A felon can't vote, but he can serve in Iraq

The Army is so wanting to replenish its ranks that it has lowered its' standards in seeking and enlisting those who have committed and been convicted of crimes and those who have a General Equivalency Diploma instead of a High School Diploma. This very telling maneuver by The Army speaks volumes about the military's efforts being waged in Iraq and them not being popular ones within the US community. This method of recruitment tells of how many soldiers have done several tours of duty and are refusing to re-up for another thus forcing The Army to find a body, any body, to replace the ones that are refusing to return to fight in a war that has been declared over. With these several tours of duty done, sometimes unwillingly as The Army sometimes extended a soldiers enlistment period without any recourse for the soldier to thwart that effort, these soldiers return with tales of what has gone on in the communities of Iraq and do not have a clear understanding as to why they were there as long as they were. The communities of The United States are being flooded with soldiers returning home with stories of the non-war that is being fought, and The Army is unable to woo them back for more tours of duties, so they now must make moves to get those who are willing to go.

The Army is now hedging that those who will be most willing to go are those who are the disenfranchised. For many the make-up of the disenfranchised is a person to whom opportunities do not present themselves willingly. The disenfranchised are thought of as persons who live in poor communities that have inept schools that these persons ultimately drop out of before completion of their scholastic programs, and because these were unable to finish school, often because of the hopelessness of the school, they then have a greater possibility of a life of crime because they are less employable without a high school diploma than someone who attended and graduated from high school.

Those same recruits that The Army is seeking are the same persons that society does not want to deal with. They are the same individuals who do not have the same funding pumped into their schools that those living in the suburbs have. They are the same people who do not get their fare share of tax dollars to fund the paving of their streets, the upkeep of their transportation, and the better super markets that their suburban and down town neighbors may have. These are the same persons that if convicted of a felony cannot vote to change these things but can be recruited by The Army to replenish the ranks for a war that was declared over months ago. Is there not blatant irony in this situation? One wonders.

D.A.F.U.R and the rest of Africa

How astounding are the stories that are coming out of the country of Dafur? As they are being read one imagines the mayhem and the genocide and destruction that is going on in real time while the very words that are painting the pictures of destruction are being uttered. And what is one to do? Recently a letter campaign was waged to the local and national politicians of the US of all who were concerned with the goings on in Dafur and who wished to voice their opposition and to do so via someone who could possibly change what is going on in this ravished country. Some believe that the answer to effect change ultimately lies in the hands of politicians. And so recently a musician, Bob Geldof, made an expletive ridden speech on a stage in front of Tony Blair, The British PM, to do something about the general poverty on not only Dafar but in all of the continent of Africa. Bob wants poverty to be ended in this beautiful continent and can not think of a worthier cause, and reminded those in attendance of the gathering that much money has been thrown about haphazardly for far less worthy causes by some of the richest countries. So why not the same be done for a continent, which when in receipt of anything similar in funding, can be turned into a continent that can rival Asia in its economic resources?

The United Nations has started The Millennium Development Project that pledges to have those countries who sign on to the project to donate 0.7 percent of their Gross Domestic Product towards the reduction of the current number of the world's people living in poverty - 1.1 billion - in half by the year 2015. Of course there are other matters that occur that go hand in hand with poverty, allowing it to subsists and grow, and therefore need to be addressed, that cannot be alleviated by money. It is certain that dictatorships, autocrats, corruption, the such that is going on for example in Dafur, are some of the things that allow poverty to happen. But certainly to give funding to those same people who are affected by such conditions and they then have the means to buy and make food which can allow them to fight such negative influences, and then perhaps, with the strength of heart, mind, and body that food in their bellies provides, they would then have a better chance at ridding themselves of those very things that allow poverty to flourish.

If the industrialized countries of this world, especially The United States, join in the fight against poverty, perhaps the dream of it ending can come true. Bob Geldof exclaimed the need for Tony Blair to get the President of The United States to do the right thing in joining a commission formed by Blair to fight poverty in Africa, and did so in very base language. Any and all other commissions whose purpose is it to wipe out poverty in Africa and any and all other places that experiences it may lie the answer to the very base problem that is poverty.

B.I.G.G.I.E.

March 9 was the 8th Anniversary of the death of Christ.opher Wal.lace aka Bi.ggie Smal.ls. He is reputed to be one the greatest rappers that ever lived and he was mourned all over again recently because many are missing him. Mr. Wallace, aka Frank White, was the type of rapper that talked of the dreams many from his part of town, Brooklyn, NY's Bed-Stuy, had. His part of town can be found all over the world, and these town's various dwellers's common denominator, no matter what part of the world they are found, is the lack of money with which to live decently. Chris rapped about the dreams of making it out of these towns and becoming somebody. One of his most famous raps, "Juicy" states his teachers told him he would become nothing, and told him so, blaringly, as a child. They said this because the only saw the bad and not the greatness that he and every other person that has ever had someone say those despicable words. The dreams that all persons have, the dreams of every ordinary person who can and will do extraordinary things, if allowed, were trying to be deferred in the body that was C. Wallace by the very beings that had the job of trying to develop those dreams.

He told the story of those dreams and of the many times they were almost deferred, and with the telling of those stories, he has fans that will always exult him. These fans will always remember and recognize his words as personal experiences he verbalized that they can recognize as their own. Biggie was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things.

March 12th, 2005, The FBI ended the investigation of his death and many are perplexed. This is another unsolved murder of a Black Man. It is disputed amongst many that the clues are clearly available to solve the crime that snuffed the life of this lyricist. Those same proponents of the theory that this murder can be solved further theorizes that the killers are part of a conspiracy. The conspiracy that the life of a Black person is not valued, and therefore does not warrant much effort into finding the killers, and for the case of a celebrity such as Christopher, only the appearance of such should be put forth. And now is the time to end such perfunctory appearances, and to do so nearest the 8th anniversary of his death is chilling.

Biggie, Brooklyn's Finest, RIP.

Adult Child-Parent Relationships

I have tried to be a good person and daughter to my mother, and it has been to no avail, as she has not reciprocated. It started getting to the point of my not wanting to speak to her about 4 years ago when I discovered that, when composing a message on her newly purchased and first answering machine, she stated that she had 3 mail boxes. One of the mailboxes was for her, the second for her family, and the third was for "the children". I am an only child and my mother lives alone, so upon calling her and hearing the message on the answering machine when she didn't pick up, I remembered during a conversation I had with her later that day to ask why would she put such a message on her machine when no one lived with her. She kind of blew me off. Later that year we attended a family reunion and things were nice, but I picked up a vibe that I was thought of as an errant child, a burden to my mother, and not deemed an adult. I had some questions asked of me that I thought somewhat inappropriate, such as how old was I and the age of my oldest child, as if the family member was trying to decipher if I had my oldest when I was a child. I answered the question, as it was a family member and I therefore thought the question an innocuous curiosity at the time, but when this family member looked at me with the wheels turning in his head as if he was trying to figure me out, I was a little perplexed. I also caught looks from distant family members who attended the family reunion who made certain to speak to me with incredulous tones and had looks of concentration on their faces. I was further perplexed when these distant family members seemed to be surprised by me and my children in our appearance and demeanor. It seemed as if they expected my children and myself to be downtrodden. My mother seemed uncomfortable when I was in a situation with her when we were talking to other family members in a happenstance way. I couldn't figure out why she seemed so uncomfortable.

Directly before this trip there were other incidents with my mother that had proven to equally perplexing as the aforementioned. I work at night and sometimes my mother would call bright and early (9:00 AM) during the week and bark out things on the phone to me as soon as I picked up the receiver, and did so without identifying herself nor saying the obligatory, "Hello". I often didn't recognize her because she would sound so angry and gruff. On one occasion I had spoken to her on the weekend and stated that I would be keeping my youngest home as he had a cold. The conversation that night was pleasant. She called the next day, from her job, 9:00 AM in the morning to my home and was yelling into the phone as soon as I picked it up the question, "Did you take the kids to school today!?" I first asked who it was as I did not recognize her voice because it was filled with self-righteousness and anger, and she identified herself by her nickname which I find juvenile. I stated to her that she must have forgotten that I was keeping my youngest home today as I had told her about it the night before. She replied in a gruff voice, "Well, that's not good, not good!" I was confused by her statements and asked her what she meant by that, and she said something unintelligible and said she would call me later. There were other phone calls like that until I got an understanding of what she was doing. And what she was doing was playing to the audience that was/is her co-workers. It became obvious to me that she wanted them to hear her end of the conversations and in doing so, wanted them to think she had to call me to wake me up to make certain that I took my children to school. To act like she didn't know one child was sick, and thus, act surprised he was home, sounded like she was scolding a child of hers who was acting irresponsibly towards her grandchildren specifically, and towards her also, as she was supporting them financially and otherwise. Meanwhile, I am on the other line confused as to why she is making statements that don't correlate to what I am saying and what was told to her the previous night. Only after hearing from a relative after the family reunion did I further understand that the way she would speak to me during phone calls from her job to my home shows that she told the same lie she told to my family members to persons on her job. The lie that I lived with her, and she had to support my children and I. And to validate this lie she made calls to me that were charades that made it seem she was trying to make me take my children to school.

When we arrived home from the family reunion, I put the thoughts of apprehension behind me and forgot about them. I, some months later, then discovered that family members had been told by my mother that my children and I lived with her in her apartment, and she was supporting me and my children as I did not have a job. She also alluded to them that I had a drug habit, thus the reason why I lived with her, thus the answering machine message. To say the least I was floored by this. I had put up with a lot of nonsense from my mother since I started speaking to her at the age of 21 after 6 years of silence in order to let bygones be bygones, and had hoped her alcoholism and drug abuse had ceased or at least decreased in such a way that she would not pull many of the means stunts that propelled me out of her house and life at the age of 16. But alas, here comes a blow that was almost unforgivable. I detest drugs and what they do to a person and the family members that will always ultimately be affected. I have been on my own since I was 16 years old, and am proud to say I have traveled the world, gotten an Ivy League education, and brought a home at the age of 19 years old in preparation of starting a family and began that family at 21 with a man that I am still with to this day. We have three children and do our best to support them and ourselves in a dignified manner, and have done so with no regrets. So for my mother to say this about me when I have accomplished so much in my life despite all that she did to me as a child that could have hindered me in doing so, is mind boggling. And to make such lies that are further from the truth and parade me around other family members, some of whom looked at me with incredulous eyes, some with pity in their eyes, and some with nasty glares, makes me know that something is definitely wrong with my mother on a mental level.

I don't allow her in my home and I often don't pick up the phone when she calls. I finally got Caller ID because of my wanting to avoid my mother. What is strange about the situation is that she is loved by my youngest children. She has shown them love that I have personally witnessed, and they have reciprocated to her. My oldest has never vibed with her from a young age and has called her out on some of her rude behavior towards me, and does not go out of his way to deal with her. The youngest two often seem to have not been aware of some of her nasty antics towards others and/or are just persons who let bygones be bygones. My daughter, my middle child, is old enough that should anything happen while my mother takes them on local excursions, like to the mall or to movies, she can walk away with her brother in tow, and that her parents are a cell phone call away. So I will try not to deny them what my mother seems incapable of giving me.

I wonder often what will happen when my mother is older. Will I want to deal with her should she become incapacitated because of age? Will I want to deal with the issue of hospital or funeral arrangements when she gets ill and/or dies? But then I think she is only 14 years older than me, and with the luck of people like her, she will probably out live me. I know that I must do for me when it comes to the issue of my mother. She has done something that is inconceivable and does not deserve a moments thought as it is too sick to contemplate, and as such, I must protect myself, and the way to do so is to have minimal exposure to her. This pathway I have taken to deal with my mother has worked well as she has become aware that I will not put up with her nonsense. I told her that I knew of her lies to family members and virtual strangers about me, and of course, she denied it. When I mentioned the things that made it clear to me that she told these lies, such as the answering machine, she just brushed them aside. I didn't argue further. I just effectively distanced myself from her, and did so much so that when receiving nasty phone calls from her, I have hung up in her ear. This has happened so much so that she is very respectful and careful when she is on the phone with me from the beginning of the conversation to the end as she knows she will hear a thunderous click in her ear if she acts otherwise.

I can't change my mother, but I can change how I allow her to treat me. The process is well underway, and I am pleased with its results. But it doesn't soften the knowing that the person who gave birth to me told such lies and did so to make herself look like a martyr. I have to accept that she is and will never be able to accept the greatness that is me and will try to mitigate it at every turn.

Sex to die for

Sex may be the one thing that many agree is the most pleasurable sensation a person can experience. It is usually free, usually easily attainable, usually can be done anywhere, and when done the appropriate precaution, can be done with no consequence other than lost time. So why is sex then the thing that can bring about the most horrendous death that one can experience to those who partake, and is doing so in record numbers to the point that some country's median age for life expectancy has dropped to 40 years of age?

Everyone knows that sex is the embodiment of what makes the world go. Without it there would not be the birth of our future generations. Those future generations, who will pick up where the older ones have left, helping to sustain life as we know it, and possibly, improving on what past generations have done. Sex is a good thing, some would say, as it allows a closeness to all involved, if that is what they seek. Some would say it allows people to be as base as animals, partaking only to relieve themselves of an animalistic desire. These same proponents would state that sex should only happen for the sole purpose of procreation. But no matter what the view of what sex should be or is, it is, in this society we live in, a facet of life that, when done irresponsibly, can be a weapon that kills people. This weapon is HIV, that ultimately turns into AIDS. Many reports have come out telling of the horrendous statistics regarding this dreaded disease, and the statistics are abysmal. To think that life expectancy has dropped to below 40 years of age in some countries, and to know that this fact impacts greatly, economically, spiritually, medically, on the society in which it is happening is frightening.

So why is this dreaded disease still subsisting, if not growing, exponentially? Is there so much despair in the world that people just want to feel the momentary pleasure that is sex so much that they forsake the knowledge that doing so might kill them? Is it that people want to feel that high that is sex and put aside the notion that they may too become a victim of this disease? Perhaps a point has been hit upon in stating the phrase "feel high"? Isn't that what we all seek? The "feeling high", the euphoria of getting a project done at work that receives praise from the boss, scoring the winning basket in a pick-up game, cleaning the house and going out to return to the wonderful smell of a clean house. These types of euphoria one must work at attaining, and are therefore, that much more meaningful.

But what of the easily attainable euphoria? Sex is one of the easiest to attain. There are always willing partners, there is always a place, it doesn't have to take up a lot of time, and you don't even have to take off your clothes, or do a lot of changing of your bodily positioning. But now a days there is a new element to having sex that requires work, and often times, more than a nominal bit of money, and that is the purchasing and the using of condoms. Sex is no longer an easily attainable euphoria. One has to work at feeling this high if one is to do it responsibly. And therein lies the problem. In doing so, being a responsible sexual person, a partner may be deemed by the other as sending a message to that accusing partner of being disease ridden, or of being "fast" as they were prepared and thus "hot in the pants" for sex. In some country if a woman even speaks of her partner using a condom she may beaten. Sometimes condoms may be cost prohibitive. Just the use of condoms cuts down on the euphoria of sex as it reminds participants that they are taking a chance, albeit, they have minimized that chance of contracting HIV by using a condom.

Sex as wonderful as it can be, has changed in its ability to be the sensual high that we know. The high is no longer so easily attainable, and in fact, may be less euphoric as this disease is ever present in all aspects of life. One always has to look at a potential sexual partner as a possible carrier. Whether or not people accept this change is where the problems lay. Ignorance, or perceived ignorance, is bliss as many are aware of how and why people get this disease, but do not want to think that the very thing can happen to them.

Abysmal Stats

Blacks are contracting HIV at twice the rate they were in the late 1980s and early '90s, which researchers and AIDS prevention advocates attribute to drug addiction, poverty and poor access to health care, according to government statistics.

Link

So goes the beginning lines of the troubling story of HIV infection. One wonders how in this day and age are rates like this a possibility? Have we not come further than this? Drug addiction and poverty are elements, that unfortunately, are too heavy a burden to eliminate effectively when dealing with HIV rates. How often, though the persons are trying to be diligent, do persons relapse into drug addiction? How difficult is it for those who are poor to rise above the doldrums of the despair that is poverty? It takes sometimes years for a family to rise above the poverty line and is often not possible unless those persons have acquired schooling. Drug abuse and poverty often go hand in hand as a person caught up in the ugliness of poverty may try to deadened the pain of such with drugs, and vice versa, a person who becomes involved with drugs will inevitably spiral into a poverty they may have never experienced nor recover from easily. To try to concentrate efforts against this one-two punch combination of poverty and drug abuse is not the way in which to advance against the scourge of HIV as they may be insurmountable. These two elements of those lives who are a part of the statistics mentioned are such that they may be everlasting, and as such, the concentration in how to prevent HIV should lie in the hands of health care providers and the institutions in which they work.

Health care providers are at the fore front of the war against HIV and AIDS. They are the people that see, first hand, the effects this virus directly has on afflicted individuals physically and psychologically. These effects are devastating to say the least, and who better to identify the new trends in the effect of HIV and also be the first line to identify what may be new trends in how it, the disease, is acquired. Health care workers also see, secondarily, how it effects the afflicted persons personal relationships within their communities and families, and as such, may then be able to disseminate information to social workers who can than address whatever social anomaly (drug addiction, poverty, etc.) that has resulted or pre-existed.

What is more probable in bringing about change concerning this new urgency for the elimination, or at least, the suppression of HIV rates, is access to health care. This access to health care is the front line defense to all elements of this dreaded disease. It will take much too much time and money to eliminate or decrease poverty and drug abuse, so why not concentrate on the one thing is this fight against HIV/AIDS that is achievable. Health care access, though it can prove to be as costly as the other two, is the first thing all who are willing to fight must concentrate their endeavors toward to realistically have a chance at victory against one of the most dreaded disease of modern time.