I missed this short film from Malice of the Clipse. Pay attention to the message and you might get something from it.

Wake Up Calls from Malice of the Clipse on Vimeo.

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Alpha Phi Alpha to boycott Arizona
Moving annual convention to Las Vegas

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the oldest integrated and historically black Greek-lettered organization in the world, today announced is moving its 104th Anniversary Convention from Phoenix, Arizona.

“Late Thursday, April 29, our national Board of Directors voted unanimously to rescind the location of Phoenix, Arizona as our meeting location of the 104th Anniversary/90th General Convention in July, and to denounce the egregious immigration act signed recently by the governor of Arizona.,” said Herman “Skip” Mason, the fraternity’s national general president.

“It was the full opinion of the board that we could not host a meeting in a state that has sanctioned a law which we believe will lead to racial profiling and discrimination, and a law that could put the civil rights and the very dignity of our members at risk during their stay in Phoenix Arizona.”

The event, which was scheduled to take place from July 21 to 25, will be moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. The convention, and the fraternity’s special Summit on the African-American Male, was expected to draw up to 10,000 visitors to Arizona—adding hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue to the Phoenix economy.

The fraternity, formed in 1906, at the Ivy-League Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., is considered one of the most influential groups in the United States. It includes among its membership: civil rights leader and former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Andrew Young; McDonald’s President and COO Don Thompson; National Urban League President and former mayor of New Orleans Marc H. Morial; CNN Political Analyst Roland Martin; White House Deputy Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Michael Blake; and several high-ranking members of the U.S. House and Senate.

It is also the fraternity of the late Martin Luther King Jr. and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. President Ronald Reagan named several members to key posts during his presidency as did former Presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama.

“Our late Alpha brother the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, in a letter he wrote while sitting in the Birmingham Jail, ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ Alpha Phi Alpha’s decision to boycott Arizona continues that same fight, fought during the Civil Rights era.”

“We will not only speak with our voices and our feet, we will speak with our economic clout; and we will not spend our money in Arizona and urge other organizations and people who believe in equality under the law, to do the same,” said Mason.

What's better than partying.  Partying with a  purpose.  We're going to have music, dancing performances, paparazzi and so much more.

What’s going to happen is the restaurant has been generous enough to donate 25% of the night’s proceeds to ACCESS AIDS Care.

The address for Plaza Del Sol is 2200 Colonial Avenue Norfolk, VA 23517

(The Frisky) -- From the time you were in pre-school and your mom picked your play dates, you've been building relationships with people. And sometimes, when you have things in common and get along with one another, you become friends. You might think that you have enough friends in your life, but really, can you ever have too many? Plus, you never know when you're going to need a hand saw, so you better have someone in your cell phone who owns one.

Before you turn 30, these are some friends that would be handy to have around.

1. The Style Guru: Everyone needs someone who can help them figure out which dress is appropriate for "black-tie optional" weddings, and whether you can get away with wearing a green sweater with a red belt. (The answer to the latter is "probably not," unless you are a Christmas Elf.)

2. The Mr./Ms. Fix-it: You bought a new bike online, but the instructions for putting it together appear to be written in a language you do not speak. It's time to call the friend who has a knack for building things and owns all the right tools.

3. The Good-Time Gal: If you're feeling antsy with nothing to do on a Friday night, call this friend, who is generally up for doing anything at any time. She'll cook up plans that involve dancing on banquets or singing Madonna's "Like A Prayer" in the time it takes you to change out of your work clothes and slap on a fresh coat of mascara.

4. The Health Nut: During the times when you suddenly decide to start working out or eating food other than take-out and delicacies from the frozen-food aisle, it's good to have someone who reads every health and fitness magazine and loves to dispense instructions on the proper squat form and to pass along recipes for protein-rich meals.

5. The Ear: You had a sucky day at work and hate everything in your closet. What do you do? Call the friend who will calmly listen to all of your problems and then, at the appropriate time, give you a few pearls of wisdom.

6. The Do-It-Herselfer: Hemming vintage dresses or whipping up a crème brûlée might not come naturally to you, but with the help of a skillful friend, you'll develop new talents in no time.

7. The Culture Guru: If you like the idea of going to see that new up-and-coming band perform, befriend someone who knows who's playing and what exhibits are on display.

8. The Healthcare Professional: Make friends with a doctor or nurse. Then, when you wake up with ginormous swollen glands, you won't have to wait for an appointment to get medicine to cure what ails you.

9. The Legal Adviser: We all make mistakes. A need for speed can lead to you getting pulled over, and a lively party might end with a noise violation. If you have a friend who's a lawyer, at least you won't be alone when you have to appear in front of a judge.

10. The Travel Buddy: There are those who like to stay in the same place and find solace in their homes. And there are others who need to get out and explore the world. If you've caught the travel bug, find a friend who has it too. It's way more fun (and much safer) when you share adventures with someone else.

TM & © 2009 TMV, Inc. | All Rights Reserved

What I see happening from this is with less money going to the education system we will not be able to recruit and keep the best and brightest educators.  This will lead to an inferior education experience for most students.  There will be an increase in drop out rates.  Based on a 2009 Washington Post article VA has a 9.9% drop out rate for high school students.  Now lets compound this issue with the fact that our police departments will be hit by cuts.  So we will have more individuals without proper education in our population.  That can lead to an increase in crime.  Let's say it doesn't what jobs can these individuals afford?  Some of the statistics I found for Hampton Roads cities with the highest poverty levels is Norfolk (19.4%) and Portsmouth (16.2%).  We are also cutting pregnancy prevention funding so one could extrapolate an increased rate of broken families and juvenile child birth.

I will personalize my thoughts.  My family was not poor but due to brain cancer in my baby brother's brain medical bills were extreme and my mother could not work as she normally would have.  My father was in the Navy.  My brother and I both participated in a school lunch program when my mother was able to work and became involved after school to save money on after school programs.  We even both served as Student Body President of our respective schools in the same year.  We both lettered in over 4 sports each in high school.  We also both were in the Gifted and Talented Program.  Every single one of these programs are going to be affected by these budget cuts.  I wonder if I would truly be who I am today if these cuts had gone into effect when I was in school.

Currently my wife is a state employee.  She has not seen a pay raise in three years I believe.  Though she has a college degree she makes under 30K a year working for our alma mater.  Now she is being required to take furlough days as well.  In her office as well as many others there are state employees who have been working for years making much more than they deserve.  We have individuals who are not proficient at computer usage, even the basics, yet they have ballooned salaries due to experience.  We need to force retirements and cut back on benefits for seniors.  We need our next generation to succeed where our last generations failed.

So quickly we state it is because our Governor is a Republican.  He should be a Virginian first.  Personally I could care less about party affiliation.  Vote them all out and start from scratch.  My generation could do no worse.

By: Liz Monte

Over the past few decades, portion sizes of everything from muffins to sandwiches have grown considerably. Unfortunately, America’s waistbands have reacted accordingly. In the 1970s, around 47 percent of Americans were overweight or obese; now 66 percent of us are. In addition, the number of just obese people has doubled, from 15 percent of our population to 30 percent.

While increased sizes haven’t been the sole contributor to our obesity epidemic, large quantities of cheap food have distorted our perceptions of what a typical meal is supposed to look like. These portion comparisons, adapted from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) Portion Distortion Quiz, give a visual representation of what sizes used to be compared to what they are today.

Two Slices of Pizza

Twenty years ago                                                    Today

500 calories                                                             850 calories                                

Those extra 350 calories, if eaten a two times a month, would put on two extra pounds a year, or forty pounds in the next two decades.

Cup of Coffee

Twenty years ago                                                   Today

Coffee with milk and sugar                                       Grande café mocha with whip, 2% milk

8 ounces                                                                 16 ounces

45 calories                                                              330 calories

When our parents ordered a coffee two decades ago, they weren’t given as many size options—a standard cup of joe was eight ounces, the size of a small coffee cup. Nowadays, most of us feel like we don’t get our money’s worth unless the cup is at least twelve ounces; it’s not unusual to see thirty-two ounce coffee cups, four times the size they used to be. When made into a mocha, the morning coffee has as many calories as a full meal.

Movie Popcorn

Twenty Years Ago                                         Today

5 cups                                                           Tub

270 calories                                                   630 calories

We don’t have to eat those extra 360 calories in the tub of popcorn, but that’s easier said than (not) done. Studies indicate that when given food in larger containers, people will consume more. In a 1996 Cornell University study, people in a movie theater ate from either medium (120g) or large (240g) buckets of popcorn, then divided into two groups based on whether they liked the taste of the popcorn. The results: people with the large size ate more than those with the medium size, regardless of how participants rated the taste of the popcorn.

Bagel

Twenty Years Ago                                   Today—Noah’s Plain Bagel

3-inch diameter                                         5-6-inch diameter

140 calories                                              350 calories

Because portions are now so large, it’s hard to understand what a “serving size” is supposed to be. Today’s bagel counts for three servings of bread, but many of us would consider it one serving. Larger sizes at restaurants have also contributed to larger sizes when eating at home. A study comparing eating habits today with twenty years ago found that participants poured themselves about 20 percent more cornflakes and 30 percent more milk than twenty years ago.

Cheeseburgers

Twenty years ago                                    Today’s Burger

333 calories                                              590 calories

According to a 2007 paper published in the Journal of Public Health Policy, portion sizes offered by fast food chains are two to five times larger than when first introduced. When McDonald’s first started in 1955, its only hamburger weighed around 1.6 ounces; now, the largest hamburger patty weighs 8 ounces, an increase of 500 percent. And while a Big Mac used to be considered big, it’s on the smaller side of many burger options. At Burger King, you can get the Triple Whopper; at Ruby Tuesday’s there’s the Colossal Burger; and Carl’s Junior has the Western Bacon Six Dollar Burger.

Soda  

Original 8-ounce bottle    12 ounce can                  20-ounce bottle

97 calories                        145 calories                     242 calories

While the 12-ounce can used to be the most common soda option, many stores now carry only the 20-ounce plastic bottle, which contains 2.5 servings of soda. When presented with these larger sizes, humans have a hard time regulating our intake or figuring out what a serving size is supposed to be. A 2004 study, published in Appetite, gave people potato chips packaged in bags that looked the same, but increased in size. As package size increased, so did consumption; subjects ate up to 37 percent more with the bigger bags. Furthermore, when they ate dinner later that day, they did not reduce their food consumption to compensate for increased snack calories—a recipe for weight gain.

Plates

It’s not just food portions that have increased; plate, bowl, and cup sizes have as well. In the early 1990s, the standard size of a dinner plate increased from 10 to 12 inches; cup and bowl sizes also increased. Larger eating containers can influence how much people eat. A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that when people were given larger bowls and spoons they served themselves larger portions of ice cream and tended to eat the whole portion.

Prices

32 ounces                                            44 ounces                                 64 ounces

388 calories                                          533 calories                               776 calories

$0.99                                                   $1.09                                        $1.19 

We Americans love to get the most bang for our buck. When confronted with a 32-ounce drink for 99 cents versus a 44-ounce drink for ten cents more, the decision is easy. You’d have to be a sucker not to go big. But our ability to get the most out of our dollar doesn’t always serve us well. Value pricing, which gets us a lot more food or drink for just a little increase in price, makes sense from an economic standpoint, but is sabotage from a health standpoint. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that Americans consume around 10 percent more calories than they did in the 1970s. Given no change in physical activity, this equates to around 200 extra calories per day, or 20 pounds a year.

What is normal?

Increased portion sizes give us more calories, encourage us to eat more, distort perceptions of appropriate food quantities, and along with sedentary lifestyles, have contributed to our national bulge. Unless you’re trying to gain weight, it might help to reacquaint yourself with serving sizes. The NHLBI tells us that a serving of meat should be the size of a deck of cards while one pancake should be the size of a CD. It’s unlikely that we’ll see a scaling down of food to these sizes anytime soon, so perhaps we should all become familiar with another image: the doggy bag.

This morning I had the pleasure to attend the Urban League of Hampton Roads. It was titled the Changing Lives Breakfast. It was an amazing event. It showcased some of the great events and feats of the organization.  Highlights of the speakers included a very talented young lady who though successful, was on the verge of losing her home.  It included the parents of a young lady who through the mentoring programs of Urban League, was able to gain entrance to William & Mary and has become very successful in the mass communications field.  The final highlight was on a young man who was left alone after his mother unexpectedly died of cancer.  Though he was nearly homeless, the Urban League assisted him on getting on the right path with his life.  There was a who's who of community involved individuals.  I attended with Curt Anderson, founder of Mygoodlyfe.com, Norfolk commissioner for Redevelopment and Housing Administration and manager of the Palace on Plume.  Also in attendance was Jummy Olabnji, the attractive young reporter from the local CBS affiliate WTKR.  My good friends and proprietors of Posh Retro, Amber Ivey and Tomeria Allen were in attendance.  I had the pleasure of sitting with the men from Best Kept Secret.  This group desires to lower inner city violence by mentoring young men and providing free hair cuts to them.

The Urban League was established nearly 100 years ago. It was made to assist rural African-Americans who were transitioning urban cities. Today Urban League has become an outlet for aiding those facing foreclosure and those seeking home ownership. Urban League also works closely with small business to aid them in reaching a move level playing field through technology and education.

I encourage everyone to check out your local Urban League. In my area it is the Urban League of Hampton Roads www.ulhr.com. Nationally you can go to www.urbanleague.org

As the Republican Party basks in the glow on Honolulu for their winter meeting one major piece of business they will be handling is a resolution that has been signed by 10 leaders of the party.  The purpose of this resolution would be to determine whether a candidate qualifies to receive campaign funds from the Party.  Any candidate who seeks their funding yet has broke from Party lines on three or more of the aft-mentioned guidelines.  The following are the guidelines and the litmus test.

We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill;

We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run health care;

We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;

We support workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check;

We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;

We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;

We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;

We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;

We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion;

We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership.

This resolution has been trumpeted by Conservatives as a return to Conservative Reagan Principles.  The Resolution has been called Reagan's Unity Principle for Support of Candidates.  Two of the sections invoke Reagan's name directly.

WHEREAS, the Republican National Committee shares President Ronald Reagan's belief that the Republican Party should espouse conservative principles and public policies and welcome persons of diverse views; and

WHEREAS, the Republican National Committee desires to implement President Reagan's Unity Principle for Support of Candidates;

The amazing thing about this idolization is that Reagan himself is tip toeing the line.  The Grand Ole Party is going by the principles of our "American Pastime" baseball, 3 STRIKES & YOU'RE OUT. Just for fun let's cover the first 3 items.

1. Smaller Gov't
   Reagan grew the National deficit by $1 Trillion.  Hey he destroyed the Communist Soviet Union but that doesn't matter
   STRIKE 1
2. No Universal Health Care
   As California Governor he expanded Medi-Cal to become the nations largest Medicare system
   STRIKE 2
3. Market Based Energy Reform
   Again as California Governor Reagan established the Air Resources Board that limits smog limits on big business
   STRIKE 3 YOU'RE OUTWow Reagan just struck out like he plays for the Washington Nationals.  Just for fun lets see how he does on the other 7 items.
4. Support Workers Rights & Union secret ballots
   Guess what as a Union President Reagan campaign against the Taft-Hartley Act
   STRIKE 4
5. Oppose Amnesty for illegal aliens
   Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 which granted AMNESTY to 3 million illegal aliens
   STRIKE 5
6. Support military-recommended troop surges
   1983 following the bombing of Marine barracks in Beirut against the wish of many including VP George HW Bush troops were withdrawn from Lebanon.
   STRIKE 6
7. Contain Iran/N. Korea
   Can y0u say Iran-Contra & no we are not talking about the video game.  Senior administration members sold Iran weapons.
   STRIKE 7
8. Oppose Gay Marriage
   Reagan was the first President to have a sleep over with an openly gay couple.
   STRIKE 8
9. Anti-Choice
   Reagan signed the "Therapeutic Abortion Act" which was heralded as an attempt to decrease back room abortions
   STRIKE 9
10. Anti-Gun Control
    Reagan was very much for the Brady Bill and was quoted in saying "California, has a 15-day waiting period that I supported and signed into law while Governor"
    STRIKE 10

Now one must concede that these positions of Reagan's cover a time period from 1941 when he served as President of the Screen Actors Guild and all the way until he was President handling of the Iran-Contra affair in 1986. No man should be expected to keep all the same ideas. One should learn and grow over 45 years as Reagan did.

It is unfortunate that Republicans are attempting to narrow their party in a time where an electorate has grown. They heralded diversity by hiring Humpty Hump (Michael Steele) as the party chair but have steadily taken steps away from that movement. There are many who are conservative on some issues. The 2008 election was won through independents and those who are not defined by the traditional partisan American politics. Again this resolution is simply a proposal. If the GOP has any sense they will laugh at this resolution and get release stress. Maybe they will all get lei'd while in Hawaii.

Every poll showed that Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Creigh Deeds is set to get blown out the water in the race for Virginia Governor by GOP candidate Bob McDonnell. All political spinsters can talk about is how this defeat is a reflection of the Obama administration. The cloud of idealist partisan politics blinds so many from writing presenting objectionable analysis. The entire Virginia election was lost during a small 60 day window starting of August until October 21st when the Washington Post ran its article showing a thesis written by McDonnell in 1989 for a master of arts in public policy and juris doctorate in law from Regent University in my home town of Virginia Beach. The Deeds campaign put a huge thrust in advertising around this essay and it seems to their own demise. This factor became to defining factor of the entire Deeds campaign though to the amazement of them. Their amazement is based on data from TNS Media Intelligence, an independent company tracking campaign advertising, show that in the Washington market for that 60-day period, Deeds aired 1,783 ads mentioning McDonnell. Now in contrast McDonnell and the RGA aired 2,177 ads focused on Deeds. To McDonnell's credits many of the statements were usually made in defense of the Deeds ads.

It has been agreed that the Obama electorate didn't show up. Alot may have had to do with the campaign run. The primary had a measly 6.9% turnout to choose the Democratic candidate and the election itself had a 39.8% turnout. We compare this to the 2008 Presidential Election Primary had a turnout of 21.32% and the election had a turnout of 80.49%. Now keep in mind the fact that the Obama campaign brought in nearly 300,000 new voters in 2008 alone.

In talking to my friends who were part of the electorate I asked one simply question, why did you stay home? They all stated "Who is Creigh Deeds?" It is a great question. He was very uninspriring. Not to be rude but his speech empetoment is very off putting. Though it is not something that one should judge a candidate on, it alludes to his public image. Most don't know his resume because he didn't do a good job of making it known. In all the discussions Obama didn't come up besides to compare the two Democrats. It was simply stated best, Deeds is no Obama.

Monday May 25, 2009 – By Sky Obercam
The cancellation of CW’s The Game, represents the final nail in the coffin for African American shows on network TV. Over the past decade, there were a handful of black shows, sitcoms to be particular, that saw the light of day. Once upon a time, there was a minor league network called The WB that gained it’s primary audience by airing these programs – The Jamie Foxx Show, The Wayan’s Brothers, The Parent ‘Hood, The Steve Harvey Show and Sister, Sister, (after being dropped from ABC) being prime examples.

Meanwhile there existed another network that appeared to remain loyal to their African American base: The now defunct UPN, which showcased One on One, Half and Half, and All of Us and Eve, to name a few. In January 2006, CBS and WB announced that they would collapse both The UPN and The WB and launch a brand new network called The CW. From that point, decisions were made as to which programs from each network would be migrated over to The CW, and which ones would be terminated. By 2006, African American programs had been completely eliminated from The WB and it was crystal clear which UPN shows would get the boot as a result of the merger. 7th Heaven, Beauty and the Geek, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Reba, Smallville, and Supernatural found a new home at The CW, leaving Girlfriends, and All of Us, The Game, and Everybody Hates Chris as the last Black network TV shows standing.

The downward trend continued with the sudden cancellation of Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith’s All of Us, and was accentuated by the cancellation of the CW’s long running hit show Girlfriends two years later, in 2008. After 8 seasons, and millions in ad revenues, they weren’t even given so much as a series finale. When interviewed once, Mara Brock Akil stated that she was “in talks with the studio and network on putting together a retrospective show which will honor and celebrate this landmark series, so please stay tuned.” Sounds hopeful, but that claim was made well over a year ago. So much for closure.

In a sea European imagery, Brock Akil’s new hit series, The Game, was the last hope as a program that featured a predominately adult Black cast.

The rumors that had been swirling for over a year about the annihilation of Black programs from network TV were confirmed recently when CW President Dawn Ostroff admitted that CW execs “decided to stop developing comedies a few years ago. Maybe at some point in the future we’ll make a go of it again.” Ironically, the last of the sitcoms just so happened to be the final two shows targeted for the African American audience, with Everybody Hates Chris bringing up the rear.

So now that we know what to not to expect from network TV, we have the choice as to how to proceed. The African American viewer has a history of being overlooked – enjoying mere fleeting moments of programming aimed to reflect us (neglecting to even scratch the surface of our range and complexity).

It’s worth fighting for The Game for many reasons. Ultimately, it’s crucial that we as African Americans exercise our power as viewers and consumers and make our voices heard.

The question of quality is a valid one, but we have as much of a right to be thoroughly reflected on the tube as our white counterparts; but in order to do that, we need volume, which is built one show at a time.

To help save The Game (as well as Black programming), you can hit up, The CW, TV One, BET, TNT, Lifetime and WE TV, and state your desire to for them pick up the hit show and continue with its fourth season.