Saturday, September 27, 2008

Last post on blogspot...

Because I am slightly neurotic and want to see who is reading, how many total hits, want easier page development, etc I am switching. Blogger was good and I thank it for all 59 published posts and the 4 stuck in draft mode (to be completed in wordpress). I will say I hate all of the wordpress layouts and what you make up in page design and cleanliness you lose in ability to devise your own color scheme :(

One last blogger Salute!

http://whatwouldwesleydo.wordpress.com

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

An apology of sorts....identity politics style

I left up the last post for so long because it was about music, I put some time into finding music that was both of quality and able for download without screwing the artist, and well--I just was plain busy. One day I am going to break down my schedule (which sucks because of the amount of time spent on other people's agendas... I don't mind working but I have to work on other people's time... and some people have a ton of time dedicated to wasting in meetings, a luxury I don't have) but not yet. I have been sitting on this post for a few days and have collected a bunch of stuff including 60 Minutes with Barack and McCain. It is rare that both candidates have been in the same forum for discussion without a clear bias. Enjoy!

I owe the loyal readers and apology for two reasons. One is because I didn't make the three post mark and two because this next post will be mostly political and even if you're not into that sort of thing it is time to really buckle down and get educated (you too Morgan)!

Anyways, below is a video taken from a Barack speech in Florida:



"Blacks against Obama" is their name and defamation is their game. I am really not one to say black people should do this or that... so I won't say that blackness mandates a vote for Barack Hussein. I will say it requires an even greater sense of respect to the process of Obama's candidacy. Up until this campaign, a black man was a joke, a foregone conclusion of a loss, or a PR stunt. Now it's real and we want to hate...c'mon. Even if you don't agree with Barack don't go that route. That type of behavior is and disrespectful to anyone, but because of the struggle that blacks have gone through in America it shouldn't even be a thought to do something like that to another black man.

On a positive note, here is a story of "Rednecks for Obama", by The One of the allhiphop.com staff. I must say I am glad to see this type of support because it shows how far we have come in some areas, also showing that identity politics are not as powerful as they have once been, and unlike the aforementioned Blacks Against Obama its a good thing.

In more identity politics a 2005 "documentary" with the following disclaimer has been curiously re-released:

'In the beginning of our film, we say `most Muslims are peaceful.' We are only speaking about a minority that is estimated to be 10 to 15 percent of Muslims,'' said spokesman Gregory Ross. ``We feel there is no greater threat to America right now than radical Islam.''


Obsession
the movie allegedly catalogs radical Islam's hellbent war on the West. I will not say any more than that I hope this doesn't catch any steam in any avenue of American life, because it is fear-mongering garbage that deserves the worst kind of censorship. What an amazing double-standard by the way... free speech is bad when things are said anti-America, but when they are anti-reason, diversity, understanding, etc its quite ok. Sheesh!

Another interesting development is this huge financial crisis hitting the American market. Something like $700 billion dollars of taxpayer money is gonna be used to fix this problem in the in the banking, stock and other financial outlet's realm. This problem is caused by rich people but the implications of this spread all the way down to poor people... or at least thats what they are telling us. Private pensions (hmmm what about that privatization of social security), value of currency, home mortgages, etc are at risk here but 25% of my check is going to fix this problem.

I heard a great quote Friday on the CNN Situation room from the Cafferty file where one viewer asked "why is it that we socialize losses and privatize profits?" As much as I believe we need to bail out the industry during this crisis I get the point of what the guy was saying. Free market capitalism is bad because the profits never trickle down and when they do it does exactly what it is supposed to... trickle. I say that because whenever anything of that nature is addressed the term trickle down is used when clearly the words we should use need to be flow, spread, rain, flood etc... but as it stands now rich get richer and the poor get poorer. To say this as "real" as possible, "the rich man needs to come up off that money!"

Salute (Oh! Disclaimer: I don't dislike rich people, and if you are offended just remember you probably aren't rich. Rich means you have enough money to not care about stuff that Wesley writes.)

Monday, September 15, 2008

Just a little post :)

Life is pretty cool right now. I am still catching up from missing the first week or so, and on top of that carrying on regular life. I get to play watchdog today and our edit board is grilling UK's president Lee T. Todd today. I think I'm going to take it easy... Ha. Anyways, it's Tuesday which makes me think of music. So here you go:

First, Kanye has a new version of Love Lockdown! It has been mastered and is now on point.

Next up, ATM(Cory Gunz, Smoke DZA, Numbers) ft. Mickey Factz - Swagger Like Us . Mickey Factz, Cory Gunz and two random dudes rap over the Swagger Like Us beat and its a decent effort. Now I normally don't do in depth commenting but here's what I got. Mickey Factz is quickly becoming one of my favorite people to listen to, simply cause he gets it. He isn't on Wikipedia, most people don't know who he is... and when he gets on a track he definitely let's you know he is above and beyond what you normally hear. The second guy used the auto-tune and I didn't even mind it. Actually his verse was pretty hot, but I can't say that he gets it 'cause I have no idea who he is just like the last guy on the track. Cory Gunz did a good job of showing why the vocoder needs to be destroyed and why the auto-tune only should be used by no one.


Rick Ross also jumped on Swagger Like Us. I guess its the new A Millie. Ricky Ross the rent-a-cop really did a nice job on this track, better than most can. Still, I am hoping that Fabolous destroys that track here soon, but even more so that when Joe Budden releases his next mixtape (where he will finally go back to jackin' beats) he will get on beats like this and show people how much better he is than 99% of the game.

Speaking of Tuesday, Royce 5'9 has a new mixtape. Royce's intro on his first album was called It's Tuesday and that track/album was sick. His new mixtape, "The Bar Exam 2", just popped out and I will stake my rep on its hotness.

Below is the Cool Kids new video Delivery Man. Last year they did that song Black Mags, and they definitely have a good sound.


Cool Kids Delivery Man

Jadakiss is about to drop a new album... so he can call himself top 5 dead or a live off three LP's. The first single is called By My Side and it features my least favorite Neyo.

Finally, I will link you to the best mixtape of the year There is No Competition by Fabolous. If only he were consistent and spit as hard as he does on mixtapes when he makes albums :(

Just because this was all music I may post another one today, if not....

Salute

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Officially a fan of an 0-2 team

The Seahawks are now 0-2 which sucks. The sad thing is once they get healthy, they will probably win the division... it's that bad in the NFC West. I will just be glad when we can get a play in the offense that goes for over 20 yards in the playbook. If you don't believe me watch the Hawks play--quite ugly.


Since a lot of people aren't political I'll be a little light today. Here's some good humorous political commentary that anybody can enjoy from Jon Stewart, the video below characterizes the flipity floppity floop nature of the Republican Party these days.




Here is also a story of the McCain marriage that you probably don't know about. CNN did a report on this when they exposed the "real" John McCain and Barack Obama during a special back in August. John McCain was a jerk based on that CNN report. Basically this story exposed that he was dealing with some "issues" and his ex-wife had to deal with all of his antics.

From this report he is an inhumane scumbag, to say that lightly. Thanks to Tarik Pain for finding this. I don't think it is morally acceptable for someone to put another person through that situation especially knowing she has an unconditional love that will not tear you down. Drawing from a similar situation, former President Clinton was scum for extramarital affairs that occurred while he was in office. Right now, we know about extremely dirty misdealings and have the opportunity to prevent such a man going into office. I vividly remember the attacks President Clinton's character took while the sex scandal went on... but I doubt there will be similar actions taken.

In music stuff F-150 face Curtis Jackson bka 50 Cent dissed Kanye, video below. I am by no means a Kanye fan but this is just lame. The fact that people still 50 is a sign the world is coming to an end. Really we need to get it together America.


Ramadan is going well and I am developing the spiritual connection that is essential to growth and development during such a time.

OH! And the San Diego Chargers lost a game today because of a rule... I am thinking we should make sports rule books like the constitution or the Bible and interpret them as living documents. Ed Hochuli (Mr. Man of sports referees) knew he blew the call but because of the rulebook he couldn't make it right. Now the Denver Broncos are 2-0 and the San Diego Chargers are 0-2. What did we learn today? Politics are screwed, music is screwed and sports is screwed... good luck out there in this cold, cold world!

Salute

Friday, September 12, 2008

Saturdays and Sundays are gonna suck for a while

I am going to find solace in the fact that "Montlake" Jake Locker will be in Seattle for two more years and Mike Holmgren is retiring... but still it is going to really suck getting thru this football season. I won't even address October--when basketball starts and I have to start being a fan of a new team.

Hurricane Ike hit Texas and pretty hard it sounds like. There aren't official damage numbers or death tolls, but I am sure there will be a significant amout of damage and a far higher number of deaths than should be. For whatever reason some people did not heed the warnings and decided they would just chill. Yesterday, I saw footage on CNN of some guys walking with their dog right up where the water was surging over barriers... bleepin' stupid.

Gas prices rose dramatically, as there are a great deal of the country's oil refineries are located in Texas. Gas has risen 6 cents nationally, I think about 20 cents in Kentucky and certain areas in Texas don't have gas at all. I wouldn't be surprised if gas stays a few cents higher after all of this is resolved. That's what they do.

I would say this is further proof that we need to find something else to do besides drill for oil and build pipelines. The fact that we are having exponential increases in price of gas because of a seasonal natural disaster is even more proof. A pipeline from Alaska and offshore drilling aren't solving this problem either. You cant completely get rid of oil dependency, but you can definitely become less dependent.

For those who are not as cynical as I am, here's a little story about the U.S. Interior Department in relation to oil companies.
It is pretty lengthy, but definitely worth the read. We have so many problems in this country that need exposure... this is a really big step.

Since I took the semester off in Fall '05 I have been more up on what goes on in national news. From that point I have heard quarter after quarter of record profits by the oil companies as prices rose and rose. This article alleges that there were improper benefits, not collecting federal royalties, drug usage, sexual impropriety, and many other ethical practices and actions. This is just plain sickening considering the American people are feeling the brunt of said decisions... and those making the decisions and enforcing rules can't keep their pants on, their noses clean or their minds right.

Back to sports, I didn't think Ty Willingham was on the hot seat going into the season, but considering the field goal attempt before the half with 1 second on the clock, I think he just put himself in that seat. You're down 34 and you need to score points, you gotta go for the TD. The kicker missed the field goal, so it's easy to criticize the decision, but if you're down at that point, you go big or go home.

I feel really bad for this Husky team because the schedule has been tough, facing three top 25 teams in the first three games of the year. Not only that, but the team isn't getting any breaks going back to last year. I keep waiting for them to turn the corner and get back to that prominence that I grew up accustomed to, but it just isn't working. Last year they lost a lot of close games to a lot of good teams and many fans figured this year things would yield a few more wins, but it hasn't worked out that way.

It will go a long way when they get their act together and gain that confidence and swagger that you see from winning teams, but until then Jake Locker & Co. are really struggling with being a young, inexperienced, not good team. Jake Locker is capable of turning in a Herculean effort that will inspire his team to glory and I feel that effort coming very soon. The team WILL be galvanized by these experiences, mark my words!

I still have hope for the Huskies, like I do the country which is in the midst of being dealt a lot of bad breaks, especially politically. If more of the injustices and misdealings are exposed the United States can turn it around. Go Huskies! And Go USA! After November 4th you'll get your leader that will deliver the Herculean effort.

Salute

Done for the week

This is the third update for the week... I am now therefore done with you people and this blog LOL. Contractually, I guess that's true, but I am sure this weekend I will want to write something about something.

School sucks and not because it's school, but because it takes up so much time. If I could barely get paid and run around and try to fix stuff on campus, I guarantee I would be a much more likable person--and I wouldn't have to make myself blog three posts a week as they would just naturally flow.

Shifting to actual stuff of real quantifiable value Reuters.com ranked the city with the best looking people and Miami came out on top.

Not that it's a bad thing to be good looking (I do it so well LOL), but if you read on further Seattle was ranked #1 for having the most intelligent locals. Again proving that there is more to life than being really, really, ridiculously, good looking. I would much rather go to Seattle than Miami anyways.

My new second city Portland, Oregon was voted the cleanest city in the U.S. another accolade I am proud to claim for my people (Pacific Northwest). Having had the opportunity to visit a lot of places in the States, I think cleanliness is one of the better titles to hold as well... anybody can be good looking, but it takes good home training, discipline, and near obsessive compulsiveness to truly be clean.



If the Republicans have their way, this will be their Vice President. I know I am biased, but what if Barack were to not know what the Billy J. Clinton economic plan entailed. Not only would he be an idiot, but he would be directly slapping in the face surrogates who were better prepared to run the country, even though it was Hillary and not Bill running for the Democratic Party's nomination.

Plain and simple, the Democratic Ticket is better than the Republican ticket. Luckily there will be substantive debates and interviews forthcoming to expose these truths... that way when Barack doesn't get elected there will be mass outrage for the injustice done by an uninformed and extremely -ist society. What I mean by that is we have so many societal problems that end in is racist, classist, prejudicedist and other ists in the most negative sense.

Fortunately, I don't believe there is any way Mr. Obama can lose and I won't have to experience the letdown of another stolen election like we have endured the last two elections. Just imagine if one of them had of been won by the other side... especially if it was the first one...

Salute

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Day 2 reflection and socialization

I am not going to go day by day for this whole experience, but day two was rough. I didn't eat until I broke fast at 7:56 pm which was broken by a small cup of pineapples and a bag of melon rings candy. I ran around all day, gave plasma, worked, class, and meetings... so I am wiped out. I'll probably run tomorrow morning to get that going. My friend Zahra said that after the first week it gets a lot easier--Let's hope.

Salute to all my readers. I think I have now heard close to 100 people either comment, mention, allude to, or talk about my blog, I am humbled. Please, start giving suggestions. I like to learn and I like challenges, so I would love to talk about something you all like.

I had a conversation with a friend who has moved on and gone to law school before I went to work today, and it was welcome. I also have had the chance to talk to a few friends I never get to talk to and spend more time just being a student in the social aspect, another welcome experience.

For those who don't know (Baby Barkley) the beard is gone and has been almost a week now. I am back to being really really ridiculously good looking so ladies throw your bids in. Just know I am extremely picky and judgmental and there's no way on earth I'll like you... that's because nobody can be perfect except for my friend Miss Perfection, whom I had the privilege of speaking to yesterday.

Today's politics touches on the McCain side trying to make something completely harmless stick to the Barackster. "You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still going to stink after eight years."

That's the full quote and then the hyperlinked story, which has been the subject of today's news cycle. I must say if its one thing the GOP is good at it is distraction. Furthermore, the media is really helping them with their agenda. It seems less and less liberal every day... that is if it were ever liberal. Obama should have been smarter, knowing that attacks would come hard and fast for such a remark, but geez let's stop turning things upside down for no reason. McCain actually used the same phrase in reference to Hillary but does anybody remember that? Thought not.

Also take a look at one Republicans look at the current election. This is not to be partisan or to cause embarrassment, but rather to allow you to see on what a college student bases their McCain vote.

Bed time!

Salute