Do Better: Your Debt to the King

I know the title is confusing, keep reading; it will make sense. Yesterday, January 21, 2013 was Obama's second Inauguration Day. I won't besmirch the historical significance of this as this could possibly be the last time we see a Black president inaugurated; I hope not, I hope the Presidency becomes more diverse going forward (race, gender, etc), but it could also be the last. However, even bigger than that is the fact that it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I somewhat pity all the Obama-MLK comparisons because despite his amazing achievement, the constraints of partisan politics (increasingly so due to bitterness towards Obama) limit his the pace and effectiveness of truly making his desired mark; even as President, King's shoes may be too big to fill. I honestly believe a lot of people still undervalue just how different our society would be without the Civil Rights Movement, which MLK was the face of; no disrespect to Abernathy and all those behind the scenes and even Malcolm X who had a different approach. My entire point whenever I mention this name is not to preach about what he did in his life time, it's about what's he's doing for us today. Those involved in the Movement - particularly King's nonviolent demonstrations - were willing to face arrests, physical harm, and even murder with no reciprocation to attain the opportunities that too many (be reminded, he wasn't just fighting for Black ppl, he fought for all equality) take for granted today. Even if you're slack and can't muster any initiative or motivation out of yourself or even your close support group, there's no way you should be able to look at this man and not feel some responsibility to do better for yourself. Just a generation or two ago, your ancestors didn't have the chances you have now; the institutionalized racism/sexism/other bigotry that's still present is NOTHING compared to the Jim Crow era and its immediate aftermath. You have no excuse, get that molasses out of your ass and make something of yourself. So no, I wasn't telling Obama or MLK to do better, I'm talking to everyone out there who's making excuses to themselves (too hard, takes too long, not fun, etc) not to do something with yourselves. You don't owe it to me, you don't even owe it to yourself, but you owe the ghost of the King and the rest of your ancestors who fought and died so the American Dream could be yours too. Do Better...

Veteran's Day...and the unfortunate military genius

Happy Veteran's Day. Although I don't agree with many of the military decision making of our country over my lifetime (and before), I do truly appreciate those who put themselves in harm's way to serve our country. Also (opinions aside) I see the human sacrifice that has been made in defending our country from foreign dangers and can not think our heroes. I was raised by a father who retired as Lieutenant Colonel after 20 years in the Air Force. I also have grandfathers, uncles and other members of my family who have served in the Armed Forces. Although those in my family weren't primarily soldiers with war stories, it was enough to give me a sense of appreciation for what they do. I salute you all. Now, on a less happy note, I do feel its unfortunate that one of the most brilliant minds of recent military history had to resign his prestigious an well earned position just before Veteran's Day. General David Petraeus not only saved the War in Iraq (or at least that's the general consensus I've read), he wrote the book (literally, it's now the manual) on counterinsurgency. He figured out the social aspect of fighting a more complex and tricky enemy when most military minds were still only thinking on terms of battlefield "X"s and "O"s with no regard for the population in place. I haven't dug for all the details of his affair but this news disappointed me as I considered Obama's move to appoint Petraeus as CIA Director and moving the former CIA Director into position as Secretary of Defense was genius because our defense will have to be so intelligence based due to the different dynamic we face with terrorist groups as our main enemies rather than other formal armies. It's a good idea to make intelligence and special operations the focus and it has reaped benefits(Burn in hell, Bin Laden). However, I understand how having any "blackmail" material makes the leader of our biggest intelligence agency vulnerable in addition to a bad example to set; this isn't D-Wade leaving an unstable marriage for Gabrielle Union after all. So while I see him stepping down as admirable and possibly even the right thing to do, I just hope that a proper contingency plan is in place. I've widely heard him considered the our brightest, most influential military mind since Eisenhower. It's a shame to see him go out like this on the eve of Veteran's Day.

Stop Me When I Start Lying: The Illusion of Cristoforo Colombo

I had to work the holiday to celebrate the arrival of Cristoforo Colombo (later made Spanish into Cristobal Colon and then further Westernized into Christopher Columbus) in the 'New World' some 520 years ago. It would've been nice to have an additional day in Atlanta, where I spent my weekend and hell, everybody likes an extra day off. But the truth of the matter is Columbus (like many people in history) gets more credit than he deserves. Did it take balls to leave your home country and ask rival countries to get support to finance his insatiable thirst of exploration? Of course. It took even bigger balls to go out and do it. Kudos to him for that. BUT, his credit stops there for several reasons: 1) He was not the first person from another continent to land there, Chinese explorers, African explorers, and possibly others beat him to North and South America; which was also inhabited by Natives anyway. It's nice how history tends to take your side when your sponsors have more map makers and book writers than the competition 2) Dude missed his target (India) by 8000 miles and somehow couldn't figure that out. I know navigation wasn't what it is today but that was a significantly shorter trip. If I didn't use GPS or maps but planned on driving to California and got there in 12 hours, I'd know I was somewhere other than my destination. Wanna know why it's called America and not "Columbus Land"?? Because Amerigo Vespucci could figure out that he was in The New World instead of India and Columbus was running around calling Native Americans "Indians." Plus we all know the gruesome process of colonization that Columbus essentially pioneered in this part of the world; there came to be a practical 10 step manual --1) Befriend Natives on arrival, 2) Exploit Natives for all useful knowledge (farming, hunting, climate, geography, resources, etc), 3) Kill strongest members of Native culture, 4) Kill children who seem to have capability of growing into future threats, 5) Enslave remaining women and children, 6) Rape Native women therefore passing Euro-based STDs globally, 7) Burn and pillage Native villages, 8) Denounce Native traditions and religions, 9) Oppress Native people with white superiority logic, 10) Take credit for all knowledge gained (which will make it into future History textbooks) and call Native people "Savages." Although Columbus wasn't as heavily involved in all 10 of these steps as other Conquistadors (Hello, Henan Cortez), his hands were dirty enough to be disliked for his involvement. But hey, the spoils go to the victors when it comes to tell the stories of history. So I'd take Columbus Day as another excuse to miss work if I got the option, but I'm not sucking him off like everyone else. Stop Me When I Start Lying...

Read up if you don't know:
http://rense.com/general43/before.htm

http://wn.com/1421_the_year_china_discovered_america?_%7B1_of_8%7D