Common Sense.....

North Korea has intensified its belligerence toward the west and other UN members with its acts of nuclear proliferation. Unofficial sources state that the North will more than likely fire another long range ballistic missile in the direction of U.S. territory. Not since the Cuban Missile crisis during the Kennedy administration has the US been on the doorstep of possible war with a nation whom has nuclear weapons or the capability to produce such armament. So in the coming days we will watch with the rest of the world just how defiant North Korea can be and if the ailing leader of the communist regime will indeed stand by his words and wage war on the U.S. This puts the US in a tight situation in which diplomacy has but so far failed. However thin the line between all out war and peace the final decisions will be left in the hands of the leaders of both these countries. This is a turning point for the United States and Chairman Kim Jong II has put this out for the whole world to witness. If the North is able to thumb its nose at the mightiest empire on earth it will show the world that the US is not as powerful as we all think.

Military-parade

The South Carolina NAACP issues the following statement from its president, Dr. Lonnie Randolph, Jr., in response to racist comments made by state political figure Rusty DePass:

"The NAACP condemns the statements of former South Carolina GOP activist and State Election Commission Chairman Rusty DePass linking First Lady Michelle Obama to an ape that recently escaped from a local zoo. We demand a proper apology from Mr. DePass to Mrs. Obama and to the citizens of South Carolina who are terribly offended by his remarks.

"Mr. DePass’ remarks are a chilling reminder of the pervasive nature of racial bias in South Carolina which readily infects all aspects of everyday life. This unfortunate fact informs us that we must all work to eliminate such offensive references as they do influence our thoughts, our conversations, our choices, and our actions toward others. We clearly have more work to do to ensure that the symbols and attitudes that we promote in our society respect the dignity of every American regardless of their race or ethnicity.”

http://www.naacp.org/

On Thursday June 18, 2009, the United States Senate issued its long awaited public apology for the forced enslavement of African Americans in this country. This apology came 402 years after its inception in the colonial formation of this nation. It amazes me to no avail the audacity of this government and its people to believe that a simple apology for 400 years of forced slave labor is enough ! Slavery was abolished in 1865 as a result of the thirteenth amendment, yet for the next 109 years African Americans in this country although "free" were still the subjects of widespread inequality. Blacks in this country have technically only been free for 35 years and anyone whom says otherwise is in denial. We speak of the american dream, freedom, democracy and civil rights...but whom do these belong to? They surely don't belong to the people whose ancestors carried and built this country from the ground up through hundreds of years of free labor. They certainly don't belong to the people who have been stripped of thier ancestral identities and  left with broken mental deficiencies as a result of these insane practices. So i say to the Senate keep your apology.....if it took this long for you to realize the injustices that this country has been built on and the blood that stains its institutions then an apology is only a slap in the face to those in which it means the most.

http://www.naacp.org/get-involved/activism/alerts/111th-aa-2009-06-19/index.htm

Slaves

Riot Police in the streets of Tehran

The United States has placed itself at the forefront of issues of freedom and democracy around the world. We have named ourselves as the world police and under the direction of incompetent leadership as with under the Bush administration, we have found ourselves enthralled in two wars in the Middle East. We now watch daily as the citizens of Iran march in protest to the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The issue today is whether or not the United States has done enough in outrage over the widespread violence in Tehran and other provinces in Iran which have seen nearly 400 deaths as a result of a regime that has choked the democratic freedoms of its own citizens. I constantly hear criticism of the Obama administration for not being more vocal and deliberate in its condemnation of the election fraud which many around the world believe has taken place. But in defense of the administration i believe the United States is saying exactly what it needs to say in regards to this upsurge in violence. We have to position ourselves as a country to allow other members of the U.N. to step forward as a collective against these acts. The United States can no longer afford to be the tip of the spear in policing the world and its inhabitants. What we need not do is return to the same mentality of the past administration and haphazardly commit ourselves to further actions that may result in sanctions and military actions which would lie solely on the shoulders of this country. The U.S. taking any sort of military action at this point will only result in failure and give the regime the fuel it needs to place the U.S. as the forefront of the problems in its own country. Aside from the current revolution taking place in Iran we must not forget about North Korea who themselves pose a grave threat to our assets abroad and our domestic national security and it would be in our best interest if possible to continue diplomatic dialogue with the North in hopes of diffusing its intent to defy sanctions set forth by the U.N. and its blatant attempt to resist pressure from the west to stop its nuclear proliferation. The Middle East and Southeast Asia have become a hot bed of activity within the last few years and ever so increasing within the last few months. It is up to the Obama administration to use calm resolve to work through these turbulent times without sparking a third world war in the process. The true strength of an empire lies not in its military might, but instead is marked by the restraint of its use.

As i wake up this morning eyes bloodshot red from next to no sleep last night I see this article on CNN and i just have to post it simply because it lacks common sense on the part of the victim. We have all surely heard of these Nigerian email/internet scams where someone poses to be someone they are not in the hopes of swindling you out of thousands of dollars.....

The stories can range from young model stranded in Africa and needs airfare home to the United States, mom is having surgery and they dont have the money, millionaire killed in car accident and needs someone to claim the estate......BULLSHIT ! Now if you actually fall for these lame scams you deserved to be ripped off ! Lets use some COMMOM SENSE people, i know that internet dating has become the rage these days but still be mindful of whom you talk to online....If they ask you for money of any amount, rest assure its a scam....Think about it would you ask a total stranger for money online to pay medical bills or pay for a surgery...HELL NO ! But anyway, enough of my incoherent babbling for now...just read the cheesy article.....

Courtesy of CNN.

just a click away...

CNN) -- A college student in Nigeria has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for scamming an Australian woman out of $47,000 online by pretending to be a widowed white businessman desperately in love with her.

A court in Ikeja in southwest Nigeria ruled that Lawal Adekunie Nurudeen will also have to pay back the 56-year-old woman, even if it meant selling the two plots of land and the Honda Prelude he bought with her money.

Nurudeen was an engineering student when he met the woman online in 2007, said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria's anti-corruption police.

The woman lamented that she was looking for a husband but had been disappointed in the men she had met.

"The convict, who is married with three children, instantly applied and told the victim that she had met Mr. Right," the commission said in a statement.

Nurudeen pretended to be a 57-year-old British engineer working with a multinational company in Nigeria. He told her his wife and only child had died in a road accident in Lagos, the former capital of the country.

"He sent the picture of a white man to the victim to foreclose any suspicions," police said. The woman agreed to marry him.

A few weeks later, Nurudeen called the woman pretending to be a doctor. He told her that her fiance had been in an accident and needed money for treatment.

The woman obliged, the commission said.

Nurudeen let two weeks pass. He then called the woman again, thanking her profusely for her kindness and telling her that he would like to visit her in Australia. He asked her for airfare, cash for customs clearance and other incidentals, police said.

Authorities did not say how Nurudeen was caught. But he duped the woman of $47,000 before his arrest, the commission said.

Scammers in Nigeria have gained a reputation for using the Internet to con foreign nationals out of money. Some of the scams have earned the name "419" after the clause in the Nigerian criminal code that deals with obtaining property under false pretense.

Barack

Seems to me that we have been so excited about the illusion of this nation overcoming its racial prejudice and electing an African American as the leader of the free world. With that being said many have been walking around with thier eyes glazed over and wearing every peice of Obama paraphenalia that can be scooped up at the local cornerstore.

Obama water

Now its time to wake up people and use some good ol fashioned common sense. We shouldn't be in awe of our leaders like they are rock stars, we should view them as they are.....politicians! We must get over the fact that we live in the age where an African American has broken that glass ceiling...as Hillary Clinton put it, and hold him accountable for the promises that were made during the General Election. Now don't get me wrong I am an Obama supporter but I am not one to sit back and assume that all is good in the big White House. Thats what got us in the situation we are in right now with an ailing economy, credit crisis, home foreclosures, record unemployment rates, the Iraq war entering its 7th year and the list goes on and on. These are the consequences of an inadequate administration and complacent citizens. If we haven't learned anything from good 'ol G.W. is that we must hold our leaders accountable every step of the way. Obama will not become a great president simply through his own merit, but he will become a great president as a result of what the PEOPLE allow and what the PEOPLE wont stand for. If you want to seek change.....be aware of whats going on in your states and federal governments. To question your leader doesn't have to mean you don't trust him, but it shows you have just as much at stake in the decisions he makes daily on your behalf. All Power to the People......all of us!  

Just as the name alludes, this is a place of free thought and expression on everyday topics. Sometimes we make things just a little bit too complicated, so this is where we bring it back down to Earth and smack you in the face with it ! Aside from the run of the mill nothingness you will also find a streak of intellectual comfort for those who seek to use that thing that takes up space in your cranial cavity.