My Mind has been Occupied

I've been consumed. My time my thoughts are focused on one thing.... The Movement! For those who have been living under a rock the Occupy movement is full throttle. As people have begin to notice Wall street is not the only place being occupied. On October 15 there were 1500 occupations worldwide! All of these occupations go under the umbrella of Occupy Together. This includes the Occupy Colleges Movement. Some people think that each group is asking for something different, they aren't, we are standing in solidarity with each other. Each protest is in union with the others.

So why are they out there? Well you can always read the declaration but let me give the brief and to the point version. We want the government to remember that being fair isn't being nice, being fair is their job. If you want to talk about specifics I would love to discuss them... But that's it in a nutshell. I think most Americans would say that is reasonable to ask of our government. That brings me to the other main point remember that our government is supposed to work for the people not the entities, not just the elite, not for themselves. I think Americans have forgotten that. We have made the government this big unreachable overwhelming thing. When it should be as tangible as a walk to the local politician's office.

The ows'ers get a bad rap from the media, as many have jumped to say, they are lazy people looking for handouts, in actuality they are students like myself who are going to graduate in a disgusting amount of debt just to not have a job to help pay it off. They are people who were laid off from banks and companies that got bail outs from the government. They are also people who are working double the amount of middle America (whatever that is) but still cannot make ends meet. They are people losing their homes because greedy banks gave out loans they knew the person couldn't afford.

*Note why is it when people ask for help it's a handout when banks asks for help it's... an investment?  necessary? to protect the world as we know it?

So I'm up at 12am writing about this because as I said it's consumed me. We are on the brink of making history. Wheels are finally turning. People are starting to think about the nation we have become. As I've said before if you aren't part of the movement, you just need more time.

For more info:

Occupy Together
OWS

New Direction

So I'm reading this book for my ga ” Raising Your Spirited Child”. In reading it today I realized I was an extrovert. To those that know me well that statement probably got a ”duh” or ” seriously”, but I never saw myself as an extrovert because for the most part I'm not very outgoing, I'm shy upon meeting new people and keep personal stuff to myself. I thought I was introvert with an extrovert personality.

Point of all this? I also learned as an extrovert I need to share my experiences...which I do...the author explained that talking and communicating is how extroverts get their energy. Which is why I've decided to chronicalize (copyright...lol) my graduate year. I want to talk about it and darn it...I will! I think this will help me stay sane and be fun especially for the future to look back on. Still not sure if this is for me or for others...I guess time will tell.

Shall we start with the awesome labor day weekend I spent with my family.I have definitely gotten old because by Monday I was exhausted. But my motivation was the fact that this was probably the last time I would have any sort of fun for a year...lol

Went to j'ouvert for the first time. For those who do not know labor day weekend for Caribbeans is a big party... Brooklyn becomes one big party and you just hop from one to the other. J'ouvert is the pre-parade parade starts around 4am and different steel pan bands perform on floats...it was the best part of the weekend dancing in the street with each float's different style. Everyone was dancing, laughing, drinking and making sure the next person was having more fun than themselves. The best part of the weekend is this community that  is created out of thin air and disintegrates by Tuesday morning. Aside from the people that were injured and killed, which is a lot more than it should ever be, its a time of worry free fun cross generationally, across races,  and across beliefs.

Tuesday was to recoup and back to business on Wednesday. The first day of the end of my youth.

Born Again...Politician

"Why do born-again people so often make you wish they'd never been born the first time?"
- Katherine Whitehorn

Newt Gingrich who has not been in politics since 1999, has returned with presidency on his heart. Now, the time he has spent away does not disqualify him in my book, however, along with his views, I also don't care for his hypocrisy. Many of my peers might not remember him at his prime, when he led the Republican takeover of the house or better yet when he led the masses to crucify former President Clinton after lying about his extramarital affair (I am sure we remember that, but Gingrich, not so sure). Well, turned out that Gingrich himself was involved in a 6year affair with a staff member while being married to his second wife at the same time as the crusades against Clinton were being held.

I'll be honest, I used to think - what does the mans private life have to do with his leadership ability? I have matured and it means a lot. - Sorry to use this connection but when pop stars beat up girlfriends and throw chairs into windows or come in and out of rehab it makes it hard to ignore all that and just focus on their music. Their actions outside of photo shoots, rehersals and albums seeps into our opinion of their music, their movie, their t.v show. Clinton, I'm sure to the many people who believed in him, betrayed their trust. It was like learning your father had been having an affair for years. You start to wonder how could that person have done this? Didn't they think of me and want to stop? Then there is the issue of their ability to make sound decisions. I mean if you can't say no to sex, then how the heck can you say no to screwed up policy? We no longer trust their judgement, kinda important in a leader. So what happens in the bedroom affects the public, and if you can't handle it don't run for president, don't strive for a music career, don't become a movie star.

So, back to Gingrich, leader of the "moral" party. Since him leaving from speaker of the house in 1999 he has gotten married to his then mistress, and has converted, and is now a Roman Catholic. I believe those are the changes he's pushing to the American public. Now I don't want it to seem like Gingrich has been living isolated in a farm somewhere...he is very involved in multiple initiatives and continues to offer his opinion and advice to the GOP on a public spectrum. So he is a new man as he presents himself and he believes thoroughly that all major leaders must step back before they can re-enter their domain (maybe in the future for Aristide in Haiti). Although not completely extracted he took a step back and is returning to politics on a way larger scale.

So are we going to hang over his head his infidelity or his hypocrisy? His private life and history is a bit...shady to say the least, but I won't use that as an argument against him entering the white house, although that is a pretty big one for me. I am just encouraging intelligent arguments not gossip. Lets tackle his ideas of replacing the importance of multiculturalism with patriotism in education; cutting more taxes (which is a large reason we are in the financial pickle we are in); privatizing medical care etc... lets not be like the birthers, lets stick to issues...

This Birther ish

This has been really annoying me... of all the things going on in the world, specifically in this country poverty, hunger, unemployment, gas prices, global warming etc. the GOP wants to take a stand on President Barack Obama's birth certificate. Ok, it is not all of them, but a very vocal part of them...especially their new found leader Donald Trump. I guess all those buildings he's built, and t.v shows he's hosted does make him an expert in the field of identity fraud. Chris Matthews from MSNBC Hardball on the April 18th show and Sam Stein on Morning Joe March 31 have given us great insight on the 50 year old plot set in place to get a non-citizen to become president of the United States, according to Trump. Trump, who when speaking to Bill O'Reilly on the O'Reilly Factor on March 30, went as far to questioning the intentions of the birth announcement made the day Obama was born. Stating that due to their poverty (referring to the presidents parents) why would they announce their child's birth, furthermore claiming he has never seen a birth announcement. Even O'Reilly had to comment on how absurd that is.

Today the President has elected to release his birth certificate to finally end this birther talk. I understand that he is the president and he cannot be spiteful and purposely withhold the certificate but the rebel in me is screaming "Let them say what they want! This is a ridiculous argument, don't even humor them!" Especially since this will not be the end, they (the birthers) are going to question the validity of the certificate. Trump has already created a forged certificate to show how "easy" it is to do...there will always be something...

I asked myself "self, why are they making such a big deal out of this?" and even though I knew the answer a Google search really answered that question clear-cut. I googled birther to find the origin of the term and one of the results was a Yahoo Answer question that read "is the term birther just a prettier name for racist?" My answer would be definitely. No one questioned George Bushes history (although we should have being he has a checkered past). What was the difference between the two?Ok there were many difference but one seems to stand out the most.

Now a days it is unacceptable to overtly claim to be a racist but being a birther means "you are concerned with the legitimacy of the president" but it is time we push away all this birther nonsense and call them what they are, desperate racist. Sadly polls show many Americans are actually questioning the legitimacy of the president (without saying, majority are Republican). Is that all it takes America, a badly combed celebrity to ask a rdiciculous question, support it with ludicrous "proof" and go on lots of tv shows and speeches to make logical realistic Americans into mindless irrational followers?

If this is what the GOP is running on for the 2012 elections and if the American people think this is enough...then we have a major problem

Phew

It has been terribly long since I have written in here...the first and only time...once I got my facebook back I kind of chucked this blog into the trunk. I have been faithfully checking my fb 20+ times a day since the traumatizing strike. Now I am having a great summer and have decided I am recording my summer and senior year via blog...So what have I missed already?

I found this great bar that I shall not name me and my cousins Bwian and Mo had a great time!!! we predict spending muchos muchos time there. Mo harassed the dj all night until he let her mess with his equipment...bad move...fortunately for him, he regained control of his turn table before unrepairable (or at least very expensive) damage was done. Bwian, Mo and I danced up and down the bar to what was a mix of reggae/techno (surprisingly entertaining). After getting evil eyed by the bouncer aaalll night we stumbled out of there and into a graduation/sweet 16/after prom party (who knows). Mo sneaked under the bouncers arm went in and began dancing with the minors. After a minute of shakin' what her mother gave her she came out. We had the most drunken conversation on the bus and on the walk home. Def more to come!!

My FB Strike

So since I've been back from Costa Rica I have checked my fb @ least 50 times a day. I checked it on my phone everytime I thought about fb. I refreshed the page 20 times a minute (yes that leaves 3 secs btwn each time) always expecting something new, but of course there wasn't. So I decided I will not go on fb for the weekend because it was becoming a sick addiction. I counted down all 48 hours...and it was ssssoooo unbearable. Brian and Tam tam checked my fb (not for me...if I swore I would) and Brian leaked info to me which made it so much worst. @ 12:05 am today I finally checked it and I had a lot of notifications but it didnt even matter. I was sooo unsatisfied...not to mention I had 2 papers to do and a test to study for and I spent the whole weekend counting down and waiting for the moment that I can go on my fb again....So I wasted my weekend, I could have been on fb...lol