Friday, February 28, 2014

the economy is not growing and the environment is vastly less forgiving...,


CNN |  when it was my turn, I explained to them when I was their age, I was a lot like them. I didn't have a dad in the house. And I was angry about it, even though I didn't necessarily realized at the time. I made bad choices. I got high without always thinking about the harm that it could do. I didn't always take school as seriously as I should have. I made excuses. Sometimes I sold myself short.
And I remember when I was saying this, Christian, you may remember this -- after I was finished, the guy sitting next to me said, "Are you talking about you?" I said, "yes."

And the point was I could see myself in these young men. And the only difference is that I grew up in an environment that was a little bit more forgiving. So when I made a mistake, the consequences were not as severe. I had people who encouraged me, not just my mom and grandparents, but wonderful teachers and community leaders. And they pushed me to work hard and study hard and make the most of myself. And If I didn't listen, they said it again. And if I didn't listen, they said it a third time and they would give me second chances and third chances. They never gave up on me, and so I didn't give up on myself.

I told these young men my story then, and I repeat it now, because I firmly believe that every child deserves the same chances that I had.

That's why we are here today, to do what we can in this year of action to give more young Americans the support they need to make good choices, and to be resilient and overcome obstacles and achieve their dreams.

This is an issue of national importance. This is as important as any issue that I work on. It's an issue that goes to the very heart of why I ran for president.

Because if America stands for anything, it stands for the idea of opportunity for everybody. The notion that no matter who you are or where you came from, or the circumstances into which you are born, if you work hard, if you take responsibility, then you can make it in this country.

That's the core idea. That's the idea behind everything that I will do this year and for the rest of my presidency. Because at a time when the economy is growing, we've got to make sure that every American shares in that growth, not just a few, and that means guaranteeing every child in America has access to a world class education. It means creating more jobs and empowering more workers with the skills they need to do those jobs. It means making sure that hard work pays off with wages you can live on, and savings you can retire on and health care that you can count on. It means building more ladders of opportunity and the middle class for anybody who is willing to work hard to climb it. Those are national issues. They have an impact on everybody.

And the problem of stagnant wages, and economic insecurity and stalled mobility are issues that affect all demographic groups across the country. My administration's policies from early childhood education to job training to minimum wages are designed to give a hand up to everybody, every child, every American willing to work hard and take responsibility for their own success. That's the larger agenda.

The plain fact is, there are some Americans who in the aggregate are consistently doing worse in our society. Groups that have had the odds stacked against them in unique way that require unique solutions, groups who have seen fewer opportunities that have spanned generations.

And by almost every measure, the group that is facing some of the most severe challenges in the 21st century, in this country, are boys and young men of color.

Now, to say this is not to deny the enormous strides we've made in closing the gaps that have mired our history for so long. My presence is a testimony to that.

58 comments:

Vic78 said...

Wouldn't Arne Duncan and Rahm Emmanuel defeat the purpose of Obama's good will? If you're trying to bolster someone, why hire people and support programs that have teachers cheating and closing schools?

CNu said...

This one was so hard, I finally just threw in the towel and cut and pasted a common sense video. I couldn't find any non-sensational or non-politicized videos documenting incivility on the commons. It was either Jesse Lee Peterson, Zonation, Allen West, James David Manning, or some WND/SBPDL/Worldstar only amping up the kayfabe and then wallowing in opportunistic teabaggery.

But the bottomline is simply this, rude, oppositional, defiant, pre-jail adolescents and young adults have made life insufferably hard for a whole bunch of folks in neighborhoods, at schools, and out in the commons. At best, civilization is an exceedingly thin veneer just 6 primary meals thick. As the clampdown proceeds in earnest and the thin veneer grows ever thinner, the lack of structured, caring, and consistent discipline at home will be increasingly substituted for by fearful, intolerant, and lethal discipline in the streets. Those are the facts.

ken said...

I do always hear this talked about as discipline in the home, and certainly that is a big factor, but before the kid got to be something to fear, he had a whole bunch of people through his years of developing afraid to say something out of fear it wasn't there business. You can google search is it okay to discipline someone else's child and you'll get a slew of hand wringing on how to gently go about it. I thought in my short reads this one hit home to the point I am getting at.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jd-roberto/reprimanding-children_b_1079040.html?

Vic78 said...

Drugs had something to do with some of it. There were kids whose parents were smoking. So there's little to no stability at home. And you have the prospect of easy money if you want it. The laws get tougher and now you have the snitching epidemic. So now kids are seeing neighbors and family going to prison and coming out crazy. This didn't happen to all the kids; it happened enough to cause problems.

CNu said...

Some mama "bears" need to be harshly regulated too. As I approach my 5th year anniversary of witnessing first hand what goes on behind the closed and locked doors of schools - unbeknownst to the public - let me assure you that lack of thorough and ruthless ass-whoopings has driven multiple generations stark, raving, crazy.

Spare the rod, catch a bullet in the head. I'm good with that.

John Kurman said...

Andrew Jackson, ol' Slobbermouth.

Nakajima Kikka said...

Indeed. But I don't think American enjo-kousai is a import from Japan. It's home-grown. And it's NOT AT ALL a strategy to "fight the patriarchy". In fact, it's reactionary, a reaction to the need to service a large amount of debt at a young age (American college/graduate students), or the need to personally assume the financial burden of paying for work supplies or other things previously assumed by employers (schoolteachers in Michigan, for example, who now are expected to stock their classrooms out of their own resources). It's also not some new form of artistic expression, like body art.

It's also not prostitution, or at least not in the way we've traditionally understood it. Prostitution is the selling of sexual favors for money. $20.00 for a hj, $40.00 for a bj, etc. The sale of sexual acts as commodities. Enjo-kousai, at root, is the commoditization of the entire girlfriend experience. While that often does include sex, or at least some level of physical affection, it's even more about the other things, The convo, the listening, the emotions, being appreciated, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The woman needs to service all this debt. The man wants the experience of having a girlfriend in the more old-fashioned sense of the term: good-looking, good fashion sense, fun and interesting to talk to, kind, polite, appreciative, supportive. An exchange is made, and in that exchange, that experience becomes a commodity.

The deeper question is this. What has happened to the nature of American heterosexual relationships that would create such a hunger for this on the part of American men?

CNu said...

See, folks should have started listening when Phyllis Schlafly started pushing back at the end of the second wave, and, when C. Delores Tucker started pushing back against pathetic, diseased, degenerate and fake rhyming and posing (RAP)

Reality got redefined in accordance with imaginary flights of sexually preoccupied fancy.

When life began imitating popular cultural art, things went to hell-in-a-handbasket.

CNu said...

http://youtu.be/aCbfMkh940Q The deeper question is this. What has happened to the nature of American
heterosexual relationships that would create such a hunger for this on
the part of American men?Third wave feminism and hoeconomics....,

CNu said...

One of my elders and betters from south florida, a man responsible for guiding me during my fomative young professional years and also for lending a helping hand of influence on behalf of my eldest child here lately - hipped me to the historical mysteries of the seminole wars and their effect on shaping this little currently controversial piece of popular culture and controversy.

Constructive_Feedback said...

(confused)

Brother CNu:

Are you attempting to make some statement on the amplitude of the THREAT VECTOR that a Black man who is murdered by a White man, his fraudulent Defense Attorney compels him to claim "Stand Your Ground" protection and then the said White man walks away scott free?


Brother CNu - Is there a point by which one objectively looks at the means by which "The Ninja Gets Himself Kilt", observes "The First 48 Hours" as a reference to see that people get off all of the time for killing a Ninja (charges dropped due to lack of evidence, 1st degree plead down to 'Manslaughter' , Stop Snitching among the residents stifles justice but never triggers a protest march) .............as you then begin to see that the ACTIVISTS who have a few martyrs in hand are ALSO incompetent at mitigating the other, far more frequent use cases that take a Black man's life (besides Stand Your Ground)?

Vic78 said...

It's still hoing. The girlfriend experience sounds like what the older guys called real gold diggers or escorts. They're just hoing on a higher level.

There's nothing new under the sun. People with the means have always indulged themselves. Malcolm X talked about the same things going on when he was in his 20s.

CNu said...

Nope. I don't share your concern with or about that issue Feed. I'm simply announcing the return of the wild, wild west, with equal opportunity for all to settle their real and/or perceived sleights and grievances like properly outfitted gentlemen of old.

Best be cordial, polite, and either keep a civil tongue in your head or a blazingly fast and accurate gun/sword on your hip.

CNu said...

Okay..., and no amount of third wave feminist horse shit gonna frost that turd and transform it into a cake!

Vic78 said...

Third wave feminists play a losing game. They're really anarchists but aren't bold enough to use the title.

Tom said...

I believe it has very little to do with the "third wave" or any other small group of theory-makers. It's at least as likely that the third wave and compensated dating are both symptoms of a bigger, more obvious problem.


I believe that we're all pretty badly alienated to begin with: we lack any convincing reason to believe that life is worthwhile. From that starting point, we work long hours outside the home, we are addicted to passive enjoyment of sports and entertainment spectacles. If either spouse wants to try again, divorce is easy. Every member of the typical family is lonely and adrift.


Men, women and teenagers turn to strangers, alcohol, drugs, ideologies (libertarianism or New Age stuff or that Third Wave or ... well, fill in the blank), in all different ways to try to deal with the loneliness and alienation.

John Kurman said...

Synchronicity. I read this about a month ago: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13167034-osceola-and-the-great-seminole-war

Nakajima Kikka said...

Some of the women admit that it's a lot like playing a role in a play. The role of the relatively old-fashioned girlfriend is an overtly feminine one. Interestingly, while they feel reasonably comfortable being feminine during a compensated date, they just cannot seem to bring those same qualities into their relationships with their authentic boyfriends. As "Mona" said, with Joe (her enjo-kousai beau) she can be feminine (a woman, basically), while with her authentic boyfriend she can just be herself. Talk about self-alienation!

John Kurman said...

He drooled when he talked. You didn't call him that to his face: http://www.sbnation.com/2013/2/18/4001002/andrew-jackson-our-finest-insane-presidential-athlete

Vic78 said...

He really doesn't have the required temperament to be president. And there are potential anger management issues.

CNu said...

Solomon Kane in the White House.

makheru bradley said...

Obviously a lot of factors led to the problem being discussed in the video.

In 1965 Daniel Patrick Moynihan released a study titled:”The Negro Family: The Case For National Action”. In that study Moynihan stated that 25 percent of Afrikan American children were being raised in a single-parent family, and he warned that if that problem were not corrected it would have a devastating impact on the future of the Afrikan American family. Moynihan was lambasted, accused of being a racist whose motive was to thwart the drive for civil rights.It was a classic case of attacking the messenger, while ignoring his message, regardless of his motives.

The flip side of Moynihan’s study was that 75 percent of Afrikan American children in 1965 were being raised in a two-parent family. Afrikan Americans basically allowed our families to disintegrate with barely a whimper of public protest. A problem which could have been contained, had it been attacked with the same vigor as the drive for civil rights, is now out of control. The only people focused on culture and values in the 1965-1975 timeframe were a small group of Black nationalists. The overwhelming majority of the activists in Black America at that time thought that electoral politics was the primary solution to our problems. I just flipped through my copy of 1972 “The National Black Political Agenda” which was produced by the Gary Convention. The section titled “Human Development” makes no mention of the emerging crisis in the Black Family, and this document was produced by people who were supposed to be the most socially-conscious segment of our community.

http://moynihanrevisited.com/

makheru bradley said...

The Black Seminoles: Afrikans who liberated themselves from enslavement in South Carolina and Georgia and fought alongside Indigenous Peoples against the United States Army in Florida.

[By 1810, the situation of Florida's black refugees had become acute. Georgia planters were contending that almost five million dollars of slave property had "stolen itself" to Florida.]

[General Jackson (later President) referred to this First Seminole War as an "Indian and Negro War." In 1835, the Second Seminole War broke out, and this full-scale guerrilla war would last for six years and claim the lives of 1,500 American soldiers. The Black Seminoles waged the fiercest resistance, as they feared that capture or surrender meant death or return to slavery—and they were more adept at living and fighting in the jungles than their Indian comrades. The American commander, General Jesup, informed the War Department that, "This, you may be assured, is a negro and not an Indian war"; and a U.S. Congressman of the period commented that these black fighters were "contending against the whole military power of the United States." When the Army finally captured the Black Seminoles, officers refused to return them to slavery—fearing that these seasoned warriors, accustomed to their freedom, would wreak havoc on the Southern plantations. In 1842, the Army forcibly removed them, along with their Indian comrades, to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in the unsettled West.]

http://www.yale.edu/glc/gullah/07.htm

http://www.johnhorse.com/index.html

CNu said...

Bro. Makheru, what do you think about what Tom wrote yesterday? http://subrealism.blogspot.com/2014/02/pajamas-in-public.html#comment-1264943973 I believe it has very little to do with the "third wave" or any othersmall group of theory-makers. It's at least as likely that the third wave and compensated dating are both symptoms of a bigger, more obvious problem.

I believe that we're all pretty badly alienated to begin with: we lack any convincing reason to believe that life is worthwhile. From that starting point, we work long hours outside the home, we are addicted to passive enjoyment of sports and entertainment spectacles. If either spouse wants to try again, divorce is easy. Every member of the typical family is lonely and adrift.

Men, women and teenagers turn to strangers, alcohol, drugs, ideologies (libertarianism or New Age stuff or that Third Wave or ... well, fill in the blank), in all different ways to try to deal with the loneliness and alienation.

makheru bradley said...

I’m not familiar with the third wave of feminism. What I’m hearing from the younger brothers, based on the severe shortage of eligible Black men, the only compensation necessary is an organic vibrator. I agree with his analysis of alienation. I’ve been saying since the 1980s that in America entertainment is the opiate of the masses. It’s been a struggle for me to break my addiction to spectator sports. There is no doubt that as this society approaches collapse TPTB are desperate to find even more ridiculous attractions--thus the rise in reality TV, and bizarre behavior, such as Miley Cyrus and the “Twerking Industrial Complex.”

I was watching the Cartoon Network with my grandson today and this show called Uncle Grandpa came on. The dude is wearing suspenders that look like the “Gay flag.” Then they move to a character called “Weird Man.” You would have to see it to believe it. It’s not shown in this clip but this dude actually puts his crotch right in the face of the robber, and is continuously spreading his legs. These images are absorbed by children being the sponges they are.

http://bit.ly/1g1K19n

Hedonism is on steroids, and barbarism is on our doorsteps.

Vic78 said...

I just saw the clip...

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120216133643/creepypasta/images/1/1e/91-mario-wtf-is-this-shit.jpg

makheru bradley said...

While I agree that doing something is better than doing nothing, I think this Obama event is more about building support for the 2014 midterm elections than attempting to solve a crisis. Solving the crisis of young Afrikan American males requires a cultural transformation within Afrikan America itself, and it requires a radical reconstruction of the American economy. The American power structure and its political representatives oppose both of those solutions.

“And when it was my turn, I explained to them when I was their age, I was a lot like them...And the point was I could see myself in these young men.” -- President Obama

Being raised by white grandparents in Hawaii, and attending one of the most exclusive schools in the nation is in no way comparable to the experiences of young Afrikan American males in urban America.

“This is an issue of national importance. This is as important as any issue that I work on. It's an issue that goes to the very heart of why I ran for president.” --Obama

It is an issue of national importance, but the POTUS does not have one thin dime to contribute to solving the problem.

“So, today, after my remarks are done, I'm going to pen this presidential memorandum directing the federal government not to spend more money, but to do things smarter…” -- Obama

“At a time when the economy is growing, we've got to make sure that every American shares in that growth It means creating more jobs and empowering more workers with the skills they need to do those jobs. It means making sure that hard work pays off with wages you can live on.” -- Obama

Except that the opposite is true.

[Turns out that more education does not necessarily mean more pay. Low-wage workers are a lot more educated than they were nearly 50 years ago, but they are making much less, according to a new study by the Economic Policy Institute…]

http://huff.to/1lrXMWl

CNu said...

Um..., yeah. sponge bob was the last cartoon targeted at young kids that I saw much of. It could occasionally be funny because while the overall packaging was childish, it operated on an adult level, as well. The cartoons I grew up on, were intended for a multi-generational audience. those old warner brothers cartoons were part of the attraction in movie theaters. So almost all the content was adult and young kids were expected to "keep up" with what was going on. Daffy, bugs, porky, et al cracked a lot of adult jokes, pushed a lot of stereotypes and propaganda, but I don't recall them "pandering" http://youtu.be/HrGCrMQ5rUQ

Like sponge bob, this uncle grandpa mess seems intentionally surreal and absurd, and that part I get, but it doesn't look like it's ever funny and the extent to which it's pandering seems excessive. I think I'm more concerned about the lack of a readily identifiable narrative and the desperateness to please everyone, offend no one, and entrain the child's mind through sheer strangeness.

CNu said...

I don't believe that the American power structure opposes cultural transformation, it's simply at a loss for ideas on how to make it happen. Almost without exception, its big policy pushes for cultural transformation have proven themselves epic failures. In the present moment, the government is without either the ideas or the means to transform any Americans who are not themselves fully bought into the need for self-transformation.

As for education, that's not rocket science either. I'll give you a specific example. http://www.city-data.com/school/academie-lafayette-mo.html

You import a cadre of young, vigorous, francophone african men who set the cultural and behavioral standard for the school. You assert zero tolerance for degenerate, pre-jail slippage in the classroom or on the playground. Every child MUST BE fully attentive because only french is spoken in the school and that's not the child's first language. You facilitate the teachers teaching at the old school, old world level to which they're acculturated/accustomed and voila - you begin producing results in line with what was expected back in the day. Given that Missouri has public education standards second only to Maine in terms of difficulty and rigor, the results are pace-setting on a national scale.

Quite a few kids and their parent don't make it through these rigors. Quite a few are not up to the task of self-transformation demanded by young, vigorous, francophone african men who demand respect, attention, civility, and good order in class and in school. Good riddance, the waiting list for admission is quite long and at the end of the day, you can only meaningfully help folks who want to help themselves.

Just like H1-B visa programmers being brought into the U.S. in droves to cut and paste Java for $25K/year and damn happy to get it, perhaps it's time to start issuing visas for young, vigorous teachers from various and sundry countries and let them set the cultural and behavioral climate in schools taught in their native tongue which force kids to pay attention to keep up and in which every student is on a level playing field because seldom/ever is it the case that that tongue is spoken in their home.

Vic78 said...

The Japanese know what's up. They make cartoons for all ages. This is from my favorite anime:
http://m.adultswim.com/video/fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood/sacrifice.html

woodensplinter said...

Looking through the xojane comments, a feminist apparently agreed with your condemnation of hoeconomics. It just took her a thousand extra words to say the same thing: http://www.xojane.com/sex/duke-university-freshman-porn-star#comment-1255700839 there's a failure that most of the commentators have missed. this is a
young woman, using the message of sex positivism, to justify her selling
her body for money for an education. there is, however, a failure in
this. sex positivism (liberal feminism) claims that women just as men,
should be able to have the choice of sexual partners. this woman is not
choosing her sexual partners by free will when participating in
pornography - she is being paid to have sex with them, a fine line
between pornography and prostitution. her choice is taken away by virtue
of the fact that she is being paid.

woodensplinter said...

Pornography and the commodification of sex, drug addiction and accompanying prostitution to pay for the addiction - have so demystified and subverted the value of romance and love that one of the cornerstones of life and cultural value has been shattered. Devoid of any mystique, a large swath of life has been stripped of meaning.


It is a lie to call any of this debasement "sex positivism".

CNu said...

SMDH - Isn't most anime made for adolescent males? Having managed to avoid ever looking at this cartoon all these years, now I have to go and inadvertently have my interest piqued. Thanks a lot Vic....,



For years, my son would watch Naruto in french and we encouraged his consumption of french language media. Here lately, he's been watching Naruto in japanese.

CNu said...

One of the things I remember Fisher saying about rhyming and posing (Rap) is that it was a very specific form of pornography for adolescent black males, featuring adolescent black males as the leads having their prurient appetites sated as a reward for the bad behaviors they modeled in their verses and videos.



This was not the case with hip-hop, but it became normative after the advent of gangsta rap and the systematic destruction of hip-hop culture.

Vic78 said...

Make sure you get the Brotherhood title. That's the series that stays true to the creator's vision. People are comparing Awakawa to Stan Lee. I won't say she's that good. I'll say she knows how to put a story together.

Was he watching Naruto without the subtitles?

CNu said...

Shippuden - adult version, no subtitles.

makheru bradley said...

The characteristics of reactionary masculinity are one result of this “production of desire,” e.g. impulsive hedonism and phallic-narcissistic characters. Per Dr. Amos Wilson: “They measure their manhood by the number of sexual conquests they achieve and the number of children they have sired (in contrast of the number for whom they have assumed paternal responsibility and economic support). They thereby exploit both women and children and help to disfigure and maladapt the family structure, impoverish women, children and communities, and contribute to social dysfunctionality in various forms including criminalization of the next generation of males.”

On this subject of rhyming and posing Bill O’Reilly (of all people) wants Barack Obama to take Jay-Z and his pals to task for the proliferation of their self-destructive music. The same Obama who bragged about listening to Lil Wayne: “Thanks to Reggie [Love, the president's personal aide], my rap palate has greatly improved. Jay-Z used to be sort of what predominated, but now I've got a little Nas and a little Lil Wayne and some other stuff…” That’s the way to be your brother’s keeper, right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf4OA1Qwjcc

CNu said...

Nah Bro. Makheru - this is where the serious, grown-folks aspect of the discussion flies off the rails. There is a vast and ridiculously profitable pornography industry in the U.S. The bulk of it is centrally located. Back in the day, before these Interwebs wiped out X-Rated movie theaters, production and distribution was largely controlled by the mob. The Interwebs and disintermediation of distribution destroyed all of that lucrative monopoly. There was no "Powers That Be" involved in this, matter fact, some of the scarier "Powers That Were" got their lunch eaten and were left holding the bag on stickly floor, putrid dinosaurs of dingy porno-exhibition, with no more customers and scant product produced for theatrical exhibition. Time, economic and technological tide respect no power.


The exact same thing is true in the music industry. There used to be a vast and ridiculously profitable recording industry in the U.S. The bulk of it was centrally located. (so we can identify the players, they are not co-identical with "TPTB") You could say they were controlled by a Madison Ave. mob. (that's Fisher disclosures) The Interwebs and peer-to-peer file sharing destroyed their lucrative monopoly, and there was no "Powers That Be: involved in this, matter fact, some of the blah, blah, blah, blah....,


Now, young, single, third wave feminist progressive and highly oppositional afrodemics, afrofuturists, and public intellectuals were too infantile and naive to oppose and resist the aural pornography that had been unleashed on America straight outta Compton, but it is absurd on the face of it to suggest that after the decline and fall of the record companies, that a centralized conspiracy out to destroy the black family in particular had a damn thing to do with it. Rather, a domino effect going back to the era of Moynihan, continuously swelling, increasing rancor and oppositionality within the dregs of the formerly segregated black community, and a host of other factors made these ghettos highly susceptible to the opportunistic infection unleashed by drug dealing, aural pornography glorifying drug dealing, and the here-today/gone-tomorrow lifestyle seductively enshrined by gangsta rhyming and posing.

blacksmythe said...

i don't know. how radical would it be to fix america's bridges, roads, and schools? it'd be radical in as much as the republican party and perhaps some conservative democrats would fight it, but how radical would it be really?

CNu said...

It would be radically stupid. Those roads are an artifact of a post WW-II cabal which had as its goal driving consumerism to heights previously unimagined. Making work on stupid, unsustainable, and near-term useless public works would be the absolute height of centralized epic fail.

Fixing schools, means updating to the 21st century education delivery system, which puts a whole lot of ineffective, make-work, sage-on-the-stage "educators" out of a job.

That said, doing something about the decrepit rail system, that makes some sense. Possibly tapping into continental shelf fresh-water, particularly to serve the needs of california agriculture, that may make some sense, but only where real wealth will result from the effort. In those areas where it only to prolong the lives of conspicuously surplus labor value, or to drag out the existence of ludicrous and unsustainable habitation (Nevada/Arizona) not so much.

CNu said...

Further austerity and deep crisis are the only factors that will suffice to drive radical social reconfiguration and change. Those who are most at risk, those whose labor value is most expendable, have nothing whatsoever to lose from radically reorganizing themselves Cuban style and everything to gain. Their failure to do so, will guarantee them a prolonged and painful collective demise a la Detroit.

BigDonOne said...

...And, you could always cut the benefits to parasites until they die off. No food, medical, Sec8 unless you work for it (charity to care for the truly deserving crisis cases). Bye-bye EBT freebie spending cash and ObamaFones......

BigDonOne said...

...And, you could always cut the benefits to parassites until they die off. No food, medical, Secshun8 unless you work for it (charity to care for the truly deserving crisis cases). Bye-bye EeeBeeTee freebie spending cash and ObahmahFones......

CNu said...

Nonsense, as a non-productive block of oxygen-thievery clinging on for dear life, no demographic compares with the useless elderly. Not only are they a drain on the productive economy, but they're ugly to look at and they smell bad too.

blacksmythe said...

So maybe instead of $3.6 trillion we're only talking about $1.2 trillion. only means spending money on EVERY bridge/school/road would be stupid.

BigDonOne said...

Actually, BD has been marveling all afternoon on what a totally awesome photograph that is (we took it 6 months ago). It sums up in the most hard-hitting powerful fashion the broader context and root cause of all the this once-fine nation's economic problems.....

CNu said...

I must've missed the DoD call-out in your composition BD. Speaking of the DoD, isn't Hanford downstream from this? http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023019385_wanapumdamxml.html - the good Prof. is soft-hearted. Maybe he'll break you off a billion or three to get that dam spackled-up before all hell breaks loose up your way.

makheru bradley said...

This is the point I was responding to: “I don't believe that the American power structure opposes cultural transformation, it's simply at a loss for ideas on how to make it happen.”

Based on your examples from the porn/music industries there were no “powers that be" involved, so I’m not sure what your point is.

“It is absurd on the face of it to suggest that after the decline and fall of the record companies, that a centralized conspiracy out to destroy the black family in particular had a damn thing to do with it.”

As I see it, power primarily operates through institutions in four areas: education, economics, culture, and politics. Search all of my posts and tell me how many times I’ve used the word conspiracy. People operating out of the same asili don’t need to conspire to achieve the same results. The fundamental problem Afrikan people face is our powerlessness. The disintegration of the Black family since 1965 is only one aspect of that phenomenon. Numerous factors contributed to that disintegration including: the massive expansion of the welfare state; the erosion of the US manufacturing/blue collar base; the FBI's war on the Black Liberation Movement; the media assault on our consciousness part I (Super Fly and the Blaxploitation movies); Neo-Colonialism (the overwhelming focus on electoral politics); the proliferation of drugs (the massive introduction of drugs--Frank Lucas et al and heroin, followed by the CIA/Ricky Ross and crack); the “Bastards of the Party” and Black-on-Black violence; the media assault on our consciousness part II (Gangsta Rap); the reduction of the welfare state and the war on drugs/mass racial incarceration; and finally the results of 9/15 (massive unemployment; increased poverty; declining income; massive loss of wealth).

Based on my confrontations with COINTELPRO, TPTB leave as little as possible to chance. The music just didn’t change on its own. I asked Bro. Fisher about that music industry conspiracy letter. He said that he could not validate that an actual event took place, but he said it was more likely true than not. Whether it was an actual event or not (like the Willie Lynch letter) the results detailed in the letter are what has happened.

Thus, Not only are TPTB opposed to a cultural transformation, they are actively promoting cultural dysfunctionality. They see a cultural transformation as a threat to their system of power, wealth, and privilege.

CNu said...

The functional equivalent of building a new shopping mall anchored by a Sears and a J.C. Penny store..., those proposals are nowhere near the current political wheelhouse, sequestration will continue apace, and there aren't any big projects in the Hon.Bro.Preznit's budget proposal. As I've been saying for over a decade, we're all on our own.

CNu said...

The fundamental problem Afrikan people face is our powerlessness.

People operating out of the same asili don’t need to conspire to achieve the same results.


People not operating our of the same asili have no collective agency and cannot achieve collective results.



No need for any other factors to account for our current predicament. This condition is not liable to change during my or my children's lifetimes.

makheru bradley said...

If Obama was serious about rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure he had one opportunity to do it--the 2009 stimulus package. Having blown that opportunity, he can forget it now.

[It was easy to see that the stimulus was far too small. It was designed to create about 3 million jobs, which might have been adequate given the Budget Office projections. Since the package Congress approved was considerably smaller than the one requested, the final version probably created about 2 million jobs. This was a very important boost to the economy at the time, but we needed 10 million to 12 million jobs to make up for jobs lost to the collapse of the bubble.]

http://cnn.it/NLcERk

blacksmythe said...

I get this. I'm only suggesting an alternative as a way of noting what could have been. With that said however, the President conveniently hamstrung the ability for people to even articulate the desire for much less fight for an alternative by stating explicitly that this wasn't a big government program. Hell given that there is no government loot attached to it--ALL the money comes from charity--he's not talking about a government program at all.

CNu said...

poppop got tired of it and lit a mouthy, obnoxious young fool straight up! http://www.gainesville.com/article/20140306/ARTICLES/140309757/1182?Title=Teen-shot-by-grandfather-investigators-say

Vic78 said...

Kids in Florida really need to get their minds right. If Papa gets down, there really isn't time to play around. I bet the kid will start going to school now. He'll probably be on the college track after getting shot.

woodensplinter said...

Meanwhile, back at Duke University http://www.xojane.com/sex/belle-knox-duke-university-freshman-porn-star

makheru bradley said...

If there is a long history of violence, the teen may seek revenge and kill his grandfather. If this abuse has been going on for awhile why have all of those family members gathered in the front yard not stepped in before this shooting? Since the teen was shot in the back, it will be interesting to see how SYG plays out in this case, that is, if the state decides to charge pop.

Vic78 said...

If I were in the kid's shoes, I'd find a sane relative to move in with.

woodensplinter said...

Can you make enough as a part-time porn star to pay for Duke? www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2014/03/12/can-you-make-enough-as-a-part-time-porn-star-to-pay-for-duke/

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