Rantings Of A Mad Rodent

Hello ladies, you may not know me, but I know you. I know more about you than you know about yourselves. I've seen many of you throw away the one thing you can't replace or get back: time. You don't seem to value it that much, according to what I've seen. I've met many a woman that has gotten involved with married men, in hopes him leaving his wife. Some even going to the extent of bearing his child. By the time she realizes that she's been played, she's got 2 of his kids, no husband, an extra 30 pounds, and no good prospects of finding a man of her own. Why? Because she's spent ALL of her good years chasing and waiting for what wasn't hers. All of the time she pissed away waiting on theirs, she could've used finding hers. Does that sound productive to you?

It actually breaks my heart to see that, so I'm going to try to save you some time, and along with it, heartache, frustration, and your youth. You see, when your married boyfriend tells you that he'll leave his wife for you, you guys ALWAYS fall for it, even when you know he's lying! You're like Charlie Brown running to kick the football. You know that he's going to pull the ball away, but you run towards it anyway, hoping that maybe, just maybe, this time he'll do it. Stop it!!!

Let me let you in on something, it ain't happening! You know it ain't happening, but you really don't understand why it ain't happening. If you had an inkling of why, maybe you'll be more resistant to falling for it. I'm going to tell you why. Here goes: Do you women know how hard it is for a man to decide to make a woman "The One"? Do you know the amount of BS and "tests" a woman has to put up with and pass, before she is deemed worthy of marriage material? I'm sure some of you do. Especially if a guy has a great single life, he's going to make damn sure that that woman is worth giving that all up for. By the time he decides that she is "The One", he has put her through all kinds of stuff, because we need to know that she has our back when times get hard.

Which leads us to why a married man isn't leaving his wife for you. After we've found what we think is the perfect woman for us, do you honestly think that we'd leave her for a side piece? Do you really believe that we would leave our proven life partner for an unproven commodity? You, Ms. Other Woman, have not been put through any of the proving stages. Yeah, you may be good in bed. So good in fact, that you were worth lying to to keep it going. So good, it was worth telling you that he loves you, you're better than his wife (you actually may be), and that he might leave her for you. In reality, the sex is good, but it ain't "leave my wife" good. Sure, we'll tell you that it is, but it ain't. Sorry to sound so blunt, but it is what it is. I've been happily married for 18 years, and I have yet to meet a woman that I would even think about leaving my wife for, let alone doing it! And for the record, no, I don't cheat on her. Women are a pain to be with sometimes, why would I get 2 of them?! I'm more than happy with my one. The One.

Ladies, think of it this way: Let's say that you have an authentic $800 Chloe' handbag. It may be old, but it's authentic, reliable, and yours. You've had that Chloe' handbag for years, and it still looks good. No way will you let it go. One day you happen to come across a beautiful $30 Marc Jacobs knockoff. It's flashy, looks good on your arm, and it's a crowd pleaser. It's worth taking to the club, or even buying a whole new outfit just to match it, but it's a short term thing. It is a $30 knockoff, afterall. You know that when it's time to represent, you're grabbing your go to bag, the $800 Chloe'. The Chloe' has never let you down. The $30 Marc Jacobs knockoff was cute to wear around for a minute, but it ain't got nothing on your authentic Chloe' that you paid $800 for, and it's going to win out everytime if you have to choose between the 2. It was, for lack of a better term, your "side piece".

Do you still think he's gonna leave his wife for you now?

Who knows who the Washington Generals are? That's the team that the Harlem Globetrotters take out on the road to ridicule and mercilessly trounce. They've see all of the Globetrotters' pranks and gags, but they still fall for them. Of course, it's all part of the act, but my question is: What's our excuse? WHY do we keep falling for the government's and the corporations' gags and tricks, even though we've seen them all before? When did we willingly become the Washington Generals to their Harlem Globetrotters?

We've seen all of the gags, heard all of the promises, and hell, they even let us look behind the curtain once! And we still we still fall for the same ol' tricks without hesitation! They have alot of gags in their playbook, but one of my faves would have to be the ol' "Patriotism Ploy". This one's a can't miss in its reliability. It's also very versatile, and be sprung in many different ways. You remember in Michael Moore's movie "Sicko", where he had to take a boatload of first responders from the 9/11 tragedy to Cuba for health care? Even though those in the government should have been embarrassed and ashamed, how did they respond? They said what Moore did was "treasonous" and called him a "traitor". How did the American public respond? By agreeing with those statements. Instead of us holding the government's feet to the fire, we fell for the gag. Those who said that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, were called "anti - American", because those in charge said they were. It also didn't hurt that Fox News was helping to spoon feed the sheep. The sad thing is, they didn't have to work that hard, we are, afterall, the Washington Generals. We WILL fall for the gag, just tell us what to do, and when to fall.

Then there's a Patriot Act. We allowed them to take away most of our civil rights and liberties, because we were scared, and they told us that this would protect us. We were given facts to show us that it would do the opposite, but he fell for it anyway. The Patriot Act has victimized more of the people it was supposed to protect than it has people it was supposed to protect us from! You hear horror story after horror story about innocent people getting put on "No fly" lists, detained at airports, and the like, but there are some people that still think that it's a good thing. They'll even state facts that can't be proven, but that's what we're supposed to do. In fact, so far, the RIAA seems to be one of the few people benefiting for it. Because of the Patriot Act, they're able to look for "illegal downloads" on your computer. Speaking of trickery, how many of you think that the artists actually get money from those RIAA lawsuits? Everytime they unveil the next thing that's supposed to help us, I can't help but hear "Sweet Georgia Brown".

Take the bailout, who here honestly believed that it was going to benefit the people? Don't be ashamed to admit it, they fooled alot of us. What did they tell us? "We'll give the banks and corporations billions of dollars, and they'll in turn, pass it on to the people.", and what happen? They gave the ball to Meadowlark Lemon, and we never saw it again. They told us that those mega bonuses would stop, they didn't. They told us that corporations would act more responsibly. They don't. They told us that these corporations would no longer splurge on extravagant crap. They did. They told us that people would now be able to get loans. They weren't. They said that people would be able to keep their homes. They weren't. And when the government asked for an accurate accounting of funds, they were basically told to go kick rocks. Meanwhile; we did nothing. Do you know why we did nothing? We weren't supposed to, were are afterall, the Washington Generals! We knew this would happen, and no only did we fall for it, we fucking paid for it! We're still paying for it!

Look at all of these political sex scandals. They've somehow managed to trick you into believing that it's a "private matter", and you're gonna fall for it! Why? Because you always do! At what point do we realize that there's confetti in the bucket for the fans, and water for us? What has to happen before we not only say, "Enough!", but actually do something about it? Shit, atleast the Washington Generals get paid for it! What's our excuse?

Lately black radio has been on a jihad, so to speak against bill HR 848. They're distorting it as a bill to "get rid of black radio", and sadly, most of their audience will not take the time to research it and find out what it actually is. Black radio, knowing that they have done the black community a disservice for the most part, has decided to fall back on the "brotherhood" crutch. Unfortunately, and predictably, black radio has made HR 848 an "us (black) vs. them (white)" issue, even going as far as to tell their listeners to call Senators and Congressmen and threaten their seats. I promise you, those that make that calls, will make damned fools out of themselves, but I digress. In a nutshell, HR 848 is simply a bill that will allow artists that perform on the records that are being played, to receive a royalty payment. They also told you that Gospel stations would be shut down as well, didn't they? Well, that too, was a lie. Stations that broadcast religious content would be exempt.

So, since people like Warren Ballentine, Michael Baisden, and others in black radio have decided to go with this "bill to get rid of black radio" nonsense, let's play along, shall we? Black radio is "reaching out" to the same community that they have done a disservice to over the past 2 decades for help. They want us to save them. Why should we? Black radio, in its essence, was a medium to truly serve the community. Nowadays, not so much. You want us to save something that constantly bombards our children with music that denigrates women and living lawfully? Black radio was a place where talented local artists could be heard. The only local artists that get played in Atlanta are the ones who are making crap. It's like the artists are trying to outdumb each other. Atlanta was the VERY last market to play India.Arie, and she's from here, but unfortunately for her, her music was positive. There's no room for that on black radio here in Atlanta!! Black radio in Atlanta doesn't support local artists, unless they're making music that makes the community look bad, or if they've gone elsewhere to achieve notoriety first.

Black radio used to be a place where you can learn something about your culture. Black people complain that they gave us the shortest month to celebrate Black History Month, and sadly, that's a whole lot more than we get from black radio! Black radio will make you jump through hoops if you wanted to promote an event that helps the community, but they'll gladly run promos 6 times a day for the "Miss Biggest Booty" contest at the local club next weekend. A few years ago, Hot 107.9 (WHTA) in Atlanta was doing a call in show teaching teens the correct way to have anal sex. Is that what you call "giving back to the community"? Really?! That's what you want us to save?! You want us to save something that constantly markets malt liquor, predatory payday loans, unhealthy food, rent to own scams, and Pars Cars to us? You really think that crap is worth saving? When I was an artist back in the 80's, my label turned to black radio for airplay, and they gave us alot of support............$2500.00, a hooker, and 2 bags of cocaine later, and this happened on more than one occasion! Black radio also wants black artists to speak on their behalf. The same black artists that they were shaking down for payola, which still goes on today, but only now they force them to perform for free at the stations' "Birthday Bash" concerts.

Do you honestly think, deep down inside that you deserve saving? There are some people willing to help you, and there are others that are willing to just let you wither away. To the ones that want to help, you need to ask black radio: What are you willing to do for the community, instead of to the community?

For once I can say that the government got it right. By increasing the taxes on cigarettes, they're basically saying, "If you're going to be stupid and smoke, and become a drain on our health care system, it's gonna cost ya.", and quite frankly, I'm good with that. It makes sense, and it has even caused some to quit smoking altogether. Then I had this thought: why can't they do that for the other shit that's not good for us? America is one of the unhealthiest countries in the world, so wouldn't it make sense to raise the taxes on the crap that's killing us? They did it for alcohol and cigarettes.

Think about it, all of the organic and healthier foods cost almost double of what the crap that's killing us does. If they really gave a shit about our health, wouldn't they make it more affordable? Why not treat the processed inferior foods like cigarettes? With all of the doctors' warnings and news reports about our failing health, you'd think they'd try that. It seems to me that the game plan is scare the shit out of us, then put the charge on us. Why else would they make the more harmful foods the more affordable foods? Maybe it's more of a cash grab than a health concern.