tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65210798095866612372024-03-12T23:34:59.037-04:00The Gangster Governmentwhere the trap house meets the white houseT1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.comBlogger1730125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-50713840958016678262015-06-24T21:49:00.001-04:002015-06-24T21:49:49.826-04:00God hates flagsIn the wake of the terrorist massacre in Charleston, South Carolina, there has been renewed focus on the racism that permeates this country, the history of said racism, the violence behind it and even the symbols associated with it. I for one am kind of glad that we're at least attempting to pretend like we really care about what black people think and how they've felt about certain things for many, many decades. One of those things that we're caring about now is the confederate flags that are flying all over this country. <br />
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Not too long ago, Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina, and the governor of many inappropriate thoughts, called for the confederate flag to be taken off of the state capitol. In a normal world, this would be a no brainer decision with broad support from the most bleeding heart of liberals to the most flag waving of conservatives. Just out of pure nationalism, everyone should be on board with removing the flag of a country that actively fought against America from the front of and on top of American government buildings. Of course the key word was normal and people get surprisingly not normal when it comes to almost religiously defending the confederate flag, the confederacy and their cause in the civil war. Some even go as far to romanticize it and then tie it in with southern heritage and culture. I guess I should probably get on why the flag symbolizes so many wrong things in America.<br />
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The first thing wrong with the confederate flag should be the most obvious; It's the flag of an enemy combatant. We've all been through the 4th grade. We all know of the civil war and why it was fought. We also know which side won and won decisively, and that side wasn't the south. The fact that people in this country feel the need to have pride in an institution that started a war against America and lost is mind boggling to me. Even more mind boggling is the people in states which weren't part of the confederacy who proudly fly the stars and bars. No one with the name of Arnold Wachowski from Hamtramck,MI should be proud of the confederacy. I'm also extremely troubled by the amount of people flying that flag who claim to be Christians while glossing over that the flag represents some of the biggest sins against God. Is disliking certain folk a big enough deal for you to actually turn your back on the God that you so loudly claim to believe in? If the answer is yes, you never really believed in him. Flying that flag isn't just dumb, it's unpatriotic and blasphemous. You might as well just paint "I hate niggers" on your truck and fly a swastika in the middle of a Jewish cemetary. <br />
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Speaking of that, the flag is also extremely racist. Sure your great, great granddaddy might have fought for the confederacy and you want to honor him, but you have to realize that he was fighting purely because of racism. The civil war was started because a bunch of rich southerners were offended that someone like Abraham Lincoln could possibly end racial enslavement one day, thus ruining their lucrative business of daily, multiple human rights violations, oh and fancy shirts. The amount of racism and greed it takes to secede from your own country and start the bloodiest battle in it's history because you can't imagine a world in which a black man can actually earn a living is amazing. This is the type of thinking which has led to the current stereotype of black people being lazy despite the fact that having a slave is literally the laziest thing you could ever do. Of course, we only got lazy once we started getting paid to do things. When you wave any of the flags of the confederacy, you're endorsing hatred, greed, racism, human rights abuses, a losing war strategy and an unsustainable and increasingly unprofitable business plan. On top of all of that, it really makes people wonder about the culture surrounding the south. <br />
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Speaking of southern culture, it's so much more than the official logo of the losing team and slavery. It's everything from NASCAR having its roots in people defiantly fighting weird and unjust laws surrounding alcohol to the modern civil rights movement and even feminism stemming from people having that same spirit to fight weird, unjust and unfair laws regarding women and people of color. It's the introduction of new foods and cookling techniques into the American lexicon. It's the introduction of an innovation when it comes to music. Without the south, America wouldn't have music. We'd be missing rock,country, blues, jazz, r&b and even hip hop which is often a mixture of every other style of music. As a descendant of the south, with relatives in the south, I realize that southern culture isn't tied up in that flag, but the idea of white superiority is. The south has many, many things to be proud of, but slavery, starting and then losing a war over it and then spending 150 years being complete dicks about it isn't one of those things, and that is what you look like when you try to say that the confederate flag is about having pride in the south. You're not representing southern culture you're spitting in the face of southern culture by going out of your way to align yourself against America. <br />
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T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-6980356733309649052015-06-02T03:57:00.000-04:002015-06-02T04:08:47.972-04:00Normal HeroicsIn America we tend to love calling people heroes, courageous and brave. This gets used for everyone from soldiers, firefighters and the police to people who say things that we slightly agree with. Some would even say that by simply existing or due to their professions, some people really are heroes. Of course the giant hole in that logic is, what happens when these people fail to live up to even the basic duties of the profession they applied for? Are they still heroes? Is a rogue cop still a hero? If a soldier saves his comrades from an attack, but later abandons his guys and goes AWOL, is he still a hero? According to the law, the answer is no. Of course this is really the easy part to answer. The not so easy answer comes when we have to examine why we're calling people heroic and brave for existing.<br />
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I often see news stories about people facing some sort of awful or debilitating circumstance. A kid with cancer. A mom who got paralyzed in a car accident with a drunk driver. A story about a woman dying of breast cancer. All of these stories have the common thread of not only tugging at our hearts by pointing out our own fragile mortality, they also have the common thread of the people being called brave, courageous, inspirational and heroic for not dying. This bugs me because by doing this, it implies that when these people die, they become horrible people who were unworthy of our attention when in reality they're examples of how life can throw you a curveball and how some people choose to deal with a traumatic event that becomes a long term part of their daily lives. The other part of this that bugs me is that this type of overblown hyperbolic beatification isn't extended to victims of most types of violent crime. No one's calling the guy that got shot at a house party a hero for taking up a career as a DJ. In fact no one's calling the woman who probably got assaulted at that same party a hero for not killing herself due to severe depression. Instead we're more than likely to ask why either of them were there and then debate if they deserved it based on their lives up to that point. I guess what I'm saying is that when we call people heroes for living through or with debilitating circumstances, we're being condescending. This gets even worse when we go over the top praising people for doing normal things.......<br />
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I want to make one thing clear before the hate tweets roll in, I'm not some sort of transgender hating person. I'm legit happy that Caitlyn Jenner can be true to herself and that people are generally accepting. This is a huge step in the right direction considering how awful we've been as a country lately when it comes to treating all of us like we actually belong here and deserve common decency. With that said, Caitlyn Jenner isn't a saint or heroic for finally being comfortable enough to stop pretending to be a guy named Bruce. What she really is, is normal. She has the same strengths, weaknesses, flaws and fun that we all have. Sure she lives a more public life than I ever will but in reality she's out doing normal things(for a rich person with a TV show), trying to live a normal life and dealing with normal, everyday issues. We can't make people in to national heroes for doing mundane things while having the supreme confidence to keep it 100 and be themselves while doing it. It's condescending, it's fake praise and it really waters down the impact of the word. Just be normal.<br />
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For reading this, here's a video tutorial on how to make candy bars shaped like classic video game controllers. <br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/30mzPmm7gvg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-75806074272553254772015-04-28T03:06:00.000-04:002015-04-28T03:09:29.201-04:00More than 140Every day I hear how I should work hard, do the right thing and follow the law. Of course, I'm often followed by the law. It's weird knowing that as soon as you go to certain areas you go from being random guy #721 to suspect #1. I begrudgingly deal with it, I move on and I try to enjoy my life. With that said, I can see how some people might not have such a laid back attitude to being racially profiled, stopped and harassed by the very people that they pay to protect them and arrested and imprisoned without charges. I can see how some of us might get a little upset at the fact that people that look like us get shot by the very people that we pay to keep us from getting shot, at a ridiculously high rate. I get why people are upset at what happened to Floyd Dent, Walter Scott, Eric Garner, Mike Brown and Freddie Gray. I get why some of us feel the need to take to the streets and protest. I get why some of us are willing to get on TV and give the world a much needed talking to. Although I wouldn't personally do it, I get why some of us are angry enough to throw things, break things, fight with others and even light things on fire. <br />
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I get a lot of things, but I don't get the idea that we have to respond to over the top violence at the hands of our government by being "respectable", whatever that means. I don't get how people with no criminal record dying under suspicious circumstances at the hands of cops doesn't outrage people, but looting a CVS is worthy of the national guard and all day coverage by CNN. Unless it's over something stupid like the Kentucky Wildcats getting exposed as frauds on the basketball court or a soccer game, a riot is the unheard masses getting together and going completely crazy in an effort to be heard by the powers that be. This may not always send across the wanted message, the right one or even one that makes any type of logical sense, but it does get them heard. If it weren't for riots, we wouldn't have this country to riot in right now. In a society built on violence and rebellion, it's not only wrong to say that rioting accomplishes nothing, it's actively trying to deny history in an attempt to hide from an ugly truth about America. It isn't on the oppressed to change the world, it's on the powerful to change their behaviors and what they find acceptable, and that will change the world and hopefully make it better for the rest of us. I'm just putting thoughts out in the air while watching TV. Don't mind me.T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-17898984357199436072015-04-13T11:35:00.000-04:002015-04-13T11:40:42.495-04:00King of the HillIf you know me, you know that I'm not exactly a big fan of the GOP. With that said, I'm also not a fan of cakewalks and coronations, and the fact that no one in the democratic party is stepping up to challenge Hillary Clinton makes this look like a coronation. It looks almost as if people are saying that this is her time, just like in 2008 before Barack Obama took the country by storm by actually running a decent campaign while not looking like the world's most entitled former senator. Let's hope that she learns from her giant missteps in 2008, show up and<a href='http://www.ebony.com/news-views/is-hillary-ready-for-black-voters-543#axzz3XCMhV3E5'> talk with voters</a>, and actually come across like a human and not a more fashionable Mitt Romney with better policies on reproductive health. At the very least she'll <a href='http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/hillary-clintons-2008-dead-enders-fight-on#.vyoea8gqEL'>win back those crazies</a> who became republicans because she didn't win in 2008. I hope she has a great campaign and does go on to make history, but I hope that everyone learns to chill out in the process. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhludWaDLDOI-Dx20tDBFQopdt-BSBUwOg8wup51eJWUBRSNfet64Flbz2Z5PgellbH2fOEGrHVhki_ZE1KNwobxnldAHClTkgehpmcVVCIfsapV3rFKpN9DxQUbBcOiU-mO3aTRBy9KSQ/s1600/CCaqnsyVEAAKn-Q.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhludWaDLDOI-Dx20tDBFQopdt-BSBUwOg8wup51eJWUBRSNfet64Flbz2Z5PgellbH2fOEGrHVhki_ZE1KNwobxnldAHClTkgehpmcVVCIfsapV3rFKpN9DxQUbBcOiU-mO3aTRBy9KSQ/s320/CCaqnsyVEAAKn-Q.JPG" /></a></div>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-71818749342948764142015-03-10T02:24:00.001-04:002015-03-10T02:24:38.954-04:00Opinions and thingsIt's been a while since I've been on here but I have a lot of opinions and feelings to talk about when it comes to this country and the people in charge of it. With that said, here goes.....<br />
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I totally get that some people aren't exactly fans of President Obama. I fully expect the people that make up the opposing political party to have massive philosophical differences with him. What I don't expect is for several dozen members of congress to flat out <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/03/republican-congressmen-violating-constitution.html">violate the Logan Act</a> and try to sabotage the ongoing negotiations with Iran. That is flat out treasonous and a felony, which is punishable by prison time and the loss of the right to vote in some states. <br />
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Ariana Grande yells on songs and her last name is hilarious irony.<br />
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Being so petty as a politician that you can't even show up to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday is fucking ridiculous.<br />
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If conservative talk radio has taught me anything, every racial group not called white people, and "straight" white men in particular, is somehow planning on eliminating white people and ruining America. <br />
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If conservative talk radio has taught me anything, white people are extremely insecure and maybe 75% of the opposition to President Obama is based on the fact that this country is around 70% white but has a black person in charge of it. <br />
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I don't understand how being a not even thinly veiled racist is good for voter turnout, but every election I get proven wrong.<br />
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Hillary still wont win.<br />
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Chris Christie also wont win.<br />
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Why is it hard to admit that we have a problem with race in this country? Is it because it means that not all of us come out <a href='http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/09/us/oklahoma-fraternity-chant'>looking great</a>? Is it because today is just a <a href='http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/09/ferguson-report_n_6833272.html'>higher tech version of the same thing going on from 50 years</a> ago? Is it because our over the top racism and bigotry in this country <a href='http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/us/naked-black-man-fatally-shot-by-white-police-officer-in-georgia.html?_r=0'>shatters the image</a> of our supposed heroes?<br />
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If Elizabeth Warren does somehow decide to run for president and wins the primary, the GOP is going to paint her as a socialist lesbian.<br />
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Speaking of gay people, why does the idea of two random gays getting married <a href='http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/rand-paul-comes-out-as-being-offended-by-gay-marriage'>offend a supposed libertarian</a> like Rand Paul? People like that always come across as weird and closeted to me. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he has a gay porn collection.<br />
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I'll repeat this, <a href='http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-games-we-play.html'>gamergate is about whiny pussies</a>. If you're a guy mad because a couple of women have the gall to say "How come all of the female character have to suck?", you're a pussy. If the very idea of women speaking about something makes you want to hurl threats about rape and murder at their children, you're not just a pussy, you're a criminal. The whole thing smacks of white people problems and insane entitlement. Are nerds really that entitled that they can't take the idea of chicks who weren't going to fuck them anyway, saying that they wont fuck them and that the game kinda sucks because of the over the top sexism in it? I'm willing to bet that as soon as I tweet this out, some dweeb is gonna show up in my mentions talking about ethics in gaming journalism while totally missing the point that gaming has never had journalism and the biggest offender is Nintendo Power. Oh, and here's an Anita Sarkeesian video.<br />
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T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-73671534598169035712014-11-07T13:20:00.000-05:002014-11-07T13:33:01.179-05:00Another challenger appears<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RDz2Xy14Y9x-kCciMqSaY21iQKLdu-M96eg_U0el7Wi9r53NIqsgThTdaqM9ooGXteJtWwttkfNNfLNphQ847vKv8nKAGr-sGx4Sf-pFGBYTuSpRWxgPzrpWOzKWfcP1ZM3XvrZbKsQ/s1600/challenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RDz2Xy14Y9x-kCciMqSaY21iQKLdu-M96eg_U0el7Wi9r53NIqsgThTdaqM9ooGXteJtWwttkfNNfLNphQ847vKv8nKAGr-sGx4Sf-pFGBYTuSpRWxgPzrpWOzKWfcP1ZM3XvrZbKsQ/s320/challenge.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Another day and another challenge to Obamacare. It seems that even though it's been law of the land for going on close to half a decade, some people will not let their hatred of slightly less expensive health insurance and federal subsidies. This latest challenge could, if it works, make insurance completely unattainable for millions of people. Watch NBC's Pete Williams explain the whole thing below and be glad that it isn't about race at all.<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9DKLWq5KPac" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-39210529627683778242014-11-07T12:58:00.000-05:002014-11-07T12:58:54.238-05:00The games we play<iframe src='http://player.theplatform.com/p/2E2eJC/EmbeddedOffSite?guid=n_mhp_11gamergate_141019_346934' height='500' width='435' scrolling='no' border='no' ></iframe><br />
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I'm a gamer. I come from a family of gamers. Just about every one of my friends growing up was pretty heavy in to video games. I'm 26, but I can remember a day when video game nerds were begging for video gaming to become mainstream, and during the last few years, this has happened and the world is better for it. Of course, with anything that becomes mainstream, it has to be able to work for a larger audience. This is why hip hop has evolved from being dominated by one part of NYC in the mid 80's to being a global phenomenon in the year 2014. It's why blockbuster movies are test screened in front of several different types of audiences. Nothing that plans on being mainstream, and accepted in America, and the world in general will stay exactly the same way it was when it first started in some guy's basement. <br />
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Of course, for some people, the very idea of having other people enjoy their hobby and wanting it to be more representative of how society actually looks, is about as offensive as kicking their grandfather in the face while he's enjoying dinner. This seems to be especially true for gamers during the last couple of years. As consumers, critics and even the industry itself have pushed for games to be more inclusive and actually represent it's broad customer base, there has been a backlash by a subset of gamers who just can't deal with games that don't feature the same tired, white, male anti-hero who basically has women and minorities as either racially insensitive sidekicks, stereotypical villains, weird sexual objects, background decorations or someone that the hero just has to save if he's ever gonna get laid by something that isn't a hooker. Even in games where you can build a character from scratch, the options for female and minority custom characters are scarce. These are just some of the broad things touched on by Anita Sarkeesian in her Tropes vs Women in Video Games series on youtube. For just mentioning this, she got death threats. In what world does a slightly boring video that brings up a few major points about sexism in media warrant constant death threats? <br />
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<iframe width="460" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4ZPSrwedvsg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-60855800704390116892014-09-23T19:56:00.002-04:002014-09-23T19:56:28.553-04:00A few thoughts on rape cultureWhile on Facebook the other day, I was able to observe a pretty good debate about sexism, privilege and how bad is it when you can't talk to a woman without trying to drug her. After watching people argue over <a href='http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/fraternity-dosed-women-with-date-rape-drugs-based-on-color-coded-hand-stamps-police'>this article</a> for a good 3 hours, I finally chimed in. Below is that chiming in. Agree? Disagree? Let me know either on here or twitter. <br />
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Seriously though, while it's good that people are talking about rape culture and the epidemic of sexual assault, the conversation is going in a circle. No one wants to admit that they are or were part of the problem. Everyone wants to rewrite history and appear as some sort of angel, and if that fails, deny the very existence of rampant, acceptable and violent sexism. This doesn't even touch on how this intersects with race, income levels, religion, regionalism and American culture at large.T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-42382807033107221872014-08-08T16:46:00.000-04:002014-08-08T16:57:52.702-04:00Midnight Movie Magic!I should honestly blog more, but I haven't had the chance to with the upcoming school year and also just being hired in to a new job. The new job is important to this post. Not because I'm finally getting a steady paycheck, but because the hotel where I work has a pretty clear view of where they're filming a pretty vital scene for the new Batman vs Superman movie. In fact, they're filming the movie down the street from where I work.<br />
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Before I could get a decent picture, I was able to find out that the area on Fort between Griswold and Washington is standing in for Metropolis and the entire area is going to be destroyed in a chase/fight. Below are a couple of pics that I took of the trailers being set up at 3 in the morning, and below that is a video that someone was able to take during the day of the scene being filmed. Click here to see more, and much better pictures from<a href='http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/10090/video_and_photos_of_batman_set_day_2_at_fort_and_griswold#.U-UwSuO-KvM'> Deadline Detroit</a>. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidYonBKSRlYpSn1lgxKpY_u3p-hp45LdC7WRFBMGEJrVSB2Z5j2o6UqFxORRNjkA_sGSHtThaZuEBq0TLArYBHuBnNsqHlqNSedK1kiYGvgBVhOlGHLi8AG3wXkji868JONLECu0RmeXo/s1600/IMG_20140808_031737.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidYonBKSRlYpSn1lgxKpY_u3p-hp45LdC7WRFBMGEJrVSB2Z5j2o6UqFxORRNjkA_sGSHtThaZuEBq0TLArYBHuBnNsqHlqNSedK1kiYGvgBVhOlGHLi8AG3wXkji868JONLECu0RmeXo/s320/IMG_20140808_031737.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpphUaQYCYgIzpHiVO71JjueWOFxjHJIppmeccYXlFqGBb4T1C1STtYOSl4Bp_D7jPeGS_EGblRPqLkNchKd4mgGoBSbttQpa9fjvMu1Kvr56Q2AuqBtG_9hF4s6MY-ktp6hdi4jeEx-w/s1600/bvs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpphUaQYCYgIzpHiVO71JjueWOFxjHJIppmeccYXlFqGBb4T1C1STtYOSl4Bp_D7jPeGS_EGblRPqLkNchKd4mgGoBSbttQpa9fjvMu1Kvr56Q2AuqBtG_9hF4s6MY-ktp6hdi4jeEx-w/s320/bvs.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lLw3msXTPyJjOXrowOiW0FumwrlFkG8VPuf_qqyHejRQR33u9SkSu8o1QM9N5u0NAnM0CebQAUOkXFSKIBEvUIf7mdNwFhSV4QJFNOSjwNvEwmnroChrFEUBZ_UPtWFwqkfH0Wxo-Pg/s1600/IMG_20140807_032614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lLw3msXTPyJjOXrowOiW0FumwrlFkG8VPuf_qqyHejRQR33u9SkSu8o1QM9N5u0NAnM0CebQAUOkXFSKIBEvUIf7mdNwFhSV4QJFNOSjwNvEwmnroChrFEUBZ_UPtWFwqkfH0Wxo-Pg/s320/IMG_20140807_032614.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ekI8OPW5FbY-EjM_Mv3gKjOLe-WP_Xvax3qlayLVXiSO6hLuDPLIxlm4uR_IbWrcneRH0Lh8eaJEgslmFhorOWcCOfCGobOXcs6LijAL30UbwyL-kjLT-ezLn_CRgHo71EeVKO8Qx8E/s1600/IMG_20140807_032737.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ekI8OPW5FbY-EjM_Mv3gKjOLe-WP_Xvax3qlayLVXiSO6hLuDPLIxlm4uR_IbWrcneRH0Lh8eaJEgslmFhorOWcCOfCGobOXcs6LijAL30UbwyL-kjLT-ezLn_CRgHo71EeVKO8Qx8E/s320/IMG_20140807_032737.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<iframe width="460" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/D9Jx-_zxyKU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-21301463941697102162014-08-04T04:43:00.000-04:002014-08-04T04:43:33.628-04:00Bragging about myselfI have a weirdly hard time selling myself and I don't think that highly of myself. It has always been one of my weird flaws. It's a weird mixture of a lack of confidence and tons of life experience telling me that I'm not that important. And when I really think about my life during the last few years, I should honestly be amazing at bragging about myself, all the time.<br />
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A few years ago I was guy bouncing between awful jobs that paid little, offered even fewer benefits and were run by total idiots who had never heard of streamlining and safety rules. I was a guy being bit by boredom and the occasional felony while working in a liquor store for almost 2 years under an owner who had 0 idea as to how he's supposed to run a store and even less of an idea of how to talk to women. I was a guy who was proving his dirt bag, deadbeat uncle right by not being in school, or even taking the time to finish high school and having no idea of what direction I wanted to take my life. I wasn't unhappy with my life, but it wasn't the life that I wanted to live and when work started drying up, I realized how much I did not like being the last one hired and first one fired. <br />
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Bouncing between awful jobs in the middle of a recession and getting stuck with weird, unworkable hours at minimum wage with no benefits kinda forced me to reassess my life. Did I really want to hit 30, 40 or 50 breaking my back for someone else while watching some jackass who had no idea how to do what I do orders me around? When I realized that the answer was no and that I would probably end up having to smack the dog shit out of the supervisor at one of my old jobs if he ever stepped to me the wrong way again, I decided to focus on finding out what I wanted to do in life, and what better place to do that than college? With that thought in my head I decided to enroll and at least take a shot at getting a life that allows me to save up for retirement one day.<br />
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My experience in college so far has been a weird one. I have never been more frustrated by not knowing things in my life, while at the same time I have never been happier at how much I already knew and how much I'm actually learning. I'm not just learning that I still hate math and can basically mop the floor with most people when it comes to knowing history, I'm also learning what actually gets my mind turned up. I've learned that, when I want to be, I'm not terrible at writing. I've learned that I'm not bad when it comes to the subject of politics. I've learned that I'm not only good at sociology, I'm great at it and can explain why Denmark, as it is today, may actually cease to exist one day. Of course the biggest thing I've learned is that I can kinda mash all of those things together and make my own direction in life, and if I'm passionate enough, this letter notifying me that I've made the dean's list will only be the beginning of great things for me. <br />
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Not bad at all for a guy who dropped out in the 10th grade all those years ago.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEECoT_R2ldOB5SzevnmchZl2Sht7129XaHZB3nnnUwcKMI0Mro2OZ7bR6F4bSuhzyleeIxe15m3VdnxBhlbFcm3575dJxWYcCzJtNHbTK5zgV6px8o6HOXiQpQqyHYQCGuPS3dppjKEk/s1600/FBcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEECoT_R2ldOB5SzevnmchZl2Sht7129XaHZB3nnnUwcKMI0Mro2OZ7bR6F4bSuhzyleeIxe15m3VdnxBhlbFcm3575dJxWYcCzJtNHbTK5zgV6px8o6HOXiQpQqyHYQCGuPS3dppjKEk/s320/FBcopy.jpg" /></a><br />
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T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-89423092800311193372014-08-01T01:43:00.000-04:002014-08-01T01:43:50.061-04:00The end of an Eric<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gqnINlqf0_WQBdCzLt2uZdS75yLMa3dJ-AoF9THXdz9ne7NZ_DpSpXTOdnuyrU8SddLydZ0PG3z4PXudirFuX7bftRY8jo-ZBN0N5WFNTuG6lpyFoiS3kpY5AJRYvpRsQJfk9BerTd8/s1600/2009_0326_Getty_Eric_Cantor_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gqnINlqf0_WQBdCzLt2uZdS75yLMa3dJ-AoF9THXdz9ne7NZ_DpSpXTOdnuyrU8SddLydZ0PG3z4PXudirFuX7bftRY8jo-ZBN0N5WFNTuG6lpyFoiS3kpY5AJRYvpRsQJfk9BerTd8/s320/2009_0326_Getty_Eric_Cantor_0.jpg" /></a><br />
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Earlier this year, now former house majority leader<a href='http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-end-of-eric.html'>Eric Cantor was soundly defeated</a> in a primary election. Thursday marked his last day and he used this last day to reflect on his family, life, time in congress and how he sees America's role in the world. Oh, and he took some time to say that America is going backwards because of things like progressive politics and whatnot. Click and listen to a member of the government admit to sucking at being a member of the government and then blaming the government for his suckitude. First, we have Stephen Colbert going to CBS and now his lookalike is leaving congress. Truly a sad time for this country. <br />
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<iframe width="460" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EYMovGBCSoc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-59457524259331684332014-07-27T01:33:00.000-04:002014-07-27T01:33:14.347-04:00Midnight DistractionNot too long ago I posted a piece of one of my final papers from my first year in college. That paper was about why<a href='http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-fair-wage-argument.html'> our current minimum wage is an unfunny joke</a> to millions of hard working Americans. You may or may not know this, but the current wage of $7.25 has been around for 5 years even though the cost of living has gone up and $7.25 really only buys about a gallon and a half of gas. It's so bad that Mary Poppins should legitimately consider a career change. Watch below as she explains why her life and job sucks.<br />
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<iframe src="http://www.funnyordie.com/embed/c2deb9a5e8" width="440" height="400" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe><div style="text-align:left;font-size:x-small;margin-top:0;width:640px;"><a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c2deb9a5e8/mary-poppins-quits-with-kristen-bell" title="from Funny Or Die, Kristen Bell, Eliza Skinner, Jake Fogelnest, rachelgoldenberg, Becca Scheuer, Sean Dacanay, Greg Nicolett, Chris Poole, Jesse Benjamin, ian_skalski, Tricia Robertson, and Ben Forman">Mary Poppins Quits with Kristen Bell</a> from <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/funnyordie">Funny Or Die</a> <iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?app_id=138711277798&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.funnyordie.com%2Fvideos%2Fc2deb9a5e8%2Fmary-poppins-quits-with-kristen-bell&send=false&layout=button_count&width=150&show_faces=false&action=like&height=21" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:90px; height:21px; vertical-align:middle;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe><br />
</div>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-28691850642206419042014-07-23T23:59:00.000-04:002014-07-23T23:59:18.322-04:00Who would I pick?If you've been following this site, you may<a href='http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2014/07/netroots-nation-day-1.html'> have known about</a> my trip to <a href='http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-netroots-experience.html'>Netroots Nation</a> a while ago. In the post I mentioned that I had been interviewed by a weirdly high amount of people wanting to know my opinion on things. One of those people/groups/media outlets was <a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/07/23/progressives-pick-for-2016-biden-clinton-or-warren'>the Washington Post</a>. Watch below as a bunch of randoms, and the most random guy in a white shirt at 50 seconds of all, give short answers on who they think the democrats should choose in 2016. <br />
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<iframe width="480" height="290" scrolling="no" src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/c/embed/c4b2d9b8-11ef-11e4-ac56-773e54a65906" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-4914993717383411852014-07-21T15:48:00.001-04:002014-07-21T15:48:20.209-04:00Broken SystemSomething that I haven't talked about a lot on here is the broken prison system here in America. This is pretty awful considering my personal stance against the entire idea of privatizing prisons and the weirdly, purposefully racist ways we enforce and prosecute criminal activity in this country. Case in point: somebody like me will definitely go to prison if I get caught with more than a gram of kush, while the average Livonia resident probably <a href='http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet'>wont go to jail</a> even if he had a brick of coke. At least C<a href='http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/racial-disparity-drug-use_n_3941346.html'>alifornia is acting like they notice the disparity</a>. Add up <a href='http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p12ac.pdf'>the myriad of racial disparities</a>, even when it comes to committing the same offenses, <a href='http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/06/641971/private-prisons-cost-arizona-35-million-more-per-year-than-state-run-prisons'>the complete waste of money private prisons are</a>, the high recidivism rates and the rampant abuse and you have a recipe for disaster. Click on the video below to be not surprised by the level of care that we don't put towards our prison system.<br />
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<iframe width="510" height="287" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_Pz3syET3DY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-46931791461202314202014-07-20T05:25:00.000-04:002014-07-20T14:41:40.142-04:00The Netroots experience<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioExi7ArMK35-zNvzbauey0ORuOKyO6Y8LMNELOirmSr6uzis34211Bw8gbB-n7CT_CupW9JxgWx_Es3brzqC6g5aZXJLmMfc9VsersiAlNKKz9mfkGASLFwB12Qk1UO0e8pMh-ko3B3c/s1600/IMG_20140717_152533.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioExi7ArMK35-zNvzbauey0ORuOKyO6Y8LMNELOirmSr6uzis34211Bw8gbB-n7CT_CupW9JxgWx_Es3brzqC6g5aZXJLmMfc9VsersiAlNKKz9mfkGASLFwB12Qk1UO0e8pMh-ko3B3c/s320/IMG_20140717_152533.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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The other day, I wrote some on <a href='http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2014/07/netroots-nation-day-1.html'>my first day at Netroots Nation 2014</a>, and apparently, it was a decent read. With that said, I'm going to use this spout off some more of what I observed during the biggest progressive political convention of the year. Get ready for random pics, observations, analysis and stories in the form of unconnected paragraphs. <br />
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Despite being there for 3 days, in my hometown, a few blocks from my current school and in a building that I had actually spent some of my better childhood moments in, I still felt out of my element. It took me a minute to put my finger on why I was so out of my element, and surprisingly, to many people on twitter who don't know me, it's because I was surrounded by nerds. Large herds of nerds and politically wonky people talking about wonky political stuff and splitting hairs on things like proper terminology. Another part of what made it so not my element is that 95% of the people there clearly had the type of money that allows them to take an entire week off, on purpose, and pay for a hotel room and passes to Netroots Nation and spend most of that time hitting local bars, enjoying the food here and occasionally protest the <a href='http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2014/07/motown-maritime-madness.html'>weirdly inconsistent water shutoffs</a> with the guy that plays the Hulk in the Avengers movies. This is a heavy contrast from me actually going to Netroots thanks to a ton of help from <a href='http://queenofspainblog.com'>some very special people</a>, and in a literal, physical sense, right after applying and interviewing for a second job that'll hopefully become a main job on top of being a full time student. <br />
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Being at Netroots, I could tell, that the people there could tell, that I was basically an outsider. I also, think that I looked like an outsider to the members of the media there, either that or I looked like I might make for a good interview because I was interviewed no less than 5 times during my time there. The interviews ranged from the Free Press here in Detroit, who honestly may have reporters who know my face from memory due to their headquarters being across from my school, to the Washington post. When the articles start popping up online, they will be posted on here in an effort to brag about myself.<br />
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One thing that I learned about Netroots is that it is fantastic for networking if you're the outgoing type that doesn't mind being annoying enough to just walk up to a random and start handing out business cards and trying to sell yourself as if you're a hot minor league baseball prospect. This isn't a trait that I possess, and I even called it annoying in the last sentence. I don't possess this trait because of the fact that in a general sense, my sheer presence either intimidates, creeps out or makes people uncomfortable. A decade and a half of hard stares, street crossing, weird aggressiveness and purse clutching has basically taught me to not walk up to random white people for any reason whatsoever, and in a room full of mostly random, mostly white people, it becomes pretty tough to just walk up to them and try to sell some of my better qualities. <br />
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Speaking of white people; a lot of white people saw a tweet that I sent out during my second day at Netroots. I made a joke about being the only young black guy in the room, and I've been getting weirdly racist and politically partisan responses to it and the responses to it ever since. Seriously, <a href='https://twitter.com/T1theinfamous/status/490271178376749057'>check it out</a> and be amazed. I guess I should also point out, that like America, the convention was pretty white, but not Romney speech white. I actually saw a lot of color once I left the herds of white nerds.<br />
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Knowing some people via twitter is a big help as it made the whole networking thing kinda easy and a little fun. As an example, thanks to <a href='http://www.alan.com/author/sandibehrns'>one person I know via the online microblogging service</a>, I was somehow in a game of political/music/sports trivia with internet radio host and attractive high school science teacher <a href='https://twitter.com/nicolesandler'>Nicole Sandler</a>, and even weirder I was the guy that knew all of the sports related stuff at the table. One of the questions was such a softball that I had to somewhat explain why I was right about it, and it all came down to my knowledge of the<a href='http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2011/09/revelations.html'> great Alaskan shootout</a>. At least we beat <a href='https://twitter.com/daveweigel'>Dave Weigel</a>. <br />
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Day 3 of Netroots was filled with meetings, more meetings, discussions, speeches and more discussions. Topics ranged from online harassment to street harassment to building a diverse coalition to an entire hour and a half of speeches and buzzwords and talking points on how to not sound like a total douchenozzle when talking about heavy issues on your website. I may have failed the whole not sounding like a jerk thing, but then again I'm a man with bitchy resting face and this adds to my whole intimidating white women with 0 effort, but this isn't about that. It's about the wealth of info I learned during my 3 day experience. <br />
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I guess I'll wrap up this oddly long read for my blog by pointing out the obvious, and the obvious is that the whole thing was one gigantic psychological and sociological experiment. I saw a crowd of insanely smart people with good hearts who are still slightly out of touch with the people that they want to help. I saw groups of young innovators trying to change the way we look at, absorb and even think about politics. I saw obvious political hacks who were clearly just there because other, much more important people were there. I saw a<a href='https://twitter.com/Rebecca4Rep'>dynamic state rep candidate</a> who I should have been working for, while also seeing a gubernatorial candidate who still hasn't honed his public speaking skills. I saw a lot of people who needed a hero, a reason to believe, and someone to believe in but no idea who that person is and what the reason is. But, mainly, I saw that despite the ridiculous infighting within the democratic party, there are some people who still have their eyes on the larger picture of trying to win as many elections as possible, and when it comes down to it, that's the only thing that any political group should be focused on. T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-631677162476557832014-07-18T00:48:00.000-04:002014-07-18T00:48:35.025-04:00Netroots Nation Day 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoaJuSpUtv12l7gulLIu4KlHyHOmSAhjfa5ohPaObTprvYOCOfvCeZ6j6VILwVwKJPeILAHfOCRiEBXE7ai2Pr8f9VBPDek7EUjBy4mK9RpKI8OWTrH0DBw3UEE6FNkAZKwr5NLjMTJqw/s1600/IMG_20140717_110348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoaJuSpUtv12l7gulLIu4KlHyHOmSAhjfa5ohPaObTprvYOCOfvCeZ6j6VILwVwKJPeILAHfOCRiEBXE7ai2Pr8f9VBPDek7EUjBy4mK9RpKI8OWTrH0DBw3UEE6FNkAZKwr5NLjMTJqw/s320/IMG_20140717_110348.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Stepping in to something like Netroots is like stepping in to a different world for me. This is despite the event taking place in my hometown, in a building that I'm familiar with, which is only a few blocks away from where I go to school, and only about a mile or so from where I work. It's such a weird experience going from my neighborhood, which is marginally famous for having a well known clergyman getting carjacked and beaten in it, to stepping in a building filled with political activists, campaign people, bloggers, podcast hosts, academics and people who I've only ever seen on twitter. To say that this is different from my daily life is an understatement. I guess I'm saying that I was out of my element.<br />
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I was surprised at how quickly I was able to get my pass and proceed to the nerd-heavy festivities. I spent maybe the first hour or so just observing people, and one thing became apparent to me: No matter how fancy and connected someone is, they will always grab as many free snacks as possible. I got to sit down and hang out with people representing the Michigan Democratic party and they were surprisingly down to earth for people who have an insiders view on people who could do huge things in not only this state, but the country and world at large. This was followed by me meeting a person that I had followed on twitter for a couple of years. To say that I was nervous is stating the obvious, but not stating it loud enough. Luckily we're both kinda awkward in real life so it worked out and there's a picture of us floating around online somewhere. We would have hung out more if it weren't for the fact that she had to get back to work waiting on the Vice President of this great country to show up for a pep-rally type of speech. Did I mention that I got to see that?<br />
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Around 2:00pm, the entire mood changed. You could see police officers, bomb sniffing dogs, uniformed secret service officers and even a few secret service guys in their classic black suits. On top of the crush of law enforcement was a swarm of local, national and international media. You couldn't take a step without seeing someone from channel 4 or NPR trying to interview people waiting in the very long line to get in to the ballroom to see the vice president. Surprisingly, to me at least, the police were courteous and friendly while searching through my bag for dangerous objects like frisbees and apples. I guess not being in the poor areas of Detroit will get you some service with a smile instead of a sarcastic non-response and possible beating for calling them out on it. Where was I? Something about Joe Biden? <br />
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After the room was packed to the gills with people, we waited for an hour longer than expected, but with good reason as the Vice President was on the phone with top officials from Ukraine figuring out how they were going to investigate the <a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/malaysia-airlines-plane-disappears-over-ukraine-feared-shot-down-by-missile/2014/07/17/0fffe1e6-0dcb-11e4-8341-b8072b1e7348_story.html'>Malaysian Airlines flight that was shot down over Ukrainian airspace</a>. During this wait, I spent some time going around the room and see if any local officials were there. Surprisingly, I found my old English professor, who would probably give this blog a C, at best, sitting next to a local political consultant. I should point out that she is a former member of city council. I was also interviewed by a reporter from the Detroit Free Press during the wait. After alerting the crowd as to why he was late, what he was doing, what he thinks may happen next and his feelings on the matter at hand, he got down to the meat of a speech which was more pep rally than serious policy debate. He touched on issues ranging from increasing manufacturing in this country to gay rights to the immigration issues in America. And what prompted him to jump in and talk about trying to get something done about the immigration crisis was a group of people demanding that the Obama administration "Stop deporting our families!". I found it reassuring that Joe agreed with them, even when some in the crowd got annoyed at them for having the nerve to heckle the Vice President. After that it was more hyping the crowd up and trying to get everyone in a better mood despite the awful news of the day, and with the closing of that speech, came the closing of my day at Netroots. <br />
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To sum up my day, I had fun, I learned a lot and I got to network with some people while getting closer to an elected official than I had been in years and I even got harassed by a white guy who said that I don't care about black people. I'll try to do another one of these tomorrow, and hopefully it wont suck. T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-3492185069845746702014-07-15T00:30:00.000-04:002014-07-15T00:30:03.023-04:00Midnight DistractionNetroots Nation 2014 is taking place in Detroit this week and that means that this city is going to be flooded with outsiders. As with any big event, or even just a normal day in the city, there are tons of people eating at tons of places and with the invention of apps that let you review everything, you can let everyone know of your experience. With that said, it looks like Mark had a great time at A&W. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/nightcam/status/488894605409001472" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8sTT_2sD8Saed5bMHwRsV5LNz4Sz71z5J24VuYIXJ_3IenyDi_rHGQEcx9GSdw1dvECr4qP4R-QrzCX7ZBEAsIvaILaS2anGO3048p3yx3j6gi-LDEfKezh2M6iAmFu0BY8p3i9HY74/s320/a&wreview.jpg" /></a></div>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-64359975146306338962014-07-14T00:56:00.001-04:002014-07-14T00:56:12.007-04:00Motown Maritime Madness If you've been following the news out of Detroit lately, you know that the city is getting very aggressive about shutting off delinquent water accounts. This means that anyone that's more than one month overdue faces the threat of randomly having their water shut off regardless of how much they owe. I personally wouldn't have a giant problem with it if the billing system weren't<a href='http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/water-shut-off-for-detroit-woman-whos-never-received-bill/26872684'> notoriously broken</a> and if it weren't for the fact that the shutoffs seem to be inconsistent. We're spending a lot of time, effort and money going after people for a couple hundred dollars while spending 0 time going after the owners of Shelbourne Square Apartments for their almost $254k in past due water payments. If you think that's bad, just realize that the state of Michigan owes the city much more than that and we're probably never going to see that money. Click the photo below to see how much the state actually owes the city. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.clickondetroit.com/blob/view/-/26861204/data/2/-/tts4rgz/-/Top-40-Active-Comm--Ind-Accts-Over-60-Days--PPA-Disputes-Storm-Only-excluded--7-1-14-pdf.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20qcOLXAhgTxF9DvsATgZeM1u5BFDYehXyUECSajmo1vLuHsOgTrp-oI6Z_X5eX3LkZu6S4gtOSI0eLcRCx6LwiM1-Wv8vdytkLzsW_X9ItoZelsaTIhW4KySbh4jJ_oEQNBubzVfj_g/s320/DSCN0449.JPG" /></a></div>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-11137864160849202132014-07-07T01:05:00.001-04:002014-07-07T01:05:50.607-04:00David Gregory is an idiot.With the controversy surrounding the fact that tens of thousands of unaccompanied children from Central America have made their way to the U.S. during the last few months, there has been an almost predictable amount of ridiculousness, misinformation and<a href="http://queenofspainblog.com/2014/07/03/the-4th-murrieta-californias-hate-for-new-americans"> think pieces written on the issues</a> at hand. While it's fine for bloggers and randoms to not be totally up on something, it is unacceptable for someone the caliber of David Gregory of "Meet the Press" to be so wrong. For a man with so much influence and with so many connections to power in this country, he comes across extremely incompetent in this clip when he has to talk to the one person who has more info than anyone in the country when it comes to immigration either legal, or illegal. Watch as David Gregory struggles to change the subject every single time DHS Secretary Johnson shoots down one of his false talking points. <br />
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This will probably be a weekly series, seeing as how he has a habit of being this stupid on TV. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="video-embed" frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="no" src="http://mediamatters.org/embed/199990" width="480"></iframe>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-15532376711223227182014-07-01T01:07:00.000-04:002014-07-01T01:07:10.942-04:00Midnight DistractionMonday kinda sucked just off of the simple fact that it was Monday. Try not to let that get you down and enjoy a picture that most of you probably wont see. Here's secret WWE fan Jon Stewart and his son backstage with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Mantel#Return_to_WWE_.282013-present.29">WWE personality Zeb Colter</a> at WWE's "Money in the Bank" pay-per-view, which by the way was pretty awesome. If you're not a fan of WWE, you may know him from the fact that<a href="http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_News_3/article_68775.shtml#.U7JAXXJdWaM"> Glenn Beck and Alex Jones personally hate him for being a near exact copy of a tea party politician</a>, or if you live in the great state of Tennessee, you may know that his granddaughter is the inspiration behind<a href="http://www.wate.com/story/25684831/gov-haslam-signs-law-named-after-blount-county-teen-killed-in-crash"> Amelia's Law</a>, which goes into effect as of me typing this sentence. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6muZ_qgpphbOSQSBAoBYzKg8l4StgTUkjvpdicP6M5ViRfHGmxtG8rZ7PgqIvcS0Rlmf4BkMPfO78GNNrjmOYTtkyJZNIPMJRFe_vhUNrLRP0OpJfrmuhiatjGX7VR5M-fovsf_l1s8/s1600/zebstewart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6muZ_qgpphbOSQSBAoBYzKg8l4StgTUkjvpdicP6M5ViRfHGmxtG8rZ7PgqIvcS0Rlmf4BkMPfO78GNNrjmOYTtkyJZNIPMJRFe_vhUNrLRP0OpJfrmuhiatjGX7VR5M-fovsf_l1s8/s320/zebstewart.jpg" /></a></div>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-10703997532611435142014-06-26T15:15:00.001-04:002014-06-26T15:15:48.779-04:00Bachmania!As everyone who has been paying attention knows, <a href='http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2009/12/behind-name-change.html'>Michele Bachmann has had an irrational level of hate towards President Obama for years</a>. Thanks to the recent house G.O.P. plan to sue the president for something or other, she got the chance to show off more of her hate boner on Fox news, where even the usually hilariously bad Neil Cavuto had to laugh her out of the building for being an idiot. Click, watch and be amazed. <br />
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<iframe width="460" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8JrEMZ7KUdM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-32552481076447517322014-06-26T13:32:00.001-04:002014-06-26T13:32:13.071-04:00Video of the dayIf you were in Detroit, any of the downriver communities, or the area surrounding Windsor,Ontario,Canada you may have seen the impressive fireworks display on Monday out on the Detroit river. I've been to <a href='http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2010/06/cant-get-away.html'>quite a few</a> and every year it seems to get better and more fun, and if you're in the city in late June, feel free to check out one of the most impressive displays of pyrotechnics in the world. With that said, most of us only get to see it from the ground, but this time, thanks to the city of Detroit, we get to see it from the sky while flying through a quickly revitalizing downtown. Watch and be impressed.<br />
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<iframe width="460" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/J7ScS9E7TUo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-43084927405642534142014-06-23T18:11:00.000-04:002014-06-23T18:11:16.933-04:00Rush to judgementA few weeks ago, I wrote a fairly well received rant about how <a href="http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-picture-will-never-change.html">America tends to act like sexism doesn't exist</a> and doesn't have any effects whatsoever on how America operates. Today's rush to judgement is another example of how sexism is being looked over and ignored despite having very real consequences. The particular consequences in this example is that women make 23% less on average than a man who does the same job. Of course none of this matters to Rush Limbaugh who has made a living off of saying sexist things and then pretending that sexism doesn't really exist. Click, listen and be amazed.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="video-embed" frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="no" src="http://mediamatters.org/embed/199847" width="480"></iframe>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-72137007296154197812014-06-16T05:30:00.001-04:002014-06-16T05:30:31.940-04:00Starbucks UniversityIf you know me in real life, you know that I often joke about how overpriced Starbucks coffee and assorted beverages are. I honestly just can't see myself paying that much for one cup of coffee, even if it is a ridiculous 59 ounces. Of course, I may have to soften my stance on $8 coffee considering the big announcement the company made on Monday. Starbucks is teaming up with Arizona State University to offer workers full reimbursement for tuition if they're enrolled in one of <a href="http://asuonline.asu.edu/online-degree-programs">ASU's online degree programs</a>. Usually something like this comes with the catch that you have to work for the same company, forever. This plan doesn't have that catch and Starbucks doesn't expect everyone to stay after getting a degree at an extremely reduced rate. The program is open to anyone who works more than 20 hours a week for Starbucks. If you want to read more, click on the picture below.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/starbucks-coffee-student-loans-107884.html?hp=f1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7GLnKFcIx8d-FayY6qyG0z2j68BdPZE8DjurQkgban4b0ZjQHTI5YJ09F0vMPBd8sn8gRKw750r3GY1OvX9uHKV4BQp59zNmo9RR1RLvV_hyphenhyphenq71TG7mQ7pZ6iPTP5mgFfkNr_ZzVP8eQ/s320/20130627_C3562_PHOTO_EN_28598-1.jpg" /></a></div>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521079809586661237.post-28733726398971099202014-06-11T00:25:00.000-04:002014-06-11T00:34:40.822-04:00The end of an Eric<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4x3fmsRn8q-N-8CFTTUDhLRsOh-kEG-9SPGR_X1blTl0dBT4t4A-A4d7yCRyv-SfjjMSHUliqEkrOEdFv2AiLKykZwe4Zk_7u3Jv1Om91MS9e5kQN2f3mazkQtQXfLpfkvdaF8R8S1g/s1600/2009_0326_Getty_Eric_Cantor_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4x3fmsRn8q-N-8CFTTUDhLRsOh-kEG-9SPGR_X1blTl0dBT4t4A-A4d7yCRyv-SfjjMSHUliqEkrOEdFv2AiLKykZwe4Zk_7u3Jv1Om91MS9e5kQN2f3mazkQtQXfLpfkvdaF8R8S1g/s320/2009_0326_Getty_Eric_Cantor_0.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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In a bit of shocking news, <a href='http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2009/11/seperated-at-birth.html'>Stephen Colbert enthusiast</a> and steakhouse over-spender, Eric Cantor, lost in the Virginia republican primaries. This loss means that one of the most powerful men in congress is now without a job and would possibly qualify for Obamacare if his state were to actually expand medicaid. Click on the picture below to realize that Eric Cantor spent more on food than his challenger spent on his entire campaign.<br />
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College <a href='http://t1anddrebone.blogspot.com/2011/09/revelations.html'>basketball enthusiast</a> Sarah Palin is already dancing on his grave.<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Congratulations to Dave Brat in Virginia on such an encouraging victory tonight! You shocked the political world... <a href="http://t.co/qLeYl9usdC">http://t.co/qLeYl9usdC</a></p>— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA/statuses/476581966486458368">June 11, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/expend.php?cycle=2014&cid=N00013131&type=I" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC8TfrAb5GKaN71tvIhBEocopjNwD3NsRnvcLbVHIfRTukNrSgsUm8nicRY6ieTFqWP0yc52BhzD0VX_bNSrmt91_Q8KerVEcRdFqOKDGFAizwBYdeS9Kxns6p1rRcKc8icOEtHVS7shI/s320/steakcake.png" /></a></div>T1http://www.blogger.com/profile/06572556470434245826noreply@blogger.com0