BIG-UP to ALL BLACK WOMEN

Shot out to Fantasia!!!

While it is shocking, it also (in my opinion) shows the strength and determination of African-American women.

Fantasia could not read or write very well, but she still had the drive and motivation to learn all those songs by listening to them in order to be able to go and sing her butt off in those American Idol episodes.

I just gained a whole lot more respect for her as a person. I always respected her ability to sing, but being strong enough to put this info out there (along with the fact that she got raped as a freshman in high school) takes a lot of heart!

Check it out...

My Email to Bill Bennett

I'm gonna be honest with myself here, he'll probably never get this. And I really had a TOUGH a$$ time finding the right words, but dammit I had to say something!

"Aborting African-American babies?!? Oh, this fool got us TWISTED!"

-------------------------------------------

Hello Mr. Bennett,

It is hard for me to believe that a well-educated man with a history in politics (not to mention a presidential Cabinet position) can make such an ignorant and stupid statement. However, I cannot say that this surprises me one bit (it was the Reagan Administration) considering you were in charge of the underachieving and at times clue-less system that educated me while I attending DC and Prince George's County Public Schools in the 1980s. Fortunately, I came out of those systems with enough knowledge not to let your comments go without any response and with enough integrity to stand up for a group of people whose unborns you feel don't deserve life because they'll increase the crime rate.

The fact of the matter is that crime reduction in this country has less to do with race than it does wtih economics! Poor people in this country live an entirely different life than those who are lucky enough to be maintain life above the ever-rising poverty-line. Being poor in this country often means having to find ways to survive. And if that means committing crime, then by all means poor people will commit crimes to survive. Survival doesn't mean committing a crime to support a drug habit (crack cocaine did first appear during the Reagan Administration right) or some other negatively-viewed affliction we associate solely with poor people (which is a myth in itself). Survival means doing what you have to do in order to feed yourself, your family, and live day-to-day.

What is needed to help decrease the crime rate is not the abortion of a single race's offspring (I am still wondering how you could mouth those words), but a raising of the level of education given to people across the country, so that those in poor communities are afforded the same opportunities that those in wealthy countries are affored. Maybe then we can reduce the crime rate by pulling uneducated poor people up into the class of highly-educated wealthy people through their use of a solid foundation of education.

But oh yeah, there's one problem with that, right? People like you probably don't want poor people rising there! You don't want that unaborted African American child living next door to you, do you? You're probably terrified of the thought.

So let me help you calm your nerves. When it boils down to it, people are just people! Regardless of skin-color, race, ethnic background, OR finanical status, we all tend to have similar goals in life. When people in this country are educated equally and treated equally, then our crime rate will go down. Not when we start aborting babies that we assume will be felons!

Also, I must charge you with hypocrisy considering you were a part of an Administration that was in power when the crack cocaine epidemic took over an entire community (the African-American community) and spread to other communities. Perhaps if you, and members of the Reagan Administration found a way to stop the spread of this genocidal drug, you wouldn't have so many poor people today! Maybe there wouldn't be so many "abort-able" African-American crime-rate-increasing babies if you didn't "let" - I am struggling to use that word considering all the suspicions surround the Reagan Administration and crack cocaine - the crack cocaine epidemic spread like wildfire! I guess that since crack couldn't do the job, reducing the crime rate is your new excuse for getting rid of the "trouble-makers" in this country? Well, it looks like you've made a little trouble yourself.

Mr. Bennett, you hugely underestimate the intelligence, strength, will, integrity, and self-respect of African Americans in this country, MY PEOPLE! Your comments will get you a lot of emotional and passionate responses from people like myself, some more scathing than others. I pray to God that you take the time to listen to the same people you think could have been aborted to reduce your precious crime rate, and see that we have feelings, values, and most of all, intelligence, integrity, and self-respect! So I beg you to think twice before you make such an ignorant and inherently stupid statement.

Sincerely,

Michael Carroll

GOTTA READ THIS!!!

Bill Bennett said...

"...I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down."


Here's a link to a semi-transcript of the discussion between Mr. Bennett and the caller he said this to. There's a soung clip of the interview as well (he makes the statement about a minute in).

http://mediamatters.org/items/200509280006

For those of you (like me) who have something to say about this, feel free to send it straight to Mr. Bennett:

http://www.bennettmornings.com/askbill

Naturally, I will be spewing a rack of venomous comments about this in a blog entry. Just not this one. I still have to get my thoughts together on this one.

How can someone say something so ignorant and STUPID?

Shot out to SHIRIN!

Girl, you saved my life (from all the way in the UK)!

Thanks for that information on keeping spammers from commenting on my blog entries. I appreciate that!

Back to normal now.

WTF???

I'm beginning to get a little upset with the fact that everytime I post a new blog, I get an "Anonymous" comment that's really SPAM! Damnit! SPAMming blogs! That is just appalling!


You computer nerds make me sick! And FYI, I call myself a WEB NERD, not computer nerd. So stop asking me to fix your sh^t! Ask me to fix the Inter-WEB! J/K

:-0)

HIP-HOP FANS Must READ!!!

http://www.allhiphop.com/editorial/?ID=280

Shot out to Nas, Kanye, Talib, Common, Dead Prez, and all others who do what they do the way they do it!

WEB NERD ALERT: Broadband EVERYWHERE!

If this isn't cool, I don't know what is!!!

Broadband INTERNET in every room!!! Man, Limewire and Kazaa would be pissed at me!

PHOTOS: Hopkins Reunion

Last night, there was a mini-JHU reunion taking place in Baltimore at Koopers Tavern. Lionel, Shermian, Osei (well, he didn't actually make it), myself, and Randy (Morgan grad). It was pretty cool. Couple flicks below:

Public Service Announcement: Don't get hosed at the gas pump

Shot out to Shant-E for sending me this one. If you use a debit card at gas stations, keep this in mind.

Word on the London streeets...

...is that there's a certain person over in London who gets a kick out of my blog...GREAT! So I'm gonna take the time to dedicate this blog entry to that person!


Shirin, Shirin, Shirin!!! Thank you very much for taking the time to read through my random thoughts of ignorance, humor, corny-ness (is that even a word), banter, unwavering use of ellipses, and most of all...relentless humanity (peep the ellipse)!

L told me you have taken the time to sift through the titilating entries of my blog and I appreciate that!

Thanks a lot! Your sense of humor is amazing!

P.S. - L had absolutely nothing to do with this blog entry ;-)

Reverend Leroy Lonnie LOVE!!!

For all my Martin (the TV show) fans out there, you know who the aforementioned reverend is (shot out to David Allan Grier). Well, this is about as close as we'll get to Reverend Love in real life.

This is one of the funniest things I've heard in my life! It's a preacher (I have no idea where and when this was taped) talking about homosexuality! This may offend you if you practice an alternative lifestyle so I am warning you now.

Also, he gets very detailed with his descriptions so beware, you might hear something you don't want to hear.

This sound byte is pretty "extreme" people! I don't necessarily agree with what he's saying or how he's saying it, but coming from a preacher, this just makes me laugh...Relentlessly!

Reverend Leroy Lonnie Love (Quicktime file)....Oh yeah, that's not the preacher's real name. I don't who know it is.

T is M.I.A. : And I am NOT talking about Miami....

where's T? I need some love for these blog entries!!!! Granted, half the stuff I talk about in these blogs doesn't really fall under your radar, but "come on Cletus!"

HOLLA AT YOUR MAN!

I know school is tough as nails and I am glad you're working so hard to make it through the semester. But can I get one (okay, more like 3) response. A "hi", a "You're silly", an emoticon? Come on, PLLLLLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

M&th@rf&ck#r for WHAT???

WHY? This is all I can think after watching this one.

Why do people have to act this way? This is probably one of the most ignorant and unnecessary acts of violence I've seen in my life! Just stupid!

WARNING: This gets a lil graphic!

WHY???

What HiP-hOp NEEDS...

For all my hip-hop heads out there, I was thinking something on my way to work this morning that I am sure a lot of you may have already had pass through your mind as well...What does hip-hop need right now?

Plenty of times I've asked myself this question in regards to the content of hip-hop music and have had conversations with numerous people about what we need in terms of the content of hip-hop music to help educate, empower, and uplift the community. Yet and still, I pop in Young Jeezy every morning followed by (and perhaps this is my conscious playing a part) Kanye's Late Registration.

Young Jeezy's album is just hot to me. Lack of lyrical ability, positive content, etc., it's a HOT CD in my opinion. I have told people for years I live my thug life vicariously through hip-hop artists. So I like to credit my affinity for music from artists like Scarface, Beanie Sigel, Young Jeezy, etc. to my desire to live the thugged-out, crack-selling, street-fame life through these cats. Because God (and anyone else who knwos me) knows that's not me in real-life. But I digress!

Instead of thinking about what hip-hop needs in terms of content, this morning I thought about what hip-hop needs in terms of collaborations!!! So without any further banter and/or adieu, I give you guys my list of collabos we need in HIP-HOP. Feel free to add your own to this list (no real order of precedence here, just numbered so you can specifically address them by number if necessary):

1. Jay-Z and Nas on a song together or album: We all know that hip-hop would go crazy if we had this collaboration between two of the most talented artists in the game. A song would be nice. An album is more like wishful thinking (shot out to Vivian Green) at this point. But perhaps a song together would start enough of a buzz for an album. Perhaps, yeah right! No doubt it would start a helluva buzz!

2. Nas and AZ album: This thing is years in the making. After their collabos on Illmatic, Stillmatic, and AZ's Aziatic, we all need a dose of the "Flyest Gangsta's"! "Whose the target? Now watch how they close the market!"

3. A Cam'Ron CD with all the production done by Kanye: Maybe it's just me, but it seems like Cam'Ron sounds ten times better over a Kanye beat. Down-and-Out or Gone on Kanye's latest album both ROCK! Even with Cam's off-beat and weird rhyming style, I think that he and Kanye could make a bangin a$$ album together. Maybe it's just me! I know people either like Cam or hate him (shot out to Dane), but I think the it would sice me (yes, I said SICE!) if they did an album with Cam rapping and Kanye doing beats. Hell, Kanye could spit a bar here or there, wouldn't hurt.

4. A Nore CD with all beats by the Neptunes: "Show you ni99as how to rhyme over Neptunes beats". YES, Nore, you did! But you didn't show us how to do anything over anyone else's beats. Nore's either good over a Neptunes beat or with Capone. That's it! Otherwise, the dude doesn't really impress me too much. But back when "Oh-oh-oh-oh NO!!!" first dropped, it was the certified SHYT! You know it, I know it, and even if you're in denial, you know that joint was HOT! Not to mention "N.O.R.E....We on the run eatin'..." whatever that joint was. That was hot too! And I know a lot of people are gonna hate on #4 on my list, but it's all good. I effs with Nore over a Neptunes track!

5. Freeway, Beans, and Jigga CD: "Think it's a game when them things come out!" That's all I gotta say. Beanie Sigel CD...The Reason. Jay spits one of his all-time best verses on this joint (in my tainted opinion). "Ice pinky ring in the air drinking my drink up..." When these three get on a track, it's a done deal! "What We Do" off Freeway CD is one of my favorite songs of all time!

6. Talib Kweli CD with all Kanye production: Is it me or do you guys think Kanye could do for Kweli what he helped do for Common (BE)? I got $10 towards the "Get Kweli some Kanye beats" Fund!

7. Mary J Blige and Jay-Z cd: The true best of both worlds! And you know Mary don't want "No Drama" like Kellz!

8. Beans, Scarface, and Jay-Z CD: Guess who's bizzack! Face is a legend in the game, Jay is one of, if not the best to ever do it (I won't go on my pro-Jay-Z rant here), and beans is one of the sickest spitters in the game when he wants to be. This is a classic waiting to happen

9. Any Mobb Deep or M.O.P. CD: These dudes been on the shelf so long I'd like to hear any full-length CD they put out. Just to see if they still got it. Mobb got me excited with the outta control remix with half-dollar (50), but will they really be able to do it with G-UNIT? And I just wanna hear M.O.P. yell some ignorant shit over a hot beat! Imma be real with that one! I mean, Jeezy pretty much gives me that right now (Yeahhhhhhh, ha haaaaaaa, chyeah!, etc.) but M.O.P. does it so much better!

10. An album by Nas that tells a complete story from beginning to end: We all know that Nas is hands-down the best story-teller ever in hip-hop. Even better than slick rick (yes, I said it!). If Nas took the time to put together an album of 10-12 songs that told a story, I think it would be FAR more interesting (to me at least) than the R. Kelly adultery-thon series called "In the closet" (which was culminated by one of the wackest MTV award performances I've ever seen). I think Nas could keep me intrigued for an entire album telling one story. And I don't mean the same beat for 10-12 songs, I mean separate songs, but all telling the same story. Kinda like what he did on Street's Disciple for a couple songs. That was DOPE!

Racial Profile: Derek Jeter receives racist hate mail

"Racism still alive, they just be concealin' it!"

New York Yankees star Derek Jeter receives hate mail for dating white women.

Snippet:

"The letter was mailed to Jeter at Yankee Stadium and called him a 'traitor to his race,' according to a story in Monday's editions of the Daily News. It warned him to 'stop or he'll be shot or set on fire,' said a law enforcement source who the newspaper did not identify. It was not clear whether the source was speaking on condition of anonymity."

This is what I like to call "THAT BULLSH&T" (shot out to BHILL)!!!

FLASH YOUR HEADLIGHTS ALL YOU WANT

I know you've probably got an email about not flashing your headlights because you'll be followed by potential gang members as part of their initiation process, but ....

Don't worry too much!!

Sorry Orioles fans...Rafael Palmeiro is a PUNK...

Why you ask? This guy first goes before Congress and adamantly testifies that he's never used steroids, "PERIOD!" Then he used steroids, got caught by the league (who kept it secret while they investigated everything ==> they gave him preferential treatment) and still didn't fess up. Now, he's trying to blame a teammate for providing him with a vitamin that "could have caused a positive test". Str8 PUNK!

This guy has done everything but the right thing in this whole situation. At least Jason Giambi came out and admitted it. Albeit after he got caught, but he admitted it. Raffy still denies the allegations and now he's trying to find some person, some thing, somewhere to place part of the blame (because he will always have most of the blame).

So now he drags another player, Miguel Tejada, into this situation and makes it an even bigger mess. The guy is showing no integrity or class in this entire situation.

Raffy tries to redirect the blame.

I liken this to Kobe being questioned about raping the young lady in colorado and telling the cops "Shaq does the same thing, he just pays the girls off not to tell!" Fellas, if you do this, you're a PUNK, "PERIOD!" Being a man is almost like being part of a fraternity sometimes. "It's a secret society, all we ask is trust". People like Raffy and Kobe break that trust and that's something you just don't do. Not to mention the unspoken credo of "what happens in the clubhouse/locker-room, stays in the clubhouse/locker-room".

Stand up and be men fellas! Stop trying to point fingers elsewhere and point them at yourselves! SUCKAS!

YOU SHOULD STOP FRONTING....Why We Gotta Front?

Let me tell you guys a short story...

Yesterday when I get home from work I see my main man 50 grand BHill standing in front of my door talking to my next door neighbor (let's call him "W"). Now we have to keep in mind that "W" is a pretty funny-acting dude. Funny-acting as in he don't really mess with me or BHill but he will speak to us (what-up type ish) here and there if he has to. So basically, we don't really F with this dude like that.

But yet and still, we're all grown men so we can have a conversation among one-another. So I pull up and he and BHill are talking and I walk up to them and they're discussing child-support. W got a couple kids and BHill doesn't, but he knows a decent amount about the child support system in Bmore. So I walk in on their conversation and dap both of them up and kinda sit back and listen waiting for BHill to end the conversation so I can rap with him.

What I overhear is "W" talking about a way to get one of his baby mothers (yes, one of) to cut him a deal so he pays her $1000 so that she can get child support office to clear him $10000 in rears of child support payments. What this means is that homeboy owes $10K he hasn't paid and he's trying to get his baby momma to go to the child support office and clear that $10K in exchange for him giving her $1000. Okay, that's the first half of my story.

Second half. "W" eventually gets off that topic and starts talking/bragging about how good his credit is and how he's now getting offers from crditors in the mail to start accounts with them. "W" also has a small business. Keep that in mind.

"W" proceeds to brag about his credit score and then ask BHill and I about OUR credit scores. First off, this dude never ever has had a conversation with either of us before. Secondly, he definitely don't F with us, just like we don't F with him. Why's he asking about our credit? Why's he telling us about his? Who knows?

BHill and I both proceed to give him as little knowledge as possible about our credit histories. So "W" continues to brag and eventually mentions that his small business can bring him $10 or $15 in a week! WHOA! I found this to be amazing considering this dude is renting a 2-bedrm townhouse just like me (and it ain't expensive, this is Bmore). On top of that, he's got beautiful credit according to what he tells. Why wouldn't he be in a nice house somewhere? Hmmmmnnnnnn? I don't know. So he continues to brag on his credit, his business, and complain about his "wife" (although he has no wedding ring on) who I assume is the girl who he stays with. Because he speaks socasually about baby-mommas and women in general I don't know if he's really married or just saying that. But he does live with a girl so I guess I'll roll with the marriage thing.

Anyway, I say all this to say. Why does a dude who you know doesn't really mess with you like that start a conversation about his personal business, inquire about your personal business, and then brag on his credit and his business? WHY? Because he's FRONTING!

So I ask you, why do we feel the need to front? Let's take "W" for example. Why does he feel the need to pump himself up so much? It's obvious his credit and business situations are not as good as he says. The dude rents in the same complex I rent in and he doesn't have a day job (just his business). He is home all the time (so how much business can he really be doing) and I hear him complaining (through the thin a$$ walls in our townhomes) about money to his "wife" all the time, though he doesn't know I hear his loud a$$. So WHY does he need to pump himself up to two guys he otherwise wouldn't even acknowledge? I DON'T KNOW!

But what I do know is that there are tons of other guys like him who do the same bamafied sh&t! It is funny to me, but I wish we could all just be real. Everybody talks about keeping it real and they real and this-and-that, but most of us are the exact opposite. FAKE! Hiding reality to make people (who don't know any better) think we're doing big things. Think about the club. How many men and women are in there dressed like they're straight out of a rap video and then you see them leave the club and get in a beat-up car (not to mention they are riding like 5 deep in the car) and head home? How many people do you know that stay looking flyy, but don't have money that appreciates?

I guess it's like Kanye said..."We tryna buy back our 40 acres." Or "I'd do anything to SAY I GOT IT/Damn them new loafers hurt my pockets". I guess we all have fallen, fall or will fall victim to it at some point. With age comes wisdom and experiences like the one describe above help ME GET WISER.

HILARIOUS!!! Fight between two older guys

Shot out to Rah for sending me this. It's pretty funny. Hopefully, neither one of these guys actually got hurt in all this.
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
I figure this "disagreement" may have been over some Niagra! Yes, I just said "Niagra!" I can only hope that I 1) have as much energy as these guys when I get older (Lord willing), 2) have a hook-up on either Niagra or Cialis (that's the other one, right?), or 3) have better sense than to still be fighting at that age (too much work required from the heart. You could die before you throw a punch).

Grumpy Old Men

Shot out to my grand-dad who just turned 70 and is still as active as I am! Love you!

Interesting: Middle-Eastern born rapper

I thought this was a pretty interesting read. This artists, Grand Scheem, is of Middle Eastern descent and has some very thought-provoking things to say in this allhiphop.com article:

Grand Scheem

QUEEN BEE

This is the best rap I've ever heard Lil Kim rhyme since BIGGIE passed.

Foxxy Brown and Junior MAFIA get trashed by Kim on this joint.

"I know you sick, when you clean your rims you still see a 'B'!"

OUCH!

QUIET - Lil KIM (5.5 MB)

Millions More Movement

October 15, 2005

In case any of you are interested in learning more...
http://www.millionsmoremovement.com/

Yeah, we won but...

...that had to be the most boring Monday Night Game I have seen in quite some time. I actually fell asleep on it around the end of the third quarter because I figured we (the Redskins...yes, I said "we" as if I am on the team) were gonna lose to Dallas, AGAIN!

But I woke up this morning to see that we won 14-13 on a Santana Moss (HEYYYYY SAN-TAN-A! For all my Rare Essence fans out there) touchdown. I was thinking I'd wake up to a Redskins loss but with hope because they'd say they put the rookie QB, Jason Campbell in the game. That would have made me happy!

Instead, I was greeting by the Sportscenter anchors with news of a win (which did make me happy because I can't stand the Cow-gals) only to see Mark Brunell (I hate saying dudes name) throw the game-winner to Santana Moss. Yippeee dippeee! Whoooo-hoo!

What does this mean to me, an avid Redskins fan? Absolutely nothing! If anything, it means false hope for naive Skins fans (one of which I am not). This win means that we beat Dallas once in the last umpteen attempts. While I should be elated and overjoyed right now to the point that I call WG (a punk-a$$ Dallas fan) and tell him what I think about those Cowgals...I can't. Because I know we'll end up losing by a combined 60 points over the next 3 games and this win against the cowboys won't matter one bit.

What I am looking for is a winning season. Who cares about Dallas? Sure, it's a great rivalry to pump up every year and I love the way Washington, D.C. gets the week before we play Dallas. But in the end, if we beat Dallas twice per year and lose the rest of our games, where will we be at the season's end? Home, as usual. So screw the Cowboys and screw a single win against a mediocre Cowboys team. We need multiple wins against teams of better quality than the Bears or Cowboys. If we can beat Philly then I'll start opening my HUGE mouth again takling Redskins trash. When we're above-500 after 8 games I'll be able to start muttering some pro-Redskins banter again. Until then, I'll take this win (because God only knows how many more we'll get this year), but I won't be pumped or satisfied. I'm looking for bigger and better things!!!

George Bush Ain't a Gold-digger...But...

this joint seems to be going around the internet at warp speed. Seems like everyone is jumping on George Bush's back right about now. Not a surprise.

CHECK OUT THE SONG:

George Bush Don't Like Black People (Windows Media File)

What's interesting to me is that all this started with "George Bush doesn't care about black people". Now it's turned into he doesn't LIKE black people. Personally, I thought Kanye should have said "George Bush doesn't care about poor people". I don't think it has as much to do with race (from the President's perspective) as it does money and wealth. It just so happens that New Orleans is a black city and the poorer people in N.O. are black as well. If this was a poor white neighborhood, perhaps the reaction wouldn't have been AS SLOW, but it would still have been slow.

I mean think about it, who voted for Dubya anyway?

Martha Stewart can rap????

Lock'd up...Now rapping it up???

WEB NERD ALERT: Instant Yahoo! Search

You probably already know I'm a web developer full-time so it shouldn't surprise you that I think this is cool.

Yahoo! Instant Search

SKELETON FEET

Ladies, I don't even have to comment on this. Ladies, if you look at this picture and can't figure out what's wrong, you might need to turn to the Oxygen channel! Bath & Body Works, the nail shop! Or just cut them joints off!

Shoes that fit...Shoes that fit...OMG there's so much wrong with this picture!

LMAO!

25 SIGNS YOU HAVE GROWN UP

Tiff sent me this in an email so I'm sure a lot of you have probably read this one already since stuff gets around the internet quick as grease-lightning (what does that mean by the way...grease-lightning?)

But I thought this was pretty hilarious...And ya boy is still officially a YOUNGIN!

I particularly liked #2 because it made me laugh (fellas know why)...#11 just b/c that's happened to me before...And #13 b/c Lord knows ain't nothing wrong with that!!!!

1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5. You hear your favorite song in an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of "hook up" and "break up."
8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."
10. You're the one calling the police because those %&@# kids next door don't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You take naps from noon to 6 PM
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
19. If you're a girl, you go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces "I'm never going to drink that much again."
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
24. You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
25. You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you and can't find one to save your sorry old butt. Then you forward it to a bunch of old pals & friends 'cause you know they'll enjoy it & do the same.

BONUS: When you find out your friend is pregnant you congratulate them instead of asking "Oh S*it What Happened and what are you going to do.

VIDEO: Should I be ashamed?

That this video is one of the funniest things I've watched in a minute!!!

Sad part is, it's in Japanese and I can't understand a single word (other than Yahoo!), but this dude running around in the leather outfit has me at work CRYING laughing.

Straight from Russell Beattie's BLOG:

Blog...
http://www.russellbeattie.com/notebook/1008622.html

Hilarious video...
http://www.russellbeattie.com/notebook/video/hardgay.mov

PHOTOS: Summer In Miami

Most of you probably know I went to South Beach for Labor Day. Well, it was a FUN weekend. I went clubbin (of course), jet skiing, chilled on the beach, and got a chance to hang out with the fellas in a beautiful city amongst beautiful people. Here's a few of the flicks from the trip. Shot out to the fellas who gave me some of
their pictures...

The Beach Boys



Top of the world




Allen Iverson threw a party at a club called STATE. Shot out to Tommy for getting us in for $10 when they were hitting people for $50 at the door. Skip to My Lou (Rafer Alston) and Young Jeezy were in the house!




Especially at Wet Willie's on Miami Beach...


Club BED. The setup in BED is tight. We went for dinner and it's served to you on this huge bed with drapes around it. TIGHT!



JRon blazing a stogie in Club BED. You know we all had our cigars over the weekend!


Me, Rah, and Laf getting ready to go out...



Our hotel...AVALON. Great location, nice rooms. We couldn't have asked for a better spot on Ocean Drive. And the continental breakfast in the morning HIT THE SPOT!

One interesting comment on Kanye's remarks...

http://blogs.sohh.com/mr_irreverent/past_thoughts/2005/09/kanye_west_my_m.html

CHUCK D Goes Off TOO!!!

Chuck D. wrote a song about it. All I can say about this one is DAMN!!!!!

Like to hear it, here it goes...

“Hell No We Ain’t Alright”

----Written by Chuck D.

New Orleans in the morning, afternoon, and night
Hell No We Ain’t Alright

Now all these press conferences breaking news alerts

This just in while your government looks for a war to win
Flames from the blame game, names? Where do I begin?
Walls closing in get some help to my kin
Who cares?While the rest of the Bushnation stares

As the drama unfolds as we the people under the stairs
50% of this Son of a Bush nation
Is like hatin’ on Haiti

And setting up assassinations
Ask Pat Robertson- quiz him.... smells like terrorism.

Racism in the news/ still one-sided news
Saying whites find food/
prey for the national guard ready to shoot
‘Cause them blacks loot

New Orleans in the morning, afternoon, and night
Hell No We Ain’t Alright

Fires, earthquakes, tsunamis
I don’t mean to scare/ Wasn’t this written somewhere?
Disgraces all I see is black faces moved out to all these places
Emergency state, corpses, alligators and snakes
Big difference between this haze and them diamonds on the VMA’s

We better look/ what’s really important
Under this sun especially if you over 21

This ain’t no TV show/ this ain’t no video
This is really real/ beyond them same ole “keep it real”

Quotes from them TV stars drivin’ big rim cars
'Streets be floodin,’ B/ no matter where you at, no gas
Driving is a luxury
Urgency
State of emergency
Shows somebody’s government
Is far from reality....

New Orleans in the morning, afternoon, and night
Hell No We Ain’t Alright

I see here we be the new faces of refugees
Who ain’t even overseas but here on our knees

Forget the plasma TV-ain’t no electricity
New worlds upside down-and out of order
Shelter? Food? Wasssup, wheres the water?

No answers from disaster/ them masses hurtin’
So who the f**k we call?--Halliburton?

Son of a Bush, how you gonna trust that cat?
To fix s**t when help is stuck in Iraq?

Making war plans takin’ more stands
In Afghanistan 2000 soldiers dyin’ in the sand

But that’s over there, right?
Now what's over here is a noise so loud
That some can’t hear but on TV I can see
Bunches of people lookin’ just like me...

Kanye Speaks His Mind on National TV

Some people are criticizing him for this while others are applauding him. You be the judge.

Kanye Video (MPG Video File)

Hurricane Katrina

I haven't made a blog entry yet in regard to this storm because I am still kind of in shock as to all the details I am hearing and how bad it was. I keep telling people that I feel like I am watching CNN and seeing something overseas. Because being an American, we're lucky enough to not have to go through certain things and not be subjected to certain situations. I think this is why everybody was so shocked on Sept. 11 when the terrorist attacks took place. We don't expect these types of situations to hit home!

Well, Hurricane Katrina is living proof that not even America is immune to HUGE natural disasters that can wipe out an area the size of some second- and third-world countries. It hurts me to see all those people stranded and hear the term refugees. Call me ignorant, but before this hurricane, I always thought of refugees (mental picture that is) as people coming across the ocean in boats. But I am totally wrong. These people need REFUGE! They need water, food, clothing, and many other things. Seeking refuge in the Superdome...Seeking refuge in the Astrodome...Seeking refuge on rooftops, anywhere that seems stable and safe.

I feel the need to assist these people in some way, shape or form, but at the same time feel like I cannot help at all. It seems so huge that it's like "Will my little bit of assistance help?" Yes, it will.

This is the worst natural national disaster we've encountered since I've been an adult and man oh man...Articles like this say it all...

http://www.sohh.com/thewire/read.php?contentID=7493

I can't find words to express how bad I feel for everyone in New Orleans and the other states affected by the store as well as all their relatives. Sometimes you feel like you want to do so much and at the same time like you can't do anything. It's time like this when I realize that I need to pray and give my problems to the man above. I'm sure that for many of us, this is one of those times!