The Recklessness Of Calling The President A 'Nigga'.

At President Obama's final White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this past Saturday night, jokes were told and punchlines were... well, punched. And yet, I can't help but feel a little disappointed after watching the event. Larry Wilmore, a rather talented comedian and news pundit, hosted the event. I typically enjoy Wilmore's comedy, but his closing remarks left me scratching my head. To quote:

“I’m going to keep it 100. Yo Barry, you did it my nigga.”

Now, I'm not going to lob accusations of racism at Wilmore. I fully realize that he did not intend anything atrocious by calling the President a 'nigga'. In fact, Wilmore most certainly intended the use of the word as a friendly gesture. And yet, the callous implementation of such a derogatory label represents the very problem I have with someone identifying the President a 'nigga'. Or, for that matter, anyone else. Our President, love him or hate him, holds a distinct honor of lofty esteem. The office of the President deserves respect, even in moments of anger or disagreement. It's not the person filling the shoes of Commander-in-Chief, but the position itself that should be venerated.

Wilmore's use of 'nigga' represents a continuing social dilemma that I've written about previously (read here, here and here). For hundreds of years in this country, minorities of African descent were chained, enslaved, beaten, attacked, raped and all-around denigrated, only to be called 'niggers' as a stamp of sub-human garbage. As recently as the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's, our fellow citizens bled (and in many cases died) to live as equal men and women, free from the label of 'nigger'. Over the course of recent history, 'nigger' has morphed into 'nigga', essentially as a product of slang and street culture. Though they may be spelled slightly differently, they are one in the same. 'Nigga' is spelled phonetically to represent common vernacular.

And here we are, 2016... our President (a man of mixed heritage, nonetheless) being called a 'nigga'.

Such reckless abandon for our own shared history, no matter your ethnic heritage or place of origin, is grossly negligent. Despite the friendly motivations by calling another man a 'nigga', are we so blind as to not understand what the word means? Do we not understand the immense struggle behind such a connotation of disparagement? I don't believe in censorship of any kind, but I do believe that we must be responsible for the words that we speak.

No man is a 'nigga'. Not your friend. Not your family member. And most certainly, not the President.

The Local News Won't Shut Up About The Carolina Panthers.

As if you hadn't already been made aware a million times over, the Carolina Panthers are going to the Super Bowl. Though I may be a resident of North Carolina, I really do not give a damn. The NFL is terrible on all fronts.

If you were to watch the local television news broadcasts in my viewing area, you'd witness a never-ending barrage of Panthers-related fluff and human interest stories. All they seem to report on is the Panthers, day in and day out. Mind you, there are incredibly noteworthy news events happening in our world right now, at this very moment. Instead, the local news has decided to spend a very considerable portion of each telecast on the Panthers and their chances of winning Super Bowl L.

(Scratch that, it's Super Bowl '50'. The NFL decided that the Roman Numeral 'L' was too difficult for its viewers to understand. They might be right.)

Considering the amount of time allocated in a thirty minute newscast to sports and the weather, there's little actual news content at all.

Take last night for instance. My local CBS affiliate, WFMY News 2, loaded their 11 PM telecast with Panthers related segments. One story focused on fans complaining about the team's season-long underdog status. Another segment spoke of the local department, sporting goods and clothing stores in the area selling Panthers merchandise (essentially, all of them) and how it had become extremely popular in recent weeks (no duh). Don't worry though -- store managers are ordering more in case you were in dire need. I must have missed the news about the internet being closed for business. Guess you can't buy team merchandise online, 24-7 any more. Perhaps the dumbest segment of all -- they reported on fans with the most ridiculous 'game-influencing' superstitions. That's right... things that don't even exist made the evening news.

When it comes to being an informed populace, we're so screwed.

I've long been a critic of local news, but the lead up to Super Bowl 50 between the Panthers and Denver Broncos has been woefully depressing. There are people dying in Syria. Children in Flint, Michigan are suffering from lead poisoning. The Zika virus is spreading at unprecedented levels all across the globe. North Korea may have just tested a hydrogen bomb. Artificial intelligence is one step closer to being a reality. A ninth planet might actually exist within our solar system.

But no... ignore all that relevant information. Two groups of overpaid guys throwing a ball up and down a field is way more important.

Irresponsible Idiot Accidentally Kills Entire Family, But He's a Hero?

A troubling bit of news broke today about a family that died in their sleep over the weekend. Their bodies were found Monday. Rodney Todd (36) of Princess Anne, Maryland was found dead with his seven children in their home. They apparently were all victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. A few days previous, Mr. Todd's local utility company (Delmarva Power) had disconnected an illegal power meter that was stealing electricity from their grid. Todd had never established a legal utility connection in the six months he lived in the home.

In perhaps one of the dumbest moves ever on record, Todd installed a gas-powered generator inside his home kitchen. The carbon monoxide fumes from the generator essentially suffocated his entire family, including himself.

A typical warning label found on all gas generators. Had Mr. Todd heeded the label on his generator, his seven children wouldn't be dead.

I certainly hope that the seven children, whom ranged between ages 6 and 15, all passed away peacefully and without pain.

That being said, their father is an irresponsible idiot.

As the news disseminated all over the internet today, details about Todd and his children started to emerge. He was apparently granted custody of his children after a divorce from his wife and mother of the children, Tyisha Chambers. Shockingly, he was awarded this custody after stabbing Tyisha in the face and serving sixteen months in prison! What court in America would do such a thing? But, the absurdity does not end there. After their divorce, Chambers claimed she "lost track" of where Todd moved to with her children and was unable to provide child support. When asked about the death of her children, she was quoted as saying that...

"I'm just numb. Like it's a nightmare but it's not... If I had known he was without electricity, I would have helped."

So let me see if I can understand Chambers' statement here. She claims to not have known where her kids were, but suddenly she would have helped Todd if she'd known he was without power? Did she or did she not know about the conditions her children were living in? Much less, it took her children to be missing and living without power for her to want to help? What kind of mother does that?

This is enough to make my head spin. We clearly have yet another example of two thoughtless nimrods who couldn't seem to stop having unprotected sex, then completely and utterly failed to take care of their unplanned offspring. Seven children dead, all in one fell swoop -- Tyjuziana (15), Cameron (13), Tykeria (12), Tynijuzia (10), TyNiah (9), ZhiHeem (7) and Tybreyia (6). These poor kids are the victims here. They were haplessly slaughtered in a moment of stupidity by a man that had no business having children.

In various interviews done by local news media outlets, co-workers and friends of Mr. Todd have praised him as a hard-working man that did everything he could for his children. The media has begun to spin Todd as a hero, saying that he did all possible to provide a good life for his family. Yes, everything he could... except not install a generator in his house, not stab his wife and the mother of his children in the face, not steal electricity, not recklessly reproduce and not kill his kids. Yep... he sounds like a really fantastic father. Give me a break! If only he'd killed himself and not his kids, at least the kids could have entered into the foster system and potentially been adopted by someone who would actually give a crap about them.

Close your legs. Zip up your pants. Wear a condom. Do whatever you have to do to keep incidents like this from happening. The only people I feel sorry for are the innocent children who had no say in their creation... or their death.

For Your Viewing Pleasure.

Good evening everyone.

You'll have to forgive my brevity this evening. I've been experiencing some heart palpitations and severe chest congestion, so I'm feeling a bit under the weather. I just thought I'd link you to a few interesting articles from around the web for your viewing pleasure.

McDonald's Employee Told to Treat Burn with Mustard:
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/16/mcdonalds-workers-claim-they-were-told-to-treat-burns-with-mayo-mustard/

Death, Baby Boomers and the Oncoming Cemetery Space Crisis:
http://www.citylab.com/housing/2012/10/americas-looming-burial-crisis/3752/

Does the Octopus Make a Good Pet?:
http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/does-an-octopus-make-a-good-pet

Thanks.

Why Does My Local TV News Suck?

Have you ever really payed attention to the quality of your local TV news?

The next time you're catching a televised news broadcast before or after dinner (5-6 PM), or resting in bed before going to sleep (10-11 PM), pay attention to the types of stories your local news station reports on. It doesn't matter which affiliate you choose -- CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox. Just pick one and focus.

Yep... local news sucks.

Since I live in a suburb of Greensboro, North Carolina, I have over-the-air access to local television news from a few different sources.

• WFMY CBS News 2
• WGHP Fox 8
• WXLV ABC 45
• WTVD ABC 11 (Raleigh-Durham)

I'm in a unique location where I'm out of range for my local NBC affiliate, but pick up the ABC station out of Raleigh to the east. Go figure.

No matter which broadcast I might happen to see, the routine is always the same -- lead off with the supposed "big news" of the day, then follow it up with ten minutes of fluff pieces. Finally, close the broadcast out with ten minutes of sports scores and highlights. Fluff pieces are stories that bear little to no importance, but are trumped up as having pertinence for the sake of dramatization. Here's an example that one of my local stations recently reported on:

NC Married Couple Of 50 Years Has Wedding Rings Stolen

(click me)

Now please explain to me -- HOW IN THE HOLY HELL IS THIS PERTINENT TO MY LIFE? Is it a sad thing that an old couple had their wedding rings stolen? Of course. Is it important enough to put on the evening news and consume nearly 7% of the entire broadcast? No way! This is one of a near endless stream of fluff stories that pad out the local news. Here's another example:

Mt. Airy Worker Surprised With $1000 Check

(click me)

Yet again, another non-relevant story that doesn't deserve two minutes, let alone two seconds, on an evening news broadcast. Basically, someone got paid a check. If that's evening news-caliber content... hell, I process tons of financial transactions every day. Let's do some reporting on my life.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Local news is filled with very little actual news -- it's all fluff about weddings, automobile accidents, cops arresting someone unimportant, donuts, celebrities, how to find the best deal on tennis shoes, what apps you should be downloading and much more useless garbage!

Concurrently, the national news broadcasts from the major networks are terrible; I wrote them off ages ago. They're bought and paid for by their sponsors. The only "news" you'll see there is what they want you to see -- just more mainstream crap lacking content and with little substance. Yet, local news actually has the opportunity to break away from that sour tradition. News stations, especially those in smaller television markets, have the chance to do groundbreaking journalism that actually digs deep into important stories. Why not provide information on:

• local political movements
• city or county policy measures
• zoning changes
• law updates from the state legislature
• uncover information about crooked politicians
• send reporters abroad for international events
• cover environmental issues and accidents
• investigate corrupt businesses
• breakthroughs in science, technology and medicine

There's a plethora of relevant information and events that can and will influence our lives -- the leg work just has to be done. The problem? Program directors and station managers don't want to invest the time, energy and resources into fulfilling the promise of actual journalism. They want their reporters to pass along the same tired crap that every other news station will recycle... what's on the local school lunch menu, celebrity sightings, pointless cooking segments. Of course, let's not forget how important all those high school or college football and basketball scores are -- how dare I speak ill of it!

Guess what -- your local sports scores are crap. They mean nothing. NOTHING! If I want to check on the score of a sporting event (whether local or professional), I have this little thing CALLED THE INTERNET!

And don't even get me started on weather reporting. Around these parts, a few inches of snow puts an absolute grinding halt to everything. We recently had some fairly substantial snow fall in the area and that's ALL the news broadcasts covered. Why they felt the need to do satellite remotes with reporters freezing their asses off in the snow baffles me. I don't need to watch douche bags sledding down interstate ramps or building snow men.

The one part of the local news that I don't place any blame are the reporters. They got into journalism to do actual, groundbreaking work. I can only imagine the look on the face of a first-day reporter. Surely, they wonder why they spent many years in college and many thousands of dollars on a journalism or broadcasting degree to report on a local housefire. Talk about draining the life out of your own soul.

At this point, why do they even bother to call it "news". Instead, just call a spade a spade -- its merely a local pop culture magazine.