Red Box vs Cinema...

If you're in America you may have noticed that Redbox kiosks are popping up all over.They are in front of the grocery stores, gas stations, and every other shopping place you can name. I first discovered the Redbox by chance. I had planned on staying in and watching a good movie, so I headed off to Hollywood Video, the place where I had been renting videos for the last few years. The annual membership wasnt too expensive compared to the price of the movies. There was only one location left in my area so, I made the 15 minute quick drive only to find out that the last store had closed its doors for the final time. Going to the movies was out of the question because it just cost too much. The last time I went to the cinema I paid $12.00 per ticket for IMAX 3D
$48 for a family of four! IMAX is different from conventional theatres. To watch a movie in IMAX 3D you have to wear a special type of goggles which makes the objects appear as though they are right in front of you. The surround sound is awesome. Even though the I enjoyed watching the movie in IMAX, I vowed to only do this once a year because by the time I left I had spent $76.00!!! The price of food at the movies is ridiculous. So, going to the movies was out of the question, I'd much rather go home than give my money away.
Disappointed, I decided to go by the gas station to get some gas when I noticed the Redbox rental. The directions seems quite simple. Pick your movie. Swipe your credit card. Movie comes out. Bring it back before 9pm the following night...I decided to try it and I must say it was quite simple. No membership fee! No ridiculous prices and I got my wish! To watch a good movie in the privacy and comfort of my own home. Just one dollar! I'm yours Redbox!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. Most stories of Thanksgiving history start with the harvest celebration of the pilgrims and the indians that took place in the autumn of 1621. Although they did have a three-day feast in celebration of a good harvest, and the local indians did participate, this "first Thanksgiving" was not a holiday, simply a gathering. There is little evidence that this feast of thanks led directly to our modern Thanksgiving Day holiday. Thanksgiving can, however, be traced back to 1863 when Pres. Lincoln became the first president to proclaim Thanksgiving Day. The holiday has been a fixture of late November ever since.
We just finished our Thanksgiving Dinner. As, I type at this computer, with a stuffed belly and satisfied soul I have so much to be thankful for. I am surrounded by the people who are most dear to me, my loved ones. My Father, has taught us once again, what it means to be a true, loving Father. Mom wasn't feeling well, so Dad volunteered to cook the entire spread this year. When he announced to us that he would be cooking, I thought perhaps it was him who wasn't feeling well. Did he really know what he was asking to do? Dad said things would go smoothly...his only request? For his three granddaughthers to spend the night with him to help him cook. As I reflect, on his request I realize that he just wanted to spend extra time with them because he ended up doing the majority of the work. The food was great, the time spent together even better. Dad didn't miss a beat. Everything that Mom normaly cooks, he cooked. (or he ordered)
So, what am I thankful for? Honestly, the simple things make me happy and thankful. A healthy heart that continues to beat even when I am sleep. Children who are healthy and able to learn. I work for a non-profit org. and the individuals that I work with are not able to learn. They are mentally disabled. Clean water to drink. I turn on the tap and the water comes out. Electricity. A lot of my friends that live abroad always tell me how sporatic the electricity can be in their area. The only time my electricity goes out is if I don't pay my bill. Oh and thank God, that I have a job. I like my job. My job makes me feel like I am at least making an impact in someone's world. Good health...I can use my hands to type, my eyes can see clearly, I can hear and speak. I am not in any type of Pain. Thank you, Lord! The list goes on and on....
Well, I have to end this post now. My family is waiting. We have a tradition in our family. To make ourselves feel a bit better we like to take a short walk. We are about to take a walk around the neighborhood. After that we are getting ready to light the fire place and watch the "Wizard of Oz".

shhhh!

ssshhhhh! We have some dirty secrets here...Sometimes we tend to not talk too much about it because well, our super ego just won't allow it.We want others to think that we are perfect, we do no wrong. Everthings fine over here. But,we are all guilty and in denial. You are guilty, I am guilty. We are guilty of doing nothing about the problem. We are all guilty of not protecting all of our children.
Street kids, child sex trafficking, sex tourism, and mail order brides. What comes to your mind when you hear words like that? What places have you told yourself that inexplicable acts like these only take place in? Where do you tend to think of?Rio de Janeiro? Mumbai? Kenya? Russia? Certainly, not America.
Most of the time when we read or hear about children being sold into prostitution or child sex trafficking we assume that it is in some far off land far far away from our North American shores! Sadly our media, as it so often does, will strategically focus on this issue as if it is something new, or unheard of. Some even take the ridiculous attitude and pretend that it “just doesn’t happen behind our borders.” But, “if walls could talk” as my sweet Mother, would say so many times. “If walls could talk” I am sure that many people would probably be surprised and ashamed of the reality.
It happens here! It happens there! It happens everywhere! Unfortunately until, we can come up with some concrete ways of preventing malicious adults from selling children for sex and severely prosecuting those who do so…then, we have a problem. It’s not an American problem, it’s not an African problem, it’s not an Asian problem….it’s a world problem.
UNICEF estimates that 1,000 to 1,500 Guatemalan babies and children are trafficked each year for adoption by couples in North America and Europe. Girls as young as 13 (mainly from Asia and Eastern Europe) are trafficked as “mail-order brides.” In most cases these girls and women are powerless and isolated and at great risk of violence. Large numbers of children are being trafficked in West and Central Africa, mainly for domestic work but also for sexual exploitation and to work in shops or on farms. Nearly 90 per cent of these trafficked domestic workers are girls.
This is little Shaniya Davis. She was five years old. Yes, I said was. Shaniya was found dead after she had been raped. Her lifeless little body had been tossed to the side of the road after the cruel, heartless predator raped and killed her.For many days volunteers and authorities searched for her.
Her mother, who is now in police custody is facing charges of human trafficking.

I'm an "ex"

The very same day that I decided to get my hair "chopped" I also made the decision to eliminate meat, fish and chicken from my diet. Now, for an African American that is a very hard thing to do because "soul food" revolves around the main dish...chicken fish, stew, ribs, or some kind of meat. To be honest with you, many black people feel that if you don't have some kind of meat on your plate then you are not truly eating and may even perish from lack of nourishment.
"Why would you want to do a thing like that?" "Is everything okay?" "Are you feeling well?" are the questions that some of my family members ask. In their minds this is most craziest thing that they have ever heard of and there must be something wrong with me. But, to be honest with you I am feeling better than I have felt in a long time. I have more energy. I don't have that bloated-full feeling that I used to have. It's been two months and I don't even crave any type of meat. If I did the food industry has made all sorts of vegetarian products that can fulfill that yearning. For example, if I wanted a burger...then I could eat a "veggie burger" which is made from soy beans instead of a cow.
Out of all the questions that friends and family ask, there is one question that seems to ponder in everyone's minds. Why? I could go on and on about my reasons. First of all, I am not an animal activist or anything like that. My reasons are health related. But, just to give you and idea of where I am coming from here we go:


Meat, Fish and poultry transmit bacterial and parasitic infections to humans. Pesticides, antibodies, and hormones find access to our bodies through the meat we eat.
The fat found in dairy products and all animals except fish is highly saturated. Saturated fats in the diet tend to raise the blood cholesterol and accelerate the development of hardening of the arteries by the process of arteriosclerosis.
... what about protein?
We are told we need meat for protein, but we are NOT told that the cooking of meat changes the molecular structure of the protein and renders the protein in the meat unusable by the human body. Even if the meat could be assimilated properly by the body, cooking it kills almost all of the nutrients and if meat is not cooked, well then we have a host of other problems. We are only eating it for taste.
It is a known fact that eating flesh of dead animals is hard to digest and some of it rots in the gut before elimination can take place and this putrefying residue is absorbed into the blood stream and it poisons the entire system.
As it stands today, I am an ex meat eater.

Promise Keeper

My life has been incredibly busy this semester! I usually make time to relax and write at least one entry over the weekend but, this has not been the case this semester. My weekends have been just as busy as my weekdays. Alot of things have changed since my last entry. I am still the same person but,I decided to keep the promise that I made to myself at the beginning of the summer..... So here's the before the promise......................................



I think you understand now.....

September 11....

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T....Find out what it means to me......R-E-S-P-E-C-T...Take care, TCB" are those famous words that Aretha Franklin sang many years ago. Many of us are familiar with the song, right? But, for some reason respect is one of the things missing these days, especially for our President Barack Obama. I don't want start throwing the "race card" around but what is the problem, America? Why are so many people disrespecting the highest office in the US? Some refuse to address him as the President by dropping the title and just calling him, "Obama". Others have been noted as calling him, "Mr. Obama." Earlier this week President Obama addressed our nations school children during school hours. He basically encouraged the children all across America to study, get a good education and take responsibility. He wasn't the first President to do so. Republican presidents Ronald Reagan did in 1981, George H.W. bush in 1991, and George W. Bush did in 2001. Bush senior focused solely on education, while Reagan slipped in a plug for low taxes and the line-item veto, and George W. mentioned the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Yet, some schools chose not to air the president’s educational pep talk because of pressure from parents who don’t like the president’s political positions. Some parents even signed their kids out of school to make sure they did not watch the address.
Not to mention, all the idiots that have been showing up to the townhall meetings on health care with guns! Last night, the townhall attitude showed up once again. GOP Congressman, Joe Wilson disrespected President Obama by yelling out, "you lie" while the president was speaking!