Et cetera

Some people don’t deserve children.

In the same day that a Caucasian mother (yes – race MAY be an actual issue here) was arrested for “allegedly” allowing her five year old daughter to tan, a six year old African American boy died from blunt force trauma (yes – issued to him from his ‘mother’) <- and I use that word very lightly, only because he lived in her womb; I’ve seen no other evidence that renders this monster a mother.

The mother of the tanned child was arrested and appeared in court, simply because her daughter had a little sunburn on her face and witnesses saw the mother bring the little girl into the room with her. The mother has contested the allegation and tells a story that she only permitted her daughter to play in the room with her, while she tanned in the bed. (http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c3#/video/offbeat/2012/05/03/ac-ridiculist-over-tanning-mom.cnn)

In her confession, the woman who carried the little black boy (Khalil), admitted to beating her 29 lb. child every single day with switches and books. She admitted to locking him in his room for hours on end. And since the small child suffered from a stomach ailment that caused him to throw up several times a day, she also admitted to beating him after each “episode” because she thought he was making it up. (http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c3#/video/bestoftv/2012/05/02/nr-six-year-old-killed-mpg.cnn)

She brought the child to the hospital yesterday after he slipped in a bathroom puddle and since he didn’t get up “fast enough,” she hit him on the back of the head, causing him to go down. She then left him there, while she and her husband played video games and made a f**** steak dinner. After 13 hours with the boy still down, they decide to take him to the hospital. He was already dead.

The most disgusting  thing about this story is that Khalil had “too many scars to count” on his tiny little body (including 15 visible ones on his face). Why his teachers, parents of other school kids, people walking the f*** street, social workers (who checked the household every f**** month) didn’t say anything to police, or open a case (social worker) is the most repulsive thing I’ve ever heard.

Can you imagine seeing a six year old boy weighing 29 lbs with scars on his face and just walking by?  Maybe I’m being self-righteous. Maybe I wouldn’t say anything, maybe I would just walk by…. But after hearing this story and thinking about my own six year old nephew (1 of 5 amazing little ones), I will be absolutely dammed if I would ever let something like this, on any child, slip by…

Note: Don’t want to go into the race issues that could possibly be at play here, due to length of post already, but I think you can come to your own conclusions/opinions… 

First List of 2012…

You know I couldn’t come back without putting a list together! :)  Enjoy…

1. So weird, I was JUST wondering how Instragram made money on Saturday afternoon. And lo and behold, on Monday, the social media giant- Facebook – purchased the photo sharing platform for $1B. The American way, I suppose. Make something really awesome and wait to be bought out by something bigger/more powerful.

2. It’s baseball season, so I guess I should address something about the sport. I’m sort of appalled that the Marlins manager was suspended for five games after expressing his love of Fidel Castro. It’s not like he said he adored his leadership style and mass oppression of people. He simply admired his tenacity. And in America, isn’t that all we have, sometimes?

3. I’m not even mad that Santorum is out of the presidential race. The fact that he’s been trailing for the past six months and decided that after a “weekend of prayer and thought,” he should withdrawal, is odd to me. What’s prayer got to do with the White House?

4.  George Zimmerman’s lawyers quit yesterday. I guess he is guilty.

5. It is never, and I mean this with all the sincerity in my heart… NEVER okay to wear leggings to work. It’s barely okay to wear them (without the appropriate length shirt) in everyday life. 

6. I love the Buffet Rule, and love that Obama is making it an integral part of his campaign.

7. Read an awesome article on CNN Money about young people maxing out their 401K and investing in Roth. I thought it was great. The comment section was even better.  One Generation Y’er had this to say (he’s a little angry):

“Best bet for any youngsters is to keep YOUR hard earned money! Don’t invest it as you will lose it to Government! Enjoy it and live… travel with the money or do something you always wanted to do. Investing is DEAD because of greedy scumbags! Welcome to the new era, where the public doesn’t trust their own Banks. Thanks all you Greedy baby boomers for messing up everything!” 

8. Thank God there were no deaths from today’s earthquake in Indonesia, but did you know there are an estimated 1.3 million earthquakes that register at a 3.0 or below per year! 

Patience

I just read an article, written by a Muslim American woman about hate crimes against Muslim Americans. Apparently a Muslim American woman was beaten to death several weeks ago and a note left on her body told her to “go back to her country.”  The writer chose to bring this story to light because she feels its unfairly getting pushed to the back burner due to the attention of the Trayvon Martin case.  In her article she describes how the cases are similar, but because of the anti-Muslim consensus of our Nation as a whole, it’s being ignored. 

In a not-so-successful-way, she tries to present similarities and parallels between the two cases, but ends up making the read uncomfortable. It’s as if she is trying to downplay the Trayvon case by  shoving facts/stats about Muslim hate crimes in our faces. I get it. Racism exists for brown people (African American, Hispanic, Arab, etc.)

Thanks to this article, I now know that Muslim American hate crimes have escalated to 160 (documented reports only) in 2010. I also know that in 2009 (only stats I could find) reported hate crimes on African Americans hit 2,987. Not that I’m trying to “compare” the deaths of one ethnicity to make the other ethnicity seem more “at-risk,” but damn, look at the stats.

She then describes how people rarely use the N- word in public, but are quick to use racial slurs against Muslims. California (where she resides) must be awesome,  because in VA and NY  I’ve heard people utter the N-word a little more than I care to…

I understand, I do. As a woman with brown skin in America, I’m double guilty, so of course I do not condone racism in any form. But, let’s be real – African Americans have been mistreated since 1526 in America (by the masses, might I add). And the fact that this still happens is ridiculous. I’m not saying it’s okay to mistreat Muslims, by any means. As the writer said, “An injustice toward any one person or community is an injustice to us all,” All I’m saying is it’s been 400+ years of racism/hatred toward African Americans… and Trayvon was murdered last month. 

Sometimes, it’s just not meant to be, sometimes

You know I couldn’t come back and not post about my favorite topic…

Love, of course.

I was chatting/yelling with my ex-boyfriend the other day when I realized it’s just not meant to be.

Waste of time? I don’t think so. But then again I’m a “glass half full” type of gal.

It’s so interesting the way different people view love and relationships.

He told me “If, after all these years you don’t know what you want, then it’s not me.”

I have to admit I understand the deep rooted history from where this comes, but I do not completely agree with the mantra.

They say you have to “work” at love…

I do not believe this either.

Why?

If I love you and you love me – what is there to work at?

It love exists between two people, it should be easy.

If you have to “work” on it…or “fix” it… then maybe you guys should just stop seeing each other.

There are 7 billion people on earth. I refuse to believe you have to be miserable with one person, when it could be so seamless with another.

Sometimes, it’s just not meant to be.

If he makes you cry – leave him.

If she cheats on you – leave her.

It’s that simple. It really is. Romantic love is a socially constructed term that has reared its ugly head as a feeling. A feeling meant to pacify us so that we can find comfort in the fact that we (society) need someone else.  I’m completely fine with this concept and you should be too. 

Don’t Kill Twitter…Yet.

After a five month hiatus, I figured the post that broke my silence had to be super good. Unfortunately, it’s not my best work. But it’s something and you should still read it.  I decided to write about Twitter because I’ve been thinking about the social network and its uses/non-uses for a while.  I get irritated when I feel someone is not using the platform correctly (pretentious, I know), but I love when I see someone (brand or otherwise) use it in the way in which it was intended - as if I knew.  

Let’s not forget the superficial functionalities of Twitter - A) It’s basically assuming that your “followers” really care about your random thoughts at any given point throughout a day; it’s 140 characters of pure bullsh**. Yes, Geminis are impatient, but do you really have to program your handle to spit out your horoscope every day? B) It’s used to bash people (celebs or not); C) it’s used to spy on people (whether you admit this or not), and D) it can also be used to drive traffic to something you are passionate about (be it a blog, an article, or website).

What grinds my gears about the misuse of Twitter starts with the private accounts.  Firstly, who are you? What makes you so special and your tweets so top secret that you have to make them private? Get a journal and delete your account. Bam! Secondly, Twitter is a public social networking site.  Say with me – PUBLIC. SOCIAL. NETWORKING. All of those words are synonymous with being open.  Why is there even a private option?

I also hate when people use Twitter to start fights. How old are you? Why put the fact that your man cheated on you on a public space and bash the girl with whom he cheated? It makes you look meek and…whack (for lack of a better word).  Your man is just going to lie to you and the “mistress,” along with everyone else, is laughing at you.

I also dislike that people think Twitter is not real. I can’t count how many times people have used the excuse, “it’s just Twitter.” What do you mean? Does a non human robot who is not actually you compose the tweets? No – It’s really YOU typing the thoughts. There is nothing “fake” about this concept.  How dare we de-value the amazing Twitter by saying “It’s not real” when its convenient for us.

I will group my last Twitter pet peeves together. It involves Twitter specifics. “Twitter-isms” have got to STOP.  There’s no such thing as a “twitter-verse,” we are simply humans who use it - we still reside on the universe. Point blank. I’m not your “twigga”, “tweetheart”, or “ tweep” either. Those things are dumb and make no sense.  

Hashtags are also not used accurately, most of the time. #Youcanthashtaganentiresentence. It makes it difficult for people to follow what you are saying. We should also be more cognizant of keeping hashtags on the platform. After all, once the “hashtag” leaves the “twitter-verse” it merely becomes a pound sign.

Don’t get me wrong, I adore Twitter. I believe in it and I use it every day. I understand there is not a correct way to use the platform, and I probably do things that annoy the hell out of people, but this is my blog, so therefore, my opinion reigns right now.

And it’s my first day back after five months…give me a break and follow me, too - @ughReaves 

THE bigger PERSON

Dear “Bigger Person”:

I wonder what goes through your mind when you finally tell you the truth after so much lying.  Do you honestly think you are being the bigger person for developing the courage to verbalize what everyone else (including you) already knew? Something, mind you, that should have been manifested in the first place… Does the trivial, all too common “I’m sorry” email clear you conscious? Does it render you the BETTER person because you were finally able to apologize? Do you feel good about yourself? Are you happy? Do you find joy in uttering facts, opposed to lies? Often times one’s self serving ways get in between knowing what a good friend should and should not do- maybe this isn’t your fault.

It’s fascinating- this malicious phenomenon.  The way lies can slip so easily of the tongue, but when it’s time to tell the truth…your lying lips can’t muster the strength to form a sentence.

How repulsive. How absolutely nauseating.

I truly feel sorry for people like you…but I guess lying comes naturally when self worth is not actualized.

Let me make this note clear because I seem to be asking a lot of questions… that I very well know the answer to. I am not, by any stretch of your imagination, justifying your lying ways because you’ve had a troubled past, etc. I am simply offering my condolences - my solid, unforgiving pity that you have to wake up and live with such filth for your entire life.

I am sorry for that; I am truly sorry.

A free thinking, more enlightened,

Reaves

Absorb

I haven’t blogged in a while…partly because I’ve been swamped at work… partly because there’s just a ton of unreasonable, ridiculous crap going on that, quite frankly- frightens me. First and foremost - the Occupy movement. A quick note on that, because it’s covered enough in standard news channels anyway…

I truly believe this is a revolution (that is being televised- sorry Mos Def).  What the majority of these people are fighting for is just, right and sound. I’ve read countless pieces about the truth in the 99% theory…I think that’s utter B.S. Some are fighting for more jobs and we all know the truth in that. Some are protesting because they don’t support the wars we are raging in the Middle East. That, too, is valid. It’s just uncanny to think about all the political unrest going on and how unhappy American people are. It’s not a foreign concept- Americans have the tendency to over react to a lot of things… but right now…this is real.

All I can give you is my opinion (which you know I gladly will). The issues being brought to mainstream media by these Occupiers WORLDwide will revolutionize the way free thinking societies execute various laws, mandates, etc. (crosses fingers)…

I think it’s exciting to see so many people rising together in the pursuit of (a few convoluted, yet sufficient) goals.

CITIville

For those of you not following America’s economic downfall, the most recent news that has shocked and amazed me is Citi Banks new policy. Lets nutshell it: The banking giant wants to further feed into our notion that big businesses, institutions and government organizations aim only to generate revenue, pissing on us lower/upper middle class and poverty stricken Americans (pissing without the audacity of calling it rain, might I add).  Essentially they want to charge $20 a month to customers who do NOT keep an average of $15,000 in their bank accounts.

First and foremost, who the hell is Citi to tell its customers how much money to keep in their accounts? Ohh…. They are a private bank who can do what they want.. my bad! But secondly, why are they forcing this preposterous fee on people who don’t keep $15,000 - shouldn’t it be the other way around? Clearly people with less money can’t really afford $20 a month. Did I really need to spell that out? I’m flabbergasted that a bank would actually implement this backwards thinking in the midst of this U.S. crisis (yes- I actually mean crisis- we are literally on the brink of a modern day American revolution)

Bottom line, you ask?

Our government structure sucks… just look at the Zucotti Park protesters in New York (#occupywallstreet for all you Twitter heads). These are young adults who are just angry with America for everything….the shotty economy, the unnecessary Afghanistan war, the globally warmed environment, and the role of America in general worldly happenings.

I have a solution – tons of them, but I don’t really want to sound like a communistic socialist (at least not today), so, I’ll end this post on my personal feelings at the moment: 

F*** Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo and Citibank.

Screw this “alleged” 1% of the US that benefits from us 99%ers hard work.

Kill these stupid short term bills Obama keeps signing to keep the government running for two months at a time!  

And f*** Yahoo! Who illegally violated people’s privacy by filtering emails with the word “Occupy” in it…

God Bless these united states… and no one else.