Does Signing Galinari Help Nuggets Rebuilding Pain?

Can Gallo say healhty?

Disclaimer:  Disregard This Article If Gallo Gets Hurt......Thank You!

Call the loss of Carmelo Anthony whatever you want to call it. The New York Knicks acquired his services because they were willing to give up one important piece, and that was Danilo Gallinari (Timofey Mosgov and Wilson Chandler were sweeteners) who the Denver Nuggets just extended by 2 years to create a 3 year deal essentially worth $15 million per year.   If you are curious about the hope the Nuggets have for this season, the Gallo deal is all you need for clarification. A truly rebuilding team would let go of Gallo to get maximum value for him while teams are still willing to take a risk on his health. By keeping him and extending him just long enough to sign him again in 2 years if he lives up to expectation, the Nuggets have decided that Gallo's rebuilt knee are all the rebuilding this team needs for now.

                                                                 Disregard This Article If Gallo Gets Hurt......Thank You!

The Knicks never promised that Gallo would be the type of player that Carmelo Anthony had been in Denver while the Nuggets thought New York had won the deal but quietly hoped Melo would crumble beneath the immense weight  of Madison Square Garden and demanding Knicks fans. If Melo remains the great scorer and marginal teammate who never fulfills his promise to carry a team to the crown, Gallo won't only been seen as that valuable piece of the Nuggets/Knicks trade who really helped Denver ease the pain of losing Melo, he'll  soon be competing heads up with Melo for who's a better player.

Chandler might be scared to shoot at times, but he is a
consistent scorer who defends on the other end too.
Does a healthy Gallo make him an All-star player?
Does Mike Malone inspire him to his best?

Disregard This Article If Gallo Gets Hurt (you get it?)......Thank You!

This bold comparison of players assumes that Gallo will stay healthier than he has in his past as an NBA player.  When healthy, I'm banking on the youth and versatility of Gallo over the age and predictability of Melo. At 26 (almost 27), Gallo is at the prime of his career and likely to stay there for the next 5 years. Ty Lawson's designation as Denver's top player over the past few season's was primarily because Gallo missed too many games, not because Lawson deserved the label.

Now that Lawson is history in Denver, Emmanuel Mudiay has the chance to take over the Denver Nuggets soon and make this his team just as the new coach publicly declared, yet that's not likely to happen in his rookie season.  'Taking over a team' kind of leadership takes time to develop, especially at the point guard spot where premier players (Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, John Wall...etc.) are paid premier dollars to lead their teams with premier performances.  Mudiay must elevate his game and his team quickly if the Denver Nuggets hope to outperform the skeptics who have determined this team to be in full rebuilding mode despite the fact that, minus the point guard change, the roster looks mostly the same as it did last season. Gallo remains the teams best player for sure, but will he be keeping Mudiay's seat warm until he's ready to officially take over for himself?  At this point in his career Gallo has yet to show himself eager to be that kind of leader, preferring instead to hit big free throws and make big shots as his way to lead his team. Insiders suggest that this year could be different.



From the day Gallo and the gang arrived in Denver, this team has showed the ability to beat anybody so long as they bring a lunch bucket effort night in and night out.

 Three times in recent years, Denver's front office has gotten rid of capable coaches in the hopes that a less experienced replacement could accomplish something different despite the fact that 57 wins and a Coach of The Year in Denver represents the first bar that needed raising.



Michael Malone will be tasked with saving Tim Connelly's job by developing the future players while bringing cohesion to a team that must win enough games to justify basically standing pat with the roster. Melvin Hunt, a coach who had been with these same players since George Karl was here, seemed willing and capable of winning while developing the youth but was replaced for an uncertain change just like his two former bosses experienced.  Nuggets fans are clear headed enough to recognize championship coaches from first round exit coaches just as we recognize front office fishing expeditions. We also recognized that last years team could have won even more games if they had remained consistently professional and uncovered reliable outside shooting.  Connelly has promised us that his buddy Mike Malone is the right guy to deal with each of these issues.

Gallo is nothing if not a reliable shooter and an eager scorer.  He's had his moments of end game success and never shies away from living with the results of casting up game winning attempts. Whether Randy Foye or Wilson Chandler actually become consistent shooting help for these Nuggets hinges on the quality of shots they are given by our point guard tandem which now includes Mudiay- an exceptional passer- and veteran guard Jameer Nelson as the end game, ball handling decision makers who WILL distribute to the right players at the right times. Gallo's contract says he will be asked to create when games are tight, and his exceptional passing skills will also pay great dividends if he continues to elevate his stature as a capable and dangerous NBA scorer.

Smooth Says: "The Nuggets Are Rebuilding!"

Without the Mayor of Park Hill, Chauncey "Smooth" Billups in Denver's back court (which has been quite a few season's  now), way too many close games, even during the Karl years, have been lost in Denver due to poor end game execution. Because he never had a a half court attack, Karl's Nuggets had to blow teams out and hold on for dear life. This point is noteworthy because  I believe that a Nuggets team with a healthy Gallo will be nipping at the tails of their opponents in a lot of games this year.  If they find a way to establish the hometown, lung busting advantage, we should blow teams out occasionally just by virtue of the thin Mile High air. Taking the court with a healthy and mature Danilo Gallinari anchoring the way will snatch a couple of victories right out of the jaws of rebuilding's hungry mouth.

Take the Atlanta Hawks for example, a team without a closer or a means of insuring points when games are tight.  They advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with defensive effort and ball movement. Granted, the East is an easier road to take than what these Nuggets must overcome in the West, but it isn't a cake walk.  Minus a mid-series adjustment by Steve Kerr, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers would have taken the title from Golden State with east coast style basketball anchored by Denver Nuggets cast away, Timofey Mosgov.  It's possible that the Warriors have altered the course of future championship pursuits with their small ball victory, but the signs say several teams are still willing to try to win it all employing the bully-ball style that Cleveland almost won with.  These Nuggets are poising themselves to play both styles well.

Jusuf Nurkic is the Nuggets Center of the future, but the front
court is full of big men fighting for relevance.  Stay tuned!

If They Like Mosgov, Wait Till They Meet Nurkic.

In Denver, interim coach Melvin Hunt scratched out a few wins this way last year making the end of the season at least entertaining. But he also nurtured some of the new talent while doing it. There is a saying that basically goes, "what must be done eventually is best done immediately.  Mosgov got traded mid-season to Cleveland because Jusuf Nurkic made it a foregone conclusion.



When this portion of the Denver rebuild occurred, Shaw, and then Hunt, had to live and then die from the exploits of a rookie center. Coach Malone will be expected to win at least as much as Hunt did with this virtually unchanged roster just to justify another coaching change that left some Nuggets fans scratching their heads again. For this team, simply maintaining the mediocrity of last year's end would be considered growth through stability instead of what many around Denver are expecting to see this season- taking two steps back for the hope of one big leap forward (see; rebuilding).

I was primarily on board with the concept of rebuilding, though I think the process began with the firing of George Karl which ushered in the hope of playing young talent for long stretches (see; rebuilding). And then I watched Mudiay play during the summer league games.  He has some grooming to do as any young player would, but his time in China has paid off big with confidence and overall court awareness.  Mudiay is Rajon Rondo with a slightly better shot.  Rondo can't shoot so that is not a compliment.  Mudiay must improve in this area quickly because opponents WILL soon be forcing him to shoot the ball instead of allowing him to create for others, which he does extremely well already.  He is not a fearful or hesitant shooter so he will knock down some of those open shots from confidence alone on good nights.


Gallo and Galileo (finding stars)


Mudiay's bad nights won't be a lot worse than roller coaster Ty Lawson who was probably fighting hangovers as much as bad health last season. If Mudiay only has to be as good as Lawson wasn't last year, then signs are positive for some success. The only way THIS Nuggets fan accepts the word REBUILDING from the same core roster we've had since Melo left is if Gallo, whom I rejoiced over when we extended his contract, spends another year rehabilitating an injury.(Disregard This Article If Gallo Gets Hurt......Thank You!)  If Gallo STAYS healthy- the extended contract says the Nuggets are betting he will- he is a budding all star who will earn his first all-star appearance by keeping a rebuilding team in the hunt for the playoffs throughout the entire season. Whether or not they make it in will be a function of how good our new coach is at grooming babies and finding stars.

GOP Must Improve Their Own Health Care Law

You need an answer to what created Donald Trump?

ObamaCare created him.  Well not directly but indirectly with all of the constant promises from republicans that kept telling us all how horrible it was for America and how much they promised....promised to rid America of the mistake the first chance that they got.  To date, while popular in consumption, ObamaCare still does not poll well in popularity which is primarily due to the smear campaign that republicans used to help them win a majority in both houses of congress during the last election.

Republicans have not won much against Obama during his presidency, so the past election victory represented a milestone opportunity to stick it to the man who had stuck it to them so many times before.  Since winning that election, Obama has stuck it to republicans more than ever before with an assist from the Supreme Court who decided that language created for ObamaCare was not intentionally designed to dismantle it at the same time.

Those who sold their republican constituents a bill of goods relative to dismantling ObamaCare had to know that they would be asked for a respectable alternative that has yet to be suggested.  Republicans point to a number of bills that died in the House and Senate designed to repeal and/or replace ObamaCare, but none of these bills would ever gain the support of a wide swath of congress who remained hesitant to incorporate universal health care prior to the election of Barack Obama, and still remain afraid of the blood they will bear if somehow paying for a healthy America goes bust.

Has the ObamaCare scare turned in the favor of Obama?

The only reason America realized the impossible dream of universal health care is because the president who signed it into law chose a plan crafted and proven by republicans themselves.  If America had endless possibilities to the trials that challenge our social conscience and direction we would pick them like wild flowers in the field.  Universal health care, like all socialized measures, took so long because it needed to for the sake of proper considerations and trial runs like Mitt Romney and Massachusetts offered with their version of the same system we all use now.  Romney knew at the time of his running for the presidency that RomneyCare needed a couple of basic tweaks in order to operate more smoothly but he couldn't offer them up freely in fear of supporting the cause of Obama.

Those basic tweaks are still required yet on a national scale now since RomneyCare got gobbled up by ObamaCare and federal inefficiency.  The benefit is guaranteed solvency at the state level thanks to federal support.  The detriment is everything we expected from the insurance industry who currently operates with embedded financial protections and old behaviors that have caused them to game the system instead of trusting that more customers is better in the long run than milking the few you have.  Competition will eventually drive these scammers away from the market place, but probably not without a little support from congress, possibly with the threat of, or an actual single payer health care system to correct old insurance habits.

Whatever the fix, the fix must happen to ObamaCare because it is a proven model that lives.  Any real replacement requires transition and further change towards something that is frankly unknown. What remains is a pretty good idea created by republicans who have allowed a democrat president to steal it away from them.    Obama would hardly care if republicans reminded us who created ObamaCare or fight the claim since he's not up for re-election anyway, though his legacy is tied to the future solvency of his signature health care legislation.  My approach (are you listening Jeb Bush) would be to reclaim it as a republican ideology that was implemented poorly by a democrat who stole the idea in the first place.

Is the Trump craze being lead
primarily by angry white men?

In fact, that is exactly what it is.  Furthermore, the lack of repeal or attack against it at all is the singular reason why republicans are pissed off enough to actually be voting for Donald Trump.  In reality, only the angry republicans are holding up Trump right now and his polling shows that he must capture a wider segment of republican voters to even continue on his primary path, which is likely the reason for his third party considerations.  Currently, he has sucked up the air that was supposed to be breathed by Rand Paul and Chris Christie, notorious blowhards who are sucking wind with the rise of Trump.

Republicans could really help themselves by pissing off Trump just enough to hasten that third party move he's considering, and then move to recapture the health care law that they created in the first place.  Until they do that, the Obamacare scare  that they also created will continue to haunt only one side of this fight.

Are They Playing Fair? Huffington Post Pushes Donald's Diatribes To Entertainment News Page.

pol·i·ti·cian

ˌpäləˈtiSHən/

noun

a person who is professionally involved in politics, especially as a holder of or a candidate for an elected office.

Is Donald Trump a politician?  You better believe it!!

synonyms:

legislator, elected official, statesman, stateswoman, public servant; More

• US

  a person who acts in a manipulative and devious way, typically to gain advancement within an organization.

Donald Trump may not appreciate being connected to the field of politics, but the definition of the field fits "The Donald" to a tee. Unashamedly, Trump has always sold America a bill of goods that he's now hoping to use for a run at the highest office in the land. Unfortunately, he's so very good at politicking that he might just win this thing, and even Trump seems to be growing afraid of a job that is much more appealing to throw darts at versus dodging them for 4-8 years.

Despite a GOP party that has mostly allowed Trump to be as abrasive as he'd like, Trump is now threatening to go Ross Perot and do the third party run which would likely do for the Clinton family exactly what it did for them the first time when Bill Clinton unseated George H.W. Bush thanks to an assist from third party Perot.  Trump is manipulating the American political process in a devious way to gain advancement- but not within the GOP necessarily who are hopelessly tied to a disjointed party platform that isn't inspiring mainstream America like it used to.  In order to really fix his hot button issue- immigration, President Trump will have to really be a friend of Mexico and not just a politician that criticizes them and later pretends to have a bond with these ridiculed people just because he hires so many of them

Trump hasn't had to change his message because he's politically savvy to alter it just enough to ease the heat.  When his accusing the Mexican government of criminal mischief didn't play well on every air wave, Trump simply adjusted his message with a back handed compliment describing them (Mexico) as smarter and craftier than our government.  When asked by CNN's Anderson Cooper whether or not we have a problem with policing of black people in America in response to the Sandra Bland video, Trump remained politically non-committal by saying; 

"I hope we don't, but we might".

Trumpis not a lifelong elected politician because he is an even worse type of politician, similar to Rush Limbaugh who plays the game exclusively for personal gain and not for love of country.  Trump might be a victim of his own bombastic nature, but he seems way too bombastically calculated for any of us to treat him as an accidental tourist.  He's been on this journey in one form or another for as long as we've known him. Now, the only thing that has changed is the form of his hustle

Maybe he's going for political influence like Bill Clinton has used to create a worldwide corporate empire, sensing the end of "The Apprentice" and the need of a new reality television show to keep himself relevant to the world. Don't be surprised if all of these Trump Tower interviews are not being recorded by Trump to become the basis of some show that we get to buy from Trump  after the election season is over. 

Whatever the motivation, no candidate who continually raises his middle finger to the entire political process is really hoping to win it all in the end.  Trump is running a new kind of political game on the populace and some of us are so tired of that old game that we would play any new game just for the sake of change.  A third party run would keep the control of Trump's game squarely at Trump Towers and through Trump twitter feeds, two methods of message delivery that have cost "The Donald" no money and no energy for an amount of air time that he could never truly afford to pay for- especially with some questions over his actual wealth given the recent release of his financial documents.

He might not be quite as rich as he first told us, but he is still just as smart as he still claims to be. He graduated near the top of the best school in America (Wharton).  Assuming he wins,Trump would be relinquishing his access to wealth creation until he has fully finished his days as president of America.  Without question, his presidency would be a major income demotion for "The Donald", who's appears to be worth somewhere between 1.54 billion  and 10 billion in assets based upon document review.  If Trump is not seeking the presidency to diminish or destroy his entertainment value, he's not going to run without displaying it.  Until the rest of the media recognizes their role in Trump's manipulative game like the Huffington Post has realized, he will use them all as the key asset to his twisted self indulgence masquerading as a run at the presidency.

That's Entertainment!

The Huffington Post has decided that most of Trump's escapades are nothing more than acts of entertainment that deserve to be placed in the entertainment section and not on the front page of real news that covers real candidates who don't snub their noses at our process just to elevate themselves.  Whether you support their decision or not (I do), you have to acknowledge that the media seems more entertained by the Trump story than convinced that he's a viable option for the office.  For several days now, the same media that shoved their microphone's in the face of Trump so that they could laugh at his brashness has had to turn the microphone around on themselves while asking the question of, "why is it actually working?".

Political  pundits are usually fairly good prognosticators when determining the likely twists and turns of politics.  Most expect the crash and burn of Trump even while few can tell you when or how it begins.  This is the most unlikely of political stories, so judging its end is harder than explaining its existence in the first place.  Most people will tell you that he will eventually come back down to earth, but that is based upon normal political experience created under normal political circumstances.   The presidential run of Trump, while entertaining, is hardly normal.

It is also nothing if not a clear representation of some segment of the GOP voting block.  Worse tthan Mitt Romney, Trump would struggle as a GOP candidate in a general election, yet that doesn't matter to those who still question the birth of Barack Obama.  For years, Trump has lead this political charge against the president because it offered political attention that could be cashed in.  Trump is now leading a new political charge but for the same old political reason's.  Cashing in.

Would tough talk from Donald insure war with Putin?

Trump, who hurt his net worth with his toxic rhetoric, must use his political smarts to achieve the same political plan he's always displayed as a political entertainer.  Candidate Trump never planned  to console the families of the lost soldiers who die when president Trump upsets Vladimir Putin and must deploy troops in Ukraine. That's not the kind of entertainment Trump had in mind when he started this marketing plan.  $500,000-$750,000 per speech like Bill Clinton gets, however, is a great form of work for an old guy, and Trump (69) is a year older than Bill (68) and two years older than Hillary Clinton (67) and in need of an easier way to cash in on his persona.  If you don't connect Trump's entertainment plan to his peculiar political behavior then you too might remain a puppet in "The Donald's" twisted reality show.

If Hillary won't do interviews for the entertainment hungry press and the rest of the presidential field isn't entertaining enough to deserve free press, Trump is willing, ready and able to fill the entertainment void for them all.  So whenever its hard to make sense of a nation that seems hungry to watch the political performance of a circus clown, we have to keep in mind.

That's entertainment!

If No Iran Deal Now Netanyahu, Then When?

Regardless of what the talking heads in Washington will tell you, this Iran deal is good for America, good for the next president and good for society. The last four  countries with similar nuclear deals cheated the deal and arrived through back door maneuvers, and eventually the same thing could happen with Iran, but that is a right to bear arms debate for another blog. 

Isolation and further sanctions are options with certain outcomes because economic war or real war have anticipated results.  Economic war worked miserably in Cuba, and even Netanyahu and his republican colleagues in America are afraid of real war with Iran.

Unconditional negotiations were promised by Obama the Senator candidate for president, and unconditional negotiations; combined with strong worldwide support with sanctions, created an Iran willing to talk.

If you follow history's script, Iran's hate for Israel and America has created a segment of the population in Iran that publicly preach US hate.  If you turn history back a few pages, you will find state sponsorship of the Confederate flag in America and white hooded men who were allowed to burn crosses and speak hate towards blacks, Jews, gays and even America by waving the flag of the losing army.

Actually, that segment of America just created Dylann Roof so no need to flip the page at all. It also pushed the South Carolina legislature to get their Confederate flag down quickly because the white hooded guys still ride, still speak hate, and had a date to rally around that South Carolina flag one more time.

Hate groups in America have risen during the Obama years but Iran never used it as a reason to not negotiate; though it could be impacting those hate rallies we see televised from Iran. The entire world community stands at the ready for war with Russia over Ukraine, yet no one imagined accomplishing the sanctions or these negotiations without Russia- no pre-conditions on Putin.

China is China. The fact that we do business in China given the nature of the Cold War rhetoric that I grew up hearing is remarkable, although capitalism made the marriage of these nations inevitable. The Iran deal included China's involvement........China!!

Iran has American hostages, we have Guantanamo Bay and nobody loves Russia or China except China and Russia. There will always be elements of perception that each of the six nations negatively hold towards one another- but business is business.

Capitalism now demands that Iran not only get involved in the suppression of ISIS and nuclear weapons, but get involved with the proliferation of the TPP since Iran, and Cuba by the way, fall along the pathway of TPP commerce.  Normalized relationships might look like legacy points for Obama, but they need to go in the column of economic successes before they will ever be accepted as the diplomatic achievements that are mostly debatable right now, especially if Iran cheats like all the others have.

The bigger question for the Iran deal is still Netanyahu. What will he do given the fact that Congress needs too many Democrats to avoid the veto strength of the president? When pressed hard during a recent NPR interview (Morning Edition), Netanyahu admitted that this deal or no deal actually changes nothing. Israel will have to protect themselves from any perception of aggression from Iran whether we have access to monitor their nuclear program or not.

Which makes any opposition to monitoring downright idiotic. A nation that can never be trusted does not become more trustworthy after anger and frustration persist through sanctions. In fact, a nation that gets pulled deeply into the proliferation of capitalism cannot be trusted either. Iran will soon be seeking to kill US with trade deals instead of car bombs.

Just ask Donald.

Postscript: My brother Obama is late...again, to the announcement of the historic nuclear deal with Iran.

Keep it real my ninja...keep it real.

Does Cosby Deserve The Same Grace That Roof Got?

For the sake of argument, let's agree that being gay and monogamous, maybe even loving one person of your same sex enough to possibly commit yourself to them forever, is a sin even though the bible warns about same sex, not same sex marriage exactly.

So many of the people who invoke the Holy Bible of Christianity for the sake of rebuking abortion and homosexuality reject the rest of the same bible when it focuses on the call of Grace and forgiveness.  For a simple minded person like me, that means to think on Grace and focus on forgiveness before judgment finds me needing them for myself.

If you were one of those people who came to the rescue of America's former favorite father Bill Cosby like R&B singer Jill Scott did, you are likely to be needing Grace and forgiveness from the claimants who've called themselves Cosby's victims for a long time since they are looking more like victims than opportunists with each passing day.

I have chosen to refrain from detailed contribution on this topic because accusations are a really sad reason for adding to the destruction of a human life.  Guilty or not, Cosby deserves the same march towards conviction, settlement or absolution that every other accused universally beloved date rape drugger deserves. When you say that out loud, it sounds like the reason we don't want to touch this one. If not guilty, we are disrupting our own childhood by destroying Bill.  If found guilty of this, Cosby at least deserves what that Penn State rapist, Jerry Sandusky got- or what we wish we could give to all of those Catholic ministers who  got away with abusing young boys.

I just angered myself with the thought of these forms of hideous sins and our relative lack of unified outrage, which reflects as denial to me.  Are we really more agitated by the marriage commitment of homosexuals than we are with Bill? Based upon our opening agreement, sin is still sin for now, however, rape like Bill is accused of doing feels like a lower form of  sin when I imagine the outwardly destructive things man does towards man versus the personal sins we do to ourselves or with consenting adults. This Cosby crap is upsetting like child molestation but maybe even more sadistic when you imagine someone willing to incapacitate and then violate an unconscious person.  While also distorted,  necrophilia seems more dignified in that the corpse doesn't have to live with the pain of the violation forever.

Grace and forgiveness are screaming in my ear to relax and release.  Take a few deep breaths. Wait on a firm conviction first.

Terror at a Boston marathon, a Colorado movie theater or a South Carolina church service are horrific sins, but  are also NOT UNworthy of forgiveness. Since the Bible declares that all do sin and fall short of the glory, it indirectly suggests that we all have an equal need for His Grace. Human guilt has a way of creating a barrier between the forgiveness we desperately need because all of our guilt gets manifested when we approach that final crossing towards the Grace for an overcoming life, not just for salvation when we die.  Its at this moment when most people look down  at the tattered bridge before them and don't trust it enough to step out towards living Grace, afraid that it might give way on them before they make it across.

Crossing the bridge of judgement requires forgiving yourself.

Those who step out  eventually recognize that they are traversing across the bridge called Guilt that separates man from the sin we do and the forgiveness that fixed it all.  If you focus on the judgement beneath you and not the Grace before you, you will fall, prey to your own sins and be forced to climb your battered body back to the top complete with your new found fear and scars, just to rejoin the increasing crowd of the fearful.

These are the forgiven believers that stand fearfully frozen by guilt while screaming judgement's at those who chase onward because they are afraid to chase for Grace themselves.


Unbelief Is The Worse Of All Sins

Faith is a Grace journey that junctions at this cross bridge where fearful believers gather for forgiveness. No one whose courage carries them to the other side will ever look back on those yet to make it and find the heart to judge the rapist or the raped; the terrorist or those damaged by terror. His open arms of Grace usher us to step out in faith viewing all sin as nothing more than guilt's burden strapped to the back of the redeemed,  Standing next to Him on the good side of Grace compels us toward this same view one to another.

So fret not Bill Cosby and those who falsely judge him before time.  Judging and date rape drugging may never outrage like gay marriage does, and are also not the worst sin of them all.  Unbelief (atheism, agnosticism)is the one sin you don't want to die with.

By faith- everything else is forgiven.

"Amy". Must See Film For So Many Reasons

I drug pulled my wife out to catch the opening of Amy because of
an NPR radio interview with the director and Amy's original manager that was almost as riveting as the actual documentary.  It's been two decades since I smoked a fag (whatsup North London) or paid full price for a film and didn't feel somewhat sick.  This film I must see again, and I would pay double the cost.  "Amy" left me with a combined feeling of appreciation for an artist that I had haphazardly disregarded in the past, and sadness that I've been on the outside for so long.  When I go back to see it tomorrow, it will be a large acceptance of my Amy ignorance and her depth as a songstress, which makes a cursory view insufficient.

If you think she was just a run of the mill North London Jewish girl who grew up loving and mimicking Tony Bennett and the greats (sorry Gaga), it's time to think again.

Near the close of this documentary, even Tony Bennett declares that Winehouse deserves to be remembered on the same level as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, a compliment I  agree with and never heard Bennett aim at Lady Gaga, someone who Winehouse is often compared to. As my wife and I reluctantly exited that freezing cold theater- frozen and enthralled all at once- she didn't hesitate to rank Winehouse's song writing ability and singing skill above the legendary Whitney Houston, who was an excellent singer but did not write or play music like Amy taught herself to do.  I was hesitant to declare it first because it felt like black people blasphemy to say, but I certainly had the same thought long before my wife's words gave me the freedom to agree.

For those of us who had no real clue, Amy Winehouse was one of the most powerful singer songwriter's that most of the world never knew. Thanks to pop culture, some people already think they understand who she was and how she impacted music, but until now, no one has delivered that message to us commoners. If the Whitney Houston comparison isn't blasphemous enough, this film felt like finding a hidden book of the Bible to my senses: a book that only North London had in full possession before today.  My wife expressed her enjoyment for being drug to the film by saying; "Thanks for that.  I feel different now".

Ditto dear. Ditto. 

Whatever Amy Winehouse was. North London understood like we do now. Thanks for that North London. The world will soon know too. as this film's reviews will likely move it onto more screens than just the limited off-beaten theater's of documentary films

The director of Amy, Asif Kapadia, does an important thing to include Winehouse's lyrics on screen along with certain songs.  The impact leaves the viewer traveling through the twisted worlds of a skilled poet whose effortless singing ability get lost in this film from your amazement at her writing skill. Before now, it was always the other way around when an uneducated person like me listened to Winehouse. This film made Amy an inspiration to my own writing for the clean honesty of her words.  Her writing was concise and complete. Pure and pointed in purpose; backed by that blessed beyond measure voice, a voice that would someday be her demise.  In the documentary and near the time of her actual death (July 23, 2011), Winehouse wishes she could give up the gift to sing for a chance to walk down the street again.

Rolling Stone Cover

She Always had those eyes.

Amy Winehouse was a special plant that flowered and withered before we took a fair look, running away in laughter at the liquor laden lady we lamented. When this documentary shows that memorable picture of Amy Winehouse on the cover of The Rolling Stone magazine, it no longer looks like the same person we made fun of back then, but a strange flower that we had never seen before.

Always!

This film accomplishes that and more, helping to show how our memories of her were crafted during the depth of her depravity, and her failed attempt to get away from it all as she kept being pulled "Back to Black", the name of her Grammy winning album, which included the famous song "Rehab". Both titles are terribly revealing of the space she was in while writing the album that blew up her career and her life in some ways. At the time of her death, Winehouse was fighting to move towards the kind of music that she loved the most instead of the catchy pop album that she is still famous for to this day.






"Amy" is beyond a must-see documentary, it is a must see insight into a person that we all (social media and the public that feeds it) contributed to destroy, and a loss that hurt the world more than Amy hurt herself.  No one will leave this film and feel happy about the day they joined in laughing at Amy Winehouse for the mistakes she made in front of the camera.  More than that, this film leaves you deeply sad about the songs she didn't get to make, and we didn't get to enjoy.  This film is aptly called Amy from the main character of the documentary, but it should be subtitled "Don't Judge The Book".

Because of Amy, I'm gonna clean up my writing for poetic delivery- and then I'm downloading every Winehouse tune I can find until I feel like a North Londoner.

U.S. Women's Soccer Get's Epic Victory Over Japan

Hope Solo

Carli Lloyd played like Michael Jordan in the swang song to a World Cup season- which makes Megan Rapinoe her Scottie Pippen perhaps.

With her defensive prowess in net, Hope Solo would naturally be Dennis Rodman in this hoop laden analogy, but the whole endeavor is to explain, describe, evoke the pure dominance that the US World Cup Women's soccer team displayed in the revenge laden massacre of Japan to capture the championship victory.

Last time around it was Japan who walked away with the victory.  Well, actually the U.S. team avenged that loss with an Olympic victory in soccer, but who cares about Olympic soccer?  Going into the U.S. vs Japan rematch game, the women kept repeating that they were not trying to remedy a wrong with a victory over Japan.  Their play proved them to be telling the truth because this team played as if they were seeking to be seen as the best team in the world and beyond, and they used the World Cup championship platform as an opportunity to display the full capacity of their ability.  They may have only scratched the surface on their ability as a team.

Megan Rapinoe

Without a doubt, the younger players who were either backups during the last defeat, or weren't even on the team, felt the necessity of bringing their best for the vets.  After scoring 4 goals within the first half of the first half, the U.S. came back down to earth and gave up a restless goal by falling asleep against a dangerous opponent.  Japan threatened to score two more times before I could fully ingest their first strike, but Hope Solo rose up like Rodman to stifle Japan's attack.  Although they had to deploy it early, Japan abandoned the kamikaze approach this time because it proved to open the field up to the space the U.S. needed for the 4-0 breakout. In sports with nets and goalies, 3 goals is a cushion while 2 goals simply is not. Playing with any lead can be tough- unless you are on a mission slightly larger than a World Cup.

Lloyd playing for the U.S. national team in
San Jose, California on May 10, 2015.

What was clear to fans like me, who only care to watch soccer during the World Cup or when I score some free tickets to see the July 4th Colorado Rapids game, complete with fireworks (still waiting on that to happen actually), was that the U.S. team was stronger, faster, more talented and totally better coached this time as well.  They were the Chicago Bulls with Lloyd creating extreme problems like Jordan, attracting so much defensive attention all while scoring and creating for teammates, just like Mike. Winning the Cup was valuable to this team, but seemed a distant second to establishing themselves as the best team in the galaxy, bar none.



Just the dynamic of U.S. versus Japan begs recollection of two nations once at war, and the lingering impact of animus that feels historically deposited into the DNA of each nations citizens.  We may never find ourselves dropping bombs on one another, but we darn sure expect war in athletics every chance we get.  If the 4 quick strikes from the U.S. didn't destroy the will of the enemy- and it didn't- would we need another deadly onslaught  to avoid the risk of playing too defensive, encouraging a Japan comeback? Once Japan closed the score to 2 points in the second half, the U.S. quickly responded to re-establish their cushion and their credibility as the best team in the galaxy. Maybe the universe.

Several of the players found themselves at a loss for words with the dominance of their "out of this world" performance.  Could their be a team in another universe that might have beaten this team last night?

Not last night.  Not in this universe or any other.  That is what message our U.S. women's soccer team sent with their manner of play.  No matter who they had to play on that day, this team was focused on prevailing.  As they finally raised the championship trophy before a Canadian crowd of 50,000, it seemed eerily small compared to the enormity of the performance.  It also seemed to be exactly the statement that they were after.

Should The Dukes Of Hazzard Be Left Alone?

We loved this stupid show.  Some of us (not just me)
role played the Dukes for hours on end as kids.  

I was doing just fine with this Confederate flag removal thing- until it included the Dukes of Hazzard.  Under pressure to remove all vestiges of the flag, we just took out the General Lee too?


While I understand that many mistaken images and ideas of youth need to be reconsidered for the hope of change, I also recognize that perception is reality, and none of us perceived the General Lee, Bo and Luke Duke's iconic car, as an image of racial oppression.

Kind of reminds me of the word "nigger" itself if you think about it.  What was intended as a negative insult against black people became a word embraced by the culture and transformed into a word of pride and identity.  There aren't too many people-black or white- who I consider my nigga's, but those who I do know it and appreciate it.

You mean to tell me that they're getting rid of
 Bo and Luke Duke and Daisy's booty shorts?

I am not very eager to let go of things that I am proud about, and the General Lee (and my nigga's) happens to be on that list.  Sure, I cater my use of the word, and we could air brush the top of the car and keep the show on air, but what is that?  If I was a kid who got a toy General Lee without the Confederate flag, I would think it was a cruel joke. There were a lot of memorable images that we took away from the Dukes of Hazzard, but memories of a KKK cross burning wasn't one of them.  I would probably have to watch the show again to uncover the pro confederacy aspects that could be offensive to a more aware mind, but I might just forget my train of thought with a glance at those Daisy Dukes.

What about Daisy Dukes?  Shall we ban the wearing of those trendsetting shorts since they came to be while watching a show that supported the confederacy?  By the rationale we are currently using on this one, Roots by Alex Haley could be next because of its graphic reminder of history too.  While I don't support the government sponsored waiving of the confederate flag, I also don't like this rewriting of history, especially the  non-offensive parts of my childhood damnit.

Is this the imagery of an afro-centric
confederate flag of sorts?

Afro-Centricism is nothing new although it has a terribly conflicting history.  As blacks fought to capture a sense of dignity in a nation that resisted it, we looked back to the motherland to remind ourselves of our origin and the origin of mankind.  Blacks didn't raise a new flag, but afro-centrics adopted the colors of Africa for a sense of heritage and belonging that we otherwise didn't have in America.  A few of us started wearing dreadlocks, and others found their black power in their clothing and headdress.  In the early 90's, I wore a few of the t-shirts and medallions, but they lost me when they started telling me and other blacks that we needed to stop saying nigga.

Apparently, my word of pride and identity was too strongly rooted in oppression to persist in the use, even though I didn't use it with an "er" ending or an "er" meaning.  Regardless of that view, progressive blacks tell me that I am allowing a word to live that needs to die from our culture.  Similarly, the confederate flag never needed to fly in state capitol buildings, but it waves in the heart of Dixie for a reason that history can't just airbrush away.


There was a time when a t-shirt and a slogan represented the extent of the race debate. That's not working out so well anymore, yet still today, some white people that don't easily recognize the institutional impact of race think that blacks are making up the racism they experience. Several recorded police beatings have helped, but most of the beaten were passed off as criminals that didn't  even deserve the kind of arrest Dylann Roof got.

 While my high school experience was fairly diverse, I too can recall the incidents when my color- not my behavior or choices- forced me into police interactions that my white friends would never find themselves.  I left high school and sought for the relaxed comfort of blackness in the ultra black city of Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta allowed me to breath air I had never even smelled before, free of assumptive judgement that you will never understand until you endure the black experience.

And then I discovered that blacks assumed I was ready to change my nigga's into good friends since I wore afro-centric garb.

I rejected that garb and that garbage along with the notion that "It's a black thing, so whites couldn't understand".  I still have my very old t-shirt with the slogan, but I only wear it at home because the entire concept is just a weak excuse for silent indignation.  White people can be made to understand the necessity of pride in one's heritage and ancestry and the importance of finding value in your history instead of wallowing in the guilt of ancestral struggles.  Some of them (confederates) already do, even though their value for the flag is not exactly the same as the Klan who waves the same flag, but for different reasons.

Don't Black People Love The Duke's Too?!!

All you guilty collectors, give me a call.

I totally support the black pride afro-centric thing as a means of finding the positive aspects of race and culture.  I don't support erasing history or silencing any man as a means of converting him. Right now, an entire generation of young black rappers are trying to make sense of a word they were raised to use with pride, but are now being told not to be proud of  or use anymore.

I'm sorry, but I appreciate Daisy Dukes and want the General Lee Hot Wheels car with the flag. Please. And I really don't care who disagree's.  My white friends shouldn't feel bad or racist for loving and fighting for the Dukes of Hazzard because me and many other blacks are struggling with this one too.  As one of my dear white friend's suggested, maybe BET should pick up the show.

Sounds like a great idea to me. Call it a racial olive branch if you must, but put the show back on air.  It's a part of our childhood and a huge part of America's reproductive history.  Gotta love those Daisy Duke's.

(lol) GOP Has Donald Trump In Second Place (smh)

If Donald Trump is polling so well, maybe I can
enter the republican primary under the name
Milwaukee Brewer?  It could work!

No one, and I repeat- NO ONE is shocked by the way in which Donald Trump has decided to conduct himself as a presidential candidate.  He showed similar behaviors in the run-up that has essentially lasted the entire term of Barack Obama, the apparent impetus for the Donald who wants to be president too now.


What is absolutely shocking is that Donald Trump is running second place in the republican primary race (CNN poll). No one, including me, should ever be too shocked by polls because they are designed and tailored to accomplish goals as much as they are created to gauge the public at large.  In other words, don't believe the hype. Polls might genuinely have a pulse on the electorate (CNN is generally accepted as credible), but they are never a crystal ball into the future.  One crazy news cycle or poll booth jitters can upset a poll, no matter how accurate it seemed at the time.


For Donald Trump, the news cycle that should be destroying his polling came from his own foul mouth.  During the Trump presidential announcement, his first minute of conversation involved berating Mexico for sending undesirables to America on purpose, as though there is some concerted effort from the Mexican government to pay coyotes for the mass levels of South American immigration, which is not primarily Mexican immigration anymore by the way.  I fought the trigger finger on my remote, ready and willing to turn the channel on Donald's announcement because of the instant anger I felt with the calculated words of a bigot.

Now, business after business (Univision, NBC, Macy's) have sounded the alarm against Donald's bigotry by pulling the plug on their business relationships with him.  Although these business hits won't instantly trump Trump's many enterprises, but they don't help the company image and reach, which have everything to do with the breadth of Trump's wealth access.  What might be happening right before our eyes is the end of Donald Trump the business magnet who many people wanted to do business with and the beginning of Trump the silent investor who needs to thank his nemesis Obama for keeping the last pieces of his portfolio worthwhile.

What hasn't happened yet is the meltdown of Donald Trump the politician who continues to rise in the polls regardless of how offensive he remains as a person.  For whatever reason- despite or in spite- the Donald keeps rising.  The poll we probably need next should be labeled simply and succinctly.

Why Trump?

"Mexico is not our friend", says Trump.

Why would we want to elect the guy who offends Mexico and China all within a week of his presidential announcement?  Why is his brash bold behavior worthy of consideration in the first place, much less second place in the polls?  Who are the people propping up Trump so that he can mock his recent business mistakes, as though an imminent presidential victory will make it all moot?   Most importantly, why would anyone want to have Donald Trump as the man that represents them before the world?

Every since the selection of John McCain (who later forced Sarah Palin on the public) as a rejection of the Mormon Mitt Romney,  the republican field has been so terribly unsettled, that anyone and everyone will have a moment in the sun before its all said and done.  Donald Trump offers familiarity and entertainment that make all of this familiar republican primary nonsense at least a bit more entertaining.  Since we have another year and a half of this rigmarole, what is wrong with a little entertainment?

Of the many successes that President Barack Obama has enjoyed over the past six years, hallmarked of course by the past six days, history will also reveal a wake of ruined combatants who allowed Obama anger or bigotry, as well as an over inflated view of themselves, to encourage them to step out and dry up in the exposed sun of politics.  The list of great politicians who actually parlayed their political prowess into civilian riches starts and ends with Bill Clinton.  Obama will likely join him in that museum along with a special wing for those destroyed while attempting to do the same to him.  Call it the Trump wing if you want because he will never rise to any real height if he keeps persisting as a foul mouthed politician, and is swiftly allowing politics to destroy his business reputation as well. Trump seems to be shocking the field, but I could get 10 - 12% in the republican polls by changing my first name to Milwaukee and entering the race as Milwaukee Brewer.  Polling during this time of the race is as much name recognition as it is anything, and a name like Milwaukee would garner at least 10% from the state of Wisconsin alone.

What we are really learning is that the political party that says they refuse to have a coronation party like Hillary is having, has opted for an out of control, traveling amusement park instead.

Will he run? Can he beat Donald Trump?

And the polls say?:

At a cheap amusement park, its mandatory to give every ride a try, and right now the one with bad hair and a potty mouth has captured the interest of a segment of the crowd.  This ride, like every cheap amusement park ride, will get boring soon enough and then one more candidate, I mean ride can be added to the field.  Scott Walker seems to be the only ride we've looked at but can't ride since he has yet to join the race officially. However, much like Chris Christie, Walker has campaigned enough to piss off Wisconsin voters so that he won't be welcomed to return as a re-electable governor, forcing him to join the presidential race soon, which will provide him his moment near the lead of the pack like the rest have enjoyed if only for a moment.  Walker is trying to hold out for the field to weaken and the GOP to become desperate for someone else and electable.


As a warning Scott Walker, unless you add a little potty to your mouth or snark to your speaking,  the trend says that you might not be able to poll better than Donald Trump or Milwaukee Brewer, who both have you beat in name recognition and entertainment value. If you are laughing at the thought of me entering the republican primary under the pseudonym "Milwaukee",  keep in mind that Donald Trump is second place in the republican polls.

Now stop your laughing.

Will He Run? Does He Have A Choice?