Thank You Mr. McCain!!!!

With McCain’s recent announcement of his VP choice, Sarah Palin, all I could do was laugh. Is this guy serious? Thank you for making this battle that much easier.

Sarah Palin, a first-term governor (i.e. she’s only been on the job two years), of Alaska (a state I think we can all agree doesn’t really count) is largely unknown in her own party. Prior to being governor, she was mayor of a city of less than 9,000 people. The most ironic part of his selection is that he harps on Obama’s lack of experience, but she is a preschooler in this political game. I mean he could have just picked me!!! Then he would’ve had a black woman!!! Numerous news stories report that McCain had only met Ms. Palin once and only began considering her five days prior to the announcement. Oh, and did I mention that she is currently being investigated by a ethics committee for a recent firing of a state police chief. WTF!!! So could she possibly have to step down as governor? If found guilty would that leave her legally unable to fill the position of VP?

It is clear that McCain pegged her simply because she is a woman and he is trying to sway Hillary supporters. My only hope is that Americans, who are actually considering voting for this guy and the GOP, have enough sense to see his selection for what it really is, his final act of desperation, in that he sees the White House slipping further and further away from his grasp!!!

GOBAMA!!!!!!

Prejudice: A Natural Human Emotion?

While having a conversation with a couple of friends the other night (thee black people and one Japanese guy), the issue of racism and prejudice came up. As the entire world knows, racism in America runs rampant from her birth. Racism can also be seen in the history/presence of South Africa and all other African nations that were colonized by European powers. Racism is seen in Asia as well, with most Asian countries being very homogeneous and sometimes not very welcoming of foreigners or willing to embrace them as their own.

Living in Japan, I cannot say that I have been a victim of racism, or at least I don’t think I have. Some of my friends have been told by apartment managers that they do not rent to foreigners, because foreigners are loud, don’t pay their rent, and are dirty. I can see how this seems like racism, but for me, I find myself defending the Japanese and suggesting that this is based on the few experiences that they have had with foreigners and because there are not many foreigners in Japan, they can only draw conclusions from their few interactions, but I guess this is the birth of stereotypes.

I have always attributed racism to being a social construct created by Europeans with a Napolean complex (because Caucasians are clearly the minority on this planet and have been trying to over compensate for thousands of years). But as our conversation continued, I began to wonder, is prejudice a natural human emotion? Is it our fear of the unknown? Is it our natural tendancy towards groups? Are we born with something that makes us naturally lean towards prejudice/racism?

The Phenomenon Known As Facebook

(This is a repost from my other blog)

I guess this post is a profession of my love for the ridiculous phenomenon that is facebook, but at the same time, there is so much criticism that I have about the way people present themselves and utilize it.

Its sad that me and many of my friends cannot remember what life was like prior to facebook, it is this very notion that caused my friend Adrian to remove himself from this monster. But while facebook consumes entirely too much of my time, it allows me to stay connected with so many of my friends and associates. It also allows me to network and connect a lot of my friends with common business interests, people looking for aparments, people who are new to various cities, everything. You see, without facebook, I would feel very disconnected from my friends and family at home, so thank you Mark for this wonderful invention that has made you one of the world’s youngest billionaires. Why didn’t I think of it first?

Ok now onto to what I can’t stand on facebook.

-Moms and Moms-to-be
Ok so I love kids. Especially since I’ve had the opportunity to work with them so closely for the last five months, but I don’t think it is cute to have all your business on facebook with regard to your kids. It is very cute when you are in a loving relationship and family photos are presented. That’s awesome. But when the father is never seen or heard of, it kind of irritates me. Having four kids is ok when you are married but having multiple baby daddies is not cute. Nor is is cute to have father’s day albums with no fathers. Am I the only one who still thinks that out of wedlock baby making is not ok, in most cases. Of course accidents happen, but how many? Marriage is not an end all be all but I think that children need a mom and dad.

-Swagger, divas, etc.
So simply proclaiming that you have swagger or that you are a diva or that your life is fabulous, does not make it such. It just cracks me up how people think they are living the life and they haven’t even graduated from college yet. Or they rarely leave the city that they live in. Or they have pictures of expensive items that they don’t own. So many people have no idea what the good life is (although I guess the good life is relative to your situation). But I just crack up when people talk about their swagger. You should not talk about your own swagger, it just comes off as conceited and sometimes delusional, depending on the person. Allow other people to comment on your swagger. Allow other people to comment on your fabulous life. Stop trying to force feed your wack life to us via facebook.

-Lies
Ok so I think we all have a facebook friend whose profile we look at and shake our head because it is riddled with lies. I know at least one person like this and he recently defriended me cause I called him out on his lies. He then tried to refriend me within a matter of hours. I’m good!!! Anyway, I just think that it is hilarious that people use facebook as a medium to make themselves seem better than they are in real life. Give me a break. I especially laugh at people who put that they are an alumni at a school they never attended or a school that they attended and never finished. But I think what I find funnier is when people join the network of cities that they don’t live in. HELLLO!!!! You aren’t fooling anybody.

I also need someone to give me clarification on the hiding your age thing. I don’t care either way and don’t criticize people who don’t put their birth year, I just wonder what the motivation is. We are who we are.

OK! Let me climb down from my soapbox. These things have been on my mind and I had to finally get them out. There may be a part two depending on the foolishness that meets my eyes on the pages of facebook! Sorry for being so critical. I couldn’t help myself.

I kissed you in your mouth, so what?!?!

Time and time again I have asked my male friends this question. If a girl kisses you in your mouth, also known as a French kiss, is that really a signal that she is going to have sex with you, right then and there?

I have French kissed men in the past and found myself in very sticky situations that I had to get away from quite quickly. I don’t see how me kissing you equates to me wanting to hop in the bed with you. Girls, have you ever been in this situation? Guys, please give me some clarity and rationales.

Artist Spotlight: KENNA

WHO: Kenna Zemedkun, Egyptian born-American Singer

WHY: I was introduced to Kenna’s music by JBF. Thanks again. From  the first song I heard, I was addicted. Kenna’s music is a blend of electronica, house, rock, and other genre’s of alternative goodness. Both albums are filled with songs that should be on anyone’s morning playlist, dance playlist, and train riding playlist.

For the morning playlist I’ve chosen “Sun Red Sky Blue”, “Freetime” “Vexed and Glorious/A Better Control” and “Baptized in Blacklight”. All of these songs have an upbeat feel to them, the kind that you need when you are struggling to get up, but they aren’t too upbeat, that you feel as if you’re about to go to the club.

As far as the dance playlist, mandatories include “Say Goodbye to Love”, “Loose Wires/Blink Radio” and “Out of Control”. “Say Goodbye to Love” is one of Kenna’s songs that I have heard in clubs. I heard it in a club in Osaka this past weekend. All three songs have hypnotic rhythms that attack your waist, shoulders, and head, resulting in involuntary dance movements.

I don’t know about you, but for my train riding playlists, I like songs that make me think about life, love, and everything in between and Kenna has produced several songs that are in constant rotation on my iPod shuffle. The thought promoters include “Static”, “Be Still”, and “Yeneh Ababa (Rose)”.

I would love to list more songs because I must admit, I LOVE 90% of the two albums that he has put out, but I want you to explore the albums and categorize them for yourself. The other 10% of the songs, I definitely like; in fact, I have not heard one bad song that Kenna has put out, so if you don’t know, now you know!!!

ALBUMS: New Sacred Cow (June 10, 2003), Make Sure They See My Face (October 16, 2007)

WEBSITE: www.kennakenna.com

The Olympics Transcend Politics

For those of you who don’t know, Georgia (the country) and Russia are having an all out war. Some news agencies are saying that they are on the verge of war but after multiple airstrikes, I’m pretty sure this constitutes an actual war.

I must say, I still don’t understand the need for war. I’m sure that it has much to do with power and greed, which unfortunately I still have yet to understand. Needless to say, the Georgian and Russian sharpshooters won bronze and silver metals, respectively, in the Olympics yesterday. After receiving the medals, the two women embraced each other. Even though there is massive conflict going on between their countries, they still were able to show each other love. If the citizens can do this, why can’t our governments?

New Age Negroes

With all the hype of Obama running for president and people thinking that he is one in a million, when it comes to successful, intelligent, eloquent black people, I felt the need to write a few descriptions about a segment of black America that many people (black and non-blacks) don’t know exist. I shall refer to this awesome group as the New Age Negro (I didn’t coin this term, wish I had)

Rocks Louboutins, Rock and Republic, Gucci Sunglasses. know what a Speedy 25 is. has a starting salary over 50k. has a 401(k). vacation in Europe. have been out of the country (beyond Canada and Mexico). had a passport before the laws changed. don’t worry about affirmative action because they will always get the job and will always get into their school of choice. know what the acronyms HBS, MBA, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, MLT, etc. have at least 10 non main stream artists in their 50 most played songs in iTunes. use a Mac. don’t have children out of wedlock. have lawyer and doctor friends on speed dial in case of emergency or need for advice. take cabs back to Brooklyn at night. ski. snowboard. skateboard. watch CNN, BBC, and other news outlets. have an RSS feed with said outlets. knows what RSS is. read the Economist. are cool nerds. own condos, brownstones, and the occasional investment property. creative. are not yet feeling the effects of the slowing economy. entrepreneurs. go to Miami weekends other than Memorial Day. attend 25th birthday bashes in Puerto Rico(wink wink). party/shop in NYC at least three times a year. prefer the east coast. know and love OPI. don’t let celeb gossip consume their lives although they enjoy Bossip. strive to invest 30% of their salary but save at least 10%.

know that a guy isn’t gay simply because his pants don’t sag. live abroad, have lived abroad or have close friends that do. are friends with politicians in their respective hometowns. read books. is an artist or has a close friend that is an artist. work smart not hard. drink wine other than merlot and white zinfandel. knows and loves Jean Michel Basquiat. don’t overdose on greek paraphernalia. has a pair of Nike dunks. takes an least one international trip per year. can tell a Brooks Brother shirt by the sleeves. knows what a Pink shirt is. has more than one piece of Tiffany jewelry. listens to all kinds of music with an emphasis on hip hop, jazz, and rock. has a facebook account with Fort Knox privacy settings.

LIVES LIFE!!!

Did I miss anything?

Ugh, the Mayor of Detroit

Why is Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of Detroit, the city where I hold permanant residence, currently sitting in a jail cell. I’m so disgusted that I can’t say anymore than that. And of course it has made national news.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26073538/

No seriously, where is your baby daddy!!!???

So again, while watching CNN’s “Black in America”, I picked up another statistic. (For those who might mistake the fact that I am writing posts based on their statistics, as my love for the program, I have many criticisms about the show. Maybe I will share them in another post)

“Nearly 70% of black babies are born to unwed mothers.”

Ok, I don’t even know where to start with this one. Some of my thoughts might be disjointed because I really don’t understand this phenomenon, maybe you can help me to understand.

So the first thing that I don’t understand is why women are having babies with men they don’t like, aren’t serious with, or know ain’t s**t! Do we need to start a “Condoms are Cool” campaign? Do people not realize the seriousness of having a child?

Secondly, why are women letting men off the hook. Some of these fathers cut out of the picture before the baby is even born and obviously, they cannot control a grown man, but I know some women that say, “Well I don’t need him anyway, I can raise a baby by myself.” That may be possible, but that baby needs his/her father. We all know about the statistics that show that the child born to a single mother is more likely to commit a crime and that the same child is at a gross disadvantage when compared to children being raised in two parent households. What ever happened to the institution of marriage? It is hilarious to me that black people always want to argue with me because I don’t attend church on a regular basis or I seemingly don’t have as much faith as them, but let’s face it, the vast majority of the black community claims to be Christian. Many of these people like to judge the faith of those sitting next to them, but when it comes to the Christian ideal of marriage, everyone ignores that. Let’s not even touch the topic of premarital sex. Of the 70% of babies that are being born out of wedlock, how many of their moms are at church every Sunday and judging you because you don’t wake up and go.

Third and lastly (I feel like these ideas are not coherent and realize I’ve already upset a number of people by this point), why is it that women who are poor, less fortunate, whatever the PC term is, continue to have children when they already do not have enough money to support the first one. I have never been poor and because I am Ugandan, I don’t have cousin Shaquita with five kids to ask her why, so if you know please shed some light on this ridiculously vicious cycle of impoverished fatherless children.

OK, one last interjection. I’m sick of seeing pictures of pregnant women on facebook with no fathers in site. Even if you aren’t married, that is not cute!!!!

I know this one is a bit controversial. Feel free to say whatever you want, don’t hold back. I’m seriously looking for some clarity or at least need to know that other people out there are just as dumbfounded as I am by this phenomenon.

So, I really want to date a black man, but…..

So I just finished watching CNN’s “Black In America”. Thank you Mr. Jobs for iTunes and the ability to purchase shows. This will be the first of several posts stemming from the show.

One thing that was brought up on the first episode is single successful black women finding it difficult to meet and ultimately marry black men. One statistic that they threw out there was that, “there are 1,000,000 more black women working than black men.” 1,000,000!!!!!!! That means that there are 999,999 surplus, employed black women, besides me trying to meet a mate, we can assume, maybe. So if employment is a requirement for dating, the number of eligible men drastically decreases. Once you add in incaceration (or previous incarceration-well maybe depending on the nature of the crime, don’t want to throw too many out of the dating pool), men who don’t like dating black women, those who are already happily in love with a black woman, and homosexuality (damn you Atlanta) I am scared to imagine the number that we are left with.

So what is a successful, attractive, educated, fun, awesome sister left to do, but experiment with other races? I know so many great black men-that are educated, fine, fit, fun, etc, etc-but they are enjoying their status as just that and enjoying too many women to want to settle down with just one. I know so many beautiful, successful, educated, SANE, black women who are single as hell. What is up with that?

For the black men responding, help me understand what is going on. When will you be ready to settle down? Will it be with a black women? Does this matter to you? Do you feel like there are loads of quality black women out there or do we think too highly of ourselves? Fill me in!!!!

For black women responding, are you still trying to find a black man? Does it matter to you? Have you been more successful than me and a lot of my friends? Have you gone out with non-black men? Fill me in!!!!