A Couple Things VI

--- Don’t you hate when someone is standing over your shoulder as you attempt to show them how to log into a program, site, etc; and when you go to type your username, you actually end up typing your password? So then the person standing behind you – usually a boss or some person of the opposite sex you’re attracted to – sees how imbecilic you are as you type some stupid password, like ‘shagnoworshaglater’, into the username space for everyone to see. Then you have to backspace about 50 times and make up some bird-brained excuse.

That happened today. But you know ya boy Twist is sharp as a tac, always thinking on his feet. That being the case I hit em with this geniusness, “What am I doing? That’s my Atlantic Monthly username. Oops!” Actually, that was quite absurd.

--- more Katrina redux: Saw a clip of a New Orleans man that was adamantly against leaving his home, which was still in immaculate shape considering. He was a white man, a lawyer and drove a shiny benz that sat in his driveway. He seemed thirsty though, as evidenced by the pasty saliva that caked in the corners of his mouth as he spewed a diatribe against the National Guard, strapped with automatic rifles, rolling through his affluent hood.

Made me think of two things. 1) The only neighborhoods that weren’t flooded were neighborhoods that housed people of means. Am I right about that? I haven’t done the knowledge to just say that outright, but I can say with relative certainty that the neighborhoods most ravaged by flooding were the poorer neighborhoods. That makes a dude like me wonder if the areas most susceptible to flooding were the areas that poor residents were ushered to when finding housing in New Orleans. I don’t know if I worded that clearly, and as a rule I don’t edit my posts, so I hope that came across right.

I guess my point is, the city – from way back in the day until now – probably purposely made sure that the most vulnerable areas of the city were inhabited by thro-away human beings. Just something to think about.

2.) I remember an interview I saw with Mos Def where he called police, in black neighbors, ‘mobilized militias’. That was such an ill analogy to me, because often times, police are nowhere to be found when theyre needed, but come through bustin heads and intimidating and encroaching upon civil liberties when their presence is unwanted or, at least unwarranted.

The CNN man with the layer-cake in the corners of his mouth was OUTRAGED. “How dare they come through my neighborhood with weapons out, ordering me around,” he thought. But that ish happens on the daily in poor hoods. That medicine he’s tasting is disgusting, huh? But in both cases – crime-ridden hoods and this current Katrina-ravaged N.O. – police need to come thru in that manner, SOMEWHAT. Law and order is a tough thing to maintain. But so many times, law enforcement goes about their maintenance responsibility in offensive ways. I think Layer Cake has a great point. His home is fine, the area he’s residing is bone dry, so why are you shouting at me in war-gear, with weapons ready to be cocked? Newspapers across America have been reporting on this new dilemma for the Nat. Guard and local law enforcement. It’ll be interesting to see how things go down.