Does Your Vote Matter? Will it in 2031?

By: @JohnnyMagma

Did you know that in 2006 you, as a minority, could very easily not have the right to vote in some states? The Voting Act of 1965 that outlawed restricting Voting Rights based off Race/Color (due to slavery) has to be Renewed and I didn’t know that… until today.

Your boy, George W. Bush Jr, was actually the one to renew the Act during his second term in office to renew the act for another 25years, until 2031, so I guess he did do something right while in office. I will have to amend my thoughts on thinking he was worthless. Now I am not entirely sure as to why this law is even up for debate personally but I do have a few questions…

1) Why has there been no Amendments for it to cover all States?

2) Why is it to be renewed every 25years instead of Permanent?

3) Why was it brought up to vote if the timeframe could be lowered from 25years to 10?

The Acts text doesn’t specifically state the answers to these questions but there are some things I have deciphered from it that make logical sense (doesn’t make them fact by any means, but plausible). As you see from the Picture above, the Dark Blue areas are the areas affected most by this law that can not change this act without Federal Approval. Granted these were all slave states Pre Civil war, but we shouldn’t forget that the north oppressed slaves too, they just didn’t make them work on fields. And furthermore this isn’t the case today so why hasn’t it changed? Something I noticed after reading the act limits the ability for state Ballots limit the languages without Federal Approval… why are all the states/areas affected also where the highest levels of immigration into the US are recorded? Coincidence? Are the seeking a way to make it harder for people who don’t speak English as a primary langue to vote? Maybe even English speaking people of lower education levels as they did in the 60’s to restrict slaves from understanding the Ballots? Seems so.

Now I have not yet found why every 25 years was the listed time frame 45years ago but that’s besides the point, the fact that it is trying to be lowered to 10years shows me an intent that I am not looking forward to. Why else would this Act even get enough steam to be brought to the floor to be voted upon, even though it lost by 2/3rds vote, 5 times since 1975? Obviously there is a want to change this Law and with the lower and lower voter turn out year after year it seems some people in government are trying to capitalize on the “My Vote Doesn’t Matter” babies that mainly High School/College Drop outs have adopted as an excuse not to make it to the polls. Things hittin’ home for you yet?

Since History seems to be cyclical, how long do you think it’ll take before someone gets oppressed yet again? Whites had their turn in the past and typically own most of the capital in the US… Hispanics are gaining in numbers and expected to be the Majority within the next 30years, which means their voting numbers will increase drastically… if Blacks keep adopting this Catch22 logic: My Vote wont bring change, so I wont vote, not voting means the government cant cater to the change you want, therefore change wont happen, then we will quickly become new age slaves once again by our own doing.

Even if you choose not to vote, please stay in your ignorance alone and encourage others to learn and find their own path. The US Government is 3 Branches, if you only participate in 1 you have to understand that you have not done nearly enough to bring about the change you are seeking.

United States Department of Defense: Voting Act of 1965

So You Wanna Be A Rap Star?

Photo: Forbes

So I checked out the Forbes/Billboard Top 20 Artists Article and dang, Hip-hop Greats in 2009 grossed over $300mil! I see why so many people want to hop into the rap game. But of course my over analytical self wanted to dive deeper and see how Hip-hop ranks as an overall business and was quite surprised. The Top 20 Hip-hop greats barely ranked in the Top 250 of American CEOs (Forbes Magazine) when compared side by side. Hell, Jay-Z, who topped the list at $63mil, didn't even make Top 20 of overall Celebs. Pretty shocking

Other Interesting Forbes Facts:

1) Oprah Winfrey Grossed $315million BY HER SELF!!! That woman is an absolute monster. I mean, I always knew she had money but when you put it in the perspective of: If Oprah wanted to, she could literally BUY Hip-hop... it's just makes an unfathomable amount of money very real. She's got enough money to buy every US Citizen a McDouble... and still get a Foot long from Subway. (Pay your own Sales Tax though, you know how Oprah do)

2) Rich vs. Wealthy. Confused? Let me explain... How I see it, Rich is very attainable for the average Joe by simple luck. But, if you aspire to only be rich; plan on being broke shortly thereafter! MC Hammer WAS rich, as was Vanilla Ice and even MIMS (for that good 6months). Unfortunately, the uneducated tend to acquire mass amounts of Liquid Assets (Cash, Diamonds, Chains etc) instead of Long Term Equities. (These are basic business terms, if you don't know them then you WILL NOT make it in "the Biz").

To put it in monetary terms what the difference is... the top 6 Hip-hop earners of 2009 grossed $167million while: Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, John Lennon & Jimi Hendrix totaled $168million last year... No, that's not a misprint, LAST YEAR!!! That's the difference between being rich & being wealthy. Own property, own a business, own YOURSELF. If you are sending out your creative works which aren't Copyrighted, registered with ASCAP, Trademarked, etc. then expect to get G'd, it'll soften the blow once it happens.

Being rich only lasts a lifetime while wealth will stretch through generations.

3) The Top 20 Hip-hop greats have averaged $15mil each ($75mil total) over the last 5 years; while William C Weldon, CEO of Johnson & Johnson who started as a Sales Rep with a Biology Degree, has made more at $78mil (NOT including the $26mil in stocks he also owns in the company).

Ivan G. Seidenberg, Verizon CEO, started his climb up the "Corporate Ladder" being a Cable Splicer's Assistant and now makes as much as Diddy without having to dance in every Verizon commercial or flee clubs after his coworkers have shot someone in the face (not to mention he also owns $57mil more in stocks).

The common thread? Education, Hard Work & Determination. For some odd reason people who have lyrical skills (or THINK they have them) think rap and education are mutually exclusive. Where this came from, I do not know, but reverse your logic. How can learning about worldly issues, expanding your vocabulary, working closely with your demographic, understanding how to write/negotiate contracts and gaining real life experience hurt your career? Build a strong foundation from the ground up or at least have a backup plan because you WILL crumble.

I guess the bottom line is... GET TO WORK!!! Being a celeb is a job, just like everything else. There is no easy way to get the elusive "American Dream". So before encouraging a friend or your children to skip school for a celebrity career of fame and fortune, please, do some research. Realize that they are non-recognizable people worth BILLIONS more than your favorite celeb to dance to in the club.

Educate Yourself before you Dedicate Yourself. Can You Hear me now? GOOD

Edited By Jo Anne @MzFilterless

Searching for Mr/Mrs Perfect

By: @JohnnyMagma  
 

Awww How sweet. But with all due respect, are you effin Stupid? Now I'm all for wanting the best but most people I see claiming they waiting for the perfect person tend to sound lazy as a mofo and their exact opposite. Tell me if you've heard something similar:

“I want someone who will do this that and the third for me, have his/her life together and accept me for who I am.

1) That's Bull, you got a list of stuff you want a Lover to do for you but want them to just accept you for what you are? Incorrect Sir/Madame... You want a Gigapet.

2) You want someone with their Life together? And what does that entail exactly? Job, Place of their Own, Bills Paid on Time, decent Wardrobe... while you collect unemployment, Live with Parents and/or are completely dependant on Gov't Assistance to make ends meet?

How does that make sense in your mind?

The answer...Selfishness. Too often I see people wanting in a Lover everything they aren't and then they get confused as to way they find the lower caliber of people they do. But it seems pretty simple to me, if you want the perfect catch, you gotta use the right bait. Flaunting your Sexual Skills/Body Parts (women) and Cash (dudes) may get you A Lover, but not THE Lover you've been craving. Now I'm not saying you aren't deserving of your counterpart... but if you are Black and White TV quality, don't stand in line to Pre-Order the newest Playstation. You're wasting time and effort for something that can do much better without you.

Think About It: Would the "Perfect" Man or Woman of your dreams settle for a Person like You?

Step Yo Game Up... ASAP!!!

How Much is Your Twitter Account Worth?

By: @JohnnyMagma

I’m sure we’ve all seen and wondered if people were serious about the buying and selling of Twitter Accounts, and the truth is, Yes… they are. Between MyLikes promotions (which are even done by Celebs now) and Selling Popular accounts users seem to be a finding ways to Rapidly Gain thousands of followers just to make some money off online Social Networking Accounts. These would be your Team Follow Back, 500 a Day, Follow for Follow, Promo for Promo, Cartoon pages so on and so forth, just so they can Promote a seemingly great page to market to the public on. Believe it or not some actually resort to purchasing Followers from random websites for a one-time or monthly fee which typically claims to send dozens up to hundreds of followers per use. The funny thing I have noticed, in my short 8 months on Twitter, is when the site gets busted for providing users hundreds of Spam followers, it gets reported and deletes ALL the followers you've gained, which happened to be Bot accounts anyway, so you've been talking to no one the entire time. Bet you feel dumb don’t you? Some people claim to know when this happens when the user has tons of Followers but ask where are all his/her lists (which is all corny by the way) even though it doesn’t really make any sense. But I wont get into disproving your Twitter Science because you really don’t matter. The only thing Lamer than Lames, is people who dedicate time to study Lames to find out how much Lamer they are than others… That’s alotta Lameness huh?

But I digress, if you feel like checking how much your page is “Worth” they have a few sites that pull numbers based off Followers, Following, Mentions and Retweets to see how influential your page is. The two most popular I've seen on my timeline and via Google Search Engines are: Whats My Twitter Account Worth and Tweet Value. These sites do not require a password so you can literally check ANYONES worth simply by typing in a user name. You even have the option of Tweeting/Facebooking your results to compare against your friends, family, celebs or whoever else you want go toe to toe with. I even went first for you…

I’m not sure why the drastic difference in the two prices, but either way... Who Trying to Buy My Page?

Relatives vs Family

By: @JohnnyMagma

     Have you ever let a relative that made you change, or tweak, your personal rules to accommodate them... simply because they were related? I know I used to. But since then I've had to ask, "Relative vs Family"... Is there a difference?

     I've heard plenty of people say, "I'll do anything for my family," but never interchanged with the word relative... but why? Is one just easier to say than the other? I don't think so, I think its a much deeper meaning. The definitions for both are as follows:

Relative: a person related by bloodline or through marriage

Family: an association of people who share common beliefs or activities 

     To me, those are very different things. I don't consider every relative a member of my family anymore. I'm sure we all have people with blood relation to us that emotionally, we share ZERO ties with. You, yourself probably have a friend that knows your deepest darkest secrets, who you feel is closer to than most of your born-in Pedigree? What about in the case of the deadbeat parent who has abandoned their child. Are they still considered family simply because they are relatives? I think not. 

     Just because someone shares a bloodline, doesn't mean they won't cross you the wrong way and/or treat you any better than a stranger would. I've had people, with NO blood relation, that I call family that have looked out for me in my darkest hours when some of my relatives left me out to fend for myself; after putting me in a bad situation. I will not let the 'relative excuse' place me there ever again. Family should be earned and cherished; make sure those you do is a choice YOU make, not one you are stuck with. 

"Relatives happen by Chance, Family is by Choice"

Images from: http://www.wonderfulbag.com/

Edited By Jo Anne @MzFilterless

Typo or Just Plain Dumb?

By:@JohnnyMagma

Typo: a mistaken key stroke. You knew what word you were trying to type, with the correct spelling and context, but simply added, removed, or misplaced a letter.

Just Plain Dumb: Using the wrong word, context and/or words that don't exist that you used trying to sound clever.

With the increasing number of Social Networking Sites comes all new Cyber Lingo and a whole new World to see how educated people really aren't. Personally, I will rarely correct on spelling or grammar (the Spell Nazi) because it's too much work with all the errors I've seen. But when you talk about how intelligent you are or are trying to call someone dumb, and misspell words, you are very effectively shrinking the intelligence barrier between you and your "victim". Now I make mistakes, and when called on them will gladly admit my idiocy in the matter but I often see people use the excuse "It was a Typo" and I want to clear up the differences between Typos and Just Plain Dumb statements.

Prime example: bored with the recycling of boring TT ideas, like #SideChickAppreciationDay (which was funny on Feb 13, not on Aug 27) I decided, as a joke, to randomly start #TheseTTsDryerThan and many people proceeded to go in. Now only 3 of my 1900+ followers caught that "Dryer" is a noun (as in Washer & Dryer) not and adjective (as in Drier than). I could've easier said that was a typo, but it wasn't... that was Just Plain Dumb.

If I can Admit it, so can you. We all have those Duh Moments, embrace and learn from them. If you notice you have Just Plain Dumb Moments often, seek Help. There isn't anything worse than an Intelligent Dummy discussing worldly issues but can't beat a 3rd grader in a written exam.

When you make a "typo", and can't realize it, you might find yourself in a #MurkGWisdom situation. What's that you ask? You may end up saying something like, "I am Way Smart Then You" (Actual Quote) when replying to someone questioning your intellect. Do you see how counterproductive that statement is? If not... I will Pray for you.

Just remember, Spelling and Context Count. Don’t Look as Retarded as your Competition.

Spanking: Is It Okay?

By: @JohnnyMagma

First, get your mind out of the gutter because this is actually a very good question that I think from generation to generation has become more and more taboo. Those of us with parents born in the 60's-70's remember what it's like to feel the wrath of the parent, and for a lot of us the dreaded phrase, "wait 'til yo' Daddy get home" was worse than walking down Death Row. But this new generation of parents 80's - 90's seem like discipline is limited to words and not action.

Some say it's wrong to hit your kids because they learn violence but I think that is only true when discipline becomes abuse, I feel some people don't know they difference so I want to map out a simplistic scorecard out for you to make it a little easier.

I think you get the point now. The bottom line is, don't electrocute someone when a simple static shock will suffice them. Spanking is about deterring bad behavior by inflicting a fear parental disappointment, not pain. Spank your child just hard enough to show their actions were unacceptable, bruising means you went too far.

Okay let’s do a quick test to see if you pass …

Which of the below photos is more likely the result of proper discipline?
 
Baby Jadakiss? or Bloody Timmy?

If you got this one wrong then you are probably destined to raise a child who is completely jacked up.

My man either wasnt beat enough or entirely too much ... please properly DISCIPLINE your kids.

Sources: Google.com

Edited By @Charisma_Monroe

Memorial of Murdered Officers Vandalized

By @JohnnyMagma

Two officers, murdered in the line of duty, have their memorial vandalized...WHAT?!?!?

This story just pissed me off and dropped my faith in people that much more. Of course, I'm sure there could be a ton of factors that the people who did this will use to justify this action, but what kind of world do we live in where a memorial is no longer sacred? It wasn’t even a memorial made by police, but by people of the community. The cowards who did it are probably affiliated with the man who is on trial for both murders and did it out of pure spite, but it is just uncalled for. Whether you are religious or not, allow the dead to rest in peace.

Full Article Available Here: BayNews9

(Edited by Shannon - @sprinkles__)

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Domestic Violence: It’s Not Your Fault...Kinda

By @JohnnyMagma

I get home at midnight to see a report of a “man” who used a machete to hack his girlfriend up in the living room, in front of her children. What in the hell is going on in the world? At first it was just another random act of senseless violence in the news that it would seem everyday people are completely desensitized to, but there was one thing that stood out to me that applies many women I know...

When you are dating a crazy dude and he does something crazy - how are you confused? I'm not saying she deserved this, because no one does, but the children say this isn't the first time he's threatened her/them with a weapon. Ladies, I know that "thug" type dude is probably very appealing, but understand he cannot turn that crap off. If your dude keeps a machete, gun, functional sword, etc. in the crib, then "Love Don't Live Here No Mo'". Get out while you still can without the help of a Forensic Scientist.

Full Article Available Here: BayNews9

(Edited by Shannon - @sprinkles__)

BAD PARENTING

Anyone that knows me knows that I travel... A LOT. While out, I come into contact with lots of different people of all age ranges, races and creeds; I’m sad to say the African- Americans, generally speaking, are some of the worst parents I've seen in this current generation (1980's - 2010).

Now please don't take this as race bashing, or call me a "sellout" for speaking the truth. This is what I see with my own eyes, this is just my experience. I've personally NEVER seen any other race of people curse around/at their young children; I’m sure it happens, but I've never seen it. What the hell is so twisted in your dome that you cursing out a 5-year-old in public because they're doing something annoying? They are TODDLERS! If you're mad at the way they act while you are out and about, maybe you should be angry at yourself for how you've inadvertently taught them to behave. When I see kids getting cursed at I have the urge to call child services and beat the parent with a pillow-case full of hardcover parenting books. I feel sad for the kid and the future failed relationships they will endure because of how you are showing them to deal with issues (with loud, disrespectful, ghetto banter). We HAVE to do better people. If you are of another race please don't think you are exempt for all of the same violations, just because I don't see it personally doesn't mean I'm naive to its existence.

You have to realize that later in life that will hurt them socially, if you find it hard to see the correlation. Think about that horribly angry, violent, ghetto relationship you've seen/had (everyone has) ... that's the EXACT type of person they will become because of you.

P.S. Just because people don't have kids doesn't mean we don't share your frustration, at least you CAN discipline them. I can't pop and counsel every annoying child I come in contact with ... but I can trip them while they're running all over the dame place, accidently of course.

Take the advice and strive for your child to live better than you, don't repeat the cycles that caused some of your downfalls just because you had to live through them. Quit being bitter and be better.

One Yaself, Twice, I'm Gizzone

Written By @JohnnyMagma

Edited By @Charisma_Monroe