Saw this on the way home and Busta Rhymes’ “Call the ambulance” immediately came to mind. In this case looks like this car hit the ambulance. FDNY Ambulances I feel routinely run red lights because they feel entitled to and don’t want to wait at traffic lights like the rest of us.
One can’t see the FDNY Ambulance from this angle as I did but there was only a relatively small scrape along the left quarter panel of the FDNY ambulance compared to the damage on that Toyota compact.
The other night while talking about the World Cup with a friend, the topic of black unity came up. Our conversation began with the retelling of a moment my friend had recently experienced however brief in its length as something that he said still shocked and frustrated him. I asked what he was referring to more specifically.
He said he’d been out somewhere waiting at a street corner attempting to hail a cab. He was dressed casual with jeans, an open button down long sleeve with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a tank top underneath. He had on his black Movado watch he’d gotten as a graduation gift and his new Retro Jordan 13’s.
He heard someone behind him suck their teeth loudly and turned to see who it was. When he turned around he saw a slender brother with a XXL Tshirt and pants sagging down to the backs of his hamstrings showing all his underwear. The brother looked him up and down and shook his head disapprovingly.
I asked if he knew the guy. My friend said he’d never seen him before. He went on to say “That’s why black folks won’t go no where. We hate on each other for no reason. I said the world fears the day that there is black unity. To which my friend replied “It’s not gonna happen, we’ll never see it”. I began to hope he wasn’t right in his assessment. I felt as though he was telling the truth.
We’d never see black unity when we hate on instead of cheering on our black success stories. Hating on the next man for doing well for himself and not becoming a statistic.
We as black people have enough to deal with than to add gasoline to a fire by hating on ourselves. There are many things I’m prideful of in my heritage and culture but there is also a lot of shame and embarrassment for a lot of negative things my heritage and people continue to endure. Grand Puba’s “Change Gonna Come” speaks to this.
A person who is filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, especially for sports. Some sports fans wear team gear and memorabilia, save ticket stubs, and watch sports shows & films. As a fan of sports, a sports fan invests much like one would in say the stock market. The ride and thrill of this investment is risky as it goes up and down with wins and losses.
The investment in sports for the sports fan is an emotional one as well as as a financial investment. However, the emphasis is on the emotional investment as the more important of the two. As in life winning is everything. It means bragging rights it makes one feel great!
A sports fan abhors losing and takes it hard when a team in which they’ve emotionally invested loses. We all know that someone has to win and some one has to lose, that is not the point. When one’s team wins the fan feels like he/she too has won, regardless of whether or not they are actually part of the team or are benefitting financially from being a fan. It’s just a game afterall isn’t it?
Yes it’s just a game, but so is life. We all want to win at life not lose. And so it is with sports when a fan wants his/her team to win and they don’t due to mental mistakes and/or lack of effort taking the loss is that much more painful.
It’s especially hard when it comes to competing for Championships or Titles as representation of being the best at whatever sport is being competed in.
Being a good sport about when one’s team wins or loses is an often overlooked part of participation in watching or engaging in sports.
Sportsmanship
noun\-ˌship\
: fair play, respect for opponents, and polite behavior by someone who is competing in a sport or other competition
Sportsmanship doesn’t merely apply to the actual players in sports but to the fans of sports amongst each other. For example being a gracious winner is equally as important as it is to be a gracious loser.
Poor sportmanship or the lack thereof altogether often leads to arguments, fights, resentment, bad blood, and any other synonymous adjectives between teams, fans, and coaches alike. Rivalries are born through tough competition.
I admit I personally have to work on being better at this from both sides and recognize that in life there are things that are more important than sports.
Not all of the facts are known just yet but everyone seems to be weighing in with their two cents on the release of Bowe Berghdal and whether he’s a traitor or not. I have some questions to ask. What would cause a soldier to desert? If they knew he had left his post in the past, what were the specifics of those incidents? Why was he not returned home or discharged? What was happening there in Afghanistan with American troop presence occupying and fighting “Taliban” and/or insurgents?
Next question I need answers to is the condition of this American soldier since his capture and imprisonment (for let’s all say it together) FIVE (5) years in the custody of the Taliban? With the President announcing that the war would be over and troops pulled out of Afghanistan how would that news impact Berghdal’s well being in the custody of the Taliban?
I’ve heard some statements from service men talking about oaths taken and broken by this man to the military and his military brethren. I’ll lean on the bible with reference to oaths in which it says we are to swear no oath at all. Simply let one’s answer be Yes or No.
Matthew 5:34 – 37 “But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”
I’ll ask if one’s belief is that the cause one thought he/she was fighting for turned out not to be what he/she was led to believe it was about in fact and one had “sworn” an oath does that mean one can’t change their mind and decide to no longer fight for something they no longer believe in?
Perhaps we should all reserve judgment until we know all the facts in this story.
Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: Disney’s Maleficent Film Review 2014
So last weekend it was X MEN Days Of Future Past. This week it’s Disney reimagining of the classic Sleeping Beauty.
The movie stars the exquisite Angelina Jolie as the title character Maleficent the “Evil” fairy in the tale. As a fan of the original animated classic this reimagined version I have to say is my new favorite. Telling the story with a much better end for the villain we grew up knowing was Maleficent.
As the title suggests the classic tale of “Sleeping Beauty” is retold from the perspective of the villain Maleficent. Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of Maleficent is spot on and comical at times while thoroughly captivating and shows her versatility as an actress.
All the other supporting actors and actresses play their roles adequately and the story never seems to bog down or fatigue the viewer. For those who haven’t seen this adaptation brilliantly executed, take the kids and/or a date and rediscover the magic of story telling. And as for the Box Office. Maleficent is a sure fire hit with fans as well hauling in $170 million over its opening weekend.
Go see this one. Till next time this has been THEJNSREPORT’S: Disney’s Maleficent Film Review 2014
FDNY Ambulances I feel routinely run red lights because they feel entitled to and don’t want to wait at traffic lights like the rest of us.
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THEJNSREPORT 