The Inner Conspiracy Brother Special: The Reagan Years

This conveys exactly how I believe Reagan felt towards the lower income citizens of America. During Reagan's administration, the government and particularly the CIA ran wild either under the orders of Reagan or with the permission of Reagan. I say this because when asked questions concerning controversial topics, he always acted as if he did not know about anything. Many people have spoken out about AIDS and drug trafficking, saying that Reagan was prompted to do something about both and he continued to do nothing. Let's get specific:

CIA outta control: Iran Contra and Drug Trafficking

The Iran-Contra affair was a black mark on the credibility of the American government because of the discovery of the government exchanging weapons for hostages and CIA destroying important documents which could have revealed other crimes. But honestly, this is not even all that important to me because I believe deals like that are made a lot and may be the easiest choice to solve foreign issues at times. My issue government-sponsorship of the drug trade. The Iran Contra Affair was probably the first true opportunity to create direct pipeline for drugs to come into the US. Furthermore, the Kerry Committee report concluded that the CIA and State Department supported and even facilitated Nicaraguans smuggling cocaine into the United States. It is also argued that it was a plan by the CIA proposed to the Nicaraguans to funnel the bulk of the drugs into the Los Angeles area once it entered the United States. Coincidentally (sarcasm obviously), the CIA during this era grew tremendously from a mid-sized unit into the giant component that it is today. I don't think it's very hard to conclude that it grew so largely from drug money paid to them for their assistance. I don't believe the government is helping anybody do anything, much less somethin illegal, unless they are going to make good money or take some other significant benefit from it. When did LA and other major cities fall victim to the drug epidemic? The Reagan Years. I'm not naive enough to believe he never got even a whiff of that money. I think a whole lotta people got paid to look the other way. As much as Black people in the hood get a bad wrap for selling drugs and destroying lives in their own communities (which is a huge problem), remember who brought those drugs to this country.

The Refusal of AIDS as a problem to the general public

The earliest scattered cases of AIDS surfaced around 1979 or 1980. By 1981, it was acknowledged by high ranking health officials to be a potential problem in the future. Reagan ignored these claims, understandable when you're looking at a handful of cases in the midst of so much that is going. By 1983, over 1000 cases and almost 400 deaths had been reported in the US. This could no longer be written off as a fluke or a figment of anyone's imagination. As many of the cases were reported in the homosexual community, it was easier to deny the disease to the general public and in more intimate circles only acknowledge it as being a "gay disease." Reagan's communications director publicly claimed that this was nothing more than "nature's revenge on gay men." Even if this were the case, by 1984, there were over 4000 reported cases and almost 2000 deaths. It was so widespread that people were organizing awareness rallies and marches because so many people knew someone suffering from the debilitating disease. One march, intended to bring awareness to the topic before the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco (a town most affected due to the high gay population) included over 100,000 protesters. Surely the President would have to acknowledge this now, right?? Nope. Reagan decided not to publicly acknowledge the need for research and treatment of the disease until May 1987; this is near the end of his last term so it wouldn't be his problem much longer. By this point, over 36,000 Americans had been diagnosed and there had been over 20,000 deaths. Furthermore, there were over 50,000 cases worldwide in more than 100 countries. Whether it was the result of homo-phobia, a desire not to accept this topic as an issue during his presidency, or some other motivation, Reagan let thousands die before he decided that AIDS was worth mentioning, much less devoting concentrated attention too. As the foremost public figure worldwide, the President could have had much more influence domestically and globally to start initiatives to research, treat, and prevent the disease if he would have tried to be proactive. We know what AIDS and HIV have done to the US and the world at this point, I believe that things could have been a lot different.

So at this point, without even talking about the details of Reaganomics and the way that it helped open the financial void between the social classes, I've presented the reasons why I do not like the man or respect him as a president. He had vital roles in ignoring problems in their early stages that could've put us in much better situations today. So to the late Reagan, fuck you very much, I hope you're proud of yourself.

Harsh toward a former President, Yup. I've been called worse...

If I hear one more person say North Carolina is not part of the South...

ON WHAT PLANET DOES IT MAKE ANY SENSE TO SAY THAT NORTH CAROLINA IS NOT PART OF THE SOUTH?? LOOK AT A MAP, WHERE THE FUCK IS IT?? For whatever reason, I have run into several different people in the past year who have hotly contested this issue with me. I didn't realize until recently just how much this shit is starting to piss me off. I would guess that it has something to do with my identity with the culture of the Southeast as a region and the overall ignorance of their counterarguments. This issue surfaced the other day and before I knew what I was doing, I had blunk on the young lady that said it (blunk = past tense of blank. I don't like "blanked", don't judge me). So let's examine this step-by-step from most civil and unarguably to the shit that gets me most riled up:

DISCLAIMER: Once I get a little emotional, there may be more cussing than normal.

Conventional/Historical Measures:

1. The Mason-Dixon Line
I don't really agree with this method of differentiating between the North and the South, but it has been a "historical" method of establishing an actual tangible breaking point. The Northernmost tip of North Carolina is like 500 miles under that mug. I do not agree because Virginia (which I am 50/50 or less on being Southern), Washington D.C. (which is not at all Southern culturally), and even Maryland are under this line. However, old timers use it as their sure fire way to differentiate.

2. The Confederate States
During the Civil War, the infamous war between the North and South concerning slavery, industry, and other factors, what do you think the Black population in North Carolina was doing? Thank goodness we have come a lot farther since that time than deeper Southern States such as Mississippi and Alabama (in the urban parts of NC anyway) and I don't feel iminent danger in my hometown. However, there are still Confederate museums, displayed plantations and other remnants all over the state.

My justifications of Being Southern (both positive and negative):

1. The Sweet Ice Tea and Lemonade rule
As a Southerner, one way I know unequivocally that I have strayed North of my current comfort zone is when I go out to establishments and have a hard time getting sweetened (not unsweetened with some sugar packets, but sweet) iced tea or homemade lemonade. In Charlotte and throughout the South, in non-franchise restaurants, there are usually big see-through containers full of sweetened ice tea and handmade lemonade, conveniently placed side by side for mixing purposes. Hell no, it's not the same as Lipton and Minute Maid. I am borderline offended when someone looks at me like I'm speaking another language when I speak about mxing lemonade and sweet tea. Must be a SOUTHERN original.

2. Accents
I have a Southern accent, not to be confused with a country accent. You gain a country accent by living out in the boondocks a long way from anything that can be considered 'urban.' I have a hard time understanding them sometimes and I have relatives in Zebulon, NC (I don't think you'll find it on a map). I am from Charlotte, a city of about 2.5 million in the metro area with sports teams, amusements parks, skyscrapers, Fortune 500 headquarters, clubs, the works. It ain't Miami, but it damn sure ain't rural. But regardless, when I am around other Southern people, we have no lapses in communication. However, when I speak to people from the Midwest, Northeast, or far West, I find sometimes I have to slow down because they can not understand me if I start talking fast. Similarly, I can spot an New York/New Jersey native in a heartbeat because of the distinction of their accent.

3. Food
There is no debate when you talk about Southern foods. No one prepares fried fish (croaker, whiting, catfish, the works), macaroni and cheese, collard greens, CORNBREAD, seemingly every part of a pig, and numerous other foods like the cooks in the South. To take it a step farther, when I go visit my country relatives, it is not uncommon to be at a pig-picking with the whole pig on the grill with an apple in its mouth. All evidence indicates that my eastern NC brothers and sister originated pulled pork and vinegar-based Bar-B-Q and ribs. Up north, for region-unique foods, they go to corner stores, deep dish pizza shops and such. When I go home and want some Charlotte original soul food, I enjoy the culinary mastery of The Chicken Box, Floyd's, Simmons, and Price's Chicken Coop. Nothing like that Southern cuisine. Go up north, you can't even find Waffle Houses.

4. Southern Hospitality
Self-explanatory. I go up north, people I don't know act like jerks or just completely ignore me. I expect it when I go so it doesn't make me mad anymore.

5. Southern trends
I went to high school in the hood, so I saw a lot of ghetto balling trends that were fully Southern in identity. I saw the wave of popularity with dreads, gold and silver fronts, big plain color tees accompanied by plain black and white Air Forces, gold jewelry, and other things that made our lunch break look like a Cash Money music video. Although I'm not proud of all these trends, they are Southern and distinctly different that the Northeastern trends of the time (I picked the Northeast for comparison because my people live up there and I know the region better than the Midwest of far West). At this time, Northeasterns were rocking skinny jeans and Philly shorts, Lot 29 gear with the cartoon characters, crazy colored urban gear and matching colorful shoes, and the Freeway(the rapper) style shaggy beards. As far as cars, if you had some money in the South you wanted a Caprice or Impala sitting on some big rims or spinners. As far as dancing, they were Krumping, Blanking, and popping on headstands. Southern, through and through.

and last but not least,
6. The "Oh Shit, I don't venture out there" rule
Luckily I am from a city, where people deal with one another in a modern and civilized manner. In North Carolina, just as in every Southern state, if you venture too far from the metropolitan areas, you may find yourself somewhere where the scenery and the attitude of the inhabitants is that of our society as it was in the 1960s or so. As a young black man, these are places I feel I may be at risk for a lynching. So I run into people who say "Oh, you're from NC, so am I. I'm from [insert small hick town in eastern NC]." For the moment, I embrace my fellow North Carolinean as if we bonded. But in the back of my mind I'm thinking "Oh shit, I don't venture out there."

Now, to get a little less logical about things, here are some of the ridiculous counterarguments I've had to suffer through:

"Nah, it's just not Southern like Tennessee or Kentucky"
Once again, this level of ignorance brings out my anger when I hear this. I know that word association with the name of these two states may give you a more Southern image than North Carolina. But look again at the map at the beginning of this blog. I'll wait....................................... Ok, now I'm from Charlotte, which is at very bottom of the middle of North Carolina (I certainly hope you know which states are which), NC shares a Northern border with Tennessee, which is UNDER Kentucky. Explain to me how in any way they are in the South and North Carolina is not. I know culturally, Tennessee and Kentucky may still hold onto some Confederate ideals more than NC, but geographically, there is no logic to this argument.

"I got relatives from Mississippi, you got an accent, but you don't sound like them"
I won't spend much time with this one, I've already discussed the difference between sounding Southern and sounding country. Read between the lines. People from Baltimore, DC, and Philly, and NY all have different accents despite them being in close proximity, so this argument also doesn't hold up.

AND THE ONE THAT MAKES ME AGRIEST,

"But, it's called North Carolina. It's gotta be Northern"
For the life of me, I can not understand how people can say this to me while maintaining a straight face. THIS IS SOME OF THE DUMBEST SHIT I'VE EVER HEARD. There's two Carolinas you ignorant bastard, it's called North Carolina because it's on top of South Carolina. My usual response is to use their logic against them and have them try to justify South Dakota being a Southern state because it starts with "South." Last time this happened and the guy truly attempted to justify calling South Dakota southern to keep his point intact, the only response I could muster was "Shut the fuck up, I don't wanna hear it."

So no need to drag this argument out too much longer. With the exception of my very intellectual cousin who made this argument because "Southern" and "Confederate" are synonymous to him (I admit we are not nearly as Confederate as someone from say, Jena, Louisiana), there is no logical geographical or cultural justification to back up any claims that Charlotte is not in the South. This is my verdict, if you still have some half-brained idea to the contrary, go read a book you simple bastard.

Overreacting, maybe. Judgmental, yes because I doubt people's intellect after they make claims like this with all convention and no reason behind their argument. But, I've been called worse...

Do Better: Ghetto Obama Tributes

This is the first of a series called "Do Better" dedicated to highlighting things that embody negative stereotypes about the Black community and we just need to rise above and conduct ourselves better than. Today's session is about Obama tributes. I was just excited as everyone else when Obama, our first Black (well half) President was elected. It was a tremendous symbol of progress and desire for change. However, since that time, I have seen many tributes, many by people who I honestly believe don't know his politics and may not have showed up to the polls to vote for him, that despite their creativity have a distinctly ghetto aura. Although I appreciate the admiration and support, he deserves better. Let's get to it...

Exhibit A, matching Michelle and Barack nail jobs. Although it is a display of talent and most likely a masterpiece for the Korean woman (racist, I know) in the nail salon that performed it, especially the curly pinky nail, this was probably immediately a Facebook profile picture and was the highlight of someone's week. I do not believe in an Obama tribute if you can not go to a respectable job and perform any meaningful tasks for fear of messing it up. Do Better...

Exhibit B, Obama Fried Chicken Franchise. In a NYC neighborhood where you would probably find restaurants such as Tony's NY Style Pizza or similar names, here stand a chicken spot named as if Barack himself is in the back manning Fryer 3 to make the best fried chicken in the area. This is probably a Black owned business and the owners probably worked hard to open this venue; they deserve their own names on their establishment and I doubt this act would touch Obama deep down in his soul if he saw it. White people already cling to the stereotype (unfortunately very true) that Black people go crazy for fried chicken. I do not condone them seeing any images putting the president and this stereotypical vision together. Do Better...

Exhibit C, a chest tattoo of Obama on a $100 bill. I cringe when I think about how much this guy probably paid for this tattoo. Once again, I commend him for his creativity and not going to the parlor and picking some over-used design from the cliche tattoo book ("Only God Can Judge Me", etc). However, this seemed like more of an attempt to have the most innovative tattoo around more than an actual act of homage to our new national leader. When he goes to the local smoke-filled club and takes his shirt off to the smooth lyrics of Gucci Mane and OJ Da Juiceman, it probably catches the attention of every loose woman in eyeshot boosting his ego. However, as the picture says, I doubt Obama would approve of this tattoo. Do Better...

Exhibit D, Obama Haircuts Complete with colored dye and all. Once again, this is a tremendous display of hair cutting talent and I have no problem admitting that. However, once again, I believe this was meant more as an opportunity to show up the other kids at school who thought they were special with the tapered fro-hawk and side scalp designs. It probably worked and thoroughly impressed the chick sitting behind them in science class. However, I need proof that they are familiar with the man's politics before I can give them credit for a display of admiration which will only last a few weeks. Until such proof has been brought forward, Do Better...

Exhibit E, Obama graffiti complete with four finger ring and Jordan jersey. Let me start by saying that I am a personal admirer of artistic graffiti and therefore completely admire the talent required for this mural. However, a four-finger ring?? Who is he Radio Raheem from Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing"? Does he roll with Big Daddy Kane or those guys from Morehouse who are trying to bring all the styles from the '80s back? I don't feel it's a good look for the president. And a Jordan jersey? I see the Chicago connection and admiration for both as huge figures to the area. However, no athlete, no matter how great should warrant THE PRESIDENT needing to wear their jersey. It would probably be more appropriate to show Jordan wearing an Obama t-shirt to display his admiration. So, despite the fact that I'd like to meet the artist and see more of his work, he might need to leave Obama out of it unless he gives a more thoughtful tribute. Do Better...Exhibit F, a snow bunny (racist, I know) wearing an "Obama for yo' Mama" t-shirt. I'm not sure exactly what to think about this shirt. I know white people enjoy simple t-shirts with witty phrases; the "Jesus is my homeboy" movement. And this may not have been intended with any disrespect toward the man. However, just as I believe Jesus does, I feel like Obama deserves a little more. Make a tribute into a tribute rather than a gimmicky (yet catchy) t-shirt gag. Do Better Blanquita...

STOP STARING AND THE BREASTS AND LOOK AT THE LEFT THIGH SO I CAN BEGIN THIS DISCUSSION. I am not giving this an exhibit letter because this was chosen for a different reason, I rather like this tribute and thought it was worth honoring for a few reasons. First, it is artistically painted on a beautiful naked Brazilian woman leading the parade at one of the best events in the world, Carnivale. DUHH!!! But beyond the obvious, seeing a display like this at the forefront of a huge international event, it displays the global respect for Obama and the acknowledgment of an opportunity to change US routines that have turned much of the world against us. It is a beautiful symbol of hope displays from another continent. Plus, I envy the artist.

All-in-all the exhibits display a tendency the Black community, which I love with all my heart and also hate with a passion simultaneously, to use an national highly covered issue, such as a Black President or the death of Michael Jackson, as an excuse to make tributes in ways that perpetuate stereotypes of us being ghetto or expending time and money on flashy, temporary attention catchers (I certainly hope I don't see Obama rims on cars). Although I don't believe the intentions to be detrimental in these exhibits, I think they need to step the game up just a little bit more to make it appropriate and something they can truly be proud of.
So, I commend the creativity and appreciate the admiration. But, Do Better...

The Inner Conspiracy Brother

I've come to find out that me and Dave Chappelle's "Conspiracy Brother" character from the movie Undercover Brother have quite a bit in common. I am fully aware that I live in a country that's government, law enforcement, and legal systems have plenty of dirt that they try to keep neatly tucked under the rug. I can speak all day about that so I'll just discuss a few of the biggest historically and a few others that happen to be fresh on the mind:

• I believe that the average American is naive, gullible, and easily influenced by what I believe is propaganda. And noone knows this more than the government. I think the government has many special secret sections within its ranks that perform unspeakable acts that they would never admit to. Furthermore, they have hundreds of spin-artists who find ways to twist the story to the American public when something happens in a way that it can not be hidden. I bring this up first because I think it is essential to understanding some of the issues that I will discuss as this blog goes on. Now, I do realize that the terrorism-filled, power-hungry, hateful landscape of the world today necessitates certain acts to protect our freedoms that the general public would not approve and therefore they are not made aware of. But, we'll just say, I believe that they are going overboard. I haven't trusted the FBI since the Bull Connor days, and soon enough you will hear some of my thoughts on the CIA.
  
• I believe that a large percentage of our police force and law enforcement arm in general (not a majority, but a large percentage) are heavily involved in either corruption or abuse of power associated with privileges given by their positions as the mythical "protectors and servers of the laws that make our country safe." I also believe that there is a top-down unwritten mindset that they must also uphold our country's class system by keeping the minorities and low-income in check. Disparities such as the punishment for crack cocaine(most used by minorities and poor people) being significantly worse than punishment for powder cocaine (most used by whites and rich people). Think about this: You would get more prison time for robbing a convenient store for $350 than a businessman would for extorting $10 million at his job. He may just get fired, he may not even see a cell. But I digress, I believe cops are permitted to make up falsities and harass whoever they please because they are entirely supported by other policemen, politicians, and the judicial and legislative systems. Even cops who do not participate in corrupt or improper acts do not snitch on other cops because of the alienation they would be subject to as a whistleblower.
• I believe that the institution of politics is evil. I believe that some politicians begin in politics because it runs in their families and some begin in politics because they actually see it as their venue to do something positive for their communities. However, I believe that as you move up the political ladder and inevitably need more money, your morals get complicated by alliance to campaign contributors and party allegiances. There is so much under-the-table bargaining, negotiating, and favor doing that I question the sincerity of almost any political actions. We've all seen presidents and vice presidents pushing through legislation that helps their old co-workers (Dick Cheney and Haliburton for example) and there's a lot more that we'll never see. I think that a lot of legislation and positioning is done to repay favors and put politicians in advantageous positions for other motives that they are trying to see realized. I believe that Obama has been less tarnished by this process than most politicians, but I know that to some extent he deals with these moral conflicts also. But he was clearly the lesser of two evils against McCain, which is why I love and support Obama in his conquest to fix complex and monumental issues that we should have addressed years ago (We'll save that blog for another day).
• The truth about terrorism is that if they wanna get us, they are going to get us. It's unfortunate and if you let it, it can be very scary to an American citizen. We have lifestyles that we conduct everyday and need to continue them without think about the constant threat of terrorist attack. There are enough people misusing religion as a tool to recruit others to commit suicide in a quest for martyrdom and honestly, America has done enough people wrong in the past that the numbers of people who may want to commit harm on our country are higher than I'd like to think about. There are people living in caves who spend all day (the same day you spend living your lifestyle) thinking of ways to catch America slipping. For example, imagine the number of Americans a terrorist could kill if someone went to a mall on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) strapped with C-4, the kill count would be tragic. The ways we have buckled down on security (at airports and post offices) prevent them from repeating attacks that they have already committed, which I don't think they would do anyway.
  P.S. There are misconceptions about terrorists I would like to clear up. Islam is not a religion of violence, in no way does it justify jihad(holy war) as an excuse to commit attacks on the western world and run back into caves. These are extremists misusing the context who have formed these terrorist groups feeding on the naivety of their followers because if you say something is a religious belief, no one questions it. Stop assuming all Muslims are in favor of committing violence in the name of religion. Even if they were, Christians have done it too, look up the Great Crusades in Europe.
• I won't go deep into my feelings about racism beyond saying that I believe it is still alive although less consciously than in past decades. Things have gotten better but we have a long way to go. Furthermore, I believe that when given the opportunity by a powerful and admired Black male figure doing any level of wrongdoing, the white powers in society still implement techniques from the "Willie Lynch Papers" which encouraged picking the biggest and strongest slave and castrating him in front of everyone to reassert control of the Black population. Examples include Marion Barry (who also may get a future blog about his miraculous resiliency) and Michael Vick; both did their share of wrong, but many white powerful men have done much worse and suffered no ramifications what so ever.

Now to address some of the more popular conspiracies:

• Yes, I believe we went to the moon. Do I believe we went when we said we did the first time Apollo 11 touched down on July 20, 1969? I'm not convinced. JFK said that we would make it to the moon by the end of the 1960s. So by 1969, we were in an intense "space race" with the USSR and we were running out of time to make good on the president's promise. So I do think it is possible that we staged the first one to beat the USSR there and honor the words of the late JFK. Now, we report that Apollos 12-17 (with the exception of 13 which had to abort mid-flight) also landed on the moon. I don't see any reason we would need to stage ALL of these. Furthermore, I do not think we would have our sights set on Mars now if we never made it to the moon successfully.
• I believe James Early Ray may have actually been the shooter that killed Martin Luther King, however, I do not think he acted alone. It was well known that Bull Connor used his CO-Intel Pro operation (and the FBI) as a personal strike force against King because he pledged that King was the greatest threat to American sovereignty of the time period. So even though Ray spent much of his life trying to recant his confession to MLK's murder, he made a fuss about government conspiracy and still lived a good while afterwards; One trait of government cover-up and conspiracy is that all loose ends get clipped to preserve the secrecy of the operation. This will be displayed more in a moment when i discuss JFK's murder.
• I believe this may be the crown jewel of conspiracy in a time-period full of it. I believe John F. Kennedy was killed by someone on the grassy knoll hired by the mafia. For those who don't know, Kennedy's good friend, Frank Sinatra convinced Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana to use his "influence"and connections to make sure that Kennedy won the state of Illinois, which was major towards him winning the election. I assume mob bosses would expect some type of gratitude showed after such a favor. Instead JFK makes his brother, Robert (also publicly assassinated), US Attorney General and Robert goes directly after organized crime in America. As if Giancana may not have felt betrayed enough, JFK (noted womanizer) also stole Giancana's main lady, Judith Campbell. So, Lee Harvey Oswald was accused and immediately killed by Jack Ruby, who was dying of cancer and did not make it to finalization of his sentencing. It is alleged that the actual shooter on the grassy knoll was killed and buried in the Las Vegas desert soon after the assassination. The last piece was Giancana, who would not have to be killed because he helped plan it. However, he was earlier recruited by the CIA to plan out an assassination of Fidel Castro during the years of missile tension between the US and Cuba. This made some think that the CIA or Cuba may have also been involved in the murder; although I'm not convinced they were, I do not believe the assassination and following murders would have all happened without other very powerful people giving it the go ahead. Giancana was quoted as saying that the CIA and the mafia are "different sides of the same coin." He was conveniently shot in the head and face right before he was scheduled to testify before the courts about CIA-mafia collusion and the plot to kill Castro. So, no matter the controversy, the ends get clipped and the government just keeps on rolling along.

That's all for now, I may think of more at a later date. I have admitted to being a conspiracy theorist, but hey, I've been called worse...

My Personal Condemnation of Fairweather Football Fans

I am a sports addict, no denial about it. Ladies, if this is something you could not accept, keep rolling, I'm not for you. What I can say that I am prouder of, is that I am a TRUE fan of "My Teams." For as long as I can remember I have supported the hometeams: Hornets and then Bobcats, Carolina Hurricanes, and the Carolina Panthers. As it is football season I'll leave the heartbreak of having to cut off the Hornets and jump to the Bobcats for another blog; we're gonna talk football. The only possible flaw in my fandom is that I have two teams. At a young age I began supporting a team that at this time embodied gritty, smashmouth football in a stadium full of scary, dressed up, rambuctious, possibly felonious fans: The Oakland Raiders. Upon moving to Charlotte in 1993, there was no professional team there, so my Raider fandom continued. In 1995 when the Carolina Panthers formed, all of a sudden I had a hometeam to support, which knocked my Raider fandom to number 2; however, I could not shake being a fan. This allowed me to look at two startlingly different views of what a professional sports fan should be:

1. The Oakland Raider Nation
Take a good look at the man on the left, he is "a true fan." For a time, the Raiders were the winningest team in NFL history percentage-wise. Even in the 1990s and early 2000s, they had an impressive streak of seasons with double-digit wins and they seemed to only lose in the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl Champion (2000 to the Ravens, 2001 to the Patriots on that "tuck rule" BULLSHIT, 2003 in the Super Bowl to the Bucs, etc.). It is easy to be a fan in these times where things are going well. But that's not when this picture was taken. This picture was taken in the last year or two. For those who don't know, the season after the Raiders went to the Super Bowl in 2003 their QB Rich Gannon, the reigning NFL MVP at the time, suffered a career-ending injury and many of the veterans on the team retired and the franchise has been among the worst in the league since that time. Therefore, looking back at this picture, you are looking at a grown man, possibly a VP in some big company with five kids at home, who is braving the Oakland heat dressed in Black and Silver padding and costume from head to toe to keep up the "Black Hole" mystique for a team that has not won more than 6 games in a season since 2002-03. In the wake of Al Davis (once a proud owner who has now lost his mind in his old age) making terrible decisions and sabotaging his own franchise personnel wise, this man remains A TRUE FAN. The Raider Nation is a 100,000+ fan fraternity of people like this man. Some part of their spirit lives in me; because despite their bad seasons and decision-making, I am still fully supportive and hopeful that they can turn things around. They pissed away a home win against the Chargers or they would be 2-0 as we speak. I still call myself a Raiders fan with pride when asked. Now let us examine the only team in the league I would root against the Raiders for...

2. The Carolina Panthers, the underappreciated hometown hero
I'll put this in bold letters because I mean it and I know that it will make many people, including some of me and my brother's close friends, very mad: PANTHERS FANS JUST DON'T KNOW HOW GOOD THEY HAVE IT. That's right, I said it. I could not find a picture online of the man I was looking for. There is a man, the closest thing we have to a Raider fan, who comes to the Panthers games in black and blue shoulder pads, customized jersey, blue face paint, and a blue troll wig to support his team. I have tremendous respect for this man and others of his breed. However, they seem to be few and far between in my hometown of Charlotte. The Panthers, one of the shortest tenured teams in the league, has already accomplished more than many teams in the league that have been around multiple times as long. Compare Super Bowl appearances, Conference Championship appearances/wins, Division Championships, and playoff wins over the same 13-year period to the Atlanta Falcons (with who I've lived among for 5 years and frequently argue with), Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets (all the way back to Broadway Joe), Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans, San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins, and Seattle Seahawks and you may be surprised to find that the Panthers have been more successful over this period. Hell, they've done more in this period than some teams of done in their 30-40+ years of existence. Therefore, when I find so many in my city bickering and badmouthing our quarterback and team in the midst of a 12-4 Division Championship season, I tend to lash out at my own fellow fan base. I could understand people arguing if they are putting forth solutions, but many Panthers fans are just barking out. "Get rid of Jake Delhomme, he stinks." AND THEN WHAT??? I know he's not Peyton Manning, I know he has stretches where he is a downright bad decision-maker and if we had a suitable back up or draft pick at the position, I could understand this thought process. It is time for us to draft his eventual successor. But the reality is, if you are not satisfied with a 12-win season and home playoff loss to a team that goes to the Super Bowl, I'd hate to see how you feel about a 5-win season because that's exactly where we are headed with Matt Moore playing full-time. Before you badmouth the man, look at his resume, how many Super Bowls/Conference Championship games has Philip Rivers been to/won? Drew Brees? Carson Palmer? Jay Cutler? Tony Romo? The numbers don't stack up to Delhomme. And don't act like it was all running and defense, I know that is our bread and butter, but on our Super Bowl playoff run, Delhomme was airing the ball out; the "Cardiac Cats" came back to win a lotta football games. To this point in our existence, we've never had to deal with that sub-par play for an extended period of time; there was a 1-15 campaign with Weinke at quarterback and a 4-12 campaign in the early years. In recent history, we have had years where seemingly the entire nucleus of the team got hurt and we still haven't gone less that 7-9, which is better than some teams with their complete nucleus intact. Everyone knows what the good years for the Cowboys, 49ers, and Patriots were like and they were glorious, but look up how bad things got in some of their bad years. Ask a Saints fan. You never know what you got til it's gone. It would be nice to have some Lombardi trophies to display, but just like the Eagles and the Donovan McNabb Era, you just may miss it when it's gone. So I say this to rally my Panthers fans: "QUIT BITCHING, TAKE YOUR ASS TO THE GAMES, SUPPORT YOUR TEAM, AND BE POSITIVE." Despite everything the damn Detroit Lions haven't had attendance problems(and Ford Field is huge in the area where the recession has hit the worst), we got no fucking excuses. And last but not least...

3. The Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech
I'll only spend a few lines on this. Tech is not a huge program with millions of boosters where we can pay a coach $3-4 million a year(which is what you have to pay to get a Nick Saban, Pete Carroll type). Furthermore, it's not a school where we can sacrifice academic standards to get whatever athletes we want to get in. But somehow even in our "bad years", we win at least 8 games many of which are over programs that have the aforementioned luxuries that we don't. So stop jumping ship and complaining about how much everyone on our team sucks every time we lose to anyone. Miami whipped us, but they're gonna whip a lotta people and we're not gonna play that bad every game. Plus, you live on campus and tickets are free, so SHUT THE FUCK UP, GO TO THE GAMES, BE POSITIVE, AND CHEER YOUR HEART OUT. Once again, we're not on the short list of elite programs, but there are schools with more football resources and talent than us that are doing a lot worse, so realize how good you have it while you do. When's the last time Tech went sub-.500? You'd have to go back a long way. Remember that.

If have haven't noticed, sports get me fired up. And I get short and judgmental to fairweather/bandwagon/fickle fans. Get over it, I've been called worse...

Stop Me When I Start Lying: The Muffin Top

This is the first of what will be a continuing section entitled "Stop Me When I Start Lying" in which I will cover some subject matter which is somewhat mean or rude but entirely true. Am I mean for creating a section of this nature, possibly, but I've been called worse...

The infamous "Muffin Top" stomach is a problem that seems to plague the young people of America recently. It has been formerly called the 'spare tire' or 'stomach meat' but I believe that the included picture proves that the term "muffin top" is the most accurate diagnosis of this condition. Muffins are notorious for the part right above the wrapping plumping out and overhanging a bit. If you put your hand palm side up against your belt buckle or front pants button and begin moving it upwards, you should not end up with a complete handful of stomach as in the included picture. I know what you may be thinking, I'm an athlete and I'm making fun of fat people. No, that's not entirely true. This condition is a combination of multiple factors: First, there is a significant amount of stomach meat on the front, side, or back of your midsection (see lower included picture), Second and possibly most importantly, your pants are so tight that this meat rises up and sits on the ledge that is formed by the rim at the top of your pants (which is within your realm of control; this extra 'surface' should be considered in evaluating how big your waist is and consequently how big your pants should be), and thirdly as in the picture, your shirt is not long enough or big enough to stop everyone within eyeshot of you from seeing this condition. Therefore, I would encourage you to work out via cardio or core work to avoid this. Even if that is not possible or you are big hereditarily, please dress yourself accordingly so that you are not subject to becoming a picture in someone's phone that gets posted to Google Images so that someone like myself will use it as an example on a blog of this nature. I realize that as we mature, we gain weight that we may never be able to lose again. This article is not aimed at older people, I aim this at people within about a decade of my age (I was born in '87) who gain this condition purely by not working out and still trying to wear sexy clothes from times when they were significantly smaller. I say this because no matter what people say, appearance is automatically a first impression and I honestly believe that we as a people can do better. I'm not permitted to walk up and tell people in public but I see and think about this often enough that I think it must be highlighted. No matter what you say, you have seen it too and wondered why they left the house with 2 inches of completely soft and untoned stomach showing.

Stop Me When I Start Lying........

That's right, I picked Blogspot over Twitter

Sorry Twitter-aholics,
I feel this is most appropriate to address now because I just opened this blog. I needed a new venue to express my random thoughts. And I chose Blogspot over Twitter, astounding I know. I've been fielding criticism for not being on Twitter long before I thought of starting a blog. I understand it's a hot fad right now and people are loving it. But to me, NOONE IS IMPORTANT ENOUGH FOR ME TO FOLLOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING AT EVERY AVAILABLE MOMENT OF THE DAY!!! If I offend you with that comment, you will get over it, I guarantee. A special lady friend of mine follows the comedian Lil' Duvall on Twitter and seems to get a good laugh out of it every time; this is the most justified use of Twitter I have heard of because it makes sense. But for all these people following actors or athletes, I feel it's a waste of time to look on Twitter and expend effort to read that Ashton Kucher is "Eating lunch. I love sushi." I DON'T CARE. I'm a sports addict and I can't think of an athlete I care that much about. And furthermore, my days consist of class, practice and weights, work, and whatever sociality is mixed in beyond that; therefore, for most of the day, I'm not updating my status and if I did it wouldn't be very interesting. LOL. As you can see by my posts, I think too deeply and am too long winded for Twitter when I would want to post on something I feel. Would you feel like you learned anything about me if instead of this blog I simply said "Blogspot over Twitter...Get over it."? If Twitter works for you, go for it, but it's just not my cup of tea.

I know I'm rebuffing the new fad. You may think I'm a hater. But, I've been called worse...

US Car Companies, Why are you trying to fool me?

I didn't get back home from the weight room until just a few hours ago, and already I have been bombarded with these commercials advertising the US auto makers' new strategy to beating out foreign auto makers; a 60-day trade in warranty!? I can't exactly blame them, this is the type of strategy that the US consumer base just may fall for. But those who look at things deeply and logically like myself, realize that this only masks the bigger problem. The only difference between a 60-day grace period and test drive is that you'll have the car long enough to get a preview of the gas mileage. Although gas mileage has been one of the disadvantages of American cars, the bigger problem has been that they just don't hold up as well as Hondas or Toyotas. When I was shopping for a new car after mine was stolen earlier this year, I looked into consumer reviews of many cars, many of which were American, and they consistently had problems with breaks, the electrical system, or other issues that require an owner to dump money into a car to keep it rolling; I'm no mechanic, but I don't think these issues surface in the first 60 days. I don't want to sound cynical, I am rooting for the American auto industry because I think its demise has been a big factor in the unemployment and crime in Detroit, Flint and the midwest. Also, I would definitely like the gratification of stimulating our economy by buying an American car and leaving the lot feeling that it is just as good as any other car on the road. So in the midst of this massive restructuring and focusing on quality, I will be taking a good look at their hybrids and other cars hoping that this economic crisis has truly forced them to make cars that stand up to the foreign car-makers. If this happens, I'll be happy to give them an equal opportunity next time I am car-shopping. But for now, gimmicks like this 60-day warranty to return the car to the dealer seem to almost insult my intelligence. Then again, millions of idiotic Americans believed that Obama is acting like Hitler simply because they heard it said a handful of times; those people may definitely fall for this promotion.

What? The idiot American comment was in bad taste? You think I'm judgmental? That is fine. I've been called worse...

The Skip Gates Debacle

Odd first topic, I know. But I want to discuss this issue and because it is somewhat time sensitive material and I must hit it before it completely drops out of the public consciousness. So, everyone knows what happened and my initial reaction, before hearing all of the details of the situation, was "Damn, all the money, status, and intelligence in the world can't get you past racism at your very own doorstep." It seemed like just another incident of the police's well-documented tendency to abuse their power for no other reason that to reaffirm to the Black community that they can still do whatever the hell the wanna do to us as long as they have the badge on. I guess incidents from the videotaped beating of Rodney King all the way to the videotaped shooting of Oscar Grant were not strong enough messages; they were "nobodies." Why not go straight to the top and arrest Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, who is on the short list for most intelligent and influential Black men on the planet at his very own doorstep for being frustrated that his door wasn't opening smoothly. As u've probably guess, I've been harassed by the police and put nothing past them at this point. But upon further review, there was some wrong done on both sides. Therefore, rather than unnecessarily flexing their ridiculous power for no reason, they unnecessarily flexed their power because Skip Gates made some pretty stern smart-ass comments to the cop. So to truly get to the bottom of things, I decided to formulate questions that I would have asked it I was also invited to come to the White House to have a few beers and discuss the situation:

Question #1: How do you arrest someone for disorderly conduct in their own home?
After further review, the 911 caller did not make any assumptions or say anything controversial on the 911 call, she was legitimately concerned because she saw shoulder used to open a door and wasn't sure if there was a key involved. In some kushy Cambridge neighborhood, i fully understand how the cops may be called for this. However, once the police arrive and make it into the man's house and see his pictures on the way, they should have turned around and left. I'm not sure when Gates's smart ass mouth and angering comments started in the incident, but it's still abuse of power to arrest him for being a jerk. To my understanding, disorderly conduct requires one of the following: a public threat to members of the general population, a threat to the police themselves, or some type of extraordinary disruption in public. Being that an almost 60 year old, 5'7" Black man who walks with a cane is not a threat, and this entire incident happened on his property, these conditions have not been met no matter whether he makes a "your mamma comment or not." I could understand if this was some 6'5", 260 lb professional athlete; if he gets mad and loud, a policeman may legitimately feel threatened. I call this an abuse of power because if I, a civilian, am out and about and some guy who I do not know comes up to me and is making comments about my mother or some other offensive jabs at me, I will get mad or frustrated, but my best course of action is to let it go and go about my business. If I hit him, the fact that he was a jerk will not protect me from assault charges. Therefore, I do not think that him acting like a jerk warrants being arrested on your own property, the policeman's best course of action once he learned that it was Gates's house was to leave.

Question #2: How does Skip Gates, a racial relations professor at Harvard, not know how to deal with the police?

I could not have been more than about 12 when my father first had a conversation with me about what can happen when a Black man does not know how to act around the police. I was not nearly at the age to drive yet when I was told, with a straight face, that you stay calm and don't make any sudden movements around police or you could very easily get beaten, tased, or shot. FIVE YEARS BEFORE I GOT MY LICENSE. So I'm very sure that Gates, who was born in 1950 and lived through more racially tense times than I have, has discussed these things with students in his classrooms. He is very aware that the national image, largely among financially well-off non-minorities (the people who run the world), is that the police should not be punished for their actions in the quest to keep the citizens safe from harm. They have not been brought to justice for their actions because they still make the aforementioned people "feel safe." Personally, as a 6'2" athletic Black male, I feel a lot safer in a room full of guys who look like me with misdemeanors and minor felonies to their names than I do in a room full of policemen. Unless he thinks the fact that he has become wealthy and successful has changed policemen's perception of him, Gates knows this better than I do. So although I do not believe he should have gotten arrested, his actions in yelling and throwing out "Yo Mamma" insults at policemen is completely unacceptable and if he were not at his own home, I think he may have gotten tased or beaten; I know I would have if it was me.

Question 3: Why should President Obama, who despite being mixed has undoubtedly dealt with racism, have to apologize for calling the policeman's actions "stupid"?

I guess I understand that in his position at the forefront of the civilized world, Obama has to be overly diplomatic about anything he says. But there are certain moments where I feel his true emotions have surfaced and I appreciate the legitimacy of his worlds in those situations. When he called Kanye West a jackass for his actions at the VMAs, there was no speech writer involved, that was 100% what Barack thought of the situation. Similarly, when he heard about the Skip Gates arrest at his own home, he probably did what I did. That is, thinking "what in the world do I think a person has to do to justifiably get arrested at his own home?" And because he couldn't imagine Gates doing those things, he probably assumed it was an abuse of power and there's no way on earth that the charges will stick, making it a "stupid" arrest. There was probably some nostalgia about bad experiences with police and not fully knowing how stupidly Gates also acted that contributed. But I still feel like the apology was more out of obligation than legitimately rescinding what he felt about the situation.

Question #4: What planet does Larry Elder live on where he believes that Black men making it to positions of power constitutes racism being over?

I saw a video on worldstarhiphop.com where Larry King hosted Michael Eric Dyson (one of my favorite Black intellectuals with Cornell West), Judge Joe Brown (whose overall demeanor I admire), Ben Stein (I drew a blank too), and Larry Elder (who I had heard of but did not truly know much about beyond being an intellectual) to talk about the issue. By the end of the segment I was honestly outraged by some of Elder's perspectives on this issue. He insinuated that because the US has a Black President, Massachusetts has a Black governor, and Cambridge has a Black mayor (admittedly impressive) that racism is no longer a factor in the interaction between Black people and policemen. Furthermore, it is reported that Gates had just returned from a long trip from China and had to deal with problems and changes on a cane getting back home from his long trip, and all of a sudden his door is stuck even with his key being used. In Elder's eyes, his frustration is completely unwarranted but the policeman has every right to arrest someone for annoying him when he's had a long day doing his job. This ain't New York PD, Los Angeles PD, New Orleans PD, this ain't even Boston's department, this is Cambridge, home of Harvard; although workdays are long for everyone, I would imagine that the everyday requirements of a Cambridge policeman are much more relaxed and less strenuous than those of a policeman from one of the aforementioned police departments, so that doesn't fly with me. And last, to add to the outrageous nature of his statements, he listens to Joe Brown (a judge) tell him how technically, Gates had no legal obligation to either let them into his house or present identification according to the law, then listens to Dyson speak about different bad experiences he has had with the police making him conscious of how they abuse their power interacting with Black men, he even listened to Larry King and Ben Stein (two of the whitest people in America) say how wrong they the police acted, and stated that he's repeatedly been stopped and questioned by the police when he has done nothing wrong but says that these incidents had nothing to do with race but were instead just coincidental events of the police randomly questioning people to preserve safety for the general public. I was flabbergasted. I showed it to my older brother, he couldn't even watch all of it.

Needless to say, I think I may have changed the tone of the conversation if I asked these questions to each individual during their beer-drinking group therapy session at the White House. Even trying to be diplomatic and account for Gates being an asshole to the cops, the actions of the policemen combined with my prior negative perception of some policemen (not nearly all, but higher percentage than I'm comfortable with) still leads me to believe that they acted "stupidly" and it shouldn't have happened.

Some would call me paranoid, but I've been called worse...