Scotch Files: The Rewind Edition

Three weeks since I last posted? Seems about right. Two weeks of me being in the office by myself. One week on travel for work. Damn, time goes extremely fast. And as you get older, it might not be due to having fun as the old adage states.

Anyway, I have a few things I wanted to touch that have probably been beaten to the ground by now. Who cares! As Common states on the last track on "BE," This is my world...


People like Omarion and Ashley Simpson better heed the warning...

Perhaps this is taking your presidency too serious. Maybe it is what we all need for our own auditory safety, but the President of Turkmenistan has apparanetly banned lip synching.

I really don't have much to say here, but maybe he is on to something. How many times have you been watching a big game or an awards show and wondered why the "artist" wasn't actually singing? Provided that many of the acts out today are terrible, we should be taking the baton that this small country has lit and be running straight to Pretty Ricky's house. Get it? We would all win! No lip synching means a decrease in these talentless idiots wasting space on the Billboard charts and retail shelves.

While I agree with the lip synching ban, I do think the gold teeth thing is way over the line. Please do not block my right to bling from the within! Paul Wall says it best, "The chandelier in my mouth insinuates I'm balling!"


Refugee. Everyone thought it was cool in '96

So folks were go crazy a few weeks ago about victims of Katrina being called "refugees." No one seemed to mind when Lauryn, Wyclef and that other dude (NOTE: I know his name, but it is not worth mentioning) were rocking "Ooh La La La" and "Killing Me Softly."

Seriously though, I didn't get the big deal. I think people were going too literal on the meaning. On an empirical level isn't "refugee" just a person that has to seek refuge from there home? Sometimes I wonder if people in general are becoming TOO sensitive. Sometimes I wonder if black people cry wolf before even seeing a wolf. Apparently, I was not alone in my thinking. In an article posted on Eurweb, I think the author breaks this subject down really well.

I think the author sums it up best by saying, "the refugee outrage among our folk seems less about the definition of the word itself, and more about the word coming from the mouths and pages of white media organizations."

There are also other points in the article I think are quite valid, but I will leave it up to you to read and take from it what you want because this is an ancient topic to many.


Bush & Jakes the new Batman & Robin?

A few weeks ago, I saw George Bush talking about the victims of Katrina and I noticed that T.D. Jakes was standing next to him. I wish I could take a picture of my face when I saw it. It wasn't really a shock because I knew Jakes was a Bush supporter. I guess what bothered me was that he is STILL a Bush supporter.

I wonder if Jakes called Bush after Kanye dropped his now infamous statement on Bush. I suspect he and Clarence Thomas rushed to the phone to assure Bush that they did not share the West sentiment. I know a lot of people respect Jakes to the utmost and hold him in high praise, but there is something about the dude that makes me skeptical.

I understand that he is shares the same position with Bush on "Faith Based Iniatives," but seriously. *Insert doubt face here* Is that really enough to align yourself with Bush? What exactly are "faith based iniatives and why are they deemed so great? Let's put things into perspective. Just because you state GOD as your reasoning for doing something, it does not mean it is a good thing.

If a crackhead tells you that he/she gets high because GOD wants them too, how would you react? Don't like the analogy, how's this one? As Bill Mahr put it so eloquently, "FLYING PLANES INTO BUILDINGS WAS A FAITH BASED INIATIVE!" Again, just cause you put a little GOD on it doesn't mean it is a good thing.

So anyway, back to Jakes. He is considered by many to be a community leader. His books, plays, CDs and sermons have touched millions of people. He weilds a lot of power, especially in churches where pastor's word is held in the highest regard like it is straight from the Bible. This is not to say that he is a complete false prophet and I am not placing him in Mase category, but something is not right about his beliefs. I am continually perplexed at how any black person can align themselves with Bush. And that is not to say that the democrats are the holy grail. I am getting into a whole nother rant, so I will stop here.