Pioneer1

OK, I'm posting this on June 14 at 5:03 pm but those who were on the board earlier can CONFIRM that my previous post above questioning whether or not this guy may have been gay and his sexual conflicts were a motive for his murdering so many gay people was posted well over an hour ago! Now I log out to check on some news and LOOK what I find: FBI to investigate if Orlando gunman's sexuality was a motive in shooting http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fbi-to-investigate-if-orlando-gunmans-sexuality-was-a-motive-in-shooting/ar-AAh3fpz?ocid=wispr It doesn't take a genius to figure out why a man who has been hanging out at gay clubs and associating with gay people but comes from a culture that demonizes homosexuality would do something like this.

Cynique And after these dying people are visited by those who have gone on ahead and who presumably will escort them through the valley of the shadow of death, - where is it they are going? Do you really think there is a judgment day and a heaven and hell? I don't know about heaven or hell in it's traditional sense, much of the details of that belief comes from religious dogma. But I definately believe there are other realms of realities that people go to when they transition from this one and I believe those realms offer rewards. I don't necessary think that death is final. I prefer to believe it is a gateway into another level of existence. Exactly. Troy There are a lot of "maybes" in your post...lol. But the evidence from all over the world and through out history is too consistent and too overwhelming for this all to be mass hallucinations and dreams or the brains way of "coping" with trauma. Scientists tell us that the brain shuts completely down when the heart stops beating beyond 5 minutes and there is no sign of brain activity to even cause hallucinations, dreams, or anything else of a cerebaral nature...yet these people STILL have these spiritual experiences during their "death" state before being revived to talk about them. I actually DO believe that many if not most forms of dreaming is spiritual in nature and involves entering other realms though I'm not sure how much of it is. Many Native American traditionalists believe that the higher spiritual realms can be accessed THROUGH the dream realm. And btw I'd LOVE to hear some of your spiritual experiences!

Sara Facts are never excuses. Again, facts are INDEED excuses if they aren't part of the solution and actually get in the way of solving the problem. The rate of Black violence in Chicago is out of control and the FACT that other races engage in violence doesn't solve that problem nor does that FACT comfort the Black victims of this violence. All it does is shift the focus and lessen the resolve of those who want to solve the problems directly impacting their community by bruching it off as, "Oh well...everybody's doing it". As for the black gang structure in Chicago, street gangs were NOT started by "elders" in the 1950s. SMDH I didn't say Black gangs swere STARTED by elders. I said: "Chicago has had Black gangs since atleast the 50s but atleast back during that time you had a type of structure or code where the elders called the shots and the younger gangsters fell in line and did as they were told" They were LED by elder members who had more experience and wisdom than the baby gansters and called most of the shots and instilled a sort of discipline in street gangs that you no longer have today.

Cynique Prince was androgynous as opposed to feminine It's to his credit that he could wear eye-liner and high heels and not be sissified. He strutted and had swag. His singing voice was a high falsetto but his speaking voice was low and seductive. He loved to flaunt his muscles and abs and flex his great buns. He was a character; one of a kind. There are a few Black women in the public today that I could name who have masculine features and exhibit masculine behavior but because this site is so popular I don't want to be accused of insulting them so I'll refrain from using them as examples and use the drag queen Ru Paul. I don't care HOW great a shape Ru Paul was in, how well he did his make up, how sexy he "catwalked", or how well he sang in a high feminine voice....there is NO WAY me or most other straight men would find him sexy! Not in the least. Comical maybe...but the masculinity he exhibits naturally is too much of a turn off. For me adrogynous is not sexy....it's scary...lol. For a woman to be half-way or "sometimes" feminine doesn't fly with me or most other straight men. Maybe for bi-sexual men who like both feminine and masculine features, but not with straight men. Which leads me to my point about the attraction of Prince..... I guess I'm making a big deal out of this because I noticed that a lot of the girls that i knew growing up who liked Prince also seemed to find feminine and "cutesy" type boys attractive in general. Which makes me wonder how many of them were really lesbian but in the closet or even in denial about their sexuality.

Troy Lol..... How can you acknowledge a Black CULTURE without acknowledging the Black RACE who produced it? It's like a person who believes in the religion of Christianity without believing in a historical Christ.

Cynique Information is still coming out about the victims but I think most of the victims weren't Mexican but PUERTO RICAN! Both are Hispanic ofcourse, but I saw so many photos of the victims and many of them looked like they were clearly of African descent with Spanish names. Also I know from the Puerto Ricans I've talked that Orlando has a huge Puerto Rican population because so many want to settle in Florida for it's warm climate but aren't too welcomed by the White Cubans of the Miami area. From what I'm hearing now from various news sources, they said he had been frequenting this and other gay night clubs for years. In another interview by a drag-queen who knew him, said he knew he and most of his co-workers were gay but didn't seem to have a problem with it at that time. Now we're hearing that he saw a couple of gay dudes kissing down in Miami and THAT set him off. You know what I think? I think he was suffering from COGNATIVE DISSONANCE and the frustrations from it were eating him up psychologically to the point he felt he could no longer live with it. I think he probably had homosexual feelings himself and being around other gay people intensified them but if he was a Muslim he probably felt these feelings were wrong and evil and he did this in order to reassure himself and his masculinity while punishing what he considered "evil people". You have to understand the THINKING of a lot of people who come from places like Afghanistan where sexuality is repressed. They'll kill an open homosexual because they say it's "wrong", but many of the wealthy men have "batchi bazi"....young boys that they frequently have sex with. In India where homosexuals are also oppressed and killed, they have a group of people called "Hijras" who gay men, transgendered men, and even castrated men who have sex with other men and entertain at parties all with the consent of the public. I once knew a man from Pakistan who was a Muslim and was TALKED very much against homosexuality. But one day one of the girls he had working for him showed me pictures of him with lip stick and earrings on. So on the one hand homosexuality is "evil" but on the other hand it's acceptable in certain circumstances...and this is the congnative dissonance so many of them live with. Religious dogma and superstition is at the heart of most conflicts like this.

I know why Obama hasn't done interviews with Black newspapers. Because there ARE no "Black" newspapers....lol. "Race" doesn't exist....remember?

What I didn't hear (actually "read"..lol) anyone mention is the ECONOMIC difference between the 50s and today and how blue-collar working class jobs paid far more when you adjust to the cost of living than they do today. And that's if a Black person can even GET a blue collar job outside of going though a temp-agency. Yes you got married in your early 20s, had children, and raised them. But you could raise them and maintain a home because chances are that Black husband had a job (usually with benefits) that paid well enough that he could support himself AND his wife (whether she worked or not) and his children. I can be corrected...... But it's my understanding that most Black men were able to earn enough money to provide atleast BASIC NECESSITIES for their families. Now if the family wanted to get more of the "finer" things in life like new cars, bigger houses, televisions, ect....miss lady might fry up that hair practice up on her grammar and look for a part time job to bring in some extra money, but it's not my understanding that most Black wives who went to work in the 50s did so just to keep the lights on in the home. Ofcourse much of it was cultural. However Black people were able to live close to how White people lived in those days. Now I it seems that MONEY more so than morals is the biggest determining factor as to whether or not one is able to maintain a traditional nuclear family. Now I'm not naive into thinking the problems didn't exist in the Black family at that time. A book I'm reading now about the relationship between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X talks about how Muhammad Ali's father would get drunk and physically abuse him and his mother. But atleast the economic situation was better off for MOST (not a gifted educated few) Blacks in those days than they are for most today. There was a plentiful supply of good paying low skilled factory and other blue collar jobs for most Black men who lived in the city as well as plenty of farm land and agricultural jobs for Black men who still dwelt in the rural south. I believe the DE-INDUSTRIALIZATION of the United States is the single biggest factor that has contributed to the dissolution of the Black family today as compared to the 50s.

Cynique I forgot to add another major component that I think is causing the spike in Chicago's violence. Chicago has had Black gangs since atleast the 50s but atleast back during that time you had a type of structure or code where the elders called the shots and the younger gangsters fell in line and did as they were told. Everyone was accountable to someone. But starting in the late 70s on through to today many of the older gang leaders have been targeted and locked up so and those who remain make themselves less influential so as not to be noticed by the law, so the structure isn't as solid as it used to be. Larry Hoover was one of the few who could pull off running a gang from behind bars, but for the most part you have a bunch of loose cannons out there firing at will and not respecting or even knowing about the original "street codes" that were established decades ago to keep what his happening now FROM happening. 　 Troy One of the problems that has been afflicting Black Chicago as well as Detroit, St Louis, New York, Los Angeles, and other major cities outside of the South for the past 20 or 30 years is the epedimic of Black BRAIN DRAIN. So many young Black professionals who should have stayed in Chicago and used their talents to revitalize their own communities instead literally "took the easy way out" and LEFT the 'hood after getting their degrees. Some simply moved to the suburbs, but many if not most actually LEFT THE STATE. They moved to places like Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Miami...claiming they were leaving behind the cold weather, crime, and the often open racism of the "white ethnics" that plague so many large Northern cities. So with the manufacturing jobs dried up, and most of the Black professionals gone...who's left in the neighborhood to maintain it's economy and keep order and civility? I'm sure you know quite a few friends who grew up with you and went to college but instead of staying in New York...decided to move down South. They felt more warmth and hospitality down South than they did in the cold "don't look at me punk" social climate of the northern United States. Infact I'd dare say the only reason New York's Black community is thriving as much as it is...isn't because of Black AMERICAN professionals....but because of the large WEST INDIAN and AFRICAN immigrant population that continues to stream in and fill in the slots every time a professional AfroAmerican (and now almost ANY AfroAmerican who can walk and is unemployed) gives up and decides to hike it down south in search for better opportunities.

Troy It wasn't just Prince's musical talents and accomplishments....that I can understand. These girls (and women) actually liked the way he LOOKED. They thought he was sexy....attractive! I can understand how some Black people can get hung up on the light skin and straight hair, because a lot of Black men are the same way. And again, no disrespect to our wonderful brother Prince who probably just did "his thing" not necessarily looking for worship and adornment from the public. But what I didn't understand as a younger man and STILL don't understand is why such a FEMININE looking man was seen as so attractive to so many females. You just don't see the opposite. You don't see heterosexual men focusing their lusts on MASCULINE looking women. No muscle bound women with bald heads and excessive facial hair. Serena Williams with her muscular arms is about as close to a "masculine" woman as I've seen that Black men will lust after. And even her other attributes are so sexual that you'll over look the muscular biceps.

Troy @Pioneer1, have you ever considered that seeing past relatives is just one mind playing tricks on them? I have, as have many early researchers of the phenomena.....but the evidence that spans across periodic and cultural lines is too consistent and too overwhelming for this to be just some "mass hallucination" that so many people down through the annals of history have been experiencing as they lay on their death beds. It's scientific to the point that because of prior knowledge of these things I expected my own mother to have them....and she did. I can ask almost any nurse who has been around the dying certain things and they will confirm them as being true. This knowledge...that dead loved ones come to assist you in the dying process....is WELL KNOWN in most traditional African and Native American religious systems. Also the experience is not universal. Why don't you hear stories of those about to be executed being visited by relatives to help them transition, or those who are about to die from an accident or heart attack? One could imagine how hard it would be for a dead body to tell you ANYTHING about what they experienced before they actually died....lol. But as for those who either came close to death or actually DIED briefly but were brought back to life, there are millions in the United States alone. And they too talk about seeing dead friends and family as well as having experienced other realms or other worlds. I'll direct you to Dr Raymond Moody's work with near death experiences. As well as Dr Melvin Morse and many others scientists who have been tracking those who have died or were near death and were resucitated to talk about what they've witnessed. Would you care to relate a personal spiritual experience? Not yet. Not until I figure out a way to actually PROVE the experiences. A personal experience is usually only proof to the person who had it, especially experiences that are spiritual in nature and tend not to leave too much physical evidence. What I will suggest though, as EVIDENCE for you is to ask someone of sound mind that you trust in your own circle be they friends or family members who have been around the dying and ASK THEM....and see how many smile at you and tell you the same thing I just told you....lol. You'd be suprised at people you could have known for 30 or 40 years who would have never mentioned it until you asked them.

I saw the video. All that talk about the history of credit and currency, it looked like a clip from "Loose Change". I was waiting for him to talk about the World Trade Center and building 7....lol. There is some truth to the claim that giants like Facebook are sucking up too oxygen because so many Black people have abandoned their own private business and social websites just to sign up with Facebook...it's shameful. But I don't think it's the internet that's creating the BIGGEST problems for small businesses. The biggest problem is the OVER REGULATION that comes from the federal, state, and local levels. And this is coming from a LIBERAL...lol. Most people are turning to Amazon, eBay, and even Craigslist to push their products because it's easier and cheaper to trade on-line than to open up a 4 walled brick and mortar establishment. Not only can they avoid the constant property inspections from local and state authorities, or avoid paperwork that can be damn near as thick as a phone book, but you cut down on the amount of employees who thanks to more government (all 3 levels) regulation often become harder and harder to keep anyway. I remember being in Time Square a few years back and saw so many talented brothers...Black men who could take a piece of crayon or charcoal and draw your picture in 3 or 4 minutes on a sheet of cardboard and were only getting $5 or $10 and had to do it quick and run off before the police caught up with them because apparently it was illegal. It made me so angry that in a nation that prides itself on economic freedom, something as simple and benign as drawing a picture for a few bucks on the street has now become illegal. Take away the excessive dictatorial regulation that tends to frighten people away and over burden those brave enough to take on the challenge of entrepreneurship....and I gurantee you that businesses will flourish.

Troy Spike Lee's film CHIRAQ did not glorify violence or gangster lifestyle in Chicago, in fact it did the exact opposite. The name of the movie itself "Chiraq", can be taken as a romanticism or glorification of violence by taking the name Chicago and poetically associating it with a wore torn middle eastern nation. I also said the movie dramatized violence by loosely tying it to the Greek classical of Lysistrata. But regardless as to how they frame the violence of the city in the movie, the fact is they certainly didn't help things. Infact I believe they made the situation worse by fueling the egos of many Black youth by giving Chicago violence more international notoriety. Did you see the film? No, not in it's entirety. I saw clips of it during a critical review and discussion but I actually refused to go watch the whole thing in a bit of a private protest. 　 Sara "The facts, just the facts, m'am" are "excuses?" I don't think so. Outsiders who take their knowledge of the Chicago metro area from mainstream media and other misrepresentations of the black experience need to be 'corrected' by those of us in the know who have not swallowed whole-hog the propaganda of black inferiority.... or criminality; who in knowing the FACTS, have no shame in relating the truth rather than parroting the "I'm a nigga/you a nigga/a nigga ain't shit" propaganda of TPTB. I understand the point you're making, you don't want your community to be falsely labled or misrepresented. However the fact is the level of violence in Chicago's Black community is far too high for us to tolerate REGARDLESS as to whether or not other communities are experiencing the same. How much comfort will a cancer patient receive from knowing that they are not alone and others have also developed the same disease? Not much. They want to be cured and made whole again. Facts can indeed be excuses if rather than helping, the merely get in the way of solving the problem. Also, my response to Cynique concerning the situation in The Chi is totally separate from my intentions in starting this thread. My hypothetical scenario shouldn't be taken as an implication that I personally see Black people as mentally inferior any more than the film makers of the movie I"ndependence Day" were implying that they hoped space aliens would invade America. It's just stimulation for philosophy.

I love our dearly departed brother Prince and I hope he is resting in peace. However I still have to wonder out loud why so many heterosexual women went absolutely crazy over such a feminine looking man. It would be a like men going crazy over Ru Paul or some masculine looking woman. I remember Jamie Foxx during one of his stand up routines commenting that Prince was so "pretty" that even HE'D fuck him...lol. As a kid I'd just watch how so many girls swooned over prince and had posters of him in their bedrooms. I found this mostly among Black American women, because most of the African women I've met couldn't care less and I've never heard any White women comment on Prince's looks or sexiness. Muhammad Ali JOKED about how pretty he was....Prince wasn't joking.

Troy Pioneer what informs your belief in an afterlife? Is it a specific religion? No. My spiritual beliefs are based on personal spiritual experiences, information I've gotten from friends and family members older than me, and information I've gather from various books dealing with those types of subject.....most of which seem to corroborate eachother. For example.... It's a known fact that when most people are dying a relatively slow death that may take hours or days....they typically see deceased family members who come to comfort them and also help them transition to the other side. This was the case with my mother, other relatives, and many nurses and nursing assistants as well as others who've been around dying people have said the same thing.

Sara I'm not sure, but something tells me that all those stats and other excuses you're providing to either try to explain away or deflect from why the Black violence rate in Chicago far out numbers that of Whites will be any comfort to the thousands of Black victims and thier families who are suffering from the effects of essential genocide. Go to a hospital room of a teenager who just got shot over being in the wrong neighborhood and say: "Hey there young brother! I know you are a victim of Black on Black violence, and since the gang who popped you also threatened your family too...they're probably still in danger. But if it's any comfort to you there is a White man somewhere in this SAME hospital who is also a victim of White on White violence after having a couple teeth knocked out in a drunken brawl." You better say it fast... Deflection and pointing the finger at what other people are going through doesn't help us. All it does is deflect us from focusing on finding the solutions to the very real problems that affect our communities.

I guess my strong belief in God and the afterlife prevents me from feeling too sad about him making that transition. Like my parents, I would like the people whom I love still here....but healthy and happy. I wouldn't want them living a life debilitating pain and suffering. As long as it's not FORCED, I actually support euthanasia for those who are seriously suffering and desire it for themselves. Often times people who are terminally ill not only have to suffer physically from thier illness, but also the psychological torture of having to decide whether or not to kill themselves and whether or not they'll end up in hell for doing it. In the news you frequently hear of people killing their own spouses out of frustration after seeing them suffer so much and not being able to ease their pain. Ideally, a terminally ill person would be surrounded by family and friends to peacefully say there goodbyes and then a medical physician would administer something that would gentley put them to sleep, to a deep coma, and then to death.

Cynique I'm no sociologist but I can give you what I believe are two MAJOR reasons why violence in that city has exploded: Media The media has subconciously PROMOTED violence among the Black youth of Chicago by constantly associating them with it to it becomes part of their identity. Since before Obama took office over 7 years ago the media has focused on the violence among Black youth in Chicago as a sort of back-handed swipe at Obama, suggesting that if this is the environment a Black President comes from then this is where he may take the country. Although at the time Chicago was nowhere near the murder capital either in per-capita or in actual homicides, everytime there was a debate about violence and gun control conservatives would routinely bring up the violence in Chicago and how it's strict gun laws hasn't helped the city. Then the national media started randomly broadcasting Chicago's homicides on a daily basis for no apparent reason. Unless it was a mass shooting...generally homicides are considered local news. But for some reason NBC and ABC started reporting Chicago's local homicides nationally. Then ofcourse the big one dropped. Spike Lee's CHIRAQ comes out essentially dramatizing and glorifying the gang culture of Chicago and this gave many Black youth a sense of pride and admiration that most young people hunger for whether it's good or bad. The same thing happend with movies like Colors and music like gangsta rap and how it not only fueled gang violence in Los Angeles by giving Black youth a negative culture to identify with and maintain but also caused youth all over the nation to imitate them for the same reasons. Culture Most of those who operate the criminal justice system in Cook County and the state of Illinois are middle class Whites from suburban areas, but they're trying to control and enforce the law on poor and working class Blacks in the city. Most middle class Whites have an altruistic moral code. The comfortable and stable environment most of them come from creates a belief that people should just "do the right thing" and obey the laws regardless of good or bad consequences. Where as... like the Sicilians, Italians, and Jews in the ghettoes of America BEFORE them....most Black males respect STRENGTH and accomplishment. Not pollyanish complex everchanging laws constantly coming in form outside their communities. These laws are often seen as obstacles to be overcome rather than boundaries. While the middle class code emphasizes education and handling conflict through the "proper channels" which means through lawyers, police officers, courts, ect..... Most inner city men regardless of race can't afford lawyers and have an entirely different code of honor that demands they be seen as strong, brave, and quick to retaliate against a perceived offense. Just another example of what happens when you expect Black people to live under a White culture. I believe the only way the violence in Black Chicago is going to get solved is when the Black community stops relying on the police and other White people or White ran institutions to solve a problem they have a vested interest in maintaining...and actually take the responsbility THEMSELVES to solve it. The Nation of Islam had a solid reputation for going into dope dens violent housing projects and establishing peace and security in a relatively short period of time. 　 Troy As I said in the MIchael Eric Dyson thread, I'm still going to lay most of the responsibility on Black America itself for not coming up with a sound Agenda (capital "A") to present to Obama for him to take affirmative action on. White women and homosexuals were READY with theirs and presented their demands to him before he even took his oath of office. We sat back just EXPECTING for him to "help a brother out". Both him and Eric had the power, but without the direction of a Black Agenda....that power was used by others to there own ends.

I remember years ago I was in the hospital for some routine tests and a man who was in his 80s came bouncing in my room calling me "school boy" and asking me was I ready to go fishing. Now, this man was 80 something and I was in my 20s...lol. Despite his age AND the fact that he was in socks and just a hospital gown, he spent, slid, and dashed around my room with the agility and grace of a ballerina. One of his loved ones finally tracked him down and came in to get him and explained that he was a boxer back in the day and was senile, no doubt from so many licks he probably took upside the head. When he was reminded of his boxing career he began to relate stories from back in the Depression and REALLY put on a show before they took him away ! I'm not suprised brother Muhammad's heart was still beating strong...as only a champion boxer's heart would. These atheletes have bodies like MACHINES, it's a shame that so many of them end up ruining their brains and nervous systems with all the injuries and drugs...both legal and illegal. On a more spiritual note..... I used to think that people couldn't control the actual moment of death. I figured you went when it was your time...not a moment sooner or later. But time and time again I hear stories of people on their death beds who seem to have a "choice" when to call it quits and literally "give up the ghost". If they aren't doing it at the nod of understanding family members..... They're "holding on" until all of their loved ones arrive from out of town to say their last goodbyes. Others "hold on" until they finish other business. It's interesting how so many people seem to have control over their moment of departure.

Cynique My answer to the question you asked Del, which he apparently thought was too obvious to answer is no. Perhaps Del didn't answer it because he thought it was too obvious. Or perhaps.... He didn't answer it because it would eventually lead to him having to explain why he singled out my statement that White folks "allowed" these things.....as if he disagreed with it. 　 Power is rarely shared. Diluted power is doled out to what you refer to as police officers, mayors, congressmen, college students, heads of organizations, but these blacks all answer to "The Man", even if they were among the voting bloc who helped elect "him". IMO. Do you disagree? When it comes to SYSTEMIC power, or power that is granted within the framework of an institution...I agree absolutely. This type of power (known as AUTHORIZATION) is bestowed from the top down. However, a few years ago doing some community work with so-called "street people" I became acquainted with another type of power that some people generated on their own from the support and admiration from the people around them. They didn't have official ranks or titles bestowed on them by the government or any other institution, but the way they spoke and carried themselves commanded respect and obediance from their friends and even many acquaintences. This type of power is known as "people power". This type of power can't be diluted, shared, bestowed, or doled out. A good example is the Kanye concert and how the people nearly rioted over him last night. But it's not just him, that could go for most superstars. No Mayor, Governor, military General or anyone else of official institutional rank could have gotten that response from a crowd of people. Kanye had enough power that he could have directd that crowd to destroy half of Manhattan if he had so chosen. He wasn't granted that power by the state, military, or any other insitution....although he was promoted by the music industry. He got it from the people. No institution could take that away from him because they didn't "authorize" or give it to him. This is the type of power most Black leaders have traditionally enjoyed in America even under the worst oppression.

I logged on to my computer and saw: At first I thought they were doing yet ANOTHER remake of Planet of the Apes. It was one of my favorite movie series! Then I realized that it was a shrine to "Harambe" the gorilla. Atleast they didn't name him "Coco" like so many apes used to be named. It's funny how a gorilla with the name "Harambe" (swahili for "unity") has gotten America so divided....lol. The sad truth is the reason so many White people feel so much worse over the gorilla that was killed (as they do over other animals like dogs and eagles) than they do for Black men who are shot down in the street is because they feel the animals didn't DESERVE death. Atleast the animal is innocent and can be an entertaining companion, but many see the Black man and woman as useless and worthy of extermination.

Atleast our brother isn't suffering anymore. When people are in the last stages of a debilating disease, sometimes it's best that they make that transition rather than continuing to "hold on". Too often it's the family that keeps them when they are ready to go. I was having a conversation about him with a doctor yesterday and we were talking about how he...like so many other boxers....took repeated blows to the head. But Ali was especially famous for his "rope a dope" where he just took so much punishment in order to wear his opponent down. Most of these boxers don't know that many of those blows give the brain "mini-concussions" that turn out to affect them later on in life. I also believe all of the pain killers Ali and other professional atheletes take contributes to the neurological problems so many of them develop after their careers. When there's millions of dollars and championships at stake, a lot of young people will readily put their health at risk and push past the pain with medications for a temporary boost not caring (or knowing) about the drastic effects it may have on them later on in life. Concussion....the movie in which Will Smith played a doctorr who investigated brain injuries related to NFL players could have just as easily been done about boxers.

Del Pioneer you know the answer to that question Come on now Del, the question is about what YOU think...not me. How would I know what YOU thought unless I asked you? If I DID know what was in your mind, trust me I wouldn't be wasting time in this thread. I'd be somewhere availing myself of the financial institutions that you frequent...lol.

Del I know you don't currently reside in the United States..... But judging from the time you've spent here, do YOU think AfroAmericans have enough power in this nation to join government institutions and do major things without being "allowed" to by the dominant White populous?

Oh..... No WONDER they're talking about pressing charges against the mother of the boy who wandered into the gorilla enclosure at the zoo. The parents are Black! http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-racism-found-cincinnati-zoo-saga-article-1.2655860 I was thinking to myself of all the times parents have taken their children to the zoo and how the kids ended up wandering into places they didn't belong....but no one ever thought about "charging" the parent with a crime. Everyone from the zoo's staff to the authorities were so happy nothing happened to the child they let things go...but not in this case. So part of me "wondered" was the woman of color or something that they felt so anxious to blame the mother for the incident. To add futher insult...... It appears that someone did a story about them detailing the boy's father's criminal record which had absolutely nothing to do with the incident at the zoo.