I have always thought that there were two times in a woman's life that natural beauty radiated from her. An aura, a divine beauty that transcends mere physical attributes like smoothly hued skin, high cheek bones, big beautiful eyes, full lips or a statuesque gait. Those times of divine beauty are (one) on her wedding day, I have never seen a woman glow like on that magical day when she stands before the altar with friends and family in the pews wishing her glad tidings and she gazes into the moment and for a flicker of time, you see the natural beauty that God has so designed and called woman. The second such time in life is that of the rounded belly of a woman with child, so perfect and shaped just for the coming of the greatest gift to preserve mankind, the glow she carries with her, for only she can understand the majesty and humility that comes with the bearing of a new life to this great spinning globe. The natural beauty of a woman as I see it...until there was the First "Black" Lady of the United States.

It's not so much about who; but like the the Office of the Presidency, it is the occupation, the representation, giving a nation something to look up to, an aspiring goal for our young girls. So I must say that not only did the nation get it right with the newly elected President it was a two-for-one deal we (America) got a great representative for the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. It is so refreshing to see a positive image that is not exploitative of a Black Woman in America. It's not the sista' on the reality show acting like we know they can. Nor is it the sista' shown in the tabloids battered and bruised by her man, neither that sista' who feels she has to be a courtesan or sell her self-worth for a ticket to fame and fortune. No, it is a dawning of what the new "Black Woman" will become. What (Black) women can aspire too. Not just First Lady; but the defining of a new generation of role models.

Congratulations Women of America ,

Bycha Buxton

A Brief History...

I still have my residence in the Golden State (I will never leave for good) but it is not socially the place that I have grown to be most comfortable in. It is "the wild wild west", free and progressive in many ways and on many issues. But my love of that state, especially the Bay Area has definitely shaped who I am. A tolerant conservative, a moderate, now I do fault in some ways the pitifully waged war on drugs started by the former "B" movie actor, Governor of California and 40th President (God rest his soul) Ronald Regan (the Gipper). With his wife Nancy's (Regan) "Just Say No" campaign and Howard Jarvis author of Prop. 13 in 1978 ( "People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation"),which had a disproportionate affect on the Bay Area and Los Angeles it opened the border to Mexico for cheap labor and cheaper drugs.

Then there was the "Stop The Madness" campaign against drugs in 1986 which featured in a musical video, Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown, a talking poster of David Hasselhoff and Kareem Abdul Jabbar all who would later become headlines for the losing battle against the "war on drugs".

Present Day...

The great state, the "Golden State" now leads the nation in unemployment(updated 2/27/09 10.1%), the public schools now rank 48th out of 50 states and they have recently had a $42 billion budget deficit. A bill from Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco -- where else?) would tax marijuana sales. It would, first, decriminalize the possession and sale of marijuana under state law, and, second, set up a system for regulating and taxing it. The sales and taxation part only happens, though, if the federal government decriminalizes marijuana too, or at least allows states to make their own decisions about the drug. It puts the "legalization of drugs" on the table in possibly the most liberal government that has occupied Washington D.C. since JFK and LBJ. So we have come full circle back to the 30% tax reduction that was Prop. 13 to be replaced with another tax increase. Better off the backs of California homeowners and on the butts of the blunts and the bowl of the bongs. Ammiano and his supporters argue that the state is losing out on more than $1 billion a year in tax revenues because its biggest cash crop, marijuana, is illegal and therefore not taxable.

The Future...

A myriad of health related issues will consume the California heath system related to the increase in smoking. Bronchitis, asthma, lung cancer; a number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia (sounds like growing up in the 'hood). In one study, heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important measures of life achievement including physical and mental health, cognitive abilities, social life, and career status. Several studies associate workers’ marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers’ compensation claims, and job turnover. So the future of California's marijuana policy will have little change on the current state of affairs (sad but true) it (pot smoking) will not stop.

The Remedy...

It is time to surrender and be prudent about the lost revenue (I am a fiscal conservative). Maybe the coalition against Prop. 8 will be too "high" to mount an effective campaign (a much more important social issue) because the war on marijuana is moot. It (legalization) has the possibility of creating thousands of jobs related to the cultivation, processing, sale and monitoring of the product. Also one of the most prized jobs of all "quality control"second only to that of "profiteer". It could reinvigorate the once and much ballyhooed agricultural industry of California that has given way to dot com start-ups and bio-tech innovation of the nineties.

Yours truly, but I never inhaled ;-)

Bycha Buxton

 

 

He is our President. It says volumes how far this country has come. I am a proud black man; but "cash rules everything around...dolla' bill ya'll ....dolla', dolla', dolla', dolla' bill ya'll" Since the close of the DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average a collection of 30 of the largest and most widely held public companies in the United States.) on January 16, 2009 at 8281.22 opening again on the most historic day in US modern history 2/20/2009, until today February 23, 2009 a mere 35 days into his Presidency the "market" (DJIA) has had a precipitous drop of 1166.44 pts. to 7114.78 these are 1997 levels. Now I do have to fault my former party leader G.W. Bush for the current fiscal status but this is ridiculous for it (the markets) to continue in a free fall. Many fault the appointment of Timothy Geithner (Treasury Secretary) and his lack of a detailed plan, general aloofness and inability to convey confidence.

President Obama's economic plan though a milestone in effectiveness in getting a major piece of legislation passed so quickly has not been able to inspire the "markets". When the markets are in a "bull run" money flows it does have a trickle down effect. A rising tide lifts all boats. But now we (America) wait for the big ship (the Titanic) to give us a lift out of these deep recession waters. Who will talk the helm of the Titanic? Even though the historic ship sank their were survivors, such as the case with this economic downturn. We will go down, some institutions will find themselves at the bottom of the abyss never to see the sun shine on their dariaires again; but that is the nature of the beast called the capitalist market. The health of the Dow Jones is directly connected to most 401K retirement accounts, pension funds and dictates the mood of business worldwide. Not that policy should dictate or be dictated by the whims of wall street; but as the nations Chief Executive Officer he (President Obama) has to be aware of his adverse affect on the financial markets and its effect on the very poor and disaffected citizens he is trying to help.

There has been a sea change of late within politics as we begin to conclude the first decade of the 21st century. With the accidental but timely appointment of the first Black Governor of New York. Then the overwhelming victory of the Presidency by a African American and the most recent appointment of a Black U.S. Senator by a now impeached Governor. Leave it to my party the GOP to get on the bandwagon albeit late but on the wagon with the appointment of the first African American RNC Chairman.

It was a challenge for the conservatives but after the fiasco this past holiday season when former Tennessee chairman Chip Saltsman gave a holiday gift to members — a CD that includes a song called Barack the Magic Negro, sung to the tune of Puff, the Magic Dragon. It was necessary to either choose what was popular at the time or who is best for the party. I still don't know which one they chose. Although they had two black candidates vying for the top spot to lead the party many quietly were in support of the Saul Anuzis, the Michigan GOP chairman, a Harley-Davidson rider, an ex-union member and the son of an autoworker an appeal to the mainstream of America.

The GOP lost the presidency, 21 House seats and at least seven Senate seats on Nov. 4. The party that emerged was concentrated in the South and several Mountain West states, and it had little appeal to blacks or Hispanics and problems attracting better-educated voters. So now Micheal Steele our new RNC Chairman, impervious to the race card sits atop the throne to guide the Grand Ole' Party to at the very least a congressional comeback with increases in representatives in the House and Senate or the coup de gras  POTUS (President of the United States). But for now this chairman post is too important to be considered a token appointment but well within reason of status quo for D.C. politics. As a proud black man it would be my pride to assume that we as a people have finally arrived on the political stage as a force to be reckoned with; but as a realist and sometime cynic I see the world through a filtered lens. I cannot believe that all the barriers have come down post January 20, 2009. So with great reservation do I look to our new leader Chairman Steele not because of who he is but what he has become. The leader of a party in disrepair; the party that I chose because it did not have any representation by African Americans. I have been a member of this party for 21 years and just now does the RNC see fit to be lead by a man of color. Is it a fad or is it status quo?

I remember a conversation with my dad and I was telling him how I wanted to follow in his "footsteps". I remember a conversation like that with my son too. I told him what my dad had said to me. I said, " Sure son I want you to be like me in someways and follow in my footsteps..." my son, wide-eyed and in awe of the status that I had achieved at that time; "but..." as I began to utter the very words my dad had spoken to me, "...don't follow me too closely son, I might have stepped in some sh** along the way."

The difference in Candidate # 5 and Client # 9 is as clear as Black and White. But the irony is what men are willing to pay for their egos to be stroke and stoked. The "Candidate" seeks power the "Client" sought the pleasure both men paid with a currency of trust.

# 5 exposed like a newborns bottom; naked, tender and helpless to the good doctors swift smack of an open palm.

# 9 treated like an ostracized cleric; hypocrite with the guilt of his own sin weighing down his divine service to his flock.

These men are mere numbers in U.S. Federal Investigations, but moreover stains on the political landscape of the most exciting year in U.S. politics of a generation.

"The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out." (Thomas Babington Macaulay)

But let not me be the one who has a plank in his eye, speak of the speck in the eyes of the Candidate and the Client for I have been both in retrospect.  Seeking the power and the pleasure at times in the most unconventional ways. Violating my own "Constitution", under self-imposed moral reflection; as I measure ones own character. Although the Candidate (Jesse Jackson Jr.) has not been charged with any wrong doing only his ambition, guilty by association, led by hope and validated by the election of change. # 5  the weight of your legacy will crush you if don't choose to be plumb with integrity. # 9 (former Governor of New York) just pray that strumpet doesn't write a book about your bedroom manners.

This dysfunctional behavior breeds the disdain that the public has for politicians. The stench of corruption that good tax paying people would consider too egregious for reconciliation and too tendentious for consideration. Let this be a lesson for those seeking power or pleasure it can cost more than you can afford.

Bycha Buxton

The United States Electoral College is a term used to describe the 538 Presidential electors who meet every four years to cast the "official" votes for President and Vice President of the United States. The Constitution gives each state legislature the plenary power to choose the electors who shall represent its state in the Electoral College. The Electors never meet as a national body. At 51 (Fifty states plus the District of Columbia) separate meetings, held on the same day, the electors cast the electoral votes. As such, the collective concept of the 51 groups is the technical definition of the college. It is because of this power structure that the popular vote was overturned in the 1824, 1876, 1888 and the more recent 2000 Presidential election. What scares me about this system is that it is elitist in nature and has a cloak of anonymity that render them (the Electors) unaccountable to the general masses. The Constitution does not require the Electors to vote as pledged, but many (not all) states have enacted laws that do require their Electors to vote as pledged. This system seems to be in place to assure certain citizens that under no circumstance will an "undesired" candidate be allowed to occupy the highest positions in the land. You may wonder why the forefathers choose to wrest the power from the voting public and give it to these 538 mysterious individuals (who are they?).

There are calls to reform this antiquated system. There are those who truly want to put the power in the hands of the people. The argument for an "Electoral College" is that while the Congress is popularly elected by the people, the President and Vice President are elected to be executives of a federation of independent states. The Electoral College ensures that candidates, particularly in recent elections, pay attention to key 'swing-states' (those states that are not firmly rooted in either the Republican or Democratic party). It equally assures that voters in states that are not believed to be competitive will be disregarded.

Supporters of direct election argue that it would give everyone an equally weighted vote, regardless of what state he or she lives in, and oppose giving disproportionately amplified voting power to voters in states with small populations. Under the current system, the vote of an individual living in a state with three electoral votes is proportionally more influential than the vote of an individual living in a state with a large number of electoral votes.

The arguments for and against get bogged down with historic policy and precedence set throughout elections that are skewed by the history of the United States divisions among its political parties, voters and regions (in other words they filibuster the discussion). 

Registered Voter,

Bycha Buxton

 

"In the United States, the right to petition is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, and it specifically prohibits Congress from abridging "the right of the people ... to petition the Government for redress of grievances." Its roots within the colonies can be traced back to the Declaration of Independence,^[4]. Historically, the right can be traced back further, to English documents such as the Magna Carta, which, by its acceptance by the monarchy, implicitly affirmed the right, and the later Bill of Rights 1689, which explicitly declared the "right of the subjects to petition the king"^[5].Wikipedia

This right was intended for the peoples' voice not the peoples' money. Lobbyist have gotten out of control; with hundreds of millions of dollars to influence the legislators at their whim.' We the people' have very little influence as individuals.