How Bad the Economy really is

5 Worst Rappers of the Last 5 Years

Hip-hop has changed dramatically since its beginnings in the late 1970s. The days of socially conscious lyrics produced by the likes of Kurtis Blow, Public Enemy, and Eric B. Now such lyricism and dedication to the challenges associated with being an African American are lost to many so-called rappers with the exception of a few like Immortal Technique.

The sad reality is that most of the folks on the airwaves today have no talent and confuse illiteracy and megalomaniacal gloating and grandstanding as being representative of art when, in fact, it is merely garbage.

This list is not based on promotion or marketing or image, which the latter could also be included on, but rather sheer lyricism and verbal alacrity, or better yet, the lack thereof.

5] Jim Jones: New York Rapper and member of the Dipset could easily make the list if it was based on lack of character alone. If it were not for liquor, handguns, money and cards it seems that his vocabulary would be limited to pronouns. For example: "The .40 cals is mine, the nina's we could split; Cock back, squeeze off, started feedin 'm with the 5th …"

On a level of skill from one to 10, he gets a negative integer, and he uses the N-word so much he could be the black Mel Gibson.

4] OJ Da Juiceman: Representing the dirty south, this rapper has a similar preoccupation with guns, money and drugs as rapper number five. Moreover, he loves to use pseudo words, which by definition are words that don’t exist and are completely made-up. For example take these lyrics from his song "Make The Trap Say Aye": 'm boomin I'm buggin I'm termin all the Baites; Rap game ezy but da dope game gravy; Young juice man and my life is the Japerz; With stupid fruity crazy swag jumpin in Yo lader; Banana donk chevy interior like the Lakers."

For the record, baites and japerzs are not words, not to mention da is a prefix indicating to the 10th power, not an article. As much as he talks about numbers, one would have anticipated that he would know better.

3] Plies: This rapper sounds more like a circus clown and looks just as bad with a dash of oompa loompa and leprechaun thrown in for flavor. Although his popularity has increased and by some miraculous feat he has become a sex symbol, he still demonstrates limited ability to use subject verb agreement. I'm not sure but I think his name is an acronym for Pathetic Lyricist in Everlasting Suspension, because all of his songs are monotonous and misogynistic and should be labeled DNR — do not resuscitate. This is evident by the number of times the pronoun "I" can be heard in his songs. Take the lyrics from "Me & My Goons": "I am come solo tonight, I'm wit' my clique; I haven't seen her since I f---ed that b----; And I haven't called her so I know she sick …"

The first stanza shows that he did not attend let alone complete the fourth grade and the rest that he has no respect for women. I guess you could call him the Trey Songz of hip-hop because all he talks about is sexing women. I am sure there is more in his mind than that — psych.

2] Waka Flocka Flame: I think he would better be served if he was called Waka Flocka Fool, for a fool by definition is one who is deficient in judgment, sense, or understanding or more fittingly, one who acts unwisely on a given occasion. I don't have enough content to evaluate his true lyrical astuteness but I can say he needs to work on his enunciation of words. His club banger, “O Lets Do It,” highlights his lyrical deficiencies: "1 shot man down; His brains go ka-pow; … But that happen often off in riverdale georgia; You gone pay the life you live off in riverdale georgia”

What is this, an episode of “Batman?” Ka-pow? Plus it isn't hard to rhyme Riverdale, Georgia with Riverdale, Georgia. All it tells me is that I’m glad my kids are not in school in Clayton County.

1] Soulja Boy: Probably one of the most popular on this list, yet least talented with respect to lyrical prowess and content. Jewelry, fashion designers and I seem to be the only nouns and pronouns used in his songs. Moreover, it is more than obvious that if the pseudo word "swag” had never been created, he would run out of song titles and hooks. In " Turn My Swag On" he uses the word seven times and in "Pretty Boy Swag" it is mentioned 19 times. And let us not forget the song "Booty Got Swag." His “talent” can be summed up with these lyrics from the song "Gucci Bandanna." It's Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, I roll with Shawty Lo; I got so much snow, Gucci head to toe; Chain on chill, watch on freeze; So much ice I got lookin' like Chinese." What is the relationship between ice and Asians, can someone tell me?

Now there were others in the running, including the entire Dipset, Lil Flip, and Slim Thug and many others who are deserving of honorable mentions. Maybe one day rap will return to its greatness and be more than what many of today's rappers talk about (or maybe not), but I will keep my fingers crossed.

How Obama’s Election Drove the GOP Insane

It is not hard to find hard-core criticism floating through the air like pollen regarding our nation’s first African American president. Some of which is deserved, most of which is not and is simply, colloquially speaking, hating. The overwhelming corpus of which comes from Republicans on the far and middle right.

This is more than obvious — so obvious, in fact, that many on the right have manifested behaviors reflective of the tenets espoused by Freud when he discussed defense mechanisms.

From extreme projection (in which a person lacks consciousness of their own thoughts and ascribes those unconscious thoughts to others), to denial (refusal to accept external reality because it is too threatening), everything this segment of the political spectrum says is targeted towards Obama. Now some would say it is politics as usual, but I disagree with that assertion.

Recently, right-wing radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham stated that first lady Michelle Obama's Whitehouse garden was a "left-wing plot."

Glenn Beck, in a similar vein, speaking about the outfit the first lady wore to her visit to the Gulf, described it as an "outrage."

It is difficult to empirically understand such comments since they have nothing to do with the real political issues at hand. It can simply be reduced to behavioral neuroses that are rooted in America's steep tradition of racial vilification, which traditionally manifests in personal attacks and demonization.

The reality is that the GOP is out of ideas, and rather than thinking about solving the nation's problems, would rather stoke over-the-top paranoia, which if history is any indication, often results in violence. Just ask anyone who had dogs released on them, water from a fire hose sprayed on them, or anyone with a family member hung from a tree or dragged from a truck.

Insanity is a serious and debilitating condition that disrupts one's capacity to function within the legal limits of society, which results in both a deranged mind and (too) many times, a tragic outcome.

Big Booty Women and VIP: Why Black Students Can't Finish High School

Tatiana Reina wanted to graduate in the worst way — and she did. Ordinarily, a student's graduation would be applauded and presented as an achievement and symbol of perseverance, but not in Reina's case. The 21-year-old Reina was enrolled at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., for six years. Her grades and attendance records were abysmal, replete with missing classes and failing grades. In 2007, she even faked her graduation, sneaking into the commencement line panoplied in cap and gown.

Although she had ample time to complete her high school graduation requierements, Reina did not hold up her end of the bargain. She did not attend the majority of her classes. The standard for graduation is to attend at least 90 percent of one's classes. Even when she was confronted with "aging out" or being too old for the school system this year, she received another chance and still did not attend the required amount of classes.

Yet Principal Jacqueline Boswell still allowed Reina to graduate.

According to the New York Post in June, Reina showed up for the last five days and was given some health and chemistry assignments in the guidance office," where "She sat at a computer and Googled her answers." The Post also states that "teachers were pressured into giving Reina — and a half-dozen other failing students — minimally passing grades of 65, the equivalent of a D, to get the credits needed to graduate."

In Knoxville, Tenn., incoming top 100-freshman receiver Da'Rick Rogers was charged and detained after an early morning bar fight that left police officer Robert Capouellez unconscious on the street. Witnesses have alleged that while the officer was down, Rogers and others repeatedly kicked the officer in the head.

It is strange that people — not all, but some — do not appreciate the value of an education nor put forth the effort to maximize opportunities when proffered. Reina could have easily gone to class and studied just as Rodgers could have valued a scholarship to a major Division I school. However, neither exhibited behavior that indicated appreciation, but rather acted as if it was their right to graduate in the former case or attend college in the latter.

We often point fingers at the institutions rather than the individuals. The fact is, many of us spend more time chasing or being the big booty girl in the VIP section of the club, than studying, helping our youth value education, or assisting our kids with homework.

Obama Administration Wants to Give FBI Access to Personal Internet Activity

A recent report in The Washington Post has revealed that the Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to collect information on the personal Internet activities of American citizens without the requirement of a search warrant.

The change, if implemented, would give the executive branch and the FBI increased powers by forcing companies to provide upon request, the records of any individual’s Internet activity without being required to obtain a court order.

According to the Post, the Obama administration will be able to provide information to the FBI if they feel it is important and pertinent to a "terrorism or intelligence investigation." Merely by inserting the words "electronic communication transactional records" to a list of materials that current laws state that the FBI may request without the approval of a judge. This includes personal user Internet web browser activity and the addresses to which an individual sends e-mail. More important is that the request would be secretly obtained and withheld from the individual user.

Unknown to many is that according to government sources, many Internet and e-mail services already provide the government with such data. During his campaign, Obama ran on many issues, including enhancing individual civil liberties. However, this effort may lead to an erosion of individual rights and privacy. In 2007, a published report by the Inspector General’s office revealed that the FBI might have incurred many violations in requesting such data — including the solicitation of information without having an approved investigation to justify the request.

Warrantless surveillance programs are unconstitutional, yet the current administration, following where former President George W. Bush left off, argues that such information is the same or equal to telephone toll billing records, which the FBI can obtain without court authorization. This means that finding out who a person sends an e-mail to or a Facebook friend request is the same as a telephone call.

It would seem as a constitutional law scholar, Obama would understand that the First Amendment protects the personal association information of a citizen.

The question is how this might impact future government legislation. On March 4, 2010, the “Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010” was introduced by John McCain. This bill, if passed, would eliminate several constitutional protections allowing government to arbitrarily pick up Americans on mere suspicion — with no probable cause. Not to mention, in May of this year, the president gave a speech in which he asked Congress to pass legislation to give the president, power to detain any person in the U.S. that the government deems a “combatant” or likely to engage in a violent act in the future.

How far does the government plan to go invade the private lives of its citizens under the guise of national security? We will have to wait and see, for it seems to reflect what Huxley predicted would happen in a A recent report in The Washington Post has revealed that the Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to collect information on the personal Internet activities of American citizens without the requirement of a search warrant.

The change, if implemented, would give the executive branch and the FBI increased powers by forcing companies to provide upon request, the records of any individual’s Internet activity without being required to obtain a court order.

According to the Post, the Obama administration will be able to provide information to the FBI if they feel it is important and pertinent to a "terrorism or intelligence investigation." Merely by inserting the words "electronic communication transactional records" to a list of materials that current laws state that the FBI may request without the approval of a judge. This includes personal user Internet web browser activity and the addresses to which an individual sends e-mail. More important is that the request would be secretly obtained and withheld from the individual user.

Unknown to many is that according to government sources, many Internet and e-mail services already provide the government with such data. During his campaign, Obama ran on many issues, including enhancing individual civil liberties. However, this effort may lead to an erosion of individual rights and privacy. In 2007, a published report by the Inspector General’s office revealed that the FBI might have incurred many violations in requesting such data — including the solicitation of information without having an approved investigation to justify the request.

Warrantless surveillance programs are unconstitutional, yet the current administration, following where former President George W. Bush left off, argues that such information is the same or equal to telephone toll billing records, which the FBI can obtain without court authorization. This means that finding out who a person sends an e-mail to or a Facebook friend request is the same as a telephone call.

It would seem as a constitutional law scholar, Obama would understand that the First Amendment protects the personal association information of a citizen.

The question is how this might impact future government legislation. On March 4, 2010, the “Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010” was introduced by John McCain. This bill, if passed, would eliminate several constitutional protections allowing government to arbitrarily pick up Americans on mere suspicion — with no probable cause. Not to mention, in May of this year, the president gave a speech in which he asked Congress to pass legislation to give the president, power to detain any person in the U.S. that the government deems a “combatant” or likely to engage in a violent act in the future.

How far does the government plan to go invade the private lives of its citizens under the guise of national security? We will have to wait and see, for it seems to reflect what Huxley predicted would happen in a totalitarian society in his book Brave New World. society in his book Brave New World.

12 things I would do to improve the economy

As of the end of June, 14 million Americans were out of work. Of that number, nearly seven million people have been unemployed for more than a year. This is a topic of particular importance to me because I lost my business during this economic downturn and have not secured full-time employment. Since then, I have been studying the economic policies of current and past administrations as well as the history of the 1930s, the Great Depression and the economic crisis of 1873.

In each case, problems arose on Wall Street, credit generally was tight and many financial institutions went belly up. I should explain that my armchair economic view is a function of the Austrian economic school of thought as opposed to Keynesian. And even though what I am suggesting may not repair our economic situation completely, it’s a step toward developing a comprehensive plan.

1. Revisit the impact of North American Free Trade Agreement and other policies that work directly against U.S. economic interests, particularly in reference to the middle and lower class populations.

2. The Obama administration needs to get more aggressive and block the Bush economic policies that the new Republican guard desires to reintroduce — like tax cuts for the wealthy.

3. Develop standards for Wall Street and financial institutions that target greed instead of capitalism. There is a difference between the two, but our policy approach does not acknowledge it.

4. Require that all complex financial instruments such as derivatives be kept on an institution’s books. Mandate that basic accounting procedures be followed so that the true value of the investment is reported. We do not need any more Enrons.

5. Focus on developing economic initiatives that compete directly with new emerging economies while reducing fossil fuel consumption.

6. Move away from a service economy and invest more in education and research. One of the problems is that we do not create or invent things of value the rest of the world needs or desires.

7. Cut oil subsidies entirely. Oil companies are making billions of dollars off taxpayers. If we want to stimulate energy production, take the money and put 10 percent of it into solar and wind power that we can engineer, and build these technologies here in America.

8. Legalize and tax prostitution and marijuana along with selected other drugs. Decriminalize small amounts of others.

9. Audit the Federal Reserve and examine its continued relevance, as well as cut subsidies to industries that aren’t efficient enough to stay afloat without government money.

10. Eliminate the federal corporate income tax and all foreign aid. Limit individual taxation to money spent on goods and services. This would be a fair tax (everyone taxed at the same rate) mixed with a consumption tax.

11. Eliminate the FCC (which is a total waste of money) and the Department of Education. States should run education, not the feds.

12. Bring our troops home. They can defend our borders and there’s no telling how much money we will save.

Do Black Women Support Adultery?

We know that men, in particular married men have a problem in our community, not all but some. I like to call this the keeping it in your pants syndrome. Yes I am speaking about adultery, when a man or woman sleeps with a married person and they know they are married. I do not claim to be the moral zeitgeist, but I have recognized that nowadays, just as many women are guilt of the pleasures of the flesh as are men, so my query to you is, do black women promote adulteress behavior more so in this current generation than generations past?

I ask this based on two recent observations, I could make it three if i decided to include the debauchery proffered by a one Superhead, but I won't. Albeit I feel that her influences on young women is foul seeing that it supports scandal and leg opening for fortune and fame.

The two examples I am referring too are Alicia Keyes and Former 'American Idol' Winner Fantasia Barrino. I would expect that any woman who was married and found out that another woman was being intimate with her husband would be mad, and mad at any woman who slept with a married man. I would also expect that, although it takes two to tango, that women would equally find that both the man and woman involved to be disrespectful, despicable and sordid.

However, what I noticed regarding Alicia Keys, and her affair with Music Producer Swizz Beats, was that many made excuses and even applauded her actions as acceptable behavior under the guise of the man and his wife were separated. Like separation is the same as a divorce or that maybe even she was the cause for the separation.

Now I do not know how women will respond to the allegations that Fantasia Barrino made sex tapes with a married man, but I wonder if celebrity gives such behavior a pass by some. I never heard Alicia Keyes being called a home-wrecker as i suspect many common folk would be labeled. But it is obvious that the wife off Antwuan Cook, Paula Cook thinks otherwise.

It seems that in the age of strip clubs, groupies and fame, women now, more than ever are willing to do whatever to get paid or get a little name recognition. This type of behavior is merely a reflection of what has now become common place. Yes the men are just as guilty, but can't a woman say no if she knows the man is married? I don't know, that's why I am just asking the query, do black women support adultery and what makes women give Alica Keyes or Fantasia Barrino a pass for acts they would not forgive their girlfriend or sister for if they slept with their husband? Or would they "rather be cheated on than broken up with or take a piece of a man that's married?"

Mike Epps Critical of Mel Gibson for Using a Word He Uses Every Day

Recently, it was brought to my attention that a noted celebrity comedian went all in, as they say, on Mel Gibson for his use of the N-word. I was unaware of the video but just had a chance to watch it today. Now the way I see it, ain't that the pot calling the kettle black. Of all folks, Epps should keep his mouth shut.

In this case the definition of a hypocrite is a person who is mad at Gibson for using a word that he uses every day — if the shoe fits, wear it. I cannot recount Epps having any history or concern with civil rights or racism issues in the past. I may be wrong but I don't. He even went so far as to invoke the name of God, asserting to Mel Gibson that God knows what he did.

It is strange to me that Epps could be mad for Gibson using a word that I have seen him use in his comedy acts. Not to mention that he, through the use of the word, continues to encourage others to maintain the history that created the term historically. I have it easy, because instead of the N-word, I use Mel Gibson. Example: That Mel Gibson is crazy.

Our conditioning as a people is overtly evident, for we will jump on a white man before we jump on ourselves and our associates. True, what Gibson said was derogatory and vile, but I don't feel right picking on him, a man I don't know who doesn't know the experiences of African Americans. However, I do feel it's appropriate to dress down my own people and acknowledge the duplicity in holding others more accountable than we do ourselves. Epps, I suspect your intentions are good, but Mel Gibson, please!!! That's what is wrong with us today. We want to deal with nonsense while avoiding issues of content and substance. You should have used it to address young black men who use the N-word like a pronoun

Colored Hair, Weaves, and Tattoos: How Black Girls Replaced Coretta King with Nicki Minaj

Back in the day, there were standards of decorum that men and women set and adhered to. The women in my family and neighborhood behaved maturely and responsibly and always looked after all the kids and provided guidance. Very rarely would they act or behave in a manner that would be detrimental to our development. Those times are long gone.

Today, the trend is completely opposite. Young women often mimic behaviors, not of their elders, but those that are presented in the media. This habit has seemed to worsen over the years. Young women adopt behaviors of people who should not be idolized or looked up too as role models at all. One such person is the self-proclaimed black Barbie, Nicki Minaj.

I have yet to understand how much one has to hate who they are to the extent that they would identify with a white toy doll. Now if it is a metaphor to indicate that one is fake, plastic, artificial, superficial and lacks substance -- then the term fits. Otherwise, it is one of the dumbest assertions I have ever heard. Unfortunately, I guess I am the only one who thinks like this, for it appears young women copy everything and like what she does. From colored wigs, to having so many tattoo's on their bodies they could pass as being a Maori, a New Zealand native, young women have been influenced so much that they do not even carry themselves like ladies.

The message of being responsible and being your own person with personal standards and morals is lost in the picture. We have a culture of young African American girls who are so fixated on entertainers and materialism, that they concern themselves more with their hair and clothes, than education and basic family values.

Attempting to be like trifling folk like Nicki Minaj is just a way of saying a person doesn't like themselves and would rather accept and live by European standards of what is considered beautiful. The fact is that a younger audience is listening to her music, an audience that already lacks self-respect and is often disrespectful in general. These are just more ignorant practices that degrade women as just a form of meat.

Neo-Nazis and Aryans Taking Over Where Tea Baggers Leave Off?

In this climate of the resurgence of hate and racism, America may be returning to its post-Civil War roots. The impetus is namely the excuse that America has its first president of African descent. There was a white pride march this past spring in downtown Jackson, Mich., whose goal was to “fight for the rights of whites.”

Although we have seen the rallies fostered by the Tea Baggers, there are even more substantially dreaded events scheduled to occur in the coming months. The Georgi-based League of the South has scheduled its 2010 national conference for the 8th and 9th of October at the Atlanta Airport Hilton. Founded in 1994, the League of the South is a neo-Confederate group that advocates for a second Southern secession and a society dominated by “European Americans.”

This Saturday, there will be an Aryan Nations rally at Gettysburg National Military Park. At this event, the members will be allowed to carry firearms on park grounds, under a new federal law that took effect in February. Gordon Young, who leads the Maryland chapter of the organization, has said the group intends to bring two rifles to "protect" the group's national director Paul Mullet. Young, the former head of the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, was recently arrested on a statutory rape charge.

In addition, just this week in Arizona, members of the Neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement led by J. T. Ready and Harry Hughes have started patrolling the Pinal County and Mexican border armed with assault rifles. Ready, who has a criminal record, was also court-martialed twice and kicked out of the U.S. Marine Corps.

This is a troubling period in America. While the fringe hate groups and political extremists in white America continue to spew vitriol, many African Americans remain unconcerned and uninformed of the threat that we actually may be facing. We have elected the first African American president in U.S. history, but it seems that after the inauguration, many of us have left Obama out to dry with our reduced activism and support after he was in office. Will we recognize these threats and become more involved beyond voting and maintain our political vigor, or will we define this historical outcome with our inactivity?