BlackMan Time

Archive for November, 2008

Some animals have a great way to mark their territory: they mainly urinate on the area they consider to be theirs! Human beings too protect their patch in similar, if less dramatic, ways.

In the case of relationships a woman (or man for that matter) will tell other people someone belongs to her/him by wrapping her/his arms around their alleged loved ones and hope that any other interested parties get the message.

This is sometimes reinforced by being seen with that person in a favourable light, even spreading rumours in the right places hoping that this will deter others from poaching their partners.

I’ve seen this dynamic at work on me while having lunch with a particular female colleague who just happens to already have a boyfriend. Yet she went around telling key people that she was the one chasing me!

The effect of this was to cause people to talk about us as if we were an item when in actual fact we were not. I guess she wouldn’t do this if she had no interest in me. But it sure weakened my case with any prospective single women who might have been interested in me!

Weird, huh?

Whenever white people are in trouble who do they call? Here’s a clue: it’s definitely not Ghostbusters!

No matter where on the planet you live whenever there’s a large scale national problem in a predominantly white western country, chances are they turn to a BlackMan to help clean up the mess.

Is it any wonder that Barack Obama has been elected president of the USA after George W. Bush has messed up the country in oh so many ways?

1960s Britain

Back in the 1960s Britain, in the aftermath of post-war rebuilding, was in a mess. It needed manpower to take up detested jobs that went ignored and unfilled by local Brits. So they issued a colonial call to its predominantly Black West Indian subjects…

Of course we already know about slaves in America and how their labour helped to build that country and relating that history to today’s events is quite easy. US President elect is the descendant son of one of those former slaves and he has elected largely by white people earlier this month to be the next US president.

It is good that white men have recognised this and are publicly commenting on it, but it is equally significant that people of African descent see exactly what is going on too.

Trusted BlackMan

What is evident is that white America has recognised they would rather trust a BlackMan to clean up the economic mess, housing crisis and impending currency collapse they’re facing than one of their own. If this is the case maybe they have elected Barack Obama as a super “maid” or “janitor”.

It is really saying something about the hatred they have for George W. Bush if they would rather have a BlackMan running the country than anyone else. This makes any sceptic wonder what kind of hook, if any, they already have sunk into Obama. In short has he already been compromised, sold out and is Barack Obama just a wolf in sheep clothing?

We will definitely have to wait for the answer, until some time after he takes office on January 20, 2009 in fact. This man has lots to prove and dispel! Can he do it?

Yes he can…we hope!

I’ve never been a follow fashion monkey but I’ve always felt the need to know what’s going on in the fashion stakes! That may sound like a contradiction but let me give an example of what I mean.

If the latest, hot item is out I won’t be the first to have it but I will know what it is. While the early adopters and fashion followers will pay the higher price to rush out and get it, I will wait a few months until the price drops.

Or maybe I will not get it at all. The fact is I’m not driven by being the first to own such items because you always pay a higher price, which I think is stupid!

I have lost count how many times different flavours of the day have come and gone and I’ve just watched them and wished them well without becoming a consumer, or victim, of the fashion fad.

I guess I’m too economic conscious to fall prey to this marketing strategy. My weakness is getting a bargain, e.g. the same items for a fraction of the original cost. Usually all I have to do to get this advantage is to wait a few months.

To me, in this case, patience is not only a virtue, but it also makes sound financial sense!

My father used to say “women turn fool after six!” The way he said it didn’t make it clear whether he actually meant “after six” or “after sex!” but both are equally true!

What he was getting at, if the first instance is true, is that a woman is easier to manipulate after dark, when the harsh light of the day disappear and the alluring mystique of the night takes over.

In the second instance the act of having sexual intercourse makes a woman overlook their usual cautious way with sense and sensibility and they momentarily lapse into a state of giddiness.

Neglect

A similar thing is true when two people start falling in love! They seem to abandon much common sense and hurtle headlong into the affair. Sometimes they neglect prevailing responsibilities and/or key considerations to partake of this emotional roller coaster.

Those positioned close to them can spot the changes in their personality and behaviour. But, their warnings to proceed cautiously will usually be overlooked; after all how can the love-struck reason with passion, particularly when it is twinned with emotion and blind “this person is good for me” faith?

The concerned friend or relative want to see the best for the situation but it’s still a worry they hope will not end in hurt. But maybe that’s the risk anyone takes whenever they fall in love because love hurts and pain is the price you usually pay!

Yahoo, the joys of falling in love!

This is turning out to be one of those weeks where you can’t wait to see the back of it! Chief reason for this is probably a little disappointment I’ve had but I’m coping with that using my own Dealing With Disappointments advice.

The weather has also played a big part in influencing my feelings too because it has been bitterly cold most days. My body seems to crave heat, naturally because I’m a melanin enhanced man of Africa/Caribbean descent!

This time of the year is notoriously bad for not delivering sunshine of sufficient strength and quality so my body is deficient in vitamin D, a fact I readily recognise. Even though I’m not a fan of taking pills, etc., I recognise when I need help in supplementing my body’s natural resources.

There probably other natural things I could do to increase my vitamin D intake but I don’t yet know what they are. On doing a Google search for “sources of vitamin D” I found information which told me: “Vitamin D is found in oily fish, eggs; fortified foods such as margarine, breakfast cereals and powdered milk.”

It continues to say we get most of our vitamin D from sunlight on our skin. But, the only thing I eat from that list is fish and I only do that occasionally. Looks like I’m going to have to alter my diet a little…

What

An oriental looking man got on at Paddington as I travelled home on a London Underground Bakerloo Line train going towards Queens Park station yesterday.

My head was down in the London Paper so I didn’t see exactly what he had in his hand. But I could smell whatever was in the bag. It smelled lgreasy, like something cooked in a deep fry chip pan.

Sure enough when I eventually turned around and faced him he was eating fast food chicken and chips. The carriage was thick with the smell of the oil and I wondered if I was the only one who could actually smell it.

The last time I smelled anything like that it was covering the fish and chips I had bought from a shop in South London. I got violent food poisoning and was out of action for two weeks. I later learnt that the oil had been very old and that’s why I got sick.

I wanted to shout this out to the man but he looked like he was enjoying his food too much. All I could do was to nod a hello to him as I got off the train and wished him sick free aftermath!

I thought he was going to need it

I’m so sick of so-called animal rights group imposing their extreme will on others. The one I dislike the most is PETA, People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals. I just don’t see the point of their existence if all they do is campaign just to get publicity by humiliating people who wear fur.

The one activity I support them on is highlighting the plight of factory chicken by organisations like McDonalds. But, I have strong reservation about any organisation that puts the rights of animals before that of humans, as PETA does.

Rights? What rights has animals got? As far as I understand it God gave man dominion over all things and that includes animals. While I’m not happy at anyone ill-treating animals, I cannot see how the rights of animals be greater than humans.

Whether someone eats animal flesh (I rarely do) or even wear animal fur (I definitely don’t!) should be up to them. PETA should not be allowed to go around acting holier than thou assaulting, shaming or ridiculing people who may choose to eat animal or wear their covering for clothing or fashion, particularly since God already gave us the right to do so!

While it’s one thing to have a personal preference of eating animals, it’s another to push their agenda and “convictions” down the throat of others. And I bet somewhere along the line PETA officials wear leather, use medicine that’s been tested on animals or contravene the very code themselves are trying to uphold!

Any takers on that bet?

Brace yourself: I feel a Eureka moment coming on! I reckon I’ve found the formula for success! No, seriously! Are you ready to hear it?

Okay then, here it is…

• Find something – a business for instance – that you’re good at that can generate income.
• Do it.
• Keep doing it until other people realise you are really really good at it.
• Charge a reasonable amount for doing it.
• Then keep doing it until you’re rich! You may need to increase price at certain times..
• Think of other ways to do it (diversify!) but keep the same formula that’s made you successful.
• Invest some of the surplus so that it earn you money for no effort on your part!
• Give some of the money to charity or to someone less fortunate than yourself.

That’s it. All I need to do now is to figure out a way to write that in mathematical form and I can laugh all the way to the bank…

As far as I see it there’s nothing manly, brave or heroic about smoking cigarettes or inhaling nicotine as a right of passage. In fact it is an act of cowardice to engage in this kind of activity. At best it is stupid.¹

I lose track of the number of people I see in the street, hanging tough and assuming what they presume is a cool posture only to spoil everything by having a cigarette dangling from the corner of their mouths. They are under the illusion that this rather dated image is somehow cool.

But what’s cool about an activity that is certain to give you cancer or lung problems if you continue with it and you reach the later years in life?

I have hated cigarettes even more since July 1st, 2007 when a national smoking ban has been adopted in the UK. But I still occasionally have to pass smokers who get around the ban by smoking in the street, their passive smoke wafting into my nostrils. I hate this.

If it was up to me I’d ban cigarette smoking totally and issue harsh penalties against the makers of such evil devices.

Just count your lucky stars I’m not in charge, you smoke killers!

1. This is my first footnote! [↩]

It starts with the first whisper that someone (maybe a senior) who had been co-operating well with a particular management structure/regime/organisation, has suddenly decided to rebel. The reason for the rebellion could be anything.

This includes becoming disgruntled over money. Perhaps The Rebel wants more power, control or respect in their current role. Whatever the cause, it is enough to make them persona non-grata with the current senior personnel or War Counsel.

One War Counsel Senior in particular has made it their solemn duty to bring down The Rebel “if it’s the last thing I do.”

Before you know it Plan B – to identify a suitable Replacement for The Rebel – is in operation. An approach is made to The Replacement who warms to the idea because they dislikes The Rebel for a number of reasons. The Replacement agrees a deal with the War Counsel.

Stepping Out

Over a period the War Counsel carefully builds up a dossier on The Rebel, noting date and times they have stepped out of line. Particularly, they are waiting for the right moment to spring the coup but need enough grounds to justify it.

At last they get their reason and they call The Rebel into a dismissal meeting. But, The Rebel is smart. They have compiled their down dossier on the organisation, particularly on War Counsel Senior whose main joy is preying on people of the same sex, fiddling the books or some other uncompromising shenanigan.

To avoid embarrassment the War Counsel tries to negotiate with The Rebel. It can end in two ways. Either they reach a deal and agree a financial settlement. Or they declare open warfare with each respective side vowing to inflict great carnage on the other…

This is advanced office business but the concept applies to any number of world events! Politics raise its ugly head not just in parliament, congress or houses where a country’s business is officially discussed, but wherever people are.

Can you see the politics around you?