Once again, your boy has had too much time on his hands. As a result, I’ve come up with 20 questions for you.

Feel free to answer these and post your own!!!
1) Shouldn’t Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, and Pharrell have to pay Michael Jackson for their shameless swagger jacking?
2) How many points will Allen Iverson score against the 76ers in the first game after they trade him?
3) Isn’t it ironic that Hov and Beyonce’s new song is called “Déjà Vu”, since it feels like we’ve heard it before?
4) Why is Star Jones so much more likable since she’s been fired?
5) Is anyone surprised at reports that her husband, Al Reynolds, is about to divorce her?
6) Isn’t it embarrassing that the two worst executives in the NBA, Billy King and Isaiah Thomas, are Black?
7) Why won’t Joe Lieberman just become a Republican?
Why are Black awards shows always so damn ghetto?
9) Now that she invited Outkast to appear on her show, will the hip-hop industry finally stop sweating Oprah?
10) How much cornier must Kanye West get before his 15 minutes of fame end?
11) With Al Gore as the most popular Democrat, is a 2008 Republic victory inevitable?
12) Now that her book is old news, what will Karrine “Superhead” Steffans do for a living?
13) Why do people keep signing with Suge Knight and Don King?
14) Isn’t Shaq the only difference between Kobe, Lebron, and D-Wade?
15) Shouldn’t we be outraged that the Katrina looters received 15 years, while murderers, rapists, and pedophiles do 1/3 of the time?
16) Is Robin Thicke the next Justin Timberlake?
17) Now that Cynthia McKinney and George Bush have both played themselves, will politicians start doing mic checks before talking shit?
18) Will the world appreciate just how hot Lupe Fiasco is?
19) Wouldn’t Fantasia and Jamie Foxx make the industry’s least attractive couple?
20) Isn’t everyone secretly excited that Flavor of Love Season 2 starts in August?

Bush Speech to NAACP Set, and the Question Begs: Why the Change of Heart?
By Jackie Jones
President George W. Bush’s decision to address the NAACP convention, reversing his five-year refusal to address the civil rights organization, has political observers debating what sparked his apparent change of heart.

Until this week, Bush had repeatedly turned down invitations to address the group, the first president since Warren Harding to do so. In 2004, the president said he declined the organization’s request to address the convention because of harsh criticism by NAACP leaders.

“I don’t think it’s so much a change of heart. I think it’s no cost to him now because he’s not going to run again,” Toni Travis, an associate professor of government and director of the African American Studies department at George Mason University in Virginia, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

Some observers speculate that the crisis in the Middle East, ongoing criticism of the way the administration has prosecuted the war in Iraq and problems with conservatives within the Republican Party have driven the president to find a way to boost his sagging poll numbers.

For the rest of the story, click here. 

Celebrate HER Now: An Interactive Guide to Loving Ourselves and Embracing Female Youth of the Hip-Hop Generation by Lacey C. Clark.

Unlike many books of its genre, Celebrate HER Now! focuses less on theory and more on practice. Drawing from Clark’s experiences as a teacher, activist, and community leader, the book provides a wide range of activities for mentoring young women. Although the book’s topics range from health to finances, Clark is at her best when dealing with issues of self-love.

Clark devotes the first half of the book (“Mission 1”) to activities that help young Black girls to appreciate their own bodies and minds without an approving male gaze. Activities like “I Am My Own Celebrity,” “I Eat To Live…,” and “I Enjoy Being With Me” are wonderful counter-narratives to the 106 & Parks of the world. These activities alone make the book worth buying.

The second half of the book (“Mission 2”) shifts the focus from the mentee to the mentor. True to the honorable spirit of the book, Mission 2’s activities force mentors to do the necessary work of self-examination and concrete planning. Clark’s tips on how to financially and spiritually support young women are among the section’s strongest.

Overall, Celebrate HER Now is an extremely fun, engaging, and useful read. Although the introduction could have been expanded and the section half feels rushed, this is an extremely worthwhile read for anyone interested in the hard work of supporting little brown girls.

For more information about this book, visit www.CelebrateHerNow.com.

Tried to call, or at least beep the Lord, but didn’t have a touch-tone
It’s a dog-eat-dog world, you gotta mush on
Some of this land I must own
Outta the city, they want us gone
Tearin down the ‘jects creatin plush homes
My circumstance is between Cabrini and Love Jones
Surrounded by hate, yet I love home

Common “Respiration”

I LOVE THIS VERSE!!!!

Earlier this week, President Bush caught a little heat due to comments he made while talking to Tony Blair in front of a microphone that he didn’t think was live. As he stuffed bread into his mouth, the leader of the American empire said:

“See, the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit, and it’s over.”

Afterward, public debates sprang up about whether the President was wrong to curse and if the media should have reported it. Personally, I don’t have any problem with Bush cursing while talking to Tony Blair in what he thought was an off-camera remark. I also think that it is critical that the media, in spite of what the FCC believes, reports such information.

The real problem, which most of the media has ignored, is that Bush really believes what he’s saying. Unfortunately, his comment ignores the United States’ role in demanding Syria’s exit from Lebanon last year, which has undermined Syria’s ability to keep Hezbollah under control. Also, Bush’s comment suggests that he doesn’t acknowledge the responsibility of Israel, with whom the U.S has considerable influence, in achieving peace.