Pioneer1

It's funny to watch those drug commercials on tv. You see people smiling and bouncing up and down happy....butterflies and shit floating around, lol. Then they list the "potential" side effects: Nausea Bloody diarreah Bloody GONNOREAH Blindness Heart attact Stroke Violent nightmares Suicidal thoughts Suicidal tendencies Mass murder and mayhem .....and have the nerve to tell people to run out and ask their doctor for some, lol. Most drugs have side affects, whether they're illegal or prescription. That's why the elders and shaman of ancient cultures recognized that medicines should be given in their proper herbal forms. Most roots and leaves have properties to countereffect the negative side effects of the most potent ingredient/chemicals in them. But when you extract that potent chemical out (drug) there's nothing left to counteract it, which is why people often have to end up taking OTHER drugs to deal with the side effects of the drugs they're taking.

Troy I believe it. I also believe it's the "culture" of college life that turns many Black men off. My idea of a University is a place where people of various backgrounds come together to not only learn but share their culture witheachother. Instead I see young people from all over the world enrolling just to compete with eachother over who can blend in and imitate White middleclass culture and values the best. They abandon their beautiful traditional clothes for a t-shirt, jeans, and a dirty pair of gymnshoes and try to imitate Western Whites as much as they can. This is what I call the increased "Third Worlding" of the United States. All over the Third World you have the urban areas occupied primarily by the rich and upper middleclass while the suburbs and townships are occupied by the povertystricken. The United States was the opposite for so long but now they're trying to change that by moving the poor out of the inner cities and into the distant rural areas. Look how they're tearing down the housing projects and not replacing them with affordable housing but with luxury condos like you mentioned. One of the reasons Roosevelt has been my favorite president is because of his slum clearance programs. The Federal government was supposed to be incharge of public housing and ensuring the poor had a decent place to live, instead they are actually playing sleazy landlords and cheap motel owners to offer inferior housing to the poor at a much higher rate.

White women actually played an important role in the Civil Rights movement. Just behind White liberals in general. It's a shame more Black leaders haven't recognized this I think an often unwarranted distrust of White liberals by Generation X AfroAmericans along with the fact that many Black women would rather just not have White women around Black organizations period (fearing that they may seduce or "lure" Black men away) surely has pissed off many White people who otherwise would like to join Black people in the struggle for social justice. Also, the increasing rate that White men are snatching up Asian women is a clear signal to White women to "leave those negroes alone or we'll abandon you for someone else", and many White women have gotten the message. This is where your Sara Palins and Ann Coulters come from. White women who act as cheerleaders for the rightwing movement. A lot of White women who SHOULD be organizing and voting along side Black people for equal rights legislation and other important issues are actually becoming more conservative and aligning themselves with the Republican party. Some have turned ultra conservative and now you see some of them out like Calamity Jane with a gun in one hand and a Confederate flag in the other going to extremes to show their allegiance to a white male dominated national heritage.

Troy I love most of Spike Lee's work. He's one of the few Black directors with the gift to bring the realistic feel of the Black American experience to the big screen and make it entertaining at the same time. That's a gift. The older I get the more I appreciate the wisdom that comes with experiencing and observing things. I've watched School Daze numerous times and saw that scene and as funny as it was it didn't hit me UNTIL I had a chance to go down to Atlanta and visit Morehouse college. After visiting Morehouse and the surrounding WestEnd neitghborhood, and knowing Spike went to Morehouse...I saw where he got his ispiration for that scene from. The WestEnd is a ghetto that sits right next to Morehouse with brothers (some of whom are still wearing Jheri curls..lol) like Sam's character still there very resentful of the upperclass Black youth in Morehouse. Also there was another scene in the movie right before the clip I posted where Sam makes fun of "Mission men" implying that they were effininate. That one didn't make any sense either until I visted Morehouse and noticed the large gay presence there and then again, I understood where Spike was inspired. I think success is often about what you think of yourself and what other's think of you and having the wisdom to properly discern which holds the most importance at the proper time. This is where CULTURE comes in. Unlike Latinos, Arabs, and even many ethnic Whites (Italians, Jews, Irish, ect....) Black Americans don't have a very strong CULTURE that people can clearly identify us with or that we can identify ourselves with. Too many of us float along with whatever mainstream America is doing at the time instead of establishing clear boundaries. Our culture used to be big on family and relatives helping eachother out, which is why you used to never see homeless Black people. Not anymore. Many Black youth go to college and feel lost because they don't know who or what to identify with. There's an old saying that if you don't define yourself, others will define you. It's for this reason that...as an Aries and naturally confrontational....I typically find more success when I make myself very clear on where I stand and express my ideas boldly rather than trying to play the "laid back" role in life which may look cool but is often ineffective and allows people to draw often inaccurate conclusions about you.

As soon as the Biker incident starts to die down, the mainstream media finds more racist crap to focus on. Now they're focusing on 2 Black men who escaped from a Florida prison. This story means nothing to anyone outside of Florida. Why talk about it on every major network and post their pictures on the screen all day for damn near a week? Racism and the need to frequently depict Black males as criminals, are the only reasons I can think of. And again, I haven't heard one Black leader come out and speak on this.

Troy I believe all people of average intelligence should be required to be literate....to atleast be able to read, write, and count. I also believe that the government (through the FDA) should properly ENFORCE it's laws to make sure all drugs are what they claim to be and in the said dosage. Outside of this, what else can you do? You can't protect people from being stupid or making stupid decisions like drinking while taking medication even when you're specifically told not to. And remember, some people are suicidal. Since Euthenasia is illegal, some people find all types of ingenious ways to kill themselves. In an ideal society you protect people from eachother, but not necessarily from themselves.

Ben Carson has the mannerisms of a turtle or a little lamb. I just don't see him generating the excitement in people necessary to even get on a state ballot let alone winning a national election. He's similar to Obama in the fact that he's very thoughtful and cereberal, but the man has very little emotional appeal. You can't confront Vladimir Putin or do business with China's President talking meek and looking sleepy and sheepish in the eyes...lol. The rapper Mase made a point about being able to walk into a room and see the "bitch" come up out of a person. It's a vulgar but factual way of stating that some people have a talent for smelling weakness. Troy Now this is where my conservatism is aroused, lol. I'm with you on Universal Healthcare. You didn't specifically use the word "universal" but it's the only way everyone would get it because charging ANYTHING for health care will automatically dismiss a certain percentage of the population. But I actually don't believe everyone deserves or should get a college education or have their own place. We actually have discussions like these in some circles and I've had a lot of time to think about them from various perspectives on which would be best for society. I don't think it would be a good idea to just let any and everyone into college. I think only those intellectually qualified should be allowed to go. However...if you qualify....it should not only be FREE but you should also be supported while going. Having looked at public housing and welfare programs (in Michigan atleast) I've come to the conclusion that everyone deserves a bed and a hot shower, but not everyone should actually get free housing. One of my goals is to eliminate DESTITUTION....but not necessarily POVERTY. And there's a difference between the two....

Delano You're a clairvoyant? How old were you when you first become aware of this?

Atleast the Native Americans have pretty much re-incarnated themselves as Mexicans and other Central American Latinos. They have the same genes and ancestry, but the culture is different. But no matter what language we speak or culture we adapt, we're still pretty much still considered Black people by the rest of the world, lol. I'm sure in New York you've met hundreds if not thousands of Black people who have adopted Islam, joined the Hebrews, practice Buddhism, speak with a FAKE accent....lol. Some are Puerto Rican, others Dominican and Haitian.....but if they look like other Black folks, they're still CALLED Black. Changing religions, changing cultures, changing dietary practices..... No matter what we do...we're pretty much "stuck" being Black, lol. Like Samuel L. Jackson said in the movie School Daze: "Yall's niggaz.....and you go BE niggaz....just like us....niggaz" .....LMBAO!!!!

One of the reasons Republicans hate "government" so much is because of the government jobs so many Black people hold. I keep waiting for a Democrat to bring up that point during discussions on television, lol. Go to the Post Office or DMV/Secretary State and it looks like America. Even the Military is diverse. Black folks rise quick in the Military because the goals are clear and there is little room for tricks and schemes....it's about performance. See that wall....jump over it. See that target...hit it. The government is the "great arbitrator" in a Capitalist society. Infact, I came up with a proposal for the state of Michigan to have it's own "state work force" to employ unemployed people who otherwise couldn't find work in the private sector like convicts or people with little skills. That way people with racist agendas can't "starve" Black folks out of the workforce. But as far as racism in the media............. One of the things I liked (and still like to a certain extent) about PBS....besides the nudity...was how they showed uncut and uncensored Black history and speeches by Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and other figures that they NEVER showed on the commercial networks!!!! You can even watch News Hour on PBS and you'll have a more professional and less sensational and racist news format.

Most of our people don't know the value of sacrifice or investment because they involve "delayed gratification", something most AfroAmericans have a problem with The results are often too far removed from the initial action. If they don't see the immediate need or immediate benefit of a particular behavior, they don't see the purpose of it period. This comes from living in dangerous neighborhoods where you don't know if you'll live long enough to enjoy the fruits of your investment or see the results of what you've sacrificed for.

Talk about a conspiracy theory, Back in the 90s some rappers and comedians kept running their mouth about how nice Black women's curves were and making fun of how flat White women's butts were. I instinctively knew it wasn't a good idea to do that. All of a sudden you see young White women (even skinny ones) jogging up and down the street with big round butts bouncing around. Now, I'm not saying they're putting something in the food to give White women more curves,lol. I'm just saying.........

Cynique It's funny you mentioned that Black girls smoke less. I've noticed that Black girls have always smoked less than White girls, but for the past 10-15 years I've noticed an INCREASE in smoking among Black youth in general. It seems like a lot more Black youth both male and female are bumming cigarettes and lights from people now a days. Which tells me most of them aren't serious about smoking because if they were they'd by buying cigarettes by the pack and would keep a lighter on them. I smoke pipes and cigars infrequently and can go days without either. It seems most Black people who smoke just do it to imitate Whites or because they don't have anything else to occupy their time. White people are SERIOUS about their smoking. You see them standing outside hospitals in their underwear in a hospital gown holding an IV pole while smoking on cigarettes.....they ain't playing. Troy Height too. Wealthy White people tend to be a little taller than the poor Black and Brown populations in the same metro area. I first noticed this when I was in downtown Columbus Ohio and saw tall White men walking around in suits and the only Black people other than myself I saw were bums reeling back and forth as they begged for money. They were so short they blended right in with the bushes and shrubs. After that I started noticing it in other cities. A Chinese lady who works at a resturant I frequent mentioned the same thing while we were talking about poverty in America. I've BEEN noticing that wealthier people were thinner, but I was a little suprised that she noticed that also.

While I consider myself somewhat Conservative in behavior I believe in a Liberal society where people should be free to make their own choices as long as it doesn't hurt others. The good thing about living in a permissive society is that you can change your mind about things as you get older and more experienced. There are things I thought was immoral 20 years ago that I support today. There are things I thought was stupid and unnecessary 20 years ago but understand the purpose of it today...like prison...lol. After a brief and "close call" with Xanax about 15 years ago...I now understand why some drugs should only be allowed under a doctor's supervision. That's why I maintain my original position that as long as they're in their herbal form, most plants should be legal. But once distilled into the drug or crystalline form...then special precautions must be taken for public safety.

Lol.... You'd be blessed if you could walk out without some crazy redneck pulling heat on you and accusing you of being one of Obama's "government goons" coming to spy on them, lol. They don't trust Black people as much as Black people trust them. But even if you managed to get the pictures and get out alive, they probably wouldn't sell because White people don't like seeing the inferior unsophisticated side of themselves. When was the last time you saw a White man with no teeth on television? When was the last time you saw a White woman with no make-up on on television? Unlike many of our people, they don't like "keeping it real"....lol. No. Actually your feelings of frustration are linked to what his taking pictures of Black people and displaying them in a White bookstore actually means on a subconscious level. It's almost as if he's a White man who went on a Safari in Africa taking picture of animals and putting them on display to the more "civilized" Remember when Bill O'Reilley went to Sylvia's a few years back and claimed to be surprised at how nice was??? Al Sharpton took him to task on it like....'da hell did you EXPECT to experience in a soul food restaurant? I know how you feel because White suburbanites often do the same thing to Detroit. They go through the city snapping pictures of Black people and run down buildings and display the photos at high-end events discussing them and they are often praised for having the "bravery" to do it. If you notice, most of the photos in these various "urban experience" books are done in Black and White, and this is for an important reason. It's to make Black people look like......history. As if innercity Black people are an endangered species who can't speak for themselves and their images must be captured before....the inevitable happens. The arrogance of it can really get to you. Well..... Atleast Arsenio Hall is back on tv, lol.

I'm not going to lie.... I'm VERY disappointed in the behavior of AfroAmericans these past 30 years. Too many have turned stupid, immoral, and savage. But my criticism comes from a position of love and caring. If you CARE about someone, their negative behavior and pitiful state of existance bothers you. The difference between MY critique of Black people and how we're portrayed in the media is that I try to investigate and get to the bottom of why so many of our people do what they do so we can solve the problem. The media just shows the end result of what 30 years of Reaganomics and right-wing domestic policies have produced in urban America. You want to show the video clip of the Black man robbing the liquor store and praise the cops for nabbing the "bad guy". But you don't want to do a story on how many times that same man applied for jobs around town and his applications were thrown in the garbage or "lost" effectively locking him out of the workforce so that he couldn't make a decent living for himself. There used to be a time that if a Black man graduated from highschool and didn't go to jail, he was almost guaranteed SOME sort of job to make a living for himself even if he didn't get rich. Now they're saying, "Yeah, we know you have a college degree and no criminal record, fuck you anyway...lol. We're not hiring ya. Whatcha gonna do about it....call Jesse Jackson?????"

Cynique Well if you're 80 and female then you should be more qualified than me to know if there has been any physical changed in Black women. So let me ask YOU...... If you compare young Black females today with the young Black females 50 years ago, do they seem more masculine to you? I'm not talking just in terms of attitude or how they dress but in terms of actual physical development such as: -deeper voices -wider shoulders -narrower hips -rougher skin and hands -more facial hair Generally speaking, have YOU noticed any increase in these masculine attribute among Black women over the years?

Yeah, you heard it from ME when I was discussing parallel universes a few months ago and how various decisions could theoretically produce different outcomes. The combinations are almost infinite. But, I guess now that you know Pioneer entertains such theories you'll probably refute and repudiate the entire concept....lol.

Part of me is glad that the media (CNN specifically because Fox News and others ain't saying shit about it) is focusing on this story so we can get to the bottom of what happened to the young brutha..... But another part of me is waiting for "the other shoe to drop"....so to speak. Meaning, WHY is the media reporting this? Certainly it deserves reporting, but knowing CNN and much of the mainstream media the way I do, I suspect they are holding back some key information that will be negative or embarassing to either Kendrick or his family or some other Black people involved in the case.

.....lol @ "optional oppression" I'm not sure if that concept is a matter of race or sexual expression, lol. Thanx for this info bro. I see scifi as an exercise in creativity. We need more Black scifi authors.

This is vey interesting... I was talking to a man years ago who told me that there were Black people in Arabia who had inhabited that land for generations before the current Arabs occupied it. He told me they had their own language and writing system in which Arabic is similar and that these people were driven down into Africa. For years I've heard that Africans had their own writing systems and letters. Like so many things, it's hard to believe unless you actually see it. Not to change the subject of the thread but........ If I had the money to do it, I'd support the brother and his efforts in Zimbabwe If only to help bring these discoveries further into the public light. You look at so many established universities like Yale, Harvard, Oxford, ect.... Not only do they get public funding but they get a lot of donations from weatlhy sponsors. I don't believe Black people support eachother enough in academia.

Cynique's "hysterical" rant about how far Black women have come just reminded me.....................lol. I forgot to mention the disproportionate amount of hysterectomies so many Black women have been getting now a days and how THAT is contributing to the the masculinization process. ((Pioneer beckons the audience with his hand to follow him......)) Now, you can take this as being offensive. Or you can take it as a man who CARES about his sistaz and want to get to the bottom of what's wrong. But I had been noticing how deep the voices so many Black women were getting for years. I'd be in a store or on a plane and would hear what sounded like a Black woman in wording....using terms like "girl" and "honeychild" but the voice would be deep and masculine and freakish sounding like a boy breaking into puberty. I'd turn around to look and see what man/boy is talking like that and it would often be a Black woman in her 40s or 50s!!! So I started asking other Black men and women have they noticed the same thing. Then a sista said it was the hysterectomies. I didn't know the details of a hysterectomy but she told me when a woman get's her reproductive parts taken out she has to take hormones to maintain her femininity or the testosterone will take over.....and then it made sense. But the next question for me would be why are so many more Black women having to have hysterectomies.

The guilt or innocence of the "Biker Boys" is not for me to decide. It seems that the driver...who was Asian....should be charged with something since he actually ran over a man and fled the scene of an accident. But as I said, none of that matters because the REAL story is actually about showing the public how violent Black people are. As I post on this site I'm watching CNN right now and 3 Black faces connected to the Biker attack has just flashed across the screen in a nation where people are presumed innocent BEFORE being proven guilty. And before that....another Black face of some Black man on video robbing a White man in Atlanta was highlighted. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a racist agenda in atleast some newsrooms around the United States today. Every news organization has an Editor. Like a Prosecutor decides which cases get tried in court, and Editor decides which stories get airtime. Nothing a professional does happens by accident. They have a method and they have reasons for doing what they do and picking the stories they pick. Most newsroom Editors are conservative White males and I believe many of them have an axe to grind.

Delano Now, I knew someone was going to bring up inflation and devaluing of the dollar.... And I didn't have to be the "psychic" to know it...lol. I'm not the smartest person in the world, so can you (or someone) help me understand why the government is issuing bonds and borrowing money from Russia or China when the Constitution gives the United States the right....duty....to not only print it's own money but also assign VALUE to it??? The value of the dollar is whatever Congress says it is. The United States was $8 trillion in debt in 2005. It's now approaching $17 trillion in 2013. Has the price of food, real estate, cars, or anything else we buy in dollars DOUBLED? No. The value of the dollar has nothing to do with the debt, or the amount printed. The value of the dollar just like the value of any currency is directly associated with the military might of the nation printing it. As long as the United States remains a strong military superpower, the dollar will be good and the debt won't matter. That's why I say it's all a joke. The debt ceiling..... The national debt.... The gold standard..... These are all arbitrary concepts because ultimately none of it really matters.