Mortal Thoughts

Teen kills himself online.

2008-11-24T15:25:00.000-05:00

AP

Teen’s Family Outraged, Distraught Over His Cyber Suicide
Date: Monday, November 24, 2008

MIAMI - The family of a college student who killed himself live on the Internet say they're horrified his life ended before a virtual audience, and infuriated that viewers of the live webcam or operators of the Web site that hosted it didn't act sooner to save him.

Only after police arrived to find Abraham Biggs dead in his father's bed did the Web feed stop Wednesday - 12 hours after the 19-year-old Broward College student first declared on a Web site that he hated himself and planned to die.

"It didn't have to be," said the victim's sister, Rosalind Bigg. "They got hits, they got viewers, nothing happened for hours."

Biggs announced his plans to kill himself over a Web site for bodybuilders, authorities said. He posted a link from there to Justin.tv, a site that allows users to broadcast live videos from their webcams.

A computer user who claimed to have watched said that after swallowing some pills, Biggs went to sleep and appeared to be breathing for a few hours while others cracked jokes.

Some members of his virtual audience encouraged him to do it, others tried to talk him out of it, and some discussed whether he was taking a dose big enough to kill himself, said Wendy Crane, an investigator with the Broward County medical examiner's office.

Some users told investigators they did not take him seriously because he had threatened suicide on the site before.

Eventually, someone notified the moderator of the bodybuilding site, who traced Biggs' location and called police, Crane said. The drama unfolded live on Justin.tv, which allows viewers to post comments alongside the video images.

As police entered the room, the audience's reaction was filled with Internet shorthand: "OMFG," one wrote, meaning "Oh, my God." Others, either not knowing what they were seeing, or not caring, wrote "lol," which means "laughing out loud," and "hahahah."

His father, Abraham Biggs Sr., told The Miami Herald he didn't want to watch the video.

"We were very good friends," he said. "It's wrong that it was allowed to happen."

Biggs Sr. said those who watched and the Web site operators share some blame in his 19-year-old son's death.

"I think they are all equally wrong," he said. "It's a person's life that we're talking about. And as a human being, you don't watch someone in trouble and sit back and just watch."

An autopsy concluded Biggs died from a combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, which his family said was prescribed for his bipolar disorder.

"Abe, i still wish this was all a joke," a friend wrote on the teenager's MySpace page, which he described himself as a goodhearted guy who would always be available for his pals, no matter what time of day.

In a statement, Justin.tv CEO Michael Seibel said: "We regret that this has occurred and want to respect the privacy of the broadcaster and his family during this time."

It is unclear how many people watched it happen. The Web site would not say how many people were watching the broadcast. The site as a whole had 672,000 unique visitors in October, according to Nielsen.

Biggs was not the first person to commit suicide with a webcam rolling. But the drawn-out drama - and the reaction of those watching - was seen as an extreme example of young people's penchant for sharing intimate details about themselves over the Internet.

Montana Miller, an assistant professor of popular culture at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, said Biggs' very public suicide was not shocking, given the way teenagers chronicle every facet of their lives on sites like Facebook and MySpace.

"If it's not recorded or documented then it doesn't even seem worthwhile," she said. "For today's generation it might seem, 'What's the point of doing it if everyone isn't going to see it?'"

She likened Biggs' death to other public ways of committing suicide, like jumping off a bridge.

Crane said she knows of a case in which a Florida man shot himself in the head in front of an online audience, though she didn't know how much viewers saw. In Britain last year, a man hanged himself while chatting online.

Miami lawyer William Hill said there is probably nothing that could be done legally to those who watched and did not act. As for whether the Web site could be held liable, Hill said there doesn't seem to be much of a case for negligence.

"There could conceivably be some liability if they knew this was happening and they had some ability to intervene and didn't take action," said Hill, who does business litigation and has represented a number of Internet-based clients. But "I think it would be a stretch."

Condolences poured into Biggs' MySpace page, where the mostly unsmiling teen is seen posing in a series of pictures with various young women. On the bodybuilding Web site, Biggs used the screen name CandyJunkie. His Justin.tv alias was "feels-like-ecstacy."

Bigg described her brother as an outgoing person who struck up conversations with Starbucks baristas and enjoyed taking his young nieces to Chuck E. Cheese. He was health-conscious and exercised but was not a bodybuilder, she said.

"This is very, very sudden and unexpected for us," the sister said. "It boggles the mind. We don't understand."

SIN

2008-11-23T15:56:00.001-05:00

"The further you run away from your sin's, the more exhausting they are when they catch up to you."

Teena Marie- The work is always in progress

2008-09-23T10:02:00.000-04:00

The Devil is busy trying to throw some shiggity at Barrak and Michelle

2008-09-23T10:01:00.001-04:00

Prayer will get him through

2008-09-23T09:59:00.000-04:00

Im confused

2008-09-22T23:39:00.000-04:00

I'm still a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic,

different."

Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers: a quintessential American story.

If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

Name your kids Willow, Trig, and Track: you're a maverick.

Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.

Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating: you're well grounded.

If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community o rganizer, become the first

black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration

drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a

Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator

representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the

state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the

United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while

sponsoring 131 bills and

serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's

Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

If your total resume is: local weather girl (sports caster), 4 years on

the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with fewer than 7,000

people, 20 months as the governor of a state with? 650,000 people, then

you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

If you have been married to the sam e woman for 19 years while raising 2

beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real

Christian.

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your

disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a

Christian.

If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the

proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other

option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed

teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.

If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a

prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city

community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't

represent America's.

If your husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DUI

convictio n and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age

25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska

from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

The Art

2008-09-03T18:25:00.001-04:00

All art is a kind of confession, more or less oblique. All artists, if they are to survive, are forced, at last, to tell the whole story; to vomit the anguish up.

James Baldwin

The Black Momba Has Gold

2008-08-24T05:05:00.000-04:00

The Black Momba Wins Gold and the heart of the World
Once Kobe Bryant let that Shaq rap go, he wished that he had resisted responding to so much else throughout his tumultuous 20s. Shaquille O'Neal obliterated him on that June nightclub stage in New York, a TMZ moment that threatened to drag Bryant back into that Hollywood trash-tabloid place.
Here was Bryant on his 30th birthday, on the eve of playing Spain for his gold-medal moment for United States basketball, and he had such regret that it took so long in his life to let Shaq shadow box.

"The biggest mistake I made was coming up with a rebuttal," Bryant said. "My philosophy had always been to keep quiet and not to say anything. And by me responding, that drew me into it. If I had to do it over again, I would've just let people talk and say what they had to say, and as time goes on, they would've seen what was what.

"When you're young, (you think) 'Enough is enough. I'm going to say something.' And all of a sudden…"

All of a sudden, there's no winning. There's no way out. Perhaps this is why Bryant seems so liberated, freed from a legacy and life forever framed through the prism of Shaq and their three Los Angeles Lakers' titles together. As Kobe reshapes his image here with American flags, Jordanesque ferocity and the warm, welcoming touch of a grateful guest, O'Neal is back in the United States facing a restraining order for allegations of stalking an Atlanta woman after several disturbing e-mails and phone threats surfaced.

The old images of the brooding, immature Kobe and the gregarious, life-of-the-championship-party Shaq have turned inside out. Somehow, Kobe's become the grownup and Shaq the screw-up.

In the wake of the Lakers' NBA Finals loss to the Boston Celtics, Shaq climbed on that stage and started with the lyrics that, "Kobe couldn't do without me," and maybe for the first time cast Bryant as a sympathetic figure. To dismiss the firestorm as deftly as Bryant did – whatever, I've got a gold medal to win this summer – cornered Shaq as a fading superstar filled with too much jealousy, too little motivation.

These Olympics have been the most remarkable three weeks of Kobe Bryant's basketball life. He disdains the marketing "Redeem Team" title, calling it "kind of cheesy" because let's face it: Those weren't his international failures over the past eight years. Nike tried so hard to make LeBron James a co-star of these Games but failed miserably. He's riding shotgun and doesn't seem terribly thrilled about it. There's no usurping Bryant in China.

Bryant has won the respect of his teammates, but he doesn't run in the big cliques on the team. LeBron is the ringleader of the young players, and Kobe goes his own way. He's won his teammates over with his ferocity, his insatiable need to win, but no one ever gets close to Bryant. He's a loner, but he learned to lead. When all hell was breaking loose in the semifinal victory over Argentina, it was Bryant working with Jason Kidd to bring his teammates back from the brink of losing composure.

"We didn't come to tussle," Bryant said. "We came to win a gold medal."

When his teammates went in groups to volleyball and women's basketball games this week, Bryant was over at the U.S.-Brazil gold medal women's soccer match with his wife and daughters. He waves his American flag, his eyes mesmerized by the dichotomy between the winners and losers, gold and silver.

"I stayed to watch them get their gold medals, just to see what that would be like," he said.

As much as any NBA player, these Olympics have been a source of pure fascination for Bryant. For this most obsessive perfectionist, a basketball player with a full-time staff "whose whole job, whole purpose, is to just stay on top of my health," Bryant couldn't stop putting his own greatness into context with that of the world's best athletes. He spent several years of his childhood living in Italy and always did have a global perspective on himself. The Olympics have been such a renaissance to his career, Bryant insists that he wants to play as a 34-year-old in 2012 in London.

"If they want me back, I'll be back," he said.

Bryant's popularity is staggering in Asia and Europe, and he insists that, "People here have seen my personality more than in the States. I've done tours here. In the season, I'm in that Mamba mode. That switch is on. But during the summer, I'm kicking back and they get to see what a smart-ass I am. They get a chance to relate to you a lot more.

"Half the places you go to in the States, they're rooting against you. Here, I think they've seen more of who I am."

Well, there's this idea, too. Bryant will forever have the rape charges in Eagle, Colo., on his permanent stateside record, but they don't judge him overseas. They don't care about that dropped case and taking sides in the Lakers' soap operas and vitriol toward his Lakers bosses and teammates.

They just judge Kobe in the pure way that he judges himself: On the basketball court, peerless.

On his way back home, Bryant will be remembered as the anchor responsible for restoring American basketball glory. His MVP season, his return to the Finals, taught Bryant that he had to give more of himself to get the things that he ultimately wanted.

For the longest time, though, he played the part of the spoiled brat, the baby brother that Shaq had to balance between shaping and scolding, and maybe ultimately defining. Now, Shaq's career is in sharp decline with a summer of high-comedy, low-rent rap and a stalker complaint in hot pursuit.

Across the world, Bryant goes for his gold medal on Saturday, something it turns out he could do without Shaq. Still, that's a war Bryant never won and never will. Mostly, he understands that it isn't even worth waging. Let it go, he tells himself. Let it go.

"As I get older, I do care what people think of me," Bryant said. "I don't want them to have the wrong impression. That is important to me. I'm not too big to say that. I'm not embarrassed to say that.

"I care about what people think."

The world has watched him grow from teenage prodigy to tortured twentysomething to the weekend a world away in China when Kobe Bryant could feel the burdens peeling away like a second skin.

"I'm just happy I made it to 30," he said. "Now the pressure's off."

Bryant’s global reach

2008-08-10T15:12:00.000-04:00

BEIJING – For Kobe Bryant, there has long been something so liberating about leaving the United States and traveling out into the big, beautiful basketball world. He still is as polarizing as he is popular in America, but across the globe they’ve never judged Bryant so harshly for past misdeeds. They give him what he wants, which is what they always gave Michael Jordan: unconditional adulation.

When Bryant walked into the National Stadium for these Beijing Games, even the biggest Olympic star of them all became breathless over the magnitude of the moment. Here was the most magnificent, most moving opening ceremony since Barcelona in 1992, and only the Chinese national team inspired a louder roar than Kobe Bean Bryant. He knows what ’92 did for the Dream Team and Jordan, and knows what it can do for him now.

All along, Bryant has insisted that a gold medal would be bigger than his three NBA titles. No one believes him, but he keeps saying it anyway. “This is way bigger,” he said again and promises to repeat all the way to the gold medal game.

“The whole field is covered with the greatest athletes in the world,” he said. “There’s no greater place on earth. I’ve never been part of something this big before.”

For now, Bryant is constructing a formidable game of leverage with his admission to Yahoo! Sports that he won’t sign a long-term contract with the Lakers until he’s explored the European market, that he’s become intrigued with the possibility of investigating an owner-player arrangement in the burgeoning Euroleague. Just a day earlier, Bryant had told Marc Spears of the Boston Globe that a $50 million-a-season contract could lure him to his boyhood home of Italy.

Bryant’s childhood there and three NBA championships in the bank make some league officials believe he’s the wildcard candidate to make that leap of faith out of the NBA and into Europe. Nevertheless, all of us understand it’s the longest of long shots. The state of these Lakers gives him a chance to win more championships, and even he called it “almost impossible” to leave that behind in Los Angeles.

Yet, Bryant’s on a roll right now, and he’ll do it all on his terms. Between now and then, the world watches him campaign to his public on three fronts.

For his American fans, he’s pitching a deep Patriotism, a love for the red, white and blue that leaves him longing for a gold medal.

For his Euro fans, he’s submitting a respect for the international game that’s so strong he would consider leaving the NBA to play for them.

For his Far East hosts, Bryant would say of Sunday night’s electric opening game between Team USA and China, “I expect it to be the highest energy game I’ve ever been a part of, just because of the crowd, the anticipation of it all.

“This feels good, like a home away from home.”

Bryant has lost so much marketing luster back in the States, but he’s still selling shoes and those No. 24 Lakers jerseys. Still, most of his national endorsers never came back to him after the rape allegations in Eagle, Colorado. If Madison Avenue considered a return last year, Bryant scared them away again with his tantrums about wanting out of Los Angeles. He makes no apologies for soliciting those European offers, even to those Lakers fans who’ve stayed with him through his grapples with insecurity and hubris, with Shaquille O’Neal and Jerry Buss. When someone suggested that Laker loyalists might take offense to his repeated reasoning that a gold medal trumps a title, Bryant bristled.

“So what,” he sniffed. “So what. If they can’t understand that, they don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s that simple. You’re playing for your country. There’s nobody in L.A. that wants to win more than me. If they want to take that as disrespectful, that’s silly. Everybody knows in L.A. that I’m the most competitive person – ever. Nobody wants to win a championship for the Lakers more than I do. Nobody. But playing for your country is something entirely different.”

Perhaps Bryant believes this is true, but that’s easy for him. He has three rings. Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley have gold medals, but still speak of such emptiness over never winning it all in the NBA. Jason Kidd is working on his second gold, but you can bet he’d give them both back to make an improbable run to a title with the Dallas Mavericks next June.

With a most un-Jordanesque performance in the NBA Finals, Bryant sidestepped harsh criticism upon losing the championship to the Boston Celtics. This time, the odds are on his side. He’s surrounded with the American’s most complete and prepared team since Barcelona, and he knows well that should Team USA win, he’ll be hailed the hero. LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade were on site for that American debacle four years ago, but Bryant was nowhere near Athens. Here he comes now, a savior, the most redeemed of the Redeem Team.

As much as anything though, these Games promise to be a salvation for Bryant. This is a chance for him to undergo yet one more transformation in a chameleon career of reinvention. In an election year, he’s deftly cast himself as the proud American with the worldly perspective. When Shaquille O’Neal rapped that “Kobe couldn’t do (it) without me,” Bryant played the part of the grownup, refusing to be baited into that un-winnable foolery.

Ultimately, motives are never so simple with Bryant, agendas never so pure. All his life, he’s worked the angles. He’s manipulated the circumstance. In the end, he’s conquered all. Someone asked Bryant about showing mercy in these Games, some restraint, and he just nodded side to side.

“You demolish them,” Bryant insisted. “This is what we do. This is what got me here.”

Back home, that’s what’s made some people so unsure of him. Yes, he demolishes them all. Now, he’s making a bid for his most fascinating feat of all. All at once, basketball’s most confounding contradiction has come to crush the world, and come to embrace it.

The Greatest of all time speaks

2008-06-18T10:54:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Ray Allen The original selection of the Jumpmen

2008-06-18T09:59:00.000-04:00

Kobe has reached the legacy stage of his career: By J.A. Adonde

2008-06-04T19:43:00.002-04:00

If you want to know how Kobe Bryant and the Lakers got here -- not to the 2008 NBA Finals, but here, to this harmonious place after all the turmoil -- think back to biology class, or those old nature shows.
Remember symbiosis, two different organisms that come together for a mutually beneficial partnership? Like the clown fish and the sea anemone. The clown fish protects the anemone from other fish that would eat it, while the anemone's stinging tentacles keep the clown fish's predators away. It's similar to that. Only Kobe is so complex that he's really created his own ecosystem, a web of interdependency.
A franchise has paid him maximum dollars and then held on to him, a coach has returned to him, and a fan base has kept cheering for him because they know the alternative is losing games and losing money. He has stayed because he ultimately realized it was in the best interests of his legacy and his bank account to remain a Laker. Sorry if this lacks sentiment. Nature is cold. So is the NBA.
It seems a little unfair, like there should be a punishment for calling out your teammates instead of trophies as a reward. Maybe we're guilty of thinking this is something more than it really is. Does karma factor in when a shark snatches up a fish? Or is it just a matter of the food chain?
This whole order is a testament to Bryant, of course. It's not just his talent. At this point, you could probably find a player on every roster with more raw athletic ability than his. It's his drive and determination that have made him indispensable, that have enabled him to overcome whatever adversity -- some of it self-inflicted -- that has come his way.
He has rebounded from the sexual assault charges of 2003, his role in the departures of Shaquille O'Neal and Phil Jackson in 2004 (it's doubtful he actually issued a them-or-me ultimatum, but he never did campaign for their return), the Lakers' absence from the 2005 playoffs, his second-half shutdown in Game 7 of the 2006 playoffs, and then his blasting of his bosses and teammates on the radio and Internet in the summer of 2007.
Any one of those events had the potential to be permanent career ballast. They could have defined him, or even broken him. Instead Bryant keeps floating away.
It takes perseverance just to make it to the NBA, Lakers guard Derek Fisher said, "And to play at the level that he's played at his career, perseverance is like waking up every day. When he wakes up every day, he's persevered, carrying the expectations, the fanfare, and the good and the bad that comes with Kobe Bryant."
Bryant always maintained a fast path to redemption: Keep getting better at what he does best. It started in 2005-06, when he kept topping himself, with once-in-a-generation feats like outscoring Dallas 62-61 through three quarters and dropping 81 on the Toronto Raptors. In the 2006-07 season, he got on a run of four consecutive 50-point games.
[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Mark J. TerrillT
Kobe has finally learned to trust -- and love -- his teammates.
This past season, his teammates did their best to keep pace with him, then Pau Gasol was gifted to him. The Lakers won the most competitive Western Conference race we've seen. Bryant was rewarded with the MVP. The Lakers are back in the Finals.
See, that's all it takes to get back in the fans' good graces. Score, then win. Better than a bouquet of roses. Cheaper than a $4 million ring.
And here's the thing we've learned about Bryant: It really is that easy for him. He is close to mastering the game. In the fourth quarter of the first and fifth games against San Antonio, he did whatever he wanted against the defending champions.
The beauty of his game now isn't in the flights to the hoop, it's in the little things. Watch the way he can create space without so much as a dribble. All it takes is a jab step or a wriggle of the shoulders and his defender backs off enough for Bryant to fire up a jump shot. Or look at the way he gets to his chosen spots. In Game 5 it was the right corner of the lane by the free-throw line. Dribble-dribble-dribble, hit the spot, pull up, gotcha. Dribble, spin, fall away, swish.
Bryant was a hit with Lakers fans long before he reached this skill level, back when he was just a dazzling rookie. It didn't hurt that he had a flashy game and that he arrived in Los Angeles as a teenager in a particularly youth-obsessed time that coincided with the rise of the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. But it was his industriousness that resonated with fans the longest and helped him win the battle with Shaquille O'Neal for the public's hearts.
The most overlooked aspect of L.A. is its hardworking nature. The movie business isn't all red carpets, it's also 18-hour days on the set. And all those lawns and swimming pools don't mow and clean themselves.
Hard workers on the local teams have always been appreciated. That's how Kurt Rambis became a cult hero among the more glamorous players in the 1980s. And it's why Bryant became so beloved in his day.
Winning always helps. L.A. is a town that adopted the Raiders, which is like picking up a hitchhiker a mile from a prison. But they were only a year removed from winning the Super Bowl when they got to L.A., and they won a Super Bowl their second year there. So there are still people who miss them more than a decade after they returned to Oakland.
Bryant was even more embedded. He had three championships worth of equity (added points for wearing the jersey of Lakers icon Jerry West to the first parade).
Even though he was willing to abandon his fans, to take his act elsewhere after all their years of support, they didn't abandon him. Some booing on opening night was the only punishment, dropped as soon as the Lakers got back into the win column, quickly replaced by chants of "M-V-P!"
They'd already sent in their season-ticket deposits by the time Bryant came out with his trade request. They didn't pay the highest average price in the NBA to watch Sasha Vujacic. For every fan who was outraged by Bryant (most of the e-mails they sent me began, "I've been a Lakers fan since they had Elgin Baylor and Jerry West and played in the Sports Arena"), two more took his side and blamed an incompetent front office for driving him to this point.
Management felt betrayed. Hadn't the Lakers stood by him during the sexual assault allegation, to the point of paying for his flights to Colorado? Didn't it give him as many dollars as it could, 136.4 million of them, even while his legal status was still uncertain?
But management didn't let its emotions overrule it business sense. Owner Jerry Buss absorbed the pain of a player he once likened to a son, turning around and calling him an "idiot." He and the Lakers had learned their lesson from trading Shaq in haste, realizing that even under calm circumstances NBA teams never get better by trading superstars.
"I probably thought like everybody else, they were going to have to trade him," said Nico Harrison, a Nike director of sports marketing who works closely with Bryant. "To Mitch's credit, they didn't. I also thought it would be tough trading Kobe, to make it work, the basketball business side. How do you get value? Even though they might have to, I thought it would be difficult. How many players add up to Kobe? How do you pack the stadium in Los Angeles without Kobe?"
In NBA circles, the further you got away from the epicenter of the Kobe story, the less people believed he would be traded. It just didn't make sense for the Lakers, not with Bryant's opt-out clause still two seasons away.
Likewise, for Bryant, skipping out on the season or even training camp wasn't a viable option. If he did that, he would lose his greatest asset in the minds of the public. As Harrison said, "Whether you didn't like him or you did like him, after a while, he kind of wins you over because you see his dedication every time he laces them up."
You can't win anything if you don't play. You also won't make a good salesman for the shoe company that stood by you through everything. So Bryant would have to find a way to make it with the Lakers, just as they had to find a way to make it work with him.
As a phenomenon, this was no more remarkable than bringing back Phil Jackson a year after they separated and Jackson put out a book spilling the organization's backstage conflicts (including his "psychological war" with Bryant and his desire to trade him). No longer at the top of the league, the Lakers needed the buzz of a big-name hire, and there was none bigger than Jackson. Jackson knew the Lakers would never be hopeless as long as they had Bryant.
Bryant had to realize that Jackson and his triangle offense (which gives him more space and freedom from double-teams) were the best fit for him, and is adhering to the offense more than ever.
"He's always embraced it from the standpoint of liking it," said Tex Winter, the offense's creator. "But oftentimes he's been impulsive and hasn't stayed with the principles of the offense. He has a lot more faith in his teammates now."
Bryant has said he has more trust in Jackson now, values his advice more, and has gone so far as to say he plays to please him. Jackson said he and Bryant have a "syncing of the minds."
In retrospect, none of this should come as a surprise. Look at the natural order of things and go with the path that fits. Dollars over egos, winning over personal pride.
Lakers fans need Bryant to make their emotional and financial investment worthwhile. Bryant needs a successful team to achieve his goals, and it would make the story better if he stays in the same uniform. The Lakers need Bryant to make them viable and valuable. The league needs the Lakers to drive TV ratings.
There are still targets for everyone involved. The Lakers are three championships away from overtaking Boston's league mark of 16. Jackson needs another coaching championship to break free from his tie with Celtics legend Red Auerbach (each has nine). Bryant is four rings away from topping Michael Jordan's total.
Inevitably there will be more drama along the way. Always is when Bryant's involved. But now we're all up to speed on why the past went like it did. All that's left is how the future story will be told.
"I told him the other day, when he got the MVP, that was the saga," Lakers assistant Craig Hodges said. "And now we're in the legacy."

Fiendin' for a ring: By Scoop Jackson

2008-06-04T19:40:00.000-04:00

There's a term used in the community called "thirsty."
It means what you think it means, but it's now being used in different contexts. Only to make a point of the extremes to which some people will go to get what they want. More severely, what they need.
Kobe Bryant, for lack of more sophisticated terminology, is thirsty.
His thirst for another NBA title is that of an amplitude we may not have ever seen before. Not in sports, business, crime, corruption or politics. Keeping it community: He's thirsty like a fiend.

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Kobe Bryant needs to win a title without Shaq.Now I understand how Bill Maher it is to use a dependency as an analogy to describe Kobe's mental range, scope and capacity and how wrong it probably is to compare "the greatest player of his generation" (as TNT labeled him to promote the Western Conference finals) to Ashy Larry or Bubbles, but it fits. Like disloyalty and Scott McClellan. In technical terms, Kobe is an obligate anti-carnivore.
This thirst -- whether he admits or denies or realizes it -- comes from a needing to do this without Shaquille O'Neal. It's a needing to come as close to Jordan and Jordan's legacy as any other basketball player alive right now … and maybe in the future. It's a needing to prove to himself what he's known and told himself ever since he challenged Brian Shaw to play one-on-one at age 11.
Redemption, chip on his shoulder, edge, anger. None apply. There's a fiend-like component inside Kobe that exceeds all of the above labels that no athlete in any other sport possesses, and the closer he gets to attaining another championship ring, the more impossible it is going to be for anyone -- or any one team -- to deny him. His want has gone into an almost dependence stage of validation, of recognition, of being the last man standing. There is no player or collection of players on Boston's squad -- no player(s) on any team that the Lakers have faced throughout the playoffs, no entire 12-man roster in the league, to be honest -- that can match his need to win this championship.
A compulsion to prove to himself -- and us -- that he's been right all along is what's at the center of this. Right that he's not a bad guy, a prima donna, arrogant, aloof or antisocial. Right that he is engaging and personable. Right that he might be the best basketball player your kids will ever see. Just as he was right about publicly forcing the Lakers to make some roster moves, in every fabric of his being he has to be right about how he sees himself and what he sees himself as. Even though he said in the ESPN Sunday Conversation that he was comfortable being the No. 2 guy while winning rings with Shaq, and in so many words to please stop the Jordan comparisons because there will never be another ("He's a different person … the greatest ever … let me do me …. Thank you!"), those who have watched his evolution -- his ascendance -- know better. He tries to cover it up in interviews and private conversations, but once he gets in "black" Jack Bauer mode it becomes clear as Claritin. He's on something extra. Something that once he calls it quits about five years and three more rings from now, he's going to need some serious form of detox to get out of his system.
[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Does this look like the face of a man who will let anything get between him and the championship?To everyone else, this is about basketball. To him … this is about survival. His.
It's the life of a fiend. Trapped inside the shell of a basketball player who almost had the game taken from him. The fact that he could have been responsible for not being able to show the world this stage of his life probably still eats at his mind. It might be what ultimately drives him. Maybe it's something deeper, something that revealed itself at birth. Who knows? And the beauty, he'll never -- not even in Spike Lee's documentary about him -- be the one to tell.
The Celtics are thirsty for that ring, too, but they aren't dying of thirst. Which essentially is the difference between Kobe and them -- maybe Kobe and maybe all other human beings. And until KG, Truth and Jesus (anyone: Tiger, Roger, Peyton, LeBron, Kimbo, etc.) can equate death with what it will mean to not win a championship on these terms, until they can make themselves believe -- as Kobe has -- that their survival depends on getting this ring, then their collective and collaborative effort may not be enough.
Winning is the difference between a mission and an addiction. The Celtics are on a season-long mission against a dude that for the last five years has forced an addiction on himself to win. Winning substantiates this dude. It eliminates every doubt that may have somehow crept into his überconfident mind about his ability to carry and lead a team at the highest level of this sport. He has tasted something his competition (outside of Sam Cassell and James Posey) has never tasted, is hooked on something they've yet to sample. Addiction does not come by osmosis, whether it's meth, crack, coke, chocolate, caffeine, nicotine, sex, gambling, drinking or body art. To feel what it feels like to want to experience that same feeling again, you would have had to have it in your system before. The power of that feeling always makes those who reach that level of necessity more powerful than those who wish they knew what it felt like.
Kobe has that feeling. The others don't. And he is still thirsty.
As those who are close to the game and those who still hate him despite what he's done since the playoffs started will testify, you can't beat a fiend at his own game when his game is basketball and basketball is all he has.
Which leaves only one thing left that Kobe Bryant can do: Obey his thirst.

With the past behind him, Kobe has peace in the present: By Stephen A. Smith

2008-06-04T19:33:00.000-04:00

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Just 11 hours after capturing the first Western Conference championship of his own -- not the ones he shared while playing Robin to Shaquille O'Neal's Batman from 2000 to 2002 -- Kobe Bryant sauntered into the posh Island Hotel wearing a sleeveless gym shirt, a champion's swagger and a smile that had "I told ya'll" written all over it.
Bryant stood just four wins away from capturing his fourth world title, from emphatically cementing his legacy as one of the greatest hoopsters ever. But of equal significance: his knowledge that regardless of how his Los Angeles Lakers fare against the Boston Celtics, the criticisms and questions have officially come to an end.
Shaq's sidekick? Over.
Too selfish to lead? Please.
The game's best player? Without a doubt!
A champion once again? That's the plan.
"It's been a long, hard road," Bryant said, a day after his 39-point performance helped close out the San Antonio Spurs in five games and nearly a year to the day after demanding to be traded.
"The Spurs are tough, man. They definitely didn't make it any easier. But I guess for me, it's supposed to be that way. I guess I wouldn't have appreciated where I'm at right now as much as I do if I didn't have to endure all the things I endured.
"We've still got work to do, unfinished business to handle. But I'm not going to lie. This feels sweet right now. Real sweet."
It should.
It's one thing to win. It's another thing entirely to do it after overcoming an offseason of discontent in which you asked to leave Los Angeles, a request fueled by your concerns about getting older, your teammates' talent and your fractured relationship with the Lakers, who -- in your eyes -- lied to you about rebuilding this franchise and left you hanging as the scapegoat in the aftermath of Shaq's departure.
Bryant is quick to say, "That's the past now. I don't even talk or think about that stuff anymore."
[+] Enlarge

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images
Gary Payton and Karl Malone didn't work out in LA, but Mitch Kupchak has since delivered Pau Gasol.
The fact is, far too many of us still do.
It's time for us all to move on, too.
Last May, when Bryant said the Lakers weren't doing a thing to help him, he was right. Prior to this season, the only thing GM Mitch Kupchak had to show for all his team-building efforts was a pair of former superstars, Karl Malone and Gary Payton, whose declining skills were just enough to help the Lakers make an appearance in the Finals in 2004. Presently retired, they now await their inductions into the Hall of Fame.
Once Shaq split for South Beach, the L.A. story centered on Kobe Bryant's pounding the hardwood as a virtual solo act, being vilified and accused of everything from sexual assault to selfishness.
The hits kept coming: Shaq raised questions about Bryant's involvement in his departure … and the Lakers lost games. A book authored by Phil Jackson labeled Bryant "uncoachable" … and the Lakers lost more games. Shaq won a championship in Miami, but Bryant, despite all of his greatness as a player, became a modern-day pariah on and off the court, stigmatized as someone who surrendered the wealth of future championships for the glory of individual scoring titles (two).
And then this season arrived. As did Pau Gasol.
"Like I said, that's all in the past now," Bryant said. "The fact is, regardless of anything, I didn't like the direction we were going in. But it's also a fact that Mitch Kupchak did a great job getting Pau Gasol here.
"My teammates have done a great job of elevating their games. I shouldn't even call them teammates. We're like brothers because we're all that close. So nothing else matters right now. The past is the past."
Can't blame Bryant for focusing on the present one bit. After years of being maligned -- even being booed at the Lakers' home opener this season -- he averaged 28.3 points, locked up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, captured league MVP honors, catapulted the Lakers to the NBA Finals, shut up the naysayers and resurrected a once-pristine image.
"He's the leader on this team," Bryant's backcourt mate, Derek Fisher said recently. "To see the growth, the maturation, that's taken place over the last few years is something special to witness. He's come a long way."
Call it redemption. But redemption isn't a word you'll ever hear come out of Bryant's mouth.
To admit such a thing would be to acknowledge that he fell from grace. That he manufactured the disintegration of a dynasty, leading to those three miserable seasons in which the Lakers, second to only the Celtics in championship trophies, were reduced to mere spectators.
As far as Bryant is concerned, none of us knows the whole truth, and we're not about to. At least not from him.
"It's called moving forward, bro," Bryant declares. "That's what I'm doing. Life is so beautiful right now."
Perhaps Bryant won't look back because he doesn't have to. His plan is to let his game make the only historical statement that matters.
"He should," said Shaquille O'Neal, reaching out to offer a few words about Bryant this past weekend. "He's been great all year. He was great in the playoffs and he's showing everyone what he's made of. He's on the verge of being the latest great one with four rings.
"He's come a long way. All I can say is, I'm happy for him. And I'm proud of him."
Stephen A. Smith is a columnist for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine.

Who's the greatest? I know who I would choose...

2008-06-03T18:26:00.002-04:00

Over the years, Michael Jordan comparisons have been as frequent as Shaquille O’Neal misses at the free throw line. It seems every Tom, Dick, Harry and Kobe who comes along inspires the old, “Is he the next Jordan?” cacophony. It’s almost as if people weren’t happy enough with the first Jordan, so they embark on a crusade to find a new one.
There is no “next Jordan.” There is, and always will be, just one. He won six championships. He was a middling outfielder in double A. He yelled at Kwame Brown a lot.
But what about Jordan’s title of “Greatest Player Ever”? Is that up for debate? Time marches on, and memories fade. All of a sudden, Jordan’s accomplishments are but a dim memory, trotted out occasionally in highlight form, while present-day hot shots vie to fill his hallowed high tops. It’s hard to say at this moment in history that Kobe Bryant has supplanted Jordan as “The Greatest Player Ever,” for a variety of reasons. Yet would it be sacrilege to suggest that, if the guy leads these Los Angeles Lakers past the Boston Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals, he at least belongs in the discussion?
Would that be hardwood heresy?
I think not.
Right now, Jordan’s grip on the moniker is secure, despite the passage of time as well as a failure of stewardship with the Washington Wizards and a “The jury is still out, but leaning toward conviction” stint with the Charlotte Bobcats.
The man led the Chicago Bulls to six championships. He was impossible to guard. His game matured with each passing season. He set a standard of excellence in practice that kept his teammates from settling for less. And he was as clutch a performer as there ever has been.
Yes, his legend was enhanced greatly by the marketing campaigns that hitched a ride on his basketball star. He certainly was a brand unto himself, and the advertising of his shoes served to trumpet the individual as well.
But he’s still The Man among the basketball cognoscenti. His reputation as a player has staying power. Kobe’s case to be included as a candidate is complicated. It involves basketball and personal issues. There are probably as many character witnesses in his corner as there are detractors. And much of the anti-Kobe sentiment is the result of his own actions and behavior.
In hoop terms, Bryant is probably as spectacular in every phase of the game as Jordan ever was. He can drive to the hoop in the most daunting of circumstances and finish with the same acrobatic flourish as the former Bulls’ star. He can nail outside shots under duress, with the final seconds of a game ticking away and his team behind, and like Jordan he does so as if he’s playing HORSE in the backyard.

After a long struggle with questionable basketball judgment, he is finally making the kinds of decisions that Jordan used to make. Kobe rarely makes a dumb play these days, and this season he almost never has gone one-against-three when there are open teammates waiting for the ball. He’s a tenacious defender and a great leader.
Kobe has a lot more baggage. The days feuding with Shaq. The Colorado incident. The occasional tantrums. The scheme to have owner Jerry Buss cowtow to his every whim before he would sign a new contract. And, of course, the “Trade me” tirade of last spring.
But really, none of that works against him as much as this:
Jordan has six rings. Kobe only has three.

The Willie Lynch Letter

2008-04-25T13:42:00.001-04:00

"Gentlemen. I greet you here on the bank of the James River in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twelve. First, I shall thank you, the gentlemen of the Colony of Virginia, for bringing me here. I am here to help you solve some of your problems with slaves. Your invitation reached me on my modest plantation in the West Indies, where I have experimented with some of the newest and still the oldest methods for control of slaves. Ancient Rome's would envy us if my program is implemented. As our boat sailed south on the James River, named for our illustrious King, whose version of the Bible we Cherish, I saw enough to know that your problem is not unique. While Rome used cords of wood as crosses for standing human bodies along its highways in great numbers, you are here using the tree and the rope on occasions. I caught the whiff of a dead slave hanging from a tree, a couple miles back. You are not only losing valuable stock by hangings, you are having uprisings, slaves are running away, your crops are sometimes left in the fields too long for maximum profit, You suffer occasional fires, your animals are killed. Gentlemen, you know what your problems are; I do not need to elaborate. I am not here to enumerate your problems, I am here to introduce you to a method of solving them. In my bag here, I HAVE A FULL PROOF METHOD FOR CONTROLLING YOUR BLACK SLAVES. I guarantee every one of you that if installed correctly IT WILL CONTROL THE SLAVES FOR AT LEAST 300 HUNDREDS YEARS. My method is simple. Any member of your family or your overseer can use it. I HAVE OUTLINED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENCES AMONG THE SLAVES; AND I TAKE THESE DIFFERENCES AND MAKE THEM BIGGER. I USE FEAR, DISTRUST AND ENVY FOR CONTROL PURPOSES. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies and it will work throughout the South. Take this simple little list of differences and think about them. On top of my list is "AGE" but it's there only because it starts with an "A." The second is "COLOR" or shade, there is INTELLIGENCE, SIZE, SEX, SIZES OF PLANTATIONS, STATUS on plantations, ATTITUDE of owners, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, East, West, North, South, have fine hair, course hair, or is tall or short. Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you a outline of action, but before that, I shall assure you that DISTRUST IS STRONGER THAN TRUST AND ENVY STRONGER THAN ADULATION, RESPECT OR ADMIRATION. The Black slaves after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self refueling and self generating for HUNDREDS of years, maybe THOUSANDS. Don't forget you must pitch the OLD black Male vs. the YOUNG black Male, and the YOUNG black Male against the OLD black male. You must use the DARK skin slaves vs. the LIGHT skin slaves, and the LIGHT skin slaves vs. the DARK skin slaves. You must use the FEMALE vs. the MALE. And the MALE vs. the FEMALE. You must also have you white servants and over- seers distrust all Blacks. But it is NECESSARY THAT YOUR SLAVES TRUST AND DEPEND ON US. THEY MUST LOVE, RESPECT AND TRUST ONLY US. Gentlemen, these kits are your keys to control. Use them. Have your wives and children use them, never miss an opportunity. IF USED INTENSELY FOR ONE YEAR, THE SLAVES THEMSELVES WILL REMAIN PERPETUALLY DISTRUSTFUL. Thank you gentlemen."LET'S MAKE A SLAVEIt was the interest and business of slave holders to study human nature, and the slave nature in particular, with a view to practical results. I and many of them attained astonishing proficiency in this direction. They had to deal not with earth, wood and stone, but with men and by every regard they had for their own safety and prosperity they needed to know the material on which they were to work. Conscious of the injustice and wrong they were every hour perpetuating and knowing what they themselves would do. Were they the victims of such wrongs? They were constantly looking for the first signs of the dreaded retribution. They watched, therefore with skilled and practiced eyes, and learned to read with great accuracy, the state of mind and heart of the slave, through his sable face. Unusual sobriety, apparent abstractions, sullenness and indifference indeed, any mood out of the common was afforded ground for suspicion and inquiry. Frederick Douglas LET'S MAKE A SLAVE is a study of the scientific process of man breaking and slave making. It describes the rationale and results of the Anglo Saxons' ideas and methods of insuring the master/slave relationship. LET'S MAKE A SLAVE "The Original and Development of a Social Being Called "The Negro." Let us make a slave. What do we need? First of all we need a black n-word man, a pregnant n-word woman and her baby n-word boy. Second, we will use the same basic principle that we use in breaking a horse, combined with some more sustaining factors. What we do with horses is that we break them from one form of life to another that is we reduce them from their natural state in nature. Whereas nature provides them with the natural capacity to take care of their offspring, we break that natural string of independence from them and thereby create a dependency status, so that we may be able to get from them useful production for our business and pleasureCARDINAL PRINCIPLESFOR MAKING A NEGROFor fear that our future Generations may not understand the principles of breaking both of the beast together, the n-word and the horse. We understand that short range planning economics results in periodic economic chaos; so that to avoid turmoil in the economy, it requires us to have breath and depth in long range comprehensive planning, articulating both skill sharp perceptions. We lay down the following principles for long range comprehensive economic planning. Both horse and n-words is no good to the economy in the wild or natural state. Both must be BROKEN and TIED together for orderly production. For orderly future, special and particular attention must be paid to the FEMALE and the YOUNGEST offspring. Both must be CROSSBRED to produce a variety and division of labor. Both must be taught to respond to a peculiar new LANGUAGE. Psychological and physical instruction of CONTAINMENT must be created for both. We hold the six cardinal principles as truth to be self evident, based upon the following the discourse concerning the economics of breaking and tying the horse and the n-word together, all inclusive of the six principles laid down about. NOTE: Neither principle alone will suffice for good economics. All principles must be employed for orderly good of the nation. Accordingly, both a wild horse and a wild or nature n-word is dangerous even if captured, for they will have the tendency to seek their customary freedom, and in doing so, might kill you in your sleep. You cannot rest. They sleep while you are awake, and are awake while you are asleep. They are DANGEROUS near the family house and it requires too much labor to watch them away from the house. Above all, you cannot get them to work in this natural state. Hence both the horse and the n-word must be broken; that is breaking them from one form of mental life to another. KEEP THE BODY TAKE THE MIND! In other words break the will to resist. Now the breaking process is the same for both the horse and the n-word, only slightly varying in degrees. But as we said before, there is an art in long range economic planning. YOU MUST KEEP YOUR EYE AND THOUGHTS ON THE FEMALE and the OFFSPRING of the horse and the n-word. A brief discourse in offspring development will shed light on the key to sound economic principles. Pay little attention to the generation of original breaking, but CONCENTRATE ON FUTURE GENERATION. Therefore, if you break the FEMALE mother, she will BREAK the offspring in its early years of development and when the offspring is old enough to work, she will deliver it up to you, for her normal female protective tendencies will have been lost in the original breaking process. For example take the case of the wild stud horse, a female horse and an already infant horse and compare the breaking process with two captured n-word males in their natural state, a pregnant n-word woman with her infant offspring. Take the stud horse, break him for limited containment. Completely break the female horse until she becomes very gentle, where as you or anybody can ride her in her comfort. Breed the mare and the stud until you have the desired offspring. Then you can turn the stud to freedom until you need him again. Train the female horse where by she will eat out of your hand, and she will in turn train the infant horse to eat out of your hand also. When it comes to breaking the uncivilized n-word, use the same process, but vary the degree and step up the pressure, so as to do a complete reversal of the mind. Take the meanest and most restless n-word, strip him of his clothes in front of the remaining male n-words, the female, and the n-word infant, tar and feather him, tie each leg to a different horse faced in opposite directions, set him a fire and beat both horses to pull him apart in front of the remaining n-word. The next step is to take a bull whip and beat the remaining n-word male to the point of death, in front of the female and the infant. Don't kill him, but PUT THE FEAR OF GOD IN HIM,for he can be useful for future breeding.THE BREAKING PROCESSOF THE AFRICAN WOMANTake the female and run a series of tests on her to see if she will submit to yourdesires willingly. Test her in every way, because she is the most important factor for good economics. If she shows any sign of resistance in submitting completely to your will, do not hesitate to use the bull whip on her to extract that last bit of b-word out of her. Take care not to kill her, for in doing so, you spoil good economic. When in complete submission, she will train her off springs in the early years to submit to labor when the become of age. Understanding is the best thing. Therefore, we shall go deeper into this area of the subject matter concerning what we have produced here in this breaking process of the female n-word. We have reversed the relationship in her natural uncivilized state she would have a strong dependency on the uncivilized n-word male, and she would have a limited protective tendency toward her independent male offspring and would raise male off springs to be dependent like her. Nature had provided for this type of balance. We reversed nature by burning and pulling a civilized n-word apart and bull whipping the other to the point of death, all in her presence. By her being left alone, unprotected, with the MALE IMAGE DESTROYED, the ordeal caused her to move from her psychological dependent state to a frozen independent state. In this frozen psychological state of independence, she will raise her MALE and female offspring in reversed roles. For FEAR of the young males life she will psychologically train him to be MENTALLY WEAK and DEPENDENT, but PHYSICALLY STRONG. Because she has become psychologically independent, she will train her FEMALE off springs to be psychological independent. What have you got? You've got the N-WORD WOMAN OUT FRONT AND THE N-WORD MAN BEHIND AND SCARED. This is a perfect situation of sound sleep and economic. Before the breaking process, we had to be alertly on guard at all times. Now we can sleep soundly, for out of frozen fear his woman stands guard for us. He cannot get past her early slave molding process. He is a good tool, now ready to be tied to the horse at a tender age. By the time a n-word boy reaches the age of sixteen, he is soundly broken in and ready for a long life of sound and efficient work and the reproduction of a unit of good labor force. Continually through the breaking of uncivilized savage n-word, by throwing the n-word female savage into a frozen psychological state of independence, by killing of the protective male image, and by creating a submissive dependent mind of the n-word male slave, we have created an orbiting cycle that turns on its own axis forever, unless a phenomenon occurs and re shifts the position of the male and female slaves. We show what we mean by example. Take the case of the two economic slave units and examine them closeTHE NEGRO MARRIAGEUNITWe breed two n-word males with two n-word females. Then we take the n-word male away from them and keep them moving and working. Say one n-word female bears a n-word female and the other bears a n-word male. Both n-word females being without influence of the n-word male image, frozen with a independent psychology, will raise their offspring into reverse positions. The one with the female offspring will teach her to be like herself, independent and negotiable (we negotiate with her, through her, by her, negotiates her at will). The one with the n-word male offspring, she being frozen subconscious fear for his life, will raise him to be mentally dependent and weak, but physically strong, in other words, body over mind. Now in a few years when these two offspring's become fertile for early reproduction we will mate and breed them and continue the cycle. That is good, sound, and long range comprehensive planning. WARNING: POSSIBLE INTERLOPING NEGATIVES Earlier we talked about the non economic good of the horse and the n-word in their wild or natural state; we talked out the principle of breaking and tying them together for orderly production. Furthermore, we talked about paying particular attention to the female savage and her offspring for orderly future planning, then more recently we stated that, by reversing the positions of the male and female savages, we created an orbiting cycle that turns on its own axis forever unless a phenomenon occurred and resift and positions of the male and female savages. Our experts warned us about the possibility of this phenomenon occurring, for they say that the mind has a strong drive to correct and re-correct itself over a period of time if I can touch some substantial original historical base, and they advised us that the best way to deal with the phenomenon is to shave off the brute's mental history and create a multiplicity of phenomena of illusions, so that each illusion will twirl in its own orbit, something similar to floating balls in a vacuum. This creation of multiplicity of phenomena of illusions entails the principle of crossbreeding the n-word and the horse as we stated above, the purpose of which is to create a diversified division of labor thereby creating different levels of labor and different values of illusion at each connecting level of labor. The results of which is the severance of the points of original beginnings for each sphere illusion. Since we feel that the subject matter may get more complicated as we proceed in laying down our economic plan concerning the purpose, reason and effect of crossbreeding horses and n-word, we shall lay down the following definition terms for future generations. Orbiting cycle means a thing turning in a given path. Axis means upon which or around which a body turns. Phenomenon means something beyond ordinary conception and inspires awe and wonder. Multiplicity means a great number. Means a globe. Cross breeding a horse means taking a horse and breeding it with an ass and you get a dumb backward ass long headed mule that is not reproductive nor productive by itself. Crossbreeding n-words mean taking so many drops of good white blood and putting them into as many n-word women as possible, varying the drops by the various tone that you want, and then letting them breed with each other until another circle of color appears as you desire. What this means is this; Put the n-words and the horse in a breeding pot, mix some assess and some good white blood and what do you get? You got a multiplicity of colors of ass backward, unusual n-words, running, tied to a backward ass long headed mules, the one productive of itself, the other sterile. (The one constant, the other dying, we keep the n-word constant for we may replace the mules for another tool) both mule and n-word tied to each other, neither knowing where the other came from and neither productive for itself, nor without each other.CONTROLLED LANGUAGECrossbreeding completed, for further severance from their original beginning, WEMUST COMPLETELY ANNIHILATE THE MOTHER TONGUE of both the new n-word and the new mule and institute a new language that involves the new life's work of both. You know language is a peculiar institution. It leads to the heart of a people. The more a foreigner knows about the language of another country the more he is able to move through all levels of that society. Therefore, if the foreigner is an enemy of the country, to the extent that he knows the body of the language, to that extent is the country vulnerable to attack or invasion of a foreign culture. For example, if you take a slave, if you teach him all about your language, he will know all your secrets, and he is then no more a slave, for you can't fool him any longer, and BEING A FOOL IS ONE OF THE BASIC INGREDIENTS OF AN INCIDENTS TO THE MAINTENANCE OF THE SLAVERY SYSTEM. For example, if you told a slave that he must perform in getting out "our crops" and he knows the language well, he would know that "our crops" didn't mean "our crops" and the slavery system would break down, for he would relate on the basis of what "our crops" really meant. So you have to be careful in setting up the new language for the slaves would soon be in your house, talking to you as "man to man" and that is death to our economic system. In addition, the definitions of words or terms are only a minute part of the process. Values are created and transported by communication through the body of the language. A total society has many interconnected value system. All the values in the society have bridges of language to connect them for orderly working in the society. But for these language bridges, these many value systems would sharply clash and cause internal strife or civil war, the degree of the conflict being determined by the magnitude of the issues or relative opposing strength in whatever form. For example, if you put a slave in a hog pen and train him to live there and incorporate in him to value it as a way of life completely, the biggest problem you would have out of him is that he would worry you about provisions to keep the hog pen clean, or the same hog pen and make a slip and incorporate something in his language where by he comes to value a house more than he does his hog pen, you got a problem. He will soon be in your house. (Additional Note: = "Henty Berry, speaking in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1832, described the situation as it existed in many parts of the South at this time: "We have, as far as possible, closed every avenue by which light may enter their (the slaves) minds. If we could extinguish the capacity to see the light, our work would be complete; they would then be on a level with the beasts of the field and we should be safe. I am not certain that we would not do it, if we could find out the process and that on the plea of necessity."

2008-04-15T12:43:00.001-04:00

Testing one to three

Bryant shouldn’t have to wait anymore for MVP By Adrian Wojnarowski

2008-04-12T23:38:00.001-04:00

Kobe Bryant hasn’t always been the best person, the best teammate, the best ambassador for the National Basketball Association. This is the reason so many voters are searching for someone else to vote Most Valuable Player. For this, Bryant can blame himself. This is the price paid for petulance.
Still, Bryant is an MVP. He’s been the best player, a three-time champion and voters must ask themselves: If I don’t vote for him this year, what will it ever take? His talent, his accomplishments, his place in history, command multiple MVPs. This has been a season when everything has come together to make his candidacy unimpeachable.
His time, his trophy.
“You can’t just continue to take what Kobe is doing for granted,” Pistons president and Hall of Famer Joe Dumars said. “The guy is one of the truly great players and he should be recognized as such.”
No one needs historical context to make the case for Bryant this year. His season stands on its own. At 29, this isn’t a lifetime achievement award. Kobe is still the best of the best. MVPs, however, are never won overnight in the NBA. Mostly, it takes constructing credibility over the years. He’s been so great, for so long that Dumars is right: People do take him for granted.
As Mark Heisler’s informal poll in the Los Angeles Times showed, the MVP race appears to be down to Bryant and New Orleans point guard Chris Paul. Someday, Paul is going to be an MVP, a champion. He has saved basketball in New Orleans, passing Steve Nash and Jason Kidd as the best point guard on the planet. There isn’t a player in the league that I love more to talk with, that I love more to watch play, than Paul.
Yet, he will have to go No. 2 on my ballot. He hasn’t been first-team All-NBA. He still hasn’t played in the postseason. His time is coming, and coming fast, but there’s time for Paul. Before Paul and LeBron James and maybe Dwyane Wade are 29 years old, they’ll probably have MVP trophies. Bryant’s wait has been long enough.

Those who believe in Bryant’s greatness are forever ripping the voting process, saying it’s a joke that he’ll never been named MVP. Normally, they don’t tell you what year that should’ve happened, who should’ve lost out. Once Tim Duncan had won his two MVP awards, Nash and Dirk Nowitzki were winning, the Lakers losing, and Bryant lost three straight times in his prime. In those years, the mediocre Laker teams crushed his candidacy.
Always, it was this: In the post-Shaq era, Bryant had to be playing for a contender. This was the voter’s mandate. As much as anything, Nowitzki was the best player on the 67-win Mavericks a year ago and it was declared his window, his time. To hear people say that they want to hold off voting to see who finishes the Western Conference with the better record – New Orleans or Los Angeles – is missing the point here.
Bryant doesn’t need the Lakers to finish with the best record in the regular season. When the Lakers are together, yes, they are the most talented team in the NBA. Only, they haven’t been together this season. The Lakers are still fighting for the No. 1 seed with Andrew Bynum out since the middle of January and Pau Gasol arriving in February and missing nine games in March.
The idea that an MVP has to do more with less is nonsense. For coach of the year, it’s a fairer argument. When Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were winning MVPs in the 1980s, who held their rosters against them?
No one ever made Nash reach a conference final – never mind win a title – to give him his first MVP. He came on late in his career to transform himself, but that was never necessary with Bryant. At 29, he’s been great for most of a decade. He’s paid his price for petulance. Joe Dumars is right: No more taking Bryant for granted.
His time, his trophy.

Federal Judge forbids

2008-04-08T08:19:00.000-04:00

Federal Judge forbids Poor Black mothers from naming their own children After Judge Cabrera's historic ruling, little Clitoria Jackson will likely undergo a name change. ( DETROIT ) In a decision that's expected to send shockwaves through the African-American community-and yet, give much relief to teachers everywhere-a federal judge ruled today that black women no longer have independent naming rights for their children. Too many black children-and many adults-bear names that border on not even being words, he said. "I am simply tired of these ridiculous names black women are giving their children," said U.S. Federal Judge Ryan Cabrera before rendering his decision. "Someone had to put a stop to it." The rule applies to all black women, but Cabrera singled out impoverished mothers. "They are the worst perpetrators," he said. "They put in apostrophes where none are needed. They think a 'Q' is a must. There was a time when Shaniqua and Tawanda were names you dreaded. Now, if you're a black girl, you hope you get a name as sensible as one of those." Few stepped forward to defend black women-and black women themselves seemed relieved. "It's so hard to keep coming up with something unique," said Uneeqqi Jenkins, 22, an African-American mother of seven who survives on public assistance. Her children are named Daryl, Q'Antity, Uhlleejsha, Cray-Ig, Fellisittee, Tay'Sh'awn and Day'Shawndra. Beginning in one week, at least three white people must agree with the name before a black mother can name her child. "Hopefully we can see a lot more black children with sensible names like Jake and Connor," Cabrera said. His ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by a 13-year-old girl whose mother created her name using Incan hieroglyphics. "She said it would make me stand out," said the girl, whose name can't be reproduced by The Peoples News' technology. "But it's really just stupid." The National Association of Elementary School Teachers celebrated Cabrera's decision. "Oh my God, the first day of school you'd be standing there sweating, looking at the list of names wondering 'How do I pronounce Q'J'Q'Sha.'?" said Joyce Harmon, NAEST spokeswoman. "Is this even English?" The practice of giving black children outlandish names began in the 1960s, when blacks were getting in touch with their African roots, said historian Corlione Vest. But even he admits it got out of hand. "I have a niece who's six. I'm embarrassed to say I can't even pronounce her name," said Vest, a professor at Princeton University . "Whenever I want to talk to her, I just wait until she looks at me and then I wave her over."

The Strecker Memorandum

2008-03-23T18:24:00.001-04:00

THE STRECKER MEMORANDUM

Thank you for requesting this information. We have a story to tell you, a very strange story, one that affects you, me, and every of the human being on earth. A story that must be taken seriously by the governments of every nation in the world because there may not be many humans left to govern by the turn of the century, or shortly thereafter. A story so bizarre, and so sinister that, if it were not for the fact that it is all true, it would make a great science fiction thriller. (Interestingly enough, Lorimar Pictures of Hollywood has purchased the rights to Dr. Strecker's life story.) The story begins in 1983 with Dr. Robert B. Strecker, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Strecker practises internal medicine and gastroenterology in Los Angeles. He is a trained pathologist and also holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology. Dr. Strecker and his brother, Ted, an attorney, were preparing a proposal for a health maintenance organisation (HMO) for Security Pacific Bank of California. They needed to know the long-term financial effects of insuring and treating AIDS patients. In as much as this information was not readily available in 1983, both brothers began researching the medical literature to learn what they could about this relatively new disease. The information they uncovered right from the beginning was so startling to them, so hard to believe, that it would dramatically alter both their lives and lead them on a five year quest culminating with the creation of "The Strecker Memorandum," the most controversial video tape of our time, and a remarkable set of documents called "The Bioattack Alert." WHAT THEY DISCOVERED Right there in the medical literature for anyone to read for themselves was, basically, proof that the AIDS virus and pandemic was actually PREDICTED years ago by a world famous virologist, among others. They found that top scientists writing in the Bulletin of the World Health Organisation (WHO) were actually REQUESTING that AIDS -- like viruses be created to study the effects on humans. In fact, the Streckers unearthed thousands of documents all supporting the man-made origin of AIDS. Meanwhile, the government was telling everyone that a green monkey in Africa bit some native and started AIDS. As their research continued, it became obvious from the documentation that the virus itself was not only created as requested, but actually DEPLOYED, and now threatens the existence of mankind because it does what it was designed to do: cause cancer in humans via a contagious virus. Eventually the Streckers came to realize everything the government, the so-called AIDS experts and media were telling the public was not only misleading, but out and out lies. The truth of the matter is: AIDS is a man-made disease; AIDS is not a homosexual disease; AIDS is not a venereal disease; AIDS can be carried by mosquitoes; Condoms will not prevent AIDS; There are a least six different AIDS viruses loose in the world; There will never be a vaccine cure; And on and on, but... THE SCARIEST PART The most dreaded fear that all Oncologists (cancer doctors), Virologists, and Immunologists live with is that some day CANCER, in one form or another, will become a contagious disease, transferable from one person to another. AIDS has now made fear a reality. If you think you are safe because you are not gay or promiscuous, or because you are not sexually active, then you must watch "The Strecker very carefully. IF YOU PLAN TO HAVE SEX TONIGHT YOU SHOULD READ THIS The most common misconception being foisted upon us right now concerns sexually active Americans. We are told that if a man uses a condom the transference of the deadly virus is virtually eliminated. Nothing could be further from the truth. Of the body fluids that the AIDS virus is found in, semen is the least. As a matter of fact, in every single study ever published on the subject, no one has found a significant amount in anyone's semen. It just isn't there in huge numbers. There is usually only about one virus per millilitre, a statistically irrelevant amount. One copious ejaculation might produce only one or two viruses. This is substantiated in the medical literature. But, just for argument's sake, let's say all the medical studies are wrong. Let's pretend that there are countless millions of AIDS viruses in the ejaculation. Are you aware that condoms are riddled with microscopic or larger holes? Studies show that even the smallest holes found in condoms are two to ten times larger than the AIDS virus. It's like shooting a golf ball through a basketball hoop. Condoms have not, will not, and cannot prevent AIDS. THOUSANDS ALREADY DEAD Fifty thousand Americans have already died because they didn't know the truth about AIDS. Between twelve and fifteen million Americans have already been infected. One in 60 babies born in New York City is infected; one in 300 college students in America is infected; one in 20 aliens applying for amnesty is infected, including men, women and children. These are just some of the facts you are not likely to hear about from the media. WHY A VIDEO TAPE? One of the first things the Streckers did was to try and tell their medical and legal colleagues what they were finding in literature. Some were interested; most were not. Certainly no one was prepared to risk their professional standing by making waves within the establishment. Ted Strecker compiled some of the most damaging documents into a report he called "The Bioalert Attack" and sent it to every Governor of every state, the President, the VICE-PRESIDENT (now President), the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and selected members of Congress. He got a grand total of three replies from three governors; nothing from the government. Both he and Dr. Strecker were laughed at and ridiculed at every turn. As an example, Dr. Strecker told the government in 1985 that virtually every person testing positive for AIDS would die prematurely and painfully. The government said that was nonsense. Their figures showed that maybe ten percent at most would die from the disease. In 1986, the government said maybe 50 percept of those infected would die, in 1987 they said maybe 75 percent, in 1988 they finally agreed with Dr. Strecker that AIDS is virtually 100 percent fatal. We could go on with facts Dr. Strecker unearthed that the "experts" said were wrong and now accepted as the truth. Dr. Strecker, like a good scientist, submitted paper after paper with his findings to all the prestigious medical journals in America. They were refused. He then tried having his findings published in Europe. Again, closed doors. What to do? Dr. Strecker did not feel he could take the time from his practice and his research to write a book. On the other hand, everyone has a TV and now most households have a video cassette recorder (VCR). The time involved to make a video is nothing compared to writing a book, and so the video "The Strecker Memorandum" was created. It is 96 minutes of the most startling, controversial, and information packed video you will ever see. It disputes virtually everything the American public is being told by the government, the so-called AIDS experts and the media. In fact, after seeing it YOU will know more about AIDS than 99 percent of all doctors in America. MUSIC IS NOTHING IF THE AUDIENCE IS DEAF With the video made, it seemed a simple matter to advertise it and the world would now become aware of what it was facing, right? WRONG! The fact that you are even reading about "The Strecker Memorandum" now is a minor miracle by itself, in as much as TV stations have refused to advertise it. TV and radio time brokers that sell blocks of commercial time have refused to sell us time. TV station managers have refused to even air programs containing interviews with Dr. Strecker. A national radio network did an interview with a famous talk show host and Dr. Strecker and then refused to run it. Virtually every big name network television magazine show and all the syndicated TV interviewers and talk show hosts have said NO to Dr. Strecker. Big city newspapers will not take any print ads telling about it, and so it goes...WHY? What is in "The Strecker Memorandum" that sends a cold chill down the spine of most media executives? WHY IS EVERYONE AFRAID OF "THE STRECKER MEMORANDUM'? The excuse that we hear over and over is that it is too controversial. TOO CONTROVERSIAL? They say that this information, if widely disseminated, will cause the public to panic. If someone had poisoned your water supply and you and your family could die, wouldn't you want to know about it? Would you panic? Or would you more likely be outraged and try to find out who did it and punish them? We feel the only persons who might panic are those scientists who willingly or otherwise created AIDS and are now promoting misinformation by covering it up. After all, if you made AIDS would you tell anyone about it? THINK OF YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS . . . NOW THINK OF THEM DEAD The number of AIDS infected people is doubling approximately every 14 months, and in some areas even sooner. With twelve to fifteen million Americans carrying the virus, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see how long we have here in the U.S. Africa has, conservatively, 75 million infected; some estimates double that. Brazil as a country is in serious jeopardy because all through the 1970's they were buying their blood supply from Africa. On top of that, the World Health Organisation (WHO) conducted a large scale small pox vaccination program there in the 1970's (for the full implications of that see "The Strecker Memorandum"). Southern Japan has about 30 percent infected with HTLV I, the leukaemia causing virus (although you will never hear about that on TV). Russia is now reporting AIDS as a problem and no one can enter Russia permanently without a current negative blood test for AIDS. Cuba has already set up concentration camps for AIDS infected and they are full (you won't see that on TV either). Haiti of course is ravaged by AIDS; more than 15 percent of the people infected and getting worse every day. And so it goes. Virtually every nation on earth with few exceptions (Iran is one) is reporting a growing problem. It's on every continent, every subcontinent, and every island chain, Atlantic and Pacific. So why won't the media or government tell you these things? Is it too controversial for you to handle? Are you going to panic? IS THERE ANY HOPE? Yes and no. NO, if you are waiting for the government to create a magic bullet. As you will see in "The Strecker Memorandum," part of the problem is that all the various AIDS viruses are "recombinant retroviruses." Very simply, that means they have the ability to recombine with the genes of any cell they enter and the offspring or new viruses they form are different from the parent viruses. HTLV III alone (that's the most common American AIDS virus) has the mathematical ability to change itself 9,000x9,000x9,000x9000 times (which is 9,000 to the fourth power). The common cold recombines much less frequently and we haven't found a cure for it after a hundred years. Besides, does it make much sense to entrust the cure for AIDS to the same people that may have created it? YES, there is hope if Dr. Strecker and a growing number of realistic scientists are correct in looking at alternative, nonallopathic, non drug modalities based on Raman spectroscopy. In fact many experiments are going on now that offer great promise. Unfortunately, our government takes a dim view of any type of treatment for any type of disease let alone AIDS that does not conform to its rigid rules for acceptance, registration, and legalisation. of course the FDA would definitely like to see an allopathic drug treatment or cure presented by an ethical drug company or university. Well, we don't think that's going to happen. Because of this attitude, much experimentation in America must go underground, underfunded, or out of the country entirely. Again, this is explained further in "The Strecker Memorandum." BE BOLD AND MIGHTY FORCES WILL COME TO YOUR AID OR MIGHTY FORCES WILL COME AND KILL YOU An ominous personal aspect of this story has been the sudden and unexpected deaths of two of the key players. First, Dr. Strecker's brother, Ted Strecker, was found shot to death in his home in Springfield, Missouri, an apparent suicide, on August 11, 1988. Was Ted Strecker suicidal? Perhaps. In the past he suffered from depression and monumental frustration at the relative lack of interest in his findings. Dr. Strecker spoke with him the night before his death. Ted was cheerful, in good spirits, and looking forward to certain new developments that promised progress. The next day he was found dead, his 22 calibre rifle next to him. No note, no message, no goodbyes to anyone. Very untypical of him. officially a suicide. Next, Illinois State Representative Douglas Huff of Chicago was found alone in his home, dead from an apparent overdose of cocaine and heroin, on September 22, 1988. Representative Huff did everything in his power to make the Illinois State Legislature and the people of Chicago aware of Dr. Strecker's work. He was very vocal, gave many press interviews, was constantly on television and radio urging people to wake up to the cover-up concerning AIDS. Did Representative Huff use drugs? Perhaps yes, but only occasionally and recreationally. Was he an addict? No. Would he have known how dangerous a massive overdose off cocaine and heroin was? Yes, of course. Cause of death: officially a stroke. Dr. Strecker has serious doubts that his brother killed himself. Representative Huff's associates doubt he died accidentally, and yet they are gone. Who's next? IGNORANCE IS BLISS, OR IS IT SUICIDE? We all know it is easier for a king to have a lie believed than a beggar to spread the truth. Well, we are spreading the truth about AIDS. Unfortunately, it isn't pretty. But the fact is you are not being told the truth by the government or the so-called AIDS experts. The media, for reasons of their own, will not present information contradicting the official propaganda. So you can choose to go along with the same people who gave us brain cancer (SV-40 virus) as a result of their contaminated polio vaccines in the early 1960's; a polio like disease from their contaminated Swine Flu vaccine in the 1970's; and AIDS from their smallpox and hepatitis B vaccines; or, you can at least make yourself a ware of the clear and present dangers that we all face by watching "The Strecker Memorandum." The cost of the tape is nominal, but we submit that remaining ignorant can cost infinitely more. Thank you, THE STRECKER GROUP STOP PRESS: At an International Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland on HIV, medical experts were told that women were now being infected with HIV at the world-wide rate of two a minute as the AIDS epidemic gathers pace. The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director said, "AIDS was still in its early stages. By the year 2000 they expected that more than 13 million women will have been infected of which a third, by then, would have died". (Source: Sydney Daily Telegraph Mirror, 8/9/93.)

The man made orgin of AIDS By William Campbell Douglass, MD.

2008-03-23T18:24:00.000-04:00

WHO Murdered Africa (The Man Made Origin of AIDS) by WILLIAM CAMPBELL DOUGLASS, MD

Malaria is a parasite also carried by mosquitoes. It is many times larger than the AIDS virus (like comparing a pinhead to a moose head), yet the mosquito easily carries this large organism to man. The tuberculosis germ, also much larger than the AIDS virus, can be transmitted by fomites (inanimate objects such as towels). The AIDS virus can live as long as ten days on a dry plate. So, are you worried about your salad in a restaurant that employs homosexuals? You'd better be. You can't understand this murder mystery and you wouldn't believe my conclusions unless you learn a little virology. I'll make it as painless as possible. Many viruses grow in animals and many grow in humans but most of the viruses that affect animals don't affect humans. There are exceptions, of course, such as yellow fever and small pox. There are some viruses in animals that cause very lethal cancer in those animals, but do not affect man or other animals. The bovine leukemia virus (BLV), for example, is lethal to cows but not humans. There is another virus that occurs in sheep called sheep visna virus which is also non-reactive in man. These deadly viruses are "retro viruses" meaning that they can change the genetic composition of cells that they enter. The World Health Organization in published articles, called for scientists to work with these deadly agents and attempt to make a hybrid virus that would be deadly to humans. In the bulletin of the World Health Organization WHO), Volume 47, p.259, 1972, they said, "An attempt should be made to see if viruses can in fact exert selective effects on immune function. The possibility should be looked into that the immune response to the vims itself may be impaired if the infecting virus damages, more or less selectively, the cell responding to the virus." That's AIDS. What the WHO is saying in plain English is "Let's cook up a virus that selectively destroys the T-cell system of man, an acquired immune deficiency." Why would anyone want to do this? If you destroy the T-cell system of man you destroy man. Is it even remotely possible that the World Health Organization would want to develop a virus that would wipe out the human race? If their new viruses creation worked, the WHO stated, then many terrible and fatal infectious viruses could be made even more terrible and more malignant. Does this strike you as being a peculiar goal for a health organization? The thought occurred to me. Sometimes I believe in conspiracies and sometimes I don't. It depends on the subject. (Was there a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy? If you don't think so, then you must be a dumb liberal.) My attitude toward some alleged conspiracies, the Federal Reserve for instance, depends on what I had for breakfast. But it doesn't take a bad breakfast to see an amazing concatenation of events involving Russian and Chinese communist nationals, the World Health Organization, the National Cancer Institute and the AIDS pandemic. But what about the green monkey? Some of the best virologists in the world and many of those directly involved in AIDS research, such as Robert Gallo and Luc Montagnier, have said that the green monkey may be the culprit. You know the story: A green monkey bit a native on the ass and, bam -- AIDS all over central Africa. There is a fatal flaw here. It is very strange. Because Gallo, Montagnier and those other virologists know that the AIDS virus doesn't occur naturally in monkeys. In fact it doesn't occur naturally in any animal. AIDS started practically simultaneously in the United States, Haiti, Brazil and Central Africa. (Was the green monkey a jet pilot?) Examination of the gene structure of the green monkey cells proves that it is not genetically possible to transfer the AIDS virus from monkeys to man by natural means. Because of the artificial nature of the AIDS virus it will not easily transfer from man to man until it has become very concentrated in the body fluids through repeated injections from person to person, such as drug addicts, and through high multiple partner sexuality such as takes place in Africa, among homosexuals and among native American Indians. After repeated transfer it can become a "natural" infection for man, which it has. Dr. Theodore Strecker's research of the literature indicates that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in collaboration with the World Health Organization made the AIDS virus in their laboratories at Fort Detrick (now NCI). They combined the deadly retroviruses, bovine leukemia virus and sheep visna virus, and injected them into human tissue cultures. The result was the AIDS virus, the first human retrovirus known to man and now believed to be 100 percent fatal to those infected. The momentous plague that we now face was anticipated by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), in 1974 when they recommended that "Scientists throughout the world join the members of this committee in voluntarily deferring experiments (linking) animal viruses." What the NAS is saying in carefully guarded English is: "For God's sake stop this madness!" Man went over the edge when he started playing God and started growing human tissue in the laboratory. We've let the green monkey off the hook. How about the communists! In my original monograph on AIDS, before Dr. Strecker alerted me to the scientific absurdities being put on the American people, I said: "After the holocaust has run its course, and we've buried 10 or 20 million young people, who will protect us? If we are faced with an invasion from a Communist Mexico, aided by Communist Nicaragua and Cuba, who will defend the Rio Grande? Wouldn't it be ironic if the godless Russians and other communist countries, because of their Victorian attitude toward sex and their severe repression of homosexuality, escaped most of the ravages of the AIDS epidemic and took us over by simply walking across the Mexican border?" I wouldn't change a word of that. But it was based on my natural paranoia toward the Communists, having observed the way they operate for 40 years. Besides, they are saying that AIDS is a "capitalist plot." That really got me suspicious because, as any student of the communist conspiracy knows they always blame others for what they are in the process of doing. And what they are in the process of doing is conducting germ warfare from Fort Detrick, Maryland against the free world, especially in the United States, even using foreign communist agents with the United States Army's germ warfare unit euphemistically called the Army Infectious Disease Unit. You don't believe it? Carlton Gajdusek an NIH big-shot at Detrick admits it: "IN THE FACILITY I HAVE A BUILDING WHERE MORE GOOD AND LOYAL COMMUNIST SCIENTISTS FROM THE USSR AND MAINLAND CHINA WORK, WITH FULL PASSKEYS TO ALL THE LABORATORIES, THAN THERE ARE AMERICAN. EVEN THE ARMY'S INFECTIOUS DISEASE UNIT IS LOADED WITH FOREIGN WORKERS NOT ALWAYS FRIENDLY NATIONALS." Can you imagine that? A UN-WHO communist Trojan horse in our biological warfare centre with the full blessings of the Jimmy Carters of this world? I can assure you that the creation of the AIDS virus by the WHO was not just a diabolical scientific exercise that got out of hand. It was a cold-blooded successful attempt to create a killer virus which was then used in a successful experiment in Africa. So successful in fact that most of central Africa may be wiped out, 75,000,000 dead within 3-5 years. It was not an accident. It was deliberate. In the Federation Proceedings of the United States in 1972, WHO said: "In relation to the immune response a number of experimental approaches can be visualised". They suggested that a neat way to do this would be to put their new killer virus (AIDS) into a vaccination program, sit back and observe the results. "This would be particularly informative in sibships," they said. That is, give the AIDS virus to brothers and sisters and see if they die, who dies first and of what, just like using rats in a laboratory. They used small pox vaccine for their vehicle and the geographical sites chosen in 1972 were Uganda and other African states, Haiti, Brazil and Japan. The present or recent past of AIDS epidemiology coincides with these geographical areas. Dr. Strecker points out that even if the African green monkey could transmit AIDS to humans, the present known amount of infection in Africa makes it statistically impossible for a single episode, such as a monkey biting someone on the butt, to have brought this epidemic to this point. The doubling time of the number of people infected, about every 14 months, when correlated with the first known case and the present known number of cases, prove beyond a doubt that a large number of people had to have been infected at the same time. Starting in 1972 with the first case from our mythical monkey and doubling the number infected from the single source you get only a few thousand cases. From 1972 to 1987 is 15 years or 180 months. If it takes 14 months to double the number of cases then there would have been 13 doublings, one then 2, then 4, then 8, etc. In 15 years, from a single source of infection there would be about 8,000 cases in Africa, not 75 million. We are approaching World War II mortality statistics here -- without a shot being fired. Dr. Theodore A. Strecker is the courageous doctor who unraveled this conundrum, the greatest murder mystery of all time. He should get the Nobel prize but he'll be lucky not to get "suicided". ("Prominent California doctor ties his hands behind his back and, hangs himself, and jumps from the 20th floor. There was no evidence of foul play.") Strecker was employed as a consultant to work on a health proposal for Security Pacific Bank. He was to estimate the cost of the health care for the future. Should they form a health maintenance organisation? (HMO) was a major issue. After investigating the current medical market he advised against the HMO because he found that the AIDS epidemic will in all probability bankrupt the nation's medical system. He became fascinated with all the peculiar scientific anomalies concerning AIDS that kept cropping up. Why did the "experts keep talking about green monkeys and homosexuals being the culprits when it was obvious that the AIDS virus was a man-made virus? Why did they say that it was a homosexual and drug-user disease when in Africa it was obviously a heterosexual disease? If the green monkey did it, then why did AIDS explode practically simultaneously in Africa, Haiti, Brazil, the United States and southern Japan? Why, when it was proposed to the National Institute of Health that the AIDS virus was a combination of two bovine or sheep viruses cultures in human cells in a laboratory, did they say it was "bad science" when that's exactly what occurred? As early as 1970 the World Health Organisation was growing these deadly animal viruses in human tissue cultures. Cedric Mims, in 1981, said in a published article that there was a bovine virus contaminating the culture media of the WHO. Was this an accident or a "non-accident"? If it was an accident why did WHO continue to use the vaccine? This viral and genetic death bomb, AIDS, was finally produced in 1974. It was given to monkeys and they died of pneumocystis cami, which is typical of AIDS. Dr. R.J. Biggar said in Lancet: "... The AIDS agent... could not have originated de novo." That means in plain English that it didn't come out of thin air, AIDS was engineered in a laboratory by urologists. It couldn't engineer itself. As Doctor Strecker so colourfully puts it: "If a person has no arms or legs and shows up at a party in a tuxedo, how did he get dressed? Somebody dressed him." There are 9,000 to the fourth power possible AIDS viruses. (There are 9,000 base pairs on the genome.) So the fun has just begun. Some will cause brain rot similar to the sheep virus, some leukaemia-like diseases from the cow virus and some that won't do anything. So the virus will be constantly changing and trying out new esoteric diseases on hapless man. We're only at the beginning. Because of the trillions of possible genetic combinations, there will never be a vaccine. Even if they could develop a vaccine they would undoubtedly give us something equally bad as they did with the polio vaccine (cancer of the brain), the swine flu vaccine (a polio-like disease), the smallpox vaccine (AIDS), and the hepatitis vaccine (AIDS). There are precedents. This is not the first time the virologists have brought us disaster. SO-40 virus from monkey cell cultures contaminated polio cultures. Most people in their 40s are now carrying this virus through contaminated polio inoculations given in the early 60s. It is known to cause brain cancer which explains the increase in this disease that we have seen in the past ten years. This is the origin of the green monkey theory. The polio vaccine was grown on green monkey kidney cells and the geniuses who brought us polio vaccine said: "We got away with it once so let's use it again." But they didn't get away with it and in spite of the fact that polio was rapidly disappearing without any medical intervention, 64 million Americans were vaccinated with SV-40 contaminated vaccine in the 60s. An increase in cancer of the brain, possibly multiple sclerosis and God only knows what else is the tragic result. The delay between vaccination and the onset of cancer with this virus is as long as 20-30 years. 1965 plus 20 equals 1985. Get the picture? The SV-40 virus gave rise to two more viruses which are very active in AIDS patients. Most young children and young adults have received the SV-40 inoculation from polio vaccination. Primary multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), brain rot, has been added to the burden of homosexuals who certainly had enough to bear having been given AIDS through hepatitis B vaccine. The final piece of the puzzle is how AIDS devastated the homosexual population in the United States. It wasn't from smallpox vaccination as in Africa because we don't do that any more. There is no smallpox in the United States and so vaccination was discontinued. Although some AIDS has been brought to the United States from Haiti by homosexuals, (it used to be one of their favourite "play-grounds"), it would not be enough to explain the explosion of AIDS that occurred simultaneously with the African and Haitian epidemics. The AIDS virus didn't exist in the United States before 1978. You can check back in any hospital and no stored blood samples were found anywhere that exhibit the AIDS virus before that date. What happened in 1978 and beyond to cause AIDS to burst upon the scene and devastate the homosexual segment of our population? It was the introduction of the hepatitis-B vaccine which exhibits the exact epidemiology of AIDS. A Doctor W. Schmugner, born in Poland and educated in Russia, came to this country in 1969. His immigration to the U.S. was probably the most fateful immigration in our history. He, by unexplained process, became head of the New York City blood bank. (How does a Russian trained doctor become head of one of the largest blood banks in the world? Doesn't that strike you as peculiar?) -- He set up the rules for the hepatitis vaccine studies. Only males between the ages of 20 and 40, who were not monogamous, would be allowed to participate in this study. Can you think of any reason, other than the desire to spread something among the population, for insisting that all experimentees be promiscuous? Maybe you don't believe in the communist conspiracy theory but give me some other logical explanation. Schmugner is now dead and his diabolical secret went with him. The hepatitis vaccine, unlike the AIDS vaccine, was not grown from human tissue culture. So accidental contamination didn't occur. The AIDS virus was probably put in the vaccine deliberately. It was no mistake. The Centre for Disease Control reported in 1981 that four percent of those receiving the hepatitis-vaccine were AIDS-infected. In 1984 they admitted to 60 percent. Now they refuse to give out figures at all because they don't want to admit that 100 percent of hepatitis vaccine receivers are infected with AIDS. Where is the data on the hepatitis vaccine studies? FDA? CDC? No, the U.S. Department of Justice has it buried where you will never see it. I have always said, and our forefathers told us this, that the greatest threat to the people is always government. Not foreign governments, but our own government. What has the government told us about AIDS? * It is a homosexual disease -- homosexuals certainly spread it but the primary responsibility wasn't theirs. * It's related to anal intercourse only -- wrong. * Only a small percentage of those testing positive for AIDS would get the disease -- wrong. * It came from the African green monkey -- wrong. * It came from the cytomegalovirus -- wrong. * It was due to popping amyl nitrate with sex -- wrong. * It was started 400 years ago by the Portuguese -- wrong. (It started 1n 1972). * You can't get it from mosquitos -- wrong * The virus can't live outside the body -- wrong. The head of the Human Leukaemia Research Group at Harvard is a veterinarian. Dr. Judd, International Agency for Research on Cancer, the agency that requested the production of the virus in the first place, is also a veterinarian. The leukaemia research he is conducting is being done under the auspices of a school of veterinary medicine. Now there is nothing wrong with being a vet but, as we have pointed out, the AIDS virus is a human virus. You can't test these viruses in animals and you can't test leukaemia in them either. It doesn't work. So why would your government give Judd, a veterinarian, eight and one-half million dollars to study leukaemia in a veterinarian college? As long as we are being used as experimental animals maybe it's appropriate. The London Times should be congratulated for uncovering the smallpox/AIDS connection. But their expose was very misleading. The article states that the African AIDS epidemic was caused by the smallpox vaccine "triggering" AIDS in those vaccinated. Dr. Robert Gallo, who has been mixed up in some very strange scientific snafus, supports this theory. Whether the infection of 75 million Africans was deliberate or accidental can be debated but there is no room for debate about whether the smallpox shots "awakened the unsuspected virus infection". There is absolutely no scientific evidence that this laboratory engineered virus was present in Africa when they descended upon these hapless people in 1977 with their deadly AIDS-laced vaccine. The AIDS virus didn't come from Africa. It came from Fort Detrik Maryland, U.S.A. The situation is extremely desperate and the medical profession is too frightened and cowed (as usual) to take any action. Dr. Strecker attempted to mobilise the doctors through some of the most respected medical journals in the world. The prestigious Annals of Internal Medicine said that his material "appears to be entirely concerned with matters of virology" and so try some other publication. In his letter to this medical publication Strecker said, "If correct human experimental procedures had been followed we would not find half of the world stumbling off on the wrong path to the cure for AIDS with the other half of the world covering up the origination of the damned disease. It appears to me that your Annals of Internal medicine is participating in the greatest fraud ever perpetrated." I guess they didn't like that so Strecker submitted his sensational and mind-boggling letter with all of the proper documentation to the British journal Lancet. Their reply: "Thank you for that interesting letter on AIDS. I am sorry to have to report that we will not be able to publish it. We have no criticism" but their letter section was "overcrowded with submissions." They're too crowded to announce the end of western civilisation and possibly all mankind? I don't think that's reasonable. What can we do? The first thing that should be done is close down all laboratories in this country that are dealing with these deadly retro-viruses. Then we must sort out the insane, irresponsible and traitorous scientists involved in these experiments and try them for murder. Then maybe, just maybe, we can re-staff the laboratories with loyal Americans who will work to save a remnant of people to re-populate and re-civilize the world. End.

Mother Quotes.

2008-03-18T13:28:00.001-04:00

A Tribute To Mothers Who is a Mother? A mother is someone who guides and inspires. She helps us to attain our dreams and desires. Wisdom and insight are part of her way, and her faith in her children brightens their days. All mothers are rich when they love their children. There are no poor mothers, no ugly ones and no old ones. Their love is always the most beautiful of joys. —Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949)

She broke the bread into two fragments and gave them to the children, who ate with avidity.” She hath kept none for herself," grumbled the sergeant.” Because she is not hungry," said a soldier. “Because she is a mother," said the sergeant. —Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

What a mother can do? My mother said to me, "If you become a soldier, you'll be a general; if you become a monk, you'll end up as the pope." Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso. A partially deaf boy came home from school one day carrying a note from officials at the school. The note suggested that the parents take the boy out of school, claiming that he was "too stupid to learn." The boy's mother read the note and said, "My son Tom isn't 'too stupid to learn.' I'll teach him myself." And so she did. When Tom died many years later, the people of the United States of America paid tribute to him by turning off the nation's lights for one full minute. You see, this Tom had invented the light bulb—and not only that, but motion pictures and the record player. In all, Thomas Edison had more than one thousand patents to his credit. My mother was the making of me. —Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931)

An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy. You may have tangible wealth untold; Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I you can never be because I had a mother who read to me. —Strickland Gillian (1869-1954)

The role of a mother is probably the most important career a woman can have. —Janet Mary Riley (1915- ),

U.S. Lawyer and Writer Plenty of things come in twos, threes and dozens. Plenty of roses, stars, rainbows, sisters, brothers and cousins ...but only one MOTHER in the whole world. —Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923),

U.S. Author and Educator Life began with waking up and loving my mother's face. —George Eliot (1819-1880),

British Novelist Motherhood is the most important of all the professions......requiring more knowledge than any other department in human affairs. —Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)

The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. —William Ross Wallace (1819-1881), U.S. Poet and Songwriter

Things that make u go hmmm

2008-03-12T23:14:00.002-04:00

1. Why do men become smarter during sex? Because they are plugged into a genius
2. Why don't women blink during sex? They don't have enough time
3. Why does it take 1 million sperm to fertilize one egg? They never stop to ask directions
4. Why do men snore when they lie on their backs? Because their balls fall over their butt-hole and they vapor lock
5. Why were men given larger brains than dogs? So they won't hump women's legs at cocktail parties.
6. Why did God make men before women? You need a rough draft before you make a final copy. 7. How many men does it take to put a toilet seat down? Don't know, it has never happened.
8. Why did God put men on the earth? Because a vibrator can't mow the lawn.

God is not to be mocked

2008-03-10T09:46:00.000-04:00

KNOW THESE FACTS ??
I SURE DIDN ' T KNOW TILL NOW ?

Death is certain but the Bible speaks about untimely death!
Make a personal reflection about this.....
Very interesting, read until the end.....
It is written in the Bible (Galatians 6:7):
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
Here are some men and women who mocked God :
John Lennon (Singer):
Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:
"Christianity will end, it will disappear, I do not have to argue about that, I am certain.
Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple.
Today we are more famous than Him" (1966).
Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.
Tancredo Neves ( President of ):
Brazil
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency.
Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died. Cazuza (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet):
During a show in Canecio ( ), While smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said: Rio de Janeiro
"God, that's for you."
He died at the age of 32 of AIDS in a horrible manner.?
The Man who built the Titanic? After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be?
With an ironic tone he said:
"Not even God can sink it!"
The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic!
Marilyn Monroe (Actress) She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show.
He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her.
After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said: "I don't need your Jesus."
A week later, she was found dead in her apartment. Bon Scott (Singer)
The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC.
On one of his 1979 songs he sang:
"Don't stop me, I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell."
On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked by his own vomit. Campinas( in 2005 )
In , Brazil , a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend..... Campinas
The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her friends and
She said to the daughter holding her hand, who was already seated in the car:
"My Daughter, Go With God And May He Protect You.."
She responded: "Only If He (God) travels in the trunk, cause inside here.....It's already full."
Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died in the car could not be recognized what type of car it had been, but surprisingly, the trunk was intact. The police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact.
To their surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs, none was broken!
Christine Hewitt
( Jamaican Journalist and entertainer) said the Bible ( Word of God ) was the worst book ever written. In June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle.
Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that was given so much authority as the name of Jesus.
Many have died, but only Jesus died and rose again, and he is still ALIVE!
" JESUS"
P.S: If it was a joke, you would have sent it to everyone. So are you going to have courage to send this?
I have done my part, Jesus said, "If you are embarrassed about me, I will also be embarrassed about you before my father."
You are my 8 in 8 seconds.
I am not breaking this.
No way! I'M TOLD THIS WORKS!!!!!
Bishop T.D. Jakes 8 Second Prayer.
Just repeat this prayer and see how God moves!!
"Lord, I love you and I need you, come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, and my friends, in Jesus' name. Amen."

test

2008-03-06T18:07:00.001-05:00

hello

Inspiration

2008-02-27T22:05:00.000-05:00

Louis Farrakhan (born Louis Eugene Walcott, May 11, 1933), is the acting head of the Nation of Islam (NOI) as the National Representative of Elijah Muhammad. He is also well-known as an advocate for African American interests and a critic of American society. Early life Farrakhan was born in the Bronx, New York and raised as Eugene Walcott within the West Indian community in the Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Sarah Mae Manning, had emigrated from Saint Kitts and Nevis in the 1920s; his father, Percival Clarke, was a Jamaican cab driver from New York, but was not involved in his upbringing. As a child, he received training as a violinist. At the age of six, he was given his first violin and by the age of 13, he had played with the Boston College Orchestra and the Boston Civic Symphony. A year later, he went on to win national competitions, and was one of the first black performers to appear on Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour, where he also won an award. A central focus of his youth was the Episcopal St. Cyprian's Church in Boston's Roxbury section, a part of Boston which also produced Leonard Bernstein. In Boston, Walcott attended the prestigious Boston Latin School and English High School, graduating from the latter. He attended college for two years at Winston-Salem State Teachers College, where he went to run track, but left to be with his wife (born Betsy Ross) in Boston who was pregnant with their child. Due to complications from the pregnancy, Walcott dropped out of college to devote time to his wife. In the 1950s, Walcott became an up-and-coming calypso singer. He recorded several calypso albums under the name "The Charmer." In 1955, while headlining a show in Chicago entitled "Calypso Follies," he first came in contact with the teachings of the Nation of Islam. A friend from Boston, sometime saxophonist Rodney Smith, introduced him to the NOI's doctrine. He joined the Nation of Islam in July of 1955, becoming Louis X (the "X" being a placeholder for the unknown surname of his slave forefathers, and the Islamic name some Nation members are given later in their conversion). Thirty days after that, Elijah Muhammad stated that all musicians in the NOI had thirty days from the date of this announcement to give up the music world completely. Farrakhan did so after performing one last time at the Nevel Country Club. Family Farrakhan married Khadijah in September 12, 1953. The Farrakhans have been married for 53 years and have a number of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Farrakhan's son Mustapha Farrakhan holds the position of supreme captain of the Nation of Islam. Mustapha's son, also named Mustapha Farrakhan, is a first-year basketball player at the University of Virginia. He recently caught the eye of the media (including a 2006 ESPN the Magazine article) who were speculating on the impact the shadow of his grandfather's name may have on his sporting career. Current health Farrakhan announced that he is seriously ill in a September 11, 2006 letter to his staff, Nation of Islam members and supporters. The letter, published on September 11, 2006 in The Final Call newspaper, said that doctors in Cuba discovered an ulcer. According to the letter, subsequent infections caused Farrakhan to lose 35 pounds. He urged the Nation of Islam leadership to carry on while he recovers. Making his first public comments since his September 11 announcement of his ill health, Farrakhan called in to Rev. Jesse Jackson's weekly Rainbow/PUSH address on Saturday, October 21 and thanked the audience for their prayers for his speedy recovery. In his comments that were also carried live on Chicago's WVON radio station and various national cable stations, Farrakhan said, "Let me thank God because he has blessed me to be alive. I have good days and bad days. I am honored to have this moment and give thanks to all of you. You cannot imagine how all of you have uplifted my spirit." Rev. Jackson said it was important for his audience to hear directly from Farrakhan to dispel rumors that the longtime leader of the Nation of Islam was near death. [12] On January 6, 2007 a statement was released that Farrakhan had undergone a 12 hour operation. The nature of the surgery was not revealed but doctors told Farrakhan's family that they are pleased with the operation's outcome. Farrakhan was released from his five-week hospital stay on January 28, 2007 after major abdominal surgery. The operation was performed to correct severe damage caused by side effects of a radiated seed implantation procedure that he received years earlier to treat prostate cancer. Following his hospital stay, Farrakhan released a personal public "Message of Appreciation" to supporters and well wishers and weeks later delivered the keynote address at the Nation of Islam's annual convention in Detroit. Nation of Islam Early involvement He had been inspired by Malcolm X and he had accepted a friend's invitation to attend the Nation of Islam's annual Saviours' Day address by Elijah Muhammad. Walcott accepted Elijah Muhammad's teachings that day and was renamed "Louis X." Adoption of the "X" surname is a tradition within the Nation of Islam. In mathematics, "X" represents an unknown variable. In the purview of the Nation of Islam, followers accept the "X" surname as the rejection of their "slave name". Eventually, the "X" name is replaced by a proper Muslim name more descriptive of the individual's personality and character. After joining the Nation of Islam, Farrakhan quickly rose through the ranks to become Minister of the Nation of Islam's Boston Mosque. He was appointed Minister of the influential Harlem Mosque and served in that capacity from 1965 to 1975. Leadership In 1977, after wrestling with the changes and consequent dismantling of the NOI structure by Warith Deen Muhammad, Farrakhan walked away from the movement. In a 1990 interview with Emerge magazine, he expressed his disillusionment with the changes and said he decided to "quietly walk away" from the organization rather than cause a schism among the membership. In 1978 with no public notice, Farrakhan and a small number of supporters privately decided to rebuild the original Nation of Islam upon the foundation established by Wallace Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad. In 1979, the Nation of Islam's newspaper, Muhammad Speaks was reestablished by Farrakhan under the name The Final Call. In 1981, Farrakhan and supporters held the first annual Nation of Islam Saviors' Day convention in Chicago since 1975. At the convention's keynote address, Farrakhan made his first public announcement of the restoration of the Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad's teachings. On January 12, 1995, Malcolm X's daughter, Qubilah Shabazz, was arrested for conspiracy to assassinate Farrakhan. It was later alleged that the FBI had used a paid informant, Michael Fitzpatrick, to frame Shabazz. After Shabazz's arrest, Farrakhan held a press conference in Chicago in which he accused the FBI of attempting to exacerbate division and conflict between the Nation of Islam and the family of Malcolm X. Nearly four months later, on May 1, U.S. government prosecutors dropped their case against Shabazz. On May 6, 1995, a packed public meeting in Harlem, New York, termed A New Beginning, featured Louis Farrakhan and Malcolm X's widow, Betty Shabazz. Originally organized by community activists as a fund raiser for Qubilah Shabazz's legal defense, the meeting marked the first public reapprochement between Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam and the Shabazz family. On October 16, 1995 Farrakhan convened a broad coalition of several hundred thousand black men in the Million Man March. Farrakhan, along with New Black Panther Party leader Malik Zulu Shabazz, Al Sharpton, Senator and other prominent black Americans marked the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March by holding a second march, the Millions More Movement on October 14, 2005 through October 17, 2005, in Washington. In a 2005 Black Entertainment Television (BET) poll, Farrakhan was voted the 'Person of the Year'. In a February 2006 AP-AOL "Black Voices" poll, Farrakhan was voted the fifth most important black leader with 4% of the vote. Orator Though controversial, Farrakhan is widely recognized as electrifying speaker with a powerful allure. In his prime, crowds all around the United States would throng to his speeches for moral uplift and entertainment. His orations typically last up to three hours. His charisma played a significant role in drawing an estimated 837,000 (+/- 20%) people to the Million Man March. Controversy For many years, Farrakhan's statements have sparked debate and controversy. Farrakhan has often insisted that critics take his comments out of context, thereby misrepresenting his beliefs. Religion scholar Mattias Gardell argues that that is at least partly accurate. When considered in the context of Farrakhan's typically lengthy lectures, Gardell argues that many of Farrakhan's controversial comments take on a more nuanced or thoughtful meaning that cannot be conveyed in a sound bite. Antisemitism Perhaps the most provocative aspect of Farrakhan's political philosophy are comments he has made that have widely been seen as antisemitic. "Black Hitler" and the March 1984 speech During the 1984 presidential campaign of Jesse Jackson, Jackson referred to New York City as "Hymietown" in a discussion with a black reporter. Though Jackson thought he was speaking off the record, the reporter printed the quote. Jackson was widely criticized for the slur and received death threats, leading Farrakhan to announce, "If you harm this brother, it'll be the last one you ever harm. If you want to defeat him, defeat him at the polls." In response to Farrakhan's speech, Nathan Pearlmutter, then Chair of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (ADL) referred to Minister Farrakhan as the new "Black Hitler" and prominent Jewish journalist Nat Hentoff, while a guest on a New York radio talk-show, also characterized the Muslim leader as a "Black Hitler." In response to the charges of being a "Black Hitler", Farrakhan responded during a March 11, 1984 speech broadcast on a Chicago radio station: "So I said to the members of the press, 'Why won't you go and look into what we are saying about the threats on Reverend Jackson's life?' Here the Jews don't like Farrakhan and so they call me 'Hitler'. Well that's a good name. Hitler was a very great man. He wasn't great for me as a Black man but he was a great German and he rose Germany up from the ashes of her defeat by the united force of all of Europe and America after the First World War. Yet Hitler took Germany from the ashes and rose her up and made her the greatest fighting machine of the twentieth century, brothers and sisters, and even though Europe and America had deciphered the code that Hitler was using to speak to his chiefs of staff, they still had trouble defeating Hitler even after knowing his plans in advance. Now I'm not proud of Hitler's evil toward Jewish people, but that's a matter of record. He rose Germany up from nothing. Well, in a sense you could say there is a similarity in that we are rising our people up from nothing, but don't compare me with your wicked killers." Farrakhan was censured unanimously by the United States Senate for the speech. Jewish distributors Farrakhan alleges that Jewish distributors blocked his plans for Nation of Islam cosmetics and toiletries sold under the Clean & Fresh label. Major black-hair-care companies, including Johnson Products Co. refused to do business with Farrakhan's Nation of Islam products. Company owner George E. Johnson maintained that his dealers told him that any dealings with Farrakhan's firm would lead to having his own products boycotted. "When I saw that," Farrakhan says, "I recognized that the black man will never be free until we address the relationship between blacks and Jews." Neturei Karta Farrakhan has had friendly relations with leaders of the Neturei Karta, a Jewish group that is well-known for its association with and support for anti-Zionists. Neturei Karta stressed that "Minister Louis Farrakhan is an extraordinary force for good in the Black community. His followers are responsible, industrious, modest and moral. And for this he and they have our respect." Cycle of hatred During Christmas of the same year Farrakhan met with Catholic leaders and rabbis at a gathering in Chicago where he called on all peoples of the world to "end the cycle of hatred". "Wicked and false Jews" At an NOI-sponsored event in February 2006, Farrakhan provoked accusations of antisemitism in Illinois by stating that "These false Jews promote the filth of Hollywood. It's the wicked Jews, the false Jews that are promoting lesbianism, homosexuality, [and] Zionists have manipulated Bush and the American government [on the war in Iraq]" Homosexuals In his speech in Boston in August 1997, Farrakhan made the following statement about homosexuals: It seems like being gay or whatever sin you wish to be a part of is okay ... but I have the duty to lift that gay person up to the standard to ask if they want to live the life that God wants them to or live the lifestyle that they want to live." Farrakhan's Vision Experience On October 24, 1989, at a Washington, DC. press conference, Louis Farrakhan described a 1985 vision he had while in Mexico. In his vision, he said he was carried up to "a Wheel, or what you call an unidentified flying object" to a "human built planet" known as the "Mother Wheel" as referenced in the Bible's Book of Ezekiel 1:15-18. During this Vision experience he said he heard the voice of Elijah Muhammad informing him that the President was planning a war and instructed him to "announce their plan and say to the world that you got the information from me, Elijah Muhammad, on the Wheel." Farrakhan concluded that the war was against the people of Libya and Muammar Qaddafi to whom he traveled to warn in February of 1986. The U.S. launched bombing strikes against Libya in April 1986. He said he later came to realize that the war extended to "an even more significant and consequential war, .. "a war against the black people of America, the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan." In a December 1, 2001 letter to President George W. Bush which was made public, Farrakhan disclosed that his Vision experience is what inspired him to "tour the country talking to Black men urging them to stop the killing of one another, and what eventually led to the Million Man March on October 16, 1995." Race Louis Farrakhan made several controversial statements about race, including "White people are potential humans — they haven't evolved yet" in March 2000,. In full context, Farrakhan further expounded by saying, "If you look at the human family -- now, I'm talking about black, brown, red, yellow and white -- we all seem to be frozen on a subhuman level of existence. In Islam and, I believe, in Christian theology and Jewish theology as well, there are three stages of human development. The first stage is called the animalistic stage of development. But when we submit to animal passions, then we can do evil things to one another in that animalistic stage of development. But when moral consciousness comes and we have a self-accusing spirit, it is then that we become human beings. Right now, we have the potential for humanity, but we have not reached that potential, because we are functioning on the animalistic plane of existence." He has also alluded to a figure called "Yacub" (or "Jacob") with reference to whites. According to Farrakhan's mentor, Elijah Muhammad, blacks were "born righteous and turned to unrighteousness," while the white race was "made unrighteous by the god who made them (Mr. Yacub)." In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Farrakhan defended the position that black people are the original people of the earth and clarified that, "It doesn't suggest that we are superior or that you are inferior. Superiority and inferiority is determined by our righteousness and not by our color." In the same interview Farrakhan stated that, "any human being who gives themself over to the doing of evil could be considered a devil". Hurricane Katrina In comments regarding the decimation of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Louis Farrakhan stated that there was a 25-foot hole under one of the key levees that failed, and implied that the levee's destruction was a deliberate attempt to wipe out the population of largely black sections within the city. Farrakhan later said that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin told him of the crater during a meeting in Dallas, Texas. Farrakhan further claimed the fact that the levee broke the day after Hurricane Katrina is proof that the destruction of the levee was not a natural occurrence. Farrakhan has raised additional questions and has called for federal investigations into the source of the levee break. These accusations, however, are countered by many experts, including the Independent Levee Investigation Team from the University of California, Berkeley. The findings of this panel are that the overtopping of the levees by flood waters, the often sub-standard materials used to shore up the levees, and the age of the levees contributed to these "scour holes" found at many of the sites of levee breaks after Hurricane Katrina. Malcolm X's Death After a May 2000 CBS 60 Minutes interview which aired on Sunday May 14, 2000, CBS Evening News alleged that Louis Farrakhan "admitted" that "his incendiary rhetoric played a role in the 1965 assassination of civil rights leader Malcolm X." On May 20, 2000, Farrakhan publically rejected CBS News' characterization of the interview stating, "It appears that the aim of 60 Minutes, CBS and Mike Wallace was to make the American public believe that I, Louis Farrakhan, ordered the assassination of Malcolm X. It in no way reflected the spirit of Miss Shabazz and myself and our attempt to continue the path of reconciliation started by Dr. Betty Shabazz and me in 1994 and 1995." In a June 5, 2000, interview titled 'Setting the Record Straight' with Jet Magazine Farrakhan said "the interview was edited in such a way to give viewers the impression that Farrakhan had a role in Malcolm's death". Of the full 4 hour interview, CBS edited the broadcast portion down to 12 minutes. In a February 21, 1990 speech at Malcolm X College in Chicago, IL., Farrakhan gave a presentation on "The Murder of Malcolm X" and the lingering effects of the assassination. Other controversial quotes "The same year they set up the IRS, they set up the FBI. And the same year they set up the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith… It could be a coincidence… [I want] to see black intellectuals free… I want to see them not controlled by members of the Jewish community."[46] "Dewey, Kant and Hegel, and the rabbis that wrote the Talmud, make blacks inferior."[47] Farrakhan has referred to Jews, Palestinian Arabs, Koreans, and Vietnamese collectively as "bloodsuckers" and maintains that "Murder and lying comes easy for white people." He has also been accused of calling Judaism a "gutter religion," although Farrakhan and his supporters deny this. An article in the NOI's periodical, Final Call, has responded by claiming that Farrakhan instead used the expression "dirty religion," and that "...in Minister Farrakhan’s vocabulary the phrase 'dirty religion' has a particular meaning... 'dirty religion' is the distorted faith which emerges from its manipulation by hypocrites or sinners." Farrakhan has been the center of much controversy, and critics have, among other things, said that some of his views and comments have been racist, homophobic, and antisemitic.[4] Farrakhan denies these charges, and frequently insists that his controversial comments are taken out of context by critics. Farrakhan currently resides in Kenwood, an affluent neighborhood on the south side of Chicago.

Rumor has it the AIR Jordan Shoe will retire?

2008-02-22T17:57:00.003-05:00

WOW, Maya! Thank you for the information

2008-02-06T12:32:00.000-05:00

You are in love with Tommy, Because his last name is Hilfiger, But behind closed doors, Tommy, Is calling you a n*gger, But you could care less, Because you have been taught to dress to impress,

If I ask you about your true history, You would have to look on the back of your jeans and Guess,

You come up in the club wearing Versace, Clothes made by a homosexual male, So even when you say you are straight, It is very hard to tell,

And for footwear, you wear Timberlands, Even under the sun, That same tree that's the symbol for them, Could have been the same one your ancestors were hung from,

I cannot forget Nautica, When was the last memory you have of ships, Coming to North America in shackles, Being beaten over the back with whips, And to my beautiful black queens, Whose creative womb has become barren,

I am confused because your face says Nefertiti, But your sweater reads Donna Karen, When was the last time you saw Liz Claiborne, Conversing with black women,

But as soon as her name is printed on a purse, To Macy's you quickly go, running, Ralph Lauren doesn't even look at black men, Unless they are driving him around town, But as soon as that slave master appears on the back of a horse, You put whatever you have picked up down,

My people reclaim your status in this world and in your life, F.U.B.U. in case you didn't know, stands for ( For Us By Us), Buying black will someday suffice,

Do you know who owns Timberland fashion? Well, Timberland is owned by the president of the KKK, Surprised ? Don't be.

Read more books black people, Always hope for the best and prepare for the worst, You may not get what you pay for, But you'll surely pay for what you get. ~ Maya Angelou PLEASE SEND THIS TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS SO EVERYONE WILL KNOW THE DEAL.

The 23rd edition of the AIR Jordan Basketball Show

2008-01-21T15:18:00.000-05:00

The Test

2008-01-16T19:53:00.000-05:00

I figured out that I am being tested. No matter how well I do on the next test, I can not label me as a failure. Tests are just that. A test to show your competent on some level that you may or may not use what your were actually being quizzed about. The key to a test is not failure, it’s the drive to keep pushing your self and showing your kids you can do it. Michael Jordan said in one of my favorite commercials. “I’ve take taken over 9 thousand shots and missed. Ive lost over 300 games in my career. I was trusted over 26 times to take the game wining shot and missed. Ive failed over and over again and this is why I succeed.” This is important to me because I think he is the pinnacle of failure and success. He was told he could even play the game of basket ball and cut from his team in high school, we all know how that story turned out. He went to work and build up the confidence to become who he is. I am on that same level of trying to get to a place I have never been. “George Benson who wrote and sang the “Greatest Love of All,” that was written for Muhammad Ali. He sang, “If I shall fail or I succeed, at least I can live with dignity.” That is so profound for me in my time of question. What I found out is that nothing will be question if I don’t allow it to be. It all started when I said I will not quit nor will I give the satisfaction to someone who says, “He didn’t do this or that. I’ve done more and been through more than most people. My life was built around failure, yet God saw fit to let me go through my trials and tribulation to be a walking testimony for someone. Fear can not inhibit. I will try to me ever expectation of me. If not my character will not be question and I will always have another day to prove my critics wrong. I am a child of God and I know that’s where it starts and if those who don’t believe there is a plan for me, just Google my name “Cho Woods” and it will tell you I have already made my mark.

Ok, are we seeing the ghost again?

2008-01-12T17:51:00.000-05:00

As sick as Kobe Bryant felt and acted in the waning moments before tip-off, it didn't look like he'd be much use to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Coach Phil Jackson knew better, because he'd gone through this before with another superstar -- Michael Jordan.

Bryant scored 16 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter despite a viral upper respiratory infection, Andrew Bynum had 25 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, and the Lakers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 110-105 Friday night for their season-high fifth straight victory.

"I got a couple of reports before the game about his condition and where he was at," Jackson said. "He had some nausea and some headaches and dizziness. But he said he's be ready to play, and he was."

Bryant's under-the-weather performance wasn't quite as over-the-top or as significant as Jordan's was in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA finals against the Utah Jazz, when the flu-ridden Chicago Bulls guard got out of a sick bed to shoot 13-for-27 and score 38 points in 44 minutes to lead his team to a 90-88 win. But it was impressive nonetheless.

"Michael did a lot of throwing up and he had to get quite a few IVs -- one of them just to get on the floor -- and he was up all night," Jackson recalled. "Kobe had a situation like that in Sacramento in the playoffs and played in that ballgame. So he's played through this type of thing before."

Bryant shot 12-for-25 in 37 minutes and made five 3-pointers, leaving him one trey shy of 1,000 for his career. He also had seven assists and five rebounds and converted all eight free throws.

Bryant played the entire first quarter, scoring his first 16 points during the final 4:34 of the period before taking a breather early in the second. His first three baskets came on 3-point shots during a 62-second span, and he capped that scoring binge by flying under the basket past 7-foot center Andrew Bogut and making a reverse layup.

Bryant wore a towel over his head during every rest period on the bench to keep the chill from the refrigerated hockey rink underneath the court at a minimum -- while his healthy teammates managed to maintain their slim lead though the rest of the first half.

"Early in the ballgame I was feeling real weak and I was trying to find a rhythm, but I was able to muscle through it," said Bryant, who was constantly coughing into his hand while speaking with reporters. "I was just trying to focus on the execution and find little things to motivate me. We hadn't beaten them in a couple of years, and we let that last game at their place get away, so that was enough motivation for me to come out and perform."

Will Smith Interview for I am Legend

2008-01-09T22:03:00.000-05:00

Will Smith and Tavis Smiley

I am Legend Interview.

Smith: Yeah.
Tavis: His latest project is called "I Am Legend." The movie opens around the country this weekend, as if you didn't know. Here now, some scenes from "I Am Legend."
[Clip]
Tavis: Of course, I love you and I love your work, but then I saw the trailer - I couldn't wait to see it. But I did say to myself, "Here come this Negro saving the world again." (Laughter)

Smith: Yeah, no, I missed this time. I missed this time. Robert Neville was trying to save the world, but he was called in to save the world, but he missed and failed miserably.

Tavis: First of all, good to see you man.

Smith: You too, baby.

Tavis: This is a classic text, "I Am Legend." So you're - third, third time.

Smith: Third time, yup, yup, absolutely.

Tavis: It was made into a film. Why this script?

Smith: Yeah, I just - for 10 years, I've been looking at this script and I just loved the concept. There's something mythological about the idea, it's like in that collective unconscious dream space, this 4-year-old kid's wish. I just wish everybody was gone and I was here by myself, you know what I mean? And it's like you be on the freeway sometimes, like, damn, I just wish I was here by myself. (Laughter)
And then it's like there's an idea in that about the loneliness and the yin and yang of wanting to be by yourself and wanting to have your space and wanting to do what you want, but then what happens when you get that? You be careful what you wish for. And so I just felt like there's just beautiful mythological elements to that whole concept that I wanted to explore.

Tavis: There is something, obviously - let me say, I don't want to presume - I assume, I presume that there is something about sci-fi -

Smith: What's the difference between presuming and assuming?
Tavis: Well, they're two different words, so they do mean different things.

Smith: They mean something different, like so pre- is if you do -

Tavis: Presume suggests that there is some rationale for why you're making the assumption.

Smith: Ooh.

Tavis: When you just assuming, you're just out there. (Laughter)

Smith: You ain't -

Tavis: I just assume they (unintelligible). Anyway, I digressed on that point. What do you prefer, assume or presume?

Smith: I just whatever one sound best near my shoes, man. (Laughter) Whatever one sound best near my shoes.

Tavis: What kind of fabric is that, by the way? What kind of fabric - it's nice.

Smith: It used to be something. Yeah, that's a nice -

Tavis: Yeah, that's nice, whatever it is. (Laughter) I assume, I presume, looking at the kind of stuff you've done, that there's something about sci-fi that turns you on. Have you always been that way since you were a kid?

Smith: Sitting in the movie theater watching "Star Wars," I've never had an experience with any form of entertainment that was like that. It was almost spiritual. I couldn't believe that someone's mind created that. And, right, it felt like George Lucas had a piano that was playing my emotions, and he could go ahead and do whatever he wanted and make me lean forward if he wanted, or he could make me go oh, or he could make me hide my face.
Like that it's so connected to something about creativity and something about human connection and being I never had met him, didn't see him, and he created something in his house that sparked an action thousands of miles away in a little kid that he didn't even know, right?
So there's something about science fiction, there's something about transporting to that - what Joseph Campbell would call the special world. There's something about going into that special world, into that other place, that just speaks to my heart. Like, just the possibilities. To me, it's science fiction for me to do the things I've been blessed to do in this industry. Little Black kid from west Philadelphia doing a premiere in Mumbai, India, you know what I mean? Like, that's science fiction. (Laughter)

Tavis: But one of the things that I so regard and respect about your work, and I think I've told you this before, where your sci-fi work is concerned, I don't know if you even process it this way, but at least when you, when Jada or Fish or somebody in the "Matrix" or Dr. West or whoever, there's something cool for me about seeing some Black folk in the future.

Smith: I know, right?

Tavis: You know what I'm saying?

Smith: Absolutely.

Tavis: I don't know if you process it that way when you do this stuff, but that is not always the case. And back to Lucas, Lucas had some brothers. Billy Dee Williams, he had some brothers in the future. Everybody - "Star Trek" had that. But not everybody does. I think that's cool, though.

Smith: To me, I don't have another option. (Laughter)

Tavis: You gonna be around.

Smith: Yeah. I generally don't process it in those terms during the creative processes. I try to connect to human emotion. I'm always looking for something primal, something really base that is beyond language, that people understand beyond language. Even with the "Pursuit of Happyness," Black, White, other, whatever, you understand what it means to not be able to feed your child.
Like there's no language barrier, there's no emotion barrier. When you connect to a primal idea - life, death, hunger, hope, fear - any of those primal ideas are going to translate, and I think that's the thing that I've always been attracted to in my work.

Tavis: Speaking of translating, and I take at face value what you've just said, and yet in the back of my mind I'm trying to keep track of what I read all the time about how people like you end up becoming the most powerful person in Hollywood. You have box office not just domestically but internationally, and beyond connecting to those primal issues that you raised a moment ago, you have to star in projects that have a life outside of the United States of America. And what makes you -

Smith: Well, I would say you have to create the life outside the United States of America for your project.

Tavis: I hear the difference, I hear the difference. But doesn't that start, though, with a script that is universal?

Smith: Denzel said to me one time, he said, "From the specific comes the universal."

Tavis: From the specific comes the universal.

Smith: Comes the universal. So you be as truthful as you can to a specific situation, and it will become universal. "Pursuit of Happyness," again, a Black dude in San Francisco, homeless, with his child. That's very specific. But from being true to the specifics of that, it becomes universal. The bigger problem is that no one even makes the attempt, right?
I talk to a lot of actors and you can look - there are actors that have huge U.S. box office that you don't view as movie stars. The studio doesn't create that forum for you if you can't go get it from Mexico City, if you can't go get it all throughout South America. There's six continents that you have to be able to sell a movie on to be a movie star. And I saw "March of the Penguins," so I think I'm going to try to go for that seventh continent. (Laughter)

Tavis: And if anybody can make it happen, Willie can. Big Will. Knowing you as I do to the extent that I do and the times we've interviewed and talked over the years and hung out a little bit, you strike me, more than most people who I meet in this industry and get a chance to talk to on this show or the radio show, as having completely, to the extent you can, take control over your career, the direction of it, the choices that you make.
And I'm not dissing managers or agents and all that, but I'm saying there's something about you that just comes across that you decided some time ago to really be the conductor of this career. (Unintelligible?)

Smith: Absolutely. I think that - and for artists out there, it's hugely important. You've got to run your career. What happens is a lot of times artists have this talent and they're just looking for somebody to take it and do something with it. And you have to be the creative force. If you look at somebody like 50 Cent, ain't nobody telling 50 what to do and how to do what he does. He has a vision of who he wants to be, and he instructs everybody along those lines.
You just look through history. Michael Jackson, anyone who has been successful to the level that little kids are looking up, it's because they have a vision. And also, those people all have a right hand. Mine is JL - James Lassiter. You don't do it by yourself, but you have to be the energy. You have to create something in a way that has direction, that it has vision, and then your partner will take it and figure out whatever their expertise is.
For example, JL, "I Am Legend" was really the first movie that I chose, right? It's always been JL, right? So JL, and we sit down and we go through it and we talk, we talk, we talk, we talk. And then I see it or I don't, but the "Pursuit of Happyness," I was terrified and wasn't going to make "Pursuit of Happyness." And that was JL saying, "Dude, you're making this movie, period."

Tavis: And $120 million later, I know you're glad you did.

Smith: Oh, that's just domestic, Tavis. (Laughter) You might as well say the whole number. You gonna throw numbers out, you might as well just say the whole number. That's domestic.

Tavis: I hope JL got a nice Christmas gift for making that choice. (Laughter)

Smith: Golly, yeah. It's 160 domestic. (Laughter)

Tavis: You mentioned JL, a long-time friend of yours, a partner of yours, which takes me all the way back to west Philly and back to where we referenced a couple of times. Your company, we all know, Overbrook Entertainment. Named after?

Smith: My high school.

Tavis: Your high school, Overbrook, which has produced some legends, speaking of legends.

Smith: Yup. Wilt Chamberlain.

Tavis: Wilt Chamberlain, Will Smith - I want to come back to that legend thing in just a second. But I'm going back to Philly right quick because we're on in Philly, of course, and my heart has really been - I've been there a few times lately. My heart is just burdened by what's happening in Philly, particularly around African American men.

Smith: Yeah, absolutely.

Tavis: And the issue of crime. The gun issue in Philly is just - the homicide, the deaths in your home town are so out of control. I know you're passionate about that. Talk to me about - you survived it, obviously; you got out of it. But what's happening in Philly right now?

Smith: It's really different. It's funny, when we went on the road in, like, '88, '89 was the first time we started traveling around the country, and Philly was known as a fist-fight city. Joe Frasier was from Philly.

Tavis: Rocky.

Smith: Rocky. We got the Rocky statue on the steps. Like, Philly was a fist-fight town. And something has happened in the last couple years, and I don't even really have a grip on it. I've been working with my man, Charlie Mac, he moved back to Philly and he's been working with the mayor and with the chief of police to just try to get a sense of what is happening, what is different with these kids today.
Because it wasn't like that when I was coming up. And you always hate to be the old guy sitting on TV saying that, but it really was different. Something has happened. There's no more poverty, there's no less basketball courts or police athletic leagues. All of those things are still in place, but for some reason something has happened in the mind of the young kids in Philly, and fortunately there's smarter people than me working on it.
But it's a real issue, and we just keep beating on it and keep trying to figure out how to help. Charlie Mac just had the 10,000 men.

Tavis: Yeah, big march.

Smith: Yeah, call to action in Philly. That went over really well, it's huge. Yeah, 10,000 men come down and integrate with the chief of police, and they're men that are just going to go and stand on corners and shut down drug dealers. Like, you're not selling drugs out here. And the mobilization of the community is really the only way to even try to get a handle on that, so I'm proud of my man. Charlie Mac, shout-out.

Tavis: Yeah. The flip side - and I don't want to be flippant about it. We obviously can't solve the problem, as you mentioned, in a two-minute conversation about it. But the flip side to the drama that these young men in Philadelphia are facing now is that you got out and obviously have done remarkably well, domestically and internationally.
And I must tell you, when I saw the - and this isn't kissing up to you, I just want to be honest about this - when I first saw the trailer for "I Am Legend," the first thought I had, as I said to you early, was here come Will again, trying to save the world. But the second thought I had was, as the trailer kept popping up, "I Am Legend," "I Am Legend," "I Am Legend," I thought about you, and that you were on this path to becoming a legend yourself in this business.
So when I see Will Smith saying, "I Am Legend," I'm thinking, this is Will Smith. I am legend. You are really becoming an iconic figure. What do you make of that?

Smith: It's what my grandmother told me I had to do. I was sitting with Tyrese a couple weeks ago, just coming off "The Transformers" with him, just about the business and just really, he and I get on the same wavelength so I could be of some assistance, if I can. And there's a concept that I don't want to be an icon. I want to be an idea. I want to represent an idea.
I want to represent possibilities. I want to represent magic, right, that you're in a universe, and two plus two equals four. Two plus two only equals four if you accept that two plus two equals four. Two plus two is going to be what I want it to be. And there's a redemptive power that making a choice has, rather than feeling like you're at effect to all the things that are happening.
Make a choice. Like you just decide what it's going to be, who you're going to be, how you're going to do it. Just decide, and then from that point, the universe is going to get out your way. It's water; it wants to move and go around stuff. So for me, I want to represent possibilities. I want to represent the idea that you really can make what you want.
One of my favorite books is "The Alchemist," Paulo Coelho, and I just believe that. I believe that I can create whatever I want to create. If I can put my head on it right, study it, learn the patterns, and - it's hard to put into words, it's real metaphysical, esoteric nonsense, but I feel very strongly that we are who we choose to be.

Tavis: First of all, that's not mumbo-jumbo. It makes sense, number one. Number two, I think sales of "The Alchemist" just went up. (Laughter) Whatever that book is, sales just went up on Amazon.com right about now. If that happens, I'm going to call you and say, "Will, I wasn't lying. It really went up."

Smith: No, it's great. It's a quick read, too.

Tavis: If you can spell "Alchemist." (Laughter) That's a good Scrabble word, alchemist, yeah.

Smith: No, but the alchemist - like I consider myself an alchemist. An alchemist is basically a mystical chemist, right? And one of the great feats that alchemists used to do is they would take lead - just take a chunk of lead - and they could turn lead into gold, right? So the symbolism -

Tavis: That sounds like a good hustle. (Laughter) When I leave here, get me some lead.

Smith: I'm gonna get me some lead.

Tavis: Exactly.

Smith: But I so connected to symbolically being able to turn lead into gold. My grandmother used to say, "Life give you a lemon, you go ahead and make lemonade." To me, that's alchemy; that's the same concept behind "The Alchemist."

Tavis: I'm with you on the alchemy part. The last question I think I have time to ask, maybe the last question, is whether or not you -

Smith: Now who gonna make you leave? This your place.

Tavis: Well if you say I gotta leave, I gotta leave. (Laughter) Because you are the most powerful man in Hollywood. If you say I gotta go, I gotta. If you don't say I gotta go, then I can stay, I guess.
The one part I am curious about, though, is whether or not you're right about the fact, respectfully, that Will Smith represents possibility, and here's what I mean by that. A lot of these folk around town, let's be honest about it, can't hold the names of three or four Black folk in their head at the same time. Ain't but a couple of y'all who they interested in at any one point in time.

Smith: Absolutely.

Tavis: Ain't 55 Negros all making blockbuster movies at one time. (Laughter)

Smith: Right.

Tavis: You get selected, you get selected, whatever, and this is who we working with for the next couple years. You've broken through that, obviously, but I raise that only because whether or not it really does represent -

Smith: Except I don't like the idea of selected. I don't think I was selected.

Tavis: Okay.

Smith: I demanded my position.

Tavis: I respect that. I respect that. Somebody has to choose to work with you, though. If they decided to shut you out, what would you do? If nobody's distributing and nobody's - so I get your point. You're talent is awesome.
Smith: Then we'll start a distributor, we'll - (laughter) you know what I mean? Listen.

Tavis: All right.

Smith: Listen.

Tavis: Here's the question I'm getting to.

Smith: You talk to the Van Peebles; they'll tell you how to do it. Listen.

Tavis: You right about that.

Smith: Melvin and Mario, they know how to do it.

Tavis: The question I'm really getting to is whether or not there is something special and unique about you that everybody can't emulate.
Smith: I have this discussion with friends of mine all the time. The only thing that I can see - and you can never really look at yourself - the only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill, right? I will run.

Tavis: You will not be out-worked.

Smith: I will not be out-worked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, right, there's two things. You're getting off first, or I'm going to die. It's really that simple, right?
So let's go back to the question about what if people block me out. It's going to be two options. I'm going to get back in, or I'm going to be dead, right? It's, like, you're not going to out-work me. It's such a simple, basic concept. It's the guy who is willing to hustle the most is going to be the guy that just gets that loose ball. Oh, and he got that - oh, he got that, oh, okay, he got two. He got - ooh, god, he's a hustler, he grabbed that one.
That was going to be out of bounds, but he saved it. Back in. It's like the commodity that I see the majority of people who aren't getting the places they want or aren't achieving the things that they want in this business is strictly based on hustle. It's strictly based on being out-worked; it's strictly based on missing crucial opportunities.
I say all the time if you stay ready, you ain't gotta get ready.

Tavis: Get ready, I'm with you. That's why he is fast becoming a legend, and whether he likes it or not, an icon and an idea, and that is why I will make a bold prediction here: "I Am Legend" is going to make some money this weekend. (Laughter)

Smith: I hope so.

Tavis: Domestically and internationally. I got it right now. Will Smith, good to see you, man.

Smith: Thank you, baby. Good seeing you.

Tavis: Appreciate you, I love you much. "I Am Legend," starring Will Smith, go check it out. You don't need me to tell you that, though.

Work and Prison

2007-12-13T15:36:00.000-05:00

Work vs. Prison: Just in case you ever get these two environments mixed up,
this should make things a little bit clearer.

@ PRISON
You spend the majority of your time in a 10X10 cell.
@ WORK
You spend the majority of your timei n a 6X6 cubicle /office.

@ PRISON
You get three meals a day fully paid for.

@ WORK
You get a break for one meal andyou have to pay for it.

@ PRISON
You get time off for good behavior.

@ WORK
You get more work forgood behavior.

@ PRISON The guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.

@ WORK You must often carry a security cardand open all the doors for yourself.

@ PRISON
You can watch TV and play games.

@ WORK
You could get fired for watchingTV and playing games.

@ PRISON
You get your own toilet.

@ WORK
You have to share the toilet withsome people who pee on the seat.

@ PRISON
They allow your family and friends to visit.

@ WORK
You aren't even supposed to speakto your family.

@ PRISON
All expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required.

@ WORK
You get to pay all your expenses to got o work, and they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

@ PRISON
You spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out.

@ WORK
You spend most of your time wantingt o get out and go inside bars.

@ PRISON You must deal with sadistic wardens.

@ WORK They are called managers.

Jennifer Lewis from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air

2007-12-04T17:37:00.000-05:00

Jenice Armstrong A flip side to Jenifer's 'fabulous' persona
Philadelphia Daily News

ACTRESS JENIFER LEWIS used to think she was pretty good at keeping her demons hidden.
Lewis, 50, who co-starred in Tyler Perry's "Madea's Family Reunion," was often the proverbial life of the party - the larger-than-life diva not the least bit shy about climbing onto a tabletop to blast out a song as admirers gathered around and declared her "fabulous."
But there was a frightening flip side to her life. She'd explode in overwhelming bouts of anger at the slightest provocation. Once she flew into a tirade after a perceived racial slight at a nail salon. In another incident, she chased down another motorist in a road-rage incident, endangering her life as well as others in the area. And, inevitably, there were the crying jags and dark moods that she couldn't shake. Depression would linger for weeks.
"There were a few who knew," she told me last week. "I did this Christmas party once and there were psychiatrists in the audience. Girl, I had people doubling over, crying. But there was one psychiatrist in that party who came over to me after the performance. She said, 'You're very talented but there's a lot of pain underneath what you're saying.' . . . She recommended a therapist to me and I've been with that therapist for 17 years."
Like 5.7 million Americans, Lewis suffers from bipolar disorder, a mental illness marked by severe mood swings such as the one in which Lewis impulsively purchased a $2.3 million mansion. Actress Sinead O'Connor has admitted to suffering from the disease as has Maurice Benard, from ABC's "General Hospital." Some experts say singer Phyllis Hyman killed herself during a depressive episode.
During a manic phase, sufferers typically experience exagerrated feelings of importance and optimism. But then come the lows which are marked by prolonged bouts of sadness and hopelessness. Although the exact cause is unknown, eperts attribute the disease to some sort of imbalance of chemicals in the brain.
"Why the hell should you be ashamed of a chemical imbalance?" said Lewis, who'll be in Philly Friday to participate in a mental health conference called "Breaking the Silence: A Summit on Behavioral Health within the African American Community" at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Shame, she pointed out, is what keeps people from seeking psychiatric help as she did.
"I can tell a bipolar person from down the street. Usually, it's because that person's head is low or else they're hollering and screaming . . . they're usually the loudest person in the room or the most angry person in the room.
"I've got a girlfriend who's so bipolar," she went on. "When she laughs, it's louder than anybody else. When she's depressed, you won't see her for five days."
The disorder is treatable with medication but even after undergoing talk therapy, Lewis resisted chemical intervention for years, fearing she'd lose her creative edge.
"Don't you ever try to take that high from somebody that's manic," she said. "They are addicted to the high."
She used to think, "I'm Jenifer Lewis. I don't need that s---. Are you kidding? Everybody wants to be high. We wake up high. Just lit. Bouncing out of bed and just running amok."
But without medication, her behavior was erratic.
"Your sexual desire is heightened constantly. Your energy is boundless until you hit that brick wall or that dark cloud and you're sent spiralling into the abyss and it takes weeks or months to come out of it. It's staggering."
Lewis sees examples everywhere of people struggling with bipolar disorders.
"There's such a denial in the African-American community. It's usually [seen as] that crazy aunt and that crazy uncle . . . 'Uncle Jimmy lives in the attic.' Or 'Aunt Mary lives in the basement and is laughing loud.'
"When you don't see these people come out, they are undercover and they are depressed," she said. "When you see people speeding, they are speeding in their minds. Who is paying attention? Who's listening to people who are screaming a silent scream for help?"
A lot of times, people who commit a crime or do something else drastic actually are seeking help.
"I'm speaking directly to us - anything to get people to wake up. I go for the jugular. I'm talking about real damage that comes from people who are bipolar. The damage that is done. The denial is there," said Lewis, who earlier this year disclosed her mental-health struggles on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
Acknowledging that a mental-health issue exists is a first step.
"You get in there you find out it has nothing to do with your daddy or your friends, but it has everything to do with you. Go in there and tell yourself the truth."
With her disease under control and three new movies coming out, Lewis is sage-like when it comes to sharing her views about bipolar disease.
"You have to find something you love. You have to, because it will balance the madness," she said.
"If you want to put your energy into something, put it into being well . . . getting well so you can live. We don't have to suffer. This is America. I don't want to hear that you can't afford it." *
Jenifer Lewis will perform the one-woman play she wrote her illness called "Bipolar, Bath & Beyond" at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Pennsylvania Convention Center during "Breaking The Silence 2007," a summit on behavioral health within the African American community."

SKIN

2007-11-29T12:25:00.000-05:00

The "Light Skin Libra Birthday Bash," which was to take place at Detroit's Club APT, was the brainchild of a self described "dark-skinned" African-American Detroit DJ and party promoter. The party was intended to let "light-skinned" black women into a downtown club for free. In his defense, Ulysses "DJ Lish" Barnes, said that he had plans for "Sexy Chocolate" and "Sexy Caramel" parties too. The good news is that the parties have been canceled after much criticism and calls for boycotts and lawsuits. There are no words for some of the ignorant (insert four letter word that starts with an s, rhymes with hit), that we do to ourselves. But let me give it a try.
The short version. History has shown that black people with lighter skin were treated better. In the days of slavery, the dark-skinned blacks worked in the fields while light-skinned blacks worked in the house, hence the terms "field Negroes" and "house Negroes." It got so bad, that not only did the slave owners, who were often responsible for the lighter shade of brown his slaves had, give lighter-skinned blacks more respect, but so did the dark-skinned blacks.
This evolved into generations of blacks both consciously and subconsciously teaching themselves that one is better than the other which eventually led to a billion dollar fake hair industry.
This was best illustrated in Spike Lee's 1988 film "School Daze" in the scene played out in a beauty parlor between the "jiggaboos," otherwise known as the darker-skinned blacks with nappy hair, and the "wannabe's," the lighter-skinned blacks with straight often times weaved hair.
But who could forget the film version of Alice Walker's novel "The Color Purple," in which Mister asked for Nettie who was "chocolate" colored with long hair but was given Celie, who was dark-skinned with nappy and short coarse hair instead. This was followed by a grown up Celie dealing with the harsh realities of beauty and Mista's in-house mistress, Shug Avery.
Then you had black sororities and fraternities who used the "brown paper bag test" to deny entrance to anyone darker than the bag.
There continues to be black children who prefer to play with dolls that are white with blond hair and blue eyes. Some black children actually identify with these dolls over dolls of their own race, which could explain the 2003 case between two Georgia Applebee's restaurant employees.
At the time, Dwight Burch, a dark-skinned waiter, was an Applebee's restaurant employee. He filed a lawsuit against Applebee's and his light-skinned African-American manager alleging that during his employment, the manager repeatedly referred to him as a "black monkey" and a "tar baby" and told Burch to bleach his skin. Burch claimed he was fired after he refused to do so. His case settled for $40,000.
But what about decades of rap music videos where the preferred "ho" is a lighter shade of brown? And the fact that only recently we're seeing advertisements that highlight black women who chose to wear their hair in its natural state and are dark-skinned, even in our own magazines.
Remember actress Jennifer Beals' famous, "I thought I would never get in. I thought they only took geniuses. But I was lucky, because I'm a minority. I'm not Black, and I'm not White, so I could mark 'other' on my application, and I guess it's hard for them to fill that quota," quote on how she got into Yale University.
Beals, whose father was black, seldom identifies with the black community despite being nominated for an NAACP Image Award. And then there was singer Prince, who despite having black parents, listed in his press bio at one time that he was Italian, among other things, when he made it in the business.
More recently there was the University of Georgia's 2006 controversial study on skin tone which confirmed that light-skinned blacks are often more likely to be considered for jobs over dark-skinned blacks.
Wrap it all together and what you get a classic example of Dr. Joy DeGruy-Leary's P.T.S.S., otherwise known as post-traumatic slave syndrome.
You know, I can't think of one time that I witnessed or heard of white children taunting each other for being paler than the next, but I can think of numerous occasions where I have seen black children teasing each other for being "too black."
And while our lighter skin shades can be attributed to the Massuh's preference for his female black slaves over his own wife, we can't blame the Massuh for us continuing to feed into the hype that light is good and dark is bad.
Over the weekend, I attended Los Angeles' Taste of Soul Festival. I observed for quite some time the activity at a booth selling hair extensions. Black women, young and old, light and dark, crowded the booth to touch and feel the long straight flowing hair extensions that were guaranteed not to shed to "nap up." This while nearby booths, offering free diabetes, obesity, and HIV/AIDS tests went virtually unnoticed. Go figure.
While the party in Detroit is sad, it's the manifestation of generations of blacks still buying into the slave "house Negro" and "field Negro" mentality given to us by the Massuh. Don't you think there are enough forces out there trying to divide us without us giving them a helping hand?
You know, it's funny I never heard of lighter prison sentences for lighter blacks. Black is black no matter how light or how dark your skin is.
And on a side note, I find it completely baffling that while some of us (Lil' Kim) are out there trying to lengthen, lighten, and straighten our hair, bleach our skin, and even resort to plastic surgery to change our nose, on the flipside they're busy with botox, breast and butt implants, and tanning salons.

Big Daddy Kane

2007-11-16T18:36:00.001-05:00

Live on VH1 Hip Hop Honors

PHILLY !

2007-11-02T19:14:00.000-04:00

The black men of Philadelphia are resisting their circumstance and to be honest with the bible never says resist the circumstances. They need to resist the devil in the midst of their circumstances. I’ve come to the conclusion that my brothers need to deal with their inner demons and devils, so that the breaking of hearts and lost members of families due to violence can cease. My people in my native city are now cautious, due to the recent slaying of a police officer trying to do his job to serve and protect was gunned down in cold blood. Are my brother’s that desperate for a little bit of money? Is the trade off from freedom that high and that important to risk? It’s a sad time in my and you’re life time that it has to come down to almost martial law in my beloved, “city of brotherly love.” The solutions to the people who feel they can not get a break for whatever reason is to resist and rebuke the devil. This may be brand new news, but it must be done. It has to be done. Blood shed in the name of getting a quick buck is no way to live. My time spent growing up in North Philadelphia, 22nd and Lehigh was rough but it never resulted to this. Although I no longer live in the city, my mother, father, grandmother and a host of other family members still reside. I am afraid when I turn on my television to watch the channel 10 news.

Poetyk

2007-10-31T11:59:00.001-04:00

I discovered this unknown talent on another website. Once you hear her voice and the words that that is coming from her spirit, you will instantly become a fan like I have.

Good measure

2007-10-30T16:21:00.000-04:00

For those who say women aren’t supposed to preach. Tell them this for good measure:

It wasn’t man that was there when the tomb was opened on Sunday morning.
It wasn’t man that wash his feet with tears and dried His face with hair.
Jesus said to Mary, “go and tell that He has risen.”

This was the beginning of women spreading the gospel.

IT WAS A WOMAN.

For any man who says a woman should not be preaching in the pulpit, I would consider them as a single minded individual who is stagnant in their ways. God can appoint anyone He chooses. I am blessed to know a few.

A brief moment in my time of thinking

2007-10-26T14:40:00.000-04:00

The candy store closed on me, so may I ask “what should I do?” Before you answer let me reply back to myself. The answer came to me after deep meditation and thought. My soul-lution to my growing pains are: I need to have obedience and growth. I need spiritual, creative and every other type of growth so I can man-up look for that elusive key to have the store re-open full time.

2007-10-25T22:39:00.001-04:00

No matter what angle I came from, my wrongs could never be right. Any way that I twist it to wring out the

Crosswalk Article

2007-10-21T23:57:00.001-04:00

Don’t look now, but there is someone who is dead set against you and your spouse enjoying a happy, fulfilling marriage. No, we’re not talking about your in-laws or an old, jealous boyfriend or girlfriend –we certainly hope these people aren’t against you! We’re talking about someone very hateful, powerful, and devious. We’re talking about God’s archenemy and the enemy of your soul. We’re talking about Satan.

Throughout the Bible, God uses marriage as an object lesson for his desired relationship with humankind. Solomon’s love poem illustrates the kinds of relationship God wants between you and Himself – and you and your spouse. It says, “I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine” (Song of Songs 6:3).

That’s what your marriage is supposed to look like: a husband and wife totally devoted to and absorbed in one another. When you love your spouse sacrificially and unconditionally according to the guidelines of Scripture and when he or she loves you the same way, you are modeling for all to see the essence of how God wants to be involved with us.

God wants your marriage to paint a true picture. He wants your kids to see a dad and mom so devoted to each other and to them that they say, “Wow! So that’s how much God loves me.” He wants your neighbors, work associates, and friends to see how you humbly serve one another and say, “Amazing! So that’s what it means to serve God.” No wonder Satan wants to deface this image by ruining your marriage – or at least keeping it from becoming all it can be!

How does Satan seek to devour your marriage? One of his primary weapons is the godless culture we live in. You can talk all you want to about America as a “Christian nation,” but there is a lot going on in American culture that is working against the health and success of your marriage. And if you fail to guard against these subtle – and sometimes blatant – influences, this world will drain the vitality and passion from your marriage relationship. What influences are we talking about?

The media. When was the last time you flipped on a television drama, viewed a movie at the theater, or read a secular novel that didn’t glorify adultery or an illicit affair in some manner? And even when infidelity and dishonesty in marriage isn’t glorified in these presentations, it is at least accepted and condoned as “normal.” At the same time, wholesome, monogamous marriages are often pictured as anemic or boring.

The lives of the “rich and famous,” the people our culture idolizes and seeks to emulate – movie stars, television personalities, recording artists, and politicians. Yes, there are a number of people in the public eye who are known for staying married and remaining faithful. But these are not the couples who get the media coverage. Rather, we are bombarded with the sordid details of celebrity “bedroom bingo”: who is sleeping with whom, who is cheating on whom, who is divorcing whom, who is having whose “love child” out of wedlock, and so on. You can’t get through a grocery store checkout line without the headlines glaring at you from the sleazy tabloids.

Pornography. Countless numbers of magazines, books, videos, adult “superstores,” and Internet Web sites promote unbridled sexual expression. Through it all comes Satan’s dark, diabolical suggestion: “Why work so hard at building a marriage when you can spend your life in pleasure with all these toys?”

You may say, “We’re Christians, so the culture doesn’t influence us that much.” If Satan’s influence through the culture didn’t affect believers, we wouldn’t need the clear instruction found in 1 John 2:15-16, which is written to Christians: “Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the lover of the Father in you. For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world.”

The devil probably knows he can’t convince you to dump your spouse and run off with another man or woman. But he will try to keep that option looking attractive to you through the media and other means. He will do his best to stoke the fires of lust enough to distract you from full devotion to your spouse. And if he can keep you distracted by the world’s view of marriage and sex, your marriage will be much less than it could be – which suits him just fine.

We’re not advocating that you take a sledge hammer to your TV, torch all your paperback novels, or swear off attending movies. But as a couple you must exercise guarding love by holding each other accountable to verses like Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”

We are stuck in this world for now. But as Jesus said, we are not of this world any more than he is of this world. The distractions are strong and plentiful. But guarding love find a way to make it through together without being devoured by Satan. Solomon’s instructions in Proverbs 4:25-27 are key: “Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; then stick to the path and stay safe. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.”

2007-10-21T23:53:00.000-04:00

No more negativity in your life!

2007-10-19T09:53:00.000-04:00

What's the quickest way out of a negative attitude? Have something ready and waiting that you can immediately and genuinely appreciate.
How do you find the hidden value in any situation? Look for something to truly appreciate. When you seek to find things to appreciate, what you'll discover are hidden treasures upon which you can build great value. Look for what you can appreciate, and you'll find positive, powerful tools that will pull you forward.
Get in the habit of starting each day by thinking of something for which you can be thankful. Then, whenever you catch yourself falling into a negative thought pattern, you'll already have something positive toward which you can redirect your thoughts.

Each time you meet a new person, make it a point to find something, at the very outset of the relationship, that you can sincerely appreciate. Every time you find yourself in a new place or situation, look first for what you can appreciate about it.
Find something to appreciate, and your effectiveness will increase dramatically. Find something to appreciate, and you'll uncover real treasure.

This just in...

2007-10-18T09:54:00.000-04:00

CH_ _ CH

What's missing?

Exposure to the SON, may prevent burning!

Just a thought

2007-10-17T10:06:00.000-04:00

To handle yourself, use your head.

To handle others, use your heart.

I need to write, this is why I write

2007-10-16T10:49:00.000-04:00

I need to write, this is why I write

I inhale words and exhale promises to paper
I breathe through the lungs of poems while the ancestral bones
Keep my spirits upright
With words to connect to life

My truths spills from culturally swollen wombs adding dimension
So that the universe can rest on a sentence

I place past experiences on narrow blue line 8 ½ by 11 of former trees
My modern day tablet is corporately sponsored by mead

With a pen impregnated with ink as my staff
As I walk less traveled paths
Pausing briefly to add life to paragraphs

There it rest
God has stated that I am truly blessed
When I write I stay motivated
Every time I write a piece so you can digest the best

My insight ingest the future seeds of what I write
I am glad the Lord gave me the a third eye sight
This is why I live to write.

The Art of Suggestion

2007-10-15T22:01:00.000-04:00

As I sit on a Monday evening preparing my mind to study like I never had. I started to think to my self on the events that took place today. The devil who knew I am weak implemented his art of suggestion to take me out of what God has for me. The art of suggestion needs to be dealt with and my interpretation of it is simple. He says things to take the focus off of our faith and what God promised, if we lean on him. Even a 37 year old man who has been to a physical hell on earth know that I can not yield to this. The devil will have me thinking my family and all those who know me is against me. Its hard not to recognize and listen to that suggestion that he offers, after all I am human. Satan knows this and God sends him to test us at all cost, so that he can get the glory. I must be on my game spiritually. The fight in me as come back, like back in the day when I was growing up. I was tested today and I think I passed when a unsolicited comment was made directly to me. I smiled and focused on what I was doing. After all they talked about Jesus too, so what makes me think it would not be done to me. I have officially taken my self out of the world as far as participating in things that are not good to me. I had to. If i didn't it would have been easy for me to loose my cool and said somethings that would have hurt this individuals feelings. If I am looking for forgiveness in a major way, so i will grant a unseen forgiveness that I am given. The reason being, before I can move on and become the man I desire to be, it has to start with me and being kind is something that the devil can not offer the art of suggestion to.

2007-10-15T16:33:00.000-04:00

Self Examination

I can not get along with my self! That’s a bold statement to say, but I am trying to challenge my self by taking a critical look at my faults. It is an unusual statement to say because most people tend to think that there are certain folk they do not get along with for certain reasons. For me I don’t have that problem. I get along great with my peers, however with myself, it is a war that I started in my head years ago and is still raging. The war that started in my head has caused me to hurt, be hurt and conjure up new methods with intensity to display my hurt in ways that I will receive sympathy.

God says that we are not to be critical, yet I believe that self examination to better one’s self is on the menu for me to eat and digest. Of course I am not where I use to be but I have come a long way, praise God. When a person judge’s themselves, you are offending your spirit. This was me 100% and it has started to take a toll on my mind body and spirit. Notice I said it was me. I am in that process of repairing the damage that I have caused, by the grace of God.

Being critical of your self like I do, is not a good attribute to have. I have to be happy on how far we come instead of how far I have to go on my quest through this life. I can not look for everything wrong about me. I am not a hunter with a gun looking for me in a show down. I am on a journey to be happy about my progress from this point on. I will not be on my own case. I will give my self a little bit of mercy and grace and live life on how God attended.

I often felt like, if I did not feel wrong I did not feel right. I have literally became addicted to guilt. It’s a crying shame, but I told you this is a self examination. 1 Corr 4:1 tells it all, it pave the way for me to come out of this way of thinking. I have to prove my self worthy with trust. It’s not my job to judge my self. God doesn’t judge himself! My prayer is, “God you convict me, you convince, you correct me, you help me because I can not do it by myself.” This is what I say when I get into my dark mode of self examination. Guilt and condemnation is something that presses you down, convictions will life us up out of that sin. Praise God.

If God can not help me, I can not be help. Feeling guilty does not changes anything. He will deliver us little by little. He is dealing with me from the inside to keep me from dealing with those thoughts again. Stay tuned.

2007-10-11T18:32:00.000-04:00

What would happen if I disappeared? Would anyone care? I repeat this saying to my self everyday. This is my logic of thinking every day during my struggles of selfishness. I tend to get caught up in the enemies plan to disrupt my life in this way. He wants to win this soul by any means necessary Satan is the master of deception and he causes people to question there significance in life. Satan Masquerades as spiritual and confuses us to think that our wrongs are really right because of the hurt, pains and joys we have. Satan has what I call the tradition trap as I come to study the word. It’s like doing magic and trickery in today’s time. This is his power; however he can not do anything unless he gets permission from the almighty. Satan has a prestige, which means the slight of hand. The word presto comes from this term.

NOT FINISH YET!!!! STAY TUNED.

I need a breakthrough

2007-10-10T22:36:00.000-04:00

I am finding it so hard to separate the old me with the new me. You may be thinking right about now, "what in the world is he talking about?" Its so simple that its complicated enough to make me want to venture back into the old me, however I can not. It would not be in my best interest to do so, number one my life and soul is on the line. I was confronted with a ultimatum that tends to give me goose bumps at the very thought of what was coveyed to me. Sounds serious right? I know, I know I am talking in riddles, this is what writers do.

We like to take the reader on a journey through our thoughts. Lord if you can hear me and I know you can, I am asking and praying for a breakthrough. The pain that I am enduring for my actions and non-actions can not be compared to anyone, however I am the cause that issued out the affect and for that my spirit is in such turmoil.

Thank God for the gift of writing. Thank God for this outlet to make sense of my life and have confirmation that I am not alone. So what else can I do? The answer is simple. Just a moment ago it came to me like a breeze through the tree's, "I may not come when you call, but I am always on time!" There you have it if you're not a true believer! He does exist and I believe He will turn my situation around. Ive been down before and this little man always fought for what I believe in. God will come through again in October for me I know and feel it, I have to stay grounded and lean on His word and not lean so much on someone else who have their own problems. He has a breakthrough for me and anyone who's looking for one. If you need one just ask Him. Talk to Him and just like a father is supposed to do, He will love you and take care of you.

Cho Woods 10/07

Edging God out (EGO)

2007-10-10T14:24:00.001-04:00

I came face to face with the struggle of self acceptance in this life. I tend to go back and forth with my faith. I believe it has caused me to lose some favor with my God and His mercy. That’s never a good thing and for me to keep doing this, it is not pleasing to Him who I serve with all of my heart and soul.
Not being in his grace for whatever my wrong doings were, will only make me reap what I sow and cry His name louder and ask, “why me God?” I understand that Jesus Himself was not exempt from life’s perils, so what makes me think I will not have to go through something? I will tell you, “ego.” Ego should stand for, “edging God out.” No longer will I do that, the price is too high for me to bare.

I am currently paying for the words I spoke, howeve it is deserved. Cursing his name was definitely a wrong move because I was angry and being immature with someone else, that hurt’s Him and the ones surrounding me for support. Yet he still forgave me and gave me an audible ultimatum that I will never soon forget. I do not wish to share that conversation, however let me say that it wasn’t a good outcome if I did it again. It scared me and made me man up and take responsibilities for my actions, as I try to get back in his good graces.

I am the child and I know how my own kids feel when they are disobedient and have to be chastised. This time the punishment was warranted, however I am on the road to recovery as I take a new turn in my life. Edging God out is not recommended by anyone. It’s not good for you, your family and especially your soul. He spared me this time, the next time I get tempted to edge him out, my time could be up with out the chance of asking for forgiveness and that will lead me to one place, Hell.

Sex and Diabetes

2007-10-03T20:02:00.000-04:00

Many diabetes suffer from some type of sexual dysfunction such as fatigue, vaginitis, decrease sex drive, decrease vaginal lubrication, longer periods to reach an orgasm, impotence, or frigidity. The ironic thing is that sex can actually help keep insulin levels in check and improve theses conditins, along with many others associated with diabetes.

Did you know that there has been a 70% increase in the occurrence of type II diabetes? It is the silent killer, and unfortunately most people seems to accept it. Research shows that there should be a rise in sexual activity because the oxytocin levels decrease and so does the sensitivity to insulin. The extra bonus from having sex if you're a diabetic is the surge of prolactin you get from a orgasm. Prolactin is a stimulating factor for the immune system, but it is especially helpful in reducing elevations in the blood glucose levels in a person with type I diabetes, according to studies perform by the department of medical cell biology. The best way to naturally increase your oxytocin and prolactin levels is to have lots of orgasms, at least two to three times a week.

My Intro

2007-09-25T12:38:00.001-04:00

My Intro

Brother Minister

2007-09-25T09:56:00.001-04:00

Produce by Cho Woods

TAXES

2007-09-17T11:29:00.000-04:00

Be sure to read all the way to the end!

Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table At which he's fed. Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes Are the rule. Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt. Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he Tries to think. Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries, then Tax his tears. Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways To tax his ass Tax all he has Then let him know That you won't be done Till he has no dough. When he screams and hollers, Then tax him some more, Tax him till He's good and sore. <>Then tax his coffin , Tax his grave, Tax the sod in Which he's laid. Put these words upon his tomb, " Taxes drove me to my doom..." When he's gone, Do not relax, Its time to apply The inheritance tax Accounts Receivable Tax Building Permit Tax CDL license Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Dog License Tax Excise Taxes Federal Income Tax Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel Permit Tax Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon) Gross Receipts Tax Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Invent ory Tax IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) Liquor Tax Luxury Taxes Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Personal Property Tax Property Tax Real Estate Tax Service Charge Tax Social Security Tax Road Usage Tax Sales Tax Recreational Vehicle Tax Sc hool Tax State Income Tax State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone Federal Excise Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax Telephone Federal, State and Local Surc harge Taxes Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax Telephone State and Local Tax Telephone Usage Charge Tax Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax Vehicle Sales Tax Watercraft Registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What the hell happened? Can you spell "politicians!" And I still have to "press 1" for English.

I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times

My First Crush: Remember Her

2007-08-13T07:17:00.000-04:00

Lola Falana (born Loletha Elaine Falana on September 11, 1942 in Camden, New Jersey) is an American dancer and actress of Cuban and African American descent. Falana's father left Cuba to become a welder in the United States, where he met his wife. Lola spent most of her childhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By the age of three she was dancing, and by age five she was singing in the church choir. By the time she was in junior high school, she was already dancing in nightclubs to which she was escorted by her mother. Pursuing a musical career became so important to Falana that, against her parents' wishes, she left Germantown High School (Philadelphia) a few months before graduation and moved to New York City.
Her first dancing gig was at "Small's Paradise" in Harlem. Dinah Washington, the “Queen of Blues”, was influential in fostering Lola’s early career.At one time one of the most beautiful woman in the world. While dancing in a nightclub, Falana was discovered by Sammy Davis Jr., who gave her a featured role in his 1964 Broadway musical Golden Boy. Lola's first single, "My Baby", was recorded for Mercury Records in 1965.
Later in her career she recorded under Frank Sinatra's record label. In the late 1960s Falana was mentored by Davis. In 1966 Davis cast her, along with himself, Ossie Davis, and Cicely Tyson, in her first film role in the film, A Man Called Adam. Falana became a major star of Italian cinema beginning in 1967. In Italy she learned to speak fluent Italian while starring in three movies, the first of which was considered a spaghetti western. She was known as the "Black Venus". During this time she was busy touring with Davis as a singer and dancer, making films in Italy, and reprising her role in Golden Boy during its revival in London. In 1969 Falana ended her close working relationship with Sammy Davis Jr., though the two remained friends. "If I didn't break away," Lola told TV Guide, "I would always be known as the little dancer with Sammy Davis Jr. ... I wanted to be known as something more." The previous year, Sammy Davis Jr. was divorced by his second wife, May Britt, after Davis admitted to having had an affair with Falana. Falana posed for Playboy magazine in 1970. She was also the first black woman to model for a line of cosmetics that was not targeted solely to blacks, in the successful Faberge Tigress perfume ads. In those early years, she also starred in a few movies considered to be of the Blaxploitation genre.

American TV audiences became familiar with Falana during the early 1970s. She often appeared on The Joey Bishop Show and The Hollywood Palace, displaying her talent for music, dance, and light comedy. These appearances led to more opportunities.

She was the first supporting player hired by Bill Cosby for his much-anticipated variety hour, The New Bill Cosby Show, which made its debut on September 11, 1972 (her 30th birthday) on CBS. Cosby had met Falana in his college days, when he was a struggling comic and she was a 14-year-old dancing for $10 dollars a show in Philadelphia nightclubs. Throughout the mid-1970s Falana made guest appearances on many popular TV shows, including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Laugh-In and The Flip Wilson Show. She also starred in her own television specials. In 1975 her disco record "There's A Man Out There Somewhere" reached #67 on the Billboard R&B chart. That same year, she returned to Broadway as the lead in the musical Doctor Jazz. Although the production closed after just five performances, Lola was nominated for a Tony Award and won the 1975 Theater World Award.
With help from Sammy Davis, Falana brought her act to Las Vegas and became a top draw there. By the late 1970s, she was considered the Queen of Las Vegas. She played to sold-out crowds at The Sands, The Riviera, and the MGM Grand hotels. Finally The Aladdin offered her $100,000 a week to perform. At the time, Falana was the highest paid female performer in Las Vegas. Her show ran twenty weeks a year and became a major tourist attraction. While still playing to sell-out crowds in Las Vegas, Falana joined the cast of a short-lived CBS soap opera, Capitol.

Soon after the show was cancelled in 1987, she suffered a major setback; a relapse of multiple sclerosis. Falana's relapse was severe; her left side was paralyzed, she became partially blind, and her voice and hearing were impaired. Recovery lasted a year and a half, during which she spent most of her time praying. Falana attributes her recovery to a spiritual experience which she described as "Being able to feel the presence of the Lord." She converted to Roman Catholicism and worked her newly-found spirituality into her everyday life. Though she performed again in Las Vegas shows in 1987, her practice of religion and faith became the center of her life. After another bout with multiple sclerosis in 1996, Falana returned to Philadelphia and lived with her parents for a short time. No longer performing, she now tours the country with a message of hope and spirituality. When not on tour, she lives a quiet life in Las Vegas working on the apostolate she founded, The Lambs of God Ministry. The ministry is focused on helping children who have been orphaned in Sub-Saharan Africa, and works closely with the group Save Sub-Saharan Orphans. Her last known musical performance was in 1997, at Wayne Newton's theater in Branson, Missouri.

Turbulent Man

2007-08-10T13:09:00.000-04:00

I understand me now
Even sometimes when I get mad
My human emotions are built like a coaster that’s on an incline
And that could be real bad
In this life’s amusement park
Anything can start my mean streak
To spark
I want and try to behave
To seal my fate
Channel the self hate
So there won’t be any debate
Of gaining glory
Of getting into heavens gate
I have to be my own control freak
Sort of speak
Or I will get handed an uncomprehesible defeat
And loose everything
That means the world to me-
No more shall I doubt my DNA
Black man name
R.a.y.m.o.n.d.
I have to aim for the brightest star and reach
It will do me no good to react in a negative manner
And have my kids see
Daddy who can’t control his little-man complex
Please, Lord, help your son
From being so perplex
My forever is finding my solution
Atonement with thy self
To gain the common good to have forever
These storms I have are raging
But God can calm my turbulent weather.

One of my hero's and the greatest voices in rap of all time

2007-08-01T08:30:00.000-04:00

Peace to Chuck D The voice of hip hop still going strong!

Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, born August 1, 1960, better known by his stage name Chuck D, is an American rapper, composer, actor, author, radio personality and producer. Chuck was born in Roosevelt, Long Island, New York, USA. He helped further 1980s political rap music as the controversial and influential lead rapper of Public Enemy.

After graduating from Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School, Chuck went to Adelphi University in Long Island. Upon hearing the demo track "Public Enemy Number One", fledgling producer/mogul Rick Rubin insisted on signing Ridenhour to his Def Jam label. However, Ridenhour viewed the music business as a step down from the design job he had at the time. Rubin would continue calling to the point where Chuck D would have his then-girlfriend (and future wife) answer the phone as not to have to deal with him. Eventually, Chuck D relented, insisting to Rubin that he also sign his friend William "Flavor Flav" Drayton, explaining to Rubin, "I don't know what he does, but he adds something."

As the lyricist and main vocalist of Public Enemy, he was the focal point of two seminal and controversial rap albums: Fear Of A Black Planet and It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back.

Ridenhour also contributed (as Chuck D) to several episodes of the PBS documentary series The Blues.

In 1990, he appeared in Sonic Youth's "Kool Thing", a song for their album, Goo.

In 1996, he released Autobiography Of Mistachuck on Mercury Records.

In November 1998, he settled out of court with Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G" Wallace's estate over the latter's sampling of Chuck D's voice in the song "Ten Crack Commandments". The specific sampling is Chuck D counting of the numbers 1 to 9 from the track "Shut Em Down".

In September 1999, he launched a multi-format "supersite" on the web, Rapstation.com. A home for the vast global hip hop community, the site boasts a TV and radio station with original programming, many of hip hop's most prominent DJs, celebrity interviews, free MP3 downloads (the first was contributed by multi-platinum rapper Coolio), downloadable ringtones by ToneThis, social commentary, current events, and regular features dedicated to empowering rap artists with the knowledge to turn their craft into a viable living.

Since 2000, he has been one of the most vocal supporters of Internet music file sharing in the music industry.

Chuck has been increasingly involved politically. He co-hosted Unfiltered on Air America Radio, he has testified before Congress in support of peer-to-peer MP3 sharing, and was involved in a 2004 rap political convention.

He continues to be an activist, publisher, lecturer, and producer. He is the co-writer of the essay book Fight the Power: Rap, Race, and Reality, along with Yusuf Jah (ISBN 0-385-31868-5). Chuck D founded the record company Slam Jamz.

He acted as narrator in the short film "Bling: Consequences and Repercussions", shot by Kareem Adouard, which explains how diamonds in bling fashion can be conflict diamonds, fueling wars and killings in Africa.

Remember when rap lyrics were like this? From Ras Kass

2007-06-03T01:10:00.000-04:00

Let freedom ring with a buckshot, but not just yet
First we need to truly understand the nature of the threat
And a pale man walks in the threshold of darkness
Roughly 20,000 years ago the first humans evolved
with the phenotypical trait, genetic recessive
Blue eyes, blonde hair and white skin

Albinism apparently was a sin to the original man, Africans
So the mutants traveled North of the equator
Called Europeans later, the first race haters
So here's the Devil's alpha to the beta
Cause history's best qualified to teach one
Quoting German philosopher Schopenhauer
"Every white man is a faded or a bleached one"

Migration created further mutation
Genetic drifts, evolution through recombination
Adaptation to the climate
As the Caucus Mountain man reverted to that of a primate
Savage Neanderthals, until the late Paleolithic age
That's when the Black Grimaldi man came
With the symbol of the dragon, fire and art
Check cave paintings in France and Spain to the Venus of Willendorf

Around 2000 B.C. Southern Russians migrate in small units
Those who travel West populated Europe
Those who went East settled in Iran, known as Aryans
1500 B.C. some crossed the Khyber Pass into India and
created Hinduism, the first caste system, the origins of racism
A white dot on the forehead meant elite
The black dot - defeat; untrustable, untouchables

They wrote the holy Vedas in Sanskrit
That's the language that created Greek, German, Latin and English
Now the Minoans around 2000 B.C.
Starts on the island of Crete, in the Agean Sea
The Greek culture begins Western Civilization
But "Western Civilization" means "White Domination"

Myceneans learned from Kemet, called Egypt in Greek
It existed since at least 3000 B.C.
Creatin geometry and astronomy
This knowledge influenced Plato, Socrates and Hippocrates
Cause Imhotep, the real real father of medicine
Was worshiped in Greece and Rome in the form of a Black African

The word Africa comes from the Greek "Aphrike"
meaning "without cold"; the word philosophy means "love of knowledge"
Stole from first man, Greek power expands
The first Greek fraternities band
The word gymnasium is Greek for "naked"
This was the place where adolescent boys were educated, and molested
This was accepted because Greek culture was homosexual
For example, Sappho trained girls on the island of Lesbos
Hence, the word lesbian (Ay let these dumb motherfuckers know)

December 25th, the birth of Saturn
A homosexual god, now check the historical pattern
December 25, now thought the birth of Christ
Was Saturnalia, when men got drunk,
fucked each other then beat their wife
Fact is, it was still practiced, til they called it Christmas
So put a gerbil on your Christmas list
The Hellenistic Era, Alexander the Great
Conquers all the way to India leavin four successor states

By the Fifth century B.C., R.O.M.E.
succeeds to be the conqueror of Egypt and Greece
But had the threat of the Black Phoenicians in Sicily
The Punic Wars began 264 B.C.
The Black general Hannibal and Carthaginian Peace
In 146 B.C. Carthage fell after a six-month siege
Rome sold every citizen to slavery
The first genocide of history
And more bisexuality in sight; Julius Caesar was known as
"every woman's husband and every man's wife" (BEOTCH!)

Spartacus Revolt, a slave rebellion that lost
Where 6,000 slaves was nailed on a cross
Cross? Aw, shit! Jesus Christ! Time for some-act-right
Christians get your facts right
Cause Christ was not his name
That's Greek for "One who is anointed"
Yahshua Ben Yosef was his name, do Christians know this?
So who do you praise, do you know his name?
Or do you do this in vain?
Accepting the religion they gave slaves to behave
Peep the description of historian Josephus
"Short, dark, with an underdeveloped beard was Jesus"
He had the Romans fearing revolution
The solution was to take him to court and falsely accuse him

After being murdered by Pilate how can it be
these same white Romans established Christianity
Constantine would later see the cross in a dream
In his vision, it read "En Hawk Signo Wonka":
"In this sign we conquer" - Manifest Destiny
In 325 he convened the Nicean Creed
And separated god into three
Decided Jesus was born on December 25th
and raised then on the third day is a myth
Plus to deceive us
Commissioned Michelangelo to paint white pictures of Jesus
He used his aunt, uncle, and nephew
Subconsciously that affects you
It makes you put white people closer to God
(Yo, 'The Man' got game like a motherfucker!)

True indeed, fuck it, Jihad
In the eight century Muslims conquered
Spain, Portugal and France and controlled it for 700 years
They never mention this in history class
cause o'fays are threatened when you get the real lesson
Moors from Baghdad, Turkey threatened European Christians
Meaning, the white way of life; hence the Crusades for Christ
On November 25th, 1491
Santiago defeats the last Muslim stronghold, Grenada
King Ferdinand gave thanks to God for victory
And the Pope of Rome and declared this date to forever be
A day of "Thanksgiving" for all European Christians

.. Now listen, when you celebrate "Thanksgiving"
What you are actually celebratin
is the proclamation of the Pope of Rome
Who later, in league with Queen Isabella
sent Cardinal Ximenos to Spain
to murder any blacks that resisted Christianity
These Moors, these black men and women
were from Baghdad, Turkey
And today, you eat the turkey, for your "Thanksgiving" day
as the European Powers destroyed the Turkeys
Who were the forefathers of your mothers and fathers
Now fight the power, you bitch-ass niggaz!

Now around this time, Whites started callings us Negroes
That's Spanish for black object meaning we're not really people
but property, and the triangle trade begins - they seize us
Queen Elizabeth sends the first slaves on a ship named Jesus
Stealin land from the indigenous natives
Gave them alcohol to keep the Red Man intoxicated
Whites claim they had to civilize these pagan animals
But up until 1848 there's documented cases
of whites bein the savage cannibals, eatin Indians
In 1992, it's Jeffery Dahmer
They slaughtered a whole race with guns
Drugs, priests and nuns
1763, the first demonic tactic of biological warfare

As tokens of peace, Sir Jeffery Amherst
passed out clothin and blankets to the Indian community
Infested with small pox, knowin they had no immunity
Today it's AIDS, you best believe it's man made
Cause ain't a damn thing changed.. let me explain
Now since people of color are genetically dominant
and Caucasoids are genetically recessive
and Whites expect to be predominant, meaning survive as a race then
they simply must, take precautions

That's why they're worried about their future now
'cause by 2050, almost all the Earth's population
will be brown, then black, so understandin that, whites counterreact
(I'm sayin.. man.. them fools
ain't nothin but a teaspoon of milk in the world color majority)
So they created a system
to force blacks into an unnatural position
That re-enforces the position of natural inferiority
In addition, created guns and developed the ethnocentric view
that God justifies every fuckin thing they do
Condition people to perceive whites' culture as civilized
and every other culture considered primitive - not true!

Racism is the system of racial subjugation against nonwhites
in every areas of human relation
Entertainment, education, labor, politics
Law, religion, sex, war and economics
See blacks were 3/5ths of a man with tax purposes intended
You think you're Afro-American?
You're a 14th amendment and a good nigga
Jews don't salute the fuckin swastika
but niggaz pledge allegiance to the flag that accosted ya

They never teach about the break of islands like Jamaica
But before slaves came here whites would take a
pregnant women, hang her from a tree by her toes
Slice her stomach with a knife
and let the unborn baby fall to the flo'
And stop an unborn child in front of all the slaves
to inbreed fear, so they'd be scared and behave
and not rebel more
Understand all whites must be perceived as potential predators

I paraphrase historian Ishakamusa Barashango
"Understand that regardless of the lofty ideas ingraved on paper
in such documents as the Constitution or Declaration
the basic nature.. of the European American white man
remains virtually unchanged".. so check
This is the nature of the threat

The State of Hip Hop

2007-04-27T07:32:00.000-04:00

From AllHipHop dot com:

Hip-Hop has many detractors, but the Honorable Louis Minister Farrakhan is not one of them.

While rap music is under an unprecedented attack in America by an older generation that popularized a number of questionable words, including the dreaded "N word," the Minister Louis Farrakhan is standing by Hip-Hop music while challenging rappers across the Earth.

While many point fingers at the our rappers, the Minister has recognized the power that rappers hold all over, even when the microphones are off.

AHH: What do you think of the current state of the rap industry?

Minister Farrakhan: The record executives don't give a doggone about right and wrong. They will make you a multimillionaire calling your women the B names and the whore name. And using MF and using the N Word. Because they want to promote our degradation and make it so lucrative to do it that you have a reluctance to change, even though the people are hungering and thirsting for something better. And so when Kanye West said "Jesus Walks," it became a hit and it's because there's a thirst and a hunger and most of the rappers don't know that there's a vacuum of leadership in the Black community. The Black people are not listening to their preachers. They’re not listening to their politicians, they’re listening to their rappers ... If you came into unity and stopped using the N word and saw what that N word does to you psyche. God said he made us in his own image and likeness. And in The Bible, it says "Ye are all gods children of the Most High God." It didn't say "Ye are all dogs, Children of the Most High, dog.” So instead of seeing yourself as offspring of God himself, you are now calling yourself the offspring of a dog. "Yo dog, what's up dog, that's my dog." If you are a dog, then your mother is a B and you are the son of a B. Stop it. That language has to stop. The thinking that follows that language has to stop. And then the violence between us as a family will also stop.

AAH: I think there's a backlash coming against the Hip-Hop community. How do we deal with it? They put out these negative images that the majority of people in Hip-Hop music have been complaining about for sometime now. Now they’re blaming us. But they’re already feeling the financial impact of it: no one buying CDs. What would you like to see rappers do?

Minister Farrakhan: The backlash that is coming is created. And it's created by the same forces of our image in the first place. Those forces see that we are taking their children from them. The majority of those who buy Hip-Hop records are White, not Black. So if the White youth that are buying Hip-hop and are in love with Hip-Hop, then become a part of Hip-Hop culture, then White people feel they are losing their future generations to the Hip-Hop culture. They’re afraid that if the Hip-Hop genre begins to recognize its power and begins to educate and motivate, young people all over the planet, you can take people away from being brutalized in war. Look at those who are dying in Iraq today on the basis of a lie: 18-19, 20, 21, that's the Hip-Hop generation. So if the Hip-Hoppers decided to tell them, "why fight? On the basis of a lie? You're not fighting to protect America, you are fighting for the greedy to gain access to the second largest oil reserve in the world.” What they see is your power. And now they want to reclaim their children, so they want to make the enemy now Hip-Hop. The enemy is not Hip-Hop. They asked on TV if Hip-Hop was art of poison. Hip-Hop is art that has been poisoned. You cannot say that Public Enemy was poison, except to those who love White supremacy. You can't say that KRS One and Big Daddy Kane were poison; that was art.

They took the spoken word and started educating the people. And those who are wicked saw what they were doing and did not want our young people educated in that. And they were making millions, sometimes out of the trunks of their cars. They had their own system of distribution. So the big boys said, "Wait a minute, we have to cash in on this." But they didn't want conscious rap. They wanted gangsta rap. So the more you promote gangster rap, the more you promote guns, the more they can sell prisons on the stock market. Cause they know they are going to fill it with the brothers and sisters from the inner-cities. If they want to know what poison is, let's go back to Hollywood. It is Hollywood that is undressing women. Hollywood in the early days would never show a sex scene but today, you can't find a movie where there's not some torrid love scene. That's poison in the movies, magazines, poison on the radio.

And so Hip-Hop is a reflection of the poison, not the architect of the poison. There's an antidote for poison. All we have to do is apply the antidote and gradually clean up our lyrics. And Hip-Hop will lead the new generation out of the hellish condition into a condition that promotes the good and brother hood, not only of us, but the brotherhood of the human family.

Salvation is forever in the shot

2007-03-24T23:44:00.000-04:00

Through the sandbox spats with Shaq and criminal charges in Colorado, through the flailing arms and suspensions, Kobe Bryant keeps the innate gift that turns everyone back to the unassailable truth of his mystique: Salvation is forever in his shot.

Whatever grief he brings on himself, whatever trouble comes his way, Bryant finds his forgiveness in shooting the basketball. He keeps shooting, keeps scoring – four consecutive 50-point games and counting now – and Bryant bullies back his detractors, his demons, basket after basket. Whatever you want to say about him, he demands this to be included: Best player on the planet.

"Do you remember there was a suspension about two weeks ago?" Phil Jackson asked Friday night in New Orleans. "I think this has motivated him."

Jackson is the grand wizard master of all mind games, and it's easy to see him marveling over the one that Bryant is playing with himself and with everyone.

Fifty points on the Hornets on Friday night seemed so improbable, what with the exertion of dropping 60 points on Memphis, 50 on Minnesota and 65 on Portland in the several days. The resilience of Bryant is the way that he wears everyone else to a nub – his opponents, his public, his teammates. One by one, they tend to bow to his relentless resolve.

He isn't just scoring out of his mind, but he's winning these games, too. This is a binge with the blessing of Jackson, a holy alliance with the blessed triangle offense.

To call his stunning four-game run of reaching 50 points Jordan-esque would be unfair to Bryant because Michael Jordan never did it. Only Wilt and Kobe now. Yes, this is Chamberlain's stratosphere, a stunning achievement considering that the 7-footer destroyed people with finger rolls and dunks. Kobe has done it as guard, done it with 55 percent shooting, and with the porous Warriors and Grizzlies on the way into Staples Center, it seems only a loss of stamina can stop this streak.

For now, Bryant has restored control of his public persona. "The thing that was frustrating for me is that people were talking about me as a dirty player, which to me was pretty insulting," he said.

Besides the PlayStation scoring runs, here's a solution for Bryant: Stop hitting people in the face. Besides that, Bryant will get past the smacks upside the heads of Manu Ginobili and Marko Jaric because he has the talent to bring it back to his greatness.

Early in the season, Bryant had been in the MVP conversation for transforming himself into a steward of the Los Angeles Lakers' system. In his personal campaign to change his public image post-arrest and post-Shaq, No. 8 had turned to No. 24 and Bryant had been driven to reshape himself in the public eye as a good teammate and good citizen.

As Kobe's learned, people are forever mistaking virtue with victory. As an Eastern Conference scout said then, "Last year, he was so ball hungry in the triangle, he would literally chase it down on offense. It was Kobe vs. everyone. This year, he's much more accepting of his teammates, of his role in the triangle."

Until this past week, when the Lakers' losing gave him license to let loose. When everyone was debating Nowitzki vs. Nash for MVP, Kobe pushed himself back into the discussion. Unlike them, he's a defensive force as well.

Kobe has never won the award, which isn't fair considering that he's been the best player in the sport for several seasons. Circumstances have conspired against him – Shaq as a teammate, to the rape case, to the rebuilding of the roster – but with the Lakers on the cusp of contention in the Western Conference, Bryant could be setting himself up for an MVP breakthrough next season.

What's more, Bryant plans to return to Team USA this summer, where he ought to be the reason Mike Krzyzewski won't lose another game between now and the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games. With Bryant on the floor in Beijing, the Americans are done losing.

So, the plan is laid out, shot by shot, and Bryant is executing it to perfection. What has so impressed Jackson is the way that Kobe has gone on this scoring spree without going to the basket, with jump shots arching high and true. Jordan did so much more of his scoring near the rim, something Bryant hasn't had to do.

Bryant has killed them softly with that treacherous touch, pushing himself onto his own private Basketball Rushmore with Wilt. No one can take their eyes off him now, and this is where Kobe controls the message, dictates terms of engagement.

Yes, salvation is forever in the shot.

IS?

2007-03-14T09:30:00.000-04:00

Is suicide painless, will it finally leave me at peace
Is suicide the best alternative to kill the terrible beast
the beast that lives inside of me that never ever sleeps
the demon that ruins my soul with every breath I keep

Maybe Judas did the right thing to take his final breath
how could he face himself when he betrayed his Lord to death
did Christ the compassionate forgive him in the end
after all Judas was his boy, one of His closest friends

Did Judas look inside and see a darkness that was deep
did he realize that he gave up a LOVE that he should have tried to keep
or was it that he just was born to live a life of wrong
did the beast inside steal his heart, then stole his voice and song

I welcome the silence and nothingness to put it all to end
to kill the demon who moved inside and tried to call me friend
now its said that God will not give us more than we can bear
so I end it all and bring to Him all of my despair

Did Judas see Christ face again just to give another kiss
this time one filled with joy, one of total bliss
sometimes the hurt that we inflict can never be reconciled
forgiven yes, but thats only because I'm God's child

I was thinking about Judas during the final hours and turmoil of the capture and crucifixion of Christ. Many of us think of Judas as the betrayer who is not worthy to live or to be forgiven. For some of us his suicide and probable descent into hell is appropriate for the action that he took against our Lord.

Nevertheless I stopped by today as the counsel for defense for our brother Judas. Before I present my case to you I would like to remind you of the compassion and truth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It was He who requested of our Father who is the judge and God of us all to, "please forgive them father for they know not what they do!"

Christ knew everything about all of His disciples which clearly demonstrates the fact that our God knows everything about us His children. He knew their strengths and their weaknesses. The disciples of the inner circle were chosen and hand picked by our Lord. He knew their human limitations and their divine possibilities.

Yes, Judas betrayed Christ with a kiss and turned him over to those who wanted Him silenced. Judas had no idea of the fate and the events of the history of man which would take place with Christ's capture, crucifixion and resurrection. Even he was an unwitting pawn in the chain of events that would expire.

Some say that Judas had no faith and that all he was interested in was money. It could be said that he was controlled by greed and that personal gain was his weakness. Yes, Judas betrayed Christ but clearly did not know of the ramifications of his decision. Judas was now powerless to stop the process of false trial and execution of his friend Jesus. You see Judas was also deceived by the world and had no idea of the plan for the destruction of the author and finisher of our faith. I believe that Judas also had a measure of faith even if it was minute as compared to you and I.

Maybe the other disciples were a little stronger than their friend and comrade Judas. Maybe the other disciples had a little more faith than their brother Judas. After all they sat at the table with Jesus and argued of who amongst them was the greatest and most important of the inner circle. These few, the proud and the chosen ran and hid themselves from sight during the arrest, trial and crucifixion of our Lord. Cowardice and fear overpowered them. Shame and guilt broke their spirit. with heads hung low and hearts broken they turned their back on their master, teacher, and friend.

At that moment Judas was overpowered by guilt, shame, hurt, and remorse over what he had just done. He did not know that in the hours to come prophecy would be fulfilled and that the atoning, saving, merciful, and grace filled blood of the Christ would be offered on our behalf for our sins so that we could be reconciled to the Father.

The hour was late and darkness obscured the vision of Judas. He could not know of the victory that was just ahead. The burden of his actions took its toll and one bad decision after another led him to doom, darkness, and destruction. His brothers and friends fled the scene but Judas could not live with himself because of the reality and consequences of his betrayal. At that moment Judas realized that he betrayed LOVE for death. As far as Judas was concerned, suicide was the only alternative. The torment of his soul and being was just to much to bear. Why live when there was no life left?

So some of us sit on our great thrones of judgment and declare that Judas got what was coming to him. We condemn him to his weaknesses, faults, and failures. His sins had gotten the best of him so he deserved to die hanging on that tree. But Christ died so that we could be free. So I say to you BUT CHRIST!

If you would just open your spiritual eyes with me for one moment. If you would just leave your flesh and great human knowledge and righteousness for one moment. If you would just humble yourself for just one moment and allow yourself to be guided through the vision and love of our savior. I belive that this is what we could possibly see.

Jesus in the Spirit standing at that tree where Judas was hanging and now dead. Jesus is saying to Judas, "my son, my friend I forgive you. I love you and came so that you could live. My Father loved you so that he gave me up so that you could live and have everlasting life. If you would have just held on a little while longer your faith would have been restored and renewed. You would have been filled with the power of the Comforter and guided by the Holy Spirit. You would have come back to be reborn like your brothers who fled and abandoned me. You would have finally got it. You would have followed me and blessed others all of your days."

Good Soldiers of Jesus Christ, what are your weaknesses faults and failures? Do you carry shame, guilt, hurt and pain? Will you join me now and cast all your care and all your despair upon our Lord and Savior? His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Give it Jesus. Now is another chance for you to be restored and renewed. Its not to late. Lord I am sorry! Please forgive me! Lord we need you! Lord we thank you! I follow you where ever you take me! God you saved me and I thank you.

Happy Birthday to The Greatest Ever

2007-02-17T23:37:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to The Greatest Basketball Player EVERFebruary 17 Michael Jordan was born on this date in 1963. He is an African-American businessman and was one of the best basketball players in the world. From Brooklyn, New York, Michael Jeffrey Jordan is the son of Delores and James Jordan. His family decided to move to Wilmington, North Carolina when he was still a toddler. Jordan is the fourth of five children. His dad worked at an electric plant while his mom worked at a bank. Jordan's parents worked hard to provide him and his siblings with a comfortable lifestyle. As a child, Jordan played baseball, basketball and football. His preferred sport at the time was baseball but after he began spending a lot of time on the basketball court, his outlook changed. His older and taller brother, Larry kept beating him when they played one-on-one. In 1978, when Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina, he was cut from the varsity team. Instead of giving up, he fought through this hardship and became one of the greatest basketball players in the world. Between the 10th and 11th grade, Jordan grew from 5'11" to 6'3", and because his game improved, he made the varsity team the following year. Jordan played so well in his junior season that he was invited to attend the Five-Star Camp in Pittsburgh before his senior year. By the time Jordan was finishing his senior year he had grown to 6'5" and attained a basketball scholarship from the University of North Carolina. Jordan's ever-growing popularity began at UNC where he made a last minute game-winning shot in the 1984 NCAA championship game. That summer, Jordan played on the US Men's Olympic Basketball Team under head coach Bobby Knight. The team had such college players as Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin (NBA players weren't allowed to compete in the Games until 1992). Jordan scored 14 points against China, 20 against Canada and 16 against Uruguay. The US won all eight of the games by an average of 32.1 points per game. Jordan led the team in scoring with an average of 17.1 points per game. Two months after the Olympics, Jordan began his first professional season with the Chicago Bulls. His acrobatic moves and hang-time won him the infamous nickname Air Jordan. His basketball skills and allure made him the perfect key figure to market both Nike products and the NBA and he led the Bulls to three consecutive World Championships (1991, 1992 and 1993). Jordan retired from the NBA preceding the 1993/94 season after the mysterious death of his father and after rumors about his gambling addictions began to circulate. He decided to try his hand at professional baseball. He played outfielder for the Birmingham Barons, and realized that he was not cutout for baseball after a disappointing season. In 1995, Jordan returned to basketball right before the playoffs but the Bulls didn't win the Championship. The following season, Jordan led the Bulls to their best regular season record and the fourth Championship title in six years. He also starred alongside Bugs Bunny in the animated comedy Space Jam. He also decided to retire after winning his last Championship in 1999, mainly due to dedicate his life to his wife Juanita, and their three children, Jeffrey, Marcus and Jasmine. After partly returning to the game as president of basketball operations with the Washington Wizards (he owned a stake in the team), Jordan announced his return to the NBA, this time, as a Wizard. In that 2002 season, he suffered a knee injury that kept him on the sidelines for the rest of the year, and his wife announced her desire to file for divorce (the couple is still married). Jordan has two older brothers (Larry and James), one older sister (Delores) and one younger sister (Roslyn). James R. Jordan is a Sergeant Major in the 35th Signal Brigade of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the U.S. Army. James R. gained certain celebrity himself when he announced, at the age of 47, that he intended to stay in Iraq until the Iraqi invasion ends. Michael Jordan currently lives in Highland Park, Illinois.

Bio: The Little man of gospel music

2007-01-26T07:29:00.000-05:00

Kirk Franklin (born January 26, 1970 in Riverside, Texas) is a Grammy Award winning, platinum-selling African American musician who blended gospel, hip hop, and R&B in the 1990s. He released his first gospel album, Kirk Franklin & Family, in 1993, and is known as the leader of contemporary gospel choirs such as Kirk Franklin & the Family, Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation, God's Property and Kirk Franklin Presents 1NC.

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Kirk was raised by his aunt, Gertrude Franklin, after being abandoned by his teenaged parents. He developed a talent for music early, playing the piano at age four and becoming music director of his church at age eleven. After getting kicked out of school in his teenaged years, having a girlfriend become pregnant, and after a friend was shot to death he returned to the church. After leading the DFW Mass Choir at the 1990 Gospel Music Workshop of America Convention, he organized "The Family", a seventeen-voice choir, in 1992 and began his recording career.

He has integrated hip hop styles with gospel themes in albums such as The Nu Nation Project and God's Property, which achieved success on the Billboard Pop Album, R&B and gospel charts.

Franklin has collaborated with the biggest names in gospel music, including Mary Mary, Tonex, Donnie McClurkin, Richard Smallwood, Crystal Lewis, Pastor Shirley Caesar, tobyMac, Jaci Valesquez, and Willie Neal Johnson. He also has displayed a willingness to collaborate with artists from the secular realm, including Bono, Mary J. Blige,and R. Kelly on the hit single from his album Nu Nation Project, "Lean on Me."

On October 4, 2005, his new long-awaited album Hero was released, with his singles "Looking For You" and latest single "Imagine Me."

Franklin's songs are published by Zomba Music Publishing, a division of BMG Music Publishing.

In 2006, Franklin appeared together with his wife on The Oprah Winfrey Show on the subject of pornography. During the show, he admitted to struggling with a porn-addiction for many years. Only recently Franklin had informed his wife, after first having proposed to her to share the pornography together, which she rejected. Kirk stated in the interview that he sought help through Christian counseling and finally considers himself to be free from his addiction. (As of the interview, he had been "clean" for over five years.).

In December of 2006, Kirk Franklin was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards, for his latest album, Hero.
_________________________________________________
Discography
_________________________________________________
Albums
Release date Album Label RIAA certification
_________________________________________________
June 29, 1993 Kirk Franklin & the Family Sparrow Platinum
November 7, 1995 Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas Interscope Gold
April 30, 1996 Whatcha Lookin' 4 Gospocentric Platinum
May 27, 1997 God's Property Interscope 3x Platinum
September 22, 1998 The Nu Nation Project Interscope 2x Platinum
August 15, 2000 Kirk Franklin presents 1NC B-Rite Music
February 19, 2002 The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin Gospocentric Platinum
October 4, 2005 Hero Gospocentric Platinum
November 7, 2006 Kirk Franklin Presents: Songs For The Storm Vol. 1 Gospocentric
_________________________________________________
Singles
_________________________________________________
Year Single From album Note
_________________________________________________
1996 "Melodies From Heaven" Whatcha' Lookin' 4
1997 "Stomp" God's Property feat. Cheryl "Salt" James
1997 "You Are The Only One" God's Property
1998 "Lean on Me" The Nu Nation Project feat. Bono, Crystal Lewis, Mary J. Blige and R. Kelly
1998 "Revolution" The Nu Nation Project feat. Rodney Jerkins
1999 "Gonna Be A Lovely Day" The Nu Nation Project
2000 "Nobody" Kirk Franklin presents 1NC
2002 "Brighter Day" The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin
2005 "Looking For You" Hero
2006 "Imagine Me" Hero
2006 "Look At Me Now" Songs For The Storm, Vol. 1
_________________________________________________
Music Videos
_________________________________________________
"Melodies From Heaven"
"Stomp"
"Lean On Me"
"Revolution"
"Nobody"
"Brighter Day"
"Looking for You"
"Imagine Me"
_________________________________________________
Billboard chart history
_________________________________________________
Albums
Year Album Chart Peak
_________________________________________________
1993 Kirk Franklin & the Family Top Gospel Albums 1
1994 Kirk Franklin & the Family Top Contemporary Christian 1
1994 Kirk Franklin & the Family Top Heatseekers 2
1994 Kirk Franklin & the Family Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 6
1994 Kirk Franklin & the Family The Billboard 200 58
1995 Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas Top Gospel Albums 1
1995 Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas Top Contemporary Christian 2
1995 Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas Billboard 200 60
1996 Whatcha Lookin' 4 Top Gospel Albums 1
1996 Whatcha Lookin' 4 Top Contemporary Christian 1
1996 Whatcha Lookin' 4 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 3
1996 Whatcha Lookin' 4 Billboard 200 23
1997 God's Property Top Gospel Albums 1
1997 God's Property Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 1
1997 God's Property Billboard 200 3
1998 The Nu Nation Project Top Gospel Albums 1
1998 The Nu Nation Project Top Contemporary Christian 1
1998 The Nu Nation Project Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 4
1998 The Nu Nation Project Billboard 200 7
2002 The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin Top Gospel Albums 1
2002 The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin Top Contemporary Christian 1
2002 The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin Billboard 200 4
2002 The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 4
2005 Hero Top Gospel Albums 1
2005 Hero Top Contemporary Christian 1
2005 Hero Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 4
2005 Hero Billboard 200 13
_________________________________________________
Singles
Year Single Chart Peak
_________________________________________________
1998 Lean on Me Billboard Hot 100 79
1999 Lean on Me Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 26
1999 Revolution Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 59
2005 Looking for You Billboard Hot 100 61
2005 Looking for You Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 5
_________________________________________________
Awards
Year Award-giving body Award
_________________________________________________
1996 - 1998 Grammy Awards Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album: Whatcha Lookin' 4
Best Gospel Album By Choir On Chorus: God's Property
Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album: The Nu Nation Project
2006 American Music Awards Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist

In 1996, after falling off the stage into the orchestra pit, he was knocked unconscious for several hours. His "My Life Is in Your Hands" is said to be inspired by that experience.

Kirk Franklin & the Family was the first gospel album to go platinum.

All of Kirk Franklin's albums peaked at #1 in the Top Gospel Albums chart.

All of Kirk Franklin's albums peaked at #1 in the Top Contemporary Christian chart (except the 1995 christmas album Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas that peaked at #2).

Kirk Franklin appears on the album "Out the Box" by Tonex

Kirk Franklin appears on Mary Mary's 2005 Album, Mary Mary on the song "And I"

Kirk Franklin appears on Yolanda Adams 2005 album Day By Day on the song "Tonight".

Kirk Franklin appears as choir arranger/conductor on "Shelter In The Rain" from Stevie Wonder's 2005 A Time to Love album.

My Life Is In Your Hands

You don't have to worry
And don't you be afraid
Joy comes in the morning
Troubles they don't last always
For there's a friend in Jesus
Who will wipe your tears away
And if your heart is broken
Just lift your hands and say

Oh
I know that I can make it
I know that I can stand
No matter what may come my way
My life is in your hands

With Jesus I can take it
With Him I know I can stand
No matter what may come my way
My life is in your hands

So when your tests and trials
They seem to get you down
And all your friends and loved ones
Are nowhere to be found
Remember there's a friend in Jesus
Who will wipe your tears away
And if you heart is broken
Just lift your hands and say

Oh
I know that I can make it
I know that I can stand
No matter what may come my way
My life is in your hands

With Jesus I can take it
With Him I know I can stand
No matter what may come my way
My life is in your hands

The Word

2007-01-20T23:40:00.000-05:00

Read Hebrews 3: 13 and 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Have you and your spouse made any resolutions for your marriage as the new year begins?

Make a list of your spouse’s strengths and why you appreciate those qualities. Share your lists with each other.

Why do you think it is so much easier to focus on our spouse’s flaws instead of his/her strengths?

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17. As you begin this new year as a married couple—whether it is your first year together or your fiftieth, God has given you, in Christ, a chance to begin as a new creation, to put the old behind, and celebrate the new.

This kind of commitment is so serious and so overwhelming that it requires a set of marriage vows suitable to the occasion as well as the relationship itself.

Second, marriage is a covenant (Proverbs 2:16-17; Malachi 2:14-16). In the eyes of God, a marital covenant is a legally binding contract that is to be ratified or confirmed publicly before God Himself and His witnesses (i.e., the believing community). This is most appropriately celebrated in a divinely-ordained ceremony of marriage — marriage vows and all!

Biblically-based marriage vows not only express our divinely-ordained commitment to each other, but they also seal our marital covenant before God, binding us to Him, to each other, and to His people — for the rest of our lives!

No matter what your marriage vows sounded like when you first recited them (if you can even remember) or if you ignored them altogether, the following steps will help you restore God’s sacredness to your marriage. The thrill can be recaptured!

If you can, pull out your “old” marriage vows (find the original ceremony in print, on audio tape, or video tape) and review them. Even better, recite them to each other again — in the presence of your children or your closest friends.

When your anniversary rolls around each year, pull them out again. Go out for a nice dinner celebration and recite them to each other once again — before each other and God. When you get home, get on your knees and thank God for each other and that He has graciously sustained your marriage for another year.

Finally, remember that your marriage, and especially your marriage vows, reflect the larger eternal story of God’s ultimate marriage celebration: “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:5-10)! If you have trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, He has committed Himself to you with the following vows:

“I, the Lord Jesus Christ,take you, (fill in your own name),

to be my wedded wife; and I do promise and covenant, before God and these witnesses, to be your loving and faithful Husband, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow,in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live, which is forever and ever! Amen.”

hese rules have helped us to "fight right" in our marital arguments and come away from a conflict more in love with each other than we were going into it:

• Never hit below the belt (and learn where your spouse’s "belt" is)

• Pick the right time and place for your arguments

• Learn the fine art of compromise

• Never walk out on an argument, except by mutual agreement

• Kick the word D-I-V-O-R-C-E out of your marriage vocabulary

• End every argument with apologies, prayer, and a hug

Discussion:

1. Read Proverbs 15:1,2

2. What does the Bible have to say about arguing? Read: Psalm 37:8; Proverbs 17:27; Proverbs 21:23; Ecclesiastes 3:7

3. What "war crimes" are you guilty of in your marriage? Blaming? Sarcasm? Name-calling? Shutting down? Harsh language? Yelling? Threatening?

4. How can you disarm yourself of those weapons and begin building up your spouse and your marriage?

5. Is it always wrong to argue? Does "fighting" have any place in marriage? Read Ephesians 4:23-32. Try reading this passage in several different translations.
6. Have you consciously set rules in place to help you fight more productively? If not, discuss with your spouse what guidelines you each would like to see in your marital arguments.

Cheaters beware

2007-01-20T14:50:00.000-05:00

DETROIT, United States (AFP) - Philanderers beware: spouses caught cheating in Michigan could end up spending the rest of their life in prison.

And not the emotional kind.

The state's appeals court recently ruled that extramarital flings can be prosecuted as first-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony punishable by up to life in jail.

"We cannot help but question whether the Legislature actually intended the result we reach here today," Judge William Murphy wrote in a unanimous Court of Appeals panel, "but we are curtailed by the language of the statute from reaching any other conclusion."

"Technically," he added, "any time a person engages in sexual penetration in an adulterous relationship, he or she is guilty of CSC I," the most serious sexual assault charge in the state's criminal code.

Michigan still lists adultery as a felony, although no one has been convicted of the offense since 1971.

Nobody really expects prosecutors to go after cheating spouses. But the ruling has the local legal community twittering about its genuine intended target.

One theory floating around the courthouse is that the judges were taking a jab at the state Supreme Court, which has decreed that judges must interpret statutory language adopted by the Legislature literally, whatever the consequences.

Many other states allow judges to reject a literal interpretation if they believe it would lead to an absurd result.

Judge Murphy wrote that he encouraged "the Legislature to take a second look at the statutory language if they are troubled by our ruling."

A spokesman for the attoney general, who publicly admitted to adultery in November, declined to say whether they would press for legislative amendments to make it clear that only violent felonies involving an unwilling victim could trigger a first-degree CSC charge.

"This is so bizarre that it doesn't even merit a response," Rusty Hill said.

The appeals court decision involved a man convicted of trading prescription painkillers for sex.

In an attempt to increase his jail time, prosecutors used an obscure provision of the state's criminal law to charge him with criminal sexual conduct, which occurs whenever "sexual penetration occurs under circumstances involving the commission of any other felony."

The Greatest is getting a divorce

2006-12-30T19:43:00.000-05:00

The Greatest is getting a divorce

The one thing I hold on to in life has just made me a witness to the unthinkable. Money, time, and love cannot keep a relationship together, only God. We as humans grow into maturity and when we are involved with another person, sometimes we grow apart for various reasons. I hold on to my God’s every word because he is that third strand of strength to keeps my black love together, as life keeps testing me and my wife like never before. The sole reason I am writing this piece that woke me up on an early Saturday morning, a day shy of the eve of 2007. One of my hero’s is separating from the strength that held his family together. The strength that looked out for his best interest for 17 years as he propelled into a mythical image on the basketball court. When I sit and think about my own marriage and how it has evolved into a special relationship, I wondered to my self, how did this happen to the Jordan’s? I can only speculate, but only the parties involve really know what happen to come to the conclusion to break the union that God saw fit to put together. Out of that wedlock three children became some of the most famous kids in history, because of who their dad is and more importantly who their mother is. She stood by and watched a man who is still admired today even after his playing days were over by many, including my self, who is simply known to the world as Michael Jordan.

The Greatest Basketball player of all time, wife held down everything that made his storm the calm after turbulent news conferences and allegations of gambling and women that claim he fathered a child.  In Juanita’s defense, you cannot forget about the lonely nights as he pursued to perfect his talent on the road, however one thing is for sure, they both benefited from the fruits of his labor. Marriage is about sticking it out and trying to resolve issues for the sake of love and the covenant with God. However, sometimes it just doesn’t work out. I applaud the Jordan’s for sticking it out for the length of time of 17 years. A lot of superstars marriages doesn’t last that long, that’s why I feel a little sad that it had to succumb to this. I understand what it takes to be marriage and I can only imagine the pressure of being married to a superstar who is globally known. Being married has a price for all parties included. It’s a lot of work and time committed to make it work all in the name of love.

Most people are looking at Michael and Juanita pending divorce as a money thing. Of course he is not going to hold back his monetary gain that he has acquired over the years. She will receive her fair share, as she rightfully deserved. Now this black love has become a public for a domain of reporters who are always looking for a story to write and report as they try to estimate his worth and how much she stands to gain. Their were a lot of divorces this year in 2006, too many that I care to mention. This one is a little sad to me because I am a fan, yet I now know that “Air” is finally looked at as a human being.



Black love is beautiful when it is known about and flourish between the good times and bad times. We learn as we grow and I pray that things work out for one of my hero’s and his soon to be beautiful former wife. I send a special prayer out to the Jordan’s for holding it together for 17 years, may God bless you and the children as your going through this difficult ordeal. You set the measuring stick in my eyes to try and reach and go beyond to keep my black love alive and flourishing. The greatest is getting a divorce, however the bond between him and Juanita will be there for the rest of their lives, because of the children and what they built together. That is something that can never be taking away. She was with him at his highest point and the lowest point, yet they endured it all and it was my pleasure to see that kind of love motivate me to be the best that I could be in my 13 years of marriage.

As I end this piece, I started to think about who is left in the black community of people we pay and watch to see in the business of entertainment. I will continue to look to Will and Jada Smith, Denzel and Pauletta Washington. Joseph “Run” and Justine Simmons, Bill and Camille Cosby and many others for inspirations as I reach new heights in my own marriage.  .

The new 24 is like the old 23

2006-12-01T07:47:00.000-05:00

The new 24 has officially arrived like the old 23

I understand. He doesn't do funny commercials. He seemed to be channeling all of MJ's mannerisms his first few years while denying any similarity. He has a nasty edge that he sometimes inflicts on people who meant him no harm. He doesn't have Shaq's seal of approval. The list of reasons those who don't like him is long and varied. But how many times does one man have to drop iodine tablets into the same village well to make it potable? How many times must Kobe demonstrate that no one in the league -- and I mean no one -- has his combination of skill, tenacity, understanding of time and score, killer instinct and ability to control the game at the both ends? And how many times must I be the one taking the flag and waving it?
Trust me, if you're sick of me sticking up for Kobe, I'm equally sick of having to do it. It shouldn't be this difficult to have the man recognized as the league's all-around best player. OK, so you don't like him. I'm good with that. But not respect him? Not give him his due? Anoint anyone who hasn't accomplished half of what he has as The King or The One or The Whatever? Ignore what every player in the league will tell you, even those who consider him arrogant and a little bit evil, that he's the best?
One by one, the Utah Jazz kept coming for him, grudgingly taking turns in a hailstorm of humiliation. They were some sorry sight, the most hollow of looks in those eyes, the most uncertain of backpedals in their steps. Kobe Bryant had it going now, had himself going for everything as the Jazz had reduced themselves to mere spectators to his genius.
Here was the night at Staples Center when the new No. 24 looked like the old No. 23, when Phil Jackson became so swept away that he greeted Bryant with the most un-Phil of congratulations at the end of Thursday's 52-point explosion – a high-five. Maybe most of all, this was the end of the uncertainty about the sturdiness of that surgically repaired right knee. Finally, Kobe was Kobe again. Once again, they would chant "M-V-P! M-V-P!" here, and perhaps Bryant got the season's most valuable player debate officially started in Thursday's 132-102 victory. Sometimes, it can be easy to forget that the LeBron James vs. Dwyane Wade debate is still for second place, because Bryant is still the best player in basketball. These were 52 points born out of efficiency – 19-of-26 shooting from the field, and 12 of 15 at the free-throw line – and so much of the momentum was generated out of the triangle offense, out of Bryant respecting the parameters of the Lakers' system. Eventually, it turned into something else – into Kobe playing and the world watching – but it could be forgiven because Bryant had elevated himself to a place of perfection that he had never gone before. Across the end of the second quarter and all the way through the third quarter, 11 straight shots dropped for Bryant. Lamar Odom marveled over the way Bryant didn't just break the spirit of his defenders, but that of a team who happened to have the best record in the NBA.
"No one else can do that," Odom said.
Andrei Kirilenko had it the worst in the third, when Bryant scored 30 points on a perfect 9-for-9 shooting, when George Gervin's NBA record of 33 in the third could've been crushed had Jackson been willing to let Kobe play the final 36 seconds of the quarter. Pity poor Kirilenko, who as Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said "is our best defensive player." What's more, Kirilenko was an NBA all-defensive first-team selection a season ago and the long arms that held Bryant without a basket in the fourth quarter of a Utah victory over the Lakers last week in Salt Lake City.
When that game was over, Kirilenko began to fear this trip to Los Angeles, supposing that Kobe "will take it personally." Kobe took it so personally that he started inventing shots on Kirilenko.
It was one thing to dribble past him and dunk over the rest of the Jazz front line, and to keep shooting three-pointers over those endless 6-foot-9 Russian's arms. ("He must have shot the ball 15 to 18 feet in the air just to get it over them," Sloan marveled.)
Finally, Kirilenko had him stopped in the third quarter. He had spared himself some measure of dignity by clogging the baseline on a Bryant move. No, Bryant wouldn't throw this garbage to the rim playing so perfectly, wouldn't mire his Picasso with this kind of finger painting move. Only he did.
"You know," Bryant would say with a sly smile later, "I knew I was feeling it when I hit a one-leg runner – fading away."
That's what he did, a one-legged pirouette with him thrusting his body backward on the baseline. Bryant makes a lot of amazing shots, but this transcended reason. "It's just that I've never taken that shot before – outside of growing up as a kid playing in the backyard," Kobe said.
Eventually, Kirilenko would give way to Gordan Gircek and Deron Williams on Bryant in the third quarter, and resistance would be futile. Asked the last time that he felt so invincible, so perfect, on the floor, Bryant shrugged and said, "In a video game – playing PlayStation."
At the end of the night, the torched Kirilenko marched out of the visiting dressing room without a word and with his eyes straight ahead. Sloan was standing there, talking, grumbling, "If I'm guarding him, I would've gone out with six fouls," the coach said. "For crying out loud, I don't think it shows a lot of toughness to let him shoot over you."
As Bryant has gotten his knee back under him, several NBA scouts have been impressed with the way that he's trusted his teammates. It began to manifest itself late in the Lakers' playoff push last season, when Bryant's shots and scoring slowed and the victories started to stack up with team balance.
"Last year, he was so ball hungry in the triangle, he would literally chase it down on offense," one Eastern Conference scout said. "It was Kobe vs. everyone. This year, he's much more accepting of his teammates, of his role in the triangle."
Which is what has impressed the coaching staff and teammates: Kobe's willingness to accept the fact that the rest of the team has closed the learning curve on the triangle offense. This is a three-year plan with Jackson, a belief that the Lakers could be championship contenders by next season. Suddenly, it isn't so preposterous.
So much of that depends on the development of 7-footer teeny bopper Andrew Bynum, who has rapidly developed into a force for the Lakers. In an hour film session the other day, Jackson showed the Lakers how delinquent they were feeding Bynum the ball. Get it to him, he implored. As much as it's about Kobe with the Lakers, it's about surrounding him with the proper parts like Jackson did with Jordan in Chicago. Once Jordan learned to trust his teammates, Isiah Thomas of the old Pistons said, it was over for everyone.
Here and now, Kobe had to wait for the kids to grow up, had to wait for these strangers to the triangle to learn all of its complexities. In the end, this would be one of those nights that remind them of all the rewards that could await someday, the chance to be a championship contender with the best player in the sport on the Lakers’ side.
"We were within the offense tonight," Luke Walton said. "We were definitely all looking for Kobe because he was so hot, but the thing about him is that he knows the game so well, knows the triangle so well, that he knows every way to get himself open out of it."
Walton would laugh that he remembered the way Bryant would see the Lakers down 10 points early last season and just "grab the ball and try to go one on four" because there was no way else for them to win a basketball game.
There won't be a lot of these 52-point nights out of Kobe because he doesn't need to do this anymore. Still, it's that old No. 23 in the new 24 that knows there are still going to be these times when his talent can't be held back, when his genius demands that he let the world know the greatest player in basketball still plays for the Lakers and still lurks in the championship shadows.

AI Isnt so bad after all

2006-11-23T22:48:00.000-05:00

A.I. Isn’t so bad after all.

Ever since Allen Iverson came into the league, he’s been looked at as a thug with too many tattoos, intimidating cornrows and a bad attitude (“It’s just practice!!”). But Iverson is putting most of those opinions to rest with his consistent high level of play on the court and his maturity off the court. Now Iverson has offered to pay for the funeral of Kevin Johnson, a fan who was shot three years ago after local thugs tried to take his Iverson jersey. Iverson said he’s tired of all the violence in the Philadelphia metro area. "I don't think one guy can do what needs to be done, but I think one guy can help," Iverson told the Associated Press. "I think it's going to take a collective effort and there are a lot of good people trying to help the situation in Philadelphia." On June 24, 2003 Johnson was waiting for a trolley when a group of teens told him to give up his jersey. When he refused one of the teens, Robert Ferguson (who is serving time for attempted murder), shot Johnson in the back of the neck and left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. Eventually, Johnson had to breathe through a ventilator. Last week the ventilator failed causing irreparable brain damage and the family chose to take him off it. "If they were that serious about that jersey I would have given them 100 jerseys if they wanted it," Iverson said. "It was just tough, just to see somebody die for something senseless like that, over a jersey, over something material. I felt like I have got to do something more than what I have been doing to help this situation as much as I can. If I can reach one person and take one death away, I think I can do something." Johnson’s funeral was held on Wednesday, Nov. 22, and he was buried in an Iverson jersey.

Paul Mooney interview

2006-11-23T22:44:00.000-05:00

Paul Mooney interview on Michael Richards

PHILLIPS: Well, many who were appalled before are still appalled, apology or no. Joining me from the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, where Richards is no longer welcome, comedian Paul Mooney. And from Chicago, radio talk show host Roland Martin. He's also executive editor of "The Chicago Defender." We just lost Paul. We had an IFB connection issue. We're getting that hooked up, Roland. Paul, can you hear us now? PAUL MOONEY, COMEDIAN: Yes. PHILLIPS: OK, good. I've got you both. I was watching it from off there on the camera, I saw that you got hooked in. You heard the whole apology on Letterman, right, Paul? MOONEY: Yes. PHILLIPS: OK. And, Roland, you heard it, too. ROLAND MARTIN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Yes, I did. PHILLIPS: Let's start with you, Paul. Your reaction to the apology? MOONEY: Weak. PHILLIPS: Why weak? MOONEY: It's not enough, because it doesn't match what he did. I saw the video. I think on David Letterman's show, they should have showed the video. They should have showed it in freeze frame and went step by step. That would have been good therapy for him, because he was like a raving maniac, and he had a complete nervous breakdown on stage. He outed himself. I think that's really his feelings. PHILLIPS: So... MOONEY: He said it on stage, now you know how I feel. PHILLIPS: Interesting. So, Paul, you don't think he got kind of caught up -- you know as a comedian, you get into your schtick. MOONEY: Yes, he didn't get caught up, no. PHILLIPS: OK, this was the real deal? MOONEY: You don't do that. If you're going to be funny, you're funny, racially or otherwise. You have a punch line and you deal with the situation right there, right then. You don't walk off stage. You don't do that and leave the audience. The audience is the -- I mean, come on, we're needy. Comedians are needy. We need that love. That's who you love. You don't walk away from people you love. PHILLIPS: Roland, your reaction? MARTIN: Kyra, Paul is correct when he says it was a weak apology. First and foremost, the "Letterman" show was the wrong forum for that kind of apology. He was not going to get the kind of questioning that he needed. If you heard the audience, they were laughing. They weren't quite sure whether to laugh at what he was saying, to be serious. And it was Seinfeld who had to say, hey, guys this isn't funny. Not only that. Another piece is when you really examine what he said, he not only said 50 years ago we'd have you hanging upside down from a tree. Well, guess what, 50 years ago, Michael Richards would have been in some oven in Germany being baked because he's also Jewish. He also said that in his comments, that I'm a white man. I can go get the cops and have you arrested. And so, his comments went beyond that. But Kyra, we're also making a very big mistake. He has said -- he said, he was heckled. In fact, the people who were there say he was not heckled. There was a large group that was talking. He was angered by them talking. Then after he addressed them, then a couple of the guys said, hey, my boy doesn't think you're funny. Darryl Pitts, who is from Chicago, who was on CNN on Sunday, he gave an eye- witness account. And so, trying to say, well he was being heckled when in fact he wasn't. He was angered because they were talking. PHILLIPS: All right. Just to step aside for a second, I want to ask you about the 'N' word for a minute. Paul, I remember ... (CROSSTALK) MOONEY: Can I say something before you say this. Excuse me. He's not a Jew. He's not a Jew. MARTIN: OK. He's either Catholic or atheist or something. He's not that. And as far as blacks and Jews are concerned, I don't think that two men in a burning house have time to argue. That's my point. MARTIN: I agree. MOONEY: So he's not a Jew. So people make that mistake. He may look it, but looks are deceiving. Bush looks like he's sane, but anyway go ahead, ask what ... PHILLIPS All right. I knew Paul had to get something in there. I was waiting for the ... MOONEY: Of course. PHILLIPS: all right, hold on. We'll step aside from that for a minute. I'm seeing two issues here. I want to get back to the 'N' word in just a second. But, let's get back to the anger part. Let's start with this. Sinbad talked about the issue, about what Michael Richards should do. Let's take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SINBAD, COMEDIAN: That was the worst apology I've ever seen. That apology was a piece of trash. You can't go on Letterman. That's the punk way out. You can't go on Letterman. You have to go to the heart of the people. You have to go to the club. You've got to go up there on black night, Sunday night, it's chocolate city night at the comedy club. You got to walk up there. You got to face that audience. (END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Paul is that what he needs to do? Does he need to go into the black communities, the black clubs, and say, all right, look, this ... MOONEY: For me, he should go on Oprah. Oprah will get him through it. He should go on Oprah. St. Oprah, St. Oprah will help him. But, look what he should do -- look, I'm an opportunist. I've already wrote a movie for O.J., Michael, and Mel Gibson. Three crazy men and thank god there's no baby. But anyway, look. (LAUGHTER) MOONEY: Look, I've known him for 30 years. What he has to do for me, he has to go to the Apollo. He has to perform at an Apollo audience. If he gets through that with the same act, then I'll forgive him. Or he has to go to Africa and adopt a black baby. PHILLIPS: OK, hold on. He's not going to go to Malawi any time soon, but seriously ... (CROSSTALK) MARTIN: Kyra, your question is a valid question. That is, whether it's Radio 1, whether it's BET, whether it's TV 1 Cable network, in terms of speaking directly to African-Americans. Because, again, when Mel Gibson made his comments, which were not recorded, the Jewish community came down hard on Mel, said, you need to go to a temple, you need to get training, you need to get education. And even in his comments last night on Lebanon, he talked about what was buried inside of him and that's what the real deal is. This is a country where racism is at the heart, it's in our DNA, and we try to suppress those feelings. So, what you saw was the real feelings of Richards coming out and he could not control those feelings. And so he was able to suppress them for all that time. He has to deal with that issue. That's his real problem. PHILLIPS: Well, now, Roland, Paul, you said you've known him for 30 years, has Michael Richards ever made any racist comments to you? have you ever gotten the vibe he doesn't like black people? MOONEY: No, no, no. Hey, look, he tricked me. I'm going to tell you something. I want him to go to Watts at midnight and look at the tower and wear red. If he survives that he can come back and talk to me. PHILLIPS: You know, I'm glad you're finding humor to deal with this because in a way you have to use humor to deal with this. But now Paul, let me ask ... MOONEY: I hear, I hear that -- wait, I hear that Mel is studying to be a rabbi so I'm happy for everybody. Go ahead. PHILLIPS: Roland, I'm glad Paul -- if anything this has given Paul more fodder for his next stand-up gig. MOONEY: I love -- I love every minute of this. PHILLIPS: Now, Paul, you were one of the first, you, if I remember correctly, you were one of the first, or at least the first comedian, to use the 'N' word and I remember seeing you live and you made black people squirm and you made white people squirm. Now obviously you weren't screaming it in an angry way, but you brought the word out. Tell me why you did that and do you regret doing that? MOONEY: No, because I've been called it enough. Where were you when it hurt my feelings when I was a kid. I'm from the south, I was called it enough when I was naive. The first time I saw a sign that said for white only I thought they only rented the rooms to nurses and doctors. PHILLIPS: Roland... MOONEY: Because they wear white. I was naive. But I have an experience with the word. Listen, when you get into talking about the 'N' word, you're in shark-infested waters. So, don't be surprised when the shark gets you. First of all, look, I saw Lenny Bruce being taken out a nightclub in San Francisco because he was talking about race, in handcuffs -- OK. But he was political and he made points. If you're going to talk about racism and the 'N' word, you'd better have a punchline, you'd better be funny. PHILLIPS: Roland, do you agree? I mean, it's a disgusting word. mean do you really think -- is it OK for black people to say the 'N' word? (CROSSTALK) PHILLIPS: Go ahead, Roland, Paul, I'll let you come back. MARTIN: At "Chicago Defender," we did a cover story on this when it comes to removing the 'N' word from our vocabulary. The reality is it is there. It was not created by the African-Americans. There is a problem when African-Americans are embracing of the word and saying that it is now something that is not a nice word. But the fact of the mater is this here -- we also must be honest that within certain groups, certain words are said to one another that they say as a group. There are certain words that women can call one another and if a man says it, they look at him differently. There are certain words that Jews call one another, Hispanics call one another, Asians call one another that within their group it is okay. But outside of that group, then it's a problem. That has to be dealt with because we can't act as if it doesn't happen in certain cultures in certain groups. PHILLIPS: You know, it's fascinating, Roland, you talk about this very much from an intellectual perspective and Paul, you do, too, but, Paul, what's interesting about you, is you've taken racism and you have incorporated it into humor. And that's a pretty difficult thing to do. How do you think you ... MOONEY: Well, it's a difficult thing to do but laughter is a cure-all and you better have a punch line. MARTIN: Yes. MOONEY: Let me tell you something, I was on CNN once and they were asking me about when white people say the 'N' word it doesn't offend you and then they asked me why and I said because I like a little salt on my cracker. As long as you can keep the humor in there it's OK. (CROSSTALK) MARTIN: First of all, Paul is correct because the reality is we use comedy to mask our real issues. When Chris Rock was on stage when he said the greatest moment in black history was the Million Man March and Marion Barry was there -- we had a crackhead on stage. Everybody cracked up laughing. But, there are issues that we talk about in our everyday life and behind closed doors. And that's what comedy does. he fact of the matter is for Richards, he simply, he veered away from comedy. That was a personal rant that he went on. And so, that was a lot different than an actual comedy sketch ... MOONEY: But it was a nervous breakdown. The boy had a nervous breakdown. MARTIN: He lost it, absolutely. MOONEY: This wasn't comedy. PHILLIPS: It will be interesting to see where he goes forward from here. Does he take anger management? Does he come forward with some sort testimony? Does he check into rehab? It will be interesting to follow up. But both of you, fantastic perspectives. And Paul, you know, Roland calls me white chocolate, is that OK? MOONEY: What? Oh, you're the black-white lady, I like that. You can be the black-white lady. PHILLIPS: Paul Mooney. All right, outstanding. Paul, Roland, thanks, guys. MARTIN: Thanks, Kyra.

Loving her is listen

2006-11-23T14:58:00.000-05:00

Loving her is listening to her! Tune in. If she’s got something on her mind that she needs to talk about, put down what you’re doing, make genuine eye contact, and show her you’re really there for her. Don’t be looking at your watch to see if the game is starting or trying to change the subject to something a little more jovial. Attentive listening is truly an act of love, and offering your full attention when she needs it shows that you honor, respect and value her as a person. Listen to learn. Accept that you probably won’t understand or agree with everything she has to say, and that’s okay. As close as you two are, you’re still completely different people, each with your own unique take on life. By listening with an open mind, you’ll learn more about what makes her tick, how she sees the world and her place in it. This will allow you to be an even more empathetic partner, and allow her to feel more accepted and appreciated for who she is. Hold your peace. Even if you’re busting to chime in with your own anecdotes or commentaries, keep the conversation focused on her. Now is not the time to make comparisons between her hardships and yours or to offer your snappy judgments. Let her feel she has the time and space to speak her mind to you, and she’ll be sure to reciprocate the courtesy next time you need a sounding board. Leave the Superman cape in the closet. She wants to tell you what’s bugging her, but that doesn’t mean she’s asking you to rush in and fix it. More likely, what she really wants is your loving attention and a sympathetic ear while she vents her frustrations or confesses her quandaries. A smart lady like her will probably do just fine solving her own dilemmas once she’s had a chance to get a few things off her chest and hear herself think out loud in the company of a loving listener. Be a mirror, not a maestro. The goal of active listening is to really hear what she’s saying, not to employ your vast expertise to analyze, evaluate or eradicate her problems. If you can accurately summarize or restate what she has said in a way she’ll agree with, you’ll know you’ve done the job well. She’ll feel understood, and you’ll feel good knowing you were able to give her the support and patience she really needed.

2006-10-18T07:59:00.000-04:00

Stop The Violence Movement - Self Destruction

2006-10-13T23:00:00.000-04:00

Kobe Bryant- The Air Apparent

2006-10-13T22:55:00.000-04:00

kobe bryant-he'll shit on u if u guard him

Kobe Video track

Scottie Pippen

2006-09-25T23:22:00.000-04:00

Scottie Maurice Pippen (born September 25, 1965 in Hamburg, Arkansas) is an American former professional basketball star who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and is most remembered for leading the Chicago Bulls together with Michael Jordan to six championships.

First seasons with the Chicago Bulls
Scottie Pippen grew up in Hamburg, Arkansas, where he attended college at University of Central Arkansas. Pippen, a 6 foot 8 inch [1] small forward, was selected fifth overall in the 1987 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, who immediately traded him to the Chicago Bulls for the eighth pick, 7-ft center Olden Polynice. The trade was regarded as a steal by the Bulls because of how Pippen would blossom into an all-star while Polynice would be a journeyman role player on numerous different teams.

Pippen immediately became part of Chicago's young forward tandem with 6'10" (2.08 m) power forward Horace Grant, though both came off the bench to back up Brad Sellers and Charles Oakley, respectively, during their rookie seasons. Still, Pippen claimed the starting small forward position during the 1988 playoffs with his stellar play, helping the Michael Jordan-led Bulls reach the Eastern Conference semi-finals for the first time in over a decade.

[edit]
The Bulls' first three-peat
Pippen continued to improve, helping the Bulls to the Conference Finals the following year as well as 1990, when he earned his first NBA All-Star Game berth. In 1991, he continued to establish himself as a force to be reckoned with. Pippen emerged as the Bull's primary defensive stopper and an indispensable offensive threat. He helped lead the Bulls to six NBA Championships (1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1996–97, and 1997–98). Pippen was selected as one of the NBA's Fifty Greatest Players when the league was celebrating its fiftieth season in 1996.

Olympic medal record
Men's Basketball
Gold 1992 Barcelona United States
Gold 1996 Atlanta United States
Pippen became known for stellar defense in addition to his consistent scoring, earning several NBA All-Defensive Team nods, including several on the first team. In 1992, he was named to the original Dream Team which competed in the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

[edit]
Pippen without Jordan
Michael Jordan unexpectedly retired in 1993, and the 1994 season marked Pippen's stepping out from Jordan's shadow and he performed as one of the best players in the league. That year, he earned All-Star Game MVP honors. He had perhaps his best season, leading the Bulls in scoring, rebounding, assists, and the entire league in steals, averaging 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.9 steals, 0.9 three-pointers, and 0.8 blocks per game, while shooting 49.1% from the field and a career-best 32% from the three-point line. For his efforts, he earned the second of three straight All-NBA First Team nods, and finished third in the MVP voting.

Perhaps the most infamous episode of Pippen's career came in the postseason of Pippen's first year without Jordan, the 1993-94 playoffs, where the Eastern Conference semifinals pitted the Bulls against their bitter rivals, the New York Knicks. On May 13, 1994, down 2-0 in the series and tied 102-102 in Game Three, Bulls coach Phil Jackson needed a big play from his team to have any hope of advancing to the next round of the playoffs. With 1.8 seconds left and the score tied, Jackson designed the last play for Toni Kukoè, with Pippen relegated to simply inbounding the basketball. Pippen, who had been the Bulls' leader all season long in Jordan's absence, was so angered by Jackson's decision to not let him take the potential game-winner that he refused to leave the bench and re-enter the game when the timeout was over. Although Kukoc did eventually hit the game-winner, a 23-foot fadeaway jumper, there was little celebrating to be done by the Bulls, as television cameras caught an unsmiling Phil Jackson storming out of the arena. "Scottie asked out of the play," Jackson would tell reporters moments later in the postgame interview room. Those seeking further answers found Pippen in the locker room after the game, looking shell-shocked and disoriented; when asked to confirm Jackson's statement, Pippen could only respond with "Yeah, pretty much ... We exchanged words, and I just took a seat."

Teammate Steve Kerr elaborated when recently asked to recall the event: "I was shocked," he said. "The only way to describe it was total disbelief. Here was a guy who had done so much for our team, who had been our leader all year long. He was, and still is, one of the greatest teammates I've ever had. But on that day, I think all the pressure and frustration of our season caught up with him, and he snapped." But perhaps Michael Jordan best summed up what was dubbed "1.8-gate" by SLAM Magazine, when he heard about it from reporters in the Birmingham Barons' locker room: "Poor Scottie," he said. "I kept telling him it's not easy being me. Now he knows."

Trade rumors escalated during the 1994 off-season that Jerry Krause, the Bulls General Manager who didn't get along with Pippen, was looking to ship Pippen off to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Shawn Kemp, moving Kukoc in Pippen's spot as starting small forward and Kemp filling in the vacant starting power forward position in place of Horace Grant, who left the Bulls via free agency during the off-season for the Orlando Magic. However, those rumors were put to rest once news got out that Michael Jordan was returning to the Bulls.

[edit]
The Bulls' second three-peat
Upon Jordan's return to the NBA, the Bulls regained their much needed strength. With a revamped roster that included Dennis Rodman and Luc Longley, the Bulls managed to post the best regular season record for any team in NBA history (72-10) en route to winning their fourth title. They followed the feat with two more titles the following years. When Jordan retired again in 1998, the Bulls' dynasty was disassembled and Pippen was traded.

[edit]
Later career
After playing in Chicago for 11 seasons, his tumultuous relationship with General Manager Jerry Krause came to a head, and the second alltime leader in points, assists, and steals in Chicago's history was traded to the Houston Rockets for the lockout-shortened season in 1998–99. In Houston, he teamed with Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley to form one of the best front lines in NBA history, but his failure to assume the "franchise" mantle from Olajuwon led to chemistry problems (with Barkley in particular) and eventually his departure. He was traded in the offseason to the Portland Trail Blazers, whom he helped to the Western Conference finals, where they lost to the eventual champion, the Los Angeles Lakers, in seven games.

For the most part, Pippen was the consummate playoff performer, reaching the playoffs an amazing 16 straight years (11 with Chicago, 1 with Houston, 4 with Portland), and has played in more playoff games than any NBA player except Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Horry. In the summer of 2003, new Bulls General Manager (and former Pippen teammate) John Paxson attempted to change the fortunes of the rebuilding Bulls by bringing Scottie back to Chicago. However, Pippen's effectiveness was drastically limited by injuries, and he retired prior to the 2004-05 season on October 5, 2004.

Pippen is considered among the best all-around players in NBA history and is also notable for having been a prototypical "point forward", a term which he popularized (and revitalized) with his great ball-handling, passing and court vision—skills traditionally limited to point guards. This was in addition to his rebounding, scoring, and defense, all contributing to his consistent play for over a decade.

[edit]
Retirement
After retiring, he spent some time working as a basketball analyst for the Chicago Bulls. Currently, he is a special assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. On December 25, 2005, Pippen debuted as studio analyst for the NBA on ABC. Before this he was a part-time analyst for ESPN.

Pippen is an avid poker player, and frequently participated in high-stakes games with teammates Jordan and Ron Harper when the Bulls were on the road.

On April 22, 1999, Pippen was detained under suspicion of driving while intoxicated,[1] but the charges were later dropped due to insufficient evidence.

On December 9, 2005, Pippen had his jersey number retired by the Chicago Bulls in a ceremony. His jersey number 33 joins Jordan's 23, Jerry Sloan's 4 and Bob Love's 10 as the only four numbers retired by the Bulls. [2]

Pippen has two children and is married to the Assyrian-American Larsa Younan.

Pippen is often known to leave relatively poor tips for service personnel who wait on him. A 1997 article in Sports Illustrated named him one of the three biggest "skinflints" in the NBA, along with Kevin Garnett and Shawn Kemp, and noted that restaurant workers at one eatery had given him the nickname "No Tippin' Pippen"

Will Smith

2006-09-25T23:15:00.000-04:00

September 25

Will Smith was born on this date 1968. He is an African-American actor and entertainer.

From West Philadelphia, Smith has 1 brother and 2 sisters, among whom Harry and Ellen who are twins. His mother, Caroline, used to be a school board worker and his dad, Willard Smith Sr., worked as an engineer and has been owner of a refrigeration company. He graduated from Overbrook High School where received the nickname "Prince" from his teachers because of the way he "charmed his way through". Later, he added "Fresh" to it. He started rapping at parties at 12 and that's how he met Jeff A. Townes; they started performing together in duo as DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. So far they have recorded 5 albums: Rock The House, He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper (Grammy-winning), And In This Corner, Home base, Code Red as well as a few singles and a Greatest Hits album. Big Willie Style was a huge global success in 1998, and so is Willennium this year. His participation to Men in Black: The Album made impact.

At the beginning of the nineties, he was offered to play in a sitcom based on his life. That's how Will started acting in The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, which was successful and lasted 6 years. In 1992, he had his first film role in Where the Day Takes You and also appeared in Made In America. In 1993, he starred in Six Degrees of Separation. But the real fame started only in 1994, with the release of Bad Boys. The blockbuster Independence Day came in 1996, then Men in Black in 1997, co-staring Tommy Lee Jones, followed by Enemy of the State and Wild Wild West, and The Legend of Bagger Vance 2000. Will's latest movies are Ali and I Robot.

He was previously married to Sheree Zampino,. He has two sons, Willard Smith III is nicknamed Trey and Jaden Christopher Syre Smith. Will is now with Jada Pinkett (also an actress). They have been married since December of 1997. A passionate chess player, he also owns a production company, Will Smith Enterprises, working on behalf of talents Tatyana Ali, former FPBA co-star and others.

His Brother and sisters are working for him; Harry is his chief financial officer, Ellen, (who studied as a cosmetologist) is receptionist and Pam helps in the managing of Will's business back in Philadelphia, an ice-manufacturing company and a charitable foundation that puts money into local resources.

However, Smith has been criticized for his lip service to his home town. Several of his songs talk about parts of Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. While he has spoke over the years about how much he loves the city and how much he wants to give back, none of his proposed ventures in the city of Philadelphia have ever been developed. He has proposed opening a restaurant, several upscale bars, and a community center in Philadelphia which have never seen development.

"Men in Black 3" is set for release in 2007, 10 years after the 1st film: Men in Black. Will Smith is also planned to star in a feature film remake of the television series "It Takes a Thief".

Discography
__________________________________________________
Albums
__________________________________________________
With DJ Jazzy Jeff (and The Fresh Prince)
__________________________________________________
Rock the House (1987) #83 U.S. Certified Gold 560,000 Copies
He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper (1988) #4 U.S. 3X Platinum
And in this Corner... (1989) #39 U.S. [Certified Gold]
Homebase (1991) #12 U.S. [Certified Platinum]
Code Red (1993) #64 U.S. [Certified Gold]
Greatest Hits (1998) (uncertified) (230,000 Copies)
The Very Best of D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (2006)
__________________________________________________
Solo
__________________________________________________
Big Willie Style (1997) #8 U.S., #9 UK (U.S. Sales - 9 million)
Willennium (1999) #5 U.S., #10 UK (U.S. Sales - 2 million)
Born to Reign (2002) #13 U.S., #24 UK [Certified Gold]
Greatest Hits (2002) (uncertified 350,000 copies)
Lost & Found (2005) #6 U.S., #15 UK [Certified Gold]
Total album sales: 25 million
__________________________________________________
Filmography
__________________________________________________

Where the Day Takes You (1992)
Made in America (1993)
Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Bad Boys (1995)
Independence Day (1996)
Men in Black (1997)
Enemy of the State (1998)
Torrance Rises (1999) (short subject)
Wild Wild West (1999)
Men in Black: Alien Attack (2000) (short subject)
Welcome to Hollywood (2000) (documentary)
The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
Ali (2001)
Men in Black II (2002)
Bad Boys II (2003)
A Closer Walk (2004) (documentary) (narrator)
Jersey Girl (2004) (cameo)
I, Robot (2004)
Shark Tale (2004) (voice)
There's a God on the Mic (2005) (documentary)
Hitch (2005) (also producer)
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) (In theaters December 15, 2006) (also producer)
Time Share (2008) (currently announced start of production) (also producer)
Tonight, He Comes (2006/2007) (currently announced start of production)
I Am Legend (2007)
__________________________________________________
Salary History
__________________________________________________
Where the Day Takes You (1992) $50,000
Made in America (1993) $100,000
Six Degrees of Separation (1993) $500,000
Bad Boys (1995) $2,000,000
Independence Day (1996) $5,000,000
Men in Black (1997) $5,000,000
Enemy of the State (1998) $14,000,000
Wild Wild West (1999) $7,000,000
The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) $10,000,000
Ali (2001) $20,000,000
Men in Black II (2002) $20,000,000 + 10% of the gross
Bad Boys II (2003) $20,000,000 + 20% of the gross
I, Robot (2004) $28,000,000 + 10 - 20% of the gross
Shark Tale (2004) $15,000,000
Hitch (2005) $20,000,000
Total salary gross of listed films: $170,000,000, Total Salary from Music Career: $35,000,000 Total Movie Salary: $234,000,001

2006-09-24T23:10:00.000-04:00

Word To Tha Mutha

This Just In...

2006-09-12T15:21:00.000-04:00

September 12th, 2006 – The southeast leadership of the Klu Klux Klan has disbanded and the move could start of a chain of disbanding among KKK units nationwide. The KKK leader stepped to the podium, his hood lowered around his shoulders and a look of disgust on his face. He said, "Sorry guys but this will be our last meeting; we're going out of business." A member stood up in back. "But why sir?"
The leader sighed, "Well, reverend, the Nigras are doing a better job getting rid of themselves than we ever did, so we are no longer needed."
There were rumblings and protest. The leader raised his hand to silence the Klan members, and said, "The corporate rap music says more vile things about black women than we ever thought of and it’s on every station in the world. Even their women sing vile things about themselves"The members grudgingly nodded in approval. The Imperial Dragon continued: "And their women write books and make movies that emasculate Black men better than any hangings we ever had or our speech writers ever could, looking down at two men seated in front who lowered their heads.
"They shoot each other constantly ", and wear shirts saying “stop snitching on drug leaders and killers” he continued;" And as a group, they spend a huge amounts of money on cars, liquor, diamonds. Its bragged about in their magazines -- and nobody needs us to talk about how a lot of their sorry asses keep playing the race and victim cards. Some members went looking for dictionaries, while most members nodded as it hit them that their job was finished; that blacks had become their own worst enemy. The leader shook his head.
"It's time to go back to our regular lives as policemen, judges and congressmen, and leave the business of getting rid of Nigras to Nigras. They are just better at it than us. "
He then threw his hood on the ground and walked off the stage. This ended the last KKK meeting in the Southeast but Imperial Dragons in other regions of the country stated that the move is a smart one and that other chapters will likely follow.

My people this is a fictional account but what if they were behind closed doors conversating about us. Our bling is everywhere because we want to be seen. This was written to just think about our actions and how we are bafooning ourselves. Gone are the days of individuality for some because of what someone else has or doing, we want to follow that crowd.

2006-09-07T23:27:00.000-04:00

Michael Jordan

2006-09-07T23:25:00.000-04:00

Will Smith feat Mary J. Blige - Tell Me Why Live

Relationships

2006-09-04T15:45:00.000-04:00

Falling in love automatically tends toward madness. If left to its self, it goes to utter extremes. This is well known by both sexes. Once a woman’s attention is fixed upon a man, it is very easy for him to dominate her thoughts completely. The rhythm of that technique acts upon a woman’s attention like a pneumatic machine and ends by emptying her self to the rest of the world. The only thing that can save a lover is a violent shock from the outside. A treatment which is forced upon a person.

GUESS WHAT I KNOW.

2006-09-04T14:50:00.000-04:00

I saw the President purchase something the other day. He was at the black market, and it was a life time supply of fear. The instructions were to give it to the people by means of the media at your leisure. You see, he plays dumb but the fact is he may be the smartest cat who took up residency in that public housing called the white house. The C student has made his father proud while my father still searches for a fix to ease the pain he created himself.

2006-08-23T00:22:00.000-04:00

common the light

2006-08-23T00:16:00.000-04:00

NAS - One mic

2006-08-22T23:38:00.000-04:00

Puff Daddy - P.E. 2000

Tech Support

2006-08-15T16:16:00.000-04:00

Dear Tech Support: Last year I upgraded from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0. I soon noticed that the new program began unexpected child processing that took up a lot of space and valuable resources. In addition, Wife 1.0 installed itself into all other programs and now monitors all other system activity. Applications such as Poker Night 10.3, Football 5.0 , Hunting and Fishing 7.5, and Racing 3.6 I can't seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background while attempting to run my favorite applications. I'm thinking about going back to Girlfriend 7.0 , but the uninstall doesn't work on Wife 1.0. Please help! Thanks,
A Troubled User.

______________________________________ REPLY: Dear Troubled User: This is a very common problem that men complain about. Many people upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0, thinking that it is just a Utilities and Entertainment program. Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM and is designed by its Creator to run EVERYTHING!!! It is also impossible to delete Wife 1.0 and to return to Girlfriend 7.0 . It is impossible to uninstall, or purge the program files from the system once installed. You cannot go back to Girlfriend 7.0 because Wife 1.0 is designed to not allow this. Look in your Wife 1.0 manual under Warnings-Alimony-Child Support. I recommend that you keep Wife1.0 and work on improving the situation. I suggest installing the background application "Yes Dear" to alleviate software augmentation. The best course of action is to enter the command C:\APOLOGIZE because ultimately you will have to give the APOLOGIZE command before the system will return to normal anyway.

Wife 1.0 is a great program, but it tends to be very high maintenance . Wife 1.0 comes with several support programs, such as Clean and Sweep 3.0, Cook It 1.5 and Do Bills 4.2. However, be very careful how you use these programs. Improper use will cause the system to launch the program Nag Nag 9.5 . Once this happens, the only way to improve the performance of Wife 1.0 is to purchase additional software. I recommend Flowers 2.1 and Diamonds 5.0 !

WARNING!!! DO NOT , under any circumstances, install Secretary With Short Skirt 3.3. This application is not supported by Wife 1.0 and will cause irreversible damage to the operating system. Best of luck, Tech Support

Something to offer

2006-08-15T08:53:00.000-04:00

Something to offer You can have anything you desire when you have something to offer in return. The path to lasting success is traveled by continuously creating something new and valuable to offer.
If your focus is on getting, and taking, and acquiring, you will meet up with much resistance. Such an approach will make it nearly impossible to accomplish the goals you've set for yourself.
Focus instead on finding ways to give, to create value, and to make that real and meaningful value available to others. When you seek to give of yourself, the possibilities for doing so will have no limit.
Many people are, by nature, quite thoroughly self-centered. Do you realize what an incredible opportunity that represents?
By giving people what they want, you can readily achieve whatever you want. Work to advance the interests of others, and your own interests are even more profoundly advanced.
Look at the world around you and ask yourself what you're able to offer that can bring value to the moment and to the situation. Answer that question and you've figured out how to move quickly ahead.

2006-08-06T10:16:00.000-04:00

Kobe Bryant - Matrix III

2006-08-06T10:11:00.000-04:00

Michael Jordan - Failure

2006-08-06T10:02:00.000-04:00

Kobe Bryant

rucker park

2006-08-06T10:01:00.000-04:00

Kobe's Top Ten Plays

2006-08-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

Kobe Bryant.

2006-08-06T09:59:00.000-04:00

Kobe Bryant Check The Hate Volume 1

2006-08-06T09:57:00.000-04:00

kobe

2006-08-05T23:22:00.000-04:00

Kobe Ballin@ The Rucker in NYC

2006-08-05T23:20:00.000-04:00

Kobe *The great One* Bryant

2006-08-05T23:18:00.000-04:00

Kobe Bryant - Can't Stop me

2006-08-05T23:12:00.000-04:00

Kobe Bryant - Matrix III

2006-08-05T23:10:00.000-04:00

Kobe Check The Hate Part 2