APRIL 2011
COMMITMENT FAMILY LIFE
FINDING WORK PROPERTY TAXES VETERAN AFFAIRS BEING BULLIED BRAIN SIDLER WRITES
COMMUNITY!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
VETERAN AFFAIRS PROPERTY TAXES THE JOB YOU WANT, BUT CAN’T GET CELEBRITY THROUGH THE EYES OFA SINGLE MOM THOUGHTS BY
Don’t believe the hype. These prices have gone up. GAS PRICES ARE AT $4.37 Do we fight about these priceS:
NO!
S I G N I R SP
E R HE
WE HAVE GONE GREEN!
A Strong Women… I’m a strong woman, so I won’t let anything defeat me. I always walk around with a smile on my face. You can say what you want, but your words won’t affect me. Because only the man upstairs decides my destiny and weakness or bitterness is not a part of my qualities. I keep my head held up high you see.
I love myself first and keep my heart locked away. I always say encouraging words to myself every day. Never, do I walk around worrying about the best, because in my mind, I am the best. I am a strong woman, because of what I’ve been through. I made it out of my situations or problems victorious, regardless of what was involved or who. You might see me cry, but the tears that I shed won’t last long, because with the help of God, I’ve become a woman that is strong.
Through The Eyes Of A Single Mom Pay-by-day you wonder how you will be able to take care of your child or children all alone. You have no help from the father, because that loser is gone. Even though it’s hard you have to do everything with a smile on your face. You walk around like you are a happy person even though that’s not the case. Your child looks to you for everything, because the father is never there. Crying while the children are sleep keeps you from pulling your hair out. You have to do all the parenting while the father runs the street. How could you have been so stupid, to not have made him wear a condom in the moment of heat? Even if the father comes around he gives no financial support. Since you have no help from them, you turn to your family as your last resort. You have to supply food, shelter, and clothing all by yourself. Sometimes, you get frustrated because you don’t have any help. You have to hear momma, “Where is my daddy?” You have to tell them a lie, so that they will stop asking questions and be happy. Having to go through all of this all by yourself - makes you question was that one night of pleasure really worth a lifetime of heart ache and pain. Waking up and looking at your beautiful child proves all the love you have to gain. Looking at them gives you the motivation that you need to get through life. Watching them play and laugh is such a beautiful sight. - Jovanta Washington
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The JOB you want, but can’t get. Why? Over the years, many people have lost their jobs. Many companies have downsized considerably because of the economy and the war. On the day of the 11th of September in the year of 2001, the world went through a tragedy and the lost of many American’s. Months later companies started to go under and as many as millions of people through the years have lost their careers, investments, and homes. The government states that the employment rate has gone down, but all in all, the employment rate has risen. When former President Bush was in office, he borrowed up to 1.5 Trillion Dollars – not too bring employment into the states but give such money to the banks and insurance companies, but why would the government do that? That wasn’t a good deal at all. Most of the companies haven’t even paid that money back, back then. Now since President Obama been in office he borrowed another 750 Billion to clear up the deficit, bring in jobs, health-care reform, and just opening up opportunity for employment. Of course, when you touch the money of the GOP they become leary when their money is being taxed. But the question is, what about the American people? When are we going to get our days in court? Most American’s are still out of work. We can’t go by the statistics founded by the analyst from the government – we can only go by the depth that we as Americans have accumulated. You still have people owing bills like school, housing, and medical billing. When we are looking for employment – companies are looking for people who have a four to five titled experiences in back of them. Most of these companies don’t care about what you know, or your resume, it’s who you know. Yes! There’s still the “Who you knows” being able to gain access for interviews. Why did I say that?
Just think about it, at one-time you were able to go to offices to apply, but now, since September 2001, everything changed because of safety reasons [the voice from Homeland Security]. Once restrictions began and companies where adjusting to the Internet, they were still able to continue such “Who you knows,” but directly from websites and emails. So if you have been searching all this time for work, then, you will continue to search until a reliable source wants you on their team. The game is played hatefully, because people on the other end, don’t won’t to either loose their job, or assist another to gain employment. Now get this, there are companies who are charging for services like “Professional Resume’s and Cover Letter’s building”…and get this, these are the same companies asking people to search for work on their website. These companies may have emailed, commercialized their ads, or you’ve seen them on the net. These companies are: Media Match, Chicago Career Site, JobFox, just to name a few. What they are doing is blocking most of the employment categories and/ or jobs because they want you to PAY a fee to continue to search for work and send you email telling you, you need a professional resume done so that employers can read your resume. So people, watch out for the companies trying to make that extra dollars, knowing that advertising on any website isn’t cheap. Such as their company!
- Casmier Tyler
Where It’s At...Part VI
Celebrity...What A Bunch Of Crap! A living document that changes... A document dedicated to “ROCK” spirit and attitude! And ROCK!
This is where the epicenter of the worldwide movement is friends, it looks small now, but you’re all being cool and signing on...and we see you showing up on our http server with your IP’s and you wouldn’t believe how many more of you are all comin’ through our portal. Cool grooves and way cool enough. And we know that what you’re about to read is a little strong, but with a war going on, now is not the time to just sit there. We’ll see ya at the finish line and bring your friends, then we’re gonna have a party and that’s gonna be a lot of fun...for all of us!Just dig what Brian’s got to say, that’s all. L. Lewis/CEO Worldwide TMA By Brian Sidler - Former Music Writer For Chicago Music Magazine (Chicago, IL 25 JAN 2010) Hello Mr., Ms., & Mrs. Universe and all the ships at sea...let’s go to press! Before we get into the rant we would like again, to tell the MySpacian Universe and all flipped wigged out music listeners of a little gem we found in our travels. They are called The Organ, a music promo rag that also boasts their own Sunday radio show from the London Underground. Here’s the link: “http://www.organart.net” which is the NEW address of their webzine. They’ve been in biz for a couple of decades. Seems they rave at just about anything that makes noise. Noise or benign musical expressions that we think won’t amount to much. But... what we like about this rag publisher is they take big risks and will definitely bend your ear in weird ways with the sense of taste they preponderate on and tout in their lists. You should get on over there. They challenge the listener. We had a bit of fun with the owner asking about cross advertising. He told us all to “get fooked” then blocked our messages. Ha Ha. We loved it! And we dig him! He’s a true punk head. NOW: HERE”S THE RANT!
What a bunch of smarmy, totally unhip shit! 2009 saw the end of another decade whereby millions of people all over the world were slobbering on the boots of all these people that the media centers call celebrities. In fact it took over many of our imaginations in a gross way for about...oh...all of our lifetimes! And yeah, sure, there are lots of folks who will sit there and populate media channels like TMZ and Entertainment Tonight, nothing will stop that! Especially for young, sex starved, sex exploring, valley-talking little girls. There’s plenty of them and other folks who will stay stuck on stupid and wishing they could be just like that super-slut who made it by being a golden spoon baby and releasing a drug stupored, shag in the sack video with her boyfriend. The fact that she could create a small fiefdom on that shit is testimony to the stupidity of all who watched it and took it seriously. But theeennnnn, there were all the jokes and the amount of incessant comedy about her which followed...the only reason why we still have faith in many of you. What we want to know is, how come it took over 10 years for it to finally, and almost completely disappear? Well, she still hasn’t totally disappeared, but is she relevant? NOT! So, from straight out of the heartland - Chitown, USA - Here’s the real stuff that truth is made of: It’s a re-print of an article by Chris Hedges columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, and let me tell ya’s...we couldn’t have said it any better than what follows...so read up! By Chris Hedges Columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and truthdig.com First published on 13 JULY 2009 In celebrity culture we destroy what we worship. The commercial exploitation of Michael Jackson’s death was orchestrated by the corporate forces that rendered Jackson insane. Jackson, robbed of his childhood and surrounded by vultures that preyed on his fears and weaknesses, was so consumed by selfloathing he carved his African-American face into an ever-changing Caucasian death mask and hid his apparent pedophilia behind a Peter Pan illusion of eternal childhood. He could not disentangle his public and his private self. He became a commodity, a product, one to be sold, used and manipulated. He was infected by the moral nihilism and personal disintegration that are at the core of our corporate culture. And his fantasies of eternal youth, delusions of majesty, and desperate, disfiguring quests for physical transformation were expressions of our own yearning. He was a reflection of us in the extreme. His memorial service - a variety show with a coffin - had an estimated 31.1
million television viewers. The ceremony, which featured performances or tributes from Stevie Wonder, Brooke Shields and other celebrities, was carried live on 19 networks, including the major broadcast and cable news outlets. It was the final episode of the long-running Michael Jackson series. And it concluded with Jackson’s daughter, Paris, being prodded to stand in front of a microphone to speak about her father. Janet Jackson, before the girl could get a few words out, told Paris to “speak up.” As the child broke down, the adults around her adjusted the microphone so we could hear the sobs. The crowd clapped. It was a haunting echo of what destroyed her father. The stories we like best are “real life” stories-early fame, wild success and then a long, bizarre and macabre emotional train wreck. O.J Simpson offered a tamer version of the same plot. So does Britney Spears. Jackson, by the end, was heavily in debt and had weathered a $22 million out-of-court settlement payment to Jordy Chandler, as well as seven counts of child sexual abuse and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in order to commit a felony. We fed on his physical and psychological disintegration, especially since many Americans are struggling with their own descent into overwhelming. The lurid drama of Jackson’s personal life meshed perfectly with the ongoing dramas on television, in movies and in the news. News thrives on “real life” stories, especially those involving celebrities. News reports on television are mini-dramas complete with a star, a villain, a supporting cast, a good-looking host and a dramatic, if often unexpected, ending. The public greedily consumed “news” about Jackson, especially in his exile and decline, which often outdid most works of fiction. In “Fahrenheit 451,” Ray Bradbury’s novel about a future dystopia, people spend most of the day watching giant television screens that show endless scenes of police chases and criminal apprehensions. Life, Bradbury understood, once it was packaged, scripted, given a narrative and filmed, became the most compelling form of entertainment. And Jackson was a great show. He deserved a great finale. Those who created Jackson’s public persona and turned him into a piece of property, first as a child and finally as a corpse encased in a $15,000 gold-plated casket, are the agents, publicists, marketing people, promoters, script writers, television and movie producers, advertisers, video technicians, photographers, bodyguards, recording
executives, wardrobe consultants, fitness trainers, pollsters, public announcers and television news personalities who create the vast stage of celebrity for profit. They are the puppet masters. No one achieves celebrity status, no cultural illusion is swallowed as reality, without these armies of cultural enablers and intermediaries. The producers at the Staples Center in Los Angeles made sure the 18,000 attendees and the television audience (even the BBC devoted three hours to the tribute) watched a funeral that was turned into another maudlin form of uplifting popular entertainment. The memorial service for Jackson was a celebration of celebrity. There was the queasy sight of groups of children, including his own, singing over the coffin. Magic Johnson put in a plug for Kentucky Fried Chicken. Shields, fighting back tears, recalled how she and a 33-year-old Jackson - who always maintained that he was straight broke into Elizabeth Taylor’s room the night before her last wedding to “get the first peek of the [wedding] dress.” Shields and Jackson, at Taylor’s wedding, then joked that they were “the mother and father of the bride.” “Yes, it may have seemed very odd to the outside,” Shields said, “but we made it fun and we made it real.” There were photo montages in which a shot of Jackson shaking hands with Nelson Mandela was immediately followed by one of him with Kermit the Frog. Fame reduces all of the famous to the same level. Fame is its own denominator. And every anecdote seemed to confirm that when you spend your life as a celebrity, you have no idea who you are. We measure our lives by these celebrities. We seek to be like them. We emulate their look and behavior. We escape the messiness of real life through the fantasy of their stardom. We, too, long to attract admiring audiences for our grand, ongoing life movie. We try to see ourselves moving through our lives as a camera would see us, mindful of how we hold ourselves, how we dress, what we say. We invent movies that play inside our heads with us as stars. We wonder how an audience would react. Celebrity culture has taught us, almost unconsciously, to generate interior personal screenplays. We have learned ways of speaking and thinking that grossly disfigure the way we relate to the world and those around us. Neal Gabler, who has written wisely about this, argues that celebrity culture is not a convergence of
consumer culture and religion so much as a hostile takeover of religion by consumer culture. Jackson desperately feared growing old. He believed he could control race and gender. He transformed himself through surgery and perhaps female hormones from a brown-skinned African-American male to a chalk-faced androgynous ghoul with no clear sexual identity. And while he pushed these boundaries to the extreme, he did only what many Americans do. There were 12 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures performed last year in the United States. They were performed because, in America, most human beings, rich and poor, famous and obscure, have been conditioned to view themselves as marketable commodities. They are objects, like consumer products. They have no intrinsic value. They must look fabulous and live on fabulous sets. They must remain young. They must achieve notoriety and money, or the illusion of it, to be a success. And it does not matter how they get there. The moral nihilism of our culture licenses a dark voyeurism into other people’s humiliation, pain, weakness and betrayal. Education, building community, honesty, transparency and sharing are qualities that will see you, in a gross perversion of democracy and morality, ridiculed and voted off any reality show. Fellow competitors for prize money and a chance for fleeting fame elect to “disappear” the unwanted. In the final credits of the reality show “America’s Next Top Model,” a picture of the woman expelled during the episode vanishes from the group portrait on the screen. Those cast aside become, at least to the television audience, nonpersons. Celebrities who can no longer generate publicity, good or bad, vanish. Life, these shows teach, is a brutal world of unadulterated competition and constant quest for notoriety and attention. And life is about the personal humiliation of those who oppose us. Those who win are the best. Those who lose deserve to be erased. Those who fail, those who are ugly or poor, are belittled and mocked. Human beings are used, betrayed and discarded in a commodity culture, which is pretty much the story of Jackson’s life, although he experienced the equivalent of celebrity resurrection. This has been very good for his music sales and perhaps for his father’s new recording company, which Joe Jackson made sure to plug at public events after his son’s death. Compassion, competence, intelligence and solidarity are useless assets when human beings are commodities. Those who do not achieve celebrity status, who do not win the.
prize money or make millions in Wall Street firms, deserve their fate. The cult of self, which Jackson embodied, dominates our culture. This cult shares within it the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm, grandiosity and self-importance; a need for constant stimulation, a penchant for lying, deception and manipulation; and the incapacity for remorse or guilt. Jackson, from his phony marriages to his questionable relationships with young boys, had all these qualities. This is also the ethic promoted by corporations. It is the ethic of unfettered capitalism. It is the misguided belief that personal style and personal advancement, mistaken for individualism, are the same as democratic equality. It is the celebration of image over substance. We have a right, in the cult of the self, to get whatever we desire. We can do anything, even belittle and destroy those around us, including our friends, to make money, to be happy and to become famous. Once fame and wealth are achieved, they become their own justification, their own morality. How one gets there is irrelevant. It is this perverted ethic that gave us Wall Street banks and investment houses that willfully trashed the nation’s economy, stole money from tens of millions of small shareholders who had bought stocks to finance their retirement or the college expenses of their children. The heads of these corporations, like the winners on a reality television program who lied and manipulated others to succeed, walked away with hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation and bonuses. The ethic of Wall Street is the ethic of celebrity. The saturation coverage of Jackson’s death is an example of our collective flight into illusion. The obsession with the trivia of his life conceals the despair, meaninglessness and emptiness of our own lives. It deflects the moral questions arising from mounting social injustice, growing inequalities, costly imperial wars, economic collapse and political corruption. The wild pursuit of status, wealth and fame has destroyed our souls, as it destroyed Jackson, The fame of celebrities masks the identities of those who possess true power - corporations and the oligarchic elite. And as we sink into an economic and political morass, as we barrel toward a crisis that will create more misery than the Great Depression, we are controlled, manipulated and distracted by the celluloid shadows on the wall of Plato’s cave. The fantasy of celebrity culture is not designed simply to entertain. It is designed to drain us emotionally, confuse us about our identity, make us blame
ourselves for our predicament, condition us to chase illusions of fame and happiness and keep us from fighting back. And in the end, that is all the Jackson coverage was really about, another tawdry and tasteless spectacle to divert a dying culture from the howling wolf at the gate. Chris Hedges is the author of the new book “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle.” His column appears on Truthdig every Monday. We hate to admit it...but we wish we had authored this incredible piece...though in our own defense...we’ve have been saying it all along with other words. However, nothing we have read anywhere, including our own articles is more succinct than what Chris Hedges wrote! And to that I say...Amen. And really...who are we trying to influence with all this? Wake up all you youngers out there before your brains are mush! Especially...all you young ladies out there...because ya see, truly...we pray for your souls! I’m Brian Sidler and I write about music, et al.
OUR SOLDIERS OUR HONOR BRING IT HOME U.S.A
Bullied There once was a teenager and his name was Ted. He was a very nice person, but no one knew how much trouble he had. He had nightmares at night from memories of what happened to him at school each day. Please, lord just save me from being bullied by my classmates is what he would pray. Scared to go to school, because he was afraid of what they would say or do. He desperately wanted to talk to someone but whom. He had no friends, because they thought he was weird. His daddy left and his mother worked so much so he kept his lips sealed. He tried to talk to his mother about the kids, but his mother brushed him off. He talked to his dad over the phone, but he always told him to fight back and toughen up, because he was too soft. Ted was trying to cope with the situation all by himself! Everyone told him that they loved him, but when it came to talking about how he felt, they were not helping him. Writing poetry and drawing was what he used to cope with anger and pain - well at least that what he thought it did. His family just brushed him off like he was some troubled little kid. “Time to wake up and get ready for school” was the words that his mother said. He thought in his mind, I wanted to say no to her, but he knew that she would always tell him that you need knowledge in that little head. So he got up and started to get ready, as they pulled up in front of the school, his heart started to beat fast and heavy. Should I just tell her the torture that I have been going through now, but where should I began or how. So he kissed her on the cheek and proceeded to go into the school. He made it through half of the school day without being bullied, so he thought everything would be cool. The bell rings, so now it’s time for his lunch period which he never went too. In the library reading books was where he spent his lunch period. Leaving out the library he was cornered by a group of boys asking, “Where he thought he was going?” He knew what was going to take place, so he starting running. They eventually caught up with him and beat him up until his face was real bloody and he couldn’t move.
He have been beaten up before, but never severely bruised. A security guard at the school found him lying there like he was dead. He paged 911 while holding Ted’s head. Lying in the hospital bed, he woke up to his crying mother and dad by his side. Now he had to tell them everything he held on the inside. He slowly lifted up and turned to them and said, “I have been going through this for a long time now.” His mother replied, “Why you never told me about this?” He said, “I tried this morning, but I didn’t know how. When I wanted to talk to you were too tired to even listen to me.” He turned and looked at his dad and said, “Tough is the way I should be.” His dad looked at his battered son with tears in his eyes. Ted said, “All I wanted for you to do is be there for me all of my life, did yall not realize how I never brought friends to the house or how I used to come home from school and lock myself in my room?” “They teased me so much, but nothing physical yet, but I knew it was coming soon. Did you not notice the change in my attitude or how I speak? Be there for me and love is all that I seek.” They rushed to his side and apologized for not listening and ignoring his feelings. Ted looked at his parents and said, “I will forgive you if you change my environment and be open and willing to listen to me.” Bullying is a horrible and vicious thing to do. You will never know how it feels until you are a victim and walk in that persons shoes. Anger should not be expressed in such an incriminating way. Talk to someone instead of showing hate!
- Jovanta Washington
Writer’s who aren’t being seen in the industry Many of our distinguished powerful, elite, African American’s complain, so much in not getting roles in film and television, but they forget about all those individuals who are trying to gain access to HOLLYWOOD or receive production for independent filming. My thinking is, if we stop complaining about the little things, they should extend their hands out to assist others who want to become like they are. We have writers who want the opportunity for their work to be seen and maybe openings would become available for actors to gain entry in parts being offered. Once this happens, there will always be complaints if their work isn’t being seen, but it’s always these words, “Send it to our producer….” It’s harder for a beginner to be seen in this industry.
- Casmier Tyler
Why Should I Even Bother? Why should I even bother to try to please people, when I’m always the one getting put last and always getting hurt. I guess they just try to be cool with me, so they can get information from me and can drag my name through the dirt. Why should I even bother to try to help everyone that calls and ask for my help, because when I need them, they are nowhere to be found; it feels like their taking advantage of me, because it’s all about themselves. I don’t know how to tell people, how I feel, because I have a problem expressing myself to others. Who do I turn to strangers, a counselor, my sisters, or brothers? You claim that your my friend and will always be there for me. I didn’t see it coming, I guess I was blinded and couldn’t see. Why should I even bother to give my all to everyone, every chance I get. I guess that I just yearn for that safety, trust, and love just like a kid. I shouldn’t try to be so friendly to everyone. Now the nice cool me is done. I never thought that you would be the one that hurt me so bad. Every time I was going through rough times you comforted me when I was sad. Now I’m stuck asking why I even bothered. Why did I have to be so nice? But I’m only going to be nice to the ones that I trust. Now it’s up to those people in my life to roll the dice. - Jovanta Washington
The dedicated Youth Marine Cadets from Harlem. WE ARE GIVING HONOR TO ALL MILITARY BRANCHES
VA
VETERANS AFFAIRS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ...TAKE NOTES! A powerful meeting was hosted on the day of April 5 by the “Jesse Brown VA Medical Center” that presented the “Young Entrepreneurs of the Universe (YEU) Veterans Initiatives.” This is the “MONEY SMART WEEK” – Conversations would continue from these dates April 2 - 9. The meeting was at the Woodson Library in Chicago; the meeting detailed information that talked about Veteran Affairs (VA) Benefits / Entrepreneurs. → To all veterans that didn’t attend this fantastic meeting…today, I’m here to give a brief synopsis of the meeting. To my knowledge, this information is ONLY for the veterans who live in the state of Illinois. Now, to find out more information about your state, you must go to your Department of Veterans Affairs Office in your state. Most of the information stated will change periodically in the course of weeks. Now, I’m not sure of the phone numbers, but was told that the (800)’s will be pinged around the US. You’ll never no what state department you’re talking to unless you ask. But when dealing with the government the laws will change at will. When president Obama speaks, there are laws being changed in the mist of his conversation. So people, listen close and beware! Property Tax Exemptions 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
Senior Freeze Exemptions Homestead Exemptions Disable Veterans 100% Service Connections Returning Veterans
To get faster information go to the Cook County Court-House in Markham, IL.
Here is some other information pertaining the VA. 1) 2) 3)
VHA – Veteran Healthcare = go to the Department of Veterans Affairs and get the handbook that talks about “Health Care Benefits Overview”. (red/yellow –book) Always remember Title 38. It determines your benefits…every person is different when they talk about benefits NCA = National Cemetery Association. Burial is free to VA’s
“Don’t let your pride defeat your purpose!” Call the Department of Veterans Affairs and/or appear. Get the knowledge that you deserve. Remember, you served in the United States Military. The government owes you for your dedication and service. Get the necessary benefits for yourself and your family. For more information connect to: YEU Veteran Initiatives P.O. Box 53128 Chicago, IL 60653 Phone> 773-918-3419 vetbizjobs@yahoo.com Jesse Brown May 13 & 26 for next meetings, please CALL for more information WWW.MONEYSMARTWEEK.ORG
by Casmier Tyler
WE NEED TO NETWORK. NETWORKING IS AN ESSENTIAL TOOL THAT CAN BE USED IN OUR EVERY DAY LIFE. TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL IS BEING ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE YOUR FIELD OF UNDERSTANDING.
SO PLEASE, HELP ANOTHER TO PROGRESS, WHILE YOU ARE STILL BECOMING THAT CEO AND EXECUTIVE OF YOUR COMPANY.
Thoughts by Casmier Tyler