SONY Pictures and its Peculiar Mess.

What a peculiar type of mess this is for SONY Pictures! In the aftermath of the leakage of her very crude and ignorant remarks about President Obama and some black movie stars, Sony Pictures co-chairman, Amy Pascal has begun a "healing process" by reaching out to some black leaders.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the woman said she “want to accept responsibility for these stupid, callous remarks."

In the leaked email exchanges between her and a producer (Scott Rudin) the duo mocked movies that featured black actors and joked about the president's possible interest in them. Examples of such movies the two "messed up" in their e-mails were DJango and 12 Miles.

What a time for a scandal like this to come up! Hackers or no hackers, this woman did demonstrate a lack of character and discretion. Someone at her level of corporate ladder should have known better than to “run her mouth” so recklessly. Sometimes, I wonder how some of these so-called corporate top shots got to their leadership positions. And now Amy Pascal thinks all she needs to sweep the stinks under the carpet is merely by reaching out to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson?

What Really is the Matter With Some American Men?

This piece was inspired by a “strawberry letter” written to the Steve Harvey Radio Show this morning.

A man left his southern hometown for a better job prospect in a faraway city. Upon his arrival in the city, he met another man from his hometown who he described as “wonderful” and they began a “relationship”. All the while, the gay lover was still resident in the hometown, making the relationship more of a long-distance affair.

Then came a point in time, when the city man had to travel to his hometown to attend the wedding of a woman who he described as his best friend. Decked in a beautiful wedding gown and grinning from ear to ear was the “lucky” bride. But guess who the groom was? It was the guy who was in a deep gay relationship with the city man.

Shocked beyond words, the city man quietly left the wedding and was now wondering if he should tell his best friend (the bride) that the groom was “On the Down Low”, a term commonly used in describing men who are having sex with women and men. They are like bats. On the one hand, they are running with rats and, on the other hand, they are flying with birds.

Now, I personally don’t care what anyone does with his or her body in the privacy of their lives. After all, this is America, a land of liberty. But it’s grossly unfair for any man, as it is with the guy in this story, to deliberately expose the lives of women to unnecessary health risks that can lead to deaths. Why can’t such men simply make up their minds on what sexual orientation to abide with instead of trying to “eat their cake and have it”?

A lot of men with this “down low” nonsense are exposing their unsuspecting wives or girlfriends to undue grievous physical and emotional hazards. Yet, among these dysfunctional men are professionals (powerfully-dressed guys), celebrities, religious folks and even clergymen. They live a double life. In public, they parade themselves as being “happily” dating or married to women while, secretly, they are having sex with fellow men.

This is a shame!



 

 

 

 

 

What Manner of Couple Bred This Kid?

A couple of days ago inside a classroom the Bartram High School within the Philadelphia School District, a female student sat on the lap of a male student while they were both engaged in some “inappropriate business”. A teacher saw them and ordered the two to stop.

“Fuck you!” the male student yelled at the teacher and continued with his “fun”.

On hearing this “insult upon injury” profanity, the teacher ordered he student to leave the class. The student left the class but waited for the 68-year-old teacher to get out of the class. As the man did, he was sucker-punched by the crazy student. As the student fled (they always do after committing crimes), the school nurse attended to the poor teacher who was subsequently taken to a hospital.

The old teacher did something I love though. He insisted on pressing criminal charges against the student. And in the meantime, the boy has been suspended by the school authorities.

I believe it’s not everyone that is capable of being a good parent. The young man in this story did not just drop from the sky. And so, I wonder what manner of couple brought him to this world?

Anyway, this is another vindication for my decision to never attempt to be a teacher in God’s own country. If the only available job is teaching, I would prefer to be jobless than go to jail. God knew very well what would have happened if I had been the teacher in this incident.

Pictured above is the punched teacher.

 

Halloween and its Same old Risks.

Halloween, the day dedicated to remembering all that was paganic, evil and negative in the history of America is here again. This is the day the young and the old, dressed up in colorful costumes, spread out to eat candy and go into merry-making in one spooky manner or the other. But not everyone is all about the Halloween. Lurking in the many street corners and houses are some guys with ulterior motives and negative objectives.

It’s therefore advisable for parents to keep eyes on their kids, never letting them out on the streets alone.

According to national statistics, Halloween is the deadliest day of the year for pedestrians and especially, the kids. A child pedestrian is four times more likely to die on Halloween than any other day while many more are injured, usually at the hands of drunk drivers.

Parents and guardians are also advised to prevent their kids and wards from eating the collected candy until they return home. Back home, the candies should be carefully scrutinized to ensure that none of them is laced with marijuana. There are some crazy individuals and perverts who target kids with marijuana-laced candy. Incidentally, the candy looks and tastes like any other candy.

It’s not only kids that are at risk on Halloween though. Same goes for college students and especially, the females.

The first rule for these college students is for them to be alert to mischief makers who hide behind masks and costumes. Among those masked individuals on every campus are the sexual predators, rapists and other criminal-minded people. This is therefore all the more reason why students need to move about within groups of friends. Whenever a female student feels she has wandered off and finds herself alone or among total strangers, she is better-off leaving for home before it gets too late. It is also necessary for every female student to carry along a fully-charged cell phone, some cash (in case she might need a local cab) and important phone numbers.

The Halloween is not the time to accept an offer of a drink or Halloween “portion” from anyone, including so-called friends. This is to avoid a “date rape” stuff being casually slipped into drinks by some “friendly-looking” dudes dressed in the costume of a wizard, witch or ghost.

If, in spite of all these precautions, a female student still finds herself in some dangerous situation, she is strongly advised to use her vocal cord in raising alarm. A mere scream of the word “HELP” a few times can go a long way in attracting a much-needed help or assistance.

 

 

 

 

The Perils of the Internet.

“Generally, social networking sites

can be hugely promising and beneficial

in opening new friendships

and vistas

and knowledge of the world,

but they are also fraught with peril,

when young people are reckless

or headless.”

- Richard Blumenthal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How We Destroy Sacred Institutions in America.

In the global community, we are known as a nation that destroys every sacred institution. Nothing is sacred anymore. Here are samples:

Back in those days, even in the most rotten society, priests are revered and held in very high esteem. But in the United States, it’s no longer the case. A parent that trust his/her child to a priest, and especially, a Catholic priest, is courting trouble for the child.



I remember my growing up days when sports coaches played important roles in the lives of us kids. Apart from parents, we could easily trust our lives to coaches. Now, the “game” has changed. Sports coaches in high schools and colleges, these days, have to be carefully monitored by parents or guardians to ensure that their kids are not sexually abused.

As for marriage, no institution has been so battered, trashed and ridiculed in any part of the world as that of marriage in the United States. Now approaching 60 % divorce rate, the marriage institution in God’s own country can, at best, be described as a farce.



And what about fatherhood and motherhood? Instead of a man and a woman raising children together, we now have over half of the children in the United States out of wedlock. In some neighborhoods across the country, over 7 in 10 children don't have any form of relationships with their fathers. And among the few kids who do know the sowers of the seeds that produced them, all they have are “Disney fathers” who show up once-in-a-while to take them out shopping. And after a couple of hours together, the “fathers” leave, and not to be seen in a long time. It’s only in the United States that a kid grows up and gets to become a celebrity before a man will suddenly show up to admit paternal responsibility for the star.

 

 

 

Taking Responsibility for our Image.

Whether we like it or not, certain people in our neighborhoods, at our jobs, among our friends and even within our families, will insist on seeing the worst in us. But it is our individual duty to take responsibility for our image, do right by others and project positive image to make a majority of people see the best in us.

There is a natural mechanism in every individual that sieves the positive character in our nature from the bad. Therefore, no matter the extent by which other people try to dent our image either out of ignorance or by sheer mischief, if the positive character in our nature is greater, it will always outshine whatever smear campaign is launched against us.

 

 

Truth as a Bitter Pill

We are in a very interesting society where everyone loves the truth but can't stand it. As much as we cherish and desire honesty in all its ramifications, the same honesty is also considered as something like a red, hot piece of iron, too hot to handle.

Desperate for the truth in our individual lives, many of us will usually demand that other people "look me in the face and tell me the truth!" Ironically though, we are often selective in our desire for the truth. If granted a permanent option, many of us will rather embrace only the truth that flatters or feeds our ego except that in reality, the most common form of honesty calls for self examination and this is something we despise. Whenever we are confronted by this latter form of the truth, we often not only reject it (the truth) but goes further to treat its bearer like a dog that is "given a bad name to hang it."

Sometimes ago during a period of "shift change" at my work, those of us who had come early saw a female colleague through the window as she stepped out of her car to approach the duty office. All of a sudden, almost everyone in the duty office started to chuckle mischievously in reaction to the woman's hairstyle.

"She looks like a scarecrow." one woman said, shaking her head in disgust.

"Whoever did her hair deserves to be shot!" another person added as the duty office erupted in laughter.

But as soon as the woman walked into the office, the same colleagues began to pay the woman all forms of compliments from "Wow...your hair is cute" to "Where did you get your hair done...it's lovely."

The woman was all smiles as the "compliments" poured in. Seeing that I chose that moment to walk out of the duty office toward the kitchen, the woman followed and soon asked why I was all silent.

"Hey, what is it?" she asked me. "You must be the only one who doesn't like my hair?"

Smiling, I asked if she wanted to hear the truth and she answered in the affirmative.

"You know, you're my friend..." she stated. "What's your opinion."

"Okay..." I began to say. "Your hairstyle is too bogus..."

The woman stopped in her tracks as she glared at me.

"You can be very mean!" she snapped even in subdued anger.

"But I asked if you wanted to hear the truth..." I answered with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Fuck the truth!" the woman insisted. "How could you be so mean? I spent a fortune on this hair...and why is it that everyone is impressed except you?"

She was about to walk away in anger when I called her back. I asked if she would be matured in her reaction to what I was about to tell her? After getting her assurance, I told her precisely what the other colleagues had said as she approached the duty office.

"Now tell me..." I continued to say. "Who is mean...me or those mischievous people?"

It took a few seconds for her to digest the information. Afterwards, she shook my hands, thanking me for being so forthright with her.

"Listen, I've seen the style on some women and loved it." she explained. "I never thought it would turn out to be like this..."

"The problem is with the shape of your head." I tried to explain. "There is too much space between the forehead and the hairline."

"Wow!" she finally smiled. "You should have picked the career of a celebrity stylist instead of law enforcement." 

Truth is like a pill that we all rely on to relieve us of both physical and emotional pains. Yet, many of us hate taking it because it's bitter to taste. Most times, people say "truth hurts" and this is why they believe it's too dicey to tell the truth even when the other party demands for it. But in the long run, truth will always prevail because "no matter how long a lie travels, truth will sooner or later catch up with it."