Public Enemy Number One

Chuck D

This past Tuesday, I was able to meet Chuck D of Public Enemy when he came to the school for a presentation entitled Fight The Power: Race, Rap and Reality. This was a 3 hour program followed by a quick reception.

He first talked about the upcoming election and how the young and upcoming generation cannot remain complacent when everything around us is falling apart. He also stated that voting is a duty, not something to hang around your neck. “It’s like washing-you don’t go around telling people Hey, I washed today.” There was also the controversial issue that convicted felons couldn’t vote and couldn’t hold a passport meaning they don’t have a voice or a choice to leave.

Chuck argued that the 2 party system isn’t going to work for long and that he supported the Green party. He went on to criticize that because of party loyalty, McCain has become more conservative than he really is; the words coming out of his mouth that aren’t his, but his party’s. The same goes for Obama and his growing liberalism.

He criticized the prison system as a form of slavery. The government creates the means of crime then throws the offenders into prison. In jail, they enter work release programs and slave away.

With the recent R Kelly scandal, Chuck argued that we have “virtual pedophilia” occurring right in front of our eyes with artists like 50 cent and Lil Wayne. These songs like “In da Club” and “Lollipop” are targeted at young preteens to shape early sexuality.

Throughout his lecture, he was able to poke fun. He argued that black people don’t have jobs today. The last time that the majority of blacks had a job was in slavery. He also compared Governor Sarah Palin’s moose hunting with Michael Vick’s dog fighting.

I liked a lot of his outlook and phrasings such as MTV=Empty V or BET stands for Booty ‘en Thug. He also advised up and coming musicians to incorporate video into their music. We’re entering the age of YouTube where people want to entice more senses. When it comes down to it, sight and sound comes hand in hand.

The program followed with a Q & A session so I was able to ask Chuck where he believed Hip Hop is heading nowadays both Mainstream and Underground with the “cool” being so important to the younger generation.

Chuck said that the world is bigger than America and that we must broaden our views. Hip Hop fell off. The US fell off. Rap is no longer what it is for we have “young-it-down” as opposed to “dumb-it-down”. Rap music in general has gotten lazy with explicit, bare bottom, lyrics when back in the days, artists like Marvin Gaye was able to talk about fucking but in a safe-for-children manner. In order for Hip Hop to return to it’s former glory, there has to be a return to great performance acts such as those of Jurassic 5. Chuck then said as long as there is Graffiti, Breakdancing and Turntables, Hip Hop will continue to prosper.

A question was asked regarding conspiracy theories like the Zeitgeist movie. Chuck replied that “conspiracies” are good to have in your back pocket so that when the scales fall off our eyes, we’ll know what to expect. Conspiracies themselves have entered the group of words like “Arab” and “socialist”. The sound of these words automatically comes attached with a negative stigma when it’s wrong for us to think that way. Conspiracies are just theories and hypothesis, nothing to attack and dispel completely. You should be glad that it appalls you and makes you question so that you are “people” not “sheeple”.

Overall, it was a really interesting program touching on a broad collection of ideas.

Books and Hassles

True to my word, here’s the weekend update.

Midterms:

• Film Midterm (Scantrons and shit)
• English: In Class Essay
• Math: test, not really midterm

So they were alright considering the film midterm took about 10 minutes.

Guess what was this Saturday? Book Sale at the library! Yeah, it was pretty cool. There was this Harvest Hoedown thing that was in the way but I got some cool books like a compilation of Hemingway short stories for a buck.

Here I borrowed Chuck Palahniuk’s Lullaby which I haven’t started yet but will soon. I’ve been meaning to read more of his books since they’re a fairly quick read. Who knows, maybe they’ll make this one into a movie as well.

The other book I got is Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. I’ve been interested in reading some of his stuff and I hear a lot about this one. So far it’s pretty interesting through the main character’s perspective as a bug. More on it later on.

In other news, Halloween seems to be coming up faster than I expected. Should be a fairly packed week. Uh, I’ve decided that I’m going to be Speed Racer this year. Fun schnazz. Party hearty this Friday and stay safe. You still need to vote the week after.

Don’t forget!

Nah, you won’t forget.

Schiff In Power

Congressman Adam Schiff

Today, I attended Q &A lunch meeting with Congressman Adam Schiff where he talked briefly about the presidential election, energy dependence, and the economic disaster.

The congressman talked a lot about Senator Obama’s policies including one about community college. I’ve heard Obama speak of adding more funds into the school system, especially colleges. According to Schiff, Obama plans to give a $4,000 refundable credit to students. Also, 2/3 of your college tuition will be paid for and community college students will get to go to school for FREE. That’s much better than that $15 a unit proposition last year. Here’s the Catch 22. Recipients must do 100 hours of community service. Honestly, that’s easy as pie for a free tuition (or close to free). After my stint last year, 100 hours of community service isn’t that bad. Take a summer off to do a little community work here and there and never worry about paying for college again.

Now apparently there were some concerns about a certain legislative house becoming “filibuster-proof” which I haven’t heard of yet. Schiff was quick to explain that such a thing is not likely. Democrats from red states will more often cast their votes in reflection of their states rather than their own agenda. Also, the houses are always fluctuating.

Other issues include that fact that we use 25% of the world’s oil but can only produce 3% at most so the idea to “drill, baby, drill” has no substance; it is a completely hollow pursuit.

Schiff was careful to warn of Bernanke and Paulson. It was a stupid idea for them to be comparing the Great Depression to our recession when it started going downhill two months ago, causing widespread panic which makes you wonder why they would so blatantly throw in scare tactics like that. When Alan Greenspan was chairman of the Federal Reserve, he was extremely careful with is word. If he hinted at any nervousness, you can be sure that the market was going to drop that day. The idea to buy up bad mortgage assets may not work as well as planned and also that tax payers may not get their money back. It is because of Democrats in Congress that equity and oversight was implemented in the bill. Schiff understood that it was time for us to realize that laissez-faire policies just doesn’t work and a re-regulation of Wall Street was required.

After the meeting, I was able to catch up with him and ask him some questions about immigration policies that he and Senator Obama have in the works. My questions were more specifically about illegal immigrant students, like myself, who have no way out. Apparently, he was a co-sponsor for the DREAM Act here in California that was unfortunately shot down by Governer Schwarzeneggar (sp). He was quick to assure me that an immigration reform will be in the works whether or not Obama gets to the White House. Families getting separated, children sent back to an unfamiliar world, and the oppression of young immigrants will soon be fought against and overturned.

The House of Representatives is up for election so when November 4th comes up, be sure to vote Schiff.

PROP 8: YES/NO ?

There have been a lot of mixed feelings about Prop 8 that’s been floating around these days. Just the other day, there was an entire Yes On Prop 8 bonanza in the park. I can pretty much say that I’m surrounded by very liberal thinking friends but I do have friends who are for it. Here’s my spiel.

Before we actually talk about the issue, I’m going to have to say that a lot of No on Prop 8 discussions can get hostile. I myself am against Prop 8 but I believe we all need to be a little bit more mindful towards the other party. Honestly, some discussions about this proposition sounds like it’s fueled by a lot of anger and frustration (“How can they even think like that?”) and that’s just not how we go through these things. Students around our age who are voting for the proposition must feel very intimidated when surrounded by arguments like this. There has got to be a lot less emotionally driven arguments (“That’s just fucked up”) and a lot more ideologically backed arguments. You’re not making a point when you argue that people who vote for Prop 8 are stupid, but you are making a significant impact when you argue on a separation of church and state basis. I live in a very conservative city (Temple City) where the numbers of McCalin signs outnumber those of Joebama’s. To say that those who are for Prop 8 outnumbers those who are against it is an argument based on an entirely different demographic. I’m talking about the college students, the aspiring scholars, the young adults, the graduating high school class. These are the new wave of liberal thinkers.

Here is why I’m against Proposition 8.

I am a Christian and I do not think that voting against this proposition conflicts with my faith. I know that this is a difficult issue to come clean with my peers but I personally do not believe in homosexuality. I’m not going to go preaching it and I’m certainly not going to judge gay people. I have gay friends but I do not distance myself from them because of their sexual preference. If anyone has any questions about this or do not agree with my stance and wants to inquire more, feel free to drop a comment. Now, simply put, if we put a ban on gay marriage we might as well put a ban on adultery. Some argue that marriage is a holy ritual; one that is granted by God. I agree with this but our country allows certain privelages with “marriage”; privilages that cannot be acheived with civil unions. If the ritual of marriage is seperated from the legal mess, then that’ll work for everyone. The problem is that we have integrated government with religion in this way. America is a land of religious freedom meaning free of religious persecution. When the Framers put that in place, they were careful to make sure religion is a private issue not one to do with government. Now where that can get ridiculous are in places such as removing “In God We Trust” from the dollar bill or getting rid of the 10 Commandments from court houses. And with the issue of gay marriage being taught in schools, sorry but there’s no way around it. For the No on Prop 8 supporters, this will happen. These cases will pop up more frequently and gay marriage will seep into school systems. It isn’t an isolated case regarding it being taught in schools and if gay marriage is instilled into our state, it will be discussed in schools. How can one discuss marriage without introducing the two subjects whether it be man and woman or man and man or so forth. If a teacher were to describe marriage as “joining a man and a woman in holy matrimony”, he or she would be wrong and sued and yada yada yada. Now for the people concerned that gay marriage will be taught in school, let’s just hope your child won’t flip a coin to decide whether to go gay or not. Your child will be presented the fact that there is a freedom of choice in marrying a man or a woman. Now here’s where the parents come into play. Parents should instill whatever traditional beliefs they want into the child; that’s a private matter. Being informed of homosexual marriages will not cause a child to alter his or her sexual preferences. If the child has been raised with traditional beliefs, then there isn’t anything to worry about. I know that there are gay people who would rather be straight if they were given the opportunity to decide, but the problem is they can’t. It’s like telling a lefty to write with their right hand. We should not be oppressing homosexuals by alienating them from their peers, but rather let them be open about it. It’s tough to be gay and in school. There are times of identity crisis and awkwardness when surrounded by “guy” friends (“Check out those tits!”). Being informed of a right to homosexual marriage can allow one to be open about his or her sexual preference to others.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

We as men should not be allowed to put laws like this on one another. Not all of the Ten Commandments are laws in our nation nor are the seven deadly sins. These are God’s laws; laws that transcend man’s laws. The faith we have in God is even more beautiful when they are unrestricted by man. If it becomes illegal for us to cheat on our spouses, not participate in charity, envy your fellow man, then there is no personal restraint one can instill on his or herself. It’s this struggle that proves our faith and we must be given room for error. The ban on gay marriage is persecution. As you make your arguments, ask yourselves whether these are words of Pharisees or words of a free Christian.

God Bless.

Robbed

Okay! Since I’m going to be at my Grandparent’s every Sunday night, I think I’ll make a regular end of the week (or beginning for those of you who still believe Sunday’s the first day of the week) post about stuff.

So on Wednesday, you were either watching the final Presidential Debate or the The Dodgers/Phillies game. We can pretty much sum up the debate as Obama>McCain. Most the time, it sounded like two kids fighting at recess rather than substantial issues. The Dodger game was a huge let down. The stars were aligned, destiny was being fufilled, the 50th anniversary, 20 years that day against the Athletics, an incredible lineup……..and then there was fucking Shane Victorino.

Fuck.

God help(s) us all.

Count Down

I need catch-up in Film, in Poli Sci, and in Speech. When things don’t go according to plan, things get out of hand.

I must say I was quite impressed with the VP debate. A lot better than last week’s I believe. A lot of good points made on both sides regardless of who won. Well, 2 more to go and it’ll be November 4th in no time.