HOPE and VICTORY

"The real hurricane chasers are the real masters of the art of diversion" Some of the worst storms in American history included Hurricane Beulah in 1967, Hurricane Carla in 1961 and Tropical Storm Amelia in 1978. Of course, Hurricane Katrina may have trumped all of these as far as devastation and cost. Yet all storms have something in common, the power to divert people’s attention. Being raised in the great Southwest of Houston, I should know. Even though young, most people who I knew were not thinking about the War in Viet Nam, or high crime rates. We were all thinking about trying to stay alive as Hurricane Beulah approached. Wars are probably the other most understated vice for mischief. It doesn ’t matter whether it is an illegal war or a legal war. Once it gets started, it becomes one of the greatest vices for misdeeds by those in power. If President Bush hasn ’t had the sense to do anything else during his Administration, through his genius of starting wars, he had eff...

..."their candidates and their party have all but abandoned “the issues” at the very moment when voters are beginning to ponder them." Michael Colby, broadside.org No need to become jittery, or not?

There are too many Black women, young girls, who are pregnant and are on welfare. True or false? According to the elective Vice President, Sarah Palin, it is OK for young White girls to get pregnant and be placed on the world political stage as a model teenager along with the baby's father? True or false? While you're wondering, check out these intimate pictures of that 17 year old daughter and that 44 year old candidate for Vice President. palinqueen.jpg (58KB) , _0019_888nn4_full.jpg (80KB) , _0017_55oj2_full.jpg (87KB) , _0005_12fh7_full.jpg (122KB) , _0004_12667116xf6_full.jpg (58KB) , _0000_1000oh1_full.jpg (84KB) , sarah-palin1.jpg (46KB) . The bottomline message, it seems, has always been that Black pregnant teens (that would include my mother, daughter and most of my Black female friends and mothers), and Blacks in general, are lowdown and dirty and White pregnant teens (including Sarah Palin's daughter and other White and pregnant teenagers, and many of my friend...

I just got off the phone with a new associate that I had met (he and his wife) at the local grocery store. Even in a relatively steady moving environment, like the grocery store, the husband, John, came up to me and start chatting about a new economic opportunity or scheme--one that could make you rich. Needless to say, I've had my share of getting rich schemes. Some are simply corrupt and some are half-baked. Then there are some whose produce is suspect and some that don't make any sense, at all. Most, if not all, are pyramid schemes where one interest is primarily making money versus selling a good product or service. Like I said earlier, everyone who I know wants to be rich and, sometimes, in worse worse way. One sign of some get-rich-quick scheme is what I call secretive advertising . It was when I was invited to this party with the promise of receiving a surprise gift. That surprise turned out to be Amway. Of, course Amway is a multi-billion dollar corporation where one mi...

The question was asked by one of my childhood friends in response to the upcoming 'class-reunion' at the high school that we both attended--the reunion that I had no intentions of attending. Shouldn't they call reunions "Reunion to impress"? I wondered, what in the hell does "to impress" mean. To be honest, anybody who is a full-bloodied American or a stargazing immigrant should know this answer. In America, life equals being able to impress. The only fluctuation in this act of self-congratulatory expression is that it's done more so at different times and occasions of the year. However, trying 'to impress' is as American as apple pie. However, 'to impress' can also be touted as one of the most self-centered actions in the universe. Let's say that you can naturally impress someone, or mechanically impress someone. Naturally, all of God's children are beautiful. Mechanically, Americans feel that they can enhance on God's b...

"Being Different" IS NO WALK IN THE PARK. I reckon it depends on many factors, i.e., whether or not you will be received for being different or rejected for being different. In our society, today we celebrate diversity. Today, people are expected not to be prejudice or hurtful to another who might not be like them or might not belong to the same tribe as them. For centuries, this diversity aspect has been a simple color issue for the nation as a whole. If you were white you were privileged and if you where black you were not privileged. Being black meant that your rights and access to health and general welfare would be threatened. However, today that has changed. People are still prejudice, but they are not as blatant. They don't need to be. Because of the inequalities and iniquities of the past can be found in a system that does the talking. This means that white people (or people in charge) don't have to be openly racist anymore because the system will...

Welcome to a zone where hope meets hopelessness and where hope claims the victory. Do you have a story or a comment about your life journey from yesterday to today. If you are bold enough to share it, you may be an instrument in the restoration of many people in this complex world. Thank you for coming. Yours, Jerel (lost&found)