i was an 11 yo 6th grader standing in the the cafeteria/auditorium @ a school dance the first time i heard the J5. i want you back. the way so many kids rushed to dance, i felt like i was once again the last to know a good thing. i more than made up for it over the years. yes, i own thriller & off the wall (who doesn’t). yes, i moonwalked my ass off & did the one glove thing back in the day (who didn’t). i was more inspired by the robot though…

and which one of those 6th graders got to see the reunion concert in chicago’s soldier field in ‘85 – me. anybody else? did you get your program autographed too (damn i wish i knew what i did w/ it). but i digress. i was fascinated w/ all things J5, & like every other little girl my age i had a crush on michael (& marlon & jermaine) from that moment until high school. no matter what important thing i was doing – playing, torturing my little sisters, doing my homework, or chores – the whole world came to a stop if the J5 were on soul train or american bandstand or the ed sullivan show. no way did i miss the cartoon on saturday mornings. if they were on the cover of any mag, i thot would die if i didn’t have that issue.

but the thing that had the most impact was finding out that mj’s birthday was the day before my own (although according to some sources his time of birth was approximately 20 minutes to 2 hours before mine). in some small way it seemed to put him within reach. almost since the moment i found out this info i’ve been saying, “what a difference a day makes.” at first solely in awe, then added w/envy, & later w/ disdain. today, w/ nostalgia for the last 4 decades & a greater sense of my own mortality.

you are greatly missed michael.

no i didn’t, but i got a big kick out of the idea. i would however love to show this to every rude and/or poor parallel parking skills having person who turns my street into a parking lot when they pick up & drop off their kids @ the school. like if your kid lives too far away to walk to school, then why ain’t they riding the frickin bus? isn’t that why they’re frickin called school buses? am i missing something other than the frustration of planning my schedule around this 5 day/week, twice daily event?

for the remaining winter months there is an independent workout/practice/skilll share every wednesday @ 2640 from 11am to 2pm. the space is open for hooping (of the hoola variety), yoga, dance, stilt walking, aerobics, or any activity that can coexist peacefully w/ the aforementioned activities. this lunch time workout is for folx who want to get/stay in shape, but are inhibited by the cold, prohibited by fees @ gyms/studios, lack space @ home, &/or desire company while working out. no instruction will be formally given. everyone should bring their own equipment & take it w/ them when they leave (extra hoops will be available). please enter through the side entrance on 27th st, ring the doorbell if that entrance happens to be locked.

a donation to defray any costs incurred for light & heat is requested. please forward this info to anyone in the b’more area you think would be interested. see ya wednesdays!

for those who don’t know, this is the second winter soldier gathering, the first was held by vvaw during the vietnam war.

maybe last rant? cause i’m seriously not feeling this blogging thing much anymore. i’m thinking of giving the whole thing over to my guest blogger mojo, he’s better @ it than i am. btw he did find a companion. but i digress…

so why isn’t there a another way of acknowledging the various holidays of this season other than sticking the word ‘happy’ in front of them? if there is, somebody please inform me. i don’t want to be rude (most of the time), so i’ll usually give someone the *appropriate* *happy* greeting, but…i’m not particularly happy about anything that’s going on in the world, & saying “happy this” or “happy that” feels like cognitive dissonance. hmm, i guess its one of those things that only slaps you upside the head when you hear about perfectly good public housing scheduled to be bulldozed just in time for xmas in new orleans. or the economy. or the war. or global warming. or politicians (yes, ALL of them). or something as simple as when you find yourself saying “happy holidays” back to the crackhead who prolly stole your patio furniture.

looong ago i got discharged from the army for depression & felt stigmatized about it. obviously there was something wrong w/ me, & the most important thing was to keep anyone else from finding that out. but one day @ one of the shitty jobs i’ve had since getting out (not that being in wasn’t shitty but that’s another rant), a supervisor related to us lesser proles that people who think too much get depressed. i asked her if she were ever depressed, she smiled @ me (pityingly i thought) & said no. “so obviously you don’t think too much then.” i couldn’t have stopped myself from saying it, even if i wanted to, which @ the time i didn’t. the job sucked, & she was a thorn in my side. it was such an instantly liberating thought & i’ve become increasingly less stigmatized about my dis-ease (i now regret that this may have come @ any cost to her).

i’ve revised the thought however: if you’re not depressed, you haven’t been paying enough attention.

for anyone in the military considering leaving by whatever means are available to you, i’ve had so-called good jobs (ie good pay & perks), but i’ve worked more shitty jobs than good ones because of lack of education & an mos that was meaningless after i got out (remember some of those lies the recruiter told you?). NOT because of the type of discharge.

this rant shouldn’t just be un-happy thoughts. this is the 20 year anniversary of my discharge from the army, definitely a cause for celebration. shortly after that i turn 50, another cause for celebration when that day comes. once i wanted to live to be 100, but every day i pay attention i’m *happy* that’s unlikely. i’ll turn 50 on the same day of the week i was born, i think astrologically all this is supposed to be significant. i’m a skeptic, but i do like synchronicity.

“saturday’s child works hard for it’s living.” no doubt.

my new year’s wish (i don’t do resolutions), same as it was:
   glimpses of
      humanity
      compassion
      empathy
      intellect
      foresight
      radical action
   do not sustain me
   the best i hope for is that nothing truly fucked up happens
   before my sentence on this planet is up

i’m talking waaaay more fucked up than what most can imagine. unfortunately i have no problem imagining the worst & little of what has transpired in the last 49.416 years has met my “truly fucked up” criteria. that’s not to say nothing truly fucked up has occurred in the last 5 decades (katrina aftermath would be the example of an exception). i just have such low expectations of us humans that i know it can & prolly will get much worse, unless there are a lot more than mere glimpses of what we need for change.

happy? new year

guest blogger mojo coltrane – yes, i’m back. mommy’s taking a break from blogging, so i’m gonna take up the slack & see if i can get my mack on ;-]

iso feline friend

single sensitive playful male, pale yellow tuxedo tabby, 9 mos old, 11 lbs (last time mommy weighed me) seeks female companion approximately my age or younger. dark domestic long haired beauty preferred, but compatibility more important than looks. must like my mommy & daddy, mommy will only choose a cat that chooses her. mostly i’m looking for someone who’s intelligent, affectionate & playful like myself. i enjoy running through the house @ top speed (there’s lots of stairs, yippee!), catching bugs, long naps, baths, getting my claws clipped (not really, but mommy would want me to say that), giving kisses & lots of petting. you’ll enjoy a long & happy life w/ my parents. you’ll never have to go outside, you can lay on the furniture, you’ll have lots of toys, you’ll never go hungry, & you’ll get lots & lots of affection. their last cat (i never met him, but they talk about him constantly) was with mommy from the time he was 8 weeks until he passed away @ the ripe old age of 17. mommy & daddy spoil me even though i have a few bad habits, but i’ve never clawed the furniture, chewed any cords, or pottied outside my litter box. i’m neutered & up-to-date on all my shots & tests. you should be spayed & your current caretakers should have access to records of tests & shots. of course if you’re still too young now, mommy & daddy will get all that stuff done later. if you’re in the baltimore area & think we’d make a purrfect pair, please respond.

EDIT: just found this after completing the post:

Seven Year Old Alexis Goggins Shot Six Times Protecting Her Mother

A 7-year-old-girl is being hailed as an “angel from heaven” and a hero for jumping in front of an enraged gunman, who pumped six bullets into the child as she used her body as a shield to save her mother’s life.

Alexis Goggins, a first-grader at Campbell Elementary School, is in stable condition at Children’s Hospital in Detroit recovering from gunshot wounds to the eye, left temple, chin, cheek, chest and right arm.

“She is an angel from heaven,” said Aisha Ford, a family friend for 15 years who also was caught up in the evening of terror.

The girl’s mother, Selietha Parker, 30, was shot in the left side of her head and her bicep by a former boyfriend, who police said was trying to kill Parker. The gunman was disarmed by police and arrested at the scene of the shooting, a Detroit gas station. Police identified him as Calvin Tillie, 29, a four-time convicted felon whom Parker had dated for six months.
[...]
Ford said she dialed 911 on her cell phone as she walked into the station.“The first operator clicked off and I dialed again and told that operator a guy with a gun was holding me hostage with a mother and baby and threatening to kill us. I told her the name of the gas station and then she said they didn’t have a unit to send.”Ford said she paid for $5 of gas and slowly returned to the vehicle, stalling for time as she handed Tillie the change. She said she kept stopping and starting the pump, hoping the police would show up.“I told him I needed more gas and took money out of my purse and went back into the station,” she said. The attendant, Mohammad Alghazali, 30, said he noticed Ford was crying and she told him what was happening. He called 911 as he heard shots coming from the vehicle.
[…]
Alghazali said a police car on a street nearby arrived in less than a minute after his call.

an update on her condition can be read here. a fund has been set up for Alexis, checks should be made out to the Alexis Goggins Hero Fund & sent to the following address:

Campbell Elementary School
c/o Alexis Goggins Hero Fund
2301 E Alexandrine St
Detroit, MI 48207

for information, call (313) 494-2052

ADDITIONAL INFO (courtesy of all about race): Alexis is a special needs child, due to a massive stroke she suffered as an infant. she walks with a limp & has a weak left eye. her right eye was just removed.

Alexis, who walks with a limp, slipped momentarily on the icy sidewalk and as she helped the girl up, she saw the man and recognized him as Tillie. He was holding a gun.
[...]
Before Tillie could fire again, Alexis jumped over the seat between her mother and the gunman and begged him not to shoot her mother.

The police report said Tillie “without hesitation” pumped six shots into the child.

G*TD*MN M*THAF*CKIN SORRY *SS PIECE OF SH*T!!!!!

(i don’t usually bleep myself here, but i don’t want to be excessively disrespectful to my readers. all 2 of them.)

also contact the msm & ask them why they’ve ignored this story.

CNN
Phone: 404-827-1500

Fox News Channel
Phone: 212-301-3000

ABC News
Phone: 212-456-7777

CBS News
Phone: 212-975-4321

NBC
Phone: 212-664-4444

MSNBC
Phone: 201-583-5000

Newsweek
Phone: 212-445-4000

Associated Press
Phone: 212-621-1500

Reuters
Phone: 646-223-4000

United Press International
Phone: 202 -898-8000

i don’t have to tell you why this is a human rights (as well as police brutality) issue do i?

i can’t believe i missed this story until now. much respect & gratitude to Sylvia, Nez, Carmen D., Ann & all other bloggers covering this.

HUD Sends New Orleans Bulldozers and $400,000 Apartments for the Holidays
by Bill Quigley

The criminal conspiracy against Black New Orleans unfolds without pause, as the federal government prepares to demolish public housing in the city before Christmas. Gentrification proceeds at breakneck speed, fueled by millions of public dollars in giveaways to well-connected developers and other corporate vampires. full article

someone remind me please. what exactly were sheep doing before someone decided they needed a shepherd?

* there’s nothing progressive or radical (left-wise) about racism

please, no trying to convince me otherwise convert me.

the free market @ work?

U.S rejects stiff 2020 greenhouse goals in Bali

oh, & in case you haven’t heard by now (not surprising considering i only got 3 news results when i googled it), Iran stopped accepting $$$ for oil.

cia destroyed evidence of torture…that’s just the most recent i’ve heard. i could go on. and on. and on. but this post is long enuf already.

I’m very very *very* tired of how sex work is framed as a labor issue by many anti-pornography activists–they chronically insist that porn is the worst worst worst job ever because it hurts females.

I hear this logic, and all I can think is, “Really?”
[...]
I know that there’s more than one way to get fucked.

yeah, that’s it. these folx concentrate so hard on those poor porn stars, strippers, prostitutes & how they’re being fucked (fucked over). most of us are fucked (even if we don’t know it). so much easier to concentrate on those who exploit sex workers (or sex workers themselves), than having to confront our own position (pun intended) as fuckee.

as bfp points out, one of the many (many, many, many) ways to get fucked – literally & figuratively – is farmwork. are organic farmworkers paid more, working less hours, under less abusive conditions? or are we just eating healthier while continuing to have no concern for those who bring the food to our tables? and no concern for those who don’t get to “eat healthy”, some of whom are the ones who bring the food to the table?

this post & comments were amazing. it helped me see things in ways i hadn’t thought of before (or articulated them better). here’s a gem from a commenter (chuckie k):

“Once people at work disappear from sight and thought, it is only natural to think that what you buy or don’t buy would be the answer to injustices in the ‘economic’ system
[...]
The disappearance of production from consciousness dovetails more complexly with moral and individualistic thought to produce ‘complicity.’ On the one hand, this blindness to labor as *the* *fundamental* market mistakenly assumes that the capitalist and the worker are equally responsible for the injustices of production. This blindness does not see how waged work is wage slavery. Behind the ‘freedom’ to choose between this job and that job (as though this choice even existed for most workers) this blindness does not see the threat of hunger, homelessness and destitution that coerces people into ‘jobs.’ This blindness implicitly accepts the status of workers as things to be bought and sold and fails to recognize them as people.”

Most American adults are aware that, back during World War 2, our government rounded up Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans and put them in internment camps. But were you aware of who the government chose to round up during the first Great War?
[...]
“In 1918 the US Government instituted a program to round up and put into detention camps women who were believed to be prostitutes working on or near US military bases. Government agents set traps for and rounded up real prostitutes. There are reports of Feds hiding in bushes in parks, waiting to spring out and jump any woman who walked by on the arm of a soldier.”

did you know about this? i didn’t.

on. and on. and on…

Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan

This spring, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) is revealing the reality of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. In what will be history’s largest gathering of U.S. veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Iraqi and Afghan survivors, eyewitnesses will share their experiences in a public investigation called Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan.

Winter Soldiers, according to founding father Thomas Paine, are those who stand up for the soul of their country, even in its darkest hours. With this spirit in mind, IVAW members are standing up to make their experiences available to all who are concerned about the direction of our country.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time America has needed its Winter Soldiers, in 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently. full article

@ last a happy note: congrats to xp on winning the tx progressive alliance silver star!

& finally a (slightly) off-topic shout-out
baby whispering loudly – i miss reading your blog! i just found you & now i can’t read what you have to say

i’ll stop whining now. i understand why blogs have to be closed to the general public sometimes, & i respect those boundaries. mostly i’m concerned & i hope you are ok. please stop by when or if you feel up to it.

one luv everybody!

other important days include:

Nov 29 – International Women Human Rights Defenders Day
Dec 1 – World Aids Day
Dec 10 – International Human Rights Day

finally the Carnival Against Violence Against Women is being held @ Black Looks. deadline for submissions is Dec 6. please head over there for more info (additional info & links on the 16 day campaign can be found there also).