Watching the Supremes, You Never Know What Might Happen

I enjoy watching the Supremes. Realizing people might think I am talking about the singing ensemble (that I do like), I feel I should clarify that I am talking about the Supreme Court of the United States. It is a unique group and frankly, despite all the pundits who predict their actions, I still tend to believe that you never really know just what they might do. 

Last week they surprised me, pleasantly I might add, when they issued a joint ruling on Riley v California and UnitedStates v Wurie. These cases deal with the search of cell phones. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the opinion for this ruling, with Associate Justice Alito writing a concurring opinion.

The Court ruled, in a unanimous vote, for the people and privacy, saying that barring exigent circumstances – which must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the judge hearing the case – information contained on a mobile phone cannot be viewed without a search warrant. Roberts' opinion states, "Our cases have historically recognized that the warrant requirement is 'an important working part of our machinery of government,' not merely an inconvenience to be somehow 'weighed' against the claims of police efficiency."

Peaceful journey, brother

Music has the ability to move and transform a moment, a feeling, even a person. When music touches you, when the merged sounds and words reach you in that intimate way, you make a connection — with the music, with the performer, with the universe.

I’m saying all this now because Rapper Heavy D, Dwight Arrington Myers, died on Nov. 8 at age 44.

I’d be lying to claim I’m a devoted Heavy D fan. I didn’t really follow his career, never went to a performance or collected his albums. But if he was on television I didn’t turn away, if I heard something about him I remembered it and I had plans to pick up some songs from his latest CD, Love Opus.

But Heavy D earned a place in my life with his “Peaceful Journey” album, released in 1991. It was with that music  he connected with me, enriching my life in the process.

Please complete and return your form

Almost a month ago, my census form arrived. I remember it this time, probably because all the census conversation, research and articles written since late fall — and the note from the Census Bureau telling me it was coming — had me waiting for it to arrive.
I watched the mailman deliver the mail that day, and I was at the mailbox before he could get past the house next door. I was surprised to find the census form, but opened it first.
The ads say — 10 questions, 10 minutes — but I'm sure it didn't take that long. Once it was securely in the envelope, I drove to the nearest mailbox and dropped it in. I don't think 10 minutes elapsed from delivery to returning it to the post office.
For about a week afterward, I joked that my form had to be the first one to make it back and felt I should get an award for returning it so promptly. It's too late to be first — and no, I didn't get a prize — but we still need everyone to complete and return your form. 

No Housework Day!

I just found out today is No Housework Day! In a way, that's pretty exciting — a day set aside for the specific purpose of not doing housework. I wonder if it's a gift holiday too? Perhaps your significant other is supposed to get you a robotic vacuum or some new version of the Swiffer®. And what do the greeting cards look like?

eHow has some ideas for how to celebrate this holiday — and other information related to housework — but the gift angle could take off.

Of course, for those of us who are often so much on the go that getting it all done never seems to happen – dishes today, but sweep and mop the kitchen two days from now — it doesn't seem necessary, or expedient, to say, "OK, today don't do any housework." Around here, that could (and does several days a week) happen naturally.

Prior to coming across this wonderful news, the plans for today included a couple loads of laundry, dishes, grocery shopping and taking recycle items to the collection site. What am I to do now?

It's quite a dilemma. Do I respect the time honored day of recognition for diligent keepers of clean houses everywhere? Or do I stick to my plans because I'm not sure of my next opportunity fit in those most important chores?

One thing's guaranteed, it's going on my calendar, with a reminder set for a week in advance. I will be prepared to skip housework next year on April 7th.

I'm looking forward to it!

Happy No Housework Day everyone. I'm off to start my line of greeting cards.

Thoughts on Dr. Dorothy Height

One of the world's tireless advocates for justice turned 98 this past week and has been hospitalized. Dr. Dorothy Irene Height has spent most of her life fighting for the rights of children, women and African-Americans.

In all her years, she has never slowed down and has never failed to go when and where called. Having never married or had children, she has been nicknamed "secular nun" because despite not being part of a religious order, her service has been as selfless and dedicated to the public good as that of a nun.

I wish I could say I'd had the pleasure, to date, to meet Dr. Height. There are so many questions I would have asked her. Blessedly her life is available as an example.

Despite the hurdles and roadblocks placed in her way, she didn't pity herself and stop, she didn't become bitter and destructive. She got angry and used it to find creative ways around or to remove the roadblock. She used it to see the problem – not just the surface issue but its underlying motivations and causes – and identify potential solutions and implement them.

Sitting Ducks

When I heard, shortly after Thanksgiving 2006, about the shooting of Sean Bell by five New York City police officers, that he was killed with four bullets from a torrent of 50 shots, my thoughts were not only of him. They were also of Amadou Diallo.
Diallo was killed in February 1999 when 19 of 41 shots from four New York City police officers pierced his body, mere feet from the safety of his front door, after one of the officer identified his wallet – reached for to provide identification – as a gun.
These men, now dead, had some interesting things in common. Both were 23, both were headed home after participating in legal early-morning activities, both were unarmed, both were shot at by multiple officers at the same time and those responsible for both their deaths were found not guilty and set free. Oh and both were Black.
But why in 2010, you ask, am I talking about this old news?

Our culture of violence

For a long time I've been amazed at the level of cruelty humans are able to inflict on each other. From unnecessary teasing and bullying as children,  to road rage as adults and wars as a society, the lack of desire or ability to control ourselves and the intensity of our lashing out continues to astound me.

Being fully aware of the reality that a lack of self-control or a belief violence can be a viable solution is pervasive across ethnic and class lines – I still found myself slammed by the shooting of professors in a faculty meeting on Feb. 12 by another professor.

Colleges – which I thought of as institutions of thoughtful engagement in the pursuit of solutions to the world's problems (OK, so maybe the problem is with my rose-colored glasses on this point) – are places where people are supposedly looking at the bigger picture, sharing ideas, proving or disproving theories and enhancing the whole by providing a better understanding of the parts. So when a professor, a person who by title is supposed to be looking for better ways, begins shooting her peers in a dispute over tenure and the non-renewal of her contract, I'm moved to ask: "What is wrong with us?"

Have we failed Obama

I'm one of the many Americans impacted by runaway medical costs, out of control energy prices and other expense increases that are outpacing wages. I'm also one of the many Americans that voted for change in the last election.

I admit I didn't know what form change would take and didn't care. Our path is headed into the abyss and I want any course change. Could a new course end up in the same place? Absolutely. But from my perspective, we know for sure where this is going – a new course at least has a chance to go someplace different.

For weeks, I've been increasingly discontented because I haven't seen any real changes. Instead of political bickering, posturing and rhetoric decreasing – despite having a Congress and White House of the same party – it has increased. Misdirection, spin and outright lies have been cast about with increasing frequency and we are spending more time blaming than trying to solve the problems.

Perhaps this represents change, but it's not the change promised, voted for or believed in.

Let them come

I've purposely avoided the running news commentary, photos and videos of the devastation in Haiti. Not because I didn't want to know about it – I did. I've been listening intently when people discuss it around me and reading about the country and the current situation. I wanted to think about and react intellectually to the situation, not emotionally.

With a natural disaster, more than any other type of devastation, it really could have been me, or us, instead of them. "There but for the grace of God go I," is what I've been thinking and feeling since the earthquake. I didn't want to add the visceral response actual images and firsthand accounts would invoke to what I was already experiencing.

Then I caught a press conference with Yéle Haiti and Wyclef Jean held on Jan. 18.  It was totally by accident and I stopped to listen because I thought it was going to be about the allegation that his organization wasn't getting a majority of the money collected to the people who need it. A lot of it was. But Jean's time at the podium was about something else entirely.

Have we failed Obama?

I'm one of the many Americans impacted by runaway medical costs, out of control energy prices and other expense increases that are outpacing wages. I'm also one of the many Americans that voted for change in the last election.

I admit I didn't know what form change would take and didn't care. Our path is headed into the abyss and I want any course change. Could a new course end up in the same place? Absolutely. But from my perspective, we know for sure where this is going – a new course at least has a chance to go someplace different.

For weeks, I've been increasingly discontented because I haven't seen any real changes. Instead of political bickering, posturing and rhetoric decreasing – despite having a Congress and White House of the same party – it has increased. Misdirection, spin and outright lies have been cast about with increasing frequency and we are spending more time blaming than trying to solve the problems.

Perhaps this represents change, but it's not the change promised, voted for or believed in.

I've been holding President Barack Obama, in large part, responsible, not for the increase in negativity, but for the lack of positive advances individuals and families have been able to make.

I understand the workings of government – president suggests and recommends policy and legislation, but Congress creates and passes it – but believe in the big hammer the president keeps in his desk, the veto. There were things I thought he should have vetoed because they did not do enough, or go far enough, to rescue the American PEOPLE. These things include all of the stimulus spending to financial institutions, any legislation limiting credit card companies that was not immediately effective upon signature, mortgage assistance offered only to those already months behind and not to conscience consumers trying to avoid problems and any efforts to generate consumer spending that didn't provide cash up front to sustain the additional debt consumers were taking on.

As I look at many of the things done to keep America on her feet, the tally so far has big business getting taxpayer dollars in the billions to sustain them through tough times, but families getting perhaps an extra year to 18 months in unemployment benefits (that are taxable in part and not enough to sustain mortgages, energy costs or prolonged job searches). And all of it financed by a long-term increase in the national debt, which will be paid with our tax dollars, an ever increasing obligation even as government services decrease.

I've always maintained a willingness to pay more taxes over time if we used the debt being created to radically improve the economic standing of the PEOPLE – not of capitalism. We should be putting money in family pockets, which will drive consumer spending (creating jobs and putting people to work) and fix financial markets as bad debts are repaid.

I know my ideas are not the only ones with a chance to make a positive impact on the circumstances of families and the country, so I remain at a loss regarding why no real progress has been made by the PEOPLE. The skid may have slowed, but we are still losing ground.

A friend gave me a different perspective to consider, as I continued to leave huge hunks of responsibility for the lack of change at Barack Obama's feet. The sole responsibility for things not being better does not rest with the president. We, the PEOPLE, are at fault too, and not just for being poor financial stewards in the beginning.

We came out and voted, believed, listened and researched President Obama, but, we didn't take as much care with the other representatives we sent to Washington. If they marched under a Democratic or Independent banner, we sent them on, not really paying attention to whether or not they would do what we wanted and needed once elected. Those officials have had a big hand in preventing improvements and not halting our slide.

Our continued devastating circumstances now threaten our resolve, threaten to make us apathetic. We came out and voted, we believed our votes could make a difference – that belief needs to be sustained and carried into our daily actions. Despite how hopeless it may seem, we need to stay involved, we need to make our voices heard, we need to make our dissatisfaction known.

If we want change, we have to demand it, from the people we elected to provide it. And that is not just the president. We have to step up and do our part, for the president and for ourselves. We can't stop now. The goal is too important.

 

Complete your 2010 Census form when it come to your home in March. Be counted to increase funding for needed community initiatives. A luta continua ...

Let them come

I have purposely avoided the running news commentary, photos and videos of the devastation in Haiti. Not because I didn't want to know about it – I did. I've been listening intently when people discuss it around me and reading about the country and the current situation. I wanted to think about and react intellectually to the situation, not emotionally.

With a natural disaster, more than any other type of devastation, it really could have been me, or us, instead of them. "There but for the grace of God go I," is what I've been thinking and feeling since the earthquake. I didn't want to add the visceral response actual images and firsthand accounts would invoke to what I was already experiencing.

Then I caught a press conference with Yéle Haiti and Wyclef Jean held on Jan. 18.  It was totally by accident and I stopped to listen because I thought it was going to be about the allegation that his organization wasn't getting a majority of the money collected to the people who need it. A lot of it was. But Jean's time at the podium was about something else entirely.

Jean spoke of going to Haiti, his homeland, and helping to retrieve and relocate the dead. He talked about carrying bodies to the morgue and when the morgue was full, carrying them to the cemeteries, where there were fights about what bodies would go in what holes, despite there being too few holes for all the bodies.

He was moved to tears when he spoke to his Haitian brothers and sisters in their language, letting them know he would be soon returning to help them further and reminding them to stay strong.

But he asked for something on behalf of the Haitian government, which according to the president of Yéle Haiti Jean was approached to do. He said the Port-au-Prince area needed to be evacuated and asked countries to step up and provide a place for Haitians to go. He described the country's capital as a giant morgue and said living people needed to be removed.

When I heard him, my response was, "Let them come."

I don't know how we accommodate the Haitians that need to be relocated, where they will go, or how they will get here, but I know, deep inside, that this is where they should be.

And, not only should we let them come, but we should make all that come eligible, upon arrival, to begin the process for United States citizenship.

We owe them that much.

We owe them for the uneven, unfair and untenable immigration practices of this country for the last 50 or more years. We owe them for being this close and seeing the troubles in their country – infrastructure, political, educational – and doing nothing concrete to assist. Now, in the midst of a devastation almost too large to comprehend, we have an opportunity to right a wrong and fix a problem and an obligation – moral and ethical – to provide concrete assistance.

I am but one voice, and imagine my perspective will surprise some who would describe me as an isolationist. But a more apt description is a compassionate pragmatist and it is from that perspective that I offer this solution.

While we certainly should be sending food, supplies, blankets, clothing, fresh water, tools, food and rescue assistance, we should also be sending transport to bring people from the devastated area to the United States.  And making them welcome to stay.

 

Oh, and as individuals continue to look for a way to help, please do not discount sending funds for assistance to Yéle Haiti. While many of the programs of this organization have ceased because there are simply no schools, athletic or art facilities for them to operation from at this time, Jean vows they will be back and that in the meantime, his organization will work with all non-governmental organizations to provide aid and assistance to the Haitian people. Jean also said, if you don't feel comfortable, donate to another organization to help the people of Haiti. But even if you don't choose Yéle Haiti, he will be there, trying to make the situation better.

 

A luta continua ...

Being charged as an adult

I recently wrote a commentary, published in the Baltimore edition of the AFRO American Newspapers, entitled "Calling It For The Cop." This was my reaction to the police shooting of a 14-year-old suspect during the course of a robbery in Baltimore.
According to the Baltimore City Police spokesperson, the officer came up on a robbery in progress, where the suspect was pointing a gun at the neck of his victim and did not comply with the officer's instruction to put it down. It was only afterward that the age of the suspect was known and the weapon identified as a BB gun.
I wrote -- and have heard no facts to change this opinion -- that I believe this to be good police work and that a plausible consequence of pointing a weapon is to be shot by the police. I added that at 14 years old, the suspect was able to form the intent to carry out his actions and knows right from wrong.
What I did not add is that at 14 years old, he should not be tried as an adult.

Palin's latest move

Few were more surprised than I to hear Sarah Palin is stepping down at the end of the month from the governorship of Alaska. I didn't see her leaving before she was forced, screaming, from the Alaska state house.

My first exposure to what happened and her remarks came from news articles and commentary. Because I don't like Palin – her politics or her rhetoric – it was easy to buy into the spin of the pieces.

The columnists, and to a lesser degree the news articles, presented her position as off the cuff, backwards, laughable and just short of obtuse. None of that was hard to believe – it's what I think of her anyway.

But, I think it's of the utmost importance to hear what a person has said – or read what a person has written – for myself. I want to follow the nuance, to determine the main ideas and themes, before considering myself informed enough to have an opinion. Otherwise I'm just a parrot for someone else's thoughts, impressions and ideas, even if their statement reinforce what I already think and believe.

So, I read the text of her remarks at the press conference where she announced her resignation. And while I don't believe she's anywhere near the sharpest knife in the drawer –her ability to execute the English language being the biggest indicator of that – her decision and reasons for same are not as silly or arcane as all the writers I've read proffer.

Musings about Michael

I remember the first time I saw Michael Jackson perform. He was about 12 and on television - I honestly don't remember what he was singing with his brothers - and I was smitten. He was such a cute boy with a great voice, I remember thinking.

I started collecting MJ photos and asking for his music ...

Well, I stopped the photos by the time I was 14 - real boyfriends were a lot more, well, real. But I continued to be a fan of his music.

I never saw him in concert, but I purchased the albums and 45s. I was a devotee.

I remember the last time I saw him perform. I loved the Thriller video. As a rule, I don't like music videos - music is an auditory and emotional experience for me, the visuals mess with that. But Thriller was something else, something special.

While I have continued to like his music - and I believe he was a transformative figure in the music industry and in our time - long before he stopped regularly performing, long before his strange relationships and legal troubles became attached as a definition of him, he was dead to me. So I find myself oddly detached from the response of the rest of the world.

We are all seekers in this life, searching for answers about who we are becoming, why we are here, what we destined to do, accomplish. Sometimes this is the hardest thing we do and it is easy to get lost, to stumble ... It happens to us all.

I think Michael struggled with this for most of his adulthood, perhaps more than most of us and his struggle impacted his work and his behavior, which made it worse. Through he struggle he became troubled, instead of gaining small measures of clarity and wisdom. And when his confusion began to transform his work and his very being, the Michael I was smitten with, followed and greatly appreciated died. And I mourned him then.

What I have now is shock over the death of someone so young - and the impact of that on my own feelings of mortality - and my prayers that the man I mourned years ago and the man that died last week can both now find peace and rest.

It's more than the receipt

Over the weekend, I stopped at McDonald's and purchased ice cream sundaes. It was the three window drive thru - order at one, pay at one and pick up at the last.

Everything went well until I picked up the order. The pleasant young lady at the window handed me the ice cream order and some napkins, but no receipt. So, I asked her for the receipt.

She gave me a quizzical look. So I asked again.

After getting the same look, I tried to describe what I wanted - tells what I spent, square piece of paper - but to no avail. The response was the same look.

Then I said receipt again and she handed me a pack of peanuts.

Finally she got another employee to come to the window, hear my request and get the receipt.

Now, I understand that often, long before a person that has immigrated to the United States becomes conversant with the language they need to work. But I think it is wrong to assign to the front lines of service a person that can not speak with the majority of your customers. Especially in McDonald's, there are several jobs that can be done without speaking a lot of the language, but working in the drive thru is not one of them.

A great idea, if it would work

According to a news report, Barry Popkin, a nutritionist from the University of North Carolina, believes people can be turned away from sodas and other drinks loaded with calories and sugar by putting a high tax on those items.

I have to say, I laughed out loud.

We are doing this with alcohol and with cigarettes and ... do I really need to say it ... it does not work.

With the cost of cigarettes at $4 or more a pack, people still have a two-pack a day habit. Think about that for a minute, $56 a week, $248 a month ... in my world that pays the monthly electric bill, water bill and telephone bill. Yet lots of people regularly drop that amount of money to roll the dice with lung cancer.

What evidence makes Popkin think people would drink fewer soda if they cost more, if the threat of obesity-related diseases doesn't make them cut back? Clearly in our consumer culture the cost of something is not really a deterrent. If you need proof of that, check the profits of tobacco and liquor companies. People are still consuming those items at the same rate even with the increases in cost. 

Despite his laughable idea, he is right. Something needs to be done and soon. Taking in extra calories from drinks with high-sugar content without the appropriate changes in our exercise and other calorie consumption levels is dangerous to our overall health.

I guess doing something is better than doing nothing.

Stop playa' hatin' on Wal*Mart

According to a report in Advertising Age, Wal-Mart Watch, a group following the public actions of the retailer, is claiming one of the company's advertisements is giving false information. The article says the group is protesting the commercials based on the results of a Global Insight study commissioned by Wal-Mart. Reportedly the study indicates the economic impact of the company's low prices saves working families about $2,300 a year. The statistic is used in advertising (generated by Wal-Mart's corporate-affairs department) along with the lines: "It's been said that when Wal-Mart comes to town, it's like getting a nice pay raise. ...which buys a lot of things—and a whole bunch of freedom." The group is filing formal complaints in two states.

I think Wal-Mart Watch is wrong. I am a believer in that statistic because I live it. If I buy paper goods at the supermarket during grocery shopping, I spent $10 - $20 more on those specific items than if I purchase those things at Wal-Mart. Just the paper goods, at a $10 weekly savings, add up to $520 saved in a year. Slippers, t-shirts, watches, DVD movies, batteries, toys, camping goods, art supplies, sewing supplies, light bulbs, you name it, most thing are less expensive at Wal-Mart. The stores have ultra-customer friendly return and exchange policies, and lately, have been constantly upgrading services and merchandise.

Wal-Mart found a hook: sell decent quality goods, purchasing in huge volumes to get the absolute best prices, and pass those best prices onto the consumer; mix warehouse-type stores with conventional retail outlets, letting the overhead savings of one subsidize the staffing of the other; put a cornucopia of goods under one roof for one-stop shopping; and open early and close late. The combination made it the friend of families with median or below household incomes (most of us), and jobs and children that leave them with little time for store hopping to get the best prices.

The company's strategy works because it is friendly to the consumer, you know, the person you need to separate from their cash in order to make a profit.

Despite all the things about Wal-Mart that can and should be better—especially with employee relations—the real problem is sour grapes. Wal-Mart has economic muscle that puts most other retailers in jeopardy and those companies can not bulk up fast enough to actively compete in the Wal-Mart-dominated market. Many see bringing down the behemoth as essential to their survival.

But is that really the fault of one business or the fault of the rules of capitalism and a free market economy?

Many of my friends refuse to shop at Wal-Mart. To their credit, the reasons revolve around the negative reputation the company has regarding employee treatment. While I wish most companies would pay lower-level employees significantly better (believe me, Wal-Mart is not the only one needing to improve in the wage/benefit department), we choose where we work and also choose to stay. Do I wish Wal-Mart employees made more money and had better benefits, and the store still had the best prices? Absolutely. Would Wal-Mart pay better if no one was willing to work for those wages? Absolutely. Will Wal-Mart pay better wages if everyone stops shopping there? Not likely.

Wow, this was never intended as a "virtues of Wal-Mart" entry, just one to say we can't be mad because Wal-Mart figured out how to play the game within the rules and win. But, if that result is really the problem, we need to evaluate the structure of capitalism and the free market economy, not one company.

Cheap Seats, the blog

For years I've written the column, From the Cheap Seats, and thoroughly enjoyed it. There were times when there was more to say on a subject or when begging for comments did not have the depth needed for an entire column.
So, in conjunction with From the Cheap Seats, I decided to create this blog as a means to share those extra tips.
Please enjoy. I write opinions, not for agreement or even for disagreement, but to engage readers in exploring and thinking about another point of view. And please, feel free to comment. I enjoy a non-derogatory debate of issues and like it when I get to learn from someone else's knowledge, experience and point of view.