Technical Problems

Dear Readers,
I am having technical problems which is that I technically have NOT been in my chair in front of my computer banging out my blog. I get my ideas from the newspapers, television news and other blogs and sometimes, readers suggest a topic. I ALWAYS have an opinion; sometimes, I am just too steamed to write it down. So in the favor of my readership, I've held my tongue but no more. What's a blog for if not to raise a little HELL ! ? ! ???! ! !

One entry I wrote that did not make it to the blog because of a blogger.com technical difficulties was about Condoleezza Rice. Damn good!!!! More incredible, I had some positive things to say about her. Having a positive thought or feeling about Rice is highly unusual for me as of many of my circle know. Condoleezza impressed me at least temporarily. More on Secretary Rice in a future posting.

Please keep coming back to billingsleybabbles.blogspot.com. I have lots more to say. Thank you for reading me.

winter squash

Autumn has truly fallen for me today; I cooked an acorn squash and filled the center of it with chili. It was sooo good ~~~ a sweet golden squash brimming with a spicy, delicate turkey chili. This dish is a metaphor for life sweet and spicy. Cool nights bring out the urge for stews, soups and other cold weather foods.

Seasons changing and particularly, fall, is one of the simple joys. As time falls back to Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) this weekend, the Northeast plunges into darkness by 4:15 pm. By the time its dark when you leave for work and dark when you return home, the winter season's pleasures dim. The snow comes down, the Hawk --- cold temperatures and brutal , biting winds --- comes out and we are looking good fares to the Caribbean and Florida.

Fannie Lou Hamer's Six Degrees of Separation

Fannie Lou Hamer's name and recognition of her place in history has come to me in many ways over the past few weeks. I am researching the artwork of Faith Ringgold; her painting "Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles" has Fannie Lou Hamer pictured in it at the quilting bee. Shortly after I began doing the background of this painting, the documentary, "Eyes on the Prize" began airing on my local public television station. One of the first segments of the film I watched covered Fannie Lou Hamer making her speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1968. The theme song of the film keeps playing in my head and Mrs Hamer's famous words " I'm tired and I'm sick of being sick and tired" are stuck in my head, too. The civil rights activist and movement ground breaker for African American voter registration in Mississippi in the 1960's spoke plainly but so strong and clear on her vision of equality in America. Last night on the Tavis Smiley show , the actor James Cromwell (the farmer in the movie "Babe") spoke about his early acting experiences doing theater in Mississippi and Louisiana where he encountered Mrs. Hammer at one of his performances. Mrs.Hamer spoke up and out at the Q&A portion of the play.

Earlier today, in a meeting, Fannie Lou Hamer's eloquent words popped into my head but not out of my mouth. Hearing Fannie clearly say, "I am tired and sick of being sick and tired" made me feel think that's how I feel, too.

Beginning with a painting, next a film, a television talk show and in my research today about Faith Ringgold; Fannie Lou Hamer was mentioned and in my heart and head her famous words expressed my feelings.

Six degrees of separation between me and this courageous warrior, Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer.

Deval Patrick Fights Back

Today, I attended the Deval Patrick rally on the Boston Common. What a perfect fall afternoon it was ~~~ lots of people, good cheer ,a beautiful blue sky and Mr Deval Patrick kicking a little Healey ass. He said ' don't worry about the negative ads and attacks; I'll handle that!!' Deval asked the crowd( around 5000 strong) to support him for the next 23 days to get to the Governor's office and to continue to support him after he arrives in the Governor's chair. Because >>> TOGETHER WE CAN!

Deval Patrick said that he and his wife, Diane stand firmly with his sister and brother in-law who have repaired their lives and continued together as a family raising children. Patrick emphasized that he and his family are as flawed as any other family but that his sister,her husband and two children did not need to be raked over the coals by the press because they are related to a man running for governor. I say "Amen" to that. I say to the Herald I believe a great disservice was done in exposing Patrick sister's wounds. What does his sister being a victim of crime tell us about the candidate ~~~ only that the Patricks are like any other family . Shame on the Boston Herald !!!

Patrick emphasized his accomplishments and put into perspective the reasons behind the attack ads of the Healey campaign ... Nothing else to talk about. I still do not know why Healey is in the race for governor ??? I am quite disappointed that Kerry Healey believes that a Karl Rove style, low down dirty campaign, will work in Massachusetts.

Deval Patrick has a vision for the Commonwealth and I want some of that. I want to be part of putting Massachusetts right. If you do too, pull the Deval Patrick lever on November 7th.

TOGETHER WE CAN !

Superman Really Lived

Hawk (J.D. Jackson)

Superman was real. He really lived and breathed. He actually walked and talked and dwelt among us, his own.

Yet, overwhelmingly, his own received him not. Instead, with all too few exceptions, his own used the deadly kryptonite-like trio of unbridled jealousy, greed, and white supremacy to vilify, ostracize, and even crucify him in the world court of public opinion. Collectively, they tried to bury him under a mountain of lies in a relentless attempt to white out the huge depth and extensive width of his mighty deeds and to silence forever his thunderous voice, which he consistently and courageously used to demand justice, freedom, and equality for all people on the earth.



But the monstrous devices that his enemies used against him and the fecal-filled mountain of relentless character, financial, and unsuccessful physical assassinations under which they tried to bury him completely proved to be almost totally unsuccessful. Muscular and broad-shouldered, barrel-chested and booming-voiced, this man, the real Superman, disarmed the devilish devices used against him and burst through the seemingly rock-solid mountain under which his foes tried to bury him. He did so virtually unscathed and definitely unafraid but more steel-willed than ever to stand firmly on, to live out fully, and fight even more vigorously for his life-long, globetrotting convictions in the pursuit and hopeful realization of the ideal that all men are brothers and should act and be treated that way.

And just who was this Superman? A native of earth not some distant planet, he could neither fly nor stop locomotives. He was neither bulletproof nor perfect. But history, most especially his granddaughter's book The Whole World in His Hand, provides a short list of his many, mighty deeds. The son of a former slave, he was a much-heralded college and professional football player and an all-around college athlete in basketball, baseball, and track; a brilliant academic student, who graduated Phi Beta Kappa and the valedictorian of his college class at Rutgers University; a graduate of Columbia Law School and practicing lawyer; an international star of the movie screen and theatrical stage, the recording studio (with records still selling) and the concert stage; a legendary orator; a musicologist; and a linguist, who studied, spoke, and wrote in more than (20) languages, including African languages and Russian, Chinese, and Arabic!

More importantly, however, this man of steel will, the real Superman, was an international hero to the world's oppressed. That was due primarily to his life-long involvement as an activist who traveled around the globe to give his unflinching support to the racially-, economically-, and politically-oppressed people worldwide. Most prominent among them were everyday laborers and those in progressive labor unions, those persecuted in fascist-leaning countries around the globe, the colonized people of Africa and Asia, and, of course, his own heavily-persecuted people, African Americans, in his own homeland, the United States of America.

As such, the real Superman used his singing and speaking voice, his written and his spoken words, and his huge physical presence and laser-sharp mental faculties to right the wrongs that he witnessed and believed blanketed the world. That meant that he also used his world-famous name to promote world peace and global unity and positive solutions to death-dealing crises around the world when all too many of his contemporaries remained silent and decades before many of today's singers, actors, and/or activists were even born or thought that raising their voice in protest was fashionable or profitable.

Faithfully following his convictions resulted in Superman, an associate, if not a friend, of many world leaders (Russia's Stalin, India's Nehru, China's Mao, and Africa's Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah, among others) and to such stellar 20th century personalities as the preeminent African American scholar-activist W. E. B. Du Bois and the world-renowned scientist Albert Einstein, a friend of over 20 years--paying a heavy cost both physically and financially. But it can truly be argued that, as he did in life, now, though dead, he honestly deserves the long-overdue, golden crown of honor and respect due him for living such a long-lived and meaningful life of self-sacrifice on behalf of his fellow human beings.

So, again, just who was this man, this real superhero, the real Superman? Surprisingly, he is a person who no movie studio seems to deem worthy enough of a blockbuster, big-screen movie. But, in short, he was a multi-talented, multi-genius and giant of a man, who strongly believed in talking straight and walking tall. No fair-weather friend to the oppressed, he was none other than the late but great, African American Paul Robeson, the real Superman.

This was featured in "The Black World Today"(www.tbwt.org). I thank the author for his permission republish it here in my blog. Excellent work,Hawk.

More Money Than Substance

Kerry Healey the current Lt. Governor of Massachusetts is running negative ads about her opponent Deval Patrick that highlight his work as a lawyer. She states that as a lawyer, Patrick defended a "cop killer" and now that man is eligible for parole in Florida. The ad asks is that the kind of person we want for governor of our state. The answer is hell, yes!!!

Patrick was successful as a lawyer, at Harvard and at the Justice Department under President Clinton. I want a successful truly selfmade man to be the top executive of Massachusetts. We need statesmanship, leadership and someone with the life experience to scrap as hard as necessary to do a good job as Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Healey's negative ads decry a excellent advocate for the defense. Patrick's defense of an accused criminal resulted in a reduced sentence from execution to a sentence that allows the "cop killer" to be eligible for parole.

Yes, the crime was vicious and uncalled for but Deval Patrick defended the man under the laws of the state of Florida and the judicial practices of the United States. The American legal system is known and revered as the most fair and open and just legal system in the world. Our system is adversarial, prosecution against the defense. Our laws require every person accused of crimes to have council and the same quality of defense as the richest man or woman in our nation( fat chance of that "really" being the case). Patrick and his "cop killer"client went the through 'rough and tumble' the of Florida's courts and they prevailed. For this Deval Patrick is being battered and blamed with Healey's huge media buy( the commercial seems to be on all the time). Blamed for doing his job. Blamed for defending a man who killed a policeman. Blamed for honoring and participating in the judicial system of the United States that is a light unto the rest of the world.

Kerry really has nothing to show for her time in office so she must attack. Deval Patrick is holding fast to his promise not to go negative in responding to the terrible and low down attacks on him. When one really has nothing to say, Kerry Healey has turned ugly.

More Money than substance!!!!!

Unintended Outcomes

JOYS
TRAUMAS
SADNESS
CONTENTEDNESS ( in short bursts)
ECSTASY
GLEE
GOOD FOOD ( lots of it )
TOGETHERNESS
LAUGHS
LOVE ( in abundance )
TEARS
TOUGHNESS
VACATIONS
VOCATIONS
EDUCATION
IGNORANCE
IMPATIENCE
KINDNESSES
UNKINDNESS
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> FAMILY LIFE

Lamb Shanks Moroccan Style

I am trying something a little off my usual culinary path. I've got the Prince CD playing and I am off to North Africa in my humble kitchen. I've made leg of lamb in this style before(that was quite a while ago) so I hope the Moroccan cooking chops come back to me. I am using a recipe from the BBC food website ~~~~red wine, tomato puree,lots of garlic and my favorite spice, cumin as well as ground coriander. It is so different than the way lamb is usually prepared but the wine and tomato combination create a moist tasty, well seasoned lamb dish. The lamb is served with plenty of the sauce over couscous. Dear readers, I am not the best braiser but I shall soldier on in pursuit of strengthening my prowess in the preparation of Moroccan/North African cuisine. The spice/herbs combinations of Moroccan cooking are unusual but sensuous and well flavored but not hot.

As Jacque Pepin would say "here's to happy cooking".

Musings in the Morning

Good debate last night. Everyone acquitted themselves well. I was particularly proud of Grace Ross who is an old friend of mine. All the candidates brought unique points of view. Healey was particularly strong although she appears to be running against herself as we have had Republican governors in Massachusetts for over a decade. Christy Mihos was energetic and managed to get quite a bit of information in with each of his answers. What a shame his family(sisters and brothers) are not supporting him and they let it be publicly known. The statesman-like quality of Deval Patrick let me know he'll be a wonderful governor; he pledged to work cooperatively with the powers on Beacon Hill for all of Massachusetts.

TOGETHER WE CAN!

Beleaguered Bush

Enemies of the Bush administration said the Bushies were lying about why the US is at war in Iraq and about the civil war currently going on there. Democrats and a few others said DUMP Rumsfeld. Per Bob Woodward's new book, State of Denial, Andy Card, former white house Chief of Staff gave Mr. Bush the same advice, DUMP Rumsfeld. Andy Card may have been dumped because of this advice given or maybe, he just left the ship before it sank.

When enemies and trusted friends gave President Bush the same directive, come clean with the American public and clean house and start over with fresh minds, eyes and hearts to solve this mess, MORASS; Pres Dubba did not listen.

Can all these diverse voices be wrong? Here's hoping Bush will listen, even at this late date, to get America on the right path in Iraq and elsewhere ~~~~!!!!!!

Considering the Gubernatorial Race in Massachusetts

Dear Readers,
I shall be discussing details of the election of the next governor of the Commonwealth.

First,the Republicans and Kerry Healey; I personally have no idea why Healey is running for office. I always saw Healey as a stunt pick for the Lt. Governor candidate that Mitt Romney commandeered when he threw Jane Swift under the bus. Healey was a hedge against the backlash that might occur over candidate's and the Republican party's horrible treatment of Governor Jane Swift ~~~'Mitt's got the money and will run Jane over with a tank if she attempted to oppose him in a bid for the corner office' was the position taken. Kerry is a follower not a leader; she has been a policy wonk for the Republicans and I believe being called up to the Lt. Governor's slot was as much a shock to her as it was to me and to other voters. She looked shellshocked to me and I thought maybe she felt shame for being a sop to women voters but was willing to take one for the team. I repeatedly said to myself and to others " Kerry who???". "Where did she come from and what political experience did she have", I asked myself. So I have no idea, none at all, why this person is running now. Mitt Romney did not accomplish anything as governor. Why would voters reward his assistant ?????

Republicans in the past and now have considered being governor of Massachusetts as a stop on the road to somewhere else. Weld left midterm when Jesse Helms put the thumbs down (blue card) on him and prevented him from being US ambassador to Mexico. His successor, Paul Cellucci left midterm when he wrangled a job as the US trade representative to Canada. Governor Jane Swift made national news when as the successor to Cellucci; she gave birth to twins while in office. Swift did not leave midterm but the public turned viciously against her for being a pregnant married woman while in office. Governor Willard " Mitt" Romney was aspiring to the 2008 presidential race attempting to best his dad who was a governor and a senator. I do not believe Mitt "good hair" Romney will make it on the broader national stage for president but who knows?

I've made up my mind to vote for Deval Patrick. He has a vision for Massachusetts that gives me hope. Just look a the Republicans' record and decide for yourself. The slogan for Deval Patrick says " Together we can" and I believe together we can make the Commonwealth a better place to live and a light for the nation.