American Airlines and Its Employees Celebrate Black History Month With Events Nationwide
Okay, after a while I just got tired of copying and pasting all the organizations – INCLUDING NAACP sponsored events catering with Soul Food for Black History month. Search google yourselves if you’re so mad at MSNBC.
Inspired by Tommy’s post about census takers and the homeless, I have decided to add my bit after interviewing one of the only two homeless shelters in my area. Following a harsh winter ice storm that flattened my region for days, and left at least 1/4 of the population with no power (in rural areas even more) these issues stick out like a sore thumb.
There’s something called a “Point in Time” survey that “counts all the people who are homeless on a given day or during a given week; or period prevalence count of the number of people who are homeless over a given period of time.”
Homeless shelters in severe weather – particularly winter weather – may be able to count heads in their own facilities … but they are not equipt to count the heads of those who pass through when they don’t have room to house them. In my area, for example, even the Point in Time survey had to be rescheduled as many residents went with no power for more than four days (late addition: many remain without power).
Homelessness and states of emergency stop for no one and my area had a brief water shortage that had citizens running for the nearest store to make sure they were stocked up on water … all the while many folks who weren’t homeless were stocking up on fluids only to run home to a cold, dark house.
Twitter was a blessing in Southwest Oklahoma as many had no access to media, and not every newspaper in Oklahoma actively covers this area. Through texts, tweets, and a phone call or two, residents were able to use their Smartphones to communicate … and convey messages to others. They know what it’s like to live without means of communication as much as anyone now, and in our culture it’s a hard lesson to be learned.
But, what if you aren’t counted? What if – through no deliberate fault of your own – you don’t count anymore? The one homeless shelter in my community – ONE – that provides private rooms (probably about 10 total) for families has been full for two weeks. What if you didn’t count?
If the homeless aren’t counted, we can’t help them with either federal, state, or community funding. And, for most people … we truly do want to help.
I’ve kept this story open in my browser for days, intending to do a blog post about it. Today is that day.
Can anyone tell me a good way to convey the challenge that homelessness presents to census takers, in the space of one headline? Maybe “Census Challenges Bring Homelessness Into Stark Relief?” Something like that? Not this:
You ever notice how sometimes little kids like to make up insults that have no real meaning? My four-year-old cousin does it all the time. “You’re a cat.” Okay, sweetie, whatever. Bedtime now, off goes the Sesame Street.
As usual, when I think we as a culture have grown out of doing something that little kids do, I’m wrong. I hear another common word being tossed around with all the weight of a pejorative, but this one’s gained some barbs to it. It causes people at whom it’s directed to flinch, to change their positions, to backtrack, to do whatever they can to make this horrible accusation untrue – even if it doesn’t apply to them anyway.
This terrible word, this word which makes grown men twitch on live TV and babies shriek in their beds, etc., etc.: Liberal. Read More…
Have you ever been singing along to a song for the 100th time, when suddenly, you realize that something’s not quite right about it? Maybe you’ve howled out the chorus every other time, but never paid attention to a key verse, and now you have that disquieting urge to seek a restraining order … for yourself. That, my friends, is “Stalker Rock.”
We’re not talking about overtly creepy songs, either, like The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” or Eminem’s “Kim,” but rather, songs that sound upbeat and poppy until you get to that key moment in the song. For example, there’s that point in The Turtles’ “Happy Together” where you realize the entire song is hypothetical.
To save you the embarrassment of gifting your honey with an inadvertantly terrifying mixtape/playlist, we have assembled a list of the creepiest songs you’ll ever tap a toe to. 867-5309 (Jenny) – Tommy Tutone
One of the catchiest songs of all time is also one of the creepiest. Ostensibly an ode to men’s room graffiti, the song’s narrator quickly develops an unhealthy fixation on the titular good-time girl. Still, it’s got to be better than their initial effort, "Here I Sit, Broken-Hearted."
Disturbing Lyric: Tell me if this doesn’t put a queasy picture in your head. The guy is pondering Jenny’s phone number in a bathroom stall, and says "I tried my imagination, but I was disturbed." AWK-ward.
The premise alone is pretty creepy. Rick notices his pal, Jesse, has got himself a girl and he wants to make her his. What puts this in "altar-building" mode is the painstaking detail with which Rick describes his quarry’s activities. Watching him with those eyes, lovin’ him with that body, makin’ him omelets with that Magic Bullet…okay, that last one’s made up, but you get the idea.
Disturbing Lyric: "You know, I feel so dirty when they start talkin’ cute…" You’re a dude, you don’t get to "feel dirty."
by
Don’t You Want Me, Baby – Human League
This has got to be the catchiest, most danceable threat of murder/suicide ever. The "He said/She said" verses are the novelty of this song, but after she says she still wants to split up, he drops this…
Disturbing Lyric: "It’s much to late to find, you think you’ve changed your mind. You’d better change it back, or we will both be sorry…"
Set aside, for the moment, the uber-creepy video that culminates in that zombie Lionel sculpture. Lionel, if you want to know how to win her heart, but you haven’t got a clue, you definitely don’t start by saying "I love you." You start by saying "Why don’t we grab some coffee?" or "Hey, how do you sculpt so good when you’re all blind and stuff?"
Disturbing Lyric: "and in my dreams, I’ve kissed your lips a thousand times…" And in those dreams, your lips are cracked and bleeding after kiss #643.
Just My Imagination – The Temptations
When a normal guy sees a hot girl pass by his window, he thinks "Damn! She was hot! Wonder if she likes dollar drafts?" The narrator of this Motown classic constructs an elaborate inner life with said hottie, spilling over into psycho territory with the addition of "2 children, maybe 3." Having a brief dirty thought is one thing, knitting booties is another.
Disturbing Lyric: "Every night, on my knees, I pray…" That’s great, a stalker on a mission from God.
One Way or Another – Blondie
This one seems a little obvious, as Debbie Harry talks literally about following you around. What took me awhile to notice is that, halfway through the song, she flips a switch and wants to lose you. That takes her from obsessed stalker to unhinged bunny boiler, in my book.
Disturbing Lyric: "I will drive past your house, and if the lights are all down, I’ll see who’s hangin’ around." Time to install those motion-sensing floodlights that used to make you crap your pants when you’d go pool-hopping.
Things are going along fine through most of the chorus, with the overly-attentive-but-not-quite creepy "I’ll be there…" refrain, but then they take an ominous turn at the end with "I’ll be around…" Just what every girl wants, a suitor who can emerge from the shadows at the slightest provocation.
Disturbing Lyric: "…sparks turn into flames…" Is this a love song, or an arson threat?
As a general rule, any time your song takes place "from your window," you’re off to a bad start. The character in this Joe Jackson song is a serial killer in the making, taking the existence of every woman’s boyfriend as a personal insult. What sounds like a mopey loser’s lament veers into Ted Bundy territory with this…
Disturbing Lyric: "But if looks could kill, there’s a man there who is marked down as dead…take your hands off her head…" What the…why does her boyfriend have his hands on her head? Who’s the psycho here, anyway?
Better known as the "Rick Roll Song," this insistent ditty trades in creepy absolutes. Never gonna give you up. Inside, we both know what’s been going on. Gotta make you understand. But the kicker is this…
Disturbing Lyric: "You’re heart’s been aching but you’re too shy to say it." No, Rick, it’s because you put duct tape over her mouth.
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Girlfriend – Avril Lavigne
I have to give Avril props for kicking out some hardcore profanity, lessened somewhat by the fact that she follows the word "MFin’" with the word "princess." Still, this is one hard sell that the average guy could do without. I dare you to tell Avril, "Hey, baby, there’s enough of me to go around!" Disturbing Lyric: "Better yet, make your girlfriend disappear. I don’t wanna hear you say her name ever again." So, first, she has you rub out your GF, and for good measure, tears out your larynx. No thanks.
*Sigh* again. Progressives, Liberals, Conservatives, and Tea Partiers are going for each others throats. And, right now … the left is being as vicious as the most hard core of the right. The left is taking on the tactics of those who would call pacifists “pro-terrorist” for wanting to end a war by shouting that other liberals have “bloodlust.” This is not acceptable and has no place in civil discourse.
Our newly elected President is between a rock and a hard place. But, guess what? So are we. Can you guess why?
Well, it’s us. And, it isn’t for electing Barack Obama to be President. We – THE PEOPLE – also elect those who check the President. And, while the President is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and our representative, he is held accountable to others.
Each and every time we “call out” the President for things he has yet to follow through on, we must call out EVEN MORE LOUDLY those who represent our states. Remember, it is THEY who vote, ultimately, and approve whether or not to add more forces to Afghanistan. If a majority of them vote in the affirmative … and you are not in agreement … IT IS YOUR DUTY to hold them accountable.
Face it, the press didn’t ask the questions that needed to be asked during the last administration, and now they may be asking the wrong questions attempting to make up for it. They are who stands face to face with the President and Congress – they ALSO are responsible for asking relevant questions. Hold the press accountable for that. I say to shout from the rooftops “BETTER QUESTIONS PLEASE!” Who?What?When?Where?Why?How? It REALLY is that simple.
The reason we’re all responsible for the current happenings and the reason is simple, we re-elected the same people who allowed the past eight years to be held to no account. And, when the current President is before us, the fourth estate that stands between us and him asks about golf or polls or television series (*wink*), then what are we expected to really learn from him?
You … and … I. We did it. We let it happen the first time, and we are now stuck in a situation where we have to be, in my opinion, fair and responsible. No, not whatever the cost, but responsible. We got us into this. Now, let’s get us out!
How about we don’t allow ourselves to be misled this time? How about we keep some measure of cool, and really really listen to what is being said? And, how about we hold those who hold our national representative, the President, to account … well … to account? How about we hold ourselves accountable and vote them out of office if they defy our wishes? This step doesn’t begin every four years with the election of a President. It begins sooner than that … and it begins under your feet.
Our community organizer President understood working from the bottom up … why don’t we?
As per usual, Melissa Harris Lacewell, aka “The Voice of Reason,” was so thoughtful on the panel for MSNBC’s “Obama’s America” that after she was away from the panel – it seemed for a long while – I had to stop watching.
And, as I watched my twitter stream, and listened to her bright and insightful responses, I also thought the following video from Jay Smooth, via Ill Doctrine, summed up how I felt. This commentary of his, along with Lacewell’s, sums up what how I think the evening should have went.
Because I don’t think they know.
