LIVING COLOR SAID IT BEST – “I’m The Cult of Personality”

That hard rock anthem from 1989 from the first legitimate Black rock band in say 25 years is know being used as a invective remark aimed at Senator Barak Obama’s Democratic nomination campaign; which accusations of having a self-referential campaign message, one has to wonder what exactly does it mean to be President. Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan were charismatic leaders that could have worn the same goathorns, and even Dubya has his own cult of personality – people just wanted to believe that Compassionate Conservative BOOLSHIT – and old boy got elected, and fucked the country with a sharp spike up it’s tight ass.

Sure the Obama camp and its supporters are rabid fans of the man, but they see a man who can articulate a message. People attack his policies or more to the point that his policies are hazy, but if you really think about what Presidential Contender actually made a lot of his election platform come to pass? When you get down to it, national policy isn’t controlled by the President.

Representative Chet Edwards (D-Texas), perhaps has summed up Obama’s candidacy the best, “It's not Senator Clinton's fault, but the baggage she carries is the divisiveness of the 1990s. People are wanting to turn the chapter to the future rather than going back to the last chapter. It's not fair but that is the reality."

Let's Be Real Now

The one thing I really enjoy about Barak Obama’s speaking is that he doesn’t sound like a character on THE BOONDOCKS - not a straight-up coon like Uncle Ruckus, a white-washed chump like Tom DuBois, a foolish old negro like Robert "Grandad" Freeman, a clown hip-hop nigga like Riley or "down for the cause" kid like Huey. All stereotypical examples of how niggas talk, but Barak evades that -- which makes him acceptable to all non-African Americans, whether they get down with his politics or his meesage is another story.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that show, but far too many African-Americans SOUND like African-Americans when you throw a mic in their face; more aptly, they sound like niggaz.

Senator Barak Obama delivered a Victory Speech in Wisconsin the other night, a speech with the grace and power of man who knows how to wield power and influence for the greater good (whether that’s true is anyone’s guess, but I have to hope so…) and it just really began to usher in a new era in America’s socio-cultural landscape.

Obama’s popularity among white women is the most contested constituency in the entire race (one that Hillary Clinton has been winning hand-over-fist in the early voting), and it has been the deciding factor in the big prize contests, but that seems to be eroding as witnessed in the Potomac Primaries just yesterday. In addition, Obama pulled something like 56% of white male voters… something that Clinton has, is and will struggle with.

What does this say about the transracial nature of America? That the one country founded on the hatred of another racial/ethnic group is now finally able to set aside that element of “otherness” – or at least publicly – an embrace a Man who stands for change and camaraderie across traditional dividing lines? Surely since the complete acceptance of Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson as the appeal-to-all Pitchmen, the understanding that their could be an African-American president was tickling some peoples minds… enough so for the people behind Fox’s 24 put a Black man in the White House for multiple seasons dealing with crisis after crisis, and he never failed from the foibles that many would unjustly hang on a Black man’s ability to lead and to make cognitively

The odd thing about Obama is that he’s not a born-n-bread American nigga… because there is a TREMENDOUS amount of baggage the goes with that. Of being part of the constituency that is ever the socio-economic underdog. The burdens attributed to American Blacks are like Atlas’s impossible burden – difficult to shake off because they define that person. To be in the “struggle” typifies what it means to be Black, but it’s not a mutually exclusive moniker.

To look at it from another angle, the new majority of so-called Minorities (the people of color who are non-African American) ascribe to and aspire to be what was dubbed “white” for 88% of the last 100 years – a whiteness that rings of truth and realism in terms of what it means to be societal and financially successful. Yet that same group of People of Color looks to stand on the shoulders of what American Blacks created culturally and side-step any and all malapropism that go hand in hand with being “urban.” It’s a known fact that 50% of all Hispanics consider themselves “white” when walking the streets of America.

Racism, misogyny and character assassination are all ways of distracting voters from the issues, and people who care about the issues have a shared interest in making the politics of hatred unacceptable.

Smack Back

There's lots of talk now that Senator Barak Obama's presidential nomination campaign has become a Cult of Personality. As much as I love that song from the late 80s Black hard rock band, I find it slanderous to claim that Obama's campaign is a cult with no relevancy behind it.

Sure, the backers and supporters of the campaign are rabid fans, but that's because the public at large REALLY has enough of the boolshit that's happened under Dubya's reign.

Ranging from all the conspiracy theories about what really happened on 9/11 to the true nature of the Bush families relationship with the Saudi royal family and the bin Ladens. And everyone is sick of hearing about the war in Iraq; even if you're an idiot and thinks the war was the right thing, you're probably sick of hearing about it and all the lies and deceit that led up to the shameless event.

What is quite possible about the Obama's campaign is that Obama isn't providing enough substantive policy and election platform, because he's shaping his policy and saving the release of the nuts-n-bolts of it all until he's facing John McCain... not much reason or rationale to drop elements that the GOP can get a jump start on fucking up the Democratic contender's election campaign.

However, a President doesn't need to have it all worked about during the campaign, because all policy concepts need to be flexible once one is occupying the Oval Office. In reality, the President can't ramrod policy down the the throat of the American public -- they have to go through the Congress, and people see to forget that. If the Congress is about putting up road blocks for the President, he or she ain't gettin' shit done.

The President does need to be charismatic or at least have some sort of the media impact -- Reagan, Billy Clinton, and Dubya all have a strong media impact quality; Reagan and Clinton hold people in their sway because they speak with such direct fluidity toward the audience; Dubya's complete display of ignorance and inarticulateness is so shocking that it's captivating for the sheer joke of it all.

Senator Obama's voice is gripping like a Tony Robbins character, but that doesn't make him a demagogue.

Hillary Clinton - much like Al Gore during his presidential run -- is too packaged, too staid to be captivating, and yes, sadly, because she's an older woman the key components of her charisma have aged away or would be highly inappropriate for her to use to aide her media image -- even if she was doing squats and lunges for the past 16 years and had a tight asss and lithe legs, she'd be taken to task and laughed at if she wore any kind of clothing that accentuated her female sexuality.

So it goes to reason that Hillary's campaign and those who are supposed to be impartial in their reporting on the campaign are going to find whatever they can to perform character assassination on Obama. This is a smart thing, because ultimately the likability of a candidate has an overwhelming amount of ethereal evidence as to why a voter chooses a candidate.

Mark my words, lots of people didn't like Walter Mondale, didn't like Michale Dukakis, didn't like Bob Dole, didn't lilke John Kerry as people, as someone who they are supposed to respect as the "face" of the nation -- and that's why their opponents beat them in the election.

America The Brave? How About America The Weak!?!

New Beefeater Garb?
Originally uploaded by Phalanx.

There's a lot of talk that Barak Obama is a weak candidate because he has openly talked about sitting down with America's various nemesis nations around the globe and starting a dialogue with NO PRECONDITIONS! This is includes Cuba, Iran and Venezuela.

If you think about why Hillary and all the GOP candidates don't go for this -- it has to do with the American Psyche. Americans believe basically that it's us versus the world because everyone in the World wants the one thing that we offer -- a chance to be an American citizen.

The thing about why the U.S. Government is only willing to negotiate with Iran on the point of nuclear arms, before even considering discussing anything else stems from the the 1979 Hostage crisis. The Iranian Revolution beat America's ass for the whole world to see, and we basically didn't do anything about it -- which softened up the Democrats for the next 4 presidential elections. The US now just can't get over what happened almost 30 years ago.

And that's also why the U.S. Government refuse to even recognize Fidel Castro and Cuba, because he turned his back on America and seized up all the American business assets that were based and nationalized them.

We all know that Dubya rolled up into Iraq and orchestrated Saddam Hussein's execution because Hussein attempted to assassinated Dubya's father after he left the Oval Office.

America is one of the most nationalistic/jingoistic countries the planet has ever seen -- it leads to us being basically an ideologically isolated nation, and the US's mindstate is that of The Zero Sum Game, but it's not the case. Many times when the U.S. does "bad" to other countries its believing that those antagonistic actions must to some "good" for the USA. But that's not all the case, in fact it's ultimately rarely the case.

The US Government has been so preoccupied with the Middle East since the 2nd Intifadah erupted in the fall of 2000, that its basically lost its ability to influence other places on the globe -- like Latin and South America. Do you honestly think that if GI Joes weren't getting their asses handed to them in Fallujah, that Dubya and Rummy wouldn't have thought twice about sending in troops to displace Hugo Chavez?

Endorsements

This is late but...

Over the weekend Barak Obama stormed through South Carolina and took the state, and with something like 25% white votes (up from 10% only a few weeks before)… which is huge.

But what’s really huge is Carolyn and Ted Kennedy


Carolyn Kennedy, the last of those connected with JKF said in the NYTimes Op-Ed the other day“we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.” in regards to supporting Barak Obama.

Now I have to say that the forced parallels between Obama and JFK are interesting, yet scary at the same time. When JFK was running for office, Dwight Eisenhower was gearing up to warn the country about the frightening rising power of the military industrial complex. When Obama is running for office, Prescott’s grandson has been exerting that self-same military industrial complex at the expense of the United State’s economy and its geopolitical power/diplomatic reputation THROUGHOUT THE GLOBE.

JFK came from a rich family with money and political ties that pre-dated Prohibition – Obama’s pop comes from East Africa!

Carolyn Kennedy ended her op-ed piece with this, “I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.” Again the parallels with her Pops are endless, but most importantly

Lastly, will the most dubious parallel hang around Obama’s neck the way it hangs around JFK’s? And I don’t mean dicking down a famous movie star! (and truth be told, there ain’t no young star who’d be worth it – sure someone like Jessica Alba or Emily Blunt – don’t slip on this white girl’s booty!, but aside from that…)

Here’s the thing about Obama – he is getting the youthful cynics who have cringed at politics since they were kids during the Reagan era to become part of the process. Even if American national politics is the most rigged political theater this side of an African dictator claiming he wants democratic reforms, to have people actual giving a flying fuck about their future and their children’s future is what makes Obama a contender. Now, will a huge majority of white folks pull the lever in the voting booth when they reach the “nigger candidate” is the huge question… they did so in Iowa to a winning result, and they obviously did so in the Nevada and New Hampshire (but in large enough numbers).

On a side note, you know what is interesting? Why is it that when people talk about the lower classes in America, its referred to as “the working class”? When we all goddamn well know that what is meant is those who really slave for their minimum wages and getting pegging by that Dominatrix with heavy duty strapon going by the sobriquet of Big Business/Corporate America?

GetHuman

Pegging The Public Good

There was a item in yesterday’s NPR Morning Edition where Wal-Mart – after getting slammed as being the all-purpose boogey-man for corporate greed by Barak Obama on Monday night’s debates – was announcing plans where it was going to be doing “Public good.”

This is a CROCK OF SHIT!

No corporation ever will do “Public good” unless it’s getting its hand so far up the Public’s skirt that the Public would cry “rape” if it knew what was happening – but every corporation has high quality GHB (i.e. a PR Department) to enable the Public to get fucked and not know it.

WalMart – with its egregiously aggressive drive for lower prices has damaged the American economy wholesale – is up here claiming that they want to do away with hand-written prescriptions and have electronic scripts. This sounds like Big Brother activity to me, and a way to market more worthless shit to you and me.

It’s a grandiose effort of tomfoolery for any corporation to claim in a press conference or press release that it’s acting in the Public good. I’m sure Enron was operating in the “Public good” when it swindle not only its employees but its customers, supplies and shareholders. Now that’s an extreme as fuck case, but it’s representative of the mindset that the Corporate Bigwigs have when it comes to rakin’ in the cheddar.

It’s like whenever there is a massive slaughtering on the Wall Street – like the current one – and the investment companies have the same refrain, put your money back in stocks, the market will eventually rise past the current correction and you’ll make money in the long run. This might be true; however, all these investment types are making money hand over fist when you lose money!!! They be up here steady making money when the stock market goes down, goes up, goes no where – they have their hand in your pocket off of every single transaction; so when the trading volume is huge like it’s been the last week, a lot of people and firms are lining their accounts by siphoning moolah from your retirement account.

Any action that we see a corporation do is something it’s doing to hook itself – in spite of you most of the time, but if there happens to be a confluence WHERE IT LOOKS LIKE the Corp is hooking you, then it’s really getting over.

Have you read that study where it was determined that the so-called “crash position” that they ask everyone to assume in the event of an airplane crash will actually kill you? It’s because the Corporate Bean-Counters know it’s better to have all passengers die than survive so it can be reported that a couple miraculously survived. When in truth, the product liability and negligence lawsuits that would arise if I large portion of the passengers survived would not only kill the airline that had the crash, but smash the entire airline industry with taxes and raises rates to cover mandatory insurance.

Have you ever seen that Michael Mann flick called THE INSIDER? I was peeping it again this morning before getting dressed and I just remembered how this movie pulled the wool off of the stranglehold that corporate interests have on the Public Good. However, that movie was a resounding flop and the story it was based (from Vanity Fair reporting on true, ugly events) was about the tobacco industry flexing its political and legal muscle to get a former tobacco enhancement scientist to shut his fuckin’ mouth!

It’s just a classic example of a Corporation refusing to have the Public’s interest at heart, and to feel the need to dick down whoever wants to try to get Big Business to play otherwise.

Incidentally, I'm sure you all know what pegging means...

BLACK & TAN FANTASY

Even though is one of my favorite Duke Ellington songs, I have to posit this post as the fantasy is exactly that – a sham, when it comes to Blacks and Hispanics in America.

The recent Nevada Democratic caucus has underscored something that the media isn’t talking about – which is how much Hispanics want to distance themselves from Blacks, who I think they generally hold contempt for. In fact, I’d wager that most people of color hold American niggas in contempt. Why would the Hispanics want to distance themselves from niggas? Simple, all people of color want the benefits of being a minority but don’t want to be permanently labeled as one... which is what happened to American Blacks.

It’s ironically fitting that I post this on the Martin Luther King Day holiday, where this year also marks the 40th anniversary of his political slaying which was preceded by one of King’s most interesting speeches, the I’ve Been To The Mountain Top speech for the striking sanitation workers – a job category that niggas were working real hard to get away from. Although you do see a good amount of niggas slavin’ to pick up the trash of others (the worst part about it is most of people’s trash ain’t been triaged! At least recycle them water bottles, soda cans and beer!)

The one thing that Hispanics have benefited from tremendously is the water-cannon and dog attacks that Blacks took to enable other People of Color to grab their piece of the American Dream, whereas niggas have been left in extra wet clothing and with still-fresh bite-marks… a lot of good that do ‘em.

The nexus with Blacks and Hispanics or Latinos as they want to be referenced as some of the time, is that they don’t get along. If you look at the race-on-race violence within, say Los Angeles over the past year, there has been a disturbing trend in the straight up murderin’ goin’ on with Latins up here buckin’ down niggas like it was Wabbit Season or somethin’! A lot o’ it is gang initiation ritual and rites o’ passage, but it conveniently leaves the White Boy and the Asian the fuck outta Dodge (if white youth were getting’ kilt the way niggas be gettin’ hemmed up, Mayor Antonio Villariagosa would have the national guard up in this piece!)

What does all this mean? It means that Latinos will not vote for Barak Obama – I didn’t about this until after the Nevada vote, where the Unions backed Obama publicly, but their rank-n-file didn’t get down with the Agent of Change.

Somebody over the weekend put it best, the Soccer Mom votes for Barak and the Waitress Ma votes for Hillary; guess where a huge swath of Latinos fall --especially in the Southwest.

I chalk up the inability of other people of color to trust a Black man with their future to that stalwart of all stalwarts, the Anti-Nigga Machine and its unstoppable, incestuous propaganda that disparaged and continues to disparage Black people. Maybe Hispanics or Latinos claim “white” on census type forms!

What was killing me is how certain Black political leaders are up in the piece claimin’ that Bill Clinton is just as Black, if not more Black, than Barak Obama – and it’s attributable to what? His behavior of cigar-fucking an intern? Eating fried chicken in the Oval Office? Cheating on his wife? And talking her out of leaving his ass? Now, if you saw tonight's CNN debate in South Carolina, you'da seen how smooth talkin' Barak was in answering the inane question on whether or not Bill as the 1st nigga president.

Now, I’m not Clinton hater by any means. Bill Clinton is my boy; yet think there will never be an opportunity for America to put a Black man in office, and a lot of it has to do with Obama’s designate for being An Agent of Change.

As we get closer to Super Tuesady, Barak Obama's putting out his campaign platform -- which is gonna be critical to get white people to vote for him in the numbers to overshadow the Latino vote -- which isn't going to hook a Person of Color, let along vote for a Democrat. It's a known fact that Latins are really under the GOPs thumb, and claim white -- that is if they're not illegal and able to vote in the first place!

THE DUMBING DOWN OF AMERICA, part one of a series

Last night I was trawling through the Ralph’s on Sunset near La Brea, and after I finished making my selections of butter, marmalade, English muffins and Jameson, I made my way to the check-out station. I couldn’t use the automated one (why don't those things work at night?), so I had to rely on the late shift people. Not one of my favorite things to do, as it takes an inordinate amount of time to scantron your items the later and later it becomes at night.

Anyway, I usually read the weekly news magazines or fitness mags as I wait in line. But I noticed a curious thing – every fucking magazine in the Ralph's was some piece of shitrag gossip tabloid! All booming the same sad, "I-don't-give-a-fuck" story – the mental collapse of that uber-cum dumpster Britney Spears (talk about your walking nuclera waste zone), with such headlines as “Time Bomb” or “Mental Disaster” plastered beneath either the destructive, current pictures of the has-been songbird or next to images of her former squeaky-clean self (which are funny to see now).

The thing about Spears is, she’s not even cute. Just an average bitch who you wouldn’t look twice at if she was standing in line behind you at your local Ralph’s. I mean, even in her heyday, I couldn’t get hard to jack-off to her when I was between girlfriends. Didn’t matter what photo it was, my dick stayed limp - even that so-called hot one fro the cover of Esquire which was a bite of an Angie Dickinson cover (ain't that a name for a hot bitch?).

But back to the plethora of bullshit in the check-out line... there is no excuse for that, none what-so-ever! It all goes back to the fact that Americans are probably the most ill-informed and perhaps overall stupid populace in the entire developed world. And we rejoice in that fact.

What’s the deal with all that? Why do Americans, as a general rule, eschew education, intelligence, quest for knowledge and other things that signify anti-idiocy? Even though the term “the dumb jock” is bandied about with a bit of derision, people still suck the dumb jock’s cock when he’s at the height of his popularity in high school. Someone was telling me the other day that in China 30% of the students in the University level of education are getting math & science degrees, whereas in the US only like 5% of the student body is getting down with the hard sciences.

Come to think of it, all things about the shamelessness of our adult lives stem from the bullshit that takes place in high school. I’m surprised high school isn’t more socially controlled than it is, because too much psychically damaging shit happens during those 4 years that affect the rest of your life the way no other 4 years in your entire existence can or do.

Reap what you sow Amerikka, reap what you sow.

AMERIKKKA'S SINN

You probably wonder why I haven’t weighed in on the so-called Racist remarks that emerged from the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign.

Well, why the hell should I?

It’s expected that I do, and so I’m not.

Of course this backstabbing is just a dangerous foreshadowing of what the GOP are going to do to Barak Obama, should he receive the nomination. I honestly believe that once the Democrats get closer to choosing Barak or Hillary, and the GOP narrows their field to two candidates, GOP media-assassination gangs (like the people who developed the Willie Horton advert or the Swift Boat shit) are going to slowly leak racist and misogynistic negative ads on the internet, so that by the time the Democratic National Convention rolls around there’s going to be an undercurrent of anti-Black and anti-Women throughout the South.

Take a look at what’s being done to Barak Obama right this fuckin’ minute!!! He’s being accused of ibeing of Muslim (which I guess it tantamount to being a card-carrying Communist in the Cold War Days), of clandestinely using a Qu’ran instead of a bible during his swearing in/oath of office ceremonies, and of not reciting the Pledge of Allegiance (which is something I haven’t done since I was 15, nor I have I sung the so-called national anthem) at any time! Uh… doesn’t a supreme court justice hold out the bible for swearing in Senators?!?! And hasn’t Barak led the charge in the Senate for time to time when presiding over the Senate, and how could he be a Muslim, when he’s been seen at church??! What happened to freedom of religion? Oh, I forgot if it’s not a Western European approved religion, then you best back the hell up!

These are the type of attacks that are insidious, because they are completely unable to be proved, and yet what do they do? They impugn Obama’s integrity, call into question his patriotism and associate him with “the evil ones” in the minds and eyes of the weak-fucks who believe being a Christian – especially an evangelical one – is paramount to presiding in the Oval Office. Dubya’s debacle of a presidency had “strong Christian values” as one of its cornerstones, yet the pure evil, vindictive attitude and shockingly amoral behavior that was vomited out from his command center is truly oxymoronic; even his 2000 catch-phrase of Compassionate Conservative smacks of embracing a Southern Christian flair. Said flair is close in blind spirit to the Taliban and other foolish Islamic fundamentalists.

The GOP are just sharpening their knives for Hillary and Obama – either one enables the GOP dirty trick purveyors to have a field day. They must be jacking off now (or in the case of Anne Coulter, fist-fucking herself with a dock-workers glove) with glee, because they will challenge themselves by having to be shrewd and not come across as racist or anti-female as the get ready to rip.

Obama's message for CHANGE is what the world needs. For the country not to get behind him means that we deserve everything we get over the next 10 years -- whether it's three more terrorist attacks, a depression fueled from a run on the dollar, trade deficits that are sky high, loss of all manufacturing within the continental United States, mass exodus of money and brainiacs... expect it all and then some.

Now that it's 2008, and we can see the end of the Dubya era, I can start back on this blog. First off, I'll put my hat in the ring about who should be president -- obviously it's Barak Obama, but not because he's black and because I happen to be a notorious negro agitator. No, it's not that at all -- it's because Obama represents serious change and that elusive concept of Hope. The public good and the Public's trust in his capacity to do "good" (what ever the fuck that means), and what he needs to do though to guarantee a better shot a getting assassinated on his path to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, is define what it means to be the Spirit of Hope, and not just embody it 'cause "We The People" are so got damn jaded.

The thing about being jaded about the political machine is that is exactly what The über-Class wants -- they want you to be apathetic to what's going on in the world, in the country, in what ever state you live in, in the county and city that you call home and pay taxes into. That's why you're more interested or at least sucked into believing there is something fascinating about the coke-fueled shenanigans of a entertainment industry dilettantes.

Don't think Brittany's meltdown was planned by certain people.

Comments of were Entertainment Is Headed

Please listen to David Lynch, notably director of BLUE VELVET and LOST HIGHWAY, and co-creator of that wacky show, "Twin Peaks".

He is completely right about an audience experiencing a film -- what is immediately lost by watching a film on a smaller and smaller portable screening is that a lot of the new technologies -- that cost money -- are lost, namely sound design and the improved definition from HD video, also the vaunted VFX that make movies so important to today, but date the hell out of them for tomorrow. Let alone all the dap that people want from digital projection, nor will new exciting tech like 3D be experienced at all on the iPhone.

Filmmakers don't want their films to migrate to the small screen -- the ability to affect one's emotions thru the use of various lenses and editing is effectively lost on such a small screen, and I honestly don't believe the audience does either.

However, muthafuckas don't have time to check out flicks at some digital projected cushioned the-ater seating! Like the ArcLight in Hollywood.

But I think that the media conglomerates just want to find continued revenue streams for a product that is ultimately mean for enjoyment, not so much as cash cow. However, think about this so much of what is driving the US economy - hi-tech, based on upon how consumers are going to watch filmed entertainment. All the consumer electronic companies want shit to play on their razor thin screens. If you didn't hear, Panasonic has acknowledged the fact that they need to get in lock-step with the entertainment companies, but not really have any creative input.

The WGA Strike isn't helping things 'cause it's having people find other forms of video entertainment.

I'll keep writing and directing, but all forms of entertainment are getting reduced to the level of a commodity, which isn't good because quality doesn't win out at the point. Not that it has recently, as the "yes" men just churn out whatever they want to see and that is something that has to continue to propagate what's always been.

Take a look at Leon Wynter's book AMERICAN SKIN for some dap on this.

However, money for advertising and celebrity endorsement is what will get people to watch whatever. because I don't think the viral quality of a YouTube clip is worth the emotional commitment you can get from a film. If you notice what gets the big views on YouTube is low-brow comedy and shit that shocks (like Saddam Hussein's execution)

Tune in this time next year.

MEDIA ASSASSIN on HBO

Early this month we saw the return of HBO’s THE WIRE, expertly created by former newspaper man David Simon. This fifth season also happens to be the final season for the most under-appreciated show that has EVER been on television – a show that after four gut-punching seasons has received no industry praise/acclaim – no Golden Globes or Emmys (which means those awards are right up there with the Oscars as shams, rigged jack-off moments for Hollywood and Upper Manhattan) wins, let alone nominations (this I could be wrong about, but I highly doubt it. Only the entertainment press acknowledges that this show is amazing of the public, whetherh it's the NYTimes or Entertainment Weekly or just some kid you talk to in line at the laundry mat the show is a word of mouth show like no other.

This season on THE WIRE the focus of attention is on THE MEDIA, most specifically a fictionalized version of the Baltimore Sun (coincidentally Simon’s alma matter) -- and how they don't have enough money to cover even the most basic of news in a city that has a dwindling readership and a dwindling financial base to provide the money to make the journalist have some morale.

It's interesting to watch the opening chapter of this show each season, because it doesn't tell you AT ALL what the whole series is going to be about. You get reacquainted with the people that you know and love, or just know and respect or down-right hate. And you're introduced to the new people -- this time it's the editor of the City Desk at the newspaper that's going to be forced to kill some key story because of politics; that I can see coming already, because that's the one thing that would kill a newspaper man -- the death of freedom of speech and the deep-sixing of a national news story (which reporters love, because they can get book deals as a result of the celebrity, take a look a Billy Wilder's ACE IN THE HOLE for the type of shit that can happen to a report in his (or her) quest for that one scoop that'll make THEM news (which is what they all eventually want any way).

But what do I know? I'm just a huge fan of this kind of television... more like this kind of storytelling, because it explores the human condition in a way that is unparalleled -- even a documentary doesn't do it as well, because it's dispensing facts as it entertains, as opposed to entertaining whilst sneaking in facts. I'm mean The Wire has the immediacy and heartbreak of that one dope as fuck documentary about inner city youths HOOP DREAMSYou'd be hard pressed to name another piece of filmed entertainment that tells it like it really is.

After "MORE WITH LESS", I was once again hooked with the show -- with the gestalt of the show. Can't pinpoint any one thing at this point, but I'm always happy to see "The Bunk" and "Omar" grace the tube.

In the second episode, the show begins to unfold with signs of a man going down the abyss and liking what he finds there because it serves his purpose of what he believes is a greater good - an ends justifies the means scenarios -- which is going to have nitroglycerin on a bumpy road results.

Check the show out! If you value what entertainment is supposed to be, and not the shit that Hollywood pumps out to keep you dumb; soma has risen from the fiction pages. Believe that!

Also, you might be wondering why I’ve been posting so much recently? Well, I’m not in the homeless situation that I was for such a long period of time. I’m living in a boarding house, so I’m not entirely out of the woods yet – soon though, very soon.

DEATH TO INTERNAL COMBUSTION

Apparently, and this has to be verified, the Toyota Prius outsold a certain model of SUV in the most recent quarter or over all of last year.

This is good news.

The one thing that rankles me about the rise of the hybrid car is that the German automakers haven’t jumped into the mix. I’m never buying an American car, which means most of the upcoming hybrids are American made, and I’m not a fan of Japanese cars either – I’ve never had a “good” ride in one. What they are good for is that they address a shitload of creature comforts, but the seating isn’t good for my back and I get back strain (that Doan's Pills don't help) and become quite tired quickly when driving in a Japanese car (Hondas, Acuras and Lexuses). Hence, why I want a German car... the thing that Porsche should have done is teamed up with Telsa Motors when Telsa was out searching for a car company to put their vaunted electric engine in! Telsa chose Lotus to make the bodies for the Telsa. Granted Porsche would have undermined part of its consumer base and it would have undercut the one key thing Porsche has a rep for – strong as fuck engines – but the auto companies are the part one of the two part firewall that’s blocking the transference away from gasoline powered vehicles.

People need to get with the program and get the fuck off of gas for car transpo, because as oil reaches its peak and then begins to plunge, the one thing that petroleum only needs to be used for is the manufacture plastic.

Just take a quick gander around your house, the room you're reading this in and take register of what is made of plastic or coated with plastic or treated with plastic.

I don't know about you, but I'm looking to put my money behind those who are about diggin up landfills and recycling plastic that's be sitting and moldering for decades.

CRIPPLING SoCal AND THE HUGE EXPORT ECONOMY

So the Writers Guild of America Strike continues into its 10 week – with no end in sight, and the affects on the Los Angeles county economy have to be staggering; imagine this, something $150 million off missed payments aren’t been funneled into the narrow economy that comprises La La Land where the ramification of that missed income doesn’t service the debt on one of the country’s most over-heated housing markets. Hundreds of people are missing their mortgage payments and will probably put a fair of the $600K and above homes on the foreclosure list.

The thing about the WGA Strike is that they’ve made a side deal with David Letterman and just today with CBS News, which means that the WGA is looking to stick it to the media robber barons (and who wouldn’t, given the chance?) at the expense of several things – their members, the non-creative people in the industry (by alienating their lot due to lay-offs and award show cancellations), and foreign sales buyers.

To have the Golden Globes get scuttled and the same possibility for the Oscars is quite interesting because of the all the extra revenue those TV broadcasts funnel toward those movies and TV shows (the Golden Globe winners, that is). There’s box office bumps of millions of dollars from the films that are nominated and then win these awards. Yet the real kick in the nuts is to the people who sell Hollywood internationally. Huge sums of money come from the foreign market, huge fucking sums!

Interestingly enough the scuttling of the Golden Globes will cost Hollywood $80 millions from the cancelled parties and other crap that’s required to have the even go on – freelance hair dressers, clothing boutiques, caterers, etc.

Well... no one said sticking it to the Corporate Supercapitalists was going to be easy.

CAN'T TRUSS IT

So the Vaunted Political Polls were drastically inaccurate in predicting Obama’s smashing of Hillary in the New Hampshire primary (one of them polls has Barak up 13 points! Like that was ever to be believed?! I would have shit on that poll result the minute I saw it).

The innate problem with using matrixes to predict the outcome of anything is that one is dealing with a limited sample, and you can never never never never ever predict the behavior of the surprised –

Even though a certain swath of the American electorate wants Obama, they were not going to allow a nigga whup up on a political stalwart in such a critical time. And most likely throughout the rest of the democratic campaigns, there will but those whites, blacks and other people of color who will subconscious steer away from Obama – will shouting his name, mind you – and his candidacy.

But he's not the only one having to overcome a certain level of discrimination. When Hillary hecklers yelled “Iron my shirt!” at her in Salem on Monday, it stirred sisterhood and she claimed a whole buncha chicks who were thinking about the svelt Mr. Obama – white, black, brown, didn’t matter they all wanted to bask in the glow that is Barak Obama, they HAD to vote for Hillary, especially after she exhibited her "choked up" moment.

The funny thing about Obama is, all the little jokes that Black comedians have been making since Bill Clinton was in office (when he was dubbed the “black president” by some), i.e. eating only fried chicken from the White House kitchen and usin’ Black ‘n Milds as sex toys, don’t seem to work with Obama being the one being dumped on. His blackness isn’t in question, but his ghetto-fabulousness, niggadom most definitely is – and SHOULD be; because that hyper-stylized form of so-called “blackness” might represent what is considered “real” in the hip-hop world, but is suspect in the military-industrial world that churns the nation’s economic backbone.

The Assassin's Creed

I wish this was about that new UBISOFT video game for Playstation 3, but unfortunately it’s not. This is about political enforcement because an assassination is quite different that straight up murder. The Assassin’s Creed is simple – your sense of what is right and wrong is sublimated by an exterior code; typically that code takes the form of cold, hard, cash; sometimes that code takes the form of an ideology. Either way one’s sense of morality is circumspect and therefore dangerous.

To that end one has to wonder what is in the mental make-up of an assassin, especially an assassin who turns into a suicide bomber! The news that quite literally rocked the world today was the successful assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was heading up the opposition party to the military regime that’s been running Pakistan for close to a decade. The current Paki Prime Minister Musharef is a military strongman who only recently gave up the army garb for a suit and tie, but we all know that he’s a G.I. Jaleel at heart.

A first hand account of the assassination indicated that Bhutto gave a speech today, and then drove off in her death-proof motorcade. However, following her routine of waving to her crowd of supporters after a speech, Bhutto asked her security to allow her to pop her head through the bullet vehicles sunroof. She was inexplicably granted this request, and when Bhutto stood up to greet her people, at least three shots were fired directly at her. As she tumbled back inside the suicide bomber unleashed his coup de grace assault which rocked the car. It was stated the Bhutto was bleeding heavily from the face, and never regained consciousness as her staff rushed her to a nearby hospital.

The Assassins, the Jackals, the International Bogeymen probably rejoice at the success that which one of their brethren had artful executed a Status Quo Agitator. However, as more and more details spill out from the crime scene, it appears the Bhutto’s people (and her) were woeful negligent with their understanding of the security threat toward the charging politician. Hence, her untimely death.

A VICTORY FOR A NIGGA

I wonder what Chuck D of Public Enemy fame said late last night when it was announced that Barak Obama had won the Democratic Iowa Caucasus? I’m sure the epic anthem music from PE’s seminal album Fear Of A Black Planet came cascading into his brain.

The biggest ideological message delivered from the Winner’s Circle, is that Americans – typically apathetic in national elections over the past three decades – came the fuck out and voted for CHANGE. Is change such an alien concept to anybody with a long pedigree in politics? And it’s not just any change we’re talking about, we’re talking about change of the way America perceives itself and the way America is perceived by the rest of the world. The concept of a seasoned political veteran is needed to run the most powerful quasi-democracy in the history of the planet. After 8 years of having an all-but-self-admitting mediocre man be president and wreak HAVOC with the country’s future, the desire to reclaim a sense of greatness has galvanized people to look past the major open sewer of a wound that has plague the United States since its inception – race – and consider what direction the country needs to go.

My argument against anyone who says that, “we have to an experienced leader” in the White House as means to discount Obama’s presidential bid is talking complete and utter boolshit! Dubya had no experience successfully running shit; in fact quite the opposite, old boy was known for running businesses into the ground; which he’s seemingly done with United States and besmirched the Land’s good will. Dubya was, is and will forever be a chump of the highest magnitude. It’s hard to catalog the farce of his presidency, but one this categorically undeniable his had no experience on doing anything and surrounded himself with his Daddy’s friends… like he’s always done. Where Prescott’s Grandson failed as a leader, is his own inability to analyze critical material and make an coherent, informed decision – not a decision that his underlings convince him is the best course of action.

Now that you’ve won a state’s delegates, the first time I think anyone Black has done such a thing, Barak keep your head inside the motorcade’s bulletproofing and hide your family in another country.

Arab Oil Barons smack the US into submission

The cost of a barrel of black gold –literally black gold – topped the $100 mark yesterday, and guess what? We’ll never see it drop below unless a new fuel source is adopted – and pretty damn quick!

The problem with $100/barrel oil is that America WASTES, yeah I said wastes, oil by using it damn near exclusively for transportation – sure we have some electric cars, but they don’t have any market penetration and hybrids still use gas and some modified form of one of the most dangerous inventions known to man – the internal combustion engine. Cars are the worst muthafucking pollutant-producing technology – that doesn’t have to be the way it is, sure it’ll take the auto companies to financial task and the brink of ruin (as if they’re not already there) to create cars that don’t use gasoline or use limited gasoline but why isn’t that on the tip of every presidential candidates tongue? Congress could just pass a law – to sell cars in America you need to have X mpg, but since we all know that Detroit can’t design or manufacture technology of that quality, Detroit should be given a tax break to enable it to produce the updated cars. Japan and Europe won’t be able to get the tax breaks, because they’re not American incorporated companies.

I said in a previous post, gas prices aren’t what people really need to worry about – technology and a mindset shift will get us all on alternatively powered vehicles. Where ever-rising oil prices are really going to slice the planet’s dick off is in the manufacture of plastic.

The fact that recycling isn’t a LAW that has severe financial punishment for non-compliance is a crime in itself. Just last night, I was cleaning up my filthy rooming house bathroom and kitchen, and there was like 5 trash cans with mixed garbage throughout – and at least 30 beer bottles (my housemates waste a LOT of disposable cash on beer and wine, especially considering that one of them is a alcoholic Russian chick who fucks for money and sustenance, but that’s another post) and maybe 12 to 15 soda cans – and as I live in Los Angeles there’s that CA Redemption value on all these recyclable materials. Yet no one thought to cull the items that could generate enough loose change for a bottle of laundry detergent.

Recycling plastic needs to be of paramount important, and finding was to reclaim plastic from landfills or when it’s supposedly non-recyclable is where there needs to be R&D at the major university labs.

You know what’s really FUCKED UP? Americans junk around two millions tons of electronics into landfills

EVERY FUCKING YEAR!!!

Can you honestly believe that? The lack of recycling of dead electronics is shameful, because there’s some many chemically dangerous, but no doubt reusable parts in that old PS2 or large screen tube TV that can save on the continued use of raw resources – but NOOOOO, we’re not about recycling that shit. I seem to remember some story in The Economist or maybe BBC Online about how in African countries – the dumping ground for a tremendous amount of dated electronics – people operate slipshod smelting furnaces spewing a noxious smoke cocktail the world is in denial about in their backyards to cull bits and pieces of copper, mercury, coltran (that ever-expensive metal needed for wireless communications) and aluminum; they risk their health for these dangerous metals that were no doubt strip-mined from their country in the first place 24 months prior! Not to mention

Tech waste is the environmental problem du jour, replacing Styrofoam and disposable diapers. It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation: If recycling it doesn't really result in it being recycled, and tossing it out just clogs landfills, what, exactly, are we supposed to do with this stuff?

That’s a question that Global Warming Environmentalists don’t talk about, and it’s where more and more R&D needs to be spent. In fact computer and electronics manufacturing companies should come up with the solution through some sort of legislation, something akin to the Green House Gas Credits concepts. Or maybe there should be extreme Tax Breaks offered to companies that can come up with ways to recycle all that plastic-coated wire and solder.

Now I might seem like a socialist or an extreme left-wing liberal by proposing all that the flawed, corrupt, “in the pocket of big business like a fascist regime” and bullshit-to-the-core American government pass laws to help with the environment. But let’s not kid ourselves, big business DOESN’T GIVE TWO SUCKS ON A DEAD DOG’S COCK about doing anything but maximizing profits, so fact CEOs can have 10s millions in bonuses.

Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich stated in his book SuperCapitalism that we are supremely foolish to believe that big business will do anything for the public good. They might align themselves with public sentiment if that sentiment means more cash flow (i.e. the whole jump on going “green”) – otherwise, it’s more raping of the public while the public subsidizes its own sodomy!!!

INTELLECTUAL PROPRETY THEFT

As many of you might have heard the Writers Guild of America is on strike out here in the Land of Broken Dreams. And the big thing is do you really know what the strike is about? Sure you're going to miss your favorite TV shows, and you probably think that Hollywood scribes are overpaid -- and many are, but no more so than any other author that you can think of -- music or book included, yes I'm including songWRITERS in the category -- as they get a nice royalty check anytime a song is played on the radio or a CD is bought or a song is legally downloaded.

Here's a video that breaks down what's really going out and why the so-called high priced writers are on strike.

http://weblogs.variety.com/wga_strike_blog/2007/11/writers-strike-.html

As a WGA member in bad standing (i.e. I haven't paid my dues in over a year, because I haven't had a WGA job in longer than that), I feel for the writers who are losing their jobs, but not that much.

Although the one thing that kills me is how shitty Hollywood producers and executives STILL treat us. Think about it this way -- projects GO FORWARD when the writing has reached a level to attract the necessary talent and to excite the marketing people.
Actors who make $20 million a movie (plus all the other obscene bonuses like first dollar gross and shit like that) forego all the ego-driven shit and will work for scale (roughly a few grand a week) IF AND ONLY IF said talent responds to the words on the page put there by none other than the writer!

Not the wily producer, not the studio executive, not the director (unless he's the writer) and the lawyer or marketing whiz or the D-Girl with the big tits who'd suck someone's dick to get a better job - THE WRITER, the scoffed at person who creates the words that come out of the rugged star's mouth those words that make the heroine swoon and all the women in the audience wet with envy.

Maybe the writer's ARE greedy for wanting $.08 instead of $.04 on EVERY DVD sold - at the retail price. Considering how they got ass-raped by VHS sales and the previous DVD boom (which now ain't shit, as people aren't interested in having movie libraries too much anymore).

The sad thing is that the producers were supposed to pay the writers back from the pay cut they took back in the early days of VHS... and that's NEVER going to happen. that money has been snorted, pissed, smoked, driven and built up, up and away for the rapaciously wealthy producers, actors and studio people.

And they'd all be nothing without the writers concocting stories.

I tell you whats going to happen, is that we'll have another year like 2005 -- when everyone thought that the movie industry was a few steps away from the grave because of ALL THE SHITTY MOVIES that got released in late '04 and throughout '05. See, back in late 2002 there was the threat of a WGA strike, so the studios stockpiled all these scripts and rushed them into production without really getting them ready or just buying shit and doing films so producers could get stuff in the distribution pipeline. Now that strike was averted, but not before some of the worst and expensive films were releases, stuff that was so bad the media were claiming that Hollywood was over.

But all that really happened is that the audiences were sick of gagging on the shit that was being spooled out weekend after weekend with huge marketing campaigns... if you remember during 2005, there were some great films -- BATMAN BEGINS, WEDDING CRASHERS, CRASH... to name a few, that really underscored the point -- if you make a great movie, people will come.

And where does a great movie start, from a writer staring at a blank page deciding where and how to begin.

Drinks On You

Ever notice at those do-it-yourself soda machines people blend up the wildest concoctions of soft drinks? Just this afternoon I was at the Trimana Grill in my office building (incidentally for those who’ve been an avid reader of this blog, I’m no longer homeless and I have a job in tony Century City to pay bills and get back on my feet), and this woman is playing chemist with the soda machine – mixing Hi-C Pink Lemonade with Coke and Fanta orange… yeah, that’s what I said, “Fanta orange?” Maybe Fanta cherry for a poor muthafucka’s Cherry Coke, but caramel flavoring and orange, who knew? Not I, that’s for damn sure!