Devilish Times

Almost a week has past since I saw my illustrious University of Memphis Tigers get robbed at New York’s Madison Square Garden when the played Duke. I don’t know if any of yall saw the game, but my boys put it down and were clearly the better team. Sure, the top-ranked Blue Devils came in not looking as if the were the best team in the country. Especially after their showing against Drexel.
However, they did win both games. The Memphis game was a bit different. Memphis dominated the Dukies and were clearly killing them on the boards. Making all of this worse was the incessant praise offered to Duke by one Dick Vitale. He never seemed to mention the tigers or point out the serious differences inn the manner in which fouls were called against Memphis in comparison to Duke. He even went as far to suggest that the Duke team was being beat up when in fact it was the other way around. The two most important plays were a messed up out of bounds call that gave Duke the ball that resulted in a 3 point shot hit by Dockery hit a from the corner to make it 67-63 1:07 to play. The next was a no call, which via replay showed Sheldon Williams tipping in a drive by Dockery in which the ball was still in the cylinder.
I hate Duke with a passion. However, I was impressed with the no quit attitude of my Tigers and the manner in which Rodney Carney held the all-American Teuton, J. J. Riddick to no points in the second half. WE out rebounded Duke on the offensive end 16 to 8 and but had two of our big men hampered with fouls before the 10 minute mark of the first half. Then there were the other small things, the tripping, or better yet rolling block thrown on Tiger guard Andre Allen – another no call, and the fouls not called against Duke when Shawne Williams took a lay up to the goal and resulted in him falling to the floor and having a foul called on him.

Where the White Women At

Cry wolf and the wolves will follow. Frankly I fid the shit both funny and pathetic and I am speaking of Nancy Grace’s girl, Jennifer Wilbanks. The concern on my behalf is that it appears on the surface that a white woman can go missing, or not even missing in less than half a day purportedly, and seem to be worthy of national news coverage ASAP. Still. months after the disapperance of short slim in Aurba, she still manages to gather news coverage.

Hook, line and sinker, the media made this a story when it was not. Taking this a step farther they even made the future husband to be the main suspect without due process. In the mean time the woman was described as being a “poor soul” who through her own lips made the snowball larger when she said that she had been kidnapped and that one of the characters was a Hispanic male.

This was obviously premeditated, given it takes some thought to purchase several bus tickets as well as cut her hair to avoid detection. Couple this with the fact she lied to investigators suggesting that she had been abducted against her will from Georgia.

While all of this was occurring, I was unable to gather any news on Iraq or any other issues of substance. More importantly, there was no word of Constance Williams on the national radar. She was eventually found however there was no media urgency regarding her, nor was there any for Stacy-Ann Sappleton, whose beaten and bullet-riddled corpse was found eventually in queens in a garbage dump. Then there was Tamika Huston, who vanished about a year ago from her home in Spartanburg, S.C. Her car was found abandoned about a month after she was last seen. I really would like to know why there is no media urgency for these individuals. Oh I forgot, wrong complexion and they are only concerned with where the white women at.

This Aint Big Lot

There is something wrong with an administration that spends more than it brings into the coffers of the US Treasury. As it stands, America is under a major financial burden. We currently spend way more money than we have available. How can we expect to deal with this quandary? Well The president has suggest massive tax cuts which in theory, are designed to stimulate the economy by giving big breaks to major businesses and the top 20 percent of the populous. My concern is that this may work however, tax cuts with out spending cuts is missing the point.

The apprehension is that President Bush is trying to make this tax cut permanent at a time when he is attempting to figure out how he will pay for the war in Iraq – excuse me I mean terror. In addition, he will have to find a way to maintain troop strength in the region and pay for that as well. The current budget deficit is expected to be approximately 413 billion dollars at the end of this fiscal year. This in light of the fact that the President inherited a budget surplus from the man all conservatives loved to hate Bill Clinton.

Bush asked for and is anticipating 70 billion dollars from congress to making a grand total of $200 billion to pay for the current war effort. That’s equal to $20 billion a month spent so far on the war - a war that started about 20 months ago. I don’t see the cost of the war reducing anytime soon. We need to remind the president that he is not shopping at the Dollar store or Big Lot, if so, he would get more bang for his buck.

the new welfare mom

I just wanna know where is the lobbying group or part of congress that wants to bail me out of some of my debt? The nation's third-biggest airline, Delta, is singing the blues indicating the obvious, that it has been hurt by increase in jet fuel prices and competition from lower-cost, low-fare carriers. Most of this outside of the cost, was due to what I perceive as a poor business model. Not only did Delta wait longer than some of the other airlines to trim costs, the airlines is about $28 billion in debt, and can’t cover the full-balance of its pension program.

For Deltas blessing, they know that they will be bailed out by tax payer and private welfare. It started four years after Congress bailed out the aviation industry, and it appears as if similar action by lawmakers are about to take place. I don’t know why the airlines industry is so important in comparison to the steel or television manufacturing industries - both of which are non existent.

Airline welfare comes from several places. First, there is the trade group, the Air Transport Association (ATA). This is the group of folk who go up on Capital Hill and ask for specialized welfare just for the airlines industry. They probably the real inspiration behind Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), to get version of his airline-specific pension bill passed. Then there is the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., who will have to find some way with its money obtained from corporations to help relive some of the pension burden; in this case for the airline that started off in 1928 as a Macon, Georgia crop dusting service.

Although I can’t say what will happen for the 60,000 employees or the approximately 300,000 people they fly daily, big high-fare high-cost airlines will always be inefficient. None the less, Delta the corporation will stand, accepting welfare that they likely condemn poor people for receiving, while the pensions of workers and the jobs of employees are taken away. They seem to need the lobbying group.

welcum to funk-try muzk-liv and impromtu-7000 songs +

I guess folk gonna drop 2 to 4 a week

savagebeastmonsta-sameblak muthafucas -dont follow me(2000)



savagebeastmonsta-sameblak muthafucas -dicdownlilmomma(1999)

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The New Color of Europe

Traditionally, Europe has stood to represent the hope of western civilization, liberal arts and the home of the ice age- specifically the Wurum glaciations, both 1 and 2. Europe has also been the home to conquest, colonization; the white mans burden, slavery and the plague, as well as the night of templar and the crusades. Now we may be living in a time that might end up changing our traditional view of Europe, for Europe is getting darker in complexion more and more as the years past.

Historically to be accurate, it was the Arabs and Africans who lead Europe out of the pestilence of the dark ages. It was about 800 years ago when the famous Arab philosopher Ibn Rushd first visited Europe to enlighten the population. Today many Arabs, living in Europe are disenchanted, mainly because of the manner in which they are perceived and treated politically by Europeans. There has been a large misrepresentation by Europe and the West on Islam and Arabs in general. This is namely the result of a small number of fanatics taking attention away from the major body of Arabs. Thus from this vantage point, it is not unusual for most of the Arabs to be touted and portrayed as terrorist. Although many are considered citizens in countries like France and Belgium, they maintain an unspoken second-class citizenship.
Arabs will never assimilate or integrate into European culture. There numbers will only increase and become more of a nuance from the perspective of Europeans since it is seeing an influx of new immigrants from the Middle East since the start of the war on Iraq. Meaning that what we see, in the change in attitudes directed at the US is related to the rapid increase in the number of Arabs living across Europe. So who knows, maybe by the middle of this century. Europe will be a Mulim/Arab continent.

no-hold-anbar

There are really two Iraqs. This distinction is not based on ethnicity, nor is it a consequence of Islamic classification in terms of Sunni versus Shiite. The difference is fundamentally linked to political and economic factors which make some citizens in the country more anti-American than others—those who live in the Anbar province versus those that do not. Located on the Euphrates River, Anbar is a territory that runs along the Syrian Border to Baghdad some 200 miles to the East.
The heart of the insurgency is considered to come from this region, among other places outside of the country. However, unlike popularly believed, these fierce people are not foreign jihadists or former Baathists—they are staunch nationalists who believe that their country has been embarrassed and tend to view attacks on coalition forces as “acceptable” political action.
The U.S. military will continue to take heavy losses in this region if they continue to believe that 5,000 troops can defend and maintain control of an area with an expanse of some 24,000 square miles. Anbar residents are not as economically deprived as many describe the majority of the ranks of the insurgents, but they are taking the aftermath of the war somewhat harder than most Iraqi citizens.
I will say it again; we are in a protracted battle with people who are fiercely nationalistic. To date, it is estimated that about 15,000 insurgents are in jails and that thousands more have been killed. How can this be the case—when at the start of the war it was estimated that there were between 15-20 thousand insurgents in total? It is obvious that we are operating either in the dark, under the cloak of stupidity or we were unprepared in the initial phases of the war. And, things will only get worse, since these folks take a no-holds-barred approach. –torrance stephens

cant wait to ballers go out of style

In this age of ballers and big shots, it’s kind of refreshing to be a plain ole country boy. After work yesterday I went to have a slice of pizza and a beer as I normally do after a late niter in the office on Wednesday. At the bar, I sat next to two associates of mine who write/work for the same urban weekly I submit and publish these opinion-editorials for. They were drinking. I ordered my usual – a PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) and a shot of Cuerveo. Looking down the bar and around the room, I noticed I was the only man drinking PBR. Everyone else was drinking expensive imports and other bottle beers. First I tried to figure what was so special about the beers they selected in comparison to my PBR. Other than glass and the bottle look, I could not think of nothing. It couldn’t have been taste nor temperature – since the 16 oz PBR was colder and more beer than the others. The only difference outside of that was the two bills it cost compared to the other five dollar beers.

The gentleman next to me finished their beverages. As a kind gesture, I offered to buy them what I was drinking. One said “if it is not Patron, I can’t drink it. I retorted, "well don’t get him a drink. The only reason he asking for it is because he hear the name in songs and on music videos”, speaking to the bartender. It made me realize that we are some fucked up folks, not amenable to accepting a free drink, unless it has status to it. The tequila I consume is based on taste, and I’d really prefer Sauza, but they didn’t offer it. He eventually accepted my drink and even commented “that’s real good”. It just makes me think and count my blessing to be a country boy instead of some big baller. When people ask me what kind of beer i want, I reply cold, especially if it is free.

why she named him Omare

I would have never suspected that I would be writing about a song that I have so much disdain for in a supportive and comical sense. The line that caught my attention was “a trifling friend indeed.” That line brought one to query as to what type of woman this sort of person would be? I suspect if there was a woman, one who had a favorite author, then she may do anything to meet that author. This would even include having his child, unbeknown to him while she was supposedly engaged to another. Now this strikes me as being both sad and funny, funny because she even named the child after this person, who she had been meeting secretly while she was involved and deeply in love (on the surface) with her man.
.
One could presuppose that if one was engaged and truly loved another, there would be room for sacrifice and compromise, but she did neither. It was either her way or no way from they way the story has been told to me. There was not even any room for a relationship to grow since she could never accept doing anything for anyone other than herself, including be faithful and honor her family duty as a woman, mother and wife. But such would be out of the question, since she was a trifling friend indeed – what I consider no friend at all, since she named him Omare, and really appears as if she doesn't know who the child’s father is. But I told him he should be leary of any woman who has Kanye West Gold digger as the ringer for her telephone.

Not like she no huricaine (11.14.2005)

Six months has passed. We have had several hurricanes and most likely the greatest natural disaster and the largest back to back exodus in this country since the end of slavery and reconstruction and the Fox news network as well as anal pores the likes of Nancy grace are still asking questions and talking about Natalee Holloway . Pinch me if I’m wrong, but what magical and talismanic power does this single individual possess such to keep her on television every night? I am starting to think she may be moving into the shadows of Monday night football or the ubiquitous soap operas that come on not only in the day time but night as well. On the real, it s more like football. Let’s say for example Natalee Holloway, our starting pro-bowl damsel missing in distress, goes out with an ACL injury; we can bring Teresa Halbach in to replace her. It makes me wonder if there is a special job, that African Americans are not privy too, that is designed especially to find missing white women with Town and Country Magazines smiles to place on television when there is no real news. Correction, when they want distractions from real news. I’d prefer to see something on the use of fire-based weapons, in Jolan district in Fallujah. Or maybe the use of poison gas and other non-conventional weapons in Iraq in addition to what has happened to the tens of thousands of African Americans who were forcibly removed to new locations to buttress sources of cheap labor. Now that’s just me, because I don’t consider a missing Natalee Holloway like she any hurricane.

Neither Democrat nor Republican

I just want to state for the record I am neither democrat nor republican. In fact I despise both parties for what they epitomize and feel that neither one reflects my beliefs and views. For too many years, African Americans have swallowed hook, line and sinker, the mantra of the Democratic Party and have yet to see any visible results. We have avoided the Republican Party – for good reason, but have settled for the lesser of two evils. The democrats do not really heed the political disquiet of African Americans.

Just as the republicans, they consider us as second tier citizens who are only worth anything until it is time to vote. I feel that there is a natural love hate relationship with the African American community and the Democratic Party, this maybe due to our brainless allegiance to the party formulated as a consequence of the civil rights movement. It may also be the product of African Americans being out front and visible in the party as well as their overt display of African Americans running for political office.

For me, I consider myself to be a libertarian. I value more than anything else my personal freedom and do not desire or need to see government take care or protect me from myself. I consider myself to be a sovereign citizen as outlined in the 14th amendment which states “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Therefore, if I do decide to vote, it will not be for Kerry or Bush, I will vote for constitutional scholar and computer expert Michael Badnarik. I believe as most Libertarians that there is too much government regulation and spending, which as an outcome, destroys jobs and increases unemployment. I also believe that the government as an institution does not grant rights it acknowledges them and is also servant to the people or voting populous. When will we learn that neither the republicans nor democrats have the interest of African Americans as a main feature of their platforms?

george bushin' it 50 cent style

Somebody told me 50 cents wanted to show his softer side, that he was tired of being thought of as a gangsta who was shot 9 times. I wonder why? I really don’t by the act or give a fuck, but having a martini in hand and just hearing a radio station talk about it gave me something else to write about. I think he is full of shit, or what I like to call, George Bushing it. Trying to sell an image that I suspect, that he suspects will make him more money, via lucrative movie deals in Hollywood. He better be glad Sam Jackoson aint got a hold to his ass. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, paris is still on fire.

Other wise, he is gonnna start falling fast. People already boo him at his shows, has he ever heard of the word humble, maybe not. I know he don't wanna end up like that chick Jay-z smushed.

blinded by color society (4.13.2005)

There is something wrong with the judicial system. A jury acquitted Robert Blake of murder recently in the death of his wife four years ago, as well as a charge of trying to get someone to kill his wife. The vote was 11 to 1 in favor of acquittal for the former star of “Baretta”—a cop television show of the ‘70s. Now, is there something wrong with this? On the surface there is not. Mr. Blake—as all Americans—is entitled to the right of due process, but, where is the outrage? To state it clearly, where are all of the folks who to this very day feel that O. J. Simpson is guilty of murdering his former wife and her alleged lover?
The way folks acted before, I would have expected it to be all over the news, but it was not. I feel many white people are not outraged because the trial involved a white man and a white woman. If Blake was African American, I’m sure there would have been a more severe reaction. During the Blake trial, no eyewitnesses were presented or blood or DNA evidence to connect the actor to the crime; and the murder weapon could not be traced to Blake—although he had a small amount of gunshot residue on his hands. This was similar to findings that blood and skin under Nicole Simpson’s fingernails did not match either of the victims, or O. J. Simpson.
America is as divided as it was prior to and after the Civil War. It is a shame that such inconsistencies exist, but the truth of the matter is that such differences in beliefs will always be reflective of a society blinded by color.--torrance stephens

who can i offend this time? (5.10.2005)

It is not difficult nowadays to offend people. It seems as if folks are overly sensitive and too wound up to make use of the natural faculties that are required for free thought and common sense. This is particularly true with two extreme wings of the house of the ridiculous: the religious right supra Christians and organizations that have bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender attached to their name.
Now I am not against anyone’s sexual orientation or religious preferences, albeit I am neither a pagan nor insecure about my sexual orientation or preferences. As a matter of fact, I feel that it leaves more women for me—well, at least I used to think that when I was roaming the streets pinning all the eligible female volunteers to the mat when I could.
Earlier this year, I read in an esteemed conservative daily newspaper that actress-singer Jada Pinkett Smith, wife of Will Smith, had been in Cambridge, Mass. to receive an award from the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations. The award was aptly titled, Artist of the Year. In her comments upon accepting the award, she spoke of overcoming impediments in her childhood—namely being the child of teenage heroin abusers. In addition, she made a statement indicating that women can have a fulfilling life including “a loving man, devoted husband, loving children...”
The problem was that this was not received so well, in particularly by the bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender and supporters alliance (BGLTSA). One of the executive members of the group, Jordan B. Woods, called Jada Pinkett-Smith’s comments “extremely hetero normative” (I laugh every time I say this phrase). I’m certain that what I have just penned will be perceived as offensive to somebody, some way and somehow. --torrance stephens

SURE WAY TO GET ON OPRAH

Dear Oprah:

I am writing to you because I feel that you will read my letter first and understand how in such dire need of assistance I am. I am a man who is a single parent. I met a woman about 2 years ago, who claimed, as I did to here, that we were soul mates. I welcomed her into my home as is. She knew that I was a single parent, a man who was raising his son. She didn’t have any problems with that.

I proposed to her and gave her a two carat diamond ring. She meant the world to me. A few weeks later, we found out she was pregnant. That’s when it all started. I come to find out after the fact that she had a history of depression and some other psychological problems. In fact, she said she wanted to get an abortion, but wiser heads prevailed.
After the baby was born, she begins to flip out. Not only did she threaten to kill me, she also said she wanted to kill my son and gave me an ultimatum, either he goes or she goes. Of course, I suggested that she leave. But she didn’t, claiming that she loved me and didn’t want to leave or hurt us, but rather that she needed help.

This type of behavior continued on and off until the current state of things. She keyed my car and she also said she would burn down our hose and kill everyone, including our new born daughter. I can’t take this anymore. She even said that no one in my family, including my mother would see the baby ever; this was after we had planned three months prior to go to Memphis (my home) for my mother and grandmother to see the baby. What happened in Memphis was like a scene from a horror movie. Although two nights before we left for Memphis, she said that my mother would never see the child, the night before, she left, with the baby and got a hotel room. She said she didn’t want to go but that I could take the baby with me. She left instead, and I had to wait some four additional hours the following day before we could go – she came too although she said she didn’t want to. In the car the entire ride, she was screaming at the baby and even hit the car seat several times severely in an attempt to quite the baby down. I told her calmly, that that would only make the baby cry more. Meanwhile in the front seat, my son was furious and balling up his fist about to cry.

We made it to Memphis without any more grief. Bt we were not their in my mom’s house for two hours before she went on a triad and screamed that my mother would never see the baby again, and that she would never ever set foot in her house. Then she swung at my mother. My cousin, another female jumped and they started to fight a hotel and as much as I could, I tried to act like things were normal. But I couldn’t’ she even gave me my ring back and told my mother they she would never marry me and that it was over.

Back in Atlanta, things were as quiet as they could be. Outside of the ubiquitous I hate you, you are stupid, you are about shi*, I’m sorry, she had the never to ask me for her ring back as if she did not understand that such is a serious matter not to mention she had given it back twice before. I tried to be patient but I just continued to build up. Recently she took it to another level; she said that the child was not mine and that she had been meeting men in clubs and dating. She asked me to get her a permit to become a stripper and I refused, as a consequence she keyed my vehicle. The she said she wanted to be a prostitute at the bunny ranch, I said she had to do what she needed but I would not want her to do such and no man I figured would.

Now she says she hates me every day and that she is miserable being with me and that she will make my life and my son’s miserable. I ask her to leave and she wont and she said a man would put her out but that I was a punk because I wont put her and the baby in the streets with no where to go. I have also been trying to rebuild my house, it’s nice but it is old and not child proof. She wants it done right then but doesn’t understand that such takes time. She even got into it with my son, in which I told her that she was fussing about a 12 oz container of kool-aid. She told him that his mother hated him and that nobody loved him, I told him that was not the case and I also told her such. The next day, she accidentally burned her purse with her curling irons and asked me to get her another one, I said no, and she said she would get it anyway she could I said ok. The next day she lost her phone and blamed my son and me for it being missing. I don’t know what to do, as I type this I am at work with the child who I don’t know is mine but who I love so much. What can I do? I don’t know if she would come on your show about this topic but she would come for a make over or something, but she needs help and I can’t help here albeit I try every day. It is almost to the point where I may hit her. She slapped me yesterday and it took all I had to leave and go outside.

She only looks up to you and Star Jones (I think that’s her name).

Thanks just for listening

little black robes (11.8.2004)

When one thinks of the Supreme Court it is easy to think
of words like landmark and controversial. For some of us,
their decisions have led to dramatic changes. I am particularly
fond of some decisions like Brown v. Board of Education and
have disdain for others like Dred Scott where they ruled that
African Americans were not citizens.

Historically, the courts were supposed to be the weakest branch
of our government. However, today they often implement their
power by usurping the electoral process. Thomas Jefferson wrote
that having judges as the supreme decision makers on
constitutional questions would result in “despotism of an
oligarchy.�? As it stands, the Supreme Court has become a
state instrument for class rule and has done so via the
process of judicial review.

The best example of this is how in one fatal motion, the
U.S. Supreme Court ended the U.S. Television manufacturing
industry. In August of 1986, the Supreme Court ruled in favor
of Japanese television makers saying that U.S. manufactures
had an unfair advantage over them. As a result of this ruling,
the court effectively ended U.S. television manufacturing. In fact,
people would be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of U.S.
companies that make televisions any more. Another example
occurred in December 2000 when, in a 5 to 4 decision, the
Supreme Court disenfranchised the American voters when
they stated that any state legislature has the power to revoke
the popular vote with respect to the decision made during the
Florida election fiasco.

From my perspective, it is not the duty of the court to serve as
a vehicle of change. I believe that this is the responsibility of
elected leaders. The members of the Supreme Court are neither
elected, nor leaders. Moreover, their views often reflect elitist
values and beliefs that are not reflected by the general population.
I thought America was a constitutional republic, but it appears to
be more of a repressive autocracy as defined by people in
little black robes. —torrance stephens

they ain’t gonna quit (12.23.2004)

What is the one thing for certain that we will find out
about our invasion and occupation of Iraq? The British
eventually learned it—that these folks will never quit.

When the U.S. first took on Fallujah, it was all over
the news. As of the start of December, there has been
barely a mention of the city on the news or in newspapers.
From what I can tell, based on the lack of news coverage
on Fallujah since the operation started, the U.S. is
having a rough time. It is obvious that the media is
intentionally misreporting and under reporting the
events occurring in Fallujah. I suspect that this is
for several reasons. Maybe reporting the killing of
innocent civilians will not go over well in the U.S.
Or maybe it’s the use of outlawed weapons, such as
napalm, on the residents of Fallujah that would
confuse American people who’re watching the news. Worse,
such reports will not go too far at winning the hearts
and minds of Iraqi citizens, as the government desires.

It does not surprise me that the U.S. military is having
a rough time. I mean anytime one is pushed to using chemical
weapons, it is an obvious sign of trouble. Just last August,
the U.S. admitted to using poison gas in Iraq. Now, there
are these reports of using napalm (which is banned) in Fallujah.

I don’t know why the U.S. feels that these individuals are
not citizens. Think about it, what we fail to understand
is that these folks are not going to let a high and mighty
military power stop them from exercising acts of
self-determination. I cannot see someone coming into my
neighborhood—College Park, for example—to take over a
block to sell weed without a struggle, let alone if they
were trying to take and occupy my home. We are in for a
fight, and we better be ready to accept defeat. After all,
defeat is possible. –torrance stephens

birds of a theocracy

Theocracy. It’s not a new word, but it is being
used to characterize questions associated with why
the Muslim world won’t embrace the West, especially
the United States and Israel. In particular, the
term has been bandied about since the war in Iraq
and the tsunamis wreaked havoc in the countries
bordering the Indian Ocean.

Frankly, Muslim countries are no more theocratic
than the United States. Theocracy comes from the
Greek words Theos- meaning “God�? and cratein -
meaning “to rule.�? This means that a theocracy
is a government operating under the belief that
government can only be accomplished by the divine
guidance of a higher power.

In all honesty, the U.S. government is a reflection
of traditional Christian conservative values. This
is why the Republican Party is so heavily-influenced
by the religious right and other groups like the
Christian Coalition. This is as close to theocratic
tyranny as anyone can get.

We should not be vilifying the Islamic world just
because they lean toward theocracy when the United
States does the same thing. In addition, we should
not be directing hateful rhetoric toward such
countries as displayed by writers like Lewis Fein.
So what if Sri Lanka and Indonesia rejected tsunami
relief assistance from Israel and the United States.
Other nations’ spiritual ideology is not the point;
mutual respect for each others’ beliefs is the
salient point. We say we don’t want fanatics running
the Arab world, but we removed a secular leader in
Saddam Hussein and now we have a greater chance of
producing what in theory we were trying to destroy –
a unified and theocratic Muslim world. –torrance stephens

touch downs, chess pieces and dollar keepers

Originally published in Rollingout 10.19.2004

Man, church is a corporation. I know it is not politically correct
to say it,but things are not as sacrosanct in the house of the Lord as they seem. I have nothing against churches or religion really. I grew up in the church,and even loved singing in the choir. But I must call things the way I see them.Everywhere one looks, there are reminders of faith. Religious programming can be observed 24 hours a day on television. It seems more than obvious that religion has become big business for many. Sure, it has always proven to be a moneymaker in the African American community, but things are getting kind of ridiculous.

First, I may be a tad bit slow, but I don’t see why there is a need for the
big, castle like structures that appear to cost millions of dollars to construct.I was taught that church was the people; not a building. Secondly, I don’t or cannot comprehend why a minister needs to wear $1,000 plus suits and/or drive European sports cars panoplied with bullet proof glass. Now I can see this being the appropriate carriage of choice for drug dealers, but not men and women of the cloth.

I just wish the entertainment that we call church in the current form,
redirects attention to the people they serve. We need to re-evaluate
the necessity of passing collection plates around three or four times
during a service and try to figure out how to rebuild and strengthen
our community. If we don’t, then I will rest assured in my conviction
that the church I used to know is nothing more than a capitalistic machine that takes from the poor and gives to the rich. Call me what you like, but I have God in my life and do not need any touchdowns, chess pieces or dollar keepers to show me how to get on my knees and pray.

The Dis Network (from 6.7.2005)

It strikes me as strange that the most visible and some of the
most talented people in our community tend to do more harm
than good. A few months ago, it was Bill Cosby and his wretched
vilification of the African American poor (which now includes the
middle-class thanks to Mr. President). Now we have the incessant
bombardment of hip-hop MCs attacking each other. It’s cool, I
guess, to mix it up a little, but how many times can you rap about
a diamond worth 200 stacks in one ear alone?

Women are part of the problem because most of these men seem
to feel the only way they can attract you all is by showing how much
money they have and can spend. Their egos are already larger than
life. I have heard Killa Ca dis Ma$e, and the Lil Flip and T.I nonsense.
I have even heard about the beef between Luda and T.I.; my
information comes directly from underground mixtapes.

I’m really trying to understand this, I mean so what if Dem Franchise
boys hate D4L or that Lil Scrappy used to have blond hair and was
robbed in Carver Homes; or that Dem Franchise Boys went to college;
or that Jeezy has placed a 10-stackbounty on Gucci Mane’s chain?
It’s all ridiculous. These are relatively astute folks, but don’t they
know they make others think that this is how things SHOULD be?
I mean don’t they know that in the ATL for example, we have a few
problems with young’uns—even from so-called good neighborhoods—
shooting at each other? Don’t they know that they just give folks in
Congress permission to pass new legislation that will impose 10-year
minimum sentences on people convicted of gang violence and allow
the death penalty for gang murders? More specifically, it lets them
treat more juvenile gang members as adults. But I guess that
doesn’t matter. --torrance stephens

somebody in a tom delay t-shirt

From June of this year (6.23.2005)

Tom Delay may need to just be quiet. Whenever he does something,
there is always a cloud of controversy associated with his actions.
The majority leader’s daughter and some of his aids have even been
included in probe of allegations stemming from his spending of millions
of corporate dollars to assist in a 2002 Republican takeover of the
Texas House of Representatives. Investigators suggest that the
money was used to gerrymander congressional districts in Texas
when current laws suggest that using corporate money is illegal
to use in political campaigns conducted in Texas. As a result, Texas
congressional districts were redrawn to help send more Republican
lawmakers from the state to Washington. DeLay has many financial
ties to a number of House Republicans which will make it rather
difficult for them to actually determine the extent to which he broke
laws related to ethical transgressions within Washington.
With all of this, not to mention other issues related to unethical
conduct, Delay made ill-advised comments on the day Terri Schiavo
died after a court ordered her feeding tube removed at the request
of her husband. He suggested that courts should have intervened
to save her, calling their actions “arrogant, out-of-control, and
unaccountable.”

Delay needs to remember his manners and think about what
he is asking for—given the recent events regarding the judicial system
including the murder of the mother and husband of federal Judge Joan
Lefkow in Chicago and the March 11 murder of a judge, court reporter
and deputy sheriff in the Atlanta courthouse. I would suspect that he
would have more important things to do than passing judgment on the
courts and on television shows like “Law & Order.” Who knows, maybe
we should be placing all-points bulletins on folks who wear a
Tom DeLay T-shirt.--torrance stephens

Freedom and Democracy American Style

I’ve been trying to figure out what actually is a constitutional
referendum? This is supposedly what just occurred in Iraq. I
suggest supposedly because such a push toward democratic
centralism as proffered by the Bush Administration realy isn't democratic at all.
The overall process is even more complicated when one evaluates
the US assertion that they are attempting to bring Sunnis into
the political process while at the same time they continue to
target and arrests Sunnis and their major community leaders.

Second, reports indicate that a large number of Iraqi citizens
did not get a majority of the five million copies of the constitution
from the UN as indicated by the Bush Administration. So the
question still remains, how can you have a , constitutional
referendum if most of the folks have not read or do not
know what is contained in the constitution?

Add to the soup the observation that the claims of the Defense
department regarding preparing the Iraqi military to take over
the role of the United States, and we definitely have a quandary.
The President on the one hand, during the first week of October,
said in a speech to the National Endowment for Democracy
that “more than 80 Iraqi army battalions” were ready and
prepared for this task. However, this was in contradiction to
what US Army General George Casey told the Senate Armed
Services Committee on September 29th; when he reported that
there was just a single (one) Iraqi battalion ready and capable of
operating independent of US support.

There is obvious some consternation on behalf of the administration,
who constantly weave thick tails of make-believe as a penumbra
for Iraqi foreign policy and the Iraqi people, who have yet to accept
and promote freedom and democracy American Style.