Apocalypse Not

Apocalypse Now quickly became Apocalypse Not when 12/21/12 came and went without even an iota of the catastrophic fervor previously promised. I even gave it another day before I wrote this blog entry to allow for a little error. I mean, this was a theory millennia in the making, 24 hours of error could easily been forgiven. But here we are on the 23rd and there are no indications that any of the CGI effects from the movie "2012" will stop me from seeing the start of 2013. I almost didn't buy Christmas gifts because I didn't think the 25th would come. Guess it was prudent on my part resist the urge to blow all my life savings heading to Amsterdam and hoping I could blow it all on women, drinks, and weed brownies before the Armaggedon got me; it would've been a bummer to wake up the next morning had I went through with that plan. As nice as it would be to know the exact date that the world was going to end and plan for it, I'm not entirely sure I could ever truly trust any prognostication of that magnitude. As brilliant as the Mayans, Nostradamus, and so many others were none of the several dates tabbed as the end by different theories have been correct thus far. I know life is short, but I don't need it any shorter. I guess the moral of the story is live life to the fullest but not by someone else's timeline...

Election Night for an Overjoyed Panthers Fan

Election Night 2012 was a victory for me, but not necessarily how you'd think. Although there's always trepidation when an incumbent (particularly one in polarizing and difficult economic times) is facing possible replacement, but a year ago I thought to myself "None of these clowns deserve the White House over Obama"; I'll get into the reasons why in a minute. So subconsciously I expected him to win. I can say that now but I was significantly less secure in that the last few months, especially when facing a candidate versed in saying whatever is necessary (and I mean whatever) to sway the crowd he's in front of. What had an effect on me that I didn't expect to is "The Redskins Rule." The rule is if the Redskins win their last home game before Election Day, the incumbent wins. If the Redskins lose, the challenger beats the incumbent. Since 1940, this had been correct all but one time. The Redskins lost their last home game on Sunday...to my hometown Carolina Panthers. I'm not even overly superstitious, but how would I feel if I spent Sunday cheering Cam Newton and the Panthers on to a victory that would put Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in charge of our country? I may have been borderline suicidal. The picture above of Cam standing beside the President would have been burned like LeBron's Cavs jersey when he leave for South Beach. I like RGIII, I only cheered against him because he was playing MY team. Luckily, I don't have that dilemma today. Since many of my readers don't know me personally, let me clarify some things about my political views. I hate politics, I despise politicians in general. I think most of them were born into power and money and become politicians more to feed their egos and have their hands in those powerful decisions at the top more than to truly help those constituents at the bottom. Even those like Obama who are born from more meager beginnings and started out of a genuine desire to help people and communities can transform as they rise through levels of power and have to deal with inevitable political aspects like fund-raising and playing party lines. Presidential elections are often about selecting the lesser of two evils because politicians are somewhat required to be at least part snake charmer or double talker. But even in this political climate with my cynicism for politics, I see Obama as more morally down to Earth than most politicians and Romney as less genuine/honorable than most, which fueled my bias in this debate. How in the world do you go from Liberal as governor 10 yrs ago, to moderate as a candidate 4 yrs ago, to all out conservative now? Sounds like u're trying to roll with what will get you elected. Obama is a politician and he's far from perfect, he's made plenty of mistakes in his first term. He spent too much money trying to address issues that help the "little people" who aren't typically seen as important enough to dominate the platforms of many politicians; as you can see, they are not the ones who control the media, so rich political analyst demonize him all day instead. First time home buyer programs help ppl (including my brother). Increasing pell grants and scholarships helps ppl get better lives. Medical bills are one of the biggest causes of bankrupcy, Obamacare will help little people. The combination of Social Security and Medicare keeps many elderly peoples afloat. Also, living overseas as I did (in Muslim Southeast Asia for 1.5 years), I've seen what his election and policy have done for the international perception of America abroad. Despite all the "the US is the laughingstock of the world now." The world's perception has gone from "I hate the US, fucking violent imperialists" to "I hated Bush and Cheney, but the US is ok" with the exception of certain nit-picky and pessimistic European countries (hello, UK). He has to do something about the debt (which he's been trying for two years but can't get the GOP or rich ppl to help him out), but I remember when the country seemed to be falling into the ocean 4 yrs ago; Recovery has been slow but undeniable if you put ur partisanship aside and simply look at the results. Now, I could see why someone like Romney doesn't see things the way I do. His dad was a auto big shot and governor, his dad could write a check for his tuition to Yale. He made a fortune thought private equity (he's the real life Gordon Gekko trimming down, liquefying  outsourcing, reorganizing, etc). Since a child, he has had the best healthcare money could buy. He went to the best private schools and probably doesn't know where the public schools are even located. He makes $20 mil a year and hides enough to avoid paying average taxes, he doesn't need anyone's help on anything. He's a man of balance sheets and instant results who "enjoys firing people" who don't deliver instantly and think 47% of Americans can't take responsibility for anything. His budget...well, his budget is hardly defined but coincides with Paul's Ryan's scary budget. How can I expect him to understand how detrimental his cuts to public education, Medicare & Social Security, college assistance, planned parenthood programs, and more would do to those who didn't come from the background he came from? When I see a bill saying women should only make 77% of what men do to work the same job, I see some outdated backwards hypocrisy; he sees an opportunity to save 23% on their salaries, which aids company profit. I have no doubt that if he became president, he would do things that would help the country's "balance sheet" (reduced gov't spending, decreasing deficit) but just as with big corporations, it almost always happens at the expense of the little people. Who gets fired first, despite the fact that they didn't make the bad decisions that led to reduced profit? Whose benefits get cut first when those at the top decide it's too costly? He'll find a way to keep the tax cuts on the rich though, so he can keep paying a third what I do on my taxes. He'll keep powering our military industrial complex too. The little ppl are consistently deemed expendable and unimportant by many corporate tycoons; which is why corporate tycoons are the only ppl I distrust more than politicians. That's the world Romney came from and he was probably a great businessman which I can't take away. But I don't elect businessmen, I have a vote for president. And let's not even talk about how he pissed off allies and others alike at every stop on his world foreign policy tour. How do you put ur foot in your mouth in every country when it's not even a confrontational visit? The entire point of your trip is to prove you can handle it, you should be on your best behavior. So, even through mistakes, adversity, crisis and everything else, I believe Obama has something a President needs, which many politicians lack, and which is a sin in corporate power circles -- a moral compass. That's why I'm riding with him, flaws, missteps and all. So before anyone starts chattering about how I'm just another young Black male voting for Obama because he's Black, shut the fuck up and read this before you try to insult my intelligence. Your disrespect will not be tolerated. I know "I've Been Called Worse" is the title of my blog but what thing I don't tolerate being called is ignorant...

I Got A Worse Feeling: Part 2, Mother Nature

I don’t scare easily, but when fish start turning up dead on the banks of rivers (pictured) and birds start randomly falling out of the sky, something is going on in our environment. It happened in several places too, not just one. Maybe even nature’s way of sending us some kind of warning. Then natural disasters hit Indonesia (volcano, earthquake), Australia (floods), New Zealand (earthquake), and most recently and dramatically Japan (massive earthquake and tsunami). I had never given the 2012 apocalypse theories much thought. But in light of these events, it’s crossed my mind and has gotten my attention more than ever before. I give Japan a lot of credit for the class with which the general population has kept their composure and held chaos at bay; we remember how anarchic New Orleans turned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (special “fuck you” to the New Orleans Police Department for their part in that debacle). The Japanese people have seemed to help one another even in the anxious wait for aid and supplies which did not come instantly. Talking to the Japanese architect (he prefers the term ‘concept designer’) of the project I’m working on, it sounds like the insurance companies don’t really cover natural disasters, which is preposterous and will cause more problems going forward than the wrath of Mother Nature which took almost 20,000 lives. Where are all these people supposed to go? How are they supposed to restart their lives when they will get no insurance money on houses, cars, and other valuables that were taken away by the earthquake or tsunami? How will those who manage to come out okay even bury the dead or rebuild their neighborhoods? Finding this out truly upset me on a few levels because it defeats the points of having insurance. But beyond all of is another way that this natural disaster can snowball into a man made catastrophe: the destabilization of the Fukishima nuclear power plant. Japan, the only country in history who has truly known the effects of large-scale nuclear devastation before, now must figure out how to keep this plant’s core cool and stable in the aftermath of a disaster that knocked out most of its resources and utilities. Furthermore, there is a leak enabling radioactive material into the ocean, which at least one attempt to seal has already failed to seal. The only comparison most of us know to make is the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl in the 80’s, which has become known as the worst nightmare for any nuclear plant. I truly hope that that can be avoided and no more devastation will befall the strong and classy population of Japan. Not to mention, the world in general. It’s not a very comfortable time from where I’m sitting.