On the Road Again

I hate Southwest Airlines. This is, I think the third time that I have flown with them. The first time was when I went to Vegas in the mid-nineties and I saw Drew Barrymore on the flight. The second time I went to Tampa for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago and the flight was 2 hours late.

Now I am on my way to Tampa again, and again it seems that the flight will be delayed another 2 hours and it’s almost 10pm now. At least that’s what they are saying at this time. Even though Philadelphia is a hub airport, I always seem to have to wait for a flight that has been delayed by leaving from some place else.

I thought I would knock this off while I wait at the airport and vent. One day I will do a DB Copper thing and just get my own jet and jump with a gift bag from the bank into places unknown and into legend. Or maybe I will just take the bus. Heavens!

Foot & Mouth Disease

I don’t know where the putting the foot in the mouth phrase came from, but it’s been one of those phrases that I have been aware of for quite some time. I am sure that I heard it being used before, but the first time I remember hearing it being used effectively was the Democratic convention in ’88. God, how the hell old am I?

Governor Ann Richards of Texas was giving the key note address, or the opening speech or some speech and she mentioned George Bush senior who was running for president and that she was the one with the real Texas twang in her voice and not him. She then went on to comment on the Vice-President’s newly found interest in social issues. "Poor George. He can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth," she said with a shrill in her voice that brought the audience to its feet.

I guess she never thought then that George Jr would come by later on take her job for insulting his daddy. I guess she never thought then that politicians would still be putting their feet in the mouths and still keep getting away with it, ala Clinton, McCain, Kilpatrick and countless others.

But politicians are not the only ones who seem to suffer from foot and mouth disease. Like a lot of people, I have been known to say the most inappropriate things at the most inopportune times. Most times it’s because I didn’t think the thing through and there was a lack of judgment on my part. I will often have to take it back and apologize, or rephrase what it was that I should have said. There are other times when I will just take a cavalier attitude, stick my chest out and let the cards fall where they may. Neither position is a comfortable place to be in.

In fact the only time that I like to have a foot in my mouth is when it’s someone else’s. Well actually I haven’t got to that foot fetish stage yet, just toe tickling testicles and nipple squeezing action but who knows what tomorrow brings. I hear music. I’m drifting…

So, in conclusion, for those people for whom which the fate of the nation or state rests on their shoulders; please think about what you are going to say before you open up. My plea is for Hillary, you know you’re my girl, but your black supporters, all 3 of us want you to stop reinventing memories that don’t exist and stop talking about other peoples’ churches. My request is for McCain to get your facts straight and take your medication before you talk us into a 3rd war front in the Middle East. And if I hear one more personal thing coming from Governor Paterson in New York, I swear I’ll… (Open mouth insert foot here.)

Checks & Balances

A friend of mine at work sent me the following email. It’s about the government stimulus rebate check that will be sent out to tax payers in order to jump start the economy.

WHEN YOU'LL GET YOUR REBATE
The order in which the IRS sends out payments will be based on Social Security numbers. If your return is processed by April 15, here's what you can expect.
Direct deposit payment
If last 2 digits of your SS# are: Your rebate should be sent by:
00-20 May 2
21-75 May 9
76-99 May 16
Paper check
If last 2 digits of your SS# are: Your rebate should be sent by:
00-09 May 16
10-18 May 23
19-25 May 30
26-38 June 6
39-51 June 13
52-63 June 20
64-75 June 27
76-87 July 4
88-99 July 11

Source:IRS

Up until now I had not really thought about what I would do with the check once I received it. One idea I had was to continue what my father used to do with his extra cash and send it on to my cousin in New York, He’s a guest of the state there and won’t have access to creating a decent life for himself for a hell of a long time; life in fact.

Another idea, the practical one was to pay off a bill or set it aside to pay upcoming bills like my gym membership or cell phone bills. I should do something an adult would do, something dull, something dreary. But I know I won’t.

The third idea is to get an iTouch media player to replace my iPod. I can get one for $599 and if I went to Delaware I would pay no sales tax and walk away with a dollar that I can use to buy a soda or play the lottery. Can you imagine if I won the lottery on a dollar tax rebate, it would be like the gift that didn’t stop giving. I would be so excited that I would probably nutt, ejaculate automatically right there on the spot. I would be so grateful I would have to join the Republican Party and start supporting the war. I would get so crazy, I would have to run down the street and holler that Bush should be made a saint. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

What I’m actually thinking about now is that I can really help the economy by buying shares of Bear Stearns. As everyone knows, the share price for that venerable company went from over $90/share less than 2 months ago to $2/share yesterday and there is an offer for JP Morgan Chase to buy them out, although I believe it went up to $5 today. Of course it’s always risky to get into something that is a reflection of the failed policies of both the Federal Reserve and the government, but how much lower can the price get? And anyway, it’s only $600. Even if I lost every cent, no one is going to have to worry about me jumping off of some building in downtown Manhattan. There are other things that would keep me much closer to home.

Oh I know, if I’m going to throw the money away, I can go back to Morimoto. It’s a restaurant in Philly that is owned by Stephen Starr and the Iron Chef of cable fame. I had dinner there once last year. I was with a friend, Curtis. I’m always dragging him out some place, one day he’ll turn on me. Anyway, so I ordered a bowl of soup and sushi and he got a basket of cold noodles that you had to pour a sauce over it to add flavor. We also ordered a bamboo shoot of Saki to wash the stuff down. Yes I said bamboo shoot; I guess having it come out in a bottle would have been just too Western.

I think with the tip, the whole thing came up to $180. That was $90 for a bowl of soup, 4 pieces of sushi and something to drink that reminded me of my own stomach juices. Crazy.

I still wake up in the middle of the night with night sweats thinking about that dinner. It’s a memory that still lives with me. Hmm, now there’s a thought, I can stimulate the economy and have a lifetime of nightmares. Money well spent I think.

Sex, Children & Politics

Sex and the politician has always been a big story. The latest being the governor of New York and his 4 or 5 thousand dollar hooker and the earliest, well you would have to go a lot further back than Bubba from Arkansas, JFK and FDR. Even President Mckinley and his out of wedlock child would be too recent to qualify as the earliest political sexual escapades in the US. No, the earliest scandal would have to be dropped at the door steps of the founding of the country by Jefferson and his slave child concubine Sally Hemings. These are the types of legends that people have and will write stories about. They are the type of narratives that film companies will make TV shows and movies to satisfy the public’s need for gossip and tales of shame.

Unfortunately, the scandal that will not be written about or filmed will be the results of the report handed out yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on 838 girls ranging from 14 to 19 years of age on sexually transmitted disease (STD)

As quoted from the BBC News, “The CDC says the study is the first in its kind to examine the prevalence of common sexually transmitted diseases among adolescent girls.

It found that nearly half of the African-American girls surveyed had at least one STD, while the rate was 20% among white and Mexican-American teenagers…

The CDC's Devin Fenton said it was a serious issue because the diseases could lead to infertility and cervical cancer. “ - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7290088.stm

The news article did not mention teenage pregnancies or rise in HIV/Aids in our youth. It did not say how the CDC got its sample or even if the sample was a true reflection of the greater population. But if it is then the question should be, why is prevalence of STDs twice as much in the black group than any other and what needs to be done to shorten the gap?

Are African Americans more promiscuous than others? Are they just not good at choosing a healthy partner or partners to be intimate with? Are black people less likely to care for themselves than whites or any other race?

I think it would be short-sighted to say yes to any of those questions, but I also think it would be almost criminal to say no and let things stay as they are. Young people, especially girls need to be taught that sometimes there are disadvantages to having sex when you are not prepared for it. The pill, or an Intrauterine Device (IUD), or the rhythm method may or may not prevent pregnancies but they definitely won’t prevent viruses from being transmitted from one person to another. Abstinence is fine, but if that were happening we would not be in the position that we are in now.

If young people are not going to be taught at home then someone else must tell them that if they are going to engage in sexual activities, they must protect themselves by using a condom. If they are unable to afford the purchase of a condom, then the schools should be forced to provide them without question or embarrassment to the children if the parents won’t.

There will be an argument that schools are not in the business of promoting sex amongst the students, or the other one is who should pay for it. But the way I see it, we have already proven that children are having sex and the money spent trying to cure them of disease or burying them, will be far more than cost of some rubber.

The true sex scandal is that there are few politicians who have the balls or the tits to stand up and see what is going on and even fewer who are willing to try and protect our young.

The Plan

Now I’m not one who is a believer in great conspiracies. Even though I wasn’t there, I don’t think there was a paid CIA trigger man on the grassy knoll in Dallas in ’63. I don’t believe that Princess Diana is being kept on life support in the cellars of Buckingham Palace. In fact, even though there is a whole bunch of shit that doesn’t add up, I don’t believe G. Dubya or the Jewish Defense League or anyone else not associated with the hijackers of 911 were responsible for the destruction of the Twin Towers. But I was listening to a podcast of This American Life on NPR this week and they were doing stories on an episode called Human Resources. One of the stories in the show was called The Plan.

I have heard about The Plan since the late 70’s early 80’s. It is usually referred to as a white conspiracy that started around 1967-68, the period MLK was shot and the riots started in many of the major cities like Baltimore, Trenton, DC, Detroit and Newark.

The idea was for white families who had sold their properties and fled the cities to the suburbs to eventually come back into the cities and buy back land that had dropped in value due to neglect. The result would be to force black families out and usher in white families who would have made a nice neat profit; selling high and buying back low.

I would hear this theory and just laugh at the absurdity of people denigrating gentrification just because of some silly fear they had about displacement. Who would be able to organize such a diabolical arrangement? No one could tell me. “This was a story right out of George Orwell,” I would think to myself. Nowadays, I would even attribute it to an Oliver Stone movie with a meaty role for Kevin Costner that could jumpstart his career. That is I would, but I don’t.

I haven’t been to Harlem since President Clinton took up rooms there, but I get the impression that the neighborhood has changed. Rates and rents are slightly more expensive than they used to be. Some small businesses have been forced to move further away from 125th St. and replaced by larger ones that were usually seen in mid-town New York. The GAP and Starbucks now occupy the spaces that used to be held by the local barbershop and family owned eateries. There are parts of West Philadelphia that are now being called University City as many homes are being bought and taken over by the University of Pennsylvania. In New Orleans, I remember seeing on the news many of the residents of the Lower 9th Ward who had lost their homes from Hurricane Katrina, will no longer be able to afford the replacement homes that are being built there now.


In many cities across the nation, young white couples are now being seen walking the dog or strolling down the streets with their children, whereas before the only whites that had been seen before were those who worked for the city or came to collect the rent. And now I wonder.

I have witnessed the 30 years of benign neglect that has been allowed to occur in certain urban areas. I witness the change that has turned many of the slum dwellings of the poor into million dollar homes for the more fortunate. I have seen or heard of the many people, mainly minorities, who have lost their homes because of the subprime mortgage fiasco and I wonder.

Has all of this urban renewal and fictional wealth for the poor just been one vast scheme by the “man” as another way to take advantage of black people? I don’t know. It’s been a question that I have lived with my entire adult life and then some. But I'm afraid, just like the destruction of the Hindenburg and the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, the existance of The Plan maybe one of those questions that will never be answered.

Pennsylvania or Bust, Maybe

The last words of Bobby Kennedy may not have been, “Now it’s on to Pennsylvania, and let’s win there,” but they seem to be the words of both of the remaining present Democratic Party candidates. Although there are other states like Mississippi and Wyoming that will have their primaries before April, Pennsylvania is the largest state. It has the most pledge delegates and perhaps will decide who will win the Democratic Party nomination. Or will it?

With the race at almost a dead heat, it seems that no matter who wins the upcoming primaries, neither Obama nor Clinton will be able to achieve the number of delegates needed to take them over the top. So then the real competition is going to be the grab for the super-delegates. A position that many people thought the party would not get to.

At the beginning of the primaries, the super-delegates were seen as the old guard. They were looked at as old party stalwarts who would bring the historic roots and past glories of the Democrats to the convention. They were people who would also bring unity to the party and legitimize the party nominee. But not now. Not any more. Now they are seen as the trump cards that each of the candidates needs desperately if they intend to face the Republican nominee in the General Election.

There are 842 super-delegates or approximately one fifth of the party’s total delegate number. They consist of current and former elected office holders and party officials and will be sat automatically at the convention in Denver.

Some super-delegates have already declared who they will support at the convention. Delegates like Reps. Barbara Boxer and John Lewis have already stated that they believe their influence and responsibility is due to the electorate. Therefore they will support whomever their districts have voted for. While others like Kerry, Kennedy and maybe even Rendell will vote for who they believe will be best for the party and ultimately the country.

By the way, speaking of Kennedy, when John-John, his nephew, was missing all those years ago, didn’t Clinton send out half of the Atlantic fleet looking for him? And now he supports Obama? That’s gratitude for you. It just goes to show there is no love lost or won when it comes to politics. That’s why it’s a beautiful thing.

So the big fight will be for the super-delegates, the ones that haven’t declared what side of the spectrum that they will fall. This will be where we will see how each candidate’s political machine will work. There will be the no holds barred Clinton establishment tried and tested one of 16-20 years ago, against the one of a newer generation, of freedom and hope for a better tomorrow belonging to Obama.


So I take back my previous prediction of California being the decision maker for the party. Like every good boxing match in the 9th round, I think we really have no idea how this fight is going to turn out. We shall all have to wait for August and the 12th round for a decision by the judges; judges who will have their own interests to look after as well as the interests of the party and then the electorate.

My, ain’t politics grand?

Black History Month Redux

I have always read books. I like to read books. I would like to say all types of books, but that wouldn’t be true. I don’t do non-fiction well unless it’s a history, and even then it would depend on what kind of mood I’m in for me to read it. I like novels. Give me a good fiction that tries to explore the “human condition” (cliché) and I will be wrapped up for days if not weeks trying to get to the end. Then I’ll spend even more time trying to decipher how the story relates to my own life. Right now I’m in the middle of Anna Karenina, Oprah’s book club version and even though I know how it’s going to end, I’ve seen at least 4 movie versions of the story, I’m still enthralled. I should have that same feeling for poetry, but I don’t.

That’s the reason why I have never seen Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam. I don’t think I could get into it. In fact the only poem that I remember from high school is Macavity the Mystery Cat by TS Elliot, and that’s only the first 2 lines. Poetry for me has always been an arduous task of reading between phrases and trying to find meaning when I would be so much happier if someone were to just slap my face and say, “Hey this is what I want you to know.” But no one ever did that to me, except for Essex.

I have been thinking about Essex Hemphill for the last couple of weeks. I’m not sure why, maybe because of Black History Month or maybe not, but Essex was a poet. He was also an editor and an activist. I met him at a barbeque party for Marlon Riggs and himself in West Philly. I think the party was to celebrate the release of Marlon’s film Tongues Untied, I’m not sure. I was just there for the free booze and red meat; I was young.

I had read and skipped over some of Essex’s poetry in the book In the Life, so I knew he was, but I didn’t really have much to say to him. Nevertheless we did talk for a little bit, about what I don’t know.

I remember that he had this way of asking a question that made you know that he really wanted know what your answer would be. He had a way of looking at you and you could tell he was analyzing you. He would look into you as far as you could let him and maybe even a little further without being obtrusive. He had the ability to take your thoughts without you being aware of it happening and then place them back where they belonged before you knew they were missing.

I knew Essex for about 2 years and he would do this to me again and again. I only saw him 4 or 5 times but each time was so intense that I would have to have a cigarette after talking to him. It was almost as if we’d had sex and I had walked away panting, trying to catch my breath. Then Essex died.

I went to the memorial service they held at the Quaker Friends Meeting House for him. I didn’t really think that I would miss him. We weren’t great friends, but I did.

I still do.

So I found this poem written by Essex and I’m working on trying to understand it. I hope the family doesn’t sue me.

Conditions XXI

You judge a womanby the length of her skirt,

by the way she walks,

talks, looks, and acts;

by the color of her skin you judge

and will call her "bitch!"

"Black bitch!"

if she doesn't answer your:

"Hey baby, whatcha gonna say

to a man."

You judge a woman

by the job she holds,

by the number of children she's had,

by the number of digits on her check;

by the many men she may have lain with

and wonder what jive murphy

you'll run on her this time.

You tell a woman

every poetic love line

you can think of,

then like the desperate needle

of a strung out junkie

you plunge into her veins,

travel wild through her blood,

confuse her mind, make her hate

and be cold to the men to come,

destroying the thread of calm

she held.

You judge a woman

by what she can do for you alone

but there's no need

for slaves to have slaves.

You judge a woman

by impressions you think you've made.

Ask and she gives,

take without asking,

beat on her and she'll obey,

throw her name up and down the streets

like some loose whistle --

knowing her neighbors will talk.

Her friends will chew her name.

Her family's blood will run loose

like a broken creek.

And when you're gone,

a woman is left

healing her wounds alone.

But we so called men,

we so called brothers

wonder why it's so hard

to love our women

when we're about loving them

the way america

loves us.

"Conditions XXI" © 1986,1996, 2002 by Essex Hemphill

Keyon & Teyon

Pornucopia is one of those HBO programs shown late at night because of the subject matter. It’s not just about sex, but about the porn industry and the advantages of being involved in it. I haven’t seen all of the episodes but they seem to stress the good points of the business, lots of sex, lots of money and apparently no consequences. It’s late night so you have to suspend your sense of logic and disbelief.

The big money makers are white women, especially the stars, followed by white men who do gay porn. Gay for pay is what they call it. This is where men, gay or straight, will perform in a gay movie because the money is that much more than what they would get doing a straight movie. In fact, Jeff Stryker gay movie icon, said that he wouldn’t even take his shoes off for the money a straight movie would pay him.

The show doesn’t say this, but at the bottom of the porn hierarchal system are black men who do gay movies. These men are known to be the least paid performers and are usually found to be young, scarred and less educated than their peers. So I wasn’t really shocked when I met Keyon at Six Flags Great Adventure last September. After all, an amusement park isn’t known to be millionaire’s row.

Keyon, is the screen name of a brother who works with his twin Teyon. They are porn actors, models whose pictures and movies can be seen on the web. I had seen pictures of them before and recognized him. My friends introduced me to Keyon and I was surprised that he was taller than me by about half an inch. He was also skinny and I noticed his plastic pectoral implants sticking up through his chest and over the edge of his tank top. He was dressed in clothes that were inexpensive but clean and his skin seemed smooth but with some acne that young people are prone to. He had about him a sense of youth and false confidence that made him attractive and would appeal to people of his own age. I watched him go as he was surrounded by a group of three or four people who were dressed similarly to him and I got the impression that none of them had any money. Although, I guess that was about to change.

I saw on the local news this week that they had caught the rooftop burglars who had plagued towns in South Jersey, Delaware and the city of Philadelphia. It was believed that there were about 35 convenience stores broken into. The culprits had climbed on to the rooftops of these stores and cut holes in them. They had then lowered themselves in the stores. Stolen cigarettes and beer and broken into the stores’ ATMs. The TV showed the pictures of the people who were arrested, and there was Keyon and his brother.


Of course everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but the porn industry really must not pay its black performers if they have to turn to crime in order to make a living. It’s just like the scene out of Boogie Nights with Mark Wahlberg. I guess the positions in front of the camera must not be full time positions where you feed your family and build up your 401k for the days when you can no longer get up an erection.

Of course you don’t have to do porn to commit a crime, but if the boys should be sent to prison, will the good times really begin there and if they do, who will enjoy it more, the boys or their fellow inmates?

Is it Really Time for Change?

I believe that supermarkets are the greatest invention that man has ever known. A good supermarket is a place where I can find almost anything that I need in order for me to survive. It will have foods from all over the world and across the country giving me choices and options that broaden my knowledge of cultural differences and lets me exercise my palate for different flavors and tastes.

Another advantage of having a good supermarket is having a good butcher. He or she can present various types of meat, which I love so much, which I would not be able to provide for myself. They allow me to eat that which I would not hunt or kill my self. They supply me with cuts that I would not be able to cut myself without getting my own hands bloody.

Two weeks ago, I was accosted by a little girl using a small bull horn screaming in my ear. I could tell that she hadn’t meant to scream at me. I had just walked in her way as she and a few other people were protesting outside of Jacques Ferber, a furrier in Philadelphia with posters and placards showing skinned animals. I had no idea that people were still do this and I was reminded of being on Bond St in London about 2 or 3 years ago, when the same thing happened.

I remember walking down the street thinking there was nothing there that I could afford when I walked into a small group of teens or young adults. They also were holding up banners and screaming something. I didn’t realize what it was until I was outside a fur store. The group offered me some leaflets and asked me to sign a manifest or something. I shook my head and kept walking thinking this fight was not my fight. Then someone shouted as I was leaving, “Could you please not wear leather sir.” I flinched expecting a bucket of paint splashed on me and wondering which way I would have to turn so I could throw out the first punch. But no paint came my way. What did come however, was the realization that even though I had said I believed in animal rights, maybe I just believed in them if they were convenient.

I have never in my life been to a circus because I think that the animal acts are obscene and the way the animals are trained, even more so. I have only been to a zoo twice and both times I felt uncomfortable surrounded by wild animals caged up in an area no larger than the average bathroom. Knowing this always made me feel good knowing that I was not contributing to the suffering of animals taken from their native habitat. But I had always felt free to wear cow skin and eat the flesh of other animals. Maybe it was time for a review.

Except of course, I never did that examination of my habits and that last encounter reminded me of my doubts. I still wear leather and eat meat. It just tastes so damned good.

Now there is news today of sick cattle being slaughtered and sold by Westland Hallmark as meat coming from otherwise healthy stock. Beef sold by this company is being recalled by the US Dept. of Agriculture until further investigations can be done. And I wonder again, is it time to rethink this western way of life that I live, where livestock is raised on antibiotics and growth hormones. Where there is always an outbreak of foot and mouth or mad cow disease somewhere on the western hemisphere. Is this really a safe way to live?


I wonder, is time to change my relationship with the butcher?

Special Ed

As mayor, Ed Rendell would be seen in all neighborhoods of the city of Philadelphia talking with people, joking, discussing issues and maybe even listening. Sure, he had the touch of the imperialist about him, maybe that was because he’s from New York or just the many years of being District Attorney, but that never got in the way of him being friendly. You could always talk to Rendell. In fact, if you threw hot dog in his face or a bowl chop suey, you had his attention. You see, Ed Rendell loves to eat.

No matter what the function was that Ed was attending or the reason for him being there, Ed would stuff his face with food and tell everyone that he had heard it was good for his diet. The former mayor loved food and he loves anyone who can make good food, or at least different food, or maybe even junk food. It’s weird reasoning but bear with me, by extrapolation then, Ed Rendell loves people, black, white, Asian, anyone who can cook.

So when Rendell would take Bill Clinton when he was president up to South 52nd St in West Philly, a predominantly black and run down area for some ribs and a Diet Coke, a place I wouldn’t even go to with or without secret service, I’m sure he must have bonded with the man and possibly by default, with the Mrs. to.

Now there is some talk of Governor Rendell perhaps helping the Clinton campaign of being divisive by bringing up the race issue and stating that many whites would not vote for Obama in Pennsylvania merely because he is black.

I have seen Rendell only a couple of times since he became governor. I would see him often when he was mayor and attended my gym. We would do the politician to electorate speak, “hey, how you doing?” and “let me move this out your way.” He probably didn’t know I lived in New Jersey and couldn’t vote for him anyway, but I would bet the whole $8.60 left in my pocket that he does not have a racist bone in his body.

When Ed Rendell says that, "you've got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate," I’m sure he didn’t say it lightly. Much of the state, west of Philadelphia except perhaps for Pittsburg is very conservative, and has been known to be of interest to several hate groups. The governor knows this, his state and of what he speaks. He is just being realistic and truthful, a trait I wish most politicians would have.

So before anyone in the media starts to tag Rendell as a reincarnation of David Duke or some other clown, I would just like to say chill out, have a bowl of soup with someone and you’ll be able to understand Ed really well before you are done.