Venus’ Illusion…Gulf Oil Spill… Obama at West Point… and Lena Horne passing

When I read the story I knew I was going to be writing a blog on it.  At first I chalked it up to something not clicking in their heads.  And I said ‘they’… because first it was Serena and her nude layout in Esquire magazine.

Now here comes Venus with her illusion.

Had I wrote this blog about Venus and our outfit yesterday I would have been far more harsh than my thinking is today.  Because between yesterday and today my mind came across something.

I thought about my young indiscretions.  Things I did in my youth that I would never do or think to do now.  Foolish things…some even down right ridiculous.  But I did them.

And the thought came to me how I used to love going out on this nude beach in New York.  Where I didn’t mind taking it off…and didn’t think twice about doing it.

And I wasn’t embarrassed about either…nor did I think anything wrong about me doing so.  Getting almost naked…top off and letting it all hang out while I laid in the sun and walked along the rolling waves.

So, when I thought of this I re-thought what I was going to say in this blog.  I am now a little more tolerant of  youth…and yes they do…do crazy things…we all sometimes do and have too.

Yes, I think it bad taste the choice that Venus made in her design of her tennis outfit for the French Open, in making it appear that she wasn’t wearing underwear…and thinking that it was cute… or comical… or sassy…or sexy… or  even stylish.

I would never, however, compare my removing my top and enjoying a day out on the beach to being on center court in Paris at the French Open with tons of  TV and news cameras flashing at me.

Nor would I ever say that what Venus chose to wear before a crowd of people…mostly upper middle class and above…and mostly white…  was in good taste… or for prime time viewing. 

In fact, thinking about it made me think of  Josephine Baker and her bananas…and the scathy way she used to dress when she performed.   I very much think that if  Josephine were alive today that she might re-think  wrapping  bananas around her waist and shaking her stuff  like she was crazy.

I have always held that both Venus and Serena were great role models  in all aspects of  their  careers…not just for young girls and the young ladies within our own race, but also to those outside of it as well.   That is…up until Serena posed naked and now Venus stepping out on the courts wearing something…wanting to give the illusion of being naked.

It is all rather a bit too much for me to take at this time.

They have burst my bubble…

What are they thinking?

First Serena…then Tiger…and now Venus.

http://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/blog/busted_racquet/post/Venus-Williams-is-still-wearing-really-short-dre?urn=ten-308608

It was nice while it lasted.   It used to be such a pleasure picking up the newspaper…or watching the news…or catching stuff over the internet about them.  Now all 3 of them seem to be falling from the mark… loosing their barings…and the standards they once set for themselves… that they once up-held.  And that they are now dropping down by the wayside.

My father would call it…going out of the world backwards.  He was great at saying that…and especially to me.  Perhaps, it has much to do with why I am as I am today.

But maybe it’s been too much money?

Too much fame?

Or maybe it is just their youth…

Or too much pressure  being Black…and being so in sports that many Black people did not participate in…and then landing on the top of  it.  Sports which had typically been dominated by non-Black athletes…and here you go ending up being the top money makers…highest paid athletes in their games…grossing the highest earnings as a male atheletic… and as female athletes.

What an achievement.  I am sure that it must come with plenty of  scars… hurt… and lots of anguish.  Particularily, when you were just  starting out.  Nobody within those circles liked you then…much less loved you.  You were just a dark spot coming into a lilly white game that nobody believed would bloom and  grow up dominating…and then becoming number 1.

Yeah, that had to be hard.  Going out on courts where everybody snubbed you…and didn’t want you anywhere around in  their ‘white only’ club houses.  But then gradually over time and championships all of  that changed.  They came to know your name…wrote stories about you… wanted private interviews with you… and a few even sought you out for sponsorships.  But not as many as you could have gotten…and should have gotten…if you were white.

But you aren’t white.  Never been white…and I’m hoping never wanted to be white.  But now you are ‘in like Flen.’   They can’t deny your talent… or your gifts from God.  But you still remember the pain…the time when…   When things didn’t seem that they were ever going to get to where they are now…but yet you kept pushing… kept reaching …striving… and achieving.

At the time it may have seemed like a great idea when Venus sat down and decided to design it… but to take black lace and create something which looks more like a ladies bustiea was never ever a good idea…when it was her intention to wear such an outfit out in public.

Why would Venus want to go out on center court…on a world stage looking like a cheap downtown hustler or prostitute?

All I can say is…. blame it on her youth…perhaps the times.

Young women today see nothing wrong in baring it all…wearing as little as possible… or wearing their under clothes outside in the street…and call it ‘fashion.’

Nor do they see anything wrong or  filthy in wearing their pajamas out in street.  Or the boys with their pants hanging down to their knees.

There is something very wrong with the way culture and fashion seem to be clashing today.    Standards in etiquette, style and class have all taken a back seat to the tasteless, classless and raunchy.  And it doesn’t seem to matter how much money you make… or whether you are our new set of  athletic supper stars… or new found musical talents and movie stars of today.

All tattooed out from head to toe…and pierced all over the place.  There was a time only a chosen few rebellious outcast doorned the way out hair, blacken fingernails, body piercing and tattoos.  But not now.   It’s your daughter and my nieces and some nephews…and practically all the guys who play professional basketball and everything else.   And every drummer…and groupie alike.

Used to be that everybody was searching for their own ‘unique’ them.  Now it seems that everyone wants to be like everyone else.  Marked up and grossly ‘un-individual.’

I feel sorry for Venus…Serena… and Tiger.  They seem to have lost their way.  Once they were champions…now I am just not all that sure any more.

No one could ever say that she wasn’t a class act.  No, they could never say that about Lena Horne.  Always beautiful…and sassy…  she had an air of proud-ness about her that could not be mistaken.

Can’t say I personally met her…but I once did have an opportunity to catch her in a performance at McCormick Place in  Chicago.  It was an opening when the seniors of  Sixth Grace United Presbyterian Church decided to sponsor a trip to catch Lena in her finale show she was on tour with.  Though I didn’t really want to go…by the time I got in my seat and Lena started to perform I was more than happy to be there.

I had never really thought much about Lena Horne as she was before my time.  But the show was a  retrospect of her life in the entertainment business, obstacles she had encountered, her determination to make it to the top in spite of…and it was filled with plenty of  spunk and humor.  I thought about Lena for days after that show…  I loved it.   I had absolutely loved that show and fell in love with Lena.  And all those seniors who dragged me there loved it too.

I remember Mother Emma Turner so well.  She just would not let me say ‘no.’   Nor would Mrs. Ripperton…Minnie’s mother…they teamed up on me.  And so I got a wonderful opportunity to see and hear a legion.  Someone I think I had seen her on the old Ed Sullivan Show several times…and had certainly seen in a couple of old movies.  But that night even as an older woman…Lena was radiant and still just as beautiful.

Lena Horne passed recently a few days ago…and I had never known she was a native New Yorker.  A Brooklyn girl in fact.  I guess that accounts for why she had so much spunk  and a wonderful attitude.  And boy….did she have attitude…and in a good loving way.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-207_162-10003452.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/arts/music/10horne.html

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/05/10/theater/20100510-hornebroadway.html?ref=music



Got a ton of  hits today regarding this story.  So, I decided that  I would comment on it.

This is the story about the ex-Detroit Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick who just got thrown back in prison by a Judge who decided that Kwame hadn’t really learned his lesson…though he contended that he was changed and had become a ‘good guy.’

So, Kwame hires her as the personal assistant to the Mayor.  And somewhere along the line they began carrying on romantically…texting messages and meeting up in various hotel rooms…then chatting about it in their text messages…him and Christine.

All of this while Kwame  was taking the city for a ride…and living large…and I guess a little too large.  For which the City of  Detroit  is demanding restitution.  Well, they demanded it back in 2008 when the city took him to court…sued him… and then sent him to jail for 2 months.  But Kwame after paying $140,000.00 against a $3 million debt…claimed that he had no more money.  And did not the court find out otherwise.

BAM!

Now, he is back off  to jail again.  And as you can see in the top courtroom picture of him…he is none too happy.

Being a supposed lawyer himself it is hard to see how Kwame failed to be more careful…smarter…or act wiser.  I have to agree with the woman below in 1 of the youtube clips.

“When you are voted in by the people you have a moral responsibility to the people.”

And you also have a debt of service…which should not be converted into a self-serving attitude.

There is something about power…if you are not careful you can become too full of  yourself and abuse it.  I think that is what happened to Kwame…he became too full of  himself.   And then started thinking he was untouchable.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/ex-detroit-mayor-kwame-kilpatrick-gets-tough-sentence-for-probation-violation/19490859

I have to say that after watching this footage I feel sorry for her… Christine Beatty.  Almost everybody deserves a chance… and an opportunity to be forgiven.  We have all done some foolish things. I know that I have.

It is highly unlikely that Ms. Beatty will resume her studies in law…or become that lawyer. But perhaps she will… sometimes these kinds of things come to prove to us who God is… and to make us better…stronger and more determined to succeed… and to labor to do the right things.

I wish her well… both of them really.

Some of us have to rise up out of  the pits of hell to find ourselves and our true calling in life.

Worst oil spillage ever?

I thought that the oil spill that hit Alaska some years ago was the worst.  And based upon what I hear the effects of  it are still being felt.  Perhaps it is time…or way past time that a little more time and oversight should be spent on ensuring that these type of things just do not happen.  And at the very least certainly not to this extent.

The oil spill that hit Alaska in 2009 was due a boat transporting oil owned by Exxon.   The Exxon Valdez ran aground spilling nearly 11 million gallons of oil upon a clean and scenic Alaska water way.  Now the BP oil company is currently dealing with a oil rig which exploded killing 11 of  its workers releasing an inestimable amount of crude oil which is now beginning to wash up on the shores of  Louisiana and Florida.  And is threatening to not only damage the Gulf and its coast line but also that of shores on the Atlantic Ocean side.

It is terrible seeing the birds covered with oil trapped down under the weight of it covering them, near dead in the muck of muddy tar like waste just waiting to die.   The pollution that has filled their air, shores and an ever enlarging area destroying lives…and undoubtedly causing plenty of soon to come health issues.   And while destroying the beauty of  our dear Mother Earth.

Besides having to deal with the news of the oil spill President Obama was at West Point this past weekend delivering their Commmencement Speech.  He has grown to not look Presidential but also sound it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/37519216#37521148

Though in reading the story I could not help but notice how whenever the writer spoke of the President…he always used the lower case ‘P’ …like when he wrote ‘and the president…’,  as opposed to a capital ‘P.’   Which in the past has always been the custom in this country when referring to our Presidents in print.  And that is why it always leaps out at me now whenever I come across it this way.  Because I am not accustom to seeing that done at any other time in reference to the President of the United States.

It would the equivalent of  using a lower case ‘q’ whenever someone wrote something in reference to ‘the Queen.’   Which is a definite no-no…just ask the British.   You never see that…nor did I ever see a lower case ‘P’ ever being used in newspaper articles or anything else in reference to our other Presidents… past Presidents of the United States prior to Barack Obama.  That is until this time.  To be sure Barack Obama is ‘our’ President…and he definitely got voted into the White House.  He is owed the respect that is due him as any other man who has operated in that capacity.  And I have read several articles now written with that lower case ‘p’  when referring to him…and I find it to be a slap in his face…an insult and total lack of  respect.

It speaks volumes as to the state of mind and hidden agendas… and bias feelings which still exist here in this country.  And I do speak of  racism.

At least Barack Obama got voted in…whereas George W. Bush stole his way into the White House.  And what a set-up that was…not to mention a mess he created of this country under him.

Now, if  they…those newspaper columnists and others   could refer to George W. Bush in their writings…their news articles and the like with a capital ‘P’…then I see no reason why they have a problem and cannot do so when referring to President Obama.  Who by the way…got voted in…and by a resounding number.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/25/louisiana.spill.town.hall/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/30/louisiana-oil-spill-2010_n_558287.html

I am so sleepy I can barely keep my eyes open.

I started this blog near 7 PM and it is now 5:45 AM.  And I really can’t go a step further.

So, I will say…good-night.  And hope you enjoy your day…and some time later today I will go over this blog and try to weed out the errors.

I can’t do it now…because I just can’t keep my eyes open.   It gets like that sometimes.

But I just had to try to finish this as so many people have been hitting my blog to check on some things.  Now, I feel much better…because it is done.   And if  I think of  anything else I will add it later.  Good-night….

And…God bless.

THE BISHOP’S WIFE  is now on sale…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2010

2 comments May 26, 2010

Leaking tanks and FEMA… more FEMA problems

What is it with FEMA?

For FEMA to be a government agency it seems to be littered with such managerial problems.

First the contaminated Katrina trailers…now over 270 fuel tanks with thousands of gallons of fuel which are stored both underground and some above…could be leaking fuel both into the soil and water…causing yet more FEMA contamination problems…but this around the country. 

We could all come face to face with this FEMA problem…as it could become a national problem.  Because those tanks have been placed all around the United States.

How is it that this organization…FEMA could go all these years with a nonchalant attitude concerning these tanks and their possible hazards to us all?

How can it be that they were so irresponsible in the maintainance and care of these tanks?

These tankers store up to 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel or as much as 10,000 gallons in gasoline…and they were placed around the country in various locations during the Cold War.

Can you remember when that was?

It was during the 60’s and we are now nearing the end of 2008.   So, if you do the math that is…huh?

Huh?

Nearly 50 years ago…depending upon when in the 60’s these tanks were either laid in the ground or stored otherwise.

A statement released said that FEMA needed to inspect these tanks for possible leaks of hazardous substances that make local drinking water undrinkable.

Unbelieveable.   And it has been a problem long seen by the FEMA people and other government officials as a looming potential problem.  Yet no attention as been paid to it. 

It is the same “I could care less” attitude that FEMA had when it knew that it was giving out contaminated housing to the Katrina victims…but they could have cared less.  FEMA gave them those highly formaldehyde poisoned trailers knowingly and never looked back.

And we pay these people with our tax dollars?????

This problem can create mammouth and irreversible health issues.   Leaks can lead to higher risk of cancer, kidney damage and nervous system disorders…which they will, of course, claim that the illness could not be tied to the leaks…because maybe your family was predisposed to the illness based upon your family history. 

Yeah, and I guess so…since nobody every told you that there were FEMA fuel tanks buried somewhere near your family home for nearly 50 years.  And you were wondering why everybody was coming down with cancer or some type of serious disorder.

A single gallon of fuel can contaminate 1 million gallons of water.

This is serious business…and we all need to be made aware…and stay on top of this story.

CLICK BELOW to read more on this story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080812/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/leaking_fuel_tanks

God bless…  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  pass it on…  ©2008

Add a comment August 13, 2008

Madame Secretary… Condi Rice …Denzel

Perhaps one of the most unacclaimed and least recognized women in the Black Community because of…for the most part because of whom she works for.  

Which really is all the more reason why we should all love her…because really who could stand the guy?   Particularly, if you were as efficient and as dedicated to doing your job well…as Condoleezza  Rice evidently is.

But…

I love her. 

Sorry about the display of the other photos on this page…but the US State Department for some reason…is blocking their display.

I love her stand on Affirmative Action…and that of Colin Powell.

I love her being able to maintain her pure image.

I love her seemingly being a woman of virtue.

I love her intelligence.

I love her abilitly to handle herself well…her ability to walk among men and not cowl down to anyone.

I love her for her brilliance.

I love her for her ability to hold her own in any room…among any group of people.

I love the way she carries herself.

I love that she is a big woman who walks like a woman and talks like a woman…and is not trying to be anyone or anything else.

I love that she is a woman with a good job…and is good at doing it.

And I love…and really love that she is a black woman…an African American woman…who is not trying to portray herself as any other type of woman.She is diligent…steadfast…and doesn’t quibble.  She does what she has to get done.

But most of all I love what she has to say about Denzel Washington.

Yeah…I think I really really love her because she knows who she is and doesn’t take a back seat to anyone on that or anything else…and that she loves black men…handsome, intelligent black men…who love and respect black women…their people. 

And in this case…his wife.

Yeah, I’m happy about Obama.  But I am also happy about you…holding the highest office in America that any woman has ever held, Madame Secretary of State.

Republican…whatever.  Condoleezza Rice, I just love you…and respect you.

You go, girl! 

And you too, Mr. Denzel.

The Bible says…to whom honor is due…  

CLICK HERE to see what she has to say about Denzel Washington… http://www.yahoo.com/s/930559

Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State of the United States of America.

Well….hope you have a beautiful day.     and God bless…  ©2008

1 comment August 7, 2008

My day out… my Bible… and Chinese

Today while out and about, I noticed the gas prices at a couple of places.  It was at $3.99…not much difference from $4.08.

But psychologically speaking. 

It sure looks a lot better.

A couple of days ago I was out at the track.  Sometimes I just like to pull out there and sit in the car and read my Bible.

On this particular day, I ran into an old family and church friend with whom we had grown up with.  He shared with me a book he was reading. 

This book had to be about 2 1/2 inches in thickness.  It was a book on the Masons.

We have all heard of the Masons…but I never knew much about them as most of what they do is secret and kept among themselves.

But what was interesting about this book were the hand signals that were displayed in it.  The hand signals used by the Masons symbolizes some type of secret code…which of course this book explained along with everything else about the Masons.  But I was not about to read all that stuff. 

But those hand signals are the exact hand signals used by the rappers.  You’ve seen them in the music videos and at the music award shows flashing all kinds of hand signals.

Well, those hand signals come directly from the Masons.  Along with some other things called the hidden hand and the claw…which are all shown in this book which is full of pictures showing everybody and their brother using and flashing these various hand signs from generals to Presidents past and present.

But besides those hand signals, I couldn’t help but notice how much this person whom I had known for many years was taken with that book.  So much so that as I looked at that book and how thick it was…I couldn’t help but think that if it had been the Bible he probably wouldn’t have even opened it.  And here he was all goo-goo gah-gah over this book about the Masons as if it were some kind of wonderment.

Not to mention as he continued on and on…he eventually got around to mentioning how the Bible is a piece of manipulated junk.  Where of course we now had to go into a detailed conversation because I just could not allow that to go unchallenged.

But what made me feel bad for him was…that you cannot read all kinds of doctorine because it will confuse you.  And he was terribly confused…and I could clearly see it and definitely hear it.

There is no doctrine which has not pulled bits and pieces from the Bible…that in of itself should speak volumes for the merit of the Bible.   That everyone wants to draw from it…does ring a high degree of significance on its behalf.  

And the fact that they do pull from the Bible…and create all kinds of religions to fit whatever they want to do, practice and/or preach and teach…is indeed a fact.  From the Mormons to Catholicism, the Church of Scienctology, Islam, all those Eastern Religions etc…etc…all have taken wing from some section, practice or statement and/or statements found in the Bible.

As I listened to him, this person who had grown up in the same church I had, I just felt bad for him…as he talked to me getting excited as he told me how he spent $20 for some other book on something else.   He was getting all excited as though these books were leading him to some new found form of enlightment that gave him some strange form of euphoric ecstasy.

I don’t read many books…but I do spend time every day with one very special book which means an awful lot to me.  I search it out for understanding, wisdom, peace, guidance, even correction etc…etc…and it does that much and more for me.

Happy reading…and be sure to look out for my book, “THE BISHOP’S WIFE.”  

Remember I will tell you when and where you can purchase it just as soon as I straighten out my problems with the publisher.  I recently informed them that it would cost them more money than it would cost me if I had to take them to court.  I just don’t want to have to fly all the way to Florida to do it…but I’ll go if I have to.  And in Florida…in small claims you can sue for up to $5000…now that is a real incentive for all the aggravation that Xulon has caused me.

But I would really rather work it out…and I have them in the palm of my hand…it is not the other way around.  And if you would like to read that story you can check out my very first blog…under the section entitled “Self-Publishing.”   The story on how Xulon Publishing was planning on taking me for a ride…all the way to the bank. 

I’m finding myself having to take 3 to 4 showers per day with all this heat.  Can’t stand to get over-heated and sweaty.  But just imagine if we couldn’t shower as we would like to. 

People around the world are faced with exactly that…and even some right here in the United States.  People in the mountains of West Virginia have contaminated water…all of it…even their drinking water.  I saw once on PBS where somewhere in those mountains the water faucets in some mountain towns poured out mud.  That is right…mud…and they ran the  faucet to prove it.   Through the kitchen sink faucet and bathroom faucets…through all their plumbing. 

I couldn’t imagine living that way…or being forced to.  And even though bottled water seems pretty cheap…imagine trying to buy it for your everyday useages.  You won’t think it so cheap then…I am sure.  Imagine trying to buy enough water so you and your family could bathe with it…much less drink it, wash clothes and dishes with it…etc…

There is something about not having something which makes you desire it.  And you have a tendency to desire it all the more when it is not readily available to you.   

If we didn’t have fresh water…we would be desiring a cool drink of water.  And would be willing to pay any price to get it.  (kind of sounds like our current gas prices)

There are people who for one reason or another whose water or electric and/or gas may be shut off…meaning that if they have bath water it is ice cold.  And if they don’t have water, they can’t bathe or flush the toilet or have drinking water. 

We are blessed…but being blessed does not mean that we should not consider other people.  Consider them…and lets seek to make this a better place for all people.

I respect and love you.   Lets consider this planet and all that we are doing to ruin it.  Some day someone will look back and say-

“How come they didn’t do something?”

It’s a good time to think about trying to preserve this planet for those who will come after us…and for those suffering right now because of what we have already done. 

Thank you for reading.      ….God bless…and have a beautiful day.

These hot flashes are really getting the best of me.

I used to hear women talk about them…but never paid much attention to what they were saying.   But I understand now.   

They make all of this heat all the worst.   And ooooh….my nights.

My Chinese teacher told me that Chinese women do not get hot flashes…it has to with something they either eat or take…which I guess amounts to about the same thing.

Ni hao ma?

Yes, I do take Chinese…or rather took it for a few semesters.

And I just said ‘hello and how are you?’    Pronounced  “knee how ma?”  

Now, that was easy…wasn’t it?   ©2008

Add a comment July 23, 2008