These fuckers kill me with the term "foreign policy experience". WTF does that mean!? First Obama takes a trip to the Middle East and Europe in order to gain "foreign policy experience". How is he able to say "Yes, I now have foreign policy experience" after this escapade? This, I thought, was one of the lowest qualifiers I've ever heard with relation to the word "experience". But of course the Republicanos must always outdo their counter fiesta the Democratas. So Palin, soon to be the first female President of the "United States Of Americans", is constantly "briefed" so that she's able to regurgitate answers to questions a person with "foreign policy experience"  would know. Did I miss the fucking memo!? Being briefed and being able to learn by rote qualifies as "experience".  Well I guess learning the lyrics to Biggie's 10 Crack commandments qualifies me as the Negro scarface.

For the record, this goes down in a résumé prefixed with the famous "Knowledge of".  Everyone knows this translates to "I don't really know what I should know about this, but wtf."

Background: I ordered a 1GB 200-PIN SO-DIMM 128MX64 DDR PC2700 Pb-FREE Upgrade for a Sony VAIO VGN-B100 from crucial.com on 2/28/2008. That same day at 11:11 PM I received an email from crucial.com informing me that my order had been completed.

"Your UPS Domestic P1 PM - NextDaySaver tracking number is 123456789012345679. Keep in mind that your tracking number will not work until the courier scans your package into their system. In most cases, this takes just one business day or less. If you receive an error message while trying to track your order, just try again later."

On 3/5/2008 the tracking info in the UPS site had a status of nbsp In "Transit" so I decided to contact Crucial.com about this.

Crucial live chat conversation on 3/5/2008

danZenie: yes
danZenie: I want to know why my order has been delayed 93031-666056
Alison : One moment, please, while I review your inquiry.
Alison : I am sorry but I show that your order never went through due to a credit card issue.
danZenie: WHAT!!!
danZenie: that cant be right!
danZenie: I got an email saying the oder is complete
Alison : I am sorry. It is usually just a matter of mis typing the numbers.
danZenie: i didnt type the numbers
danZenie: i copied and pasted
Alison : I am sorry, then you might want to contact your bank. I am not able to see the exact reason why it failed.
danZenie: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!
danZenie: I HAVE AN EMAIL FROM CRUCIL SAYING THE ORDER WAS COMPLETED
Alison : The order was cancelled due to a declined credit card.
danZenie: DO YOU WANT ME TO FORWARD THAT EMAIL TO YOU
danZenie: LISTEN ALISON
Alison : Does it just list a web order number or does it list a tracking number?
danZenie: I HAVE A TRACKING NUMBER
Alison : May I have it please?
danZenie: 123456789012345678
Alison : Thank you. One moment.

Today's political dialogue covers much more than promising a "chicken in every pot and a car in every garage". The Twin Towers collapse, whether undertaken by foreign or domestic agents, unveiled a new era of increasing uncertainty, where media hype/hysteria is complicit in the quest for mind control. Thus, in effect, "shock and awe" has become an expedient password.

Imagery is the United States' main export. Prior to computerized visual impressions and the earlier development of television, promoting fear had been one of Hollywood's basic functions. D.W. Griffith's 1915 "Birth of a Nation" - a KKK glorification film, established that trend. For While Griffith used his movie to vilify an essential part of the human family, Edgar Rice Burroughs released "Tarzan", as a way to ridicule and erase their historical greatness.

Subsequently, individuals would be seduced by sugary propaganda thru cinematic reels, or be shell-shocked at home, as was with "War of the Worlds", heard on Orson Welles' 1938 terrifying radio program.  Welles fictitious narrative prophesied an escalation in collective paranoia.  From WW II thru post-Hiroshima/Nagasaki, Elementary School Children were pictured hiding under their desks during atomic weapons attack drills. 

In 1933, movie posters showed "King Kong" perched atop Manhattan's Empire State Building. The 1976 Bicentennial sequel featured a relatively new World Trade Center. What stood out beyond obvious connotations, was a fascinating climax scene with planes approaching tall buildings.  ACTION - The giant (ape) is downed by aircraft - CUT.   "Hollywood has always been an irresistible prefabricated metaphor..." says Neal Gabler.   

Now, pretext in the aftermath of 9/11.  Leading actors of the so called "Free" world are busy undermining freedom by way of a melodious ringtone known as the "Patriot Act".  Free-dumb? Not.  Billie Holliday's "strange fruit" noose is a permanent reminder of the Middle Passage chain of terror leading up to our current scenario: Non-fictional "Debaters" in Jena's schoolyard, a bulging prison population, or one of Tiger's golf balls dangling on a rope.

Are visions of hope a contrived delusion?  Is hope an idealistic yearning, driven by human nature? Answers to these questions will not be found on a box office ticket stub.  However, fact is, because a non-white man and a woman are blazing an historical trail of inclusiveness, it raises hope above a hard to ignore groundswell.

There's one who is being judged by the content of his character, inspiring faith in the realization of King's dream. However, it remains to be seen, if change may be asking too much from a conditioned mind-set with deep-seated insecurities around privilege.

Hillary's undoing is to be found in South Carolina's racial sewage, since voters care less about Monica's past Oval Office inhalations. Furthermore, Bill's foot in mouth episode was enjoined by Barack's harshest barrelled crabs in Andy Young & Bob Johnson. Their supporting role included a very poor imitation of The Three Stooges. 

Our challenging times require a tapping into humanity's potential for greatness, minus regressive mudslinging. No wonder, masses of people who are seeking change, trip over each other at rallies and voting booths. Upon a ceremonial opening of the envelope, I heard a hopeful one announce, that "the opposite of abomination is Obama nation".

So this morning I turn on my laptop in order to install the MobileSync CD that came with my new LG Shine Cell, but as that’s running in the background I decide to checkout a newly configured image gallery on a proto type website I’m developing for a client. This client does dive tours around Panama, so they had quite a few underwater shots. As I get lost in the shots I start to think about how “We” (humans) throughout time have developed different means or technologies to get away from our “normal” dwellings or environment; whether we decide to become one with the fish, or one with the birds, or any other leisure pursuit that brings about a feeling of being free or liberated from the burdens of our artificial habitat. Neither a Zen nor innovative thought by the way, but it was my morning thought.

My Shine is loaded with some Nina Simone and a couple other hip hop pieces that I might not even queue up, but better safe than sorry. Seven minutes after pulling out of the house “Nina Simone – Feeling Good” starts playing and it takes my early morning thought to unexplainable levels of infinity.

Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom in the tree you know how I feel
…
Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don’t you know
Butterflies all having fun you know what I mean
…
Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel

All of a sudden this becomes the best song in the world. I’m not only “Feeling Good”, I’m also “Feeling Free”.

Not the kind of freedom usually attribute after the culmination of a master<->slave relationship. This is “True” freedom; flying freedom, swimming freedom, running freedom, blossoming freedom. This is freedom without caring. Nina personifies and forces immediate memory access to expressions of freedom throughout nature. All of a sudden I find myself driving way above the speed limit and screaming, a Jazz song, at the top of my lungs:

Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel

And at the end of it all:

Sleep in peace when day is done
That’s what I mean

No other song is played as this is repeated 10 or 15 times

First off I am aware the term Negro may be passé. However, it was the prevalent terminology of the day when W.E.B. Dubois conducted the research for his path-breaking social study: The Philadelphia Negro. The evolution of the term is important in its own regard and lends to the cause and effect premise of this essay.

“I didn’t raise you to be a nigger; so don’t act like one”, my father said to me in response to one of my many tirades he has witnessed over the years. I was complaining to him about a situation at work that seems to play over and over again regardless of the setting. I went on to tell him what I would like to have done to affect my retribution, hence his chastisement.

Whether an immigrant or descendant of Blacks brought directly to the U.S. during slavery; Black men in the U.S. have had their undue share of burden and responsibility to ensure their survival and the well being of their loved ones. My father is the strongest and bravest man I know – he is my superhero. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of all Black men. Like all other racial factions of our nation we have our good and our bad. In this writing I aim to draw correlation between the condition of Black men as a whole and what I deem are influential circumstances – purposefully imposed - which may ensure that prosperity for Blacks in the U.S. is an untenable aspiration for many.

Bear in mind this paper is not an assignment of blame; simply stated, I do not abide any notion where “the white man is holding us down”. However history tells us this has been the objective of many of our nations’ laws both past and present (1). I find it difficult to consider certain laws which have been enacted as having the best interests of Black men as a major deciding factor (2). Nevertheless if our ancestors survived being stacked upon one another in the hulls of wooden ships, then forced to work from “can’t see in the morning ‘til can’t see at night”; surviving contemporary American society should be the proverbial piece of cake. My aim is for the reader to develop or expand her understanding and empathy for Black men in contemporary American society. Also I desire to foster camaraderie, as we are all Americans. 

Every year for 28 days Black people, mainly in the U.S., get to celebrate Black History month. On this occasion Ras Bajah decided to send me one of those "Don't you forget it” Black history clips on YouTube. This one reminded of my visit to the MLK center in ATL. While the idea of the center is not for you to leave with overwhelming anger mixed with sadness, you just can't help it.

A conversation I once had with Mr. E-Double comes to mind. Basically we were going back and forth on how "others/many" are always saying that black people should "forget" about what we went through as salves, and many years after slavery was "abolished". Forget? How does one forget? How does one "get over that hump? The images on the clip aren't from way way way back, not even 50 years old. No one ever dares to ask the Jews to forget about the Holocaust. How dare they ask us to forget!? We must never forget!  Shake that loud off, but don't forget.

Ol’ Dirty Bastard

“Fuck Y’all”

Hip-Hop is more than just Rap music. Some people outside of the Hip-Hop community and culture may refer to this sound, one of only two musical art forms created in the U.S., as urban music. Hip-Hop is a culture born from the ostracism and disenfranchisement of Black youth dwelling in the inner-city of the Bronx, N.Y. This ignored and would-be forgotten group elevated the genre of Rap music to popular acceptance in main stream American culture and eventually the world. Once considered; noise, ghetto gibberish or a desperate and misaligned attempt at artistic creation, Hip-Hop is now a billion dollar industry.

I love Rap for many reasons. For me, the most important is its indignant independence and refusal to find justification for its existence. In this way, Rap music is akin to revolutionary suicide as written by H.P. Newton: “By surrendering my life to the revolution, I found eternal life.”

Another endearing quality of my beloved Rap is its foundation in Blackness. With this ingrained spirit comes resilience in the time of adversity and the ability to achieve prosperity in the most unusual course - setting this music aside from all others.

Lastly Rap music constantly evolves and for a song and artist to succeed, not only commercially but in the eyes of true Hip-Hop connoisseurs, both must be believable and unique.Ol’ Dirty Bastard was a Hip-Hop artist that embodied the essence of rap. In true Hip-Hop form he “didn’t give a fuck”. He lived how he wanted to as a man and did what he wanted as an artist. His song “Fuck Y’all” is a statement based on determination of will. The “I don’t care” attitude put to music is a staple of the Rap diet. This song captures that feeling.

The three years and two months I have been living in Utah has reminded me of how far Black folk have come in the U.S. and how much of our journey lies ahead. Despite the adversity we carry on and like Rap we remain. ODB, a former welfare recipient and drug addict, found success in Hip-Hop, making songs with artists like Mariah Carey and others. His songs also found their way to the charts and the dance floor in many popular and not so popular night clubs.

Ol’ Dirty and his song give me solace by reminding me never to compromise my ambition in an effort to be accepted; never allow others to determine my worth; and above all never find comfort in mediocrity and loath to stagnantly exist . There’s a saying that reads: “You laugh at me because I am different, but I laugh at you because you are all the same.” Unlike Utah’s social demography, ODB’s rap style was very unique at times never rhyming or even following the beat. Whenever I find myself drifting from my resolve I put on ODB’s song and sing along…”Fuck Y’all”!

In a nutshell the article basically taunts with the fact that Apple has a history of creating it owns playing field, dominating this playing field, and refusing to play in other playing fields. It then moves on to the author's "bad feeling" with regards to Safari on Win boxes, and this is basically the reason why I decided to post this rant.

Snippet:

"The insular Apple universe is a relatively gentle place, an Athenian utopia where Apple's occasional missteps are forgiven, all partake of the many blessings of citizenship, and everyone feels like they're part of an Apple-created golden age of lofty ideas and superior design.

But the Windows world isn't like that. It's a cold, unforgiving place where nothing is sacred, users turn like rabid wolves on any company that makes even the smallest error, and no prisoners are taken. Especially the Windows browser market."

The other day I came across this article form sprong, about the AMA wanting to recognize internet and video game addiction as a formal diagnostic disorder. To be honest, this surprised the fsck outta me, as I thought gaming was already accepted as "formal disorder". As a former "gamer" I've been labeling my self as a "recovering game addict" for many years now. From around-the-way game rooms to the arcade palaces of the old Times Squares, I was there. From waiting for school to be over, to saying "fsck it this is taking to long", I was there. WTF was a 12-13 year old doing in those Times Square arcades? Alone!! A recipe for disaster!

As I got older I found out that many of the around-the-way arcades were simply front-ends for crack dealers. I remember that day clearly; honestly I don't know how and why it took me so long to see the light. I guess the flashy lights and corny sounds had me in a daze. Buy some crack, get a lollypop. After a couple of "ass whoppins, and a NES, I decided to slow down (not stop) on the arcades. Not to mention I didn't really have that kind of money to be spending on tokens. Mom decided never to invest on any of those expensive-ass NES games. We were poor, and food and rent were the priority. So basically I leeched games from other poor friends with parents that had fscked up priorities.

Anyway, let's get back to the point here. So they attempt to define what a gamer is:

"A gamer is a term used to describe a person who plays games. Historically, a gamer was someone who played role-playing games or war games, but more recently the term has come to include computer and video game players. Although the term technically includes those who do not necessarily consider themselves gamers (ie, casual gamers), it is a commonly used colloquial term to identify persons who spend as much of their leisure time as possible playing or reading about games. Video gaming has traditionally been a social experience, and most video games are playable by more than one person. Multi-player video games can be played either competitively or cooperatively online by using multiple input devices, or by "hotseating."

And of course some people are bitching and complaining about this whole "issue" (for lack of a better word). But then again not too often do crackheads admit to their addictions. They could handle it. They only smoke crack during the weekends. I guess many would find it difficult to accept because there is actually no substance being consumed by the physical, but then this is also the case with gambling. Do you agree that gambling should be labeled as a "formal diagnostic disorder"? The addiction in it of itself should be viewed as a base platform, while the product one is addicted too may vary. Geeks should be able to accept that last statement with no problems. Once you understand this, then you shold not have any problems with the term

So should I jump on the band wagon and rant about Apple's Safari browser's port to Windows? And just why the fsck not!? The norm on the interwebs is for "bloggers" to follow certain patterns and topics of writings, and who am I to breakout and do otherwise? Anyway, you can download the thing straight, from the Apple site. It is labeled as a public beta, so expect the damn thing to crash a few times, or simply not do what you tell it to do. Thats what beta releases do. It really fscks my head up when I hear or read about users bitching and complaing about the lack of stability from beta software. HELLO!!! Thats the whole point. Be a guinea pig and please report back to us your scientific findings **cough**Vista**cough**.

So, within a few hours of release some major glitches were found, but believe me when I tell you that this the idea. Peer review but without the open source. Apple was quick to flix many of the flaws, and spared us the fat-tuesday sufferation syndrome. Apple was applauded for the quick release..... Honestly this is fscking amazing, you release buggy software filled with flaws to the public, but you're worshiped for fixing your shit? WTF! Only in IT.

Let's move on here. So why this interest from Apple to release their browser for Windows? Love? For sure! We all love money, and Apple is no exception here. Their soon to be released iPhone will depend on their browser for many of the third party apps, so why not have this same browser available on different platforms. Really, , it doesn't take a genius.