Enjoy yourself and be careful!!!

That deep sigh you just heard was Gun owners in America taking collective sigh of relief!

The court’s 5-4 ruling strikes down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the Second Amendment. The decision goes further than even the Bush administration wanted, but probably leaves most firearms laws intact. [SOURCE]

You can also read more HERE.

As a gun owner I’m very pleased with the ruling. Had it gone another way, I would have made the conscious choice to disobey the ruling and chunck the US Supreme Court the deuce. There is no way in hell I was going to give up my firearm…PERIOD.

I can understand the argument from both sides but we must find a way to deal with the underlying issue without trampling on our 2nd Amendment rights. I’m all for stricter control which could entail a longer waiting period when purchasing guns and a more extensive background check. That my curtail those with mental illnesses from purchasing a firearm but the real issue lies with the illegal firearms on the street in the hands of criminal. But let’s face it, these cats don’t go to gun shows or dealers to purchase their “pieces”. Lil’ Ray-Ray copped his Glock from ole dude ’round the way for about $75. Stop THAT  shit from happening and you’ve put a major dent in the homicide rate in our urban areas.

This is just my opinion. Whether you agree or not is fine by me but I’d like to hear your thoughts.

I received the following in an email from my best friend “Spoon”. Her comments are followed excerpts of the orignal article which appeared in The Charlotte Observer Father’s Day.

Could you imagine 6 days w/o food and 18 months in a refugee camp eating rice and soy sauce just so that your children can have a better life???? This reality brings home how spoiled we Americans are, with our 2 and 3 televisions, closets full of cloths, pantries and fridge’s full of food, thrown away left-over’s, evenings and weekends at play or in front of the television while the youth of America make pregnancy pacts, sell drugs, commit murders, and run wild in the streets. Talk about sacrifice! These things (people starving in camps searching for a better life) go on today all over the world. Parent’s in other countries risk their lives to provide for their families the things we effortlessly have at our disposal. Something is VERY wrong with that.

Spoon

Instead of eating Sunday dinner at their parents’ house as usual, today Hau and Luan Doan are cooking.

Hau will fry chicken wings and Luan will fry crab cakes in honor of their father, Dung Doan, who sneaked his family out of Vietnam at night in 1978 on a boat he built to flee the communists.

The story of the escape is one Hau (pronounced How) and Luan (Loon) heard many times growing up in America. Six days and six nights without food or water, their father, mother and 2-year-old Hau, grandparents and friends, lying exhausted and dehydrated on the bottom of the boat, then jumping to safety when they drifted close to Malaysia, where they lived in a refugee camp for 18 months before immigrating to America.

Not until his mother told him two years ago did Hau understand the significance of his red tricycle. He was 4 when his family arrived in the United States in 1980 and settled in Virginia Beach. Hau saw other boys riding red tricycles and he wanted one. And so around their third day there, his father, who had been studying to be a lawyer in Vietnam, cleaned up sea shells scattered in front of a building near the beach. He earned $20 and he used that $20, the first money he made in America, to buy his son a red tricycle.

Please read the entire article HERE.

We as Americans can be very intolerant of immigrants regardless from whence they came. We despise the cultural differences and their refusal to assimilate to “our” ways simply because we do not understand. Our arrogance allows us to judge them harshly blinding us to the simple truth…most immigrants want the same thing we want: an opportunity to live free from political or religious oppression and to raise their families in a safe environment.

I include myself in that group of people whom I chastise because I have had my moments of ranting and venting about a particular group of immigrants in my area. The next time I get my dander up I would do myself a great service to remember the Doan’s story. Maybe we all should too.

“I’ll get eat you my pretty, and your little dog too!!”

This is comedian, Luenell. I have never heard of this woman before but all I know is she is scary looking!!

Somebody has way too much time on their hands. This is a waste of brain cells if you ask me.

Couldn’t those brain cells be put to better use by finding the cure for cancer? A.I.D.S.? The high cost of gas? Or maybe how to better serve children in foster care? How to resurrect Hip Hop prior to 1995?

How to bring back Lauryn Hill?

How to rid the black community of Al Sharpton? Bobby Brown? Lil John? Flava Flav?

How to keep me pimp slapping the nosy folks at work?

How to keep Kobe and Kanye from whining like two lil beoyatches? What?

…I’m just saying….there are better uses!!!

It’s no secret that I’m single. It’s also no secret that it is hard being a single female in Atlanta. Hard if you choose not to screw men for sport or money, have some measure of dignity, and can recognize game when you see it. With that being said it should come as no surprise that I have been experiencing a long dry season. For a while it even seemed as if I couldn’t even buy a date…nothing was poppin for the kid. NOTHING!!

In the past couple of days I’ve had brief conversations with two potential “dates” or suitors. I hate those initial “getting to know you” talks. HATE ‘EM! Both young men made the same comment that causes a natural gag reflex with me.

“So, tell me about yourself“. Uuuugggghhhh!!!

There has to be a better way to get to know each other without feeling like I’m on a job interview or auditioning for The Bachelor/Bachelorette!!!  I don’t want to feel as if I’m giving you a run down of my qualifications.

[in my best game show contestant voice] ‘Well, my name is Chocl8t. I’m 41 years old. I enjoy hiking, kayaking, bowling, and white water rafting. I’m an Aquarius and I’m a people person’. Uuuugghhh!!!

Could it be these guys just haven’t mastered the art of conversation? Or could it be I’m just cynical, jaded and just expect too much? Is it too much to want an effortless conversation that flows like a cool stream? Is it too much to want to laugh and joke in the process?

What is your technique or M.O. in getting to know someone? Do you run down a list of questions or do you let the conversation flow and go where it goes?

By now we have all heard the news that RKelly was acquitted on all charges of child pornography by a Chicago jury last week. Many think the prosecution’s case was weak while others are outraged that the R&B superstar has gotten away with exploiting yet another young girl. There are also those who think he should have never been brought up on charges to begin with and are very happy he’s dodged the bullet.The entire business surrounding this habitual pedophile has pissed me off and leaves me wondering what message does this send our young black females. Better yet, what has it done to help reinforce existing negative messages to our young girls and women about their self-worth?

I had a conversation with someone that left me very disturbed and wondering if, what I perceive as, their faulty logic is what keeps RKelly so popular within our community.

In short, I expressed my disappointment with the verdict only to be met with exhuberance and glee at the prospect of a new RKelly CD by the end of summer. When my response registered with the individual she proceeded to explain that while she doesn’t “condone” the behavior they can surely understand “how” and “why” such situations exist especially for an entertainer with fame and fortune.

During our conversation she told of how she was sexually active at 13 yrs old, how at the age of 15 was sleeping with a 21 year old man, recalling how she would get into clubs on fake IDs, telling men she was older than she really was, etc., etc. Because of these things she understands how the Kelly’s fame and fortune is a magnet for young girls. Basically, her reasoning is it really isn’t the man’s fault when young, fast, hot-in-the-pants, females make themselves available. “It is…what it is.”

Is this really how ‘it is’?

The first thing that popped into my head while she spoke was “who are the adults that failed you…failed to protect and guide you?”

I was a straight laced goody-two-shoes little girl, a book worm. As a matter of fact I was afraid of boys until I was 18 yrs old and didn’t lose my virginity until I was 19 almost 20. Having been molested at a young age kept me from the usual boy/girl shenanigans during my adolescent years. I remained “green” for a long, long time and for that I’m thankful. VERY THANKFUL!

My next thought was could our different experiences during adolescence have any bearing on our vastly differing views of these things? Does yours?

I can’t pretend to understand where she’s coming from, I can’t. It only reinforces that deep longing urge to protect young girls (and boys) all the more.

So, tell me what you think is at the root of this “it’s okay” mentality - the willingness for the black community to give predators like RKelly a pass.

In these times of economic downturns, high fuel prices, and financial uncertainty those of us employed are dayum happy to have a job. But even having a job we’re still wondering how much longer we’ll be able to make ends meet if the cost of fuel and food continues to rise.

It’s no surprise to see stories on how to “recession proof” your budget, how to save at the gas pump, how to make you dollar stretch further….(hell if I stretch that bastard any further George Washington will look like a cracked out Amy Winehouse.) In that vein, here’s my contribution to the “how to’s“.

If you’re wondering how to avoid the axe when it comes time for your company to downsize, I have the answer for you right here. Forget what you heard about making yourself indispensable, being a team-player, showing up on-time and meeting deliverables, showing the boss how to save money, accepting new responsibilities and asking for more work. That right there is BOOLSHYT! Yep…boolshyt!

The one and only thing you need to know in order to keep your job is to STAY YOUR A$$ AT HOME IF YOU ARE SICK!!! Don’t play the dayum hero…like the office couldn’t survive without your viral plague infested a$$! STAY HOME!!

Do not go in and infect the entire office because you have a deadline to meet. That is not the way to go. You know who you are…trying your best to impress your manager and co-workers with the illusion of being a good soldier. If I were the hiring manager, you would be the FIRST one fired! GONE! Pink would be in your future! Security will have your shyt in a box and escorting your little Cootie McCootie a$$ right out of the door post haste!

I spent my entire weekend in bed battling what could be the worst head cold ever. Not sure which one of the bloodclots with whom I work that I have to thank for this nasty little bug. But believe me, they could have kept it to themselves…I would have appreciated that a whole lot more.

In closing, again I ask that you stay your viral plague infested, cootie McCootie, deathbed experience, house needs fumigating, HAZMAT suit needin, sick a$$ home if you want to keep your job.

Yessss I do!!! Love ‘em!! Love ‘em!! LOVE! THEM! Alpha men know how to take charge of a situation and get things done! They are strong, independent, confident, in yo face, like it or leave it kinda men.

Without a doubt I have had my fair share of encounters with such males. Those experiences were both thrilling and terrifying at times. Don’t judge me! LOL

This photo of Coco Crisp and James Shields reminded me of one such Alpha Man and several of the stories he has shared with me over the years. Like the time he was a FedEx delivery guy and got into a fist-a-cuffs with the Coors delivery man behind the Kroger grocery store. Or the time a car full of Latino brothers cut him off causing him to run off the road; when he recovered he caught up with the offending vehicle, pulled the driver out and commenced to open a can of “whoop-ass”. Then there was the time his “20 something” nephew did/said something disrespectful to him and he got him in line, in the backyard wearing a wife-beater and Timbs…in the rain. Oddly enough, I always felt safe with this man whenever I was in his presence and children in need turns this “Johnny Bad Ass” into a marshmallow puff. Don’t judge him either. LOL

Not all Alpha men are prone to what you may consider “violent tendencies”. Nope. Not at all.  But why am I drawn to the top dawgs? The alpha dog? Could it be I have an “alpha” personality also and in order for a man to be able to “handle” me, he must also share that same trait?

What about you? Are you drawn to the “alpha” traits in the opposite sex? Or, are you prone to attract and be attracted to those more submissive/passive individuals?

Travis Heckstall, a former Clayton County teacher, has been charged with making terroristic threats against a student and his family. The former science teacher was pushed to the edge of sanity and apparently jumped. In an effort to keep control of his class after he was threatened by students, Mr. Heckstall issued a few threats of his own. He allegedly cursed, spat, threw chairs, threatened to “rip a student’s eyeballs out” and to kill the student’s family.

Read the story HERE.

According to family and friends, specifically Mr Heckstall’s father Joe Heckstall (a Georgia state representative), this was not characteristic of his son. If we are to believe the elder Hesckstall, Travis Heckstall has been threatened before and brought his concerns of students’ behavior to the administration only to be told to “deal with it”. I am inclined to believe it.

We have all heard the trouble teachers have with unruly students and lack of support from administration. School systems are fearful of lawsuits so they tie the teachers’ hands leaving them with little to no recourse to reasonably discipline the demon seeds they’ve be charged to teach. And guess what? The little darling demon seeds “know” this and they dayum near have free reign to intimidate and antagonize instructors without any real consequences. The patients are running the asylum! I am surprised more teachers haven’t cracked and gone off the deep end.

This doesn’t excuse Mr. Heckstall’s behavior but I can certainly understand. Teachers have my utmost respect because this is NOT a job I could do. I would be facing a long stint in the state pen for beating one of those Devil’s spawn to the white meat. NO DOUBT!