The Infinite Puzzle

Burn baby, burn

2006-02-27T12:30:00.000-05:00

I'm reminded of the song "Refiner's Fire" today. One of my most embarrassing moments is when during a Christian singles mixer, I offered to play guitar for that song whlie we were all singing. Yes, it was in part to impress the girls, but it was also because I really liked this worship song. Of course, after guitarist handed me the instrument I couldn't make a B flat chord, so after a miserable attempt, I suggested that we sing a capella. My friends who were there never cease to tease me about that. What's ironic is that it was a truly refining moment, maybe even divinely appointed.
This last weeek has also been refining, with my on going family issue, and I know it's divinely appointed. I'm sure everyone who pursues a relationship with God has gotten off the mark, and been forced to get back on it. But the process is not enjoyable at all. It stinks! And I know this trial is a huge part of it; don't ask me how I know, I just do. But I must remember my goal, and with that perspective, it's not only bearable, but I know I need it. And when I think about the words to the song, they just leap out right at me:

Refiner's fire,
my heart's one desire
is to be holy;
set apart for you Lord.
I choose to be holy,
set apart for you my master
ready to do your will.

A tough place

2006-02-23T11:58:00.000-05:00

I feel for this cat. I'm feeling a little bit like him today, because I have an ongoing issue with what I thought was kindness gone bad, and now I believe I'm being held hostage. Ultimately it will be resolved, but it will get worse before it gets better. Or it will at least feel worse.

A New Day

2006-02-23T11:37:00.000-05:00

There is a new look to this blog, and a new thought process behind it. I have to admit that I was caught up in the lure of notoriety from the blogger-world. With conservative pundits popping up all over, I believed I too could become a source of information to tens of people (one day, even hundreds), and ultimately launch a writing career where I could pontificate and sound important. That was stupid, and if life is an infinite puzzle, then I ought not be afraid of not knowing how all the pieces fit. I don't disagree with anything I wrote, but I I don't want to hide behind a persona that doesn't come from the heart. From this point onward, it's just me.

I'm Done with "The Simpsons"

2005-03-23T14:32:00.000-05:00

For lent, I had decided to 'fast' from one of my favorite addictions, The Simpsons TV show.

For 16 years, the Simpsons has given me side-splitting, knee-slapping laughter. Always funny, sometimes with wit, sometimes with slap-stick, The Simpsons has had a way of poking fun at all factions of American life. It's been my guilty pleasure, and I think that's good for us to laugh at ourselves. But lately (as in the last few years) poking fun at ourselves has been poking fun primarily at christian America, usually through the irritaing and gullible character Ned Flanders and the shady, self-serving pastor Rev. Lovejoy. They fit every stereotype that one could have about a bible-believing U.S. cititzen, and if the humour was spread around a bit it wouldn't be so bad. It wasn't always this way, but it's gotten worse, to the point where I can't ignore it anymore. I was particularly made aware of it when one of the main characters becomes a buddhist. I guess the creator (who himself is a buddhist) need to make a "This is everything I hate about christianity" episode, which is what it was. That just about did it for me.

I have a habit of quoting funny lines from the show, and it is one of the best written of all time, but I could quote "The Simpsons" faster and more often than the bible. That, for me, is a problem, so I'm giving it up. I know I'll have the craving now and again, but with time it will go away. And whenever I wonder why I stopped watching, I'll remember Phillipians 4:8

Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is commendable--if there is any moral excellence
and if there is any praise--dwell on these things.

Terri Schiavo

2005-03-23T14:09:00.000-05:00

It seems that everyone has an opinion about this case. I felt that I was in between opposing views earlier on, but the more I read about the particulars, the more issues I have with the "right-to-die" claims. Booker Rising pointed to this Thomas Sowell article which sums up my thoughts exactly.

I Can't Believe It!

2005-03-22T17:00:00.000-05:00

The reverend Al Sharpton (whom I've lambasted to anyone who'd listen for the last um-teen years) has never been my favorite guy. In fact, when another black American critic called him a "poverty pimp," I thought the comment was a euphemism. However... even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Today on Fox New's Neil Cavuto show, the right (or wrong) reverend spoke out against the violence in Hip Hop, and is even trying to do something about it. Something good at that! His plan is to start an investment group which buys stock in those record companies and use the power of an investor (at investor meeting and the like)to shape the product. That's amazing! No marches, no speeches in front of government buildings with cameras clicking and tape rolling, no calls to "Uncle Sam" to fix the problem. He's actually looking to use the free market system to make positive change; using capitalism in a capitalism system. You might think that the Rev is leaning to the right, hmmmmm...

Okay, that's too much to hope for. But I gotta give him his due; good job Al, I hope you follow through.

Dangerously Liberal Journalist

2005-01-27T13:43:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm back.

So I was shooting a story for one of my European news clients last week. We were doing the "What-will-a-second-Bush-term-mean-to-the-world?" type piece. I always learn so much when we do these stories, but what I learned this day was sad, and unfortunately not shocking.

One of the key interviews was with a very established member of the press. While I don't really like journalists interviewing other journalists, it can be necessary to get perspective from someone with experience. Now I'm not going to name her, but let's just say she's covered every president since Kennedy. Of course, there's no surprise that journalists especially in DC are left of center, but the absolute spite and open hostility toward the Bush administration knocked me over, and I've seen quite a lot.

This reporter openly let her ideology override her journalistic objectivity! And repeatedly! Now, before I go on, let me say for the record that I do believe in the journalist's objectivity ethic, and do see it in action. Objectivity does not mean that a person has no bias; everybody has a bias. The objectivity is when a reporter takes all the facts in a given situation and draws a conclusion based on those facts. News analysis is making a judgment about what those facts might mean in a given situation. Both are necessary, and the reporter must continually prove him/herself worthy of that trust.

Now what made me furrow my brow was her stated belief that the US should continue the social policy of Linden Johnson, and that BASED ON THAT, social security reform was bad and immoral. And her reporting reflects this. She went on to express her distaste for Secretary Rice by calling her a "bitch" off camera, and claiming that Dr. Rice has never been "really black," which means that she didn't side with the majority of blacks who vote with the democrats. Not only is this an amazing oversimplification, and an assumption that blacks are or should be a monolithic political group, but as a part of that small and group majority, I took offence to that comment. She went on about a number of topics, but these were the most egregious.

Now for the record, asking tough questions is not bias. Pointing out failed goals (in itself) is not a sign of leftism, and just because a reporter leans conservative doesn't make them "more fair." But if this woman is one of the elder stateswomen of journalists, then the rumors of "liberal bias" may not have been so greatly exaggerated.

2005-01-20T17:12:00.000-05:00

I've been off for a while... computer problems. But there's lots to write about! And a new post is coming really soon (like tomorrow or late tonight).

take the quiz

2005-01-13T13:45:00.000-05:00

Booker Rising's blog has the "Bookerista" quiz that can determine how close or far your views are to that of the late great Booker T. Washington. I'm a Bookerista, are you?

Quiz

just for moms

2005-01-11T19:35:00.000-05:00

Mocha Moms is a website offering support and forums for women of color who can and choose to stay home to raise their children. This is great. I'd like to see more of these type of sites in support of families.

Social Security Reform is Good for Blacks

2005-01-11T00:15:00.000-05:00

Social Security is anything but secure. Yet many Americans and the majority of blacks hold to it and rely on it as their major source of income during retirement. But Gen X-ers like me and even younger folks know instinctively that we can't depend on social security to provide any kind of a decent income, and it seems that if I get to age 75, it may not be there at all.

The president wants to encourage an ownership society, and that can only be good for the country as a whole. Ownership allows a person to take control of his or her destiny, whether in business, owning a home versus renting, and even personal savings. Having the option to put money from social security in mutual funds and government bonds encourages people to take control of this most important aspect of life. This new freedom to thrive also means freedom to fail, so education is mandatory as well as strong oversight of those funds and bonds that S.S. money goes into. An keep in mind, even with the market corrections that happened over the last few years, the average rate of return is just under 8 percent as opposed to 1.5% that social security fund currently get.

This directly helps African Americans because it puts personal power and self determination in the hands of a people who have historically felt powerless. Remember the Billie Holiday song "God Bless the Child?"

Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own

Secondly, since the life expectancy for black (and especially black males) is shorter than that of whites, social security contributions benefit blacks less that whites (a point which Bush made in a press conference today). Third, with proper financial education, more African Americans will be able to build real wealth with personal retirement accounts.

Now nothing changes without cost, and in order to keep the promise of social security to baby boomers, the American tax payer will have to make up for the fall off. That amount could be in the high billions. But we have to choose a little pain now or experience a lot later.

For more thought:
Social Security reform as reparations?
George Will

Confession...

2005-01-10T17:59:00.000-05:00

When I heard that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were seperated I gasped and said, "Oh no!" and then shook my head and said "Whatever."

Why do I even remotely care about any of this. I gotta go wash out my brain.

CBS Firings? Great!

2005-01-10T17:11:00.000-05:00

I have to say, I still believe in the journalist ethic. And the fact that Dan Rather quit as host of the CBS Evening News and several Execs at CBS were fired is a great thing for it. I don't know if CBS can recover or if they should.

People often ask, "Why do we need the 'News' since it seems that the reporters are biased, the outlets are skewed, and it's all about opions anyway." News organizations were usually started noble intentions. Of course human nature being what it is, getting to the truth is often sacrificed for whatever media outlet stands to loose or gain. To further complicted matters, the senior news people are products of the 1960's and usually left leaning; the news cycles are constant because of 24 hour news; and shows like '60 Minutes' are investigative, so they are looking to "catch someone with their pants down," and can go overboard with that.

However, good news and investigative reporting is STILL necessary and we still need the news. To know the stories coming out of Indonesia would be impossible with out the big budget news media. It's important to have a presence in the middle east, in Russia, China and where ever big decisions are made. As THE global super power in the world, we, the citizens, have to know whats going on in the world around us.

But when a half truth, or out-and-out lie is presented as "news" then heads half to roll. Blogs and talk shows are great to have, and they keep liberal elites from spoon feeding us selective information, but they're usually opinion and fact checking, not news. That's why the journalist ethic is so strict. Punitive action has to happen every time news organizations mislead us to keep news organizations honest and trustworthy.

Thanks Fox, but...

2004-12-31T13:50:00.001-05:00

So long 2004. Here's my last blog post of the year.

Fox, the often lauded conservative alternative news network, has certainly changed network news' liberal slant. More than any other network, Fox's ideological stand point has altered the way other networks cover the news, requiring CNN, NBC,MSNBC and other outlets to consider the conservative view point.(Remember the short lived "Alan Keyes is Making Sense" show? Conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage had a program on the left of center MSNBC too.) Even ESPN gave Rush Limbaugh a spot on prime time TV (until he shot himself in the foot). Many of my christian friend swear by it, making the network their primary and often only source of news. Fox should rightly take credit for all it's done to bring the American discouse to the right.

That said, I have a few bones to pick with them (three to be exact) and I offer my suggestions for change.

Number One: (On the corporate level)
ENOUGH WITH THE SLEAZY REALITY SHOWS
Fox News is owned by Rupert Murdock's News Corp which owns (of course) the Fox network. Now we all know that the network is the economic engine that pays for most everything else. But I think that in all of Fox's trail blazing, it's helped the viewing public to sink to new lows with such programs as "The Littlest Groom" and the soon coming "Who's Your Daddy," a reality program which a contestant has to find out which one of sereval potential fathers (the father that she/he's never met)is actually his or her own. People watch them, but that's not the point. You can't be the standard bearer of conservative values with sick voyerism.

Number Two:
STOP SNEAKING NEAR NUDITY INTO STORIES
They've gotten better about this, but it will pop up every now and then: Some expose about strip clubs, strip club patrons, or prostitution is aired with plenty of tantalizing fleshly shots blurred out just enough to avoid FCC complaints. And if that's not enough, at every commercial break before the story shows, the "coming up" bumbers show the same fleshy shots over and over. Pornography is a serious problem. More christians should speak out about this, especially since so many watch Fox News.

Number Three:
FINALLY, FIRE GERALDO AND DICK MORRIS
Geraldo is a faux journalist and glory hog. After his varoius stunts before fox and during his tenure there, (claiming to be at a site of a massacre when he wasn't, talking on air about carrying a gun while reporting from Afghanistan -btw, a journalist can carry a gun for personal protection, you just don't tell the world that you are doing it) he continues to prove himself as a huckster not to be taken seriously.
Dick Morris was a Clinton aide who cheated on his wife around the same time Bill did. I don't get how he has come up above the frey, and his contributions are mediocre at best. I'll take Bill Kristol over him any day.

If anyone thinks I'm being hard on Fox, it's because it should be the best, not just say it's the best. But I'm hopeful!

New Year's resolution? To post 3 times a week. Lessee how we go.

Christmas Story: Fact or Fiction

2004-12-16T13:15:00.000-05:00

For a little help getting through it all, have a look at Mark Roberts analysis of the Time and Newsweek articles of the yuletide tale. It's a long read with several posts, but it's so worth it. Really good stuff.

It just makes sense!

2004-12-15T14:00:00.000-05:00

At long last, someone has finally put the ideology of black conservatism in plain speak. One of my favorite bloggers/columnists, LaShawn Barber answers the tough questions of a skeptic. When I changed parties (from Democrat to Republican) in 1995, I secretly did not have much hope that I would identify with the GOP on many issues, or would stay in the party. Not so now. Mainly because of two reasons:

1) Faith Perspective or Christian Worldview

Everybody is guided by some set of principles. The idea that ones religious views should have little or nothing to do with how they vote is ridiculous. Certainly other factors apply, but there's got to be one that trumps all others. In the case of the chistian, faith beats race.

"It is not unbiblical to believe that conservatism promotes biblical principles and liberalism, by its very definition, does not. Liberal ideology is one of permissiveness and immorality, hidden behind "black" issues like welfare, entitlements, race preferences and a blame-whites-for-your-problems mentality. Liberals appeal to the basic weaknesses in human nature: the desire to avoid responsibility and consequences of our own actions. This is unbiblical."

2) The desire for blacks in America to to gain high levels of achivement and true equality.

This requires diligence and some different thinking as well.

"Race preferences will always be divisive and cause others to doubt black achievement. "Affirmative action" was originally intended to "cast a wider net" to include qualified blacks who'd been historically excluded from jobs and college admissions. It is currently a labyrinthine system of quotas, set-asides and preferences, benefiting the grievance-shopping, professional civil rights class. This should cause Democrats to lose points with black voters, but it doesn't."

Now before you throw a shoe at your computer, think about it. Blacks need to be able to compete at every level; and while it takes money, and resources, it also requires that those who address the issue take off the kid gloves. The number of blacks who achive at high levels is large enough that the old excuses just don't fit. Not since the Bill Cosby commments have I been in as much agreement.

Click here to read the full article,
And check out this perspective from Booker Rising.

2004-12-01T13:26:00.000-05:00

Good for Howard U.

On Friday last week, The Hilltop – “The Student Voice of Howard University Since 1924” – said that admission into universities’ summer programs “should be colorblind and focus more on need and achievement.” While the Supreme Court’s 2003 affirmative-action decisions in the University of Michigan cases were disappointing insofar as they did not shut the door on racial preferences in higher education, they did make it clear that racial EXCLUSIVITY (which had frequently been true of summer programs, internships, scholarships, and the like) was illegal, and consequently most schools have been opening their programs. That the students at a top historically black school like Howard have endorsed this trend – as not only legally necessary but as fair and sound policy – is noteworthy and welcome.

Affirmative Action advocates always cite the need to level the playing field. But race based programs really do allow for the "soft bigorty of low expectations" as the president has said. Glad the Alma Matter may be recognizing this.

Stinkin' Thinkin'

2004-11-29T15:30:00.000-05:00

I haven't written in a while; I intended to be better about that. I've been inspired by blogger LaShawn Barber who not only blogs everyday, and sometimes more than once! That's impressive.

I'm reading this book by John Maxwell called "Thinking for a Change." It's main point is that how and what we think directs our lives, even more than external circumstances. I must have read 10 other books with the same theme, but they all highlight the same truth from proverbs, "As a man thinks, so is he." I really believe that this is one of the main plagues of the black community in America: Stinkin' Thinkin.

Certainly external factors have an effect on our lives, but there are so many stories about people who had the right perspective surviving and thriving despite poor starting points. But all too often, poor people, and historically oppressed people feel helpless to change their circumstances, and this is passed on to their children. Nobody ever says, "I am helpless, I can't change my life." but their actions say it for them. Unkempt houses, among other things (usually in bad areas) are often a sign that a person or people are so focused on what's out of their control, that they don't even change things that are in their control. This way of thinking is often passed on generationally, and often with good intent

Many black parents (including my own) had experienced real racism in their lives. They knew how much it hurt to be rejected for who you were and not what you did, so in order to protect their children they told us to expect it, but to work hard anyway. This was buffeted in my family by that fact that both parents were educated and voracious readers, and encouraged that in us. As I've gotten older, I appreciate the warnings of differential treatment, but in our time, I wouldn't give them, because it can unintentionally set up a negative belief system. In fact it's my strong belief that if young African Americans were completely unaware of systematic racism, real or not (and yes there is real systematic racism out there), many more would go further and farther than they could if handicapped by a belief that the world is set against them.

My parents and others of their generation fought hard for our freedom to live, as we would want. It's time to enter the next phase: freeing our minds of anything that holds us back.

For more thought, pick up John McWhorter's "Losing the Race: Self Sabotage in Black America."

Colin, we hardly knew ya...

2004-11-15T16:05:00.000-05:00

After a long period of rumors and talk around DC, Colin Powell is officially resigning. Because of his well known moderate position on international policy, the question must be asked, did he leave in disgust, ask so many have suggested? Did he really support the president in the Iraq war, as he said on many occasions, or was the very strong underlying sentiment that he "didn't fit in the Bush administration" true?

This is a difficult question for me, because I supported the president, in part, because of people like Powell, and he's one of my heros. Let's hope he is not going in a huff, because his international standing in the world is nothing to sneeze at. And let's face it, France aside, the US needs a little global love right about now.

Well, unless he does something crazy, which is so highly unlikely it's laughable, Powell's life of service, love of country, and courage to decent from strong opinion will certainly have a fan in me.

Go out and do it!

2004-11-02T01:26:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow (or today if you're reading this on Nov 2nd) is the big day. I have heard a lot about the intense anger on both sides and seen it first hand. Some even wonder about the unity of out counry post-elecion day. All I know is that the voter turnout may be as high as 80%, and I think that's just great! It's the active involvement that make the US democracy so good. The peaceful transfer of power is not without messiness,nor should it be. Active democracies have problems like everywhere else; maybe it's time we just came clean and conceded that fact. But at the end of the day, we'll still be that shining city on a hill, as a beacon of light to the world. Maybe more so. Now go vote!!

Conservative vs. Liberal

2004-10-22T17:49:00.000-04:00

I gotta admit it, I have a favorite politician. It's Senator John McCain. Maybe I was taken in be the allure of the "Straight Talk Express" in the 2000 election season, maybe it's because he wears his tough navy guy/old softy granddad mystique well. But I believe I like him because he seems (I know it's a perception) he has a good balance between conviction and pragmatism, a healthy love for America, and enough respect for the flag to not wrap himself up in it at every turn. He is well respected because he is one of the few truly reasonable people (and by that I mean he can be reasoned with) in a time when political figures take an all or nothing stand on every issue. Which brings me to todays blog: My observations of the differences between conservative and liberals.

I came to this conclusion a few years back (and was admittedly proud of myself for the conciseness of it). The reason American conservatives and liberals talk past each other is because each's own world view, and THEIR VIEW OF THE THOSE ON THE OTHER SIDE. During the most fierce discussions and arguments between both sides (I often like to play devil's advocate), the basic difference struck me like a ton of bricks. The my thought in a nutshell was this:

Liberals think conservatives are stupid. Conservatives think liberals are evil.

I know that this is a REALLY broad generalization, and most people are not completely conservative or completely liberal, but most people definitely lean in one direction or another. This also does not take into consideration sections of the population, like African Americans who tend to lean conservative on social issues and liberal on economic ones, or libertarians who do the opposite. But more often than not, it's either pragmatism or principle.

But if you think about it, its true. Here's an example using extreme issues: Giving out condoms to teens, or needles to drug addicts. The liberal leaning argument usually is: "Sure these things are not desirable (teens having sex or drug-addicts abusing drugs), but if they're going to do it anyway and they most certainly are, why not make sure that there are not further personal or societal repercussions." Liberal-leaning folk can often look with scorn on those see issues only through a "moral" lens and seem to ignore the present pain of people and suffering of the populous.
The right leaning argument says, " If you give out condoms to teens, or needles to addicts, you may help pain and suffering in the shot term, but you're encouraging bad behavior that will lead society down a slippery slope." Conservative-leaning people can look with disgust on those who seemingly only worry about the present suffering, and those who seem to have less concern for longstanding vales, and religious beliefs with regard to what our society should look like.

Being a christ-follower, I tend to lean to the right in arguments like these, but it's easy to take this stance when you're not in the middle of it; whether it's living with or amongst a sexually active teen, or in a neighborhood heavy-laden with drug use. I do know however, that if someone had asked me this when I was living in a newly "crack-ified" Harlem, NY in the mid-eighties, I'm sure I would have wanted whatever worked. Standing on principle is certainly the first choice, but it gets old when the battle always is up hill.

So I don't know what could bridge the divide. Maybe it's good we have the arguments; it keeps us sharp and each political persuasion aware of the other's concerns. I'll come back to this sometime.

Welcome to The Infinite Puzzle

2004-10-21T16:20:00.000-04:00

Hello and welcome to The Infinite Puzzle; if I had space for it, the subtitle would be "Politics, Faith, and the Search for Meaning for a Misshapen Piece." I started this blog because I needed an outlet my thoughts which are constantly overloaded by overpowering voices, filled with passion, that are consistently battling for the American mind.

As a politically 'center-right' African-American christian from humble beginnings and leftie roots, I am faced with the question of how do I/we find our unique voice a world that seems to want to press us into set camps: conservative, liberal, bible thumping evangelicals, tree hugging environmentalists, etc. I think I am uniquely qualified to write about these issues because I am a christian working in TV news. Those worlds could not be more different.

The prevailing attitude in my work life (I work covering US events for Europeans and Canadians and to a lesser extent Americans) is usually left of center, if not far left, humanistic and (usually) devoutly atheist. My social life (mostly friends from churches, ministries or people who know and/or respect what I believe) is usually right of center, somewhat, if not devoutly religious and patriotic. And I'm always amazed at how the two groups are polerized by each other. I learn somethng new everyday, I hope some of it will be worth passing on.