Word of the Day: Sovereignty

sovereignty:
1. Supremacy of authority or rule as exercised by a sovereign or sovereign state.
2. Royal rank, authority, or power.
3. Complete independence and self-government.
4. A territory existing as an independent state.

I'm just throwing this clip up here because I love it. I was in the audience when this happened, it was at the UNITY: Journalist of Color convention in 2004. Bush came to speak and take questions from a panel that represented each organization at the conference, so one African American journalist, one Hispanic journalist, one Asian American and one pesky Native American who wanted to talk about their tribal issues. It was such an uncomfortable moment, actually the whole speech was uncomfortable- he never really got a true round of applause. But if you listen closely you can hear us laughing in the background. Is it rude to laugh at the president?

It's really important to point out that Dubya doesn't know what sovereignty is, because now you'll understand why the US is in Iraq and won't leave. How can a man respect a state's sovereignty or give it to them if he doesn't know what it is?? Get off his back!

Meet me offline to cut [me up into little pieces, that is]

So, I've been thinking long and hard about what's REALLY on my mind. Then it came to me, after I asked a buddy what I should blog about and he sent me a link to this video from the "Daily Show." My Space, Friendster and all of these social networking sites where teenage girls go and act older only to be raped or murdered by sexual predators. Now, that's how the local and national media outlets would describe these sites. It's the story of the day, "What are your kids doing on the internet?" "Are sexual predators coming through your modem?!"

I know there are some My Space fans on here, so speak up. Have you ever been molestered by an online "friend"? Do you lie in your profile? Do you feel that you've shared too much about yourself? And Friendster fans, I've been there. I must say, I can't get into it, but I have a few friends-of course I know them all in real life. I mean, these places are for grown folks like us.. so you don't have to explain anything really.

I think these sites are getting a bad rep for the silly youngsters who talk to anyone, send pics to the entire world and fear nothing. It's going to take PSAs starring their peers who've gotten their freak on with an online buddy and wasn't happy with the results, to make them wise up. First of all, what type of sexual predator who has to meet chicks online would be someone you'd WANT to have sex with? I can just see these losers now. They actually use screen names like Nick Lachey and shit to get these kids hooked, which is just shameful.

On the radio this morning the DJs were talking about an elementary school that's in trouble because children were caught performing "sexual acts" on the playground and parents didn't feel that they were notified. Then all these parents called in saying that little girls are too aggressive sexually and they call little boys too soon, blah blah. (I guess it was a little girl doing the sexual favor for a boy at school.) Is it just me, or are these parents just catching up on something that has been going on for decades? I saw sexual acts go down in preschool and by middle school people were really having sex. Babies by high school. I think I've lost my point.. oh yes, these online social sites. They are not the problem. The kids lying to be members, developing nasty screen names and sending messages to strangers are the problems. They probably initiate convos with sexual predators, not to say that it doesn't go both ways..

As far as children humping around on the playground and whatnot, um, that's not news. And I was shocked at how many callers wanted to blame music videos and movies that kids watch while unattended.. instead of blaming themselves. No one said, my daughter may have overheard me talking sex with my girlfriends. I've seen many of children sit around or run through the house while grown ups talk sex and do other "adult" things, like drink. No one said, maybe my daughter wants to chase boys because I buy her sexy clothes and she doesn't know what to do when she feels "sexy." No one said, these girls were probably introduced to sex by a sexual predator that their parents welcomed into their home with open arms- which many times, is the case. By the time teens are logging into Web sites and talking nasty, they've already been turned out. You can only learn so much about sex from music videos.

The problem is this: Kids are stupid, that's just how the aging process works. But unfortunately, they don't feel stupid or vulnerable. They feel invincible and smarter than adults. So, I don't see any way to protect them. I give up, until I have my own.

Anyway, check out this video- it's funny.

New Orleans Poll

New Orleans is gearing up for Mardi Gras and even BRITNEY SPEARS is coming !!!! Luckily, there will be other opportunities to visit.

Re-New Orleans! Will you help?
Hell to the Naw! That place is dangerous.
Hell to the Yes! It's my civic duty to support the city.
Drunk Shrug: If they still serve those hurricane drinks, I might go.
Current results

So few days, so many holidays

Has Black History Month losts its flare or is the politically correct phase just over and done? I mean, if even only to be PC it used to get mentions. Peep the intro to this partner newsletter that I just received.

"Isn’t it amazing how many things get packed into the shortest month of the year? Between the celebrations of Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Mardi Gras and The Great Backyard Bird Count, it’s hard to believe we get anything done at all. "

Really, the Great Backyard Bird Count got a shout out?

I didn't know what that was, so in case you're as clueless as me...I looked it up. The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all levels in counting birds and reporting their results to create a mid-winter snapshot of the numbers, kinds, and distribution of birds across the continent.

Who really celebrates President's Day? I had to work, but we were allowed to wear jeans.

RSH

Which "Sex and the City" chick are you?

This is a lie. I just had this convo a week ago and picked which one I am. It wasn't Samantha, but it's a fun quiz.. Sorry guys, you'll just have to pretend or not take the quiz.

http://ynr.blogthings.com/whichsexandthecityvixenareyouquiz/

Who you calling girl?

Look, I don't care much for Condi Rice for various well-researched reasons. I would probably never support her in almost anything, but there's this quote from Venezuelan bad guy, President Hugo Chavez. He was talking about Condi's recent comments about Venezuela. She said Venezuela was one of the biggest problems in the Western Hemisphere and that she wants the State Department to expose the anti-democratic behavior in Venezuela. In a weekly radio broadcast Hugu warned, "Don't mess with me Condoleeza. Don't mess with me girl." Now, I think that the warning is fair. It's right up there with "smoking out" terrorist, everyone can't disagree with the panache of Barack Obama. And, I'm not even gonna start talking about the fact that the US only seems concerned with the democratic behavior of countries with oil...

My problem is a professional woman being called a girl in public by a man. I don't give a shit what race you are- this has nothing to do with that. Of course, my reaction to being called a girl may be influenced by cultural sensitivities, I'll give u that. But, those are fighting words. Condi should pull the Cedric the Entertainer move from the end of Barbershop 2, like "Wuuuhat you gonna do about it?" I guess I'm writing this because it's monumental for me to feel something for Condi. In this situation, I sympathize with an accomplished woman being called a girl by a big mean man like Hugo. You know what he means. It's up there with bitch in that context, if you ask me, which you didn't but since you've logged on, it's kinda the same thing as asking.

She still needs to get her hair done. And she better not mess with me! haha. I remember one time on Good Morning America, Charlie Gibson called Robin [the ESPN lady who works there] girl. Something like, "Where's your coat, girl?" And Robin responded quickly and ended it with "boy." It was very unnatural and uncomfortable. Here's how "girl" works: Women say it to each other in a sister-friend way. Regardless of race, you can call another woman, "girl" as long as you two are cool. It's not usually a man to woman thing, unless it's a joke. And then it's all about familiarity. Same goes for women, if another woman calls me "girl" and we're not friends, she's basically trying to say "We're cool. I like you" many times this is bullshit and phony. We're strangers. But, in some instances, it can be acceptable. Ex: Dressing rooms. "Girl, that looks good on you."
I know you didn't ask, but since you logged on...

the return of the slam dunk

So I watched the All Star Slam Dunk contest this weekend and the one thing I can agree with is that the Slam Dunk is back.


There was so much creativity, and although Iguodala was completely robbed by the judges, the competition was really tight. I think Kenny was the judge who changed his number at the end. The whole time I was like, "why do the judges need to do so much damn talking before they raise their cards?" It's like they had to do the math first, which I think is unfair. But if you didn't catch it, Iguodala of Philadelphia had two 50-point dunks, and lost to Nate Robinson (5'9") of the New York Knicks. It was the first time they'd ever had a tie breaker in the Slam Dunk competition. [NBA.com has pics and a video ]
Now, Nate got one 50-point score for getting a bounce pass from 1986 Slam Dunk Champ Spud Webb (5'7") then jumping over him and dunking. It was nothing short of awesome, in fact this dude's hops are just crazy. BUT the dunk before that he took what? 20 attempts to complete? And his tie breaking dunk took like 10 attempts to complete. It was cool, but Iguodala did hot shit [oh like catching a bounce pass off the back of the backboard] with a normal amount of attempts. To me, Iguodala is the winner, but I can see how Nate won. He just wowed the crowd and was SO relentless that everyone was cheering for his little ass and just really wanted him to win. But I ain't mad about it. All is fair in Love and Basketball. [ Or at least that's what some cornballs would say at the end of this blog. Not me, I'm just saying it because it seems like a decent ending, but I know that it's actually lame.]

The freakin Girl Scouts of America

Okay, so I love some Girl Scout cookies (I bring this
up because my order just came in today)... but I must
point out that the Girl Scouts are the biggest child
laborers around. I mean, this is an INTERNATIONAL
organization with a sales force of 9-year-olds.

I didn't think about it when I was little, out hawking
my boxes for Brownie troop ..855 (i think that was my
troop ..). I had regular customers that looked for me
every year, and closed their doors in the faces of
other cute little pig-tailed tots trying to move-in on
my turf. It was all about competition, and those
bitches should have known to stay off my block. Who
would get that special badge for selling the most
cookies? Or, whose parents had the most generous
co-workers to purchase boxes at the office? It was
never me.

With inflation and all, it's really getting out of
control. Did you know that GS cookies are now
$3.50/box? That's outrageous! These kids don't even go
door-to-door anymore. I don't think it's right to
set-up shop outside of the grocery store. Hell, I just
paid $98 -$130 for groceries and now some cute kid
wants me to buy more cookies? That's not fair or
right!

And they pay dues for this "priviledge".

Well I'm done! I'm not buying cookies from any rogue
Girl Scout shanties. If you don't know how to put the
three fingers up and recite the oath, I'm not buying
your cookies. You're not authentic and I won't have
any part in that scam. Think I'm playing? My little
girl scout recited the oath for me today upon
delivery.

Think they're just kids, and I'm being harsh? Then why
is one of the main things on their web site: "Girl
Scouts Core Business Strategy". They hide behind that
.org, when they should be a .com...so that they can
make little girls hit the pavement. You're not right,
Girl Scouts of America. You're not right!

- Rant by Red State Hostage

Scandals just aren’t what they used to be…

I’ve done it. You’ve probably done it too. I even did it at work once. But Eric Govan was just sacked for forwarding the e-mail called “Ghetto Prom.” The Golden State Warriors PR manager accidentally sent the email to his entire mailing list (mainly sports writers and news types) instead of sending it just to his wife. He sent out an apology immediately, but it was too late. Dude was fired and the team issued statements about how sorry it is and that the comments implied or written in the email don’t reflect those of the GS Warriors. Um, really? You mean the Golden State Warriors didn’t go out and take pictures of ignorant-ass high school students and create an email and send it out to millions of people? Hmm.. are you suuure? Because why the hell would you even say that if the team wasn’t responsible for the damn e-mail!? Check out the way the local news handled this “PR scandal” (There must be NO crime in the Bay area…)

This team has completely overreacted and I feel sorry for Govan. E-mail can be a real bitch sometimes… At least he didn’t say something snarky about his supervisor and send it out to that person and their boss, like someone else I know did one time.

The Greatest Hallmark Holiday

Man, I just love me some Valentine's Day. If you don't then you need more love in your life. My mom used to always get me a Valentine's Day gift, maybe it's her fault that I love it so much... Tell me why you love or hate this day. Let's discuss the best and worst gifts or dates..

Here are some of mine:
Worst gift: 5th Grade, I'd say this was the first time I had a valentine. This kid gave me the biggest bag of those chalky hearts you've ever seen. I'm talking at least a pound. Not knowing protocol, I felt inclined to eat them all. It made me so sick and the next time I went to the dentist I had a cavity. Aww.. young love.

Worst date: Gee, sometime in high school maybe around 97? My cheap-ass boyfriend took me to a really nice restaurant and couldn't pay the fucking bill. Not to mention, we had cut corners by splitting entrees. I had to pay and drive. No doubt, my gift was wack cause I can't even remember what he got me. Loser.

Best gift: It's freshman year in high school and this organization at school has started a valentine's day service where they'll deliver balloons and roses to your sweetie during class. Yay! So, I got a rose around 1st period from someone anonymous. Then later I got balloons. Yay! I'm carrying around my trophy balloons, because you weren't fly if no one gave you any.. and my boyfriend's friends start coming up to me like, where'd you get those? I was like, in class, why? They were like, dude didn't get those for you! Apparently his friends had seen my gift and balloons. Long story short.. since I didn't know who gave me the roses and balloons -still don't to this day- dude didn't get upset. And he gave me a lovely gold ring at lunch.. plus the biggest collection of balloons in the damn universe.. I could have floated away by the end of the day. lol. I had soo many balloons.. i'm laughing my ass off right now at the image of it all. Same dude had a more adult Valentine's Day with me around senior year and bought an even better gift.. also a gold ring with elephants all around. For anyone wondering, he ended up hating me and we're lucky to say "hi" if we see each other..

Best date: Man, this is tough... The best date has to go to the guy who had the best Valentine's night "performance." The details are a more than a little X-Rated. But no doubt, it has to go to the current love of my life- or else we wouldn't be together. And he's one of the few guys who actually celebrates Valentine's Day like he means it.

OK- somebody better tell me something..

Producer J-Dilla is gone

No, he wasn't shot. J-Dilla died of Lupus complications on 2/10. In an interview he said that he ruptured his kidney by working too hard in the studio and not eating at all. He'd been sick for the past three years.

He's famous for creating sick, super-smoothed out beats for his former group Slum Village, "Stakes is High" and other tracks for De La Soul, tracks for the illest hip-hop group to ever do it--A Tribe Called Quest...He also worked with true hip hop artists like Pharcyde, Common, Talib Kweli and the Roots. I'm not gonna say much else about this- a fellow Blogger.com blogger has put together a hot mix of J-Dilla's music. Check it out here: http://every-day-thoughts.blogspot.com/

Color me crazy

Today I had streaks put in my hair. It's been a dream of mine for some time to have red hair.. I could have been WAY ahead of the trend if I'd followed my heart, and if my hair stylist hadn't talked me out of it that one time. So, my hair was a natural black.. not a streak in sight. I picked this great dramatic copper-red-blonde color.. and then said, "somewhere between here and there.." pointing to the copper-red-brown tone next to it..

Luckily I didn't dye my entire head, which I orginally planned to do. I wanted something obvious, like no one will see me and not realize something's different. Here's the thing, I don't care how excited or resolved you are about a new hair cut or color, there's always that moment when the stylist hands you the mirror and you look into it and your damn heart drops into your stomach. (I once got teary eyed.. years ago when I cut off like every inch of my hair. In fact, that stylist called my sister later that day to ask how I was doing. ha!) But this wasn't that bad. There were just a few minutes after she showed me the large red streaks running through my hair when I laid back in the shampoo bowl wondering, "How am I going to go to work on Monday?" "What's my mama gonna say?" (She's going on year six with hopes I'll find a relaxer for my hair.) "How the hell am I gonna rock this clown look?" "Is this super ghetto or non-conformist cool?" Then I looked at the bright side, At least I work in a creative field. Looking crazy kinda validates you.

Anywho, at the end of the session I was very happy. Once my hair was dry, the color contrast wasn't so sharp. I'm lying, but..it wasn't so alarming. And the bright side is that I'm not looking for work. Just imagine what Remy Ma's heart did when she saw her dye job for the first time...

What's a Grammy?

Is a Grammy an award for the artist with the prettiest fans? Maybe it's for people who have the best publicity teams? Dunno, but here's what really had me stumped last night.

1. How did Kelly Clarkson beat Mariah Carey for a vocal performance award?
2. When did Kanye West become the best rapper? I may have asked this already. Best rap album, song AND solo performace? Save it.
3. How could Kelly Clarkson forget to thank American Idol in two acceptance speaches? She remembered God and Jesus and I'm thinking American Idol is an earthly equivalent for this chick. That show gave her the life she's living.
4. So is Kanye like the Napolean of the rap game?
5. Was it just me or did Will.I.Am share a questionable look with John Legend last night when he came on stage for the award? If you don't know Will and John are friends from way back, John worked on Elephunk.

Oh Boy, Cam

Hey,

I saw this image on Website called snicka.com and thought it was hilarious. Shouts out to snicka. If you don't know, this is a picture of Camron (the pink loving rapper who got shot during a car jacking at Howard's Homecoming.) Anyway, Cam tried to diss Jay-Z on a record recently and even talked about Beyonce. But, Jay's only response so far has been that he didn't even know Cam'ron and that the song is trash. Cam is pissed because he says Dame Dash told him that J was looking for pics of him for that big concert he had back in October- or so. It turned out to be one big love fest.. but J does admit that it was gonna be about beef in the beginning.

Anyway, long story short.. Cam got shot during a car jacking, dropped a new album, apparently a new movie and even tried to diss Jay-Z for no real reason at all. Stunt after stunt has gotten him no new fans...leaving his five previous fans extremely lonely and dissappointed. Luckily, they're still on payroll. [by the way, Cam says he stopped rocking pink b/c so many people started wearing it. And to think we could have contained this horrid fad if dude had just laid low.]

Esther Goes To Work with the Boys

So, I checked my e-mail today and there's a message from the group Women for Hire. They're this organization that tries to be like the NOW of working women. They're always holding job fairs just for women and sending helpful career advice.. Thanks Women For Hire! Today I got a message from them and it's the lamest reminder I've ever gotten in my life..(No, no.. I've had lamer ones.) I feel where they're coming from but find it to be a little condescending and backward.

Check this out, working women should be watching the big Super Bowl game this year for the following reasons:

Smart, savvy business people pride themselves on keeping up with current events, politics and celebrity gossip so they always have interesting tidbits to contribute to small talk at meetings, parties and social outings. They know that idle chitchat is awfully valuable in building professional relationships because it allows people to connect on a relaxed and personal level.

For this reason, don't miss Sunday's big game -- from the stand-out plays, the coolest commercials, and of course the halftime entertainment. It's sure to be the talk among contacts, colleagues, clients and customers, and you want to be in on the action.

What savvy business person needs a reminder to take notes on the "Big Game," that probably gets the highest ratings of any program all year, because everyone will be watching? I know she never said girls watch because all the boys are watching, but that's how it came across in e-mail. Admittedly, it sounds a little better in the news article, but who knows how it was edited? Her point is that, no matter how stupid football can be at times, noone should miss the Super Bowl. I completely agree, especially if you can get some cheap or free wings, nachos and beer while you're at it. But the Super Bowl can never get better publicity than Janet's titty popping out. If you didn't know everyone was watching Super Bowl before, now you know...

By the way, is anyone trying to invite me over? I can have you over, but there will be a six-beer or 12-wings entry fee. [And not those damn Chinese wings!]

Full article by Women For Hire president is here: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Careers/story?id=1549333