Man, I hope that the Salahis (you know the couple that crashed that White House party last week) don’t go to jail. I mean, national security is super important, and nobody should be able to just run up on the leader of the free world. But, it’s not like this tandem was a crazed terrorist duo. They were just random party hoppers who were trying to get next to the Prez. I don’t think there is anything too wrong with that. After all, who doesn’t want to be at the most cracking party in town?

Of course, I could be a little biased, especially because I cut my teeth as a journalist in the music industry sneaking into parties and running up on celebrities. Trust me, there is no greater thrill than shoving a microphone in the face of an unsuspecting star, who just minutes earlier ignored your interview request on the red carpet. Really, nothing beats the expression of fear on a famous person’s face when you are all up in their personal space. It’s sort of like payback for all the little people who have been kept on the bottom by “the Man”. (Ok, maybe it was only that big of a deal in my head.)

On second thought, I can sort of see why the government might want to prosecute these two. I’m sure that they prolly want to deter people from thinking that they can just sneak into the White House whenever there is some sort of shindig. Especially given the fact that President Obama has a lot of detractors who would prolly love to shove something a lot more life threatening in his face than a microphone. After all, Obama got a Secret Service detail assigned to him earlier than any other Presidential candidate in history.

You know what? I have changed my mind completely. I think the Salahis should be thrown into Gitmo like Harold and Kumar. We can’t have any more socialites thinking that they can get close to the President. Where is Dick Cheney when you need him?

I’m starting to realize that some of my favorite songs have really boring and goofy subject matter. Take, for instance, Boys of Summer by Don Henley. Catchy ass song, no real meaning. Let’s face it, it’s making me feel guilty.

As a result, I’ve been getting amped up when I hear about music that confronts the real issues in our lives today. Check out this post, which came over the lines at Wiretap:

Anyone looking for artists that express the current struggle for immigrants’ rights will find that My America, a benefit CD for the movie “Papers,” does a particularly good job. The CD was put together by Molina Soleil and Aju, a music duo from Denver, CO that specializes in their own multilingual fusion of jazz, soul and hip-hop.

Check out more over at Wiretap!

Check this out! Alicia Keys flipped the song she did with Jigga and turned it into a power ballad. Fire!!! She needs to go ahead and release this on iTunes. Some times songs are so good you have to pay for them.

Thanksgiving has always been a complicated holiday for me. And no, it’s not because I prefer not to eat meat. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve been conflicted by the glaring contradiction that is Turkey Day. I gotta be honest, the traditional Plymouth Rock narrative starring “the Natives and the Pilgrims” just doesn’t cut it for me. The sentiment is powerful, but the truth is that our nation hasn’t always done the best job of living up to its principles.

But, word to Glen Beck, I’m not as “radical” as I once was. I mean, when I was in my early 20s I used to attend “Happy Thankstaking” parties with friends in LA that usually ended with me being in a drunken debate with one of my white roommates. Today, I am a lot more self-reflective and can sort of understand what all the fuss is about.

I’ve learned that even though the Thanksgiving story is a crock of B.S., doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t take time out to express my deep felt appreciation for my friends and family. (Truthfully, everyday should be Thanksgiving, but of course the pressures of life often prevent me from slowing down and being present and patient.) So over the years, I have learned to slow down, and enjoy the holidays. Even while stuffing down Tofurkey.

This year I am even more thankful than ever. So I decided to throw together a list of the top ten things I am thankful for. Forgive me for the mushiness, but I am thankful for a lot ish!

Check the list after the jump. Read the full story

Peace peeps. If you thought my blog on my experiences observing and partaking in the November elections in Maine was provocative, my latest musings on WireTapMag.org around the Fort Hood killings, the death of DC sniper-John Allen Muhammad and the trial of alleged “mastermind” of the September 11th terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (”Who’s Afraid of the ‘Muslim Boogeyman?’”) is sure to raise those stakes.

Check it out over at Wiretap!

Check out this lol-tastic video that I found over at WSHH. For some reason, I think that it goes down exactly like this.

Word to Manny Pacquiao, I hate losing. Especially when it comes to sports. No lie, when I was a kid my parents had to take me out of a bowling league because I would beat myself up if didn’t roll strikes. So as you can imagine, I have pretty much stopped paying attention to my local NBA team the Milwaukee Bucks.

I’m not like some of my fellow Wisconsinites. I don’t cry when the Packers lose, and I haven’t forgiven the Brewers for their decades long losing skid. So don’t ever expect to see me rocking a cheese-head.

But for some reason, the Bucks’ current round of absolute wackness stings a lot. After all, there was a time in recent history when the Bucks, powered by the wicked treo of Glen “Big Dog” Robinson, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell, were competing for league supremacy.

That’s why it’s so hard for me to believe that Bucks could be back on the road to hecka goodness again. I mean, I knew that their number one draft pick Brandon Jennings was a star. Did you see him in the McDonald’s High-School All Star game a couple years back? He did have the sand to cut his hair into hitop fade years before it is cool again.

But the word on the streets is that they are actually playing good team basketball. I might have to get over my fear of failure long enough to check them out.

I have a deep, dirty secret that I have to share with you. Promise not to judge me?

I am addicted to Walmart. Yes, I know that many of my friends are so anti-Walmart that they would likely disown me if they knew how much I shopped at the corporate giant. But I can’t help it. Their prices are SO ‘effin cheap, and it doesn’t help that there are nearly no major retail chains in my neighborhood. (I live in the hood.)

And yes, I know that the execs at Walmart are staunchly anti-worker. I also know that the uber-retailer drives down competitors’ prices, especially at mom and pops’ shops. But l gotta keep it real, I don’t really shop anywhere else.

Can you really blame me? In one afternoon of shopping you can cop everything from t-shirts to a jumbo pack of Pampers for damn near nothing. And it doesn’t hurt that at every hood Walmart in the world bootleggers are selling the latest movie or CD for 2 for $5 in the parking lot.

I fear that there is no cure for my addiction. I’ve tried really hard to shop local, but it just isn’t working. So please, don’t judge me if you see me coming out of a Walmart near you. I have a problem, and I am not afraid to admit it.

I may be dating myself, but Goodie Mob’s first album Soul Food had a tremendous impact on my world view. Not only did the first single “Cell Therapy” break down everything you needed to know about crooked cops and sheisty politicians, but the title track “Soul Food” made you want to pack your bags and move to Atlanta. (Ironically, lots of my high school friends did. I wonder if it was because of Goodie Mob?)

Recently, there’s been talk about Goodie Mob getting back together. I hope they do. Just check out this video of them performing on Jimmy Fallon. They still got it!!! Found via @n1Rm

Check the video after the jump. Read the full story

Check out this kid from Arkansas who stood up to his teacher.  He said he won’t say the pledge of allegiance until everyone gets equal rights.  You can tell his dad is really proud of him. Check the video after the jump.

Read the full story

Why are so many African Americans hating on the new film Precious? For the first time in a long time, a seriously moving story about “real life” has arrived on the big screen accompanied by great fan fair (thanks to Sundance) and some serious financial backers (thanks to Oprah & Tyler…two reforming, survivors)! So what’s the trouble?

From comparing it to Birth of A Nation (yup) to dissatisfaction over the portrayal of darker black folk (the antagonists) against the lighter black folk (protagonists), it seems like everyone is hating. But in the process people are missing the truest survivor in the film, Precious, who through her struggles displays what’s best about black America.

To be honest, it feels like 1985 all over again when The Color Purple premiered. Back then Alice Walker and Steven Speilberg caught heat and negativity from the black community for their gripping portrayal of Southern life. Since then, there hasn’t been a movie like it, until now! Sadly, the hate continues.

When I ask friends what the hostility is really about I receive the overused excuse that WE shouldn’t be airing our dirty drawers in public. But should we really be ignoring our problems? These things are happening in our community and households. If exposing the realities of brutality can draw awareness, halt abuse, cause us to pause and ponder our diets, relationships, sexual demons….isn’t that worth it? Who cares if white folks are watching?

Drama and dysfunction are within all aspects of society! But our shame to discuss our dysfunctions and pain on a real level and practically through our ART, only worsen the grief, deepen the wounds and makes us feel more pain. Once we understand that, then we can get to the business of healing our wounds.  Because after all isn’t that what is important….the healing!!!??! Secrets create more dysfunction and we have no time to pacify our collective ego!

See the original post by Ebony Joy at: SHAME BEGETS MORE SHAME…A QUICK NOTE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF “PRECIOUS”

The Rhymesayers’ Psalm One is one of hip-hop’s most talented MCs. Just ask Invincible!! Check out her page here for free downloads and tour schedule!

This is a few days old i.e. another epoch in internetz time but I bet when society crashes and we burn our laptops for plastic scented warmth, we’ll kill for the chance to one more snarky blog post, to tag one more pic of the person we were before Nature takes our headphones off and smacks us back to the Ice Age.

By which I mean, is anyone really surprised that not only do we have to confront the awesome, shame-on-us specter of global destruction as a simple truth - we are consuming the world, will we do anything about it? - but also as a classic opportunity for government conspiracy, what we don’t know will kill us, of course the Man is savvy to the fact that famine and hedonism are mutually exclusive and you’ll catch more of us flies if you act like the honey is gonna flowwwww forever.

Turns out “[t]he world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit,” with the United States quite specifically called out for encouraging a false representation of 1.) how much oil is undiscovered [how do they know?!] and 2.) how much we’ve got left in our fields.

Consensus is growing that this roller coaster we call Life™ is already over the hump, we’re hurtling down hill to a NEW epoch the people at the Center for Egregiously Named Memetics call Peak Oil. When you hit Peak Oil, your oil production enters a phase called “terminal decline….” yeah, it looks kinda like this:

Read the full story

91 years ago today, in 1918, an armistice was signed to end the first World War. One year later, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first Armistice Day, to commemorate the event. Within ten years, the holiday would become our modern Veterans Day: “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace”.

In the aftermath of the horrible Fort Hood shootings, it becomes necessary for us to take a step back and really express our gratitude to those who give of themselves on a daily basis to protect our very lives. As we fight wars on all sides of the world, take a moment today to remember those who have given their lives for our freedom.

This isn’t a progressive or a conservative issue: this is just the right thing to do.

(Sung to the tune of Gilligan’s Island)

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,
a tale of some gruesome shit,
about what happens when you load some trash
atop a mighty ship.

In all seriousness, what you’re about to hear is absolutely disgusting. Roughly 1000 miles north of Hawaii, islands are developing from the trash and waste that humans generate. These islands are created by objects such as toothbrushes and bottle caps that have accumulated in the ocean over the course of modern history. Trash accumulates in these islands, it seems, due to ocean gyres - “an area of heavy currents and slack winds that keep the trash swirling in a giant whirlpool.”

And how big are these islands? Roughly, double the size of Texas. We think. See, there’s a big problem. Scientists don’t really have a way as of yet to determine how big it is, or if there are others like it. It’s not quite as fabled as the Loch Ness Monster, but at least as dangerous. Plastic, a core element of these trash islands, takes in toxins such as DDT “like a sponge”. Sea creatures eat it and it becomes a huge wrench in the food chain.

So what are people doing to reverse this? Good question. Cleanup groups are developing creative ways to get rid of the trash that has developed in these islands. One of these efforts has the goal of turning the plastic from these islands into diesel fuel. All the groups agree with one factor though: this trash is getting stinky and we’ve gotta do something about it.

Check out more about the tropical trash islands over at the New York Times.

We tend to do a lot of talking here about greening yourself. Let’s face it, it’s not easy.

A lot of the time, people perceive greening their lifestyles as difficult, financially cumbersome with negligible returns. To reverse a societal norm is damn near impossible, so we’ve got our work cut out for us. This raises an eternally interesting question, however. Does working in an ecofriendly workplace or a green job help one develop a greener personality?

According to a recent NY Times blog, there seems to be no conducive evidence as of yet - research is still relatively new on the subject - but there are many case studies of this actually happening. Take - for instance - a graduate of Solar Richmond, Wayne Gatlin:

“I’m getting greener,” said Mr. Gatlin, who earns far more as a photovoltaics installer for the Berkeley-based Sun Light & Power than he did working security or selling shoes at an Adidas retail store.

“I recycle now,” Mr. Gatlin said. “I ride my bike. This was stuff I wouldn’t do before.”

I can personally say that ever since starting to work at 99Problems.org and The League, I’ve been trying to green my lifestyle with little things: using public transportation whenever possible, bringing my lunch to work in plastic containers rather than paper bags, trying to buy sustainable products… things like that.

What about you? Is your work life conducive to a greener lifestyle?

In Iran, a student named Mahmoud Vahidnia was heralded as an unlikely hero last week, for a stunning act of bravery that shook the country’s youth to the core. His action? Speaking truth to power, in person.

That’s right: he’s being lauded for his bravery for speaking up and dissenting with the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a public forum event. According to a report by the Huffington Post, openly criticizing the Ayatollah is a crime in Iran, punishable by imprisonment. Vahidnia openly lambasted the state-run media’s perspectives on the Ayatollah as well as the Ayatollah’s history of violence against youth protesters.

He faced significant resistance at the event:

“Vahidnia, a gold medalist at the country’s National Math Olympics two years ago, told the pro-opposition Alef Web site that officials at first barred him from speaking, but Khamenei apparently allowed him to go ahead. He said he was interrupted several times by the event’s moderator who insisted they were out of time.”

In the echo-chamber of critique that is the political blogosphere, it’s easy to lose the plot and forget how valuable our right to speak truth to power is. Vahidnia is definitely an inspirational figure and we hope that he stands in no danger after his heroic act. Check out more about this incredible story over at The Huffington Post.

Last night, Jon Stewart managed to dedicate ten minutes to making fun of Glenn Beck… as Glenn Beck. Here’s the deal: Glenn Beck has appendicitis, but Jon Stewart thinks there’s something deeper there. There’s more than just his appendix pulling the strings… perhaps a conspiracy!

This is a MUST watch video: check it below.