Christmas in the BLOGOSPHERE!

It's 2:12AM Christmas moring...

Gifts and toys are under the tree and the 9 year old in me is breakin' all the rules... I'm staying up!

No I'm not looking for the fat man...

I'm givin' a shout out to everyone that has made my blog one of my 2006 highlights! My blog has amazed me with the number of people that take the time to read my thoughts and opinions and leave comments, thoughts and opinions of their own! The kinds of interractions I've seen on this blog are humbling and amazing. I've had folks agree with me, challenge me, disagree with me and just plain keep on top of me and I want to thank you all and I want to wish all of you the best Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Festivus - whatever it is you celebrate in late December.

I want to send out a special end of year wish to some of my cyber-friends that bless and honor me with their frequent visits, comments and thoughts on my blog! Please forgive me if I accidentally left your name off, I've been putting toys together and my brain is a little fried!!!

-Gunfighter
-Anali
-DJ Black Adam
-Tasha
-Golden Silence
-Creole in DC
-Native Son
-Seaniemo
-TDJ
-Heavenly Zeta
-Evia
-Clare
-Notta Golddigger
-JAC
-Curious
-JJ
-KJ
-Da Rattler
-DATMF
-Charlie Mack's Granddaughter
-Mad Cabbie
-Tickled Pinkies
-Elizabeth
-MMAFAN
-K Dad
-Oface
-I am not Starr Jones
-MsDee
-Coco Stasia

...And all the countless "ANONYMOUS" commenters.

Merry Christmas and my best wishes to you and your families in the year to come!

...and a blogger shall lead them.

-The Thinking Black Man

Cellular Annoyance!!!

Few things bother me as much as rude fools on their cell phones.

I took a final exam today in a controlled test room. On the door was a big sign that read "TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE" then inside the door was big sign that read "TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE." Then the woman that was at the sign in desk asked, "Do you have a cell phone? If you do, please turn it off now." Along the walls there were numerous signs with big pictures of cell phones that read, "EXAM ROOM - ALL CELLULAR PHONES MUST BE TURNED OFF."

Okay, so an hour later I'm calculating the difference between FIFO and LIFO inventory management when... A FREAKIN' CELL PHONE STARTS RINGING!!!! And not just ringing, but blasting some vulgar rap song! The rude fool that didn't follow the easiest directions in the world had the nerve to take her time turning it off! How rude and stupid and thoughtless do you have to be to NOT turn off your cell phone in a TESTING ROOM. I can't even accept that she forgot about it. Like so many rude fools I come across on the subway and in the streets, that cell phone means more to her than respecting the people around her.

These ignorant people absolutely kill me. I have heard some of the most vulgar and insane conversations being shouted into cellphones on the subway, and in stores.

• I've heard guys running down what they did and were gonna' do to women in the bedroom;
• I've heard a mother cursing her lawyer out for not getting her child support payments reduced;
• I've heard countless people carrying on the loudest conversations about absolutely nothing on their darn cell phones;
• I've heard losers rehearsing their vulgar rap lyrics into their cellphones;
• I was almost run over in a crosswalk by some dumb woman trying to talk on her cellphone with one hand while barely turning her stiring wheel with the other;
• I was nearly run off the road a few weeks ago by a thoughtless clown running his lips on his cell phone on I-95.

Basically I'm fed up with this creepy love of the cell phone that so many people are showing! Folks walking around all day with these big wireless ear pieces on with the blinking lights looking like the freakin' Borg. It's all insanity to me!

I'm not knocking cell phones themselves - I think they are incredible devices and they make life very convenient. But the insane addiction that so many people have towards them gives me the willies. Some folks can't stand to be more than a few seconds away from that first ring; some folks can't exist for more than a few minutes before having to yack on the phone with ANYONE about the first little flicker of thought that enters their little pea brains; and some folks CAN'T EVEN TURN THEIR PHONE OFF FOR THREE HOURS IN A SILENT EXAM ROOM WITH 20 SIGNS THAT TELL THEM TO CUT THEM OFF!!!

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

Can anyone explain "Declining Balance Depreciation" in 30 words or less? Nevermind...

TTBM

Jumping the gun with Steve Jett (no pun intended)

When I was a kid, I had this little wooden jig-saw puzzle map of the United States. I loved that thing. I think that's why US geography always came easy to me. I remember that Idaho was a fat yellow 'L' shaped state that went in fourth, after I put in Washington, Oregon and California. Now, while I knew where the state went in relations to the other 49, I had no real idea of the cities and towns that made up the fat 'L' shaped state. So when I heard about a town called Greenleaf considering a unique gun ordinance, my first question was "Where in the hell is Greenleaf?" That question stood out so much with me that I ended up using it as a title in my blog posting about the creator of this 'ordinance', a councilman named Steve Jett.

The article I read was compressed from several east coast newspapers and a news website. It implied that this Steve Jett fellow was implying that hurricane Katrina refugees or refugees like them could end up in the small town of Greenleaf and he was suggesting that townsfolk arm themselves against the impending crimewave that would insue. I think if anyone could have seen me when I first heard this on the radio and THEN read it in print - they would pobably think I was about to blow an artery. I was livid, to put it mildly.

So, I started blogging. Basically I tore this Steve Jett a new one.

Then I noticed a comment on my posting, actually two comments, several weeks later. This person identified themselves as a Greenleaf citizen and they told me that the story I heard/read had been spun out of context and they suggested I do more research. I agreed.

In my posting, I called Steve Jett an asshole. Actually to be perfectly correct I called him a 'Racist Asshole.' To me, those are two significant words to call someone and at the time I felt I was justified. At the time I thought this guy was using race and fear to stir up his town. I have since found that the articles I encountered were spun a fair amount. So basically, I now believe that I was wrong about Steve Jett. From my newest research I have concluded that Steve Jett is neither racist OR an asshole.

In a nutshell, the basis for Steve Jett's gun ordinance suggestion, which was part of a larger community ordinance, called for citizens to consider [CONSIDER] arming themselves to be prepared to protect their homes from possible spill-over crime from larger cities in the region - NOT from possible hurricane Katrina victims! Greenleaf is a small town with less than 900 people, no reported crime, and practically no police force. Personally, I agree with what he is saying. I agree with it and I do it myself. I have been the first-hand victim of spill-over crime from people that came from DC to my neighborhood to steal from me, and I have quite a "welcome" for anyone foolish enough to break into my home while I am there. So, I was wrong to call Steve Jett a racist asshole for what he is trying to do.

I know that most blogs are just opinions and rolling conversations, I consider mine to be just that. If I was talking to someone or sharing my opinion face to face with anyone that was kind enough to listen [or read, in this case] and I said something that was wrong or improper to them or about them, I was raised by my parents to be the type of man to apologize - so, I apologize to Steve Jett for calling him a racist and an asshole. I'm sure he'll personally never read this blog, so my apology may just go out into the cybersphere, and that is fine with me. I believe the universe tends to unfold as it should, so I have sent my karma out to wherever it is supposed to be.

PS. I still don't agree with Mr. Jett's claims to be using the second amendment to the Constitution in his ordinance, but a lot of folks make this claim and I happen to disagree with them all.

TTBM