When Black Friday Comes…

Got this e-mail this week:

This is of utmost important to our communities.

Friday after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year, It is the day that most retailers make enough money put them in the Black for the whole year. We as Black People are consistently getting the bad end of the stick. Our children are being terrorized each and everyday by the police across the country. Nooses are being hung around everywhere. We are being disrespected in all places. Our men and children are being killed by police, stopped and searched, new prisons are being built for our children, there is big business in investing in private prisons and they must keep them filled up. We are terrorized on our jobs with constant threats of being written up and fired, losing our livelihood, our homes and just feeding and taking care of our children. We are treated in a dehumanizing manor on these jobs. So many of our people who have worked for the city for decades are being pushed out with trumped up charges, criminalized, degraded, insulted and threaten and some are even losing their pensions.

Brothers and Sisters we must act! It will visits your door, it is coming! We must stand together to say NO JUSTICE! NO PROFIT! This has got to be the new battle cry of our people. Our elders stood together during the Montgomery bus boycott in order to get some form of justice for our people. We must do it again!

If we stand together and sacrifice one day Friday November 23, 2007 and DO NOT SHOP! DON”T BUY ANYTHING ON THAT DAY! We will send out a message. Things will have to change. Let this country feel what it feels like to not have our dollars. If you buy something, buy from your own people. Please pass this message to everyone on you e-mail list. No Justice! No Profit! If you do not know what I am talking about remember:
Noose Epidemic
Racist Mob Attacks
14 yr old stripped and left in swamp by police
5 yr old hand cuffed
Va. woman kidnapped, stabbed, raped, made to eat vomit, blood, feces
35 students arrested for attending funeral of classmate, who had parents permission
6 month pregnant Principal stopped by police and made to lie face down on ground in front of her small children
Jena 6
Police Terrorism
Michael & Evelyn Warren attorneys assaulted by terrorist cops
Sonny Carson Avenue
Viola Plummer
Sean Bell
Katrina
Health Care Crisis
Land Grab of the Black Community
The list goes on and on and on

TAKE THE BLACK OUT OF BLACK FRIDAY
NO SHOPPING THE FRIDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING – NOV 23
ECONOMIC SANCTIONS ARE THE ANSWER TO RACISM!

My reaction: Eh. I don’t know how this particular boycott – and I’m in favor of strategic boycotts – has any effect on the issues mentioned.

Last year, I got e-mails that led me to Buy Nothing Day, A 24 hour moratorium on consumer spending – participate by not participating.

Here’s the real deal: I’m not buying anything today, not because of some political agenda – I happen to think, if anything, that people should be out supporting SMALL businesses today, and every day. I’m not shopping today because I HATE shopping today.

One year this century, I got talked into doing the 5 a.m. thing. At the end of the three hours, I was exhausted, not from getting up early, but from that crush of humanity. In fact, the only time I ever enjoyed shopping on Black Friday, it was at a department store in a little town called Delhi, NY, probably the size of two Wal-Mart departments; it was warm and friendly and not crowded at all.

Oh, I heard on NPR this morning two things. One was that the shopping season will be “soft:”, so that time for other bargains will likely pop up. The second is that one should avoid SUI, shopping under the influence; otherwise, you might bring home that dancing Santa you REALLY don’t need.
***
The lyrics to some Steely Dan song.

ROG

Food Quiz

I like Thanksgiving; it’s ecumenical. I don’t have to worry about it as I do next month, where hopes for either “Merry Christmas: or “Happy Holidays” is likely to tick off SOMEONE.

I was going to give a litany of everyone (friends, family, people of courage) and everything (music, writing, learning new stuff), but instead I swiped this quiz from Jaquandor. He did it on Canadian Thanksgiving, Buffalo being pritnear Canada. So I thought I’d post it on the U.S. variety. It’s about food!

1. How do you like your eggs? I like eggs almost any way possible: poached, fried, boiled, scrambled. In scrambled eggs, I tend to put pepper, Worcestershire sauce and a little mustard, plus whatever leftover meat and/or vegetables are in the fridge.

2. How do you take your coffee/tea? Coffee – not at all. Tea – varies with my mood. Sometimes with nothing, most often with lemon, or lemon and honey, or milk and sugar. Rarely lemon and sugar.

3. Favorite breakfast food? Favorite would be pancakes with fresh fruit, real maple syrup, with sausage. Unfortunately, it’s usually Cheerios and/or Shredded Wheat. Or oatmeal, which I do like quite a bit.

4. Peanut butter – actually hate the taste of peanut butter; the smell sometimes makes me nauseous. Since I ate it in great quantities until I was five or six, I theorize that I must have gotten sick from eating too much of it, though I have no specific recollection. Since my daughter is allergic to peanuts, we don’t have it around anyway.

5. What kind of dressing on your salad? Usually Russian, though when I’m out, it’s often ranch for some reason.

6. Coke or Pepsi? Usually Pepsi, but I like Coke too.

7. You’re feeling lazy, what do you make? Chopped apple and cottage cheese, with a touch of mayo.

8. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order? Mushroom and sausage, or mushroom and onion, or onion and sausage, or plain.

9. You feel like cooking. What do you make? Lasagna.

10. Do any foods bring back good memories? Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup. Macaroni and cheese. Meatloaf. Mashed potatoes with gravy.

11. Do any foods bring back bad memories? Spaghetti-Os. Campbell’s Tomato soup. Waxed beans (canned). Beets (canned). Almost any vegetable (canned). Instant potatoes. Bologna sandwiches on white bread with Miracle Whip.

12. Do any foods remind you of someone? Anything with tomato sauce reminds me of my father; he’d cook the sauce for hours. Waffles – also my father, who had a ritual discussion of how he could tell the doneness.

13. Is there a food you refuse to eat? Sauerkraut – hate it. Most melons.

14. What was your favorite food as a child? Spinach. Seriously, Popeye had brainwashed me. Also corn on the cob, still a favorite.

15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like? Broccoli, tomatoes, many vegetables (fresh or frozen).

16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate? Not hate, per se, but off-brand ice cream is generally not worth the calories.

17. Favorite fruit and vegetable: Pineapple, spinach.

18. Favorite junk food: ice cream.

19. Favorite between meal snack: Yogurt, with banana cut into it. Or the aforementioned apple and cottage cheese.

20. Do you have any weird food habits? I’ve been known to eat cottage cheese with almost anything, e.g., apple sauce.

21. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on? Water, actually.

22. You’re off your diet. Now what would you like? The same.

23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai? On a scale of 1-10, about 7.

24. Can I get you a drink? Sure, anything with vodka, rum, whiskey, tequila (but not gin or Scotch).

25. Red wine or white? White. Red gives me a serious headache.

26. Favorite dessert? Ice cream. Or cake. Or both.

27. The perfect nightcap? Tea with honey.
ROG

Comments

I’ve been blogging 2.5 years and yet I haven’t had a formal comments policy. Noticing that Jaquandor (yes, him again) wrote one up some time ago, I thought it’d be a good idea to do likewise.

1. I encourage comments about the topic at hand. In fact, I would enjoy receiving more. Indeed, I’ve left it so you don’t have to do word verification when commenting. You don’t have to even have a Blogger account, since you can just click on the anonymous button. (And if you DO want to identify yourself, just sign it.)

2. As we all are, I’m imperfect. If I’ve made an error of fact, or have a link that doesn’t work, please let mer know ASAP, in the comments section or via e-mail, posted in the sidebar.

3. I expect that, from time to time, readers will have a strong negative reaction to something I’ve written in this blog. I’m good with that. Leave a comment to that effect.

4. But there’s a certain level of social decorum that I expect. I would refer to it as as “common sense” except that it isn’t as common as I would have thought.

a. No flamewars. If you start attacking others, or me, in a way that I feel is inappropriate, I will delete the post. Except for spam, and one incredibly racist comment, I’ve never done it before. I don’t like doing so. But I will.

b. If you want to attack me and tell me that I’m stupid and only an idiot would believe that GWB should be impeached, fine, but such comments will require a name and an e-mail address. Anonymous attack comments will be deleted as soon as I learn of their existence.

c. Every comment left here is also forwarded to my Gmail address, so don’t think that leaving a nasty comment on a post that’s buried deep in my archives will escape my notice. Since many people seem to come to this blog via search engines, that happens quite often.

d. Any other comments that I deem inappropriate – and I have VERY liberal standards – will be deleted. Also spam, unless it’s REALLY entertaining.

“Hey, Roger, don’t you believe in the First Amendment?” Indeed, I do. I support your right to start your own blog and have your own rules.

e. Please limit comments to the topic of the post at hand. If there’s something else you really want to call to my attention, e-mail me. I check it often.

ROG

Bike Stuff

I’m still riding my bike. My rules are that there must be a wind chill of 20 degrees F or more, that it be dry, and if it has snowed, that the road be thoroughly plowed. Actually, I like when it snows six inches or more on Albany, because alternate side parking goes into effect, and the city actually plows the roads to the curb, more or less. Whereas a three-inch snow can turn to snow and slush on the right side of the road, where I try to ride.

When I wrote my last bike post, I neglected one important thing one should do: have a bell. I think I forgot it because I no longer have one; it seems to have “walked”. In lieu of a bell, I find that it is important to be able to yell with some volume and intensity. What you yell is important. I used to yell, “hey!”, but I don’t think the long A carries as well as I would like. So I’ve opted for “yo!”, a term I use almost at no other time, but seems to have the effect of stopping moving cars, even with their windows up. Probably better than my bell, I think. This might get drivers’ attention as well.
ROG

Lloyd Price Ain’t got Nothin’ On Me

Your Brain is Yellow

Of all the brain types, yours is the most intellectual.
You crave mental stimulation, and your thoughts tend to very complex.
Your thoughts tend to be innovative and cutting edge, though many people don’t understand them.

You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about science, architecture, and communication.

You Are Rain

You can be warm and sexy. Or cold and unwelcoming.
Either way, you slowly bring out the beauty around you.

You are best known for: your touch

Your dominant state: changing

You Have A Type B+ Personality

You’re a pro at going with the flow
You love to kick back and take in everything life has to offer
A total joy to be around, people crave your stability.

While you’re totally laid back, you can have bouts of hyperactivity.
Get into a project you love, and you won’t stop until it’s done
You’re passionate – just selective about your passions

10 Worst Pennant Race Collapses: The Mets weren’t #1

Hyphenated Words: A Guide

You’ve probably heard that, starting a week from today, the writers and management are going to start talking about ending the writers’ strike. Here’s hoping for a quick resolution. Meanwhile, check United Hollywood for some entertaining and sometimes thought-proviking videos and discussions.
ROG

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