In an effort to shake up this year’s election a little more John McCain has formally suspended his Presidential Campaign. I read these words on CNN and thought, wow have we won the election without an election. Of course we have not, instead this is more Political games that the Republican Party would like to engage the American public in in an attempt to look patriotic.

McCain has also asked that Barack Obama do the same, he claims he is taking these measures so that both of them can go to Washington D.C. and fight the good fight for this $700 billion dollar bail out. McCain has also cancelled this Friday’s upcoming debate, but what does either of them suspending their campaigns really do for the problem at hand.

Was the economy not in a disarray when many people in this country began seeing their homes go into foreclosure? Was the economy not is a state of disbelief last week as we saw the stocks plunge and the collapse of some of the largest Banking Institutions? So why now?

I’ll tell you why, McCain has become the game changer in this election unfortunately, however his failed gimmicks don’t last long. He brought out the pit bull in a skirt, she had no experience, everyone pounced on her and their polls sky rocketed. It worked, it really did, for about 11 days. Then we started to see him slip again in the polls. Now we are watching the economy take a nose dive, something we know is not McCain’s strong suit. The polls start to favor Senator Obama some more so John McCain pulls this move, I mean hes at the bottom and has no where to go but up anyway.

But while some Americans will see this as patriotic, a valiant fight for the little guy. I see this as worse than Karl Rove tactics, this is a man blatantly playing with the lives and minds of American people. This is a party that would rather invoke fear than deal systematically with real issues. The fear is this, our present situation is so dire that I will suspend my campaign, (well just a few stops) and create the illusion that I am about to get something done for the American people. Oh look how selfless I am, but the truth is I’m a desperate old man who has lost his marbles and is really showing people that I have no leadership skills.

When the tough gets going you come to the rescue yes but does a leader abandon everything else he has been working on. NO, a leader delegates responsibilities, stays up late nights and gets the job done by any means necessary never compromising his role as a leader. I’m not a fan of George Bush but did he suspend his presidency as 9/11 took place and we were faced with grave danger. Some would say that he should have but I remember the night of 9/11. I remember watching George Bush make his speech about us finding justice and although that justice has been very tainted I thank him for atleast attempting to find what he thought was justice rather than suspending his campaign in the middle of one of the most crucial elections in hopes to gain votes form the little people. Those little people you could care less about as you eat dinner at one of 7 different kitchen tables, as you drive down the street in 1 of 13 cars. John McCain is more than out of touch he is unfit to lead!

Now the mainstream media is announcing what we have known over here at Notes of This Native Son for quite some time. Colin Powell is set to announce his full fledged support behind Barack Obama at the Convention in Denver. Team Obama YES WE CAN!

Hopefully what this endorsement will show is that Conservatives do not believe in John McCain and his supporters will convert over to Team Obama. While watching CNN I saw a statistic that claimed that McCain has a 9 point lead with Americans feeling he would be better quipped to handle international conflict.

What I just saw from this past Russia - Georgia conflict is that McCain is a real tough talker. So tough in fact, that someone will call his bluff. Why do we feel safer with a person who seems more trigger happy, that trigger happy feeling is what has so many Americans dead in Iraq now. I would take sound judgment over a trigger happy fellow any day.

here’s the link

John McCain thinks so!

John McCain has no moral ground to stand on after his despicable portrayal of Barack Obama in his current ad titled “The One”. To call John McCain and his Campaign cohorts pathetic is an understatement. This idea that McCain will slide into the White House by making his campaign a referendum on Obama instead of his own credentials is preposterous. The American people are not as dumb as McCain thinks or would like us to believe.

The ad attempted to make you feel like you were being bamboozled by some televised church service. To claim to be a Man of God yet use people’s affinity with God to attack an opponent is down right disgusting. McCain should hang it up, I hope that he keeps this nonsense up into the fall so people can see him for who he truly is. A defeatist LOSER!

Here is an interesting article in TIME magazine about this nonsense.

Many don’t know but the thriving reason behind this is to build a network of young people who want to get to know God and dialogue about spirituality without judgment. A good friend of mine started sending me daily gospel songs that would compliment the daily spiritual message in Pardon me. Her unyielding effort to provide me with inspirational songs has inspired me to share those same songs with everyone who comes into contact with this site. Today’s first installation is Heaven by Mary Mary. I hope you enjoy!

What’s really good with this! I just happened to be watching this episode of 106 & Park and I thought the jokes were all in good fun. However I guess Rocsi didn’t think so and refused to come back out to close the show. Sad! I hope noone gets fired! As a professional after I saw how tight she was getting I would have let the jokes die which we see in the video Terrence did not do!

Here’s what another blogger had to say about the fiasco:

Wow. Terrence is mean. for most of the show today Terrence was clowning Rocsi. He was checking her about how she was stuttering over her words and asked if she knew how to read. He told her that her breath stunk and she needed a mint, and asked her why she didn’t look as good as Ciara. He continued to diss her, until she finally left off the stage during the 2nd video on the countdown and refused to close out the show”

If you didn’t already know I am a student of Tupac Shakur. I don’t love words like fan because if I ever met one of these brothers I would be far from a  groupie. I would rather engage brothers in a conversation and learn from them and hopefully they would learn from me.

With that said, Tupac is one of the most phenomenal men of our time. Not because he was a self proclaimed “thug”. Not because he is this huge hip-hop icon or his Hollywood appeal in movies. No Tupac represents the good and bad of the black male. He represents the struggle between street life and intellect, he couples the two together because they are not far from one another. He showed us love and respect for black women while also showing but also launched many contradictory attacks on black women. The complexities of this Revolutionary soldier go on and on but I found a great video with him discussing then in 1995 the woes that we are facing here in America in 2008. Check it out!

I posted this because I thought this was interesting. We are all victims of being judgmental, when I first read this I was like Bushwick Bill making Gospel. WTF!

If you forgot who Bushwick Bill is, he is the midget dude from legendary rap group Geto Boyz which featured Hop Hop Heavyweight Scarface.

But if dude found God and wants to preach the gospel and feed our minds, I’m down for it. I think it was the young lady Deelishis from Flavor of Love who spoke about artists having the ability to transform and it is our own people who give us the hardest time. So I support this brother and his new endeavor. But Bill I’m going to have to download first, all of this Gospel rap aint my thing. 1

 

By Tai Saint Louis

Rapper Bushwick Bill, a member of the controversial, legendary Southern rap group The Geto Boys, is set to release his sixth solo album, with an unexpected twist.

Testimony of Redemption, which Bushwick hopes to release later this year, will be his first foray into Gospel Rap.
The new album is mostly autobiographical and confessional in nature, with Bushwick apologizing for his past misogynistic lyrics on “Praise of a Good Woman” and owning up to his wild past on “Renewed Mind,” which borrows the same Isaac Hayes sample as the Geto Boys’ classic “Mind Playing Tricks On Me.”

Testimony of Redemption also finds Bushwick Bill blending his own testament of faith with pop culture topics to keep the listener tuned in.

Bushwick even takes aim at the state of Hip-Hop on two separate tracks.

On “Pull The Trigger on the Demon,” he spits “You’re killing the South/rap about something realer than the grill in your mouth,” while “God’s Side Is The Best Side,” features Bill speaking on the unifying power of Christ over all clicks, coasts, and gangs.

While infusing the lyrics of his new opus with Biblical references and praise, Bushwick, born Richard Shaw, makes it clear that his aim is not to convert, but simply to share his own new found vision.

This new direction is not quite as surprising as many would believe.
Bushwick Bill’s career in Hip-Hop, which has spanned over two decades, has been overshadowed by his often troubled personal life.

Aside from his contributions as one third of the Geto Boys, with Scarface and Willie D rounding out the fold, Bill is probably best recognized for the May 1991 mysterious incident which left him missing an eye.

The wound was the result of a gunshot wound suffered by his own hand, or that of his girlfriend, who he persuaded to pull the trigger.

But prior to entering the world of entertainment, the Jamaican-born artist was a student of Theology, fully intent on becoming a minister.

story courtesy of www.allhiphop.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnRS-3AyGUs

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:5-8

Good afternoon, well it’s almost evening now. St. John’s has some strange computer system which is not compatible with my computer so I am unable to be on their network in the mornings. There is a desktop in the classroom, in the future I will have to use that before class starts to send out the daily message. Today was my first official day with all my students. Some tall, some short but they all were amazing, a true breath of fresh air. When you look at young students sometimes you see such an innocence. Youth who sometimes have not been hardened by the trials and tribulations we face in the world.

When I introduced myself to the students, I started off by letting them know that I am a Christian man but that I was not arrogant enough to assume that they all were too. I let them know that I also enjoy the teachings of Buddhism and find good words in not only the Qur’an but other spiritual groups literature and their teachings. It was not until later on that I realized how I started off my introduction. I am positive that a year ago that would not have been the first words out of my mouth. So that got me to thinking about growth and the knowledge of knowing that God is the reason for all goodness and our existence. I share this because I thought what was most beautiful while looking out amongst these students was their diversity. Our differences; some wore traditional Muslim garb, while others cultural or spiritual backgrounds were not as obvious.

The beauty was that I saw God’s face in each and every one of these children. While so many fight over religion and debate each other about who is right and who is superior and so forth. The lessons in these children were that we are all God’s children. God has placed them in this program, whether they are of Asian decent or Haitian decent they all have a natural beauty within them. I saw a passion to want to help one another out, and they were kind to each other. As adults we can learn a lot from these students and their ways which seemed God filled to me. Peace and Grace be unto you!

The rain does not recognize anyone as a friend; it drenches all equally.

The following piece was given to us by Ma’at. When I first read this piece I was so in tune with it that all of the other noises in the background of my mind needed to be silenced. I truly hope that this piece engages us in a discourse about not only our current reality but the change which we wish to see within our reality. Peace and Grace be unto you!

THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE

Rags to riches
Foreigner
Outsider to Inside
American Society
American Money
American Riches
The American Dream
Business Man
Drug Dealer
Hustler
Lawyer
Me…
See I
I too started off
Young
Hungry
Driven
Hustling
Toward the dream
My American Dream…… Esq.
So I did what anyone…everyone chasing the American Dream does
I hustled
Made those connects
Studied the greats…
The great hustlers….

Walked softly…. watched, listened, emulated
Worked my way through the system
The American system
Day in and Day out
Climbing the ladder
Shaking hands
Negotiating
Until
Until the party life…..got me
Addicted
Addicted to status
This little brown girl from Church Ave.. now regarded by society as a
member of an elite….
Better than you
Better than most
Damn that shit feels good
The high
The power..
It’s addictive
I’m penetrating you
Deeply, hard, long….
Now all you can do is say my name and hope you feel me tomorrow
How could I not fall in lust?
How could I not keep coming back?
Knowing it was starting to kill me…..

Yeah…the American Dream
My American Nightmare
Time moves….
PAUSE
I look around….I
Is this what success is all about
A bunch of bitches acting like bitches with big mouths
I’M LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM
AND YOU KNOW WHAT,……. ITS FUCKED UP
I live a life where I am a part of a machine that rapes my people
Rapes my mind
Bleaches my spirit
Makes “America” Rich
How fitting?
How fitting that the dream in this country
A COUNTRY BUILT ON THE PRINCIPLES OF DESTROYING WHAT MUST BE DESTROYED
FOR PERSONAL GAIN
Would idealize a life that destroys those who live it for the gain of
those in power
The essence of a Hustler’s Spirit….

WAKE UP!!!!