Saturday, December 19, 2015

Be Merry!!!

Talk about coincidence...
Two years ago I shared a story about leaving my keys in a taxi and a couple who I did not know saw me panicking as the taxi drove away and unbeknownst to me and not knowing me or what I left in the taxi, chased the driver down, retrieved my keys and somehow miraculously found me in the lobby of my building stressing about what I was going to do. They were beyond nice and went beyond the call of duty for me, a total stranger. I was so thankful. They would not let me do anything to repay them for their good deed...
Fast forward a month or so ago I parked my car in the wrong spot where I live and after two days of waiting for me to move my car, the complex finally had it towed. I was relieved it cost me only $136 and that I finally had cause to drive it when I did for with every passing day the bill would have been mounting. It could have cost me a helluva' lot more. I left a thoughtful note of apology on the windshield of the inconvenienced driver.
The space I parked in was only four spaces from where I should have parked. What was I thinking? Who knows??? Anyway, I have been hopeful to physically see the person to really apologize. Parking in Harlem is a bear so I know the inconvenience I caused them. Well lo and behold, finally last night we arrived home at the same time. Can you believe it? It is that same couple! What are the chances of that? There are six high rise buildings with 26 floors each where I live. You can live here and literally never see or meet your neighbors.
The husband recognized me right away as I approached his vehicle. He smiled and said Miss Helen! While I would have never recognized him, my recall for names and faces stinks!, when he said that I knew instantly who he was! AMAZING!!! We laughed and caught up on what has happened in the last year or so, I met his children and was hit instantly with how I will repay he and his wife for being so kind when I truly needed an angel. I will go to Kids R Us and get a nice gift card so that they may get something extra to put under the tree for the children.
Life is something and the world is so small. I was so tickled by my chance meeting. Just wanted to share it with you all too!
Tis' the Season.. Be Jolly, Be Merry, Be Good to others and Always thankful when others are good to you!
Be a Blessing! Receive a Blessing! It's called Karma.
Merry Christmas Folks!


Saturday, December 12, 2015

When Justice Is Poetic...

Incredibly, mainstream media virtually ignored coverage of a trial involving an Oklahoma City police officer charged with 36 counts of sexual violations committed against 13 Black women while "upholding" the law and in the course of performing his duties as a police officer. No thanks to pressures from the press, women's groups or others who should have been outraged by these atrocious acts of gross misconduct and abuse of police authority, ultimately he was found guilty of 18 of the charges brought against him on his 29th birthday. When Justice is Poetic...   
 
Excerpts from The Daily Mail:


All of his accusers are black. He preyed on women who had trouble with the law, society's most vulnerable — juveniles, drug addicts, and women in custody or with a criminal history, thinking their word would not stand up against his as society tends not to believe black women or value them as other women. He became more brazen with each attack.

'He just picked the wrong lady to stop that night,' said  Ligons, whose complaint triggered the investigationLigons, a grandmother and daycare worker in her 50's, was pulled over while driving home from a night with friends. She said she knew she had done nothing wrong when Holtzclaw assaulted her. 'He did things to me that I didn't think a police officer would do,' 'I was out there alone and helpless, didn't know what to do. 'All I could think of was he was going to shoot me, he was going to kill me. 'I kept pleading, 'Don't make me do this, sir. Are you going to shoot me?'' 'I was so afraid, so helpless.'

Ligons was different from other victims in that she did not have any outstanding warrants or convictions against her. It is her complaint that triggered the investigation leading to charges against the serial rapist cop who victimized 13 women as an Oklahoma City Police officer. He picked the wrong lady to stop that night, 'I wanted to make sure this wouldn't happen again, no way, no how.' Ligons will sue the city for civil damages.

Victim Shardarion Hill said she went into survival mode with Holtzclaw and was forced into doing 'what the man with the badge and gun wanted'.

One woman testified in orange scrubs and handcuffs, because she had been jailed on drug charges hours before appearing in court, but the jury still convicted Holtzclaw of forcible oral sodomy in her case. That woman said he followed her into her bedroom and raped her, telling her, 'This is better than county jail.'

The youngest victim, a 17-year-old girl, was the last to testify. She said Holtzclaw picked her up as she walked home one night in June 2014, and then walked her to the porch, where he told her he had to search her. She said he grabbed her breasts, then pulled down her pink shorts and raped her. Her DNA was found on his uniform trousers. The jury convicted Holtzclaw of first-degree rape, second-degree rape and sexual battery in the girl's case.

The case was heard by an all-white jury. Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said he had sought a 'good cross-section of our community,' but defense attorneys had eliminated every potential black juror.

During trial the defense attacked the credibility of the women who testified against Holtzclaw, saying they were dishonest. He sought to use the criminal backgrounds of some of the victims to cast doubt on their testimony. He questioned several women at length about whether they were high at the time, and noted that most didn't come forward until investigators identified them

The strategy failed. Poetically, on his 29th birthday, Holtzclaw was found guilty of 18 of the 36 charges against him and faces 263 years behind bars. Defense attorney declined to comment...


Holtzclaw, 29, of Oklahoma City has been found guilty of sexually attacking at least 13 black women in the neighborhood he patrolled. He broke down in tears as the verdict was read out


Wednesday, December 9, 2015

It's NOT Entertainment Folks!

Image result for trump hitlerGood for Huffington Post for taking a stand regarding donald trump making a national buffoon of himself and international fools of the rest of us in his quest to suggest that he can actually preside over our country. I did not realize that they had stopped covering trump under the political section of their on-line news feed but had appropriately moved coverage of his “campaign” to the entertainment section. I get it…

Huff Post has now decided however that the buffoon is no longer even entertaining as he jeopardizes US national security with his latest over the top, factually void, hate filled venom now being spewed at the Muslim community over both domestic and international airwaves. Take him serious or not folks, to the rest of the world he is perceived as a viable American candidate for what many regard the “highest office in the land”, President of the United States of America, with impressive poll numbers no less that presumably speak to the mood of the country.

Like it or not, we, the sane American people, are perceived as supportive of or in agreement with the hurtful things this rich and otherwise previously impressive American presidential candidate says or does.  That we gasp in horror, shake our head in disbelief, raise our eyebrows and look wide eyed or side eyed at one another when he speaks, or that we cringe at the very sight of him on our television screen and silently wish that he would just go away goes unnoticed by the outside world. Our silence renders us to the outside world, indifferent or supportive of the havoc and chaos he is creating all around us. Our media’s incessant coverage of his antics in their insatiable pursuit of ratings, from news outlets to hosting Saturday Night Live, fuels this notion that we are supportive or indifferent. By association with trump, we are deemed guilty of his ignorance and hatred toward all people not White and not male, he has insulted all other groups and yet we seem to keep propping him up.  Accordingly we will not be spared when the stuff inevitably hits the fan!

Huffington Post President and Editor in Chief, Arianna Huffington, in her feminine wisdom and courage, has determined that trump’s spew is inciting and dangerous. Her news source has categorized his rhetoric taunting to buffoons of another sort, those extremists who discredit the Muslim religion with acts of terror and violence aimed at those they determine enemies for whatever reason that seems logical only to them. Their aim will not be solely exacted upon donald trump who by the way has around the clock security protection, but at the rest of us as well.  The Huff Post considers trump a threat to national security and rightfully so. They join in Dana Millbank’s assessment in the Washington Post, to call a spade a spade, wherein he declared trump a racist and a bigot! Entertaining however, he is not! 


Going forward, Huff Post reporting will include documented support of just how crazy, xenophobic, vile, racist, unintelligent and dangerous trump and his rhetoric are. Good for Huff Post! Now does mainstream media have the chutzpah to follow suit? This move represents a major a shift in American journalism. It is not the AP or whatever national body it is that combs the news and feeds us the same ole’ lines with the same ole’ slant, no matter the source. The internet has changed all that and now the public can decide for itself what is newsworthy, what version of the story we want to hear and how we want to hear it. We can demand fair, equal, uncensored, unfiltered, non-racist and unbiased reporting. This is long overdue…


Again, hats off to Huff Post! This is a good and responsible decision. I hope other news outlets will follow suit. Just stop giving him coverage…  Incredible that a man so rich in wealth and material goods can be so bankrupt in every other way. I hope Americans will boycott all things trump. I know I will…  



"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." 
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Speak On Mrs. Curry, Speak On!!!

It appears that some feathers have been ruffled by comments made by Ayesha Curry regarding how some women dress. Well, I don't find fault with what she said. It is her opinion and she has every right to express it. If women who choose to dress otherwise feel offended, they must probe that for themselves. She said nothing offensive and the way some women dress is tasteless, seemingly inspired by the shock factor to get attention and it should be examined by other women, not men, magazines or fashion companies for obvious reasons...
It is a conversation to be had between women and for the record, not only feminists speak for women and it is WRONG for them to try to shut down or discredit women who don't subscribe to their way of thinking, their dialogue, women who choose to walk a different path. Where was the voice of feminists when a magazine chose to discredit the value and achievements of women by naming Jenner Woman of the Year? Where is the feminist voice in support of the 13 women who are essentially on trial in Oklahoma for being raped by a cop? Where is the feminist voice when working Mothers are sent to prison for daring to achieve a better life and education for their children and send them to schools in better districts? Where is the feminist voice on matters that matter? Oops, I digress...
How crazy is it to accuse a woman who prefers to dress tastefully of "slut shaming" those who choose to dress provocatively? How crazy is that when the line has certainly been blurred? I often joke that the johns', and I imagine the cops too, must get confused sometimes on who is actually soliciting and how many of us have not looked side eyed at the woman in the office (and probably even church) who is actually dressed for the night club? Come on now Ladies since this is our conversation, let's at least be truthful with ourselves. Everyone has a right to dress how she wishes. Everyone has a right to express an opinion about it and we don't all have to agree. It's OK... IJS...
Good for Ayesha! Keep talkin' Girl!!