What If the Carnival Triumph Cruise Ship Was A Slave Ship?

While I’m overjoyed as hell that the passengers on the long-suffering Carnival Triumph finally touched down from the Gulf of Mexico, off of a ship that had them drifting out at sea without some of the most basic shit that would have enabled them to enjoy their trip, I couldn’t help but look a lil deeper into this situation as it revealed to me so much about ourselves as a culture. Hum?
 

Hell, nobody should have to go through hell like that especially when they’re on a nice lil adulterous vacation, but when you look at life on the wider scope, was this inconvenience all that motherfuckin bad.

Now granted, I can really understand how terrifying it must have been to the children, and I’m not speaking about them or the elderly as I share my carefully constructed words.

But while uncertainty can surly play tricks on your mind, could it be that the reality show that we witnessed, or rather had shoved down our damn throats, was just another attention tactic of CNN and other media to drive their ratings up for profit purposes? Hum, again?

Listen, this wasn’t the motherfuckin “Poseidon Adventure” or the sinking of the “Titanic”!!

Come on now folks, I’m sure there were many, many other relevant stories that could have been covered as big as this fuckin planet is. This is why I watch the news outlets and programs through a purified lens, because what may be important to me may not be of any relevance to you.

That being said, have we as a people become so spoiled that when some unexpected shit happens, we become so bent out of shape when we don’t have certain amenities that have made us so soft and actually lazy?

This was the case!

Not to be cruel but I couldn’t help but think about what it might have been like to be on a Slave Ship coming all the way over from West Africa chained up to other sick and ailing folk laying in shit and piss for weeks, and having more shit tossed at them in the dark as food!

Yet the mere fuckin smell of piss was unbearable for those few days for the Carnival Triumph passengers! Now I’m not saying that the Carnival Triumph passengers should’ve been made to experience any discomfort because of what those stolen Africans went through when they were first placed in captivity.

But tough the fuck up people….because we will be placed in many uncomfortable situations in this life that won’t be pleasant!

As advanced as we have become with our gadgets and all that shit, and our knowledge of how to live more efficiently because of it, we have abandoned our ability to remain strong mentally and physically, and utilizing those facets of our life have all but evaporated. We as human beings were created in a very special way, and we must always address and maintain the mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of our existence. To live out of balance can happen for a time but to continue to be out of balance guarantees a certain doom as we have become our own worst enemy. Angry Man out!!

 

Django, Lincoln, and the Abolitionists?

Nation of Islam leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan said he thinks “Django Unchained” true purpose is prepping, and or inciting whites for a race-war. I respect the Minister, but that ain’t the main reason why Hollywood released "Django". Hollywood is in the business to make lots of money by pushing certain images, illusions, and propaganda. So why was Quentin Tarantino picked to make Hollywood’s most significant movie on slavery since at-least 'Amistad' if not 'Roots'? Why not Spike Lee, John Singleton (what ever happened to him), the Hughes Bros, or Bill Duke? Tarantino was picked because Hollywood knew he would turn slavery into a real Tarantino film; very real graphic violence, Tarantino style humor, in combination with using the word NIGGER a gazillion times! They knew Tarantino would get his buddy Samuel Jackson on board, which would then help draw other Black actors to ensure that Black folks would be standing in line, meaning validation for this movie. Then he needed a well-known white actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) for cross-over appeal (it turned out that the white German Dude, Chris Waltz) is 'Django's" real star, cause he’s the only one that got an Oscar nomination. But beyond economics, demographic, and logistic issues, I’m gonna base this piece on what I saw, reports, and reviews. I've read 'Django' represented a revenge fantasy for Black folks and even had a so-called liberating effect for some white people, and that’s really an improper response, that a serious movie about slavery should feel liberating for white folks. They should feel appalled, ashamed, remorseful, obligated, etc. How many Nazi’s who've seen 'Shindlers List' said that it made them feel liberated? As for us Black folks feeling therapeutic by watching this on-screen revenge fantasy of seeing a Black dude gettin some pay-back for slavery (except he didn’t do it for the fight against slavery, but to get his wife back), bullshit! At this point, the power elites are ok with Black folks feelin liberating by watching an historical film set 155 years ago as a money makin distraction from the on-going struggle against white-supremacy, systemic racism, US-NATO military imperialism, Wall St Banksterism, and the Global Neo-Liberal Disaster Capitalism we're faced with every day! 'Django' can't be separated from the fact that it was timed to come out with Spielberg's 'Lincoln' and PBS' 'The 'Abolitionists'. This movie was timed for the 150th anniversary of the so-called 'Emancipation Proclamation' and perpetuates the myth that Lincoln was our great emancipator, and saw us Black folk as equals, and the Civil War as a moral fight against slavery! More bullshit! But just as crazy, are Spielberg and his buddies pickin a white-washed script for 'Lincoln' that scrubbed my hero Fredrick Douglass, as well as all other Black abolitionist, and freedom fighters of that era from his so-called historical epic! This gives the false impression that Black folks just sat around waiting for some white Jesus savior type politicians like Lincoln and Thaddeus Stevens to give our ancestors freedom like some kind of Goddamn Christmas gift. White socialist web-sites praise 'Lincoln' and then disses Michelle Alexander's book 'The New Jim Crow' as Black bourgeois 'liberalism'. PBS so-called 'historical' documentary 'The Abolitionists' reinforces this fucked up myth. Though it does speak about Fredrick Douglass and his impact on the movement, he is too big and well known to completely ignore! Its main focus is on white abolitionists: William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Angelina Grimke, and John Brown. But folks should know that Douglass had several important Black colleagues in the fight against slavery: Harriett Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Martin Delaney, Robert Smalls, etc. And unlike most white abolitionists (except Brown) Tubman, Delaney, and Smalls literally risked their lives freeing slaves! Tubman was THE Face of the 'Under-Ground Rail-Road, and served as a Union Army spy during the Civil War, while Delaney and Smalls were actually Union officers! Unlike John Brown's failed Harpers Ferry raid, Robert Smalls actually succeeded in the hijacking of a Confederate gun-boat and sailed it to Union lines. Wow! Thus, the lame ass message that so-called liberal Hollywood is projecting is clear, that Blacks should give all praise to the so-called white savior, Ol (dis)Honest Abe for our freedom, as they erase Black freedom fighters from history, or give us a historical big money makin spoof as a distraction!

WHY SO MANY KILLINGS IN CHICAGO?

I have five reasons what's causing all of the killings in Chicago…but are they right? Let me know. The first belief, that Chicago is dangerous, ain’t true! Homicide rates in Chicago have been lower recently than most other cities in the United States, and in the motherfuckin world as a matter of fact. Homicides have declined since the 90’s and recently as low as the 1960s. Most of the killings are concentrated in six districts (I call them the murder zone), all of which are plagued by intergenerational poverty, gangs, momma only households, social disorder and economic blight. In 2010, 52 percent of the city's murders were committed in these six police districts. The remaining 19 are really safe! The second belief is that the police should be solely responsible for lowering the city's murder rate; this is some false shit! Despite all of the technological shit in law enforcement, CPD alone can do little to prevent homicides. Policing is really reactive to me. The police can no more prevent murders than firefighters can prevent fires or paramedics can prevent heart attacks. Yet, Mayor Rham and the top cop are criticized every time another young life is senselessly and needlessly lost to homicide. The third belief is that gangs increase Chicago's murder rate; now this shit is mostly true. Gang-related killings make up 60 percent of the murders and often involve shootings to gain control of a corner, or area, or to enhance a gang's reputation or power. Silly ass gang members also kill for reasons that have nothing to do with the gang's interests (personal insults, relationship conflicts, etc.). Last year’s warm winter and spring, and one of the hottest summers increased the number of street interactions. Loosely connected gang loyalties and a lack of mature gang leaders to keep the younger, more violent fools in check also escalate violence. In addition, gangs in Chicago have been forced out of project high-rises and into unfamiliar neighborhoods where they are confronted by rival gangs, or by rival factions within their own gang. Sad shit! The fourth belief is that murders are predictable, which is some false shit again! "Heat of the moment" killings generally take place suddenly and in a house or an apartment — where they’re virtually fuckin impossible to prevent, but those are easier to solve. They are between spouses, partners, family members, or neighbors, and the killer usually leaves behind a whole lot of CSI shit for evidence! In contrast, instrumental (cold-blooded) killings are committed to accomplish a motherfuckin goal. They are easier to prevent; the police can collect information when the murder is being planned or when conflicts are brewing. Unfortunately, this information rarely comes to police attention until the murder has been committed. Hum? (Snitches are needed) Even a fluke accident can end in death, turning a shooting into a homicide. Check this shit out I learned from CSI: the trajectory and caliber of the bullet, where it enters the body and how it tracks after it’s in the body, the size and body weight of the victim and the proximity of the shooting to the nearest trauma center are all in the homicide equation. Yea it is! In some years, these factors favor the survival of the victims; in others, they do not, and homicide rates go down or up. The fifth belief is that handguns add greatly to the high homicide rate in Chicago, this shit is really true. Pistols are used in 80 percent of Chi’s murders. That means fewer guns might, but not necessarily, translate into fewer homicides. Hum? Chicago's homicide rates went through the roof when the handgun ordinance was enforced. Most people own guns for sport or self-protection, not to commit a felony. The impact of gun buyback programs on homicides is trivial; usually law-abiding and good citizens turn in their guns for cash, because they need the money! So, what the hell are we to do? The city of Chicago, and I mean everybody, Black, white, Hispanic, Jew, etc. must come to understand that violence is both a public health and criminal justice problem. I don’t care where the hell you live in Chicago; multipronged strategies are needed to tackle the complex understanding of homicidal behavior, which is an expression of a highly disturbed nigga living in a highly distressed community. (The hood) I think most causes of violence can be addressed most effectively through the social, political and economic revitalization of these distressed neighborhoods. Remember the original CAPS (Chicago Alternative Policing) model, the police should leverage the city to tear down or board up abandoned homes and buildings — especially those that gangs use for secret shit — and remove graffiti, garbage and abandoned cars from the streets. Reductions in physical disorder will increase community solidarity and lower the rates of crime and violence in the “hood”. Yea it will!! The CPD should use the best pieces of the original CAPS model, like, uh, long-term (permanent) assignment of police officers to the same beats, especially in the murder zone. Drug sweeps every damn day, saturation patrols and gang audits are somewhat useful, but the effects are only temporary! Hot spots eventually cool off and motherfuckers just go on other street corners after the police leave. Recent police hiring will only maintain the current level of staffing. Folks in Chicago will support budgetary restructuring, even the imposition of a safety tax, if the money is used to hire the additional police officers necessary to make the hood truly safer. Mike Bloomberg’s New York Miracle — big ass reductions in all categories of serious crime— was made possible by the city's hiring of 8,000 new police officers. Hum? The second element is the renewal of regular beat meetings, especially where the risk for homicide is greatest. Beat meetings highlight police-citizen partnerships in the co-production of hood safety. Through the establishment of closer and more trusting relationships with police officers, (cringing), more residents could be enlisted to help solve gang-related killings, which have a very low clearance rate. In conjunction with beat meetings, the most violent districts must establish an anti-homicide task force, consisting of police officers; lyin preachers, city, and school officials; community organizers; and researchers. The task forces should meet weekly with Rham and the top cop to discuss the latest data on shootings and the adoption of district-specific measures to enhance safety. The city should also re-vamp the Cease-fire Program, a pretty good approach that hires former gang members as violence interrupters who get information about impending gang-related homicides to avoid retaliatory gang warfare. Whew! Violence interrupters also can teach young men better conflict-resolution skills. Cease-fire and other community organizations and institutions must focus on changing the culture of violence that flows through the lives of young Black men, the most likely victims and perpetrators of homicide in the city. The thugs who use guns never own them legally and never buy them mothefuckers in Chicago, which has no gun shops. The ATF claims that Chicago's gangs get their guns from outside of Illinois. Duh? Furthermore, most chronic offenders are prohibited from gun ownership because they have a felony or are on probation or parole supervision. To ensure that guns do not come into the possession of these niggas, the CPD should reestablish its specialized gun unit in each of the distressed districts in the murder zone, working with beat officers and ATF agents in mutual styles of policing. The longer-term assignment of specialty officers to districts would minimize the likelihood of the abuses that were attributed to the “jump-out boys.” In addition, using the RICO statute, holding gang leaders accountable for every gang-related murder committed by their members, could compel gang leaders to control the silly ass uneducated shooters among their ranks. The CPD has got to shut down the out-in-the open drug markets, ending the violence that comes from conflicts over territory. In New York, outdoor drug sales were driven indoors, where conflicts between rival drug dealers were minimized if not prevented altogether. A positive byproduct of closing down the open-air drug markets is the increased inconvenience of buyin the shit! The ramps of the Eisenhower Expressway would no longer provide easy in and out for suburbanites buyin heroin, cocaine and Kush from street gang members. Homicides end young Black lives senselessly, damaging families and communities for generations to come. The complexity of this problem calls for diverse solutions in which police, residents and community leaders create orderly environments where shooting will never be a viable solution to a problem. The city needs more officers engaging in more “gangs-drugs-guns” policing in the districts where the risk of becoming another horrific homicide statistic is greatest. The benefits of reducing homicides will transfer to all residents in ensuring that Chicago remains a world-class city.

BEYONCE` AND THE MORNING AFTER

I’m gonna just go on and get this shit outta the way…Beyoncé killed the half-time show. Oh yeah, and she can sing. I’m not scared of any of you motherfuckers. Was it the best half-time show of all time? No. But was it dope? Yes. But we’ll get to her relationship to Jesus and the occult later. Hope I remember. Anyway, it’s the Monday after the Super Bowl which for me ended about an hour ago due to the mysterious power outage. Yes, Beyoncé had something to do with that. I know she did! But again, we’ll get to that later. Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens. While I definitely was pulling for the 49ers, I’m happy for Baltimore and their fans. I do have to question some of the play-calling on the part of loser Harbaugh on the last drive for San Fran, but I don’t get paid millions. Naw, I’m just a squirrel trying to get a nut to move your butt. On to the next one…and all my single ladies!! I was ready for the Internet to either implode or shut down altogether during Beyonce’s performance, but somehow that didn’t happen. And...Oh, motherfucking Alicia Keys went and remixed the national anthem…in front of all them white folks. Not only does she spend 80 percent of every song yelling at us, now she’s lighting women on fire, which I’m fairly sure, is like, not cool, bro. But if there’s one motherfuckin song that’s more sacred to white people than “Dixie” it’s the National Anthem. That’s why so many white folks tend to hate it when Black folks sing it…remembering Marvin Gaye and the rest of the coloreds. We tend to flavor it up. Well she flavored it down with a jazzy version but then hit up a couple extra words and lines in the end. Damn, Alicia. First you decide to work with BlackBerry, now you fucking with white people. Where is the world headed? It’s been an odd week for you. Back to the lecture at hand…while I like Beyonce, I’m not nearly on the level of her fans out there. I don’t think the Super Bowl was a Beyonce concert with a football game surrounding it. But men listen, when she hit the crowd with the “raise your hands towards me and let me feed off your energy…” weee!! I ain’t saying she’s drinking the Kool-Aid, but she’s definitely on the verge of Crystal Light. Oh, and she made Kelly and Michelle her backup singers for a minute or two. I like it. I like it a lot. Then the power goes out. I’m a betting man, and I know that God probably put his chips on Baltimore to cover the spread in Vegas. Why else would he cut the lights after Jacoby Jones records the longest kick-off return in Super Bowl History (well until it was noted that it was only 108 yards and tied with others). He had to make sure that Baltimore was up enough to ultimately win. Of course, it’s possible that Beyonce’s powers of the unreal cut the lights to somehow give San Fran an edge (it didn’t, they’re a tremendous comeback team and should have won in my opinion), but if the Ravens don’t win, then we don’t get Ray Lewis and his Psalms 91 shirt, and then we don’t get him telling us about God more times than the entire winner’s circle at the NAACP Image Awards on Friday night who ceremoniously disrespected Jamie Foxx as he sang the gospel while accepting his award, which I’m pretty sure was for “Most Versatile Performer” or some such fuckery. I ain’t saying that the Image Awards ain’t shit, but that’s awful close to a BET Award show category. And we know about that coonery! Oh, and Red Tails winning movie of the year or whatever it won when 1) it sucked more than, well, anything, and 2) it was in the same category as Django Unchained, and Beasts of the Southern Wild, and 3) nobody even remembered when it came out! Even George “I love Black women” Lucas said he wasn’t expecting to be up there. Luckily nobody who actually knows shit about movies gives that win any credence. I’m rambling. Yes I am. Back to Ray Ray. I know he’s religious and really got religion after conspiring to (helping) kill two dudes, so it’s nothing new. But between him, Beyonce, and God shutting off the lights at the Super Dome, well, there was a lot of Jesus going on around the Super Bowl. I would like to ask Beyonce to give some of her followers the ability to worship Jesus too though. So yes, I just used almost 755 words to get back to this: The Image Awards? Beyoncé? Ray Lewis? It’s the morning after…

OUR MIS-EDUCATION OF SEX IN OUR COMMUNITY

We all should know that sex plays a very important part in our lives, but we also have to understand that its real function is to procreate. However, it’s the mis-education of sex among Black youth in our community that is creating serious problems: child abuse. It’s a crying shame to have to watch news reports about Black children that have been strangled, burned, starved, trashed, abandoned, beaten, poisoned, and left in cars to suffocate, usually by young parents or family members. I remember a young Black mother leaving her two children in the car to suffocate while she was getting a new hair weave. Same year, a Black man threw acid in the face of his sleeping three-month-old son. Also, the following year, police were summoned to a house where family members told them that a pet “pit bulldog” had attacked their newborn baby, only 48 hours old, who was left unattended in a room with the vicious hungry animal. The police found the bloody headless body of the baby on the floor of the room, and had to kill the dog to reclaim the baby’s head, which the dog was chewing on! And in Philly, a Black woman called police after becoming suspicious of a peculiar odor coming from the apartment next door. When the police arrived, they found a baby barely alive lying in a roasting pan in a hot oven. When police asked the mother,” Why would she do such a horrible thing to her own child?” Her reply was “The devil made me do it!” And the list goes on and on. Real-life horror stories of which there seems to be no immediate remedy as to how to put an end to these human atrocities. The Department of Welfare and Children’s Services are not helping either. In fact, in most of the child abuse cases handled by these agencies, the abusive parent receives inadequate counseling and/or rehabilitation; saving tax payers money, and the real victim (child) is quickly returned to the same abusive parent, who in most cases continues to abuse and/or kills the child. We cannot expect social service agencies or any institution that doesn’t have our best interest at heart to resolve our problems. We Black folks have to do it. Unfortunately, there are too many temptations out there that lure our Black youth into the world of sex and perversion. The number one culprit is the television, watched by millions of Black youth, which employs the use of ads to promote the very early interest in sex. It’s the most powerful tool the propagandist has to influence their thinking and behavior. Sponsors pay millions of dollars, the networks get richer and filthier and the government rakes in more money. Sex is a multi-billion dollar industry, and the big time hustlers: Uncle Sam and the networks don’t give a damn who’s child they string out as long as they’re making money. Young Black men and women get caught up in the “1-800-LOVE LINE” which promotes prostitution, and young girls emulate and idolize some whorish female personalities, unprepared for the consequences that lay ahead. Planned Parenthood, and birth control clinics signal to our youth that sex outside of marriage is okay as long as they don’t get caught, ( pregnancy, AIDS.) When young women find themselves “In trouble,” they believe that the easiest route is to abort the child. After all, it’s just a fetus not yet fully developed. These clinics remove personal accountability and responsibility from the clients and replace them with coils, jells and methods of sterilization. They offer nothing to our youth, and in particular, the unborn child. In some areas of the U.S., public schools systems are teaching our young Black boys (9 and 10 year olds), the proper use of condoms. Their argument is that “children are becoming more sexually conscious and active at an earlier age, and therefore, to protect them from the spread of highly infectious diseases, like AIDS; it is better to be safe than sorry.” In the meantime, police in Chicago arrest two 10-year- old boys for gang raping a 7-year- old girl while their friends casually watched and cheered. No one should be talking to your children about sex but you, the parent, or another concerned responsible family member. Parents played an active role in their child’s birth, and should take an equally active part in their moral training and development. Sex education is clearly not the responsibility of the government. Teaching our children to abstain from sex before marriage is by far the best solution in avoiding unwanted pregnancies, social diseases and character assassination. However, teaching our children about sex should not begin when they are already engaged in it. The process of educating them should start early and be gradual. Families that show love, genuine concern, and are sensitive to their children, are better able to discuss concerns and feelings they may have and don’t understand. As our children continue to grow and develop, they’re undergoing very confusing periods in their lives. False accusations and unfounded suspicions only block the lines of effective communication further. If our children are uncomfortable or reluctant to talk to us about sex, they may look for answers elsewhere. Knowing who your children are hanging out with is equally as important in educating them about sex. If we know where our children are going to bed and whom they’re with, it won’t be too difficult to figure out what they’re doing. In other words, get familiar with your child’s friends and associates. If their “homies” are the type that attract trouble, then it may be better to cut the contact altogether. Their peers will probably ridicule them, but they will survive. When people don’t have good sense of values, their direction is usually uncertain as well. REAL TALK: “ANGRY BLACK MAN”…. TO YOU YOUNG BLACK GIRLS More than ever, you young impressionable girls must face the inevitability of raising your children alone, especially if you are poor and have no education. Think about this, you will become just another statistic filed away for someone’s research (Black, young, pregnant, unwed and on welfare) if you don’t use proper values! Soap operas, videos, reality shows, BET, and made for television films only glamorize the real world because they’re centered on white values rather than Black values. If you young Black girls want a shot at achieving some of your goals in life, you must begin now by preparing to make certain sacrifices. Learning self-restraint and moral ethics can be the key to your future and the future of your children too. Chances are that if you are in a “Cycle” of having babies every year or so, opportunities become almost impossible to achieve. Lets face it, there will be no responsible brother waiting for you in the wings now or anytime, if you persist in repeating past mistakes. What you will get, however, will be somebody nobody wants or needs…leftovers. Parenting is a tremendous responsibility, which requires maturity, patience and love. Two of those won’t be there if you see your child as burdens or free tickets to getting a man. Self –respect, self-love and looking out for your own future is far more important. There is a lot of good and bad in our communities, and having the right set of values, and planning realistic strategies will better prepare you for some of the good life in the near future. Give your life a chance to enjoy what is good out there. Put sex on the backburner until you marry. You’ll never regret it, I’m Phillip Norton and I’m out!!!!!

DO YOU HAVE TO LOOSE YOUR MIND TO RE-CLAIM YOUR SANITY?

Late last night I was caught by surprise when the television began to play old songs from the fifties and sixties that I grew up listening to. It was one of those Time/Life paid commercials that lasts for about thirty minutes, but lure you into buying a set of Compact Discs that seems to be a good deal, and it actually is. Now anyone who truly knows me, knows that I don’t give my conscious and subconscious mind to the television at all ,and when I do, I filter everything that I observe on it, and keep my viewings limited to CNN/MSNBC/FOX News because I will never submit myself to being “dumbed down.” And I only watch FOX because I like to keep up with the enemy within! But because this was music that I could trust, it was already embedded in the deepest recesses of my mind from my childhood, I was happy to take a trip down memory lane as they played lil pieces of the many songs that they had to offer. The songs came at me fast and began to stir up the long forgotten but ever present memories that had settled behind the present events of my life, like that huge spoon that I can remember my Mother used to give us Father Johns and Castor Oil! Ugg, damn, I can taste it now! As the thoughts developed once again for me to enjoy as the music played, I couldn’t help but think of how the world that we currently live in is so much different from those golden times that brought us those warm feelings as we lived them. I came to the conclusion right then and there that there will never be another time like that for the rest of my life unless something very drastic changes. While looking back on my younger years (I ain’t that old yet, but I have enough years under my belt to be able to speak about them and the precious lessons learned in hindsight!) and believe me when I tell you, excitement was always my constant companion and it had a way of finding me even when I tried to hide from it. But those days I had good clean fun. Sure, I had a few fistfights, but you shook hands and nursed your bloody nose and busted lip and found a way to become friends after your differences were settled. There were no shootouts or deaths, and being arrested was out of the question. It was a different time than it is now, this is why for me to arrive home to a quiet apartment, and the only sound that I can hear is the gentle humming of my old desk-top is more exciting than those crazy parties that I used to throw and more satisfying than the even more outlandish things that I did at them! But such is maturity and I do thank God that I made it to 57 ¾ years at the time of this writing (Well almost!) and it makes me think why most people ( including me) aren’t operating and functioning properly in the world the way it is today. This music commercial had me feeling so, so good, but at the same time wishing that that world was still around. I wondered, just as I’m reminiscing on the wholesome golden times of my childhood by these songs that were passionate, emotional and family friendly clean, what will the present generation look back on as they hit middle age and beyond, and when they do look back, will they realize that they have been literally robbed by the mindset that they were coerced to adopt? Will they realize that for most of their formative years and beyond, that they have lost their minds? Some of us who should know better (including me), have continued on with our destructive indulgences long beyond the point of being able to cry ignorance because we just downright love and have committed to living such a filthy life and refusing to adopt the new mindset that will have us ascend to that next level. In order to gain anything in this life, you have to be willing to part with something. The reason why many of us never make it to that next desired level in our lives is because we want to bring everything in our current reality with us to our new one. That is so foolish but it is something that I constantly execute and never realize why I will reach my new level of existence or damage that place by tainting it with the things that should have been left in the past. Whew! But we can be stubborn folks indeed, so for those who of you who are a bit more humble in their demeanor and are willing to embrace all that they’ve hoped for, know that you must lose your mind in order to gain your sanity. But wait. Does that even make sense? Sure it does! In this so called modern world, we have lost our unique identities, we do not feel that we’re good enough to be our original selves so we have exchanged and forfeited our original selves for the cookie cutter lives that we strive to live. Through the constant bombardment on our good senses via the internet, print, and television, attacks on our minds have softened us up to accept anything that is given to us in our altered mental state. We go through life not looking dead on and focused on our particular path, but we’re moving forward, but looking sideways to see what others are doing and setting ourselves up for a sure disaster because we are not 100% focused on our real affairs. Damn, did I say that? Life, to many of us (including me) is like drinking that cup of Seven Up that was left out a lil bit too long with melted ice ensuring that twangy taste is watered down and the sparkle gone! It may appear to be the drink that we craved, but upon a closer inspection it is nothing like what we’ve come to expect. We copy each other in style, fashion, likes and dislikes and wonder why we feel like we’re going insane from a life that does nothing for us. Our year old car is now not good enough because our next door neighbor has a newer one that is more expensive. We stopped talking to our good friends because they have moved on to live in a community with a higher tax bracket. We lust after our friends spouse and neglect the one we have at home, lying to ourselves in saying that we simply “lost it.” Damn! We are the reasons why we make our lives so shallow and paper thin! It’s like making love and not feeling a damn thing, or taking a bite of your favorite food and having it taste like chalk. Sure, it’s enough to make a motherfucker crazy because after all of the hype, to possess the mind of this imposter in your head will give you absolutely no choice but to give that person a false happiness that has no flavor. We have more technology, more gadgets than we could have imagined! Remember way back when we all wanted a watch that worked like Dick Tracey’s or a communicator like Captain Kirk’s on Star Trek. We have so much, yet we’re losing our minds reluctantly in record numbers because it is nature’s attempt to bring us back into a divine balance and true sanity! If we continue to consume these genetically engineered foods and flood our internal organs with medications to boost our abilities to do for our bodies artificially what should be done for itself, we will feel no joy in our daily lives because of this. After a hard day’s work, and not being able to easily sleep, or after an ample and stimulating view of beautiful titties, you get no erection? What gives? We have pushed our minds, bodies and souls as far as they can go, and in order for us to continue to have a shot at a normal and totally fulfilling life, we have got to lose our collective minds. Doesn’t this make complete sense? We’re seeing the regular mass shootings of innocent lives from those who are socially isolated and disconnected from that universal sense of being included which is part of our divine D.N.A. Children and young teenagers walk the earth with an anger that was once reserved for old folks who were disgruntled with a life filled with poor choices and realize that more exists ahead. Why are our youth, with so much time in front of them seeming to be burdened with the stresses and dysfunctions of a lifetime? It wasn’t like that just a short time ago when I was growing up, so where did this come from and why don’t more people notice it? Teachers who were just as influential as, and sometimes closer to their students than the parents, are now crossing the line and actually having sex with the youngsters whose safety and well-being they have been entrusted with. Police are more corrupt than ever, and have taken center stage over the good ones who are hard to be found when it is time to break that blue wall of silence. Sex scandal after sex scandal peppers the psyche of humankind and is appearing in every area of endeavor populated by humankind including the church, so what gives? Our work ethic has diminished, and the biggest concern for an ever growing majority of workers is to do less and pass the time until it’s time to clock out. The pride of doing a great job has literally disappeared and the joy we used to possess in showing up to our jobs to do our absolute best has all but become a distant memory. We go to work with the mentality of one who is going to war…..Kill or be killed. Morale doesn’t exist anymore and it’s just a matter of time before the next school shooting that will dominate our news channels and social media networks once again. We have got to lose this type of mindset in order to make room for sanity to return! We have been co-opted and we don’t even realize it. We have had our very lives “baited and switched” right from under us and we think that it will be alright and all will go well. No one seems to want to give of themselves anymore and most prowl this world as though they’re in a market where things can be bargained down. Everyone seems to want “the hook up” or some inside deal that no one else has access to. But with the mentality of always seeking to get over, we will never get that deal that we feel is so elusive to us. If we would only lose this current carnal way of thinking, we could then regain our sanity. So as you can see, losing your mind can be a great thing when it is exchanged for the intended sanity that we seem to lack now. To keep thinking the way that we do will only manifest the later stages of a degradation that has already surpassed anything that was written in scripture and will incur a harsher wrath more so than anything that has ever been witnessed. Lose your present mind to gain your sanity. I think I’ve said enough!!