Nidal Malik Hasan: This Nicka Fugged It Up for Everybody!

how wack must it be to be a part of this sicko's medical team? or someone who's responsible for guarding him? are there words to describe what that must feel like? "internal conflict" certainly don't cover it.
fucked up as the Fort Hood massacre is, I'm sad for Muslims in America and abroad as well. pretty soon, if not already, they're going to have to do what we do regularly: explain to "them" why "the rest of us" do certain things.

well, actually... Mexico is one of the most violent places on Earth, but Mexicans as a group have yet to join us as "uncivilized" and "savage" characters. there might be hope after all!

too bad I'm positive more than a handful of idiots think the shooting spree is further justification for our wars abroad.

The Coronation of Mumbles

on the day after election, Boston doesn't have a mayor; we have a king. where's Brutus when you need him? =(

all jokes aside, Menino ain't the mayoral equivalent of F.D.R., Clinton, nobody, but he's going to surpass 20 years. it appears "don't fuck up" is the primary qualification for running Boston.

The Blind Side: "Dis Ya Family, Nigga! Push!! Good Boy"

I know The Blind Side is based on a true story, but the film's trailer seriously bothers me. instead of a heartwarming story about a talented orphan who's welcomed into a loving home by strangers, it seems like a tale of a dumb, docile brute who's dormant aggression is harnessed by skillful handlers. the big nigga becomes a protective, valuable house pet.

maybe I'm trippin'.

what I'm not trippin' about is Hollywood and mainstream audiences must love pale parental figure/brown athlete movies given the number we've seen in recent memory from Glory Road to The Express. kinder, gentler, more humane White Man's Burden is obviously a new genre.

some naive asshole is going to silently counter something like the movies are inspiring testimonies of how members of different races can reconcile their differences, learn from each other, strive toward common goals, and, most importantly, learn how to love each other. that might be all gravy and biscuits if in each of the films the introspective honky tonks and the runnin' darkies were equals. too bad even when racial reconciliation is idealized on film, pale folks usually have to be our superiors somehow.

gotta love those Lethal Weapon flix for more than the action after all. seriously. no sarcasm.

Obama Bank Bailout Got Me Feelin' Republican

the more I read about the bailout, the more I begin to believe it was a monumental mistake. I've now arrived at the question whether our new president is venal or just misinformed.
that's beside the point of this entry though.

I read another well-written piece this evening that fugged my head up. afterwards, while I pondered the evil that is Big Banking, it struck me that I know someone who works at each of the Big Four- Bank of America, JPMorganChase, CitiGroup, and WellsFargo. while I feel palpable contempt for the banks and inveigh against them in every relevant conversation, should I view my peoples disdainfully as well though they are mere executive minions? should I pick up the phone and inquire of each one, "how could you?"

again, how complicit are we in perpetuating the status quo when we play footsoldier for the Man? is there even an alternative?

No Elaboration

, as I grow older, I am learning more and more that there is no such thing as "morals," only ethics. in addition, the appropriateness, acceptability, and moral classification of almost all human activities, including art, behavior, language, sexuality, crime, and even murder, are based on little more than the the actors' power and/or wealth.

say, "duh," all you want, but I feel like I'm losing my innocence again.

Everybody Humpin' Around

I'm just waiting for homey to appear on his show crying like Jimmy Swaggart.

John (of John and Kate fame): ironically the show probably got him some extramarital nani.

John Ensign: King DirtBag boned his employee's wife. that's grounds for gettin' ya head split back to the white meat. talk about power dynamics.

Matthew Knowles: old school playa playa.

David Letterman: King Kong balls. is he gonna be the Bush II of cheating?

Steve McNair (R.I.P.): how you get popped by one mistress coming off a date with another one? he had $$ to spread I guess.

Richard Parsons: at least he went out right- with a model!

Steve Phillips: poor bastard. how he gon' pay his bills... and impending child support and alimony now with no gig? know he wants to choke a bish.

Mark Sanford: done fugged the game up for all the cats who are supposed to be away "business trips."

Eliot Spitzer: played by the rules- "pay em to leave"- and STILL got knocked. he'll be back though cuz hookers ain't posed to count. just like head.

Usher (??): that nicka HAD to be creepin! cuz she was kinda old and he was- singin' ass Usher gatdammit.

Dr. Phil: when they gon' finally catch his ass?

CNN's Latino in America WhiteWashed

Ms. Saldana was probably too dark to be interviewed.


as I expected, CNN's "Latino in America" featured no Afro-Latinos. given the size of this group and the relative ease in finding its members, I can't help but believe that the decision to exclude their experiences and testimonies was intentional. CNN obviously isn't as progressive as they'd like us to think.

like the vapid "Black in America" special, the Latino series could have broached so many more critical and incisive topics like the invisibility of and struggle for equality by Afro-Latinos, the ethnic/gang conflict between Mexicans and African-Americans that's gripped LA, Puerto Rico's internal conflict in its relation to the U.S., or U.S. hypocrisy throughout the immigration debate just to a name a few.

again, like "Black in America," its Latino counterpart seemed geared toward a pale, outside audience- an attempt to humanize Latinos for the mainstream.