I received an email from a reader asking me to showcase this video from Jasiri X regarding the current events in America, including the campaign. I’ve heard his music before and for those who listen to the Michael Baisden Show he gets a lot of love and support from them also.

While some may want to focus on the negative side of hip-hop, I like to showcase those who have a message. Whether that message is one of hope or one detailing life from a point-of-view we tend to ignore, you can’t deny the impact its had on our society. It’s an outlet and when used in the right way can really be used to make a difference.

Sarah Palin’s appearance on Saturday Night Live has been the talk of the weekend. She didn’t say much, but the skits were hilarious. The Weekend News Update was the highlight of the night. When the moose came out, I just about lost it. Poor moose.

For my hip-hop audience: Did the beat in the background sound familiar? It was altered some, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t going crazy. I’ll give $10 in Monopoly money to the first person who guesses it!

Last night during the presidential debate Joe Wurzelbacher name was called 23 times by the candidates. He’s an average American who questioned Obama’s tax plan during his recent visit to Toledo. Obama stopped and answered his question and continued meeting with the voters. McCain brought Joe up first and in my opinion it was a good idea.

No one wants to pay taxes and I think McCain and Obama’s tax plan both seem to have some good things in it. The question is how many people really understand what each plan will do? Sure we hear the Repubs talk about socialism and Dems about giving the oil fat cats a break, but in the end does it really matter? At some point in time we’re all going to have to pay for the excessive spending in Washington. You can’t pay for a war, give everyone health care and lower taxes for all Americans. Something has got to give and at some point, the President will have to face the American people and tell them the government needs money.

I don’t think either tax plan is as cut and dry as we think. I’m sure there’s more to each plan than we are being told. Not to mention these ” tax plans” each candidate has haven’t even gotten to Congress. Both sides are so bitter with each other, it’ll have to be packed with earmarks before it can be passed.

It’s frustrating and I can’t wait until all of this is over. Then hopefully we can rid our minds of all the soundbites and campaign ads and get back to business. A smaller government will never exist and I wish people would just get over it. At the same time I hope we’ve come to realize that you shouldn’t rely on the government for anything and need to be proactive in making your dreams happen. All Joe did was repeat the same thing the elite media is saying. That’s not news. All it shows is how politicians can pimp a situation and make it bigger than it should have been. Joe’s question will never be answered until a bill is put on the table because nothing in Washington is for certain. I’m sure like every American, Joe is tired of being left in the dark.

Here’s a video of Joe Wurzelbacher explaining his position on Good Morning America. He really needs start his own business as “Joe the Plumber”. He’s famous now!

Last week TheDad and TheMom over at blackandmarriedwithkids.com had a Black Bloggers Debate Live Chat during the Presidential Debates. They had 88 people in the chat room and are expecting many more this week. Tonight is the last Presidential Debate and they’ll be chatting live tonight at 8:30PM EST.

If I make it tonight it’ll be late, but if you’re near a PC during the debate check them out. To join the discussion go to http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/debatechat.html

Here are some of the other featured bloggers that will be in attendance:

www.blackandmarriedwithkids.com
www.clutchmagonline.com
blacksnob.blogspot.com
www.averagebro.com
blacknessdefined.wordpress.com
www.BlackInformant.com
huemanity.blogspot.com
ww.Cheri-Thomas.com
www.NotYourMamasReligion.com
www.listentoleon.net
www.anthonytaurus.com

It’s been a month now since Hurricane Ike hit the Galveston coast and most things in life are back to normal.  Traffic is back at only a ridiculous level versus only a week ago when it was unreasonable.  There are still dozens of traffic lights that don’t work or work in varying degrees.  Parts of Houston still don’t have power and/or gas.  There are around 32 confirmed dead with a certainty of several dozen more to be found.  Also, there’s around 2 BILLION dollars worth of damage with no infrastructure to speak of still in Galveston and parts of other Gulf-side communities.  There were several things that came up during the storm that a lot of people outside of Houston don’t quite understand or weren’t aware of that I want to address.

1. Why didn’t more people evacuate?

There are a wide variety of reasons why some people didn’t evacuate that I want to address.  The prevailing presumption among outsiders seems to be that Southerners are just stupid and don’t have the where-withal to sidestep a roundhouse kick when they see it coming.  That’s not the case.  My family and I left our home the day before the storm hit land and we weren’t in the predicted “damage swath”.  Many people stayed because Mayor Bill White and Judge Ed Emmett were asking the people to “weather in place” if they could.  The expectation as late as the Thursday prior to the storm was that winds would be strong but not life threatening.  The threat was from the actual storm surge and I think we all heard the threat to Galveston County “Anyone who stays faces imminent death.”  In fact, that was a pre-recorded message from the Weather Service that was automatically broadcast based on conditions.  The Mayor was also asking people to stay to keep roadways from becoming jampacked even more for those who were required to evacuate.  Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated Houston during the threat of Hurricane Rita as overreaction was high from the Hurricane Katrina fiasco, but many of those people discovered the road conditions to be the real threat as gasoline became scarce and some died from heat exhaustion while sitting on the sides of roads during their evacuation.  The goal of local government was to prevent widespread panic while ensuring those who were in the danger zone were able to get out of their areas of residence safely.

2. Why do so many people live there if it’s so hurricane prone?

In case you didn’t hear during Ike storm coverage, Houston, Texas is the 4th largest metropolitan area in the country and the largest city in the state of Texas.  Houston is often ranked in the Top 5 metropolitan areas to live because of several factors including a high employment rate, an inexpensive cost of living, high value home pricing, and, ironically, it’s proximity to a major body of water.  Though Houston is in an area that has a somewhat high probability for hurricanes compare that to other large cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Chicago that also deal with natural weather threats such as earthquakes, freeze-related incidents, and even severe tornadoes in some parts.  The fact is that Houston offers a better quality of living than the majority of cities can offer.

3. Why did it take so long for so many people to get power back?

The major downside to living in Houston is that infrastructure change is very slow.  Houston is a conservative city with a small town mentality that is many times adverse to change.  Major expansion has been going on at every major artery into and out of the city for the last 5 or more years.  The power infrastructure is currently undergoing change to keep such a massive amount of people from having to do without power for such a long period of time.

The fact is Houston is too large and important a city to allow a hurricane to sidetrack it for a long period time.  Houston remains an economic island of stability during one of the most tumultuous times in the past 80 years of our country.  Moving forward Harrjs County will need to secure an encompassing plan that can better protect the lives and property of its residents while simultaneously ensuring a quicker upstart once the next storm has passed.

This calculator allows you to calculate your tax cut under the Obama-Biden plan. It compares the results with what you would get from the McCain-Palin plan also. It seems too simplistic and I’m sure this isn’t an accurate number, but I think this shows how Obama uses technology to get his point across. Wordpress is weird when it comes to these types of widgets, so to use it you may have to click to view the full calculator at http://taxcut.barackobama.com.

Election officials in upstate New York’s Rensselaer County identified the two presidential candidates as “Barack Osama” and “John McCain” on about 300 absentee ballots sent to residents. I’m not claiming this to be a c-o-n-spiracy, but it goes to show how closely we need to pay attention to the voting process this election. Somebody should have seen this error because these ballots are reviewed by a number of people. If no one would have caught the error, the votes for Obama probably wouldn’t have counted.

Early voting in Texas is from October 20th - 31st and I’m going to take advantage of the opportunity. I’d urge everyone to do the same. I don’t want any last minute “disparities” getting in the way of Obama winning.

I received this from a friend of mine. Check out the facts regarding autism near the bottom of the post. Learn the signs autism and seek help for your child if you aren’t sure what to look for.

Noah Knows!
…empowerment through sharing information with families of children with autism

Join TEAM Noah Knows!

TO WALK WITH AUTISM SPEAKS
WALK NOW FOR AUTISM

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Walk Now for Autism is a family-friendly event so bring the whole family along. There are activities for the children, resources for families, light refreshments and entertainment.

Date: Saturday, October 18, 2008
Location: Westridge Lot, Reliant Park

Registration opens: 8:30am
Opening Ceremonies: 9:30am
Walk Start: 10:00am (The walk route is approximately 2 miles.)

Resource Fair will be open from 8:30am until noon.

Parking: Parking is free before 10am in the Main Street Parking Lot. Once in the park vicinity (from Kriby or 610 South), follow signs to the Main Street Lot.

Activities: Children’s activities and family fun!

Team Information
Log on to www.walknowforautism.org/houston

1. Search by City or State and click the link
2. Click on the “Register” tab at the top of the page
3. Choose Join a Team
4. Fill in your information
5. Get your 2008 TEAM Noah Knows!T-SHIRT the walk day or before

Did you know…

• 1 in 94 boys is on the spectrum
• 67 children are diagnosed per day
• A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes
• Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability
• Autism costs the nation over $90 million per year, a figure expected to double in the next decade
• Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases
• There is no medical detection or cure for autism

Please join our team family and thousands of others as we walk for autism.

Contact Kim Dixon at kim4child@sbcglobal.net for more information, team-t-shirts, team caps or to pick up your donation. Team Noah Knows! will meet at 9:00 am!

If you know someone who brags about the bling around their neck and wrist, tell them to go home with all that noise. The days of Mr. T, Slick Rick, Run DMC and Salt N Pepa are back! Gold is king once again, so if you still have your dookie rope chain from the ’80s you might need to break it out or sell it (if it’s real).

When I first heard this song on the radio, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The Internet hit “It’s So Cold In the D” by T-Baby was being played on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show and they were digging it (actually laughing at it). Of course when you’re on the radio you have to bleep out every cuss word so it sounded like someone was checking out groceries at the store. I have to admit I laughed hard that day and every other time they played it, but there’s a real story behind the song.

This morning Rickey and the Nutz were talking with T-Baby on the phone. She wrote the song after her friend was killed and it was her way of expressing how cold-hearted people the world can be. When a love one dies, people tend to have different ways of expressing their grief/frustration. T-Baby chose to make a video about life in the hood of Detroit and I can respect that. This is what hip hop is about. It’s all about expression and this song gives us some insight to what’s going on in her life.

Here is the video. If you are offended by cussin’, you might not want to watch this. The flow could be a lot better and the video is poorly done, but it is what it is. And be careful, it’s very catchy so if you listen to it too much you’ll be singing it all day. Enjoy.