Another Milestone in plezWorld

According to sitemeter, at or about 9:15 AM EST on Monday, January 7, 2008, a visitor from Harlan, Iowa caused plezWorld to pass a significant milestone: the 10,000thth visitor.

10,000

it's no surprise that this person was directed to plezWorld when he/she Googled for "seven girls with seven backpacks with seven cats with seven kittens"! the brainteaser series is still the most popular post on plezWorld.

plez sez: ten thousand is a big number. now i'm sure a couple of hundred of those hits were mine from when i'm on the road (i have sitemeter set up to ignore hits from my home computer), but this is still a significant accomplishment.

i'd like to thank everyone who has dropped by on purpose and probably the 5,000 who clicked on plezWorld by accident... i hope you enjoyed this tiny, yet significant thread which helps comprise the vast tapestry that is plez's world!

here's to 10,000 more!

From HGTV To C-SPAN

most weekends, my wife is curled up on one of the sofas watching hour after hour of HGTV. watching show after show about buying homes, selling homes, and decorating homes. this is my wife's ritual on saturday mornings while i take the SugarPlum to ballet lessons or on sunday mornings while we are at the Waffle House.

although, not an activist, the plezWife is politically aware, we both plan to vote in the democratic primary here in georgia in a few weeks. more than likely, we'll be voting for the same person to head the democratic ticket come the fall.

on the other hand, it is not odd to catch me on any weekday morning, watching the call-in show on C-SPAN. i love hearing the different perspectives of folk from around the country as they opine on all things democratic, republican, and independent. on this past thursday, i coerced my wife into watching the iowa caucus coverage on C-SPAN: we flipped back and forth between the democratic and republican caucuses until the winners were announced.

this past weekend, something happened... BARACK OBAMA happened! every television in the house has been tuned to C-SPAN since thursday night: we've been watching all of the candidate speeches, laughing at the callers... my wife even made me call C-SPAN on two separate occasions, between Obama's nashua speech, the dennis kucinich segment, and replays of the mitt romney (i do not like that guy) lying about shit he ain't ever gonna do in somebody's living room - the first time i couldn't get through and the second time they had already stopped taking calls. we switched to ABC to watch the republican and democratic debates, and then switched back to C-SPAN to get additional analysis. i didn't see either NFL playoff game on saturday and only watched recorded versions of the playoffs on sunday afternoon after the Michelle Obama speech in plymouth!

plezWorld & plezWife are on the same page about the upcoming new hampshire primaries...

republicans: ron paul comes off as the most sane candidate in the bunch, but he makes too much sense, so they will never take him seriously... hell, they barely wanted him to participate in the debates last night. mike huckabee appears to be a likable and affable chap, if i were to pick one of the bunch to vote for, it would probably be huckabee... i hope he wins the nomination. mccain, romney, thompson, and guiliani are career criminals politicians whose only motivation is a seat in the oval office... none of them can be trusted and we'll be in for a whole lotta hurt if either of them find a way to weasel into the white house.

democrats: i can't wait for Barack Obama to win the new hampshire primary, the most recent polls have him moving ahead to a double digit lead this weekend. i watched his wife's rousing speech on sunday afternoon - she delivers a stump speech almost as well as her husband. this guy is so refreshing, so inspirational it is uncanny. it is so nice to have a candidate who is untainted by the washington establishment, someone with core morals and values and conviction. he has practical grassroots EXPERIENCE, more political EXPERIENCE than hillary clinton (with her lying ass), and an INSPIRATIONAL VISION for a truly united states. this guy brings tears to my eyes every time i hear him speak.

[Hat Tip: Brown Sugar]

i like john edwards who is currently my second favorite candidate. bill richardson has a solid background but doesn't speak to me. and hillary clinton comes off as cunning, calculating, and conniving... i don't trust that woman (during last night's debate, she kept referring to 35 years of experience... to my way of thinking, slobbing on bill's knob for 20 years in the arkansas governor's mansion and the white house don't count!) and i feel that returning the clintons to the white house will be as detrimental to the well being of this country as has been the last seven years of george w. bush!



so we had a weekend devoid of stainless steel appliances, leather sectionals, paint chips, feng shui, landscaping, and fixer uppers in favor of our complex political system... and plezWorld is all the better for it!

The 6th Degree: High Tech College Classroom

[Hat Tip: left cheek]

plez sez: since i've signed on to blog everyday for 2008, i will have to get alittle more creative in finding blog fodder. occasionally - well, probably more often than that - i will wander aimlessly, let's say about 6 blog roll links away from plezWorld to find a blog. i will then post something that i've found at that sixth blog: "The 6th Degree".

if nothing else, this will provide me (and plezWorld readers) the opportunity to see content that we would not ordinarily read.

1st Degree: Mirror on America
2nd Degree: Nat Turner's Revenge
3rd Degree: field negro
4th Degree: U.S.S. Clueless
5th Degree: Iron E (Fe+E)
6th Degree: left cheek

Kappa Alpha Psi Founders' Day

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. was founded on January 5, 1911 on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

plez sez: Congratulations on 97 years of Achievement to all of my Fraternity Brothers!

Achievement in every field of human endeavor.

Obama and Race in America - Guest Blog

Andrew C. White of "The 10,000 Things" blog - who incidentally is white - wrote a fitting reply to a racist and hate filled rant about Barack Hussein Obama's win in the Democratic Iowa Caucus.


Republicans are ugly.

[The racist drivel f]rom freeperville:

Is Hussein Obama the weakest Dem for the General election?
Iowa Caucus ^ | January 3, 2008 | nwrep

Posted on 01/03/2008 9:07:11 PM PST by nwrep

Did the weakest Dem candidate for the general election won tonight? I think so.

By sending forth Hussein Osama out of Iowa, Democrats have unwittingly weakened their general election prospects.

Hussein's exotic mixture of radical liberalism, Kwanzaa Socialism, antipathy towards the unborn, and weakness against his jihadi brethren will all come back to destroy him against almost any Republican opponent, even the snake-grope from Hope.

I think we as Republicans should be celebrating tonight at the coronation of Hussein, in whose presence millions of Democrat women, from elementary school teachers to journalism majors to law school grads to dykes on bikes will go weak in their knees.

As defenders of this great Republic, and of the pinnacle of Western civilization that it represents, we should all come together tonight and agree on a common strategy that will keep the White House from becoming a madrassa.

God Bless America, Land of the Free.

My brother asked me back at Thanksgiving dinner “Is America ready to elect a black man or a woman as President?” To which I answered, “We’re as ready as we’re ever going to be before actually doing it.” He replied, “I hear you… but are we ready?”

If Obama continues and becomes the presumptive Democratic nominee (and his chances got a lot better last night) it is going to get ugly. Real ugly. Racism is alive and well in America. We are ready to elect a black man President and if Obama wins the nomination we will elect him but his campaign, and everyone else on the Democratic side, is going to have to be ready to win a race war. Us white folks are mean sons of bitches when someone threatens OUR power.

I’m not talking about the KKK or Stormfront obvious nutcases but mainstream Mom and Pop white folks that don’t think of themselves as racist but really don’t want those people living in their neighborhoods or dating their daughters. The ones that live in towns across America that are 88% white and 12% other and really don’t have much if any association with black society.

And make no mistake, electing a black man threatens white power, control, and dominance. Note also that Obama is a black man despite being 50% white. We have never claimed half-whites as white. They are black. We don’t claim them as even half white. They are black.

As an aside, it was a revelation to me as a teenager when a friend told me he got the same from black society. That it was a real struggle for him because he wasn’t treated by the black community as black. It had never occurred to me that he wasn’t black despite the fact his skin color was closer to mine then most of our black friends.

The Republicans will come at Barack Obama with the Hussein stuff. The Osama-Obama stuff. The Indonesia-madrassa stuff. Heck! They’ll probably blame the current unrest in Kenya on him and claim that he’ll bring the same to America (something the worst amongst them can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy). But it’ll be race that is their strongest gut level, divisive playing card… and they will use it.

I am half hoping they do and that they overplay their hand. I think we need to be ready to point out the ugliness, the racism, overt and covert, of their actions. They’ll claim we’re playing “the race card” but we can’t be side tracked by that.

And we can’t foist this off on our black friends and compatriots.

This is a battle within white America to get the hell over itself and its... our ... racist past… and present. White Americans need to “lift up” our own people out of these ignorant views. Most whites have no idea just how racist America is. Black people don’t need educating on that subject. They know. White people do. And they need to hear it from other white people. Their peers. Us. Not liberals to conservatives. Not educated to uneducated. Not Democrats to Republicans. White average Americans to white average Americans.

The Obama campaign itself needs to steel itself… and I do mean steel… and be prepared for the attacks. The have to respond and they have to respond well. They cannot ignore it. At the same time they need to stay above them and keep their campaign about a positive vision for Americas future. They can’t allow themselves to get bogged down and lost in a race war.

The rest of the Democratic community needs to be prepared to do the ugly, trench work on this one. We need to talk race and we need to talk it openly and honestly. Preferably not angrily. I’m thinking a passive-aggressive approach may well be best. Let the freepers froth at the mouth about race while we talk dispassionately and openly about it. Let the ugliness be repellant all by itself. I’m not sure. I think it will depend on a case by case basis but I am thinking that is the best overall approach. Shine a light on the ugliness and place it smack dab in the middle of the village square but stand off to the side and allow Americans to say “I’m not like that” and come to the healing message, the reconciliation, of brotherhood and away from the ugly troll of racism convulsing in the light of day.


plez sez: it was only a matter of time - in this case, a few hours - before the racists and pinheads would begin a full frontal assault on Barack Obama. as he has done this entire political process, i expect that he will continue to take the high road and not gravitate to those elements of our society who are so hell-bent on the destruction of anything good.

as Andrew White writes in his blog entry, it is really going to be up to upstanding white folk to distance themselves from this racist rhetoric, childish name calling, and hate mongering. i cross-posted this blog entry not to call attention to the hate, but to applaud those who will support Barack Obama on his merits and his ability to be the one who unites us rather than divides us.



plezWorld purposely omitted a link to "free republic" as i do not want to provide additional traffic to this right wing racist site.

[Hat Tip: This blog entry is also cross-posted at the albany project]

Barack Obama: Iowa Caucus Victory Speech

Barack Obama's Victory Speech




Hillary Clinton's Post Iowa Caucus Speech

plez sez: this is a historic moment in United States politics... i look for Barack Obama to continue a strong run to gain the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. on to New Hampshire!

i have a dream that one day soon, i'll be able to take my daughter to the White House and tell her that President Barack Obama lives here!

Kenya, Elections, Violence

The New York Times reports that Daniel Kibigo said he was there, hiding in the burned cornfields nearby, as the mob gleefully stuffed mattresses in front of the church’s doors and set them on fire. The women inside tried to claw their way out of the church windows as the building burned all the way down, killing up to 50 people inside. This is the state of Kenya as it teeters on the brink of anarchy on the heels of presidential elections last week.

Kenya’s president, Mwai Kibaki, declared victory by a narrow margin on Sunday despite widespread evidence of ballot rigging.

“Are we in a civil war? Is this Somalia? Is this Darfur?” said Alfred Mutua, Mr. Kibaki’s spokesman. “Our problem is with some hooligans. And we can take care of it.”

As for the opposition, its most recent proposal was a joint government for three months and then a new election, which the government roundly rejected.

Adding to the incendiary atmosphere, Raila Odinga, the opposition figure who said he was robbed of the presidency, has vowed to go ahead with a million-person rally in the capital, Nairobi, on Thursday. The government has said the rally is illegal, and busloads of police officers in helmets and padded suits have begun to muster downtown.

“We want to appeal directly to the people,” Mr. Odinga said on Wednesday. Many Kenyans are worried the rally will turn into an enormous brawl.

The Bush administration said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was calling both sides to urge them to do everything they could to end the violence, and the United Nations issued a statement on Wednesday saying that Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general, was “concerned with the deteriorating humanitarian situation, as large numbers of people have been displaced by the violence.”

Reuters reports that Attorney General Amos Wako called for an independent probe into Kenya's election after a day of battles between police and protesters disputing the re-election of President Mwai Kibaki.

What follows is a chronology of Kibaki's 5 year presidency:

Dec. 27, 2002 - Former Vice President Kibaki, candidate of the opposition National Rainbow Coalition, wins a presidential election on pledges to deliver a new constitution in 100 days. The victory ends Daniel arap Moi's 24-year rule and the Kenya African National Union's (KANU) four decades in power.

Nov. 22, 2003 - International Monetary Fund (IMF) resumes lending after three-year gap, saying the new government has shown commitment to end corruption.

Dec. 21 - Moi is granted immunity from prosecution on corruption charges.

March 15, 2004 - Government withdraws from a conference convened to write a new constitution after most delegates vote to trim presidential powers.

Feb. 7, 2005 - John Githongo quits as Kenya's first anti-corruption adviser, a blow to the fight against graft.

July 22 - Parliament votes to keep a strong presidency in a proposed new constitution. The vote leads to deepening divisions in the ruling coalition and triggers rioting in the capital.

Nov. 22 - Kibaki suffers humiliating defeat when voters reject the new constitution in a referendum; he fires his government the next day.

Dec. 9 - Twenty-six of 29 ministers are finally sworn in after Kibaki's struggle to form a new cabinet. Three refuse to appear although two of them later reverse that decision.

Feb. 1, 2006 - Finance Minister David Mwiraria resigns over a multi-million dollar corruption scandal, says he is innocent.

June 3 - Key ministers from the ruling coalition break away to form a new party, the National Rainbow Coalition-Kenya.

Aug. 22 - Government agrees to opposition calls for parts of the constitution to be amended ahead of 2007 elections.

Sept. 16, 2007 - Kibaki announces candidacy on the ticket of Party of National Unity, created as his re-election vehicle.

Dec. 27 - Voters elect a new president and parliament. Most opinion polls give a lead to Kibaki's opposition rival Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement.

Dec. 30 - Kibaki wins close-run election by the narrow margin of 230,000 votes and is hurriedly sworn in.

Dec. 31 - The government floods the streets with security forces and keeps a ban on live TV broadcasts after riots convulse the nation.

Jan. 1, 2008 - A mob torches a church, killing about 30 villagers.

Jan. 2 - President Kibaki's government accuses rival Raila Odinga's backers of "ethnic cleansing" as the death toll from tribal violence reaches some 300.

Jan. 3 - Attorney General Amos Wako calls for an independent probe into the election. After hours of police clashes with thousands of protesters, the opposition call off a planned demonstration.

Read the entire New York Times article here.

Read the entire Reuters article here.


plez sez: over 300 people have died as a result of violence in formerly peaceful country of Kenya. i learned about this country on the African continent as a youngster in the 3rd grade; i remember that we learned a few phrases in Swahili and found the country on the map. since i was the only Black kid in my class, to this day, i feel that my teacher, ms. karpinsky, took great pride in teaching the class (and me) positive lessons about the people of Africa.

fast forward close to 40 years and the country is on the brink of civil war and genocide. Kenya boasts of being a democracy with an executive, legislative, and judicial branch of a national government; a few archaic presidential election rules aside, this election cycle seems to hinge on accusations of corruption of the electoral process and sour grapes. the loser in the election, Raila Odinga, had a hand in making proposed changes to the constitution that would weaken the office of the president. after Odinga lost the election last week, the country erupted in violence and bloodshed.

there was outrage and indignation when george bush made off with TWO presidential elections - in 2000 in florida and in 2004 in ohio - but we never gravitated to such depths of violence... we expressed our outrage via talk radio and blogs! in light of Barack Obama's win in Iowa on yesterday, i wonder if violence will be used to derail his ascent to the white house (a la Robert Kennedy)? like Kenya, when rioting and violence erupts in the US, it is usually confined to areas of the country which are ill-equipped to recover from it: poor, Black communities (recent memory brings los angeles (watts), detroit, and newark to mind)!

plezWorld hopes that the United Nations will do its job and finally intervene in a crisis situation before more bloodshed. it is probably too late to "fix" the damage done by this election, but it is obvious that Kenya would benefit from some assistance from the world community in correcting its voting irregularities and finally creating a constitution that will work for the betterment of this once peaceful country.

Obama & Huckabee Win Iowa Caucuses

The caucuses have convened and the 2008 Presidential Race is off and running. I watched C-SPAN coverage of the Iowa Caucuses this evening with my wife. I was surprised to find out that the Democratic caucus is run differently from the Republican caucus: both do elect delegates to their county and district conventions, but the manner that they do it are quite different.

Democratic Caucus:
All of the attendees gather in a room and at a given signal, everyone breaks off into groups of support for individual candidates: Obama people at the front of the room, Clinton folk back by the water fountain, and Edwards supporters by the double doors. Any group that lacks viability (less than 15% of the caucus attendees) must join a group for another candidate.

This evening, neither Joseph Biden's nor Christopher Dodd's groups were viable at the caucus I was watching, their supporters then moved to support other candidates.

There is a count of each group and then the number of delegates are assigned based on a percentage of supporters for each candidate.

At the caucus I watched on C-SPAN, Obama received 3 delegates, Edwards received 2 delegates, and Clinton received 1 delegate. These delegates go to the county convention in a few weeks.

Republican Caucus:
The attendees write the name of their candidate on a piece of paper and then the caucus organizers count up the votes that each candidate receives. The delegates are then apportioned based on the percentage of votes. There is no viability test at the Republican caucus.

At the caucus broadcast by C-SPAN, it was a close race between Huckabee and Romney; I was surprised but there was very little support for Guiliani.


All of the news services (AP, CNN, NY Times, AJC) are reporting that Democrat Barack Obama (with 37%) and Republican Mike Huckabee (with 34%) have won the Iowa caucuses.

Enjoy Barack Obama's Victory Speech here.

The evening's surprise is third place Clinton's near tie with second place John Edwards, and Guiliani (4%) coming in a distant sixth place behind Romney, Thompson, McCain, and Ron Paul. Biden and Dodd should call it quits on the Democratic side as their candidacies have gotten little to no national attention. On the Republican side, it is still a muddled race and I can see most of their candidates forging on until Super Tuesday in early February.

BLOG UPDATE (01/04/2008): The New York Times reports that both Biden and Dodd have abandoned their campaigns for the Democratic nomination for US President. plezWorld predicted this move a few hours ago based on the low appeal of their candidacies with the caucus attendees ... damn, I'm good!

Lakota Nation Secedes from US

The story of the Lakota Nation's withdrawal from all treaties with the United States cannot be found in any large (i.e. mainstream) news organization, I saw a mention at thefreeslave blog and then started doing some Googling until I found more details. There have been a number of treaties between the Lakota Sioux Indians and the United States, dating back to 1868 (Treaty of Fort Laramie), that have been repeated broken and violated by the U.S. government. These people have sought, but have never received relief for their grievances as they've watched their native lands pillaged and pilfered until the Lakota people have been sequestered on reservations that are mere fractions of their promised land.

Back in 1974, the Declaration of Continuing Independence was created by a consortium of 97 Tribes and Nations across North and South America. Fashioned loosely on the US Declaration of Independence, this document asks that the United Nations assist the Native Nations in forcing the United States to honor the treaties as they were written prior to 1871. This document is a precursor to the recent action of the Lakota Nation. The Preamble reads:

The United States of America has continually violated the independent Native Peoples of this continent by Executive action, Legislative fiat and Judicial decision. By its actions, the U.S. has denied all Native people their International Treaty rights, Treaty lands and basic human rights of freedom and sovereignty. This same U.S. Government, which fought to throw off the yoke of oppression and gain its own independence, has now reversed its role and become the oppressor of sovereign Native people.

Might does not make right. Sovereign people of varying cultures have the absolute right to live in harmony with Mother Earth so long as they do not infringe upon this same right of other peoples. The denial of this right to any sovereign people, such as the Native American Indian Nations, must be challenged by truth and action. World concern must focus on all colonial governments to the end that sovereign people everywhere shall live as they choose; in peace with dignity and freedom.

The International Indian Treaty Conference hereby adopts this Declaration of Continuing Independence of the Sovereign Native American Indian Nations. In the course of these human events, we call upon the people of the world to support this struggle for our sovereign rights and our treaty rights. We pledge our assistance to all other sovereign people who seek their own independence.

The National Ledger reports that as a result of 150 years of broken treaties, the Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States. A delegation of Lakota leaders has delivered a message to the State Department, and said they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the U.S.

Excerpts of the National Ledger article follows:

The Lakota Indians want out of the United States. The have announced that they will break a 150 year old treaty and will secede from the US. "We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us," said Russell Means, an Indian rights activist.

The tribe, whose territory spans five Midwestern states, delivered a message to the US State Department earlier this week, announcing that they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties signed with the US government.

The new country would issue its own passports and driving licenses, and living there would be tax-free - provided residents renounce their U.S. citizenship, Means said. The treaties signed with the U.S. were merely "worthless words on worthless paper."

Is it legal? The activists believe that it is. Withdrawing from the treaties was entirely legal, Means said. "This is according to the laws of the United States, specifically article six of the constitution," which states that treaties are the supreme law of the land, he said.

The Lakota Indians have gone through hard times in recent years as a culture. Lakota teen suicides are 150 percent above the United States average; infant mortality is five times higher than the US average; and unemployment is very high.

Read or download a PDF version the Declaration of Continuing Independence here.

Read the entire National Ledger article here.

Read more about the Lakota people at the The Republic of Lakotah website.

Read the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) here.

See how the Native American lands have been diminished since the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868):




plez sez: although this is a noble gesture and quite a big step to restoring the pride of their people, i don't see the US returning stolen lands to the Lakota Nation. with very little in the way of capital and very few armaments that would be necessary to take what is rightfully theirs, i can't see the united states walking away from prime real estate in the midwest.

if nothing else, this action shows a desire for self-determination on the part of the Lakota Nation... i would only hope that our Black communities could learn a thing or two about attempting to take control of our destiny by addressing the issues of excessive taxation, poor state of the education system in the Black community, the over-reliance of government in the Black community, the need to encourage and support Black businesses in our communities, and the real value of property ownership in the Black community.

plezWorld Top Stories of 2007

Everyone worth their salt always trots out a "Best of..." list for the New Year. I am no different, especially since I've signed up for another Blog-A-Day promotion, except this time I'm in it for the whole year... all 365 days (we get February 29th off for good behavior). So without further ado, for the second year, plezWorld presents the top 14 stories for the year that was...

14. The Artist Also Known as the SugarPlum

Daddy's Little Girl (AKA The SugarPlum) turned 6 a few months ago... and she continues to amaze. Last year, I was amazed at how quickly she lost all of her teeth. This year, the household continues to rock with laughter at her continued antics and budding talent. She has been taking ballet lessons for the greater part of 3 years and piano lessons for about 9 months. And now she has acquired the skill of making presentations before audiences in anticipation of her career goal of becoming a news reporter. And if she sits still long enough, she will regale you with one of her favorite piano pieces.


13. "Come On People" Book Review

I was contacted by the publisher of the Cosby & Poussaint book, "Come On People," to post a book review on plezWorld in exchange for a copy of the book. Having heard a great deal about the Cosby's community meetings and the book, itself, I took the publisher up on the offer. My (uncompleted) book review take a look, by chapter, at the message being conveyed by Cosby & Poussaint: basically, a self-help book to aid the Black community in rediscovering the grandeur and pride that it once had. It is a must read.

12. Picking Winners on ANTM

During Cycle 8 of America's Next Top Model, I let the world in on plezWorld's guilty pleasure. In the process, I picked the winner of the contest. When Cycle 9 was unveiled later in the year, I was write there to pick the winner of that contest. As an ANTM Prognosticator, I'm batting a thousand (1.000)... bring on Cycle 10!

11. Don Imus on the Radio

The sordid details of the Imus Affair provided news and blog fodder for a number of weeks: yeah, he went there and called the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team some nappy headed ho's! To my way of thinking, the reaction (or over-reaction) was much worse than the utterance... Al Sharpton swung into action and soon Imus was packing up his belongings and leaving his radio post.

Al Sharpton got a few more listeners for his sorry attempt at a radio talk show and Imus was back on the air 8 months later. I'm still scratching my head wondering where the righteous indignation sprang from: I'm afraid I hold Black people who set out to destroy the Black community (Black KKK) to a much higher standard than some white crusty old ass fart!

10. Genarlow Wilson

This story captured the imagination of plezWorld because it was complex with a number of layers: this obviously intelligent young man got caught up in the gears of the Georgia State System of Justice and it wouldn't let him go. He was a "victim" of poor judgement: hanging with the wrong people, engaging in the wrong activity, and getting caught on film while hanging with the wrong people whilst engaging in the wrong activity. The good news is that Genarlow Wilson was finally freed from the gears of injustice and plezWorld truly prays that he has learned his lesson and will begin to use proper judgement in the future.

9. Georgia Tech Football

A promising football season ended as it began: on a sour note! We welcomed Boston College to the Flats for a royal arse kicking only to get our little stingers bent!



The season ended with Chan Gailey relieved of his duties, further validation that Taylor Bennett is a nice backup QB, and getting our little stingers bent on a blue field in Boise, Idaho!

The good news is that my friend, Michael Matthews, really got a good start to his professional career with the New York Giants. He is the blocking tight end and has been getting good playing time during his rookie season. I'll be looking for him on Saturday as the Giants travel to Tampa Bay to whip up on the Buccaneers for the first round of the playoffs.

Also, check out plezWorld's College Football Soul Food series.

8. Legs in the Bus - Brainteaser

I have no idea where the traction for this brainteaser came from, but this post gets more hits on plezWorld than anything I've ever written. It is a relatively simple math problem, but these posts continue to get hits on a daily basis.

A friend sent it to me as some junk mail back in October; I solved it and used it while I was posting every day in November. Going back to yesterday and looking at the last 50 visitors to plezWorld, 6 were Google searches for this brainteaser (two were from Australia and one was from Canada)... go figure!

7. Offensive KFC Commercial

My favorite post during 2007 was about this commercial by KFC. My main objection to the commercial was that it portrayed (to me) a negative stereotype of the Black family: it showed a "happy" Black family without a father.

To some, this was a benign fact... but I just felt that was a sad commentary on our society when the role of the father is diminished and/or erased. It is true that most Black households only have a mother, but I felt that it was irresponsible for Kentucky Fried Chicken to glamorize/glorify this fact in their fried chicken commercial. I wrote and called KFC to lodge a complaint.

Since my "rampage," I have not seen this commercial on television... I only hope that it has been retired.

6. Barry Bonds - Home Run King

A warm August night, Barry Bonds jacked Number 756, thus eclipsing Hank Aaron for the most coveted record in all of sports. If nothing else, this event signaled the final salvo of the Steroids Era in baseball.

Should every record of the Steroids Era have an asterisk?

Should any ballplayer of the Steroids Era go into the Baseball Hall of Fame?

5. NaBloPoMo - November 2007

After the first week of November, I began asking myself, "What the HELL were you thinking when you signed up for this?!?"

Well, I'm no quitter and plezWorld successfully posted for every single day for the month of November (even during a weekend when I was on a retreat without Internet connectivity).

It's called National Blog Posting Month... and if that wasn't enough, I've signed up for Blog365!

4. AfroSpear & Blogging

Sometimes you just have to jump in and throw caution to the wind. I joined a group of other Black bloggers to form the AfroSpear (yeah, I've been around since Day One). Some call it a think tank, I just find it to be an interesting consortium of Black bloggers from around the globe who discuss issues that affect the Black community. It has been my privilege to discuss (and argue) about a number of issues, and it seems that our influence has even been felt. Stories such as Shaquanda Cotton, the Jena 6, Genarlow Wilson, Ron Pettaway, Megan Williams, and others have been brought to the forefront as a direct result of bloggers associated with the AfroSpear.

3. War in Iraq

Last year at this time, I was optimistic that the new Democratic majority in Congress would force President Bush to draw down troop levels and begin to de-escalate the war. WRONG! This Congress has laid down and let Bush walk over them while escalating troop levels (via "the surge") and they have continued to fully fund this illegal war... while close to 1,000 soldiers have died.

As of December 31, 2007, close to 3,900 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq (and thousands more are forever scarred by the shrapnel and memories of this war).

2. Michael Vick & The Dirty Birds

I've probably written more posts about Michael Vick than I should have, but this was something that was front and center in plezWorld throughout most of the year. The long and short of it, Michael Vick will spend the next 2 years of his life in prison for operating an illegal dogfighting ring during his spare time from quarterbacking the Atlanta Falcons into NFL obscurity.



During the last 12 months, Vick and his dogs have fired one head coach, caused the next head coach to quit before the end of the season, caused the Dirty Birds to lose three times more games than they won, sent Vick to prison, caused the Falcons to try to recoup close to $20 million in signing bonus money, cause Vick to lose ALL of his lucrative endorsements (worth over $100 million per year), and made a guy who was selling insurance last year look like the savior of the franchise in the final game of the season.

Way to go, Mike!

1. Barack Obama Running for President

I went to a political rally in Atlanta for Barack Obama in April 2007. I was mesmerized by his message and presence. Since that time, I've really upped my support for Obama's candidacy and even contributed some money to his campaign. Latest word has him leading in the polls just prior to the Iowa caucuses which take place on Thursday, January 3, 2008.

Ten months from now, we'll see if plezWorld has picked another winner. Lord knows, we need him!

Well, here's to 2008... Blog on!

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Ya'll!

I got my collard greens and black eyed peas bubbling on the stove... plezWorld will be eating good tonight!

Have a safe and prosperous 2008.

Bhutto Assassination & War on Terror

Twice-serving Pakastani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday evening as she left a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The New York Times reports that she was apparently shot several times as she was riding in a car away from the rally and then the gunman detonated a bomb killing himself and at least 20 others, and injuring 50 more. Bhutto was at a political rally only two weeks before Pakistan was to hold elections where she was leading in the polls to return to the prime minister post again.

The assassination and accompanying violence has plunged this hotbed of extremist radical turmoil; President Pervez Musharraf will more than likely have to impose another state of emergency, leading to a clamp down by his former troops (he recently stepped down as the head of the military).

Read the entire New York Times article here.


plez sez: this morning, i had planned to settle down with some C-SPAN when the news broke about the apparent bhutto assassination (at the time, there was only the report of a suicide bomber at her rally), so i quickly flipped over to CNN for an update. by this time, it had been confirmed that she had been shot and a bomb had been detonated a few seconds later.

this is a sad day for the world: armed terrorists are continuing to wreak havoc in the middle east and this was another "in your face" to bush's failed war on terror. the american people were bamboozled into supporting the war in iraq under the guise of a war on terror... for the past four years, our troops have been bombing and terrorizing the WRONG PEOPLE! OSAMA BIN LADEN and his gang (al qaeda) are not in iraq, they are alive and well in afghanistan and pakistan. they have widespread support in these countries. BARACK OBAMA was castigated for his talk of sending troops into pakistan after bin laden if their government would do nothing when he becomes president... as evidenced by today's bombing, apparently, obama's intelligence is more reliable than george w. bush's!

bhutto had spoken out against the terrorists and extremists who had taken up residence in her country and was determined to eradicate them... her Fate was death. this entire region is without strong leadership and the america's presence is doing little to deter their stronghold. if these terrorist cells are not destroyed, it will only be a matter of time before we are threatened with another 9/11 with those pakistani nuclear weapons (yes, people, pakistan has nuclear weaons)! our presence in iraq is not the answer and it appears that we are four years too late to pakistan! we can only hope that the next administration can provide leadership in dealing with the terroristic threat of the middle east.

"All I Want For Christmas Is You" - Music Videos

Mariah Carey:


Olivia Olson in the "Love Actually" Movie:


MERRY CHRISTMAS, Ya'll!!!

"This Christmas" - The Music

Donny Hathaway - The Original Version:

It's not Christmas until I've heard
Donny Hathaway's version of "This Christmas"

Chris Brown - Music Video:

Cuts from the movie make this video a delight

Boys II Men - Acapella:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Obama Family's Holiday Message

On Mitt Romney & Martin Luther King

Mitt Romney joined Tim Russert on NBC's Meet The Press and discussed the racist past of the Mormon church on December 16, 2007. While defending the practice of excluding Blacks in church practices until 1978, Romney let fly with the notion that his father was a staunch supporter of civil rights and had in fact marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mitt Romney speaks of seeing his father march with Martin Luther King, Jr. during his "Faith in America" speech on December 7, 2007.

plez sez: it was no surprise that the mormon faith had race-based exclusionary practices up until the mid-1970's. i was a bit surprised that a guy running for president in 2007 would continue to defend those practices as though everything is cool; hell, it's been 30 years since the church has renounced the practice! by evading tim russert's question on this issue, it seems that mitt romney is saying, "until 1978 when the church fathers had this epiphany about Black folk, racial discrimination in the mormon church was cool!"

but my jaw dropped when mitt romney went on to talk about how his father marched with MARTIN LUTHER KING, Jr.! say what?!? well, i had to look this up because something about that statement just didn't seem to ring true... to be honest, it comes off as political balderdash in an effort to get votes in an election year.

so i go to the salt lake tribune, the hometown paper of the mormon church... it seems that they can't seem to dig up this phantom march!

the boston phoenix is in the state where mitt was the governor for 4 years... they printed this explanation: "A spokesperson for Mitt Romney now tells the Phoenix that George W. Romney [Mitt's father] and Martin Luther King Jr. marched together in June, 1963 -- although possibly not on the same day or in the same city."

on to the detroit free press which is located in the state where george romney was governor when this march in 1963 with MLK allegedly took place. A spokesman for romney is quoted as saying, "He was speaking figuratively, not literally."

in other words, mitt romney is traipsing around the country LYING about his father's involvement with MARTIN LUTHER KING and the civil rights movement. as i wrote in a previous comment on plezWorld, i'm disturbed when Martin Luther King's lieutenants (like andrew young & jesse jackson) make a mockery of his legacy with their actions... so it makes my blood boil when some right-wing vote-whoring politician who couldn't care less (LITERALLY & FIGURATIVELY) about Black folk ties his political fortunes to the struggle of Black folk in America... mitt romney is plain sickening!

[Hat Tip: rikyrah]

SugarPlum & Candy Cane Cookies

The SugarPlum's school is out this week for the holidays. For the past couple of days, SugarPlum and one of her friends from her class are engaged in an extended playdate (3 days and counting...). Monday was the movie "Enchanted" and shopping at the mall. Yesterday was "Alvin & The Chipmunks" and shopping at the mall. Today was the Waffle House for breakfast, accompanying me to the barbershop, a couple of intense rounds of Hullabuloo, getting their nails did (my daughter has a small Christmas tree painted on her big toe nails), whipping up some chocolate milkshakes, and baking some cookies out of her friend's Christmas Cookies Cookbook.

Imagine the division of labor between 6- and 7-year old Montessori School students while trying to modify a recipe on the fly, successfully mixing all of the ingredients, facilitating the construction of candy canes made of dough, and then baking one batch of cookies. One breaks the eggs, while the other mixes them in a bowl. One measures the flour, while the other measures the sugar. I added the peppermint extract to the recipe, so that the cookies will taste more like a real candy cane.

The girls didn't appreciate the final product (it was more fun making them and they didn't look enough like a candy cane to them), but my wife and I really enjoyed the cookies. They are buttery, light, with a hint of almond and peppermint in each bite. I'll have a few tonight with a glass of milk after the girls are tucked into bed.

plezWorld Candy Cane Cookie recipe:
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon red food coloring

Beat together sugar and margarine until creamy with an electric mixer at medium speed. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract; set aside. Mix flour and baking powder; stir into butter & sugar mixture. Divide dough in halves: mix almond extract to one half, mix peppermint extract and food coloring with the other half. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Divide each half into 32 pieces; (and here comes the hard part) roll each into a 5-inch rope. Twist together one red and one plain rope and bend end to form candy canes. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden. Remove from baking sheets; cool on wire racks. Store in airtight container. Makes 2-1/2 dozen candy canes.

I have no idea what tomorrow will bring!

Barack Obama - Our Hope for the Future

Since attending the Obama Rally in Atlanta, Georgia in April 2007, plezWorld has been a staunch supporter for Barack Obama's run for the White House. I sincerely feel that he shares my hope for a brighter day in America, a day that removes the roadblocks of petty partisan politics, a day the ushers in a time for civil discourse, and a day the restores America's place in the world as a facilitator of peace, rather than the harbinger of death and destruction. I also share Obama's steadfast opposition to the War in Iraq, an act that was wrong from the first day that our jets strafed that country, until today. I applaud Obama's call for a more focused search for Osama Bin Laden. And I also agree with his plan for universal health care for all Americans.

In addition to creating a blog at the Obama '08 site, I have done something that I have never done before: plezWorld contributed cold, hard cash to a presidential campaign. I want to share the e-mail message that was recently received from "Obama for America" campaign:

Dear plezWorld,

Thank you for your generous donation of $*,***.00.

Your gift will be immediately put to work building a campaign to change our country and our politics for the better.

Looking for more ways to get involved?

Head over to My.BarackObama.com where our growing set of tools puts the future of this campaign in your hands:

On My.BarackObama.com you can...

build your own profile and connect with supporters near you

find or create your own local or national group

create your own personal fundraising page and track your progress

find events near you or plan your own

chronicle your campaign experience on your own blog

There will be much more to come in the weeks and months ahead thanks to your support.

Thank you again for your donation.

Obama for America
http://www.BarackObama.com

Note: The size of the donation is irrelevant, the amount was obscured in an effort to encourage you, the reader, to actively support Obama for President. His website will accept donations of any amount.

Bill & George for Hillary?

"Well, the first thing she intends to do, because you can do this without passing a bill, the first thing she intends to do is to send me and former President Bush and a number of other people around the world to tell them that America is open for business and cooperation again."
-Bill Clinton in response to a question from a supporter about what his wife's "number one priority" would be as president. [read more at CNN's Political Ticker].

It is obvious that this slap at Bush 43's ineffectual leadership for the past two terms did not escape the Republicans, as RNC spokesman Danny Diaz quickly responded with the following statement in response to Clinton's comments: "In 2009, a Republican president will be working with our friends and allies abroad to continue to keep our nation safe. The American people expect our leaders — both current and former — to present serious solutions to the very real challenges confronting our nation." [read more at CNN's Political Ticker]


plez sez: come on, folks! it's 11 months BEFORE the election and i'm already tired of the second clinton administration!

what is going on in the mind of bill clinton? does he still think that he can get away with saying ANYTHING?!? or is he suffering from the early stages of dementia? what in the heck would compel W's father go on a world tour with bill clinton to tell the world what the world already knows: that his son is a blubberin' idiot and that W has been screwing everything up for the past 8 years!

i mean, there's a big chasm between hubris and insanity - it seems that bill is mired in it. bill's comment is so loaded with foolishness, that this latest episode (bill's comment and the RNC response) must come in second on the HILLARY HUMILIATION METER to the discovery of that "stained" blue dress.

even though, america has survived 8 years of george w. bush, i know we're not going to sign up for another 8 years of clintonocracy. imagine how much trouble ex-president bill will get in if he's back in the white house! if he is delusional enough to believe that george h. w. bush is going to do a world tour with him to trash his son, then i'm also thinking that he's planning to "party like a rock star" during his second stint at 1600 pennsylvania avenue... hillary won't get any work done (or much sleep) for cleaning up the "mess" bill will be making all over the world (sorta like having an older version of jimmy carter's brother, billy, except he'll actually be living full time in the white house).

and worse yet, we'll have TWO presidents in the white house saying whatever moods hits them, because neither has the moral character or integrity to actually say what they really believe. like hillary saying that she didn't authorize anyone to continually bring up that old news about barack obama's drug use. like bill saying that he wasn't criticizing barack obama when he called him too inexperienced to be president. [read about it at CNN's Political Ticker]

we're only two weeks away from the iowa caucus. there is a great alternative to this clinton mess, and his name is BARACK OBAMA! he is grounded, he has a good sense of self, and he provides the hope and change for this country that the clintons only dream about. let's break the bush-clinton monarchy here, before jeb bush decides to run for president in 2016!

"Christmas Rappin'" by Kurtis Blow

"Christmas Rappin'" by Kurtis Blow

As released by Mercury Records in 1979

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house...

Hold Up! That's played out!

Don't you get me all that jive
About things you wrote before I was alive
'Cause this ain't 1823
Ain't even 1970

Now I'm the guy named Kurtis Blow
And Christmas is one thing I know
So every year, just about this time
I celebrate it with a rhyme

Gonna shake it, gonna bake it, gonna make it good
Gonna rock shock rock through your neighborhood
Gonna ring it, gonna sing it till it's understood
My rap's about to happen
Like the knee you was slappin
Or the toe you been tappin' on a hunk of wood

'Bout a red-suited dude, with a friendly attitude
And a sleigh full of goodies for the people on the block
Got a long white beard, maybe looks kind of weird
And if you ever seen him he could give a quite shock

Now people let me tell ya about last year
When the dude came flying over here
Well the hawk was out, the snow's on the ground,
Folks stayed in to party down

The beat was thumping on the block,
And I was dancing in my socks

And the drummer played at a solid pace

And a taste of the bass was in my face

And the guitar player laid down a heavy layer of the funky chunky rhythm of the disco beat

And the guy with the 88
Started to participate
And I could sure appreciate it sound so sweat

We were all in the mood so we had a little food
And a joke, and a smoke, and a little bit of wine
When I thought I heard a hoof on top of the roof
Could it be or was it me? I was feeling super fine

So I went to the attic where I thought heard the static
On a chance that the prance was somebody breaking in
But the noise on the top was a reindeer clop
Just a tricky St. Nick so I let the sucker in

He was rolly, he was poly, and not the holy moly
You got a lot of whiskers on your chinny, chin, chin
He was loud, he was proud of the hairy little crowd
On the point of the door where the skin should've been

Get's cool for a fool throwin' out a merry yule
For a day on sleigh where the cold winds blow
So the beard maybe cleared but I never have it cheered
'Cause it's warm in the storm when it's ten below

I said, "You're right it's cold tonight,
Can you stop for a drop before you go?"
He said, "Why not? If the music's hot,
And I'll chance a dance beneath the mistletoe."

So he went downstairs and forgot his cares
And he rocked the spot and danced like a pro
And every young girl tried to rock his world
But he boogie oogie oogied till he had to go

And before he went this fine old gent
Finding gifts went sift through his big red bag
In the top for the bottom he reached in and got 'em
Had toys for boys and a girl's glad rag

And the grownups got some presents too
A new TV and a stere-u.
A new Seville 'bout as blue as the sky
The best that money couldn't buy

'Cause money could never ever buy the feelin
The one that comes from not concealin'
The way you feel about your friends
And this is how the story ends

The dude he heads back at the pole
Up north where everything is cold
But if he were right here tonight
He'd say "Merry Christmas! And to all--a good night!"

~~~~~ RAPPIN' BLOW, PART 2 ~~~~~

I see that its not clear,
For you good buddy so clean out your ears,
So listen very closely while I pop my game,
'Cause my names in the Hall of Fame

The K-U-R, the T-I-S,
The first is the best I must confess
The B-L-O and the W
Makes you wanna catch the boogaloo flu

Now, If your name is Annie
Get up off your fannie
If your name is Clyde,
Get off your backside
If you name is Pete,
You don't need a seat

'Cause i'm Kurtis Blow and i'm on the go
I'm rocking to the beat in stere-ery-oh!

Now just throw your hands in the air
And wave 'em like you just don't care.
And if your ready like freddie to rock real steady ,
Somebody say, "Oh yeah!"

Young ladies, all the ladies in the house say, "Owww"
And you don't stop, come on, come on, come on, let me see you rock.

Ah get down and stop messing around
When Kurtis Blow is in your town
I'm Kurtis Blow on the microphone
A place called Harlem was my home

I was rocking one day, it started to shake
It sound to me a-like a earthquake
I packed my bags, I said goodbye
I kissed my woman, and I started to fly

I came to Earth by a meteorite
To rock you all on the mic
So just kick off your shoes, let your fingers pop
Kurtis Blow's just about ready to rock

Now people in the back, if you're not the whack, say:
"Don't stop the body rock!"

People in the front, if you want to bump, say:
"Don't stop the body rock!"

People in the middle, if you want to wiggle, say:
"Don't stop the body rock!"

And people on the side, if you want to slide, say:
"Don't stop the body rock!"

Now a preacher or a teacher or a e-lec-tri-cian
A fighter, or a writer, or a po-li-ti-cian
The man with the key to your ignition
Kurtis Blow is competition

Young ladies, shock the house
Yes, the young ladies, shock the house

A-just throw your hands in the air
And wave them like you just don't care

If you're really, really ready to rock this house this morning
Somebody say, "Oh yeah!"

Somebody scream

KURTIS BLOW AD LIB & 70's ERA PARTY CHANTS

plez sez: quite possibly the GREATEST christmas song ever?!? quite possibly the GREATEST dance hit ever?!? ok, it is easily the GREATEST christmas song that you can dance to!!!

it is a fact that this was the FIRST rap single ever released by a major record label! kurtis blow and his two producers took this song to Mercury Records, who signed him to a 2-single deal, under the condition that if both singles were successful, he would get an album deal. this was the first single, and it did very well. the second single was "The Breaks," and it became the first rap song to be certified as a gold record, selling over 500,000 copies. kurtis got the album deal and became the first rapper signed to a major label. his first album contained the second part of "Christmas Rappin'," the party part with was released as "Rappin' Blow, Part 2."

plezWorld was in high school and had a party at my house during the christmas break. i remember that my parents' house was packed, cars were all over the front lawn, and my oldest brother hooked me up with some "punch" and one of his frat brothers played the part of the dj. this song had just been released and it was the ONLY song that we played at the party... over and over and over! it was such a JAM, that we didn't want to listen to any of the other records! those were the days when you could throw a house party with only one or two records.

it's funny, but this single (which was a 12" single) is probably still in the record player at my parents' house.

NOTE: the sugar hill gang's "rapper's delight" was released earlier in the year by sugar hill records, which was not a major label at the time.


["christmas rappin'" info courtesy of SongFacts.]