Tick, tock, tick tock

One of the lasting images of "Election day 2012" will of course be the outrageously long lines. I remember 2008, I think I waited in line for an hour and a half or possibly two to vote. It was a proud time, usually I go off to vote by myself but I was able to vote with both of my brothers and my parents. It was a fun time, granted we had waited til election day so of course we were forced to wait in those long lines to make sure our votes counted. This time around we were a little more spread out, so while me and my parents went off to vote together my brothers were still at a job site somewhere.

My father currently signed up to get a knee replacement was allowed to go first since he did have proof of his disability. Me and my mother on the other hand waited in the Vorgon's cue a never ending serpentine of people. We went to pick up my mother slightly after 5 pm, and within 15 minutes got to a polling place, this year we decided to early vote just in case something was incorrect. By the time we finished it was well after 7 pm because they had required us to file through a room in the church building that housed the voted machines so that they could TRY and shut the doors. It was a futile attempt, people had been pulling up in cars ever since we got there and it was a good sized line(longer then we realized) when we got there. For a while me and my mother thought we were getting close when we made it into the hallway, little did we know it was more subway tunnel then it was foyer. we started joking after hour two because there was nothing else to do, we refused to get out of line we had toughed it out that long and if there is one thing I know I came by my stubbornness honestly. I believe when my father was finally able to retrieve us it was somewhere around 8 pm(might have even been 9 pm, I guess I could check my tweets from that night). And I was happy I had done my civic duty, added my voice to the masses and was prepared to wait til election day to see how it had worked out.

Men by nature are Pro choice

Yes I said it, now I am sure right now I am getting a bunch of people coming over here to tell me how wrong I am. Well since you are here, let me explain it to you. You ain got to agree but when I get done you may still disagree but I am pretty sure I will make a damn good case.

First and fore most one of the greatest male privileges of all is that we can choose WHO to pursue, I mean yes in this day and age some women may ask the guy first but usually the guy chooses to either leap to the highest heights or else dive in to the deepest depths. Doesn't matter my size, my shape, hair style, clothes, intelligence level. It doesn't matter if I am a 2 or a 10 I can walk up and try to talk to whoever I want to. Yes the woman can reject me but even if some may say I had no chance I will get points for even attempting it. You know that lovely thing about being the under dog and having heart, taking a swing, being the little guy, or the loveable loser. Yeah there are a bunch of cartoons about that type of dude, save Velma on Scooby Doo(and even Velma Dinkly has fans as well as has gotten a sexy make over in pop culture as of late) how many completely useless, non hottie cookie cutter, super intelligent, main female characters have we had? Now yes as women begin to take an even larger role in the creation of pop culture(or guys who have great friends who do not fit the normal stereotype start adding their friends to it) that will most likely change. Granted this probably doesn't seem like a strong case for me saying guys are by nature pro choice huh, let me keep going though follow along.

A letter to conversatives

Hi, how are you. Seems you just lost an election, badly, I know you probably don't want to hear from me because I didn't vote for your side. Thing is there is a reason I didn't vote for your side, but I am getting ahead of myself I should do an Introduction.

I'm Tommy, a 37(soon to be 38) year old black male. I was born in this country(in the north east to be exact, pretty much right in the path of Hurricane Sandy), and have lived here the entirety of my life. In that life I have gone to school, worked a few jobs, graduated, gotten a drivers license, registered to vote, and voted in 4 presidential elections. I don't always hit the mid terms, but thanks to 2010 yeah I will be paying more attention to them too.

Polical thought dump

We just had an election, but unlike most elections where we get the discussion of high minded ideas, lofty goals, and bright futures this one was tarnished by the constant undercurrent of hatred for OTHER. Now while some may have only focused on the other of RACE/SKIN COLOR, there was also the other of GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS, and SOCIAL STRATA. I do not claim to be any kind of political wonk, but I do enjoy the political process in my country except for this year. Oh there are plenty of times when I have had political discussions with people where I have had to face, debunk, or shout down ridiculous stereotypes or mental infections that people may have had, I just never had to look at what should be a serious situation and see it reflected at the highest levels.

Actions speak louder than words

As we all know due to some idiots movie trailer that makes fun of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and portray him in some pretty disgusting ways there were protests and attacks at a few US diplomatic buildings in the middle east and north Africa. Due to these attacks and some spotty response from a few leaders it lead President Obama to state on Telemundo that he "Does not see Egypt as an Ally or an Enemy." While I have heard there has been some walk back on that Bobby Ghosh seemed to be extremely shocked that the POTUS would not see the people of Egypt as a friend anymore due to this incident and a lack luster response from Egypt's current President Morsi.

Here is my take on it, Mr. Ghosh in looking at all the film that was shown of the Protest in Egypt, I didn't see Morsi climbing those walls, I saw the EGYPTIAN PEOPLE. I saw them attacking our Embassy in Cairo, burning OUR FLAG and celebrating a victory over the ignorance of a few people at the cost of the safety of those in our diplomatic core. Now far be it for me to tell you the PROPER way to protest, but don't act like seeing a people come at you in a violent fashion shouldn't cause you to rethink your relationship with them. Yes I heard you speak about how the last more dictatorial regime would have resorted to beatings before the protests even got that bad so some of this may have been the Egyptian people enjoying the freedom to express themselves in a way they are not yet used to. The problem is just like you can condemn the acts of the idiot who organized the trailer(especially if some of the actor interviews are to be believed that the audio was dubbed over and the movie they made had nothing to do with Mohammad at all), he and we all can look at Egypt and say you attacked us we aren't going to be as chummy with you until you explain what the hell you were thinking and why.

Just a little help for those stumbling onto my page looking for a famous black personality

It's TAVIS Smiley, not Tagus, you got the Cornell West part right but the man's name is Tavis, hell let me help you out further and provide some appropriate links(no I am not a big Tavis Smiley fan, while sometimes his heart appears to be in the right place he also has a huge ego, but this ain about me)

One of his Websites
his PBS page
the Wiki Dedicated to him
his all Tavis all the time radio show
His Twitter
Huff Po Article
The Intersection of Madness and Reality article about them(yes rippa's site is awesome)
the Charlie Rose Interview with him and Cornell West

Now if this ain the Tavis Smiley you are looking for, I can't help ya. Yes I am a kind enough person to attempt to help send you on the right path whether I like the establishment you are trying to reach or not, it ain always got to be about my likes or dislikes sometimes it can just be about helping out your fellow HUMAN. I'm sure you can find quite a few articles about first Mr. Smiley(and I don't mean Rickey, this time), and Professor West if you go to this Google Page which is where I found the rest of this stuff. I know he has a weird name, I used to think way back in the day that his name was TRavis Smiley and that somebody was just mispronouncing and spelling it but hey normally you go for a name you are used too(and I knew quite a few Travis' at the time) instead of something new and different, I guess it's similar to Brendan Fazier(Fayzyour) going as Brendan Frazier for so long because he didn't want to argue with people screwing up his name.

Hope this helps

The beauty of promising a "chicken in every pot"

Not to toot my own horn, but I'm a pretty smart guy. Give me a book/manual/decent training class and I can get damn near anything. Those wonderful charts and figures that get put up when people discuss:deficits, tax cuts, government expenditures if I can see them full size and read the key on the side I can usually get the gist of what you talking about. Any term I don't understand I will hit google, websters, investor words, how stuff works, bing or whatever other source I may need to so that I can follow along with your argument/topic of discussion.

That's me though, see if something piques my interest I'm like a dog trying to get his beloved toy from under a chair. I'm gonna dig and scratch, try to get my shoulder/arm in there, run to someone seeking help, keep trying to find a way. That's not most people hell, I have come to believe that people have started creating lipper charts, Feng zwei curves, out da back door averages and you don't need to know so don't ask me reports JUST so they sound intelligent to the average person and you will stop questioning them and leave them alone if they seem to buttress your own position. Its 2010 most people in my age bracket have seen the results of Reaganomics from kindercare to adulthood.

We have seen our neighborhoods go from nice friendly places where we could play outside til the lights came on to desolate scenes from old westerns. Ghost towns where the lawless rule and the average persons goes about their day in fear hoping to stay under the radar. You hope to avoid the big rancher out to own every acre his eye can see, the drifting cowboys bored with the monotony of the trail so they have "just one night" to spice it up a bit.

When those at the top are allowed to ignore the rules(or buy them as they see fit), justice is based not on the incident but on your ability to pay for representation, a permanent "unclean" class is present and always decried as the "unstoppable" enemy while the people run around "defending" themselves from the enemy the haves keep all the spoils for themselves. As for the ne'er do wells hey all they need is a shadow to hide in. When justice is blinded by dollar signs who wants to call the law? Every negative encounter re-enforces the idea that they won't help us.

Look around now, isn't that what you see? The world going to hell while you and yours just try to survive? You don't have time for high minded ideas now do ya? Taking the time to research every last claim by somebody living in a gilded cage, eating off a silver spoon he doesn't know what your life is like. So let's say somebody who looks kinda like you tells you how it ain your fault, how if you just leave these folks over here (who by virtue of their past successes obviously know what their doing) alone that their success will lead to your success. And that as they are more successful you will see things improve for you, why they'll get so good on your side, if you put these folks in charge, that there'll be "a chicken in every pot".

Now you don't know who lipper is, or S&P but you know who chicken is. Hell look how many chicken proprietors are out there:Tyson, Purdue, The Colonel, Churches, Zaxby's, Popeyes, Mrs. Winners, Chic-Fil-A. Think of how inexpensive a chicken dinner usually is, its good, its quick all kinds of great memories for MOST people. Hell thinking about it can you name a bunch of "beef" companies? I mean you could name me a "burger joint" but even burger joints sell chicken. How about an actual brand of beef, you've got your super market meat department, might even be able to tell me who makes ya turkey sausage or your hot dogs. Ya steaks and pork chops though uh uh, not too many people in that game.

So you pick a cheap yet delicious item, an item that most people have dealings with on a regular. No nothing extravagant, nothing that's actually gonna put you out a few dimes, not Filet Mignon in every oven. Or a pan full(remember its only one chicken singular, might be able to feed a family of 4 2 days on 1 chicken) of Minions, NY strip, Prime Rib nah not that stuff that costs money. How about a pot full of lobsters? Yeah let's all be ballin, let's all be eating good give me that King Crab, that Caviar(beluga baby), Dom Peri in the glass, Private stock in the cup pimpin.

Nah, that's too much can't pull that off without people getting suspicious huh? KISS keep it simple stupid, a message people can understand and comprehend. Things that seem tried and true nothin fancy, elaborate or invasive. While not every chicken pusher sells it to you cheap, ain nothing like some tender, juicy chicken now is it.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

I thought we already did the Dr. Strangelove thing

I mean isn't that image burned into all of our minds if nothing else dude riding the missile off into the sunset before it explodes(I have actually never seen the whole movie but I know every time I hear about stupidity in the nuclear age I see that picture in my mind) and it had the subtitle of "When I learned to stop worrying and to love the bomb". I don't love the bomb, hell not only that but I just spent a good 20+ years of my life hearing about how we had to beat back the red menace, and keep a handle on Russian Nukes.

So what do I hear on the news since the election: Senator John Kyl of Arizona is blocking the new S.T.A.R.T treaty. To quote a popular twitter phrase "Where they do that at", these are the russians you know the guys back in 2008 we had to hear about Putin, the KGB in his eyes and how we had to be tough on him. I'm wondering if that good old adage of "do as we say not as we do" needs to start being floated around, actually it's "neither do as we say or as we do". I'm sorry maybe I don't see the big picture but as an American first(I may have dash status but I was still born here) and a democrat second as long as the plan is solid stopping an enemy OR preventing cheating or "loose"(lets be real they aren't loose they are missing) nukes is a good deal all around.

I mean I don't want to test the Nuclear Winter theory, I don't want to see if there really is a John Connors out there who can save us from the machines(or our own stupidity for short term political gain), how many times do we have to see, hear about and read this story. When you get too drunk with power you allow your enemy to overtake you from without. I know conservatives are the masters of the Pyrrhic Victory but damn, exactly what do you have to gain but going on overdrive to destroy the country? Did you forget you only had 1 house of congress and that there is still a president and a senate. Hell if we can get an up and down vote even if it's 50-50 we hold the white house let us go ahead and have Biden put us over the top.

I mean I didn't forget the Clinton years so I guess Obama better be honest about his damn Golf Score and make sure he has his toes behind the 3 point line. He better be ready to not only produce his birth certificate but show that he didn't have gay sex with that dude he was high and SURE he had sex with Obama back in the day. I know that the whole Impeachment Proceedings were tainted last time because they impeached Clinton over a blow job(I don't care what you say a man not wanting to talk about his infidelity towards his wife ain new in Washington, if you aren't going home every other week and you have young attractive MALE or FEMALE staffers and don't have a HIGH air plane ticket bill you stickin SOMETHING local), making it seem like the FORMERLY dire and solemn duty of the congress to police the executive could be used to basically just drag a political opponent through the mud.

Really I mean that's what people elected to office, a bunch of folks who want to really live out the Jerry Springer show in DC. Is it because in your Brewster's Millions future you just know if you punish the "liberals" when you get you comeuppance your life will be all milk and honey and you want have to pay a dime for money YOU didn't personally work to own but will hopefully be given.  What happened to all that talk about boot strapping and pulling yourself up and working hard for your own success, oh wait that was just towards everybody else.

I'm sorry but while MAD is supposed to be this BIG deterrent and you know I'm gonna die, your gonna die it's a tie/stalemate/we're all screwed HELLO it probably has nothing to do with me, it's a diplomatic pissing contest in which 9 times outta 10 if it was a regular person on the street somebody would have gotten their butt whipped and we could have called it a day and got some damn drinks. Again the idiots who push the button yes they are gonna die, but they are gonna take the rest of us with them. How is that you know SMART? You don't like somebody else's politics so you see this "Big Evil" over on the other side of the world that you SWEAR it is in our best interest as a country to keep our eyes on and not give them an inch and you just wanna leave the damn door open and say "Clean up when you're done, I'd watch you but *snap* I just remembered this 2 for 1 sale at the local mega mart" O rly? 0_o Hell anybody who played call of duty Modern Warfare 2 there was a nuke in you could get 25 kills in a row and if you were on the losing team but you could rack up those 25 kills in a losing effort, guess what you could blow everybody to kingdom come and get a medal for basically stopping the bleeding. In Black Ops you just gotta take it, I've administered so 4000 point butt whoopins, I've had to take a few too where you just couldn't get your bullets on somebody's behind(or you semtex arrow, damn I need to finish that other Black ops blog). You die, they die game is over and whoever had the most kills when the bomb dropped TECHNICALLY gets the win, but guess what WE ALL DIE. I personally REALLY don't want to see the real life version of that, I haven't ever wanted to see the real life version of some of the "never gonna happen" scenarios that have happened in both recent and distant history.

Now yeah I could link the hell out of this and get a whole bunch of data to support you know "Why NOT to play around with a nuclear arms reduction treaty" but if I really gotta go into that much detail to get you to understand NUCLEAR WEAPONS are a bad thing, is there really anything we COULD talk about. I don't want to glow in the dark, I don't want the sperm I shot on my last masturbating session to glow in the dark, not my brothers or mothers dog, not little Timmy's fish, not Suzies cat, Not Lenny's frog, Not Randy's ferret NOTHING should glow in the dark unless it's a damn glow in the dark shrinky dink(brings back memories right, yeah yeah I'm old

PAUSE

They still make SHRINKY DINKS, I'm talking little pieces of whatever fabric that is cook them in the oven SHRINKY DINKS, nah I ain sleep, this ain bizarro world and no I can't fly Okay, wow man shrinky dinks I thought those things would have been dead in the Digital Age.

but yeah I don't want to glow in the dark. I mean why can't they move on to the next thing, where's our plasma powered weapons and engines at, where's my dilithium crystals at. Why aren't we trying to hit WARP 9 Mr. Sulu, where are my Photon Torpedoes and our Phasers set to "stun"(set yours to stun all you want me and Eddie Griffin are of like minds, if you're the last alien and you acting all hostile your species is now extinct). I know there is a lot of money to be made sitting in the now(because you know we have already figured out how to do this, so even though I might make LOADS more money doing something new up front I'm lazy, I don't want to have to pay for it) I'm not some clueless ideologue I just know that just like I prefer my tiny blackberry as compared to that HUGE mobile phone with the attached shoulder bag, or my flat screen TV, Flat screen monitor with my computer 250 GB hard drive(Which is small if I'm willing to shell out the bucks I can get a 4 TB, just saying ain technology grand).

It is time to move on people, lets get this treaty done and fine new and more EFFECTIVE ways to lay each other out. Sad ain it, but at least THAT might peak some interests peace, nah peace isn't a good incentive not enough MONEY in peace for some