Planned Parenthood: Who's helping Who?

Planned Parenthood. If you never heard of them before they became a hot topic in the news, or never had to use their services; pay special attention to the information I'm putting you onto.

Margaret Sanger, (with funding from groups of people we consider to be the "elite") created Planned Parenthood through the American Birth Control League in New York City. In some circles, she's considered a godsend, providing services for females (mainly minorities) that could not afford or were denied the city's services. In other circles, it has been shown that Sanger had ulterior motives for her strong dedication for the nation's minorities.

The Maafa21 video opened my eyes to the hidden agenda of Planned Parenthood much before this issue hit the "mainstream media." it's quite a divisive topic.

I believe it's each person's choice to abort; but at the same time they must understand the moral, spiritual, and societal consequences of their actions. Each one of our actions is a rock thrown into the pond of our collective existence, and at some point the ripples created will extend out and touch all of us.

There are plenty of other options out there.. Adoption, accepting the choice made and raising the child as best as possible, or just old-fashioned abstaining.

But the fact that so many minorities support Planned Parenthood blindly thinking that P.P. is doing *them* a favor, by providing these abortion services; is what hurts me the most. You are in fact providing the Sanger-ist Elite Eugenics group the favor of reducing our numbers through abortions, which is exactly what they want.

60% of African-American babies are aborted, according to statistics. Doesn't that alarm anyone? It screams foul play to me.

I was in DC on Wednesday, and saw this African-American man trying to get me to support Planned Parenthood funding. I couldn't stop to really tell him what he was supporting, because of unfortunate time constraints, but I wanted to with every fiber in my being. *We* are the so-called "feeble-minded" people they want to get rid of.

Please educate yourself before you support or denounce ANYTHING. This goes for EVERYTHING.

More Links to information:

Planned Parenthood's Racism
LifeAlways' Statement on "Dangerous Place" Billboard

An Open Letter to Employers

While I understand the basic premise or 'good intentions' behind the credit check for employment, which by way of theory would indicate trustworthiness, stability, and good work ethic in a potential candidate; I would like to make you aware that it seems to create a catch-22-type situation.

Most people in this economy have found themselves having to take on new financial responsibility, such as taking on the living expenses of close relatives, making a longer commute to work, higher costs of living, etc. Within that percentage of the general population, there are a number of people who are unable to take on these economic burdens and then consequently fall into what we in the financial industry call "charge-off" or "delinquent" statuses.

As you probably know; or should know, at least, Not everyone who is behind or delinquent on payments is a delinquent, but it would seem to be the default assumption when a company won't give someone employment due to a pre-employment credit check.

Never mind that they have been employed previously for years with another company, have had a strong working background, shown dedication and trustworthiness on the job, and have not ever taken (or stolen, by corporate standards) anything from the firm. They have posted for a position with your firm, knowing that they are leaving their previous company in good standing.

All of the previously mentioned attributes of what one would think is an outstanding employee/candidate are seemingly disregarded when there are blotches on the candidate's credit report. It's worrying that we would hit the eject button as soon as an automated system throws up a red flag on a report, without any consideration behind what the circumstances could have been.

But back to the argument about this situation being a catch-22. A person has debt. This person needs to pay that debt, and we know money pays debt. So naturally, the person has to earn money at a job to pay the debt. So this person applies for a job at XYZ Corporation, with the intent to earn money to pay on what is owed. But now, we have XYZ Corp saying that this person can't work for them because of what has been showed to them on a credit report.

Do you understand the point I am making?

In this cycle, at worst, the person would have to resort to minimum (non-living) wages, and continue carrying the burden of debt/delinquency. There is honestly no bettering the person's situation, if a company cannot look at the candidate as a whole; judging the potential by previous experience, their standing in previous employment, and so forth.

There is a huge number of GOOD people that have been unfortunately written off by these companies for employment due to a credit standing; but had there also been a 'careful review' of their background, experience, responsibilities and trustworthiness that was earned in their previous positions, maybe they would have been seen differently. I am pretty convinced that they would have been efficient, hard-working, and trustworthy employees, had they gotten the chance to prove themselves.

Sincerely,

The Son of Quetzal

BioGreens: Two weeks later..

2 weeks into it, and i feel GREAT. I feel revitalized, I'm not as moody, my mind feels uninhibited.. It really is awesome. Getting rid of toxins never felt so good. Go get it!! Remember, it's at the vitamin shoppe, about $26 a jar. It's worth it!

Detox: BioGreens

So today i finally went out on the search for spirulina and chlorella, two of nature's most detoxifying superfoods.

After talking to the guy there, he recommended not only taking those two, but taking a supplement that included those, plus many more vitamins and extracts.

I was sold. and $30 later, you have BioGreens by the Vitamin Shoppe. It has not only Spirulina and Chlorella, but Gingko biloba, aloe vera, vitamins a,b, & c, plus so many other extracts. i'll let you know how i feel at the end of the week.

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Droid X : A real-life, hands-on, unbiased, uncommissioned, and no bullsh*t REVIEW.

Dear Ladies, Gentlemen, and Androids;

Greetings. I am one of the first Droid X owners. I didn't stand in line at 7am for mine, however, I was one of the ones that were planted in front of the computer at 11:59pm Wednesday evening, hitting the refresh button on the Verizon Wireless webpage. My quest for the 4.3" screen, 1Ghz, 8MP, 720p monster had begun.

You have to applaud VZW for having a near-flawless website that handled the orders at launch, unlike the *ahem* "fruit" company, Lol. But I digress.

12:01am. Go Time. The DROID X was here. My heart was racing, I clicked the "Buy Now" on the launch page of the spec page, as I watched the status bar fill for the next page where I would begin the process.. I chose the plan, I chose the options.. Be still, beating heart! My nervous hands shook as I typed my credit card information, and hit 'Submit Order'.. Then, nothing.

I began to freak out. No email confirmation. No order status. Nothing in the cart. But then, like manna from the heavens, the "Live Chat" window popped up, and I clicked "Yes" to speak to a rep.

She was super nice, and was eager to listen to my problem. I told her that I had gotten all the way to the end, and no confirmation. She said no problem, (and here's where it gets REALLY good), asked me to resubmit, and said that she would give me $30 off for my troubles. You can bet your ass I was excited.

VZW definitely gets kudos, I wasn't expecting that at all, especially not for a phone that hadn't even been on the market for more that 5 minutes. She stayed on until I had confirmation, and made sure I was a happy camper.

I ended up getting the phone for $169.99, along with a car dock and car charger for $44.99. It came with Free Shipping & Free Activation too. My total with NC tax was $231.62. Not shabby at all.

Anyway, on to the review!

THE START-UP.

This is one powerful phone. From the minute it booted up, I knew it would be. It took a little bit to load, but this is expected from any smartphone with any decent amount of features/programming on it. Once loaded, I hit the unlock button. The unlock button seemed to be laggy at first, but then was smoother once the phone was on for a while. The non-BLUR MOTOBLUR loaded all on the screen, and it was actually laid out nicely. However, if you don't use a lot of social networking (who doesn't these days though? Noobs. Jk. lol) you might find it to be a bit overwhelming. But never fear. It's easy to remove and size it up to fit you.

THE SET-UP.

With any Android phone, there's going to be a learning curve. A big one. But honestly, when you think of what you get, and what you can do, you'll learn quickly. Prime Example: My parents. They are both 50, and have Droid phones. They learned, and navigate their phone with ease, and are even downloading and using apps like Skype Mobile, TiKL (push-to-talk) and the like. With the Droid X, you have way more versatility. You can actually resize the Motorola widgets, move around ALL the widgets and fit them like i did here..

Ok enough of the intro, Let's get to the meat and potatoes. The real-world review. You guys can read all about what the phone can do on sites like www.droid-life.com, www.phonescoop.com and www.engadget.com. This is about how it REALLY performs out here in the concrete jungle.

THE REAL WORLD REVIEW.

Before I start, I have to say that my review of this phone is based on me PUNISHING it for this past week. You can ask anyone who knows me, and they will tell you, I push my phones hard. Every feature a phone might have, I'm messing with and testing 'til it doesn't perform. I've had it for a week, and I can say this phone is very capable. Like any 1st generation phone, it's got kinks, but VERY few and far between.

-LET'S GET THIS APP PARTY STARTED.

I went on an app market rampage to see how well the phone handled the app drawer loading and if it slowed the phone's performance at all. I ended up installing about 30+ apps, not including the "bloatware" that comes on the phone standard. The first 10 times I opened and closed the app drawer to see how it would react to that many apps being installed at once, and it did exactly what i thought it would. It freaked out.

The opening was laggy, and some apps were even out of order! But never fear, the phone also did what I hoped it would do. It would adapt, adjust and make it happen. Now, when I open the app drawer, it is definitely all in order, and doesn't lag. Much. It still does, but definitely not like it did. It's tolerable. It performs very well, but has a bit much lag for me to give it an A or better. I'm sure the 2.2 OS update will address this properly. I have no doubts about that. Overall, the app drawer and performance get a final score of B+.

-JUICE ME.

Hmm, what's this? Battery Management? Hmmm... *clicks* ... The phone has a Battery Management mode that you can find in the settings, Performance Mode, Smart Mode, and Battery Saver Mode. This is good for people that may require less processing power and more battery life. Or inversely, for those like me, that always want the fastest speeds and efficiency possible and that have little regard for battery life. Although you have a menu that says "Battery Profile Options", you can only tweak the Smart mode. The settings you want to look out for is the "Data Timeout" and "Off-Peak hours". These, when not set accordingly to how YOU use your phone, could cause you to have a problem like no Data (1X/3G) possibly when you use it the most. It happened to me. I didn't get my twitter feeds after 11pm, which for me, is my primetime! I didn't understand why I wouldn't get my tweets and mentions until morning, until I really started playing around with the settings. I run mine on performance mode ALL THE TIME, unless I have a situation where I won't be near a charger for a good while. I also noticed that it performs significantly better with the Battery setting at "Performance Mode" as opposed to "Smart" or "Battery Saver", for reasons which should be obvious.

-PICTURE ME ROLLIN'...

Now, on to the picture and video taking. The 8MP camera with mechanical shutter and 720p film

recording is as good as they say it is. One of the first things I did (after calling out and sending a few "sucks to be you, I have the Droid X" texts and tweets, naturally. lol) was to snap some pics. The first few I shot were of people, and for reasons of anonymity, we'll leave those out. However, here's a pretty snazzy shot of my friend's car, and my retro project car in the background. This pic was snapped at 6MP, but only because I wanted it to be a widescreen shot. The 8MP is AMAZING too. Hitting the cam button, load up times were GREATLY improved from the Stock MotoDroid's times. Night shots and quick snaps still need improvement, but still come out pretty decent for a camera that happens to be on a phone. But even still, I don't necessarily feel like I need to carry a Point-and-Shoot now. The camera gets a Final Score of A-, along with a Most Improved award for Motorola. Lol.

-TEXT AWAY!

The SMS/MMS interface on this phone is highly improved, now with a more conversational "speech bubble" format. I feel like I don't have a need for an extra SMS app like Handcent, now that it's been redesigned for this phone. The only thing I think I would like would be the ability to change the LED colors (without downloading an app for it lol) within the phone, because I tend to get all excited about a potential lover texting me when that green LED blinks, but then I am deeply saddened when it turns out to be an email from the pizza place telling me about their new specials. :( lol.. Honestly I have no gripes about the SMS/MMS on this phone. It's damn-near perfect to me. It's fast, simple, and clean. The Text interface gets a Final Score of A+.

-STROKE IT, BABY.

First off, get your mind out of the gutter. I was talking about the keyboard. You know that the new keyboard that is stock on the X is, indeed, multi-touch. It's nice. Ok, moving on to the real star of the show.. Swype. Swype, honestly, is great. It makes for spelling things quick and easy. It isn't perfect, it lags behind sometimes when you're "swyping" really fast, but it eventually catches up and spells what you want it to. The other thing you should know is that it's not multi-touch like the stock Droid X keyboard, so if you use both thumbs to either type or swype on this keyboard, you might not spell the right thing, or anything at all. Just a friendly warning. Final Score: A-.

-BUT.. IT'S SO BIG!

And surprisingly enough, that *is* what she (and he) said. That's probably what most of you are thinking when you see it too. That's a topic for a more personal blog, unless we're talking about the *phone's* size. And we are. The phone is no tiny tot, I guarantee you that, but in actuality, it's narrower than the EVO 4G, one of which is owned by a good friend of mine, who happens to be a girl, she doesn't mind the so-called "bulk" of it. These phones are wide and tall, but you really don't know what you're talking about until you actually get your hands on one. I had my worries that it would look like I was happy to see someone when I'd put the phone in my pocket, or that it would be uncomfortable. It's neither. And the handheld comfort is definitely there. The phone practically lives in my hand, and no, I don't have carpal tunnel from it. It really is comfortable. Seriously. Go to a VZW store and try it for yourself.

-..AND I DROPPED IT.

Not intentionally, did I manage to drop my precious X, mind you. I had gone all week, putting it through hell, draining the battery, powering it on and off, using every last Microhertz of power it had, but keeping it pristine.. until today. My niece simply smacked it out of my hand (she's only 8 months, and I love her, so she's still OK if you were wondering. If she were my age, and a guy, it would be UFC up in here. lol) and down it went, onto the asphalt parking lot we were on. But surprisingly enough, the phone held together, the battery cover popped off and it only got a couple scratches on one corner of it. Impressive. I was expecting the worse, something along the lines of when my iPhone suffered its glass-shattering demise (albeit, quite timely and fortunate, because that event was the final straw of my unsatisfactory iPhone/AT&T experience, and it lead me to choose Android as my OS), but nope. The screen was fine. Survival skills Final Score: A+. Anything that survives my baby niece gets an A+. She's rougher on electronics than I am.

-IT WAS FINE, UNTIL...

A problem I had was the signal/3G dropping off of the phone, and it not being able to make calls. The .604 (the latest) software update and a battery pull solved this problem quickly. I had a couple instances where the phone didn't want to come back from its sleep state, so again, a battery pull solved that. It is annoying to have to reboot and all that, but there's no such thing as a perfect phone.

And last but not least.. *drum roll*

-THE FINAL VERDICT

Honestly, the phone so far has proven to be really good. Really great. Motorola has really done it this time, even with the improvements it needs. Unfortunately for people who like to root, the DROID X is locked down by the E-Fuse (Google it for info), at least for now. That's definitely one of the major detractors within the Android community about this phone. But other than that, it's a fast phone with tons of flexibility and features, a great camera, and even the size is manageable. The screen looks great, the apps work wonderfully. All in all, I recommend the Droid X to anyone who wants it or is considering it, *even* with the known bugs and glitches it has got. This is only a week of usage, but I can see that for me and my X, it's the start of a beautiful relationship. No relationship is perfect, and honestly, there's no such thing as a perfect phone either.

if..

if i told you i was in love with you,
would you give me a chance,
or chase after those fleeting fancies you call your type?
if i told you, you were my sunrise and sunset,
would you dismiss it as childs play as you have yet?
if i told you what you were worth in dollars and gold,
maybe you would listen as my words seem to get old,
when all you can think of is the temporary and vain.
if you knew how much you meant to me,
you wouldnt cause me to feel this solitary pain..
i guess you would understand that my plans and actions seem to revolve around you like the planets dance in harmony
along the moon..
but only if.
if you knew.

Evolution

I've learned to keep a distance, from things that bring negativity in my life and that don't let me progress.

I'm a constantly evolving person; Emotionally, Spiritually, and Mentally.

I once felt that people could open their eyes if you stayed around long enough to watch them grow. I once felt that things would get better if we played nice and stayed friends.

People change. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. You won't always be worth the same to the same person. But the naive self has left and now i'm ready.

This journey is far from over, I'm open to whatever Jah has for my life. He gave me a second chance, I'm not willing to mess this one up, and unfortunately some of you didn't make the cut this time.

-Peace

What are you looking for?

I've been single now for almost 2 and a half years, and it's been a weird period in my life. I feel like a half of me is missing, and I miss the company.. the connection.. the affection.. someone constant in my life. I will say while single, i've been able to take a good hard look at myself, my priorities, and my goals/dreams, and really find out what i'm about (i suggest you all do the same). So it's not all bad.

I tried to give a couple of girls (read: "girls" not women) a chance, but they were stuck in "neutral" about diff things. Stuff like the old "my ex is an asshole but i still care", the effed up priorities, and so on. One girl I almost opened my heart to, and ended up just discarding it due to the former. It was the first time since the last woman I loved that i had even tried to care about someone on that level.

I even caught feelings for someone that initially I had pegged as unlikely. Just kinda happened. Turns out she's an awesome person, and she'd be really cool to be with, but she's really not payin me attention/taking me seriously. (On some friend zone/ "gayfriend" shit lol)

I hear women say there's no good men, and that the ones that are, are either gay or taken.. aren't looking in the right places. As cliche as this may sound, most times we're right under your nose. If some women would get past their unrealistic (superficial/fleeting) images of what they consider a "good man", and realize that "10s" in looks don't always add up to 10s in the mind, spirit and heart.

You can't help who you're attracted to, but when you're focusing on attraction more than the other parts of a person's worth, something's wrong. If you're still stuck on someone/something that's hindering you from having a HEALTHY relationship with someone else, you really need to reassess what you're doing with yourself.

No matter who you are, there is someone awesome willing to love you and really care for you the way you know deep inside you need to be loved.

I'm just sayin.

Goodnight.

-Steelo

Social Networking Sites and My balls.

Funny title, huh? I knew it'd get your attention. Don't leave just yet, lemme explain!

Basically I came to the realization that I am now on almost every major networking site there is to be logged on to. I'm on Myspace (even though i don't really use it AS much), Facebook, Blogger (of course, my fave, but shhh.. don't tell the other sites, lol), and more recently, Twitter.

So I have accepted the fact that social networking sites have me by the balls. You may say "no, that's silly! You can always shut down your account, and presto, no more ball-having!" It's not that easy. I have a justification for every site i'm on:

Facebook: I use it for networking, to promote parties I throw sometimes, to meet new people that i probably will never meet in my life, like/comment on statuses, pictures, and other random crap, add apps that don't make sense, but are good short-term entertainment, catch up with old friends, and to find even older friends that I shared a nap mat in Kindergarten with. Although they probably don't remember sharing the mat.

Myspace: I use it to keep up with friends who aren't on facebook, that I couldn't catch up with any other way, because phone numbers are way too many digits to punch in.

Blogger: Somewhere to express my thoughts, ideas, and feelings, and to put the false thought in my head that someone cares and is reading this.

Twitter: To an extent, I like to sometimes give people a brief glimpse of what i'm up to. And, Bethany pretty much made me do it. A girl with a set of pretty eyes and a mesmerizing smile will make you do almost anything if she asks nicely.

So, in conclusion, I have my 'reasons' as to why I have so many accounts. I can't say i'm really hating the fact that I am an account holder to multiple social sites, because even though they have me by the balls, they haven't squeezed too hard.

Yet.

It's in my Louie Bag..

So last saturday, at J|A|B|S Ultra Bar, where I worked for a night of bartending (I'm an independent contractor..lol), BloodRaw performed for the packed house of North Carolinians and Virginians. He's not bad, I thought his music was pretty decent for being the Southern equivalent of "Gangsta Rap".

It was a fun show, he kept the crowd involved, and actually performed, unlike some of the more well-known names in Hip-Hop.. I'm not saying any names, but *cough*jimjones*cough*..lol..

He got his break performing under Jeezy with his group, USDA, of 'Corporate Thuggin'' fame. His myspace notes his rough upbringing, and having to do what most people would consider immoral and despicable. According to his biography, he had to do what he had to do, not to live lavishly, but merely to survive.

Originally from Panama City, FL, he's taken on the pseudonym "Mr. Florida", along with his "BloodRaw" moniker.

www.myspace.com/bloodraw

Lil' Wayne..

..is on pretty much every remix known to the hip-hop community these days.

His popularity has risen to new heights, as it seems..

Is he the illest rapper alive?

Is he as great as he has explicitly deemed himself?

Speak now or forever hold your peace (or until the next blog?)..

Let me know what you guys think.

TI-ËS-TO! TI-ËS-TO! TI-ËS-TO!

..that was the ever-present chant at last night's event.

Tiësto held down one leg of the Armani Exchange In Search of Sunrise Summer Tour 2008 at The Forum in Charlotte, NC's Uptown. I will tell you that the show was amazing, because it was the legendary Dutch DJ himself spinning his always-melodic tracks, the atmosphere was all love, and the people were beautiful.

As I moved through the sardine-style crowd at the venue, I could feel every beat pulsing through me as if the notes and rhythms were within me (or was that me bumping into people? lol) and every time the bass hit, I fell in love again and again.

Some people will argue that the In Search of Sunrise 7: Asia CD is not on par with his previous ISOS records, but from my personal listening, I can tell you it is an amazing record, and he's done it again. His ISOS records always mentally put me in the place that's noted after the ISOS branding. In this one, he takes you to a beautiful, serene beach in Thailand, for example,
and takes you away from the ugly tensions, poverty, borderline totalitarian governments and stereotypical downfalls that usually give the Asian continent a bad name. (To listen, click here)

I love Charlotte, I love Tiësto (no homo), and I love Trance. Last night, all three were in place, and I was happy.

Oh, NO SHEEEE DIT'NT!!

Is Hillary freaking serious?

I just went on to read the news this morning, and read about how Hillary seems to be boo-hooing about her Presidential campaign debt. She apparently is asking her supporters to help pay back her outstanding loans that she took out when she was trying to get the democratic nomination.. read this.

She's still got millions and millions, i'm sure she'll be fine without any contributions. But no, she's gotta beg, i guess. Seriously though, what the ****? Maybe I should ask the politicians to help me pay my debts off! Would they do that for me? To paraphrase Ms. Clinton, I need the politician's help to write the next chapter of my history together. Lol. Psh, yeah right.

Hil-dog, as an episode of South Park lovingly (or not) calls her, should think about what she would say to me, a regular old U.S. law-abiding (not... just kidding!) citizen wanting help from her to pay MY debts off.. I doubt she'd be inclined to reach out and lend a hand as she asks of her supporters. Marinate on that one time for your mind.

Stay Tuned,

Steelo

Sunday!

"Sunday, Sunday, so good to me.."

Hello my faithful readers. Today was an interesting day, I was invited by my parents to go to church with them. Today was a special service, and it was cool. But, i must admit, it was "beanertastic" as i say. They had people from the English service congregation there, and they busted out all the stuff hispanic dreams are made of.. The worship songs were done in the regional mexican form, click HERE for what it kinda sounded like.. It was a strange, but delightful sight to see the style being performed, accordion and all.

Then we all went to the park after church for a good ol' southern cookout. I ended up running into someone from my past, and actually talked to her after not speaking for years. I'd been holding a grudge, and I guess it was time to forgive. Lately, i've been settling my beefs and grudges with people, and i gotta tell you, it's definitely a good feeling. I'm not saying you should go out and be everyone's friend, just that it feels good to get stuff off your back..

Gnite and Stay Tuned..

-steelo

where's the soul?

is it me, or did men have to bust more moves back in the day then they have to now?
i'm sitting here watching old episodes of soul train, and it looks to me like men definitely had more input than they do today. I swear, all guys have to do these days is stand there and let the woman grind like hell on em. Hey, now i don't see anything wrong with a little "bump and grind", but where's the effort to really woo a woman? I see these guys truly dance and hell, it looks like a lot of fun. i miss the glory days of "true" soul.