Alert Eagles land for a three day rest.

I heard about this story on “The Ed Show” on MSNBC but they never went into a lot of detail about it. Ft. Campbell, home of the 101^st Airborne, located on the Kentucky/ Tennessee border closed down for 3 days due to the high rate of soldier suicide in this year alone. Here is the whole story…

“Fort Campbell, KY (NewsBahn) - With at least 11 confirmed suicides this year Fort Campbell Army Base in Kentucky is closing down for three days to allow commanders to identify at-risk soldiers and help them with their mental health issues.

To gain some perspective on why the Army would order a stand-down of Fort Campbell, the 11 suicides there were a significant number of the total 64 suicides the Army experienced so far this year and Army officials are also investigating some other deaths as possible suicides.

Fort Campbell began the stand-down Wednesday and officials are working to identify anyone who has feelings of wanting to hurt themselves. As stress levels go up in the military, many soldiers are having trouble dealing with resulting mental health issues.

Base commander, Brig. Gen. Stephen Townsend, spoke to the 19,000 soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division.

He told the soldiers that if anyone needed help to just ask, he told them that he had no way of knowing if they needed help unless they asked. Soldiers are sometimes reluctant to ask for help with mental health issues.

Following an Army suicide prevention program in March there were no suicides for six weeks, but last week there were two, leading to the decision to stand-down for three days and try to reach soldiers grappling with suicidal feelings before they act on those feelings.”

Now a little history, I lived in Oak Grove, KY for a little over a year. I was in a relationship with a retired soldier and had moved there with him. It was not that long of a time but it was very eye opening. Having lived in Chicago my entire life I was not use to the synergy that existed between a small town and a industry, kind of like Detroit and the auto industry.

Oak Grove is one of the trhee cities that Ft. Campbell is located in and is in fact the official address of the base as that is where the main gate is located. The other two cities are Hopkinsville, KY and Clarksville, TN.

Everything in this trifecta area is military. The base itself provides literally everything one might need to live, honestly if you have never been on a Army base go. It is a small self contained city, and soldiers are well taken care of. But as you do better and you get a family ( or a gay lover) you branch out and move into the community.

Ok so here is the scary thing. 11 people in this rather small community decided it was time to end it all and took their own lives, I don’t mean to sound like a ghoul but I am glad they decided to just take their own lives and not take anyone with them.

Think about it, these people are not only highly combat trained but they actually have access to all the weapons they need to lay siege to any part of the community. I am not talking about Tanks, I am talking about small and medium arms weapons, plastic explosives, etc…

These are not the folks you want flipping out cause give the choice between the professional soldier and the local banger with a uzi I will take my chances will the Ray Ray and them any day.

I am glad that this issue is being addressed but Ft. Campbell , while one of the larger bases, is not the only base around. I don’t have the answer as to what needs to be done but clearly something needs to be done and fast. These soldiers need our help and support and they need to be respected by the government they gave up their sanity for.

Story by Linda Young - AHN Editor

Fear and the GOP

I head heard rumors but yesterday I saw it, actual proof that the GOP, the party of the old white man, is scared to death. The United States is quickly sliding to a place that resembles a general melting pot and not White men standing on top of everyone else, and they are scared.

How scared???? Check this out!

That Sneaky Badu...........

For those that don’t know, I am a pretty big Erykah Badu fan. One of my selling points is that I don’t listen to much music made past 1992. I don’t like it, I don’t see the merit in it and it has caused me to break the promise I made as a teenager that I would not be an old fogy and denounce the music of the following generation.


That said one of the few stand outs in Erykah Badu who has never let me down. Well for the last two years since she released New Amerykah part one; 4th World War I have long waited for Part 2 return of the Ankh. From what I understand her recent pregnancy has delayed the releasing of that project.


Today however I was doing some artist/music searches and came across “Erykah Badu live 2009” huh????!!!!! So yes I did call some of my DJ friends and sure enough very quietly and under the cloak of darkness Erykah has put this release out. A collection of songs all done live but not all recoded in concert form as her previous live album.


I have not had a chance to listen to the whole thing yet and I can’t tell you where to get it yet. But none the less, today I am a happy camper! Thank you Erykah!!!!

Taking the bull by the balls Part 2

A few random thoughts about gay Marriage.

So Prop 8 was upheld by the courts today in California and the gays are up in arms. I wonder just how long it will take for them to blame the President for this. I had a conversation with a friend today about Prop 8 and gay marriage and I told him at some point how tired I was of this conversation (not with him just in general).

In an earlier post I asked if gays thought that being gay was their ethnicity and nobody was able to convince me otherwise. So today when reading about the California Supreme Court upholding prop 8 I read all these stories comparing themselves to slavery. I find that so very offensive. Apples and Oranges people.

The “gay” community is mostly white; now that is not to say that all gays are white, just that most of your advertising and your numbers are geared toward white gay men and women. When you see the face of gay America there is very little color in that picture. So I find it odd that this group wants to identify with the civil rights fight when they are one of the most inclusive least diverse groups running around. Case in point… The groups fighting against Prop 8 in California, a state with a 35% Hispanic and Latino population waited until a week before the vote before printing any of their literature in Spanish.

The religious right does not want marriage to be “redefined” because they don’t want folks hoarding in on their racket. Marriage at its bases is about property ownership. Check the 16^th century when only people who, sorry only MEN who owned property. The poor didn’t get married, not in the legal sense that we know today. Also if marriage was simply about “God” then why do you need a marriage license? If you want to fight an injustice then by all means fight the whole injustice. The entire marriage system as it exists in this country today is flawed; let’s fight to overhaul the whole thing instead of just screaming how something is not fair.

And finally the next time I try to get into a “White gay club” please don’t ask me for three pieces of ID or treat me like I don’t belong. (see Civil Rights)

Can you re-imagine V

Here is one I can’t re imagine. How are you going to make a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie without Joss Wheadon? They did that once already, Kristi Swanson and Luke Perry and we see how well that went.

“A new incarnation of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" could be coming to the big screen. "Buffy" creator Joss Whedon isn't involved and it's not set up at a studio, but Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment are working with original movie director Fran Rubel Kuzui and her husband, Kaz Kuzui, on what is being labeled a remake or relaunch, but not a sequel or prequel. While Whedon is the person most associated with "Buffy," Kuzui and her Kuzui Enterprises have held onto the rights since the beginning, when she discovered the "Buffy" script from then-unknown Whedon. She developed the script while her husband put together the financing to make the 1992 movie, which was released by Fox. Kuzui later teamed with Gail Berman, then president of Sandollar Television, bringing back Whedon to make the TV series, which was produced by Fox TV and launched on the WB in 1997.

Kuzui and Sandollar received executive producer credits on "Buffy" and its spinoff, "Angel." The new "Buffy" film, however, would have no connection to the TV series, nor would it use popular supporting characters like Angel, Willow, Xander or Spike. Vertigo and Kuzui are looking to restart the story line without trampling on the beloved existing universe created by Whedon, putting the parties in a similar situation faced by Paramount, J.J. Abrams and his crew when relaunching "Star Trek."

I think of all the “can you re imagines I have done so far this one makes me the saddest.

Child Knocker Outer!!!!!

I like kids, or better yet I like well behaved kids. Of course with all the liberal laws preventing spankings and parents wanting to be their kids best friend, well behaved kids are far and few between. While in truth I don’t agree with this device cause I think parents put a lot of fear on their kids when dealing with doctors and such, I do like this device for any little bad asses who might come by my house and I can’t put my hands around their neck for not behaving.

“This device, called the PediSedate, was invented to calm kids down before a scary medical procedure. The helmet connects to a GameBoy that the child can play while a mouthpiece slowly blows nitrous oxide gas into the child's face.

Invented by a doctor who had seen far too many kids freak out before medical and dental procedures, the PediSedate is intended as a medical tool. But I wonder whether it will suffer from the same prescription creep that Ritalin did, and start finding its way into classrooms where kids "get scared" before school.”

Again science gone to far. You start strapping this on kids, how long before adults are next, and then it becomes mandatory to mental patients and the old in retirement homes. Are science is way faster than our morality.

Story courtesy IO9

I’m a CEO get me out of here!

It was announced today that Edward Liddy current CEO of AIG will be stepping down as soon as a proper replacement can be found. Edward Liddy took over the evil AIG empire (see AIG ruined my birthday several parts and ongoing) once the company went toxic. Liddy has survived multiple public relation disasters from AIG’s million dollar getaway weekends to million dollar bonuses. I wish Ed Liddy the best of luck and good luck finding someone else to sit in the hot seat.

Can you re-imagine IV

Who knew this could turn into a daily post? That is kind of sad when you think about it, is Hollywood producing nothing original??

Meet the new Ren McCormick, a teenager who was raised in Chicago. McCormack moves to a small town where the town government has banned dancing and rock music. Ren and his classmates want to have a senior prom with music and dancing. They must figure out a way to get around the law and Reverend Shaw Moore, who makes it his mission in life to keep the town free from dancing and rock music.

Yeah exactly, that was Kevin Bacon from Footloose. Well Kevin is out and “Gossip Girl” teen throb Chance Crawford is in. And if your thinking it would have been a perfect vehicle for Zach Efron he originally had it first. I see my past before me and I shudder!

I will be Jonesing for Jones but only for the summer!

Upfronts were yesterday for the Travel Channel. An upfront is a meeting hosted at the start of important advertising sales periods by television network executives, attended by the press and major advertisers. It is so named because of its main purpose, to allow marketers to buy commercial airtime "up front", or several months before the television season begins.

Seems the Cox communications owned Travel Channel did very well this past season with 13 months of consecutive growth. For those not versed in televisionese, more folks were watching more often.

While I enjoy the Travel Channel as a whole the stand out of course has been for me and my friends the freshman show “Dhani Tackles the Globe” featuring Bengals linebacker Dhani Jones. I am very happy to see that he will be returning for a second season.

On a much more geek personal note Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman will also be coming back. As more and more “reality” finds its way on the boob tube I find myself less enamored with flipping channels or even turning the TV box on at all. But it is good to know I have some stuff to look forward to next season; I hope Dhani does some more beach type sports….

Can you re-imagine III

Here is a trailer for the new midseason 2010 series "V"



While it looks like they stayed true to story I am a little concerned with the lack of color. I mean after all the mothership did land in New York, why are all the visitors wearing Anglo-saxon skin jobs? I thought we got out of this whole one token colored in sci-fi after Battlestar Galactica

Claire Huxtable on Broadway......

Phylicia Rashad will soon be adding another formidable woman to her collection of Broadway portraits.

Producer Jeffrey Richards says the actress will join the New York cast of Tracy Letts' August: Osage County on May 26, playing Violet Weston, the play's acidic, pill-popping matriarch.

In the past, Rashad has portrayed such strong women as Lena Younger in the 2004 revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun and Aunt Esther in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean, as well as the more sweet-tempered Big Mama in the 2008 revival of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Rashad will follow Deanna Dunagan and Estelle Parsons in the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play on view at the Music Box Theatre.

Story from USA Today

Ask Not........

Inauguration day January 20th 2009 One of the things President Obama said was that he could not do this all alone, it was on all of us to be and make the change we wanted to see.

Today I got an email from My president asking for my help and of course I will but I implore all of you out there to do the same. So i am sharing the email here.

Derrick --

The chance to finally reform our nation's health care system is here. While Congress moves rapidly to produce a detailed plan, I have made it clear that real reform must uphold three core principles -- it must reduce costs, guarantee choice, and ensure quality care for every American.

As we know, challenging the status quo will not be easy. Its defenders will claim our goals are too big, that we should once again settle for half measures and empty talk. Left unanswered, these voices of doubt might yet again derail the comprehensive reform we so badly need. That's where you come in.

When our opponents spread fear and confusion about the changes we seek, your support for these core principles will show clarity and resolve. When the lobbyists for the status quo tell Congress to hold back, your personal story will give them the courage to press forward.

Join my call: Ask Congress to pass real health care reform in 2009.

After adding your name, please consider sharing your personal story about the importance of health care reform in your life and the lives of those you love.

I will be personally reviewing many of these signatures and stories. If you speak up now, your voice will make a difference.

http://my.barackobama.com/HealthCareOrganizing

American families are watching their premiums rise four times faster than their wages. Spiraling health care costs are shackling America's businesses, curtailing job growth and slowing the economy at the worst possible time. This has got to change.

I know personal stories can drive that change, because I know how my mother's experience continues to drive me. She passed away from ovarian cancer a little over a decade ago. And in the last weeks of her life, when she was coming to grips with her own mortality and showing extraordinary courage just to get through each day, she was spending too much time worrying about whether her health insurance would cover her bills. She deserved better. Every American deserves better. And that's why I will not rest until the dream of health care reform is finally achieved in the United States of America.

Please add your name to join my call. Then share your personal story about why you too will not rest until this job is done.

http://my.barackobama.com/HealthCareOrganizing

Last November, the American people sent Washington a clear mandate for change. But when the polls close, the true work of citizenship begins. That's what Organizing for America is all about. Now, in these crucial moments, your voice once again has extraordinary power. I'm counting on you to use it.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

Tuesdays Invitation!

Russell T. Davies was born in Sketty, a suburb of Swansea in Wales April 27^th in 1963. He is a British television writer best known for his original works “Doctor Who”& “Queer as Folk” which was adapted for an English version by Showtime.

Russell T. Davies is an Oxford graduate with a degree in English Lit. After graduation and a short career as a production assistant he took some directing classes and began directing some British children television shows. He even won a children’s BAFTA ( British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award for best drama. He continued writing on this show and that building his reputation including writing many gay themed shows such as Queer as Folks and Bob and Rose. In early 2003 he wrote the religious tele-fantasy drama “The Second Coming” for which he won a Royal Television Society Award, This made him one the UK’s foremost drama television writers. In 2003 he brought on to a project which has made him a household (well scifi households) name. He was asked by the BBC to head up the revival as Executive Producer and head writer of Doctor Who. The series which began in 2005 has been a ratings smash and has spawned a number of spinoffs making Russell the Father of the modern British Sci-Fi age.

So Russell T Davies., please accept this invitation to the Dinner party of the year. Your opinion, your diversity, and your talent are more than welcome!

National day of blogging! This legal misjudgment of Troy Davis

I have not made a huge deal of this but I have recently been admitted into the “Afro Spear” a group of openly progressive black bloggers. For more first unity blog from the group I am participating in the Day of blogging for Troy Davis.


Davis is an black man, who was convicted of the 1989 killing of a white police officer, Mark Allen McPhail. However, since his conviction, seven of the nine witnesses to the crime have recanted their testimonies, and now claim they were intimidated into making their initial statements against Davis. There is no physical evidence tying Davis to the scene. There is no murder weapon. Three witnesses now claim they overheard another man confessing to the crime.

I don’t know if Troy is guilty or innocent as I was not there when this cop was killed. I will say that there is enough doubt that perhaps we don’t need to be injecting him with anything or pushing any buttons that might electrocute him. In fact until our legal system is fixed and every defendant is treated as though they are the CEO of a fortune 500 company perhaps we need to put the death penalty on hold.

Troy has already had one stay of execution which expired on the 15th of May and Amnesty International is hard at work on his case. Please lend your support through word, or act, or just in getting the word out to others, as it seems this story is not juicy enough for the network news outlets.

Today's Favorite Photo

Pictures of David Tennant and Billie Piper from the upcoming last episode of the 11th Doctor Who.

Can you re-imagine II

Can you re-imagine?

I loved the old television series “Bewitched”. It had magic and it was funny. The characters were real and honestly who didn’t love the idea of a mother in law who could actually cast an evil spell on you. Plus there was that whole gay uncle thing who was a screaming queen but never said a word. So when I heard it had made the small list of at that time shows being remade I was a little excited, till I saw who was starring in it. Now I have always pretty much been indifferent to Nicole Kidman, but I have never really had an appreciation to Will Farrell. He was part of a long list of cast members of Saturday Night Live who emerged from what I called their “Toilet/Frat boy humor cast. In the years since he left the show my opinion of him has not changed (though I will give him his props for his George W. Bush).

The only bright spot to the cast was Shirley MacLaine and for awhile I thought about checking out the movie just for her. Then the reviews came out and even Shirley was not enough for me to sit thru two hours of Will and company butchering a classic show. Even turning it on its ear as a deconstruction of the show and making a show within a show was not clever enough for me. By the way the movie cost 85 million to make and only made 131 million world wide. It only made 61 million here in the states so between the box office and the critics the movie was a flop.

So in the view of a flop what do you do, why give him a second chance at another remake of course. Advertising started this weekend for the upcoming movie “Land of the Lost” a classic by Sid and Marty Kroftt re-imagined by Will Farrell and company.

The original premise of the series was about a father and his two kids who get swept up thru a dimensional gate during a weekend camping trip into a prehistoric world where they have to learn to survive.

This new movie is about a disgraces paleontologist, his assistant and a macho tour guide who find themselves (I don’t know how) in a prehistoric world where they can make jokes in order to survive.

I smell something in the works but I don’t think it is a hit.

Honestly Blogging!

Some honest things, Thanks so much Ian, about me.

1) Yes it is well known that I love Sci-fi but even with all the bad sci-fi out there, I am still a closet “Power Rangers” fan. I literally will download some episodes and watch them in the closet.

2) I am not much of a drinker, I don’t smoke, and never been into drugs. But in times of stress I head right for the fridge. I am the worst stress eater in the world.

3) I honestly do believe that even bad publicity is good publicity and I do like my publicity. I was once voted a “hot ghetto mess” on one of those viral emails.

4) Because my feet would never settle down and decide on one size for any length of time I never had more then 3 pairs of shoes at one time as a kid. Now that my feet have settled down to a comfortable size 15 I have gone show crazy in my adult life, well crazy for me I am now a the happy owner of about 25+ pair of shoes.

5) Everyday, at some point of the day, no matter how bad that day might be, I find a reason, a joke, a something, to give myself a good belly laugh ( and with my belly that laugh can last a long time!)

Ok I think that is all the honesty I can some up with right now. Since most of my blogging friends have done this already I am going to have to tag uglyblackjohn and Running Mom!

Superhero Friday

Wow been introducing a few new segments here at the window this week. Well I got the idea to do this one from a blog posted by Uglyblackjohn. While it was not the intent of his blog to talk about superheroes he said some things that made me realize a lot of people are unaware of the strides comicdom has made to bring more (pardon the pun) color into comics. So I bring you the first of weekly entires of ...

DUST

Real Name: Sooraya Qadir

Universe: Marvel

Nationality: Afghan

Team: Young X-Men

Book: Young X-Men

First Appearance: New X-Men #133

History: Sold into slavery in her native Afghanistan at a young age, Sooraya Qadir was liberated by Wolverine of the X-Men. Subsequently enrolled as a student at the Xavier Institute, Sooraya was originally placed in the Special Class to allow her time to acclimatize to her new environment. When the Class' instructor, Xorn, was manipulated into believing he was Magneto, Sooraya joined the X-Men in opposing him.

Powers: Dust can transform herself into an explosive cloud of sand-like silicon particles and maintain control of her sand form (for instance scouring the flesh from her enemies' bones like a sandstorm, shredding steel or forming a human-shaped body), before reforming at will.

Cultural Note: After some of their other attempts in the past, it seems Marvel did not just take what they had seen on television and just create an Islamic character, they actually did research. Dust is observed at all times wearing her Abaya though occasionally some artist tighten it at the waist to show off her curves which defeats the purpose of the garment.