We Pledge Allegiance to Grover Norquist Not To The American Flag!

This is a very interesting commentary written by the Times Daily columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I wonder if this article got national attention. I don’t think so. Which partisan group controls the media that believes in pledges and feels that big government regulatory policies impede progress?

Grover Norquist has Republican politicians and candidates signing pledges in the midst of a national crisis. What does he have on these people? They were elected by the people and now forget about the majority and cater to the minority that has the money.

Here’s the pledge:

I _____ pledge to the taxpayers of the state of _____ and all the people of this state, that I will oppose and vote against all efforts to increase taxes," reads the version of the pledge signed by Republican lawmakers.

According to the United States Flag Code, the Pledge of Allegiance reads:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.

“One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.”  That used to mean something.  It seems not that the “For all” stands for those that have the money that these politicians will fight for now.

Pitiful Me

I got through yesterday and tomorrow was overdue.

I’m bruised from the problems of today’s news.

I built this wall, this fortress of distrust. I had to do it before I got lost.

I wished that our forever would have last,

instead it became another sore spot in my soiled past.

I kept looking for another you, substituting my loneliness just won’t do.

Torn pictures in my mind keeps dragging out the hurts left behind.

I can’t see ahead because I ignore the signs.

I wanted to be needed, but always got used.

My attempts at love always ended with me being the abused.

The wall I have is as strong as steel, I don’t trust the love that I feel.

I fall in love instantly, not considering the path it’s leading me.

I have so much about love to learn, I guess that’s my reason for getting burned.

Take it or leave it, I hate being alone. I failed as so many others have done.

No more pointing fingers, no one to blame, no more it’s your faults,

no more calling each other names.

The ripples of hurt are smooth as silk, yet they are deep and cut to the quick.

How can I pursue the future still caught in the past?

How can I go forward if I think love won’t last?

Where is my faith, what do I believe in?

Lord, send me someone that will love me again.

A Part of Things ©

Matters Of The Heart - Tia D.

Another glimpse of Tia D's heart!  As always, thank you, Tia!  I appreciate you.

Matters of the Heart

Some things are never clear

until the crystal breaks

Sometimes you never know

until it's all too late

Yet here I am afraid to move

and just as scared to not

A catch 22 with lessons learned

and wisdom being taught.

None of which I've asked for

as easy they are not

and in the most unpleasant way

much pain at times they've brought

Once again I’ve jumped heart first

And left my head behind

So afraid to miss this “chance”

That I became so blind

Ignoring flags and past mistakes

Again the roles confused

I left my heart wide open

Emotions, thoughts diffused

Here I am my heart wide open

Emotions gone astray

Denial fails me yet again

These thoughts won’t go away.

God, please guard my heart and mind

For I can’t find a way

Free me from all false control

Lord, that is what I pray!

7/8/2011

I Forgot To Be Your Lover - William Bell

We need to bring back some Old School music.  It calms you down and relaxes the body.  Yes, it respected and told you how to treat women.  Now we all seem to be in a rush living and doing everything else except taking care of the people we love and that love us.

Patti LaBelle Files Countersuit.

Patti LaBelle filed a countersuit against a Richard King, a West Point cadet in Houston who was on spring break.   King claims that she ordered her bodyguards to beat him up outside a Houston airport terminal after he hurled racial insults at her.  He did admit that he had a few drinks on the plane but was not intoxicated.  This whole episode reminds me of how Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe set up ACORN employees.  Considering the current racial environment within the country, this event will be interesting to follow.

Congratulations, Gamecocks!

Yes, there are many good things that come out of South Carolina.  In fact, the Gamecock Baseball Team won the the College World Series.  South Carolina (55-14) became the first team to ever go 10-0 in an NCAA tournament and the first since Oregon State in 2007 to go unbeaten in a CWS.  The Gamecocks' streaks of 16 NCAA tournament wins and 11 straight in the CWS are both the longest all-time.  South Carolina has the distinction of winning the last CWS played at Rosenblatt Stadium and the first at TD Ameritrade Park.  The Gamecocks were in control throughout a 5-2 victory over Florida that completed a two-game sweep in the CWS finals Tuesday night.

So Much For Race Relations

Carter Strange - Before

Carter Strange - Hospitalized

Carter Strange - Recovery

Is God no longer recognized in our society? What is wrong with us? On June 20, in Columbia, SC, the state capital, a young man was violently attacked by 8 other young men of color. Their ages ranged from 13 to 19. Five of the kids’ parents turned them in. What they did was wrong, period. There is no excuse for their actions. We cannot give explanations whether they were misguided, parentless, raised by a single parent, troubled or whatever. Wrong is wrong and they should be punished for their actions. I don’t know what else the eight young men will be charged with besides aggravated assault. They could be charged with robbery, attempted murder, lynching, or whatever the prosecutor decides. The city council passed an emergency curfew from 11:00 P. M. to 6:00 A.M. in Five Points where the incident took place.

The lynching of Laura Nelson in Okemah, Oklahoma on May 25, 1911; she had tried to protect her son, who was lynched together with her.

The main reason why I’m bringing this article to your attention is what some white folks are saying about black folk and retaliation. Some of these people are putting an entire race of people in one category for the sins of the few. Race relations have been set back after the election of a Black President. The commentaries made on this article are venomous, vile, vitriolic and full of hatred. These comments are just short of calling for hanging these men. Two wrongs will never make it right. It is pitiful how some people still feel about the races. There are good people and bad people in all of them. Of course, these vile comments are made behind computer screens and fake names. These are the new eSheets & eHoods. Some people need something to hide behind to say what they want to. Others, use drinking as an excuse. Keep in mind that we are South Carolina where there really some good people living here.

Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, lynched in Marion, Indiana on August 7, 1930.



Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, both African-Americans, were lynched on August 7, 1930 in Marion, Indiana. They had been arrested the night before on charges of robbing and murdering a white factory worker and raping his girlfriend. A large crowd broke into the jail with sledgehammers, beat the men, and hanged them. Police officers in the crowd cooperated in the lynching. A third person, 16-year-old James Cameron, escaped lynching due to the intervention of an unidentified member of the crowd who announced that he had nothing to do with the rape or murder.  A studio photographer, Lawrence Beitler, took a photograph of the dead bodies hanging from a tree surrounded by a large crowd; thousands of copies of the photograph were sold. The event is notable as the last confirmed lynching of blacks in the Northern United States.



An African American lynched from a tree, 1925.

Strange Fruit - Hanging was a family affair in those days.  Blacks were not considered people, just animals.  The more things change, the more they remain the same.