DJ Black Adam's Blog!!

Obama's military budget cuts are necessary, but need to be SMARTER!

It is true, with wars winding down and a changing way we have to strategically look at the world, it is time for some hard core budget cuts for the US Military. The Obama Administration is doing that, and while I agree with the overall concept, the specifics need to be looked at. HERE IS A LINK TO THE STORY.

One of the main problems I have with what is being said so far is this: "The Army and Marine Corps are going to take the biggest hits," Krepinevich said. Both services grew in size to fight wars in Afghanistan and Iraq." Now while I agree a force reduction for both the ARMY and the MARINE CORPS is necessary, it is my contention that the United States Marine Corps needs to be funded for better equipment as with a smaller Army and Marine Corps, the mission of the Marine Expeditionary Forces will inevitabely be more necessary with the types of enemies we face now and will face in the future.

Cutting personel in the Army and Marines is one way to slash some expenses, but deep cuts need to be done to the Air Force and the Navy. These forces have become entitlement propgrams to defense contractors and they need to spend money smarter; while the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard need an increase in funding to prepare for the more streamlined offensives, rescue missions, police missions, etc. The missions of the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard will only increase if the military overall streamlines.

Michelle Bachmann and other GOP candidates suggest that "African American Children better off in SLAVERY days..."

Again the GOP never ceases to amaze me, of course people will suggest that this statement isn't racist (or part of a White Supremacist sociological worldview) but a statement of "fact". Let's look at this statement: "Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President."

Disingenous at best, tactless, reaching and ridicules in my opinion. Being fair, THIS IS THE LINK TO THE PLEDGE AS IT READS NOW So someone was smart enough to remove that statement, the question is, why was it there in the first place?

The GOP seems to always comment on issues in an African American community that for the  most part they do not interact with, so who are they talking too when they are speaking about issues likes this, "affirmative action", "Slavery", "racism", "urban poverty / entitlements". They are not talking to the greater African American community, so I can only assume they are talking too their base, and as such trying to fuel their sensibilites about race not the actual problems that they say they are "outlining" or identifing for the African American community.

Fact is, yes, pre marital sex and children being made out of wedloc is an issue for not just the African American community but the greater American community as well; however, to reference slavery was so over the top it just goes more to the reason that no matter how much I agree with many points of the GOP's platform, I cannot ever in good concisous be a part of the self described "Conservative / Rightwing" groups.

I'm just saying...

Chicago the Murder Capital? How can we change this sad reality?

Sunday, April 25th, 2010 at 8:00pm CST

The most recent death of a 2 year old child brings us to discuss what to do about the problems in Chicago and Urban communities like it across the country. Join author Richard Graves and Khalif Abdul Al-amin for an interfaith discussion on what is wrong and what to do to make things right! Call in at (347) 855-8971 or listen in.

Chicago the Murder Capital? How can we change this sad reality?.

From the Pirates Union local 307: "Stop calling the Somali pirates - "pirates"...please!!"

To: DJ Black Adam (former Marine)

From: Blackbeard the 5th, President Pirates Union Local 307

Good Morning DJ Black Adam:I am writing you today because of your service and dedication to naval traditions as a former Marine, and because you, unlike CNN, would publish my letter.Could you please get folks to stop calling the Somali pirates, "Pirates"?

Seriously, they have done a great disservice to our proud traditions. As my Great, Great, Great, Great, Grand pa used to say: "If ye see a British Warship, ya Go the OTHER way lad!"

I am speaking regarding this recent article from the AP: HERE.OK, come on, they fired on a US Warship?

Seriously THIS SHIP:

Fired on THIS SHIP?

Don't get me wrong, we Pirates love a fight, and I love a David and Goliath story as much as the next pirate, but come on?These Somali need to either A. Cease and Desist from calling themselves Pirates, OR, Join the Union and get proper training, access to pirate seminars, and of course their monthly subscription to "Arrrgghh" Magazine so they can represent properly.

Thank you in advance DJ Black Adam, for publishing my Letter.

Blackbeard the 5th, President, Local 307

Healthcare, Armaggeden, Socialism, etc., etc.

Wow, these topics have caused me to lose friends on the left and the right in recent days. Which is why I have a problem with the false dichotomy of "Left" and "Right" or "Liberal" and "Conservatives". To limit thought to two socio-economic extremes is inane in my observation and flies in the face of reality.

I have had my Christianity questioned, my loyalty and service to this nation questioned, because I blame both the GOP and the Democrats for whatever bad happens because of this new health care legislation, and would have to blame the Democrats alone if things actually go well.

I do blame the GOP MORE because had they done something about the systemic problems underlying in the health care industry when they had control over the executive and legislative branches of government we wouldn't be here right now, but as with BANKS and other FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPANIES, Health care FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPANIES have been allowed to run buckshot to the point that coupled with the current financial fiasco we have going, COVER has been provided for this particular money grab. I expect the CONSERVATIVE party to at least have had some better foresight.

I call it a money grab because I believe that the people who control the money in our country, aren't letting go of this cash cow (Health Care) at all now, if ever. There will be a few big HMO's that weather the storm like the Big Banks that are weathering the Financial Storm now. And whoever owns the stock of those corporations will win in the long run.

I have been called a socialist and a Marxist because I believe that we should have a degree of universal health coverage in our nation for our citizens.

To my conservative friends: "Please answer, are the UK, Canada, Germany or even Australia "Marxist / Soviet " because they have health care coverage for all their citizens? If they can have functioning democracies with such "socialistic" ideas like Universal Health Care, why can't we?" Looking forward to your thoughts.

RACE, Racism, White Privilege, Race Card, Health Insurance Reform, etc., etc.

My Christian and blog brother Neil wrote a post about the topic of RACE in the debate on Health Care and other policy issues regarding the Barack Administration, you can fid it here:

The following is an excerpt:

I am so tired of the race card being played every time someone disagrees with President Obama.  From now on I’ll just treat it as the pathetic concession speech that it is — i.e, “I have no arguments against your position, so I’ll call you a racist.  I win!”

It isn’t the color of his skin, it is the thickness, along with his awful ideas. 

Do you seriously think we’d be opposing a 100% black person who was pro-life, anti-socialism, etc.?  I wouldn’t care if the whole administration was non-white as long as they weren’t pro-abortion, pro-government takeover of one thing after another (health care, automotive, banking, etc.), and more.

Now I fully believe Neil is being sincere in his posting. I can understand his frustration.The following is my Response.

Neil:

You know Neil, I was going to ask you to do a joint article with me (a conversation of sorts) that we could post on both of our blogs to address this very issue. As a Black man, who is pretty conservative and a Christian, but having some Liberal views regarding governments role in the welfare of society (but who does not identify with the RIGHT or the LEFT because of a few sociological reasons) let me explain to you what the problem is.

I don’t think You or many of the people opposing President Barack Obama are racists personally, nor do I think Conservatives in general are any more or less “racist” than Liberals. However, I do think that there is an inherent collective sociological mentality of White privilege and superiority and by mutual implication Black resentment and inferiority that is part of the fabric of this Nation and to a greater extent the world.

This affects Black and White people and everything in between. As for our nation it is there simply because of how this nation was built, it is the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, Eugenics and other pseudo-science, Lynchings, public campaigns about the inherent distrustful nature of Blacks, fear campaigns about how Black men wanted to rape White women, the KKK, the Civil Rights movement, Affirmative Action, etc., etc.

Sure, things have gotten better than they were for my Father, my grandfather and especially my Great grandfather, but they are not as good as they could or need to be, simple as that.

White people in many cases see any mention of race as some sort of cop out or excuse making for a persons lack of talent or motivation, Black people see this response as proof of some White people’s insensitivity to actualities that Black people face often in our society. The truth I believe, is somewhere in between.

Because of the predicates regarding race that have been established in this country, there is a sociological reality we have because the president IS a Black Man. Mental imagery is there for WHITE and BLACK people (and everyone in between), some of that is hard coded. I myself often have to take a breath and clear my head before responding to something a White person, especially someone of the RIGHT has to say regarding this Black man who is now President of the United States (simply because the RIGHT has done very little to distance itself from militias, confederate flags or other imagery that invokes certain memories and ideas regarding the grand ole days when “black folks knew their place”).

For example, there are a few POLICY issues that I have a problem with that Barack has. But when the RIGHT started going there with the lunacy it currently is forwarding, acting like Barack Obama is the equivalent to Joseph Stalin, and all the other hyperbole, attacking The First Lady and in some cases the first daughters, I am inherently going to still disagree with his policies BUT not going to sit idly by while people attack this Black Man on a personal level.

Sure, some people called George Bush a Monkey, I believed that was wrong, but the SOCIOLOGICAL REALITY in the UNITED STATES is that if you call a Black Man a monkey, the imagery that is called up is a WHOLE 'NOTHER STORY. Whose fault is it that this is the reality? Eugenics for claiming that Blacks were the missing link between man and chimp? White people who perpetuated this type of foolishness for the past 450 years? Or Black people for being too “sensitive” or for buying into all that for the last 450 years and internalizing the whole thing too much? In all due actuality, IT DOESN’T MATTER whose fault it is, however we have to acknowledge that it is the REALITY we deal with.

The thing is Three fold:

1. Black folk need to be a little less sensitive to the sociological reality of race in America.

2. White folk need to be a little more sensitive to the sociological reality of race in America.

3. All Americans need to really start see each other as AMERICAN regardless of their ethnicity, religion and especially POLITICAL PERSUASION.

Remember when someone criticized GW, one was not "Patriotic” or “UN-American”? Same type of problem. I will add this, the Right often calls out the racism in the Left, I have seen this, but since the “RIGHT” has a sizable “Christian” demographic, I would suggest they deal with the plank they got going before pointing out the plank in the other side.

Basically, realisticly and forwardly deal with the race issues in your party, in a serious manner, and it would go along way. For example, I was a member of the Republican Party up until about three years ago. I joined the Republican party because a lot of their platform resonated with me. Further, When I was in the Marine Corps I had the privilege of meeting General Colin Powell. When I found out HE was a Republican, that sealed the deal. I still admire JC Watts, Condi Rice, John McCain, Jim Edgar, Richard Lugar, etc, heck, I actually used to like Michael Steele.

Even though I was not a big fan of Newt Gingrich, I understood and supported the need for Welfare reform, I am sure we shared “some” reasons, but overall I knew that Welfare reform was ONE of the things that needed to be changed for the Black Community to prosper, unfortunately the other things didn’t change much. Being in Cook County, if I ever ran for office I would have to run as a Republican on general principle as I am so frustrated with the corruption and racism of the Democratic party in Illinois.

When I say racism, I mean in how the African American community is dealt with there by a party they have loyalty to and get very little from, so I can't be a Democrat on GENERAL PRINCIPLE.

On GENERAL PRINCIPLE I also had to leave the Republican party and become an independent because of what I saw as an implicit head nod to parts of the country that didn’t seem to be to “Black folk” friendly. But what most irritated back in 2005 when the Republican run congress was comptemplating another “welfare reform” as I saw this fiscal mess fueled by corporate greed and individual irresponsibility forming, THAT WAS ALL I COULD TAKE. In any case Neil, I hope this sheds some light. Looking forward to the discussion.

"Unbelieving Believers" the PAPERBACK, now available! Support your local aspiring author!

O.K. everyone, my PAPERBACK VERSION IS NOW AVAILABLE! Check out the book people, give me some feedback!

It has come to my attention that some folks are having problems ordering my new release if they try to PayPal pay, if you are so inclined to want a copy of the Paperback, you can PayPal to my e-mail account [email protected], indicate “Book” and e-mail me your address to make sure it goes to where you want it to go. If you purchase this way, the price is $20.00 (15 for the book, 5 for shipping). Hopefully it will be on the shelves in the next few months, you can send a money order to: Richard Graves (Richard Graves Ministries in the memo section), P.O. Box 511, Flossmoor, IL 60422-0511 and it is available whenever I have seminars or speaking engagements (we have one coming up next month in Chicago). Hit me with your e-mail and I’ll keep you posted!

Understanding that times are rough these days, and this is still about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, the Holy Ghost gave me the words free of charge so if anybody doesn’t have the cash, e-mail me and I will send you the PDF free or if you are of the non online persuasion e-mail me your address with the subject matter “Free Copy” and I will send you a hard copy of the pdf for free. Blessings!

Only in CHICAGO….(Part 1)

 

Chicago, great city. Except if you want to do any entertainment related business. Case in point:

 

Only in CHICAGO Could you run this ad:

 

Need someone to transcribe interview footage for our house music documentary. We have about 20 hours of interview footage. This is a non for profit project, we cannot pay but you will receive full credit for your work.

And have someone have the nerve to respond with this:

 

You're kidding right?

20 hours of transcription for no pay? I don't care if it's a not for profit project, but doing 20 hours requires about 40-50 hours of someone's time to type it all out at a minimum of $1 per video minute.

So that's my bid: 20 hours of transcription at $1 per minute, for a total of $1200.

 

Mind you, we already had about 6 people reply and have already selected the gentlemen we are working with. I know I should have been less irritated, but I responded in typical DJ Black Adam fashion (as you all know, insolence cannot be tolerated):

 

Well _________, I wasn't kidding.

Fortunately, we have found a person who is kind enough (and smart enough) to donate his time for this particular project.

What I felt no need to add in that little ad of ours, was that we are also working on a for profit feature that pays very well, and that I don't forget people who extend us favors in the spirit of networking or who slight us for no intelligible reason.

In any case, Thanks for responding.

 

So there it is, the basic attitude in Chicago, and basically this is the attitude that killed the movement of House Music in Chicago, that is: No business sense, no professionalism and a habit of burning bridges that you don't know where they lead and for no real reason to burn!

 

Now don’t get me wrong people, if I saw someone asking for “free” labor and talent I might think they were joking too, but I wouldn’t be stupid enough to reply back and say that, I’d just move on to the next ad. The Chicago attitude however, is to respond, as if the person is professional, showing a total lack of professionalism in doing so... I'M JUST SAYING....

Pedophilia "IN ACTION" is a CRIME not a "Sexual Orientation" (or "H.R. 1913 does not protect pedophiles!")

I see there is some controversy regarding hate crimes legislation (again).

Some people are forwarding the intellectual fraud that somehow "pedophila" is considered a "sexual orientation" and protected under hate crimes laws. This comes from right wing idiots like Sean Hannitywho twist truths to create fictions to scare the unformed and feeble minded.

The problem it appears, is people need to know how LAWYERS TALK. Supposedly Rep. King out of the great state of Iowa wanted verbiage in HR 1913 to exclude pedophiles as a protected class and the Democrats voted his motion down. If this is in fact what happened, there is a legal reason why it happened.

If you exclude pedophilia as a “protected class in sexual orientation” it is to first presuppose that pedophilia IS a sexual orientation which you are choosing to exclude. Pedophilia is NOT a sexual orientation and thereby cannot be excluded as a sexual orientation PEDOPHILIA IS A CRIME not a SEXUAL ORIENTATION. Say it with me people: “PEDOPHILIA IS A CRIME not a SEXUAL ORIENTATION” to exclude it from being a protected sexual orientation would define this HEINOUS CRIME as a SEXUAL ORIENTATION. Do we follow along people? Or do I have to suggest the next TNT or USA Network Law and Order marathon to the Sean Hannity fan club so that we can all at least get an idea on how legal language works? Just saying... AMENDED to add: "Sexual Orientation has a FEDERAL DEFINITION you can find HEREWhich reads:

And I quote:

 

“Nothing in this section creates a cause of action or a right to bring an action, including an action based on discrimination due to sexual orientation. As used in this section, the term ‘sexual orientation’ means consensual homosexuality or heterosexuality. This subsection does not limit any existing cause of action or right to bring an action, including any action under the administrative Procedure Act or the All Writs Act [5 USCS §§ 551 et seq. or 28 USCS § 1651

 

Again: “the term ‘sexual orientation’ means consensual homosexuality or heterosexuality”

Operative word: “CONSENUSAL”, minors CANNOT consent

Just adding...

 

 

What REALLY needs to be done about pirates, Somalia and the Gulf of Aden...

The fact is, that as long as the Horn of Africa is ignored by the international community, and Somalia is allowed to be a government-less / lawless state, the problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden will continue. The question comes down to this, are private shipping companies going to have to hire private mercs as security? Will the Navy keep on saving people for the companies that are too cheap to hire private security? Or will Western governments listen to ole' Benjamin Franklin and realize "an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure" and deploy a multinational force to stabilize Somalia and its borders with Kenya and Ethiopia, simple as that.

Had we worked with the Islamic Courts Union as opposed to supporting the Ethiopian invasion, we might be in a better position over there. He who brings the schools and hospitals WINS. I will be the first to admit, the Islamic Courts Union can be heavy handed (to say the least), BUT, as we work with Muslims that are in my opinion "heavy handed" (and in some cases fighting against us before the get a paycheck by us as in Iraq) we could have worked with the Islamic Courts Union. AT LEAST we could have went in there under the guise of helping them establish order, and undercut them (yes I have no problem with duplicity in military operations) by providing the basic human services on the ground, thereby winning the hearts and minds of the people and thereby undermining the extremist recruiting base, as we helped install a moderate Muslim civilian authority in that country.

Just saying...