James Brown has the solution for Iggy Azalea!!

Iggy Azalea

JUST SAY'n: So Hip-Hop has a problem with Iggy Azalea racking up huge numbers and being labeled by Forbes as the White Blonde who runs Hip-Hop. Music.Mic has taken a look into Hip-Hop's response to Iggy exploiting the culture but not championing the cause of the Black community.  read more>>                                 

Oh!!!!...So North Korea is the BAD GUY for Hacking the Sony Emails!!!!

JUST SAY'n: Only problem is, if there were no derogative emails towards Blacks, then the hackings would simply be a breach in security, and they've had those before (hackers "borrowed" 50,000 of Michael Jackson's unreleased songs purchased by Sony back in the Spring).  What the hackings have accomplished is to demonstrate the TRUE unfiltered attitudes and motivations of an organization that has signed significant contracts with Black stars in the recent past. They've revealed that Sony execs LOATH Blacks in general and their creative capabilities.  And it's helped layout a clear perspective for those who partner with such an entity now and in the future.  Remember, it's just business cause "They don't Really Care about Us".... JUST SAY'n!

O'Reilly, You might want to REWORD that "Grievance Train" Cynicism.

JUST SAY'n..."I can hear my neighbor crying, I can't breath, Now I'm in the struggle and I can't leave. Calling out the violence of the racist police. We ain't gonna stop, til people are free; We ain't gonna stop, til people are free". 


On his "Talking Points" memo Bill O'Reilly chastised "some" Black Americans for "Hating America"  while making a point of criticizing Samuel L. Jackson for having joined the "Grievance Train" in attempting to "diminish" America when Jackson, on his Facebook page, posted a challenge to celebrities to sing the "We ain't gonna stop, til people are Free" song.  It should be noted that there is no mention of anything negative about the United States of America in the song, only about "calling out the violence of the racist police". That's exercising his right to free speech as an American citizen Mr. O'Reilly; the one that reads like this:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

There's that "grievance" word again...seems like the founding fathers pictured a day when SOME people would presume to stop citizens from expressing their peaceful desire to see the nation improve in unacceptable areas. And the murder of Black men by police is certainly worthy of that dissent. The founding fathers thought a Black Life Mattered when they went to war after the murder of Crispus Attucks during the Boston Massacre. 

Singing that song of dissent against oppressive authority is in the tradition of the founding fathers of this great nation.  Now diminishing America would be the 23 states that signed petitions to succeed from the US back in 2012 after the President was REELECTED in an open and free election, in accordance with the democratic process of this nation. Or how about wanting to "sue" the President for attempting to execute the mandates of his office. At that time, were you railing at those groups of individuals as "Hating America" or for attempting to "diminish" it?  Yeah...thought not...JUST SAY'n!

One is Drunk In Love, the other is Plain Drunk!

JUST SAY'n...Did you check out The Grio's article where a Hungarian folk artist is attempting to sue Beyonce for stealing her song and including it into the intro of Drunk in Love? If you want a good laugh, go listen to her song and compare it with DIL. There is no part of the two that compare. The Background singer in DIL is singing a typical Phrygian Augmented modal pattern on and off

throughout the song. That's different than what this woman uses...she's doing a Pentatonic Major arpeggio...I've seen where people are attempting to say that Beyonce is stealing the traditional Hungarian form or style. That is not the case here because the Phrygian pattern that she is using is incorporated into many forms of indigenous music(been in hip hop since the beginning). Many forms of Jazz and Jazz Fusion use variations of that pattern both in melodies and in improvisations. Besides, you can't copyright indigenous forms of music(if that were true the people of Africa could sue anyone for using pentatonics) nor can you copyright modal patterns which have been around for centuries. There would have to be substantial evidence that they copied the main theme and form of her particular creative work...it's different pitches and different rhythms, in a different key. In short, One is Drunk in Love, and the other is Just Plain Drunk....JUST SAY'n.

Prayers for Pakistan...and for the Innocent Children!

JUST SAY'n:  The Taliban is claiming credit for nine gunmen bombing, shooting and killing 132 students at the Army School in Peshawar, Pakistan. This is the worst of a series of attacks in that country by the Taliban who are against education for females. Hearts go out to the families who lost loved ones, and for the traumatized surviving and injured students. And prayers also go out for defenders of freedom and first responders throughout the world. There really are people bent on death and destruction...JUST SAY'n.

Sony BREACHES Contract to Show Kevin Hart who's BOSS!!

JUST SAY'n: Being an INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR is different than working at a fast food restaurant. In the latter, the employee shows up to work at a certain time and punches in a time clock. Their breaks and lunch periods are strictly monitored and the employer can basically terminate their contract for substandard performance or, whatever depending upon how much tenure the individual has. 

Being an INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR is much different. There is an agreed upon contract to go into a series of ventures that require BOTH PARTIES to perform certain tasks to insure project success.  The hiring entity does not OWN the sub-contractor, and has the obligation of doing all that is necessary to hold up their end of the AGREEMENT to make sure that the SUBCONTRACTOR's creative efforts are not wasted. 

Looking at this situation with Sony and Kevin Hart, it's clear that Sony Execs are in violation of their portion of the agreement to insure the success of the agreed upon series of movies with Hart. They don't OWN Hart, but rather they're offering a platform from which he may produce, distribute and profit from HIS creative Genius. Sony is doing exactly what was threatened when their email conversations about Hart and many other blacks were "leaked". In the conversations an exec called Hart a "money hungry whore" and threatened to shut down future promotion of his upcoming releases. 

In looking at this situation, I'm reminded of the spat that Micheal Jackson had with Sony Records who worked out a deal with Jackson's attorney to steal the rights of Jackson's Invincible masters so as to delay the release date to Micheal thus preventing him from  promoting his own material and keeping all the profits.

Micheal was able to get out of his contract by proving a conflict of interest, in regards to the attorney, but also in proving that Sony would actually benefit if his career faltered and could abscond his music catalog at a reduced price. 

After Jackson's death, his estate agreed to sale Jackson's extensive musical library of unreleased music to Sony for $250 million presumably for the release of 7 albums by 2017, however, a breech in Sony's email accounts permitted hackers to download 50,000 of Jackson's songs. At the time, Sony stated that they had fixed the hole in their email security; obviously, they didn't fix it enough (sic). 

This situation of Sony dragging its feet in promoting Hart's upcoming "Wedding Ringer" is similar to the battle that Prince had with Warner Brother's records when they desired that he "slow down" the production of his music because they wanted to keep the audience hungry for more. An acrimonious two decade spat ensued that led to Prince's SLAVE references. 

The best advice for Hart would be to hire a competent and LOYAL legal team to review all of the terms of his contract with his contracted business PARTNER to determine what legal recourse is available for his current and future benefit....JUST SAY'n.

Cosby EXPECTS Black Media to Remain Neutral!

JUST SAY'n...It's a free country Bill, you can't dictate to people what to print. You've done a lot of good, and I personally understand that people are human and are not perfect. But don't make a bad situation worse by defiantly attempting to bully the people who have supported you most. At this point, nothing legal can come of the MANY allegations, therefore, there is no need to respond in anyway to these accusations. The general mood among those who still support you is, "well, even if it happened, most of these claims are decades ago when Bill was still a young vibrant man; with a different mentality. You come out now and demand that the Black Media not report the truth, then it comes off as if you're injected a figurative sleeping pill into the drinks of both the Black Media and your remaining fans, of which I am one....JUST SAY'n!


Bill Cosby

Relationship Building works BOTH Ways!!

JUST SAY'n:  I've seen, presumably, well meaning people saying that the Black community needs to develop a "relationship" with the police officers(specifically white) who service their communities. Others, myself included, have maintained that it is law enforcement's responsibility to sensitize their officers to the needs of the communities that they patrol so that they officers are not servicing those communities while in a heightened state of fear and anxiety that promotes the type of trigger happy responses that we've seen recently in Ferguson and Cleveland in addition to the racial profiling and excessive force videoed in the Eric Garner death. 

That said, check out what this officer does when a grandmother is caught stealing to feed her hungry family. Doesn't condone stealing on any level, but he didn't overreact with violence either...JUST SAY'n

Sony Exec shows Kevin Hart Who's "Playa"

JUST SAY'n....Interesting choice of words used by a Sony Exec back in March when Kevin Hart's agent requested to be paid to send a tweet drumming up support for "Think Like a Man too". Hart's representative pointed out that such a request is over and above the normal appearances asked of stars when promoting movies. The Exec noted that Hart had already received $3 and $4 million for his previous movies and was acting like a "greedy whore" in wanting more. The exact phrase used was "I'm not saying he's a whore, but, he's a whore"...And the Exec went on to hint that Sony just might down play the release of his next two contracted movies and "call his bluff". Hmmm...So Sony wants to be a "Playa" and use "Playa" terminology when discussing reasonable client request. After all, Kevin Hart has learned well from Chris Rock that he is his own brand and should benefit from any usage of that brand. Which means, in "Playa" terminology, "there won't be no freebies from this ho". Does this mean we can look forward to a "Think like a Pimp too?" Cause that's the posturing this "Playa" has taken when you consider the movie opened at $29.241,911 and grossed $65,182,182 domestically and $70,181,482 total. That should be plenty for the "Playa" to purchase some Superfly threads and brim...JUST SAY'n

Lakers show solidarity in wearing I Can't Breathe T-Shirts

JUST SAY'n:  The LA Lakers wore "I Can't Breathe" t-shirts Tuesday night in support of protesters and efforts for justice in the failure to indict in the Eric Garner case. Not everyone was pleased that Kobe Bryant participated. Reporters Doug Gottlieb and John Middlekauff were not impressed with Kobe's show of solidarity, stating, in so many words, that he had not grown up in the "hood/poverty" and therefore, his protest wasn't born of authentic struggle. When you consider that protest in support of both the Mike Brown and Eric Garner cases have transcended national boundaries as well as, cultural and economic demographics, it would make sense that all persons with a conscious would be welcomed in demonstrating their support. And, considering that Gottlieb and  Middlekauff are paid handsomely to voice their expert opinions about a sport that neither have played professionally at the NBA level, it's understandable that criticisms of Kobe would be met with the backlash of skepticism their tweets garnered. Both have since offered apologies and focus can once again be directed to the play on the court and the protest on the streets....JUST SAY'n

On Boys with Guns!

JUST SAY'n...Looking at the video of young Tamir Rice playing with a fake gun, a pellet gun, but in his mind, a toy gun, my mind immediately went back some 50 Christmas seasons ago. Anyone raised in the 60s, particularly if you were a boy, will have memories of Christmas mornings waking up to a toy cowboy set of hat, holsters and guns. They could be just plastic, cap or even BB, but there were ALWAYS guns for Christmas. Watching little Tamir walking around, BY HIMSELF, pointing the toy gun at his imaginary "bad guys" I thought, "he's just a kid, playing with a gun...how could this go so wrong"? And I'm still thinking that. I have to say, that I read a statement accompanying a video prior to actually seeing it, and the person said that he looked like a "grown man". I didn't see that in this video. I saw a little boy, playing with a gun...and so did those police officers. They saw a little boy getting up from that gazebo with a toy gun, that's why they drove right up to him close enough to almost hit him with the door as the initial officer fell out the door to fire while falling to the ground. They saw a little boy, a little Black boy, because, had he been a man with a REAL gun, they would have used more caution. They would have parked far enough away to actually GIVE the three vocal commands they claim to have given to put the weapon down, as Tamir unwittingly walked right into a firing officer. They fired and Tamir NEVER even raised his "weapon" at them. He never had opportunity to "raise his hands"...The kid was walking over to what he thought were friendly faces.

Police officers don't want the federal government meddling with their "police work", yet they continue to permit their own to murder and walk away to "THEIR families" while grieving families are left to try and figure out what happened. No shots had been fired at any civilians; Again, I say, no one was near a kid sitting in what appeared to be a bus stop gazebo, the kid did not make threatening gestures nor did he attempt to raise his hands to point the weapon at the officers. 

Yes...it's understood that the majority of gun fights involving police officers are close range; that's what officers say. But I will counter that they are also with REAL threats, not with little boys playing with a pellet gun and snowballs. What will the "get over" narrative be this time? "He looked like a grown man", "His gun looked like a real gun", "He didn't raise his hands before I could count 1 Mississippi"? There will be something, Some Prosecutor will look at the evidence and decide which best fits the officer's story and discard the rest. Hopefully this time, despite the popular notion that video's don't matter, that officers walk even with evidence, hopefully THIS time JUSTICE will FINALLY be served......JUST SAY'n. 

Presidential "Poll"

JUST SAY'n...Don't waste your time with the NewsMax Poll floating around social networks; It's a pro-Republican poll and the numbers reflect their positions...and the "popular vote" here doesn't match what's happening in reality. The President is midway between his second term and they're left playing with (polls). JUST SAY'n

5 Facts About...

JUST SAY'n...Five Facts About...

 Trees (American Forest.org)
1. 1 Large Tree can supply enough oxygen for 2 people
2. The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day. 
3.  In one day, one large tree can lift up to 100 gallons of water out of the ground and discharge it into the air.
4. For every five percent of tree cover added to a community, stormwater runoff is reduced by approximately two percent. 
5. Reduced energy use: Trees and vegetation that directly shade buildings decrease demand for air conditioning.

Fruit 
1. Trees grow fruit because it helps them grow more trees (WHYZZ). 
2. Humans and animals eat the fruit and transport them to other places where the seeds, still intact, are let off on their droppings. 
3. Trees do not produce fruit when they overgrow from too much pruning or fertilizer (Penn. St. Extension).
4. Fruits have been recognized as a good source of vitamins and minerals (Healthy Eating.org)
5. The minerals in fruits helps prevent chronic ailments; potassium in fruits can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke and the folic acid in fruit helps produce red blood cells. 

Leaves 
1.  Leaves turn sunlight into starches and sugars, which are food for the tree, through a process called photosynthesis (Fun and Interesting Facts). 
2. All leaves contain the chemical chlorophyll which causes them to turn green; some contain anthnocyanins which causes them to turn red or purple when the chlorophyll is gone. Others contain carontenoids which causes them to turn yellow, orange and brown. 
3. Leaves provide shade for animals and protection for creatures that hide on tree branches. 
4. Leaves contain nutrients which makes them great for compost
5. Leaves in compost provide organic matter, boost moister retention and provide soil structure. (10 Facts About Leaves) 
 
Success (Forbes)
1. All successful people fail at some point, learn from your failures.
2. Set goals that are S.M.A.R.T.; Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. 
3. Harness your confidence, really believe in your ability to accomplish your goals.
4. Commit to go the extra mile everyday to achieve your desires. 
5. Persevere while remaining humble, always hold yourself accountable for every aspect of your life.
JUST SAY'n

 
 Psalm 1:1-3

Stuart Scott "Still fighting" and the MNF Crew giving their Support

JUST SAY'n...Monday Night Football crew members gave a touching show of support to team member Stuart Scott as he continues to "Fight that Fight"...So too, is there support from here to the 2014 Jimmy V Foundation Courage Award Recipient...and a guy who is as "Cool as the other side of the pillow"...JUST SAY'n

The Pentagon's Autopsy Report of Mike Brown: Shot Eight Times!

JUST SAY'n: The DOD medical examiner has released the findings of the Mike Brown autopsy ordered by the Department of Justice. The report finds that Brown was shot eight times with the possibility of one of the wounds being an re-entry wound from another wound. Browns body "was inspected three separate times: Once by the St. Louis County Office of the Medical Examiner; once, at the request of Brown's family, by outside expert Dr. Michael Baden; and one more time by the Department of Defense's Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, at the request of the US Department of Justice." The DOD's report was released by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office on December 8. 

There is no indication what bearing the autopsy had on the grand jury decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson for the August 9 homicidal death of the 18 year old teen, nor does there appear any signal from the Justice Department that the ongoing investigation into Brown's death has reached a conclusion. On the night that the state grand jury refused to indict Mr. Wilson, the Justice Department released this statement; "The Justice Department’s investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown remains ongoing.  Even at this mature stage of the investigation, we have avoided prejudging any of the evidence.  And although federal civil rights law imposes a high legal bar in these types of cases, we have resisted forming premature conclusions.” As noted by Paul Cassell of the Washington Post, 'The question worth considering is when does drawing conclusions in a “mature” investigation switch from being premature to overdue?' This is a reasonable question, particularly when you consider that there is rising sentiment from various factions within the Black community that this administration has the fixings of Black political empowerment, but it has failed to protect the innocent teens in the process of getting ahead. Indeed, there has been an onslaught of attacks that appear to be a "tradeoff" for having a Black President.  The message being, "He's in the office, but we run the streets and you nor your kids are safe in your communities". This isn't meant to show any disrespect for either the President or Mr. Holder, just pointing out the increasing perceptions in the face of current realities...JUST SAY'n

Stephen A. Smith Supports Charles Barkley's Right to Speak Up!

JUST SAY'n...Stephen A. Smith's take on Kenny Smith's open letter to Charles Barkley basically results in he stating that all people what a right to express their opinions whatever they may be, because there is value to be gained from expressing those opinions and individuals with the platforms to speak on social issues do not have to be experts or scholars in a particular forum, but rather courageous enough to use their platform to express their position. I get this, but I don't think that the gist of Smith's letter to Barkley was that Charles should not speak out, but rather that Charles should understand the status that his opinions have, not in the Black community, because for the most part, his opinions(this is my estimation) don't mean much there. But rather, his opinions are disseminated throughout American society as a whole as those which represent "good" Blacks and the way that Blacks"should" think. That is the danger of a person expressing the views that Charles promotes. He does not speak for Black America and while it is understood, that all Americans have an opinion, Charles and Stephen A. represent their opinions and happen to have a platform to express them. And they have to understand, that people have a right to place more value on the opinions of individuals who are skilled and qualified to engage in matters of social unrest both from a political and legal perspective. That is, it's nice that we all have opinions, but social change is quite a step above stating an opinion and the discerning individual can distinguish between the two. Case in point, Charles' response to Kenny's open letter clearly demonstrated that his future statements should never be promoted to represent Black people as a whole because Blacks do not agree that there were any redeemable qualities to slavery and it has been through the resiliency of a people and the Grace of God that slavery was overcome...and that's MY opinion ...JUST SAY'n.

Ridley Scott's Exodus into Fantasyland!

JUST SAY'N...so in true Euro-Arrogance Ridley Scott has issued a terse statement to those boycotting his science fiction rendering of the Biblical Exodus, "Get a Life"...The justification for the all white casting is pretty consistent with all rewriting of history, "to finance the movie".  So there you have it, despite DNA evidence and scriptural text that point otherwise, the all mighty dollar is the true motivator for this "white out".  If he's really in need of financing his fairy tail, perhaps they could sell little packets of bleach to help the paying customers keep their linen's pure white as well...JUST SAY'n.

Charles Barkley is WRONG about the Grand Jury Decision!

JUST SAY'n: Charles Barkley had a lot to say about Ferguson, Missouri in a recent interview with a local Philadelphia radio station. This is an adopted post of mine in response to a question posed on Facebook about those comments. .

Charles had two messages in that article, one I agreed with, the other I didn't. I agreed that there were Blacks who should not have been looting and that the media focused on those and never mentioned the demonstrators who stopped looters from destroying people's businesses. I did not agree with his statements about the grand jury decision because there have been NUMEROUS errors in the entire process, errors that have been pointed out by people with more qualifications to speak authoritatively on the subject than Charles. He stated his opinion, which means squat.

Supreme Court Justice Scalia(conservative) said that it's not the role of a grand jury to determine guilt or innocence in a case but only to determine if the prosecutor has enough evidence to go to trial, therefore, neither in England or the United States has it ever been thought that a suspect would have the "right" to testify before the grand jury. In this case Wilson testified for 2(1 1/2) days. He also said that the Prosecutor presented evidence that would give the grand jury cause to NOT indict Wilson and THAT was not his function as prosecutor, in essence he didn't want Wilson to be tried. The prosecutor also presented to the grand jury that he could not find any evidence that Wilson did not act in self defense, nor that he did not use excessive force. Plainly stated, he BS ed the grand jury and assumed the posture of a defense attorney. The prosecutor DID NOT present ANY of SEVERAL witnesses who stated that Wilson DID NOT act in self defense and he should have done so, and it probably would have impacted the decision to NOT INDICT. And it is HIGHLY UNCOMMON for a prosecutor and grand jury to NOT INDICT and had ALL evidence been presented they could have returned an indictment in days rather than in months. Furthermore, NO indictment by a grand jury does not restrict a prosecutor from presenting his EVIDENCE to a judge and going to trial ANYWAY. This prosecutor...didn't do his job. It's clear that the grand jury process was skewed in Wilson's favor as evidenced by the Assistant DA giving the Grand Jury an interpretation of the law that was struck down by the Supreme court in 1985 and refused to clarify for grand jury members which part was outdated when later asked and told them not to worry about whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction over Missouri law stating (this isn't a law class). Charles obviously did not speak with an understanding of these revelations. JUST SAY'n!