accuse others of doing.. The way slave descendants have coped with their environment through improvisation is their true indigenous culture. Africa has not exerted any great influence on the diaspora after centuries in this country. People of color are made up of many blood lines that manifest themselves in unique ways. Diversity is the wave of the future because time brings change and the essence of culture is one of the things that changes. . As for homosexuality, it is here to stay because it has always existed, long before the media focused on it. And the media isn't injecting it into black programming any more than it is into series about whites. If you are offended by the sexual orientation of people different from you, it means that you are not being influenced by it, so why sweat it? Get over your paranoia, and accept that there's no such thing as "normal" any more.

Well, you heard wrong. As usual you are citing hearsay and anecdotal evidence. And you need to make a distinction between education and experience. What constitutes a "proper" education is all in your head, which makes your concocted contentions irrelevant.

Oiling your freshly washed hair and using a hot comb to straighten the kinks out of it so as to make it more manageable. An Ebonic dialect of which unique colorful slang is a spinoff. . A cuisine known as soul food (that has become demonized because it is a guilty pleasure whose sapience stems from ingredients purportedly bad for your health.) Music genres made up of Jazz, Blues, R&B and negro spirituals. An innovative version of the card game whist which is referred to as "bid-whist", a popular pass time which was originated by and is played exclusively by black people.

That question can also be asked in the case of a teen-aged white girl accusing a white man. Nowadays, the credibility of every accuser is questioned because all teen-aged females know how to be seductive, thanks to the media and the internet.

Obviously, you've never lived in or around Chicago or Atlanta. So in answer to your question as to whether you have, my response is "no". Case closed,

Not being able to make enough money to independently support yourself involves so many extenuating circumstances that its ridiculous to make the above statement. During The Depression people from all walks of life including highly qualified and educated ones were not able to make enough money to live independently. How can you not take the economy and the stability of the government or even the health of a well educated person into consideration when making such assertions? You want to dumb down life. What your argument amounts to is that educated people who use their information to think creatively are to blame for uneducated people who are too ignorant to think in the abstract. You refuse to consider that education is one of the things that separates the winner peer groups from the loser peer groups in the arena of success.

My input in readily available for the choices you make. You know i'm better at responding than initiating. 😉 I wonder myself what my final thoughts will be on GOT, whose characters have become like friends - and enemies to me. I have my own theory of how it all will end but i hesitate to reveal it. Daenarys is my favorite character, naturally. A strong woman. @DelanoI have access to American Gods because i have Starz but i've never watched it... Maybe i'll check it out. As for me needing a worthy opponent, can a worthy opponent also be a soul mate? 😮

Isn't the hook of this comedy that the "little girl" character is actually a grown woman who through some fluke has suddenly become trapped in a 14 year old's body? The kid playing this role is a very precocious young lady who is a co-producer of the movie and for whom it is a showcase to introduce her acting skills. This film is a spoof not to be taken seriously.

Have you ever lived in or near Chicago or Atlanta? Here's your opportunity to correct me for basing my conclusions on the things you stated with such inflated confidence.

"Game Of Thrones" is not for everybody. The plot is intriguing, the acting and dialogue outstanding but the violence and sex are gratuitous. Keeping up with the characters and story-line for a 10-year run of over 60 episodes is a challenge but i've binge-watched it in its entirety 3 times on HBO re-reuns during the yearly hiatuses, and i've found it to be well worth the wait for this final season which is off to an interesting start. I credit this epic with inspiring me to keep on living. It ends in May, so i'm hanging on, hoping to even make it to August for my 86th birthday. 😱 A lot of latecomers to "GOT" don't stay with it, and complain about various aspects of its production before dropping out. Other people boast about having never watched one single episode of it, and i look at them, shrug, and say: "so what"? I never try to persuade anyone to become a fan. You either like it, or you don't. What with all of the frenzy over the releases from super hero movie franchises, and Star Wars reboots, people are hungry for escapism, yearning for somebody to come and save the world. Without even trying, Trump is a perfect anti-hero by default. As much as i try to tune him out, I really hate him and his supporters who are growing in numbers while Democrats chase their tails. @Troy i m trying to muster up some energy and concentration to "do my thing". It ain't easy being a zombie. 😖

@Pioneer1You have never lived in or around Chicago, nor Atlanta so your observations belong in the context of that. And you are apparently incapable of comprehending the difference between upper class inherited wealth and second generation middle class affluence. What might, though a stretch of the imagination, qualify for Chicago's black upper class did not make a bee-line for Atlanta (or are they summer homeowners in Martha's vineyard.) They stayed right here in the University of Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood where the newly-rich Obamas and the prominent families of such people as Valerie Jarret reside. The majority of black people who migrated from Chicago to Atlanta, relocated for the weather and the lower cost of real estate, and they were average people. The Chicago Defender is on its last legs like Ebony and other print media. Hispanics and Arabs are not driving out or taking over black neighborhoods.

@Gibran I hear ya, Bae. Safe travels.

@Pioneer1Eat your heart out, Loser.

I'm just uninspired and unmotivated. 'Don't have anything to say and am becoming indifferent to all the crap going on in the world. The whole political scene is cock-eyed and discouraging. Elsewhere, I couldn't care less about the fire that razed the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, a fiery holocaust that struck me as being karma for the hypocrisy and corruption within the Catholic church. i'm suspended in a zone which regularly reminds me of how out-of-kilter my sphere of existence is as things are still disappearing, then materializing in a familiar place days later, - this along with weird examples of syncronicity between unexpected occurrences. I'm also like a time traveler as my memories and dreams constantly return to the distant past. And the weather. Below freezing temps and ground covered with snow one day, then 70 degrees and sunny 2 days later...rash of fatal accidents in the area with drivers going the wrong way on Chicago's expressway, plowing into oncoming traffic...my grandson's dog becoming more attached to me, always wanting to hang out in my room...in-laws suddenly back in my life. Craziness. . The return of "Game of Thrones" did break through and pique my interest, and looking forward to seeing how it comes out is one of the few things that captivates my focus, along with the Reconstruction era documentaries airing on PBS. Oh, well. Hopefully, i'll snap out of it.

Since Mellody is from Chicago, and her name was familiar to locals long before she married George Lucas, i have tried to track down her family history which is rather sketchy and vague, which makes me suspicious. I wouldn't be surprised if she just happens to be an extremely bright girl who got ahead because of her scholarship and ambition, who may not have even been middle class in origin. Chicago's black population has no large "old money" class. What passes for its elite, doesn't go back more than 3 generations with a high percentage of this first generation drawing from residents of "the projects" which, back in the day, were populated by respectable working-class people from the ranks of the great migration and who possessed middle class "values" but were employed in the service industries or at places like the Post Office or who ran"on the road" as Pullman Car waiters or were employed in Civil Service positions after passing tests which qualified them for these government jobs. They are who strove to send their kids to college and these college graduates in turn, became the parents of what is now Chicago's present young professional class which while affluent are not upper class.

Yes. I think my computer sometimes picks up on the thought waves involved when i'm keying my comments.

Comedienne Tiffany Haddish, who is currently making it big in TV and film after stealing the show from her co-stars in the hit movie "Girls Trip", grew up around south LA and also claims to be of Eritrean heritage via her father. Tiffany Haddish dressed to honor her Eritrean heritage at a Hollywood awards show.