Getting De-Clawed

Good Day,  I will not be before you long.  I haven't blogged in awhile because the great orange menace has me all the way distracted.

But I did want to voice my opinion about the new TNT dramedy (??) Claws.

It is insulting, demeaning, sexist and vulgar and it will probably be on the air for at least 5 seasons.  And I am very damned mad about it too.

I do not want to see another black woman bent over a desk while some white guy rapes her.  Yeah, I have heard it referred to as "Sex", but what I saw was a hate-fueled act of sexual assault.  There was nothing comedic about it. I stopped watching after that.

Niecy Nash has always been a sheroe of mine, and to say I am disappointed doesn't matter cause I am not paying her bills.  I thought she was a stronger person, actor and mother than to take that role.

What Women of Color must stop doing is allowing Hollywood to tell our stories.  Or accepting their skewed presentation of the world outside Beverly Hills.

Why did it have to be a 'nail salon'?  Why not a Fortune 500 company, or a clothing empire, or even a lunch counter?  

This exploitation of Women of Color has been an active practice of oppressors since time began.  I cannot believe we are still trying to nurture a nation that will not nurture us.

The problem is bigger than one show of course, and folks will think that I am 'hating', and they will be right.

I hate that black women are being portrayed as sluts that sleep around in order to advance in America.

I hate that women and people of color are not paid equally in Hollywood.

I hate that the angry black woman trope is turning into a fact of life cause I am mad as hell about this show.

I hate that little black girls all over the world will see this show and think it's a game plan to get out of poverty.

I hate that I even have to say this.

America, we have to do better.

Never-ending Nightmare

I sit here on the eve of an event so mind-blowing that the good ole USA might not survive it.  I am not going to mention the name of said travesty...we all know what it is.

What we did not know 22 months ago was that such a thing was possible.  Now, to the dismay of damn near everyone, we stand on the brink of an extinction level event.

Yes, I am being a drama queen, I know.  America has had greedy, grasping, brain-damaged folks in positions of power before.  What is nagging at me is the sheer, unmitigated level of arrogance I have noticed in the PE's appointments, as well as his own behavior.

There are too many reasons this happened to count, so I am not going to go there.  But I am going to speak about the arrogant attitude of the people being nominated to the highest offices of the land.

They do not give a shit about this country.  Based on the testimony I've seen, they haven't bothered to learn fact one about the department(s) they have been nominated to run.

The pauses, ahem's, stutters, stammers, and shoulder shrugs all put me in the mind of spoiled, bored children. It's like their names were drawn out of a hat.

So what next America?  

I forgot that hate is a stronger motivator than love in America.  Or so it appears.  

The "Ugly American" is back in full force.  Voted into office on a wave of fear, bias and mis-directed anger.  Upheld and bolstered by the Alt-Right and the NRA.  No tax returns, broken campaign promises.  Not the presidential timber I have come to expect even from Republicans.

But nothing about this election has gone as expected, not even for the presumptive president.  Hometeam did not expect to win, and now he's toddling around playing 'leader of the free world' and does not have a clue.

I have no idea what happens next, but if we are alive on the other side of this, I hope we the people have learned our lesson...freedom requires vigilance.  And let's face it folks, we were not paying attention.  We must do better.   

OK America, now what

Well, well, well...you have gone and done it now Amerikka.  You actually elected a serial philanderer, with anger issues and a short attention span.

Since his civil trial for sexual assault is pending, I don't see how he'll have time to bone up on Foreign Policy before he's sworn in.

And did you just give the keys to the kingdom to a man that lost 918 million dollars in one year.  Come on, this is a joke, right?

No it is not a joke it is the worst fucking American tragedy since 9-11.  As I type this I hear the rattle of chains in the background.  The president-elect of the USA is a bigoted, racist, crass, demanding, vicious little toddler.  And you gave him the nuclear codes.

We all had a good laugh at his expense when his face was plastered all over the news peeking his poor wife's shoulder.  He wasn't checking to see who she voted, he was checking to see how to operate the voting machine.  

This does not bode well for the future of the United States.  I am not going to harp on all the other hundreds of ways he is not qualified to be the president of a glee club, let alone the once great USA.

I am just going to hope that he doesn't get in a twitter war with Putin and drop a bomb on the Kremlin.

But I am not going to put all the blame on the poor deluded fan base he seemed to accumulate, that will be done by better minds than mine.

What I am going to put before you is ....Now What...

Spin Class 2016

So I sit at the 'puter, reading the coverage of the Drumpf and I am getting steamed all over again.

What the fuck is "Sexual Misconduct"?  It is a phrase I have seen/heard bandied about in reference to the great orange menace. Are you kidding me?  

According to Webster's, misconduct is...

noun  mis·con·duct \-ˈkän-(ˌ)dəkt\

Simple Definition of misconduct

• : wrong behavior : behavior or activity that is illegal or morally wrong

Source: Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary

Being grabbed by the pussy is both illegal and immoral.
There has to be a stronger, more definitive word...oh yeah there is, sexual assault.

Attention Mass Media, we see your moves. Using modifying language for a crime cause OM (Orange Menace) is rich. You cannot marginalize, offset, undermine, confuse or bamboozle us. You soft-pedal coverage of his antics and expect us not to notice. We notice.

Why wasn't this tape leaked long ago you might ask?
I am going to give you my take...this whole circus has been in the works for quite awhile.  What we see is orchestrated, it's a staged reading of a presidential election.  We're the captured audience at the mercy of spin doctors, feeding us poison in the guise of choice.

Media Experts(?) know that the "Sheeple" have a short attention span, we are loathe to hold celebrities, politicians or sports figures accountable.  And sure as sunrise, there is going to be another distracting event in 3..2..1, designed to take our minds off the slight of hand.  The magic tricks taking away our rights, our freedoms, our very existence as individuals.

Remember some of us are "WOKE" and more are waking up every day.  It is a shame that folks have to do their own fact-checking cause Faux News ain't gonna do it for us.

So as staffs are cut, papers fold, magazines have lower and lower subscriptions, you must wonder why is this happening?  Cause Mass Media took the kool-aid.  Dollars were more important than real reporting.  The result is a mish-mash of half-truths given in 10 second sound bites.

Sad situation when the press won't stand up for it's own.  So I know I cannot trust you to stand up for me.

"Deia Schlosberg was charged with three felonies, two Class A, and one Class C on Thursday. The charges included conspiracy to theft of property, conspiracy to theft of services and conspiracy to tampering with or damaging a public service. The charges can be combined in a 45-year maximum sentence."

I haven't seen much printed outrage at the obvious miscarriage of justice with regard to your colleague.

So you will understand when I cancel my print subscriptions.  My pockets are not deep enough to pay for your versions of the news.

Now, you will be lining the bottom of the birdcage, unread and unmourned.

Main Stream Media is a hot mess...

So,  now the tide turns on Herr Drumpf. Now that the world considers him a demon from hell, the media is on him like a pack of baying hounds running down a rabbit.

Well I call bull-shit.  Too little, too freaking late.  I am telling you that we see your bs and call you on it.

Herr Drumpf is a monster you created.  You catered to his every whim, hung on his every word.  His every inane, unfiltered utterance was considered a gem beyond price.

Now that your boy has exhibited his total inability to be a human, let alone President, you attack him like the ravening beasts you are.

No wonder print journalism is going the way of the dodo.  You only have your own selves to blame.

He has never attempted to hide his lack of character, poor work ethic and tendency to say whatever pops into his head. Point of fact, he showed up and showed out.  And you pandering bastards published every syllable of his hate-speak.  Some of the new outlets had the nerve to fake outrage, but you still hung on and published every word.

You paraded him all around the world like a great orange Thanksgiving's Day float, spewing venom, hatred and stupidity to all and sundry.

Now, that the USA is an international punchline, you're mad.

Sorry, you can't un-ring this bell.  Can't escape your responsibility in this whole sordid, sorry mess.

So what now Sherlock..how are you going to fix this gosh-awful mess.  I'm waiting Mass Media.

Go Home America, you're drunk

I am so pissed off right now.  America, you are getting on my nerves. Your racist roots are showing and it is making me angry.

In the age of instant information, there is no room for the slap-dash manner in which you deal with People of Color.

Your latest act is heinous, reprehensible and down right dumb.

The Standing Rock Sioux do not want that dratted pipeline, the environment does not want that pipeline and any one with sense should not want it either.

The rapid deterioration of our air, land and water will only be hastened by the greedy and grasping nature of the Fossil Fuel Fanatics.

Pipelines are popping all over the country, crap seeping into our soil.  Money-Media is keeping this quiet, but our Native brothers and sisters need our help right now as much as we need theirs.

As we read this, the water supply is being cut-off, seems the Feds have more tolerance for right-wing gun nutz than Native American protesters on their own land.  This obvious inequity is making me crazy.

That group of nabobs associated with that takeover of governmental land were treated like frat boys. The Bundy Fiasco went on for weeks, it took the government 4 weeks before they cut off their supplies. These protesters trying to protect their land are being treated like terrorists.

We cannot drink oil, we cannot eat crops contaminated by oil spills, gas leaks and other unspeakable horrors that await us if we keep insulting Mother Earth.

So I am asking you to educate yourselves, send money, write to the government.  Call your legal representatives, tell them that we love our land more than money. I stand with the Standing Rock Sioux.

Losing Lincoln Park Zoo

Growing up black on the South Side of Chicago, Summer was not complete without the trips to Lincoln Park Zoo.  My family was luckier than most, our Mom would take us at least 3 or four times in summer so that we could see the babies.

Mom would prepare TipTop bread, Scotts Street Loaf and Imperial sandwiches, thermos with Hawiian Punch and some graham crackers for dessert. Every once and a while she'd let other kids come too, but the best times when we went alone with our Mommy.

Lincoln Park Zoo opened in 1868 with a gifted pair of white swans as it's first residents.  Most Chicago residents have been there at least once.

This is Wilma The White Spoonbill Stork, quite a beauty ain't she?

While we were meandering through what is truly a remarkable piece of property, Mom would tell us about the animals, pronouncing their Latin names.  And how the critters would cut up when the Mosby Mob came to town.  Condors would swoop when Kimmy ran up to the cage, birds would peck me in the head ala Tippy Hedron and Mike would eat too much.

My siblings and I got to know every nook and cranny of the dusty old place.  We never realized just how small those enclosures were, or the trapped and haunted look in the eyes of the exhibits.  We were children, excited to see real wildlife right there in front of our eyes.

I hadn't been back in awhile, so I wasn't adverse to a trip down Memory Lane.  The sticker shock is amazing, yes it is still free, but $2.50 for a bottle of water, come on!! And get this, the water fountains don't work-wtf!!

I have to admit that I did enjoy strolling the grounds, snapping pictures as I went.  But the enjoyment was tinged a bit with guilt because they are existing in captivity, and that must be rough. Never to feel the savannah under your feet, never to fly swiftly for miles into the sun, never to wallow in the waters of your homeland.

My family names everything, cars, pets, homes..you get the drift.  So I started naming my photo subjects above is Myrna the Meerkat, and below is Melvin the Melencholy Lion.  He roared a few times, turned his back on his audience and pooped. Didn't capture that, thank goodness.

Don't misunderstand, I realize the value in zoos, just wish they didn't exist.

But the kids tho, they were losing their minds!!! Little, shrill voices hyped up on sugar and pure, sweet adrenaline. I remember those days well.  Squeals of delight, gasps of awe and wonder.  The Zoo can be magical when you are too short to see reality of their habitats.

Humans were not the only ones having a good time, cause I swear this bird above is giving me shade.  I had a good ole belly laugh at this bird's expense, so I'm calling her Doozy.

Here's Larry the Leopard who is all out of f**cks to give.  I spent 15 minutes of my life I will never get back trying to get him agitated enough to move, home boy did not budge.  

Some subjects were more willing than others, meet Mike the Meetkat, Myrna's ex.  Dude is cocky, ain't he ?

Mike made me laugh out loud.  And if it weren't for this little guy, I might have decided not to go back.  But I have to find out if he and Myrna make it. Stay tuned for an update.