T*S*E Rant ~ You became an 'Adult' when....

Before we begin this week, I want to end my “Morals” topic with the reason why —— even though I have been asked to discuss the George Zimmerman issue —— I am NOT gonna do it.
I understand that this is a hot topic amongst us and how the final verdict has got us all….antsy, but I can’t get involved {at least right now while the heat’s on}. Before starting K.I.R., I created ground rules that I would never discuss more than a couple of lines which I like to call RPR~

Religion—-
Since they’re so many different beliefs out there, there really isn’t a ‘right’ one.
Besides, I can go on about how I REALLY feel about the Bible and I’d have the Jesus jokers jumping down my neck.

Politics—-
The long and the short of it: they ALL lie!
It’s a blown out popularity contest between candidates that spout off promises and then flip the script once they get in the oval office.
It’d be nice if they gave SOMETHING to pacify us as to WHY they can’t keep their word.
They owe us THAT much.

Racism—-
I’m African-American i.e. BLACK, by that right; there wouldn’t be a SINGLE thing that comes out of my mouth that people will automatically think I’m gonna side with my race no matter what. Plus what I REALLY wanna say about my ‘brothers and sisters’ will make me a supposed traitor.


There it is, in a nutshell.
From the backlash I’m getting on WTOP, Zimmerman’s WHITE plus stalked and killed a BLACK child. I feel for both parties involved, but since this is another ‘divider’ of our great nation; I’m gonna let this problem resolve itself.

Going back to the last bit of ‘Morals’; on the real here~
While writing both parts and strolling down memory lane of my late father, I remembered something tangible {at least for me} about an unanswered question in the movie “Courageous”.
If you haven’t heard of it before now, I’m not giving it away here; get your ass down to a RedBox and rent it yourself. I WILL tell you that it’s from the writer of “Fireproof” and just as inspirational since this movie involves relations in close-knit families and not just madrigal issues {and before you claim otherwise, telling you the SYNOPSIS does not qualify as ‘giving it away’! I didn’t mention ALL the turn points or how many stories are rolled into it; but I think it’s pretty obvious how many there are once you see the DVD cover ;)}

I’m saying this one from the movie cuz it’s the damn topic.

There’s an incident where one of the characters has felt he has lost his worth as a parent to his children, so as he was chilling with his buds; he asks the question:

“What made you feel that you were officially classified as an ‘Adult’?”

Right away, they tick off what THEY saw as a rite of passage {owning a car, the day you lost your virginity, when you turned 18, had got your first apartment, ‘when my father told me I was’}; granted, only one sounded real insightful but it got me to think about when I thought I was.
Some go through life not really dwelling on it at all —— others use it as a foundation for raising the children.

Everyone has their own views on when they feel like they’re ready to take the responsibility as shown in different cultures~

Japanese believe that proof of Adulthood can happen at the age of 16 when they can give blood. Also, in ancient times; a rite of passage was decided by either the head of the family deeming the child into society by birthright or sometimes by the Elder of the village, but most of the time it was about what the young ones had learned and how they handled new challenges given.
Nowadays, some families keep up the tradition of passing a symbol or an object to loved ones or share information needed to know. My family saw fit to pass on information to me at a late age {25}, they never felt I was ready to know about the secrets that shouldn’t be repeated {….and I don’t intend to :P }.
What’s more important —- is what YOU feel classifies yourself as an Adult.

Mine currently is unfulfilled right now as when I felt like I would become one by paying my own bills with no aid. With this economy and only having one part-time job, I’m basically living back in a dorm room with a copy of the key; I AM paying some bills that I can afford plus the groceries but any bill over $60, my Ma pays for {thank GOD there’s only 3 of them}.


That’s my take on ‘being an Adult’ in today’s society…..
What’s yours?

Next week, Frankie D will be taking a break for my Tips. Don’t skip out on it now ;)

ALWAYS keep it real!

T*S*E Rant ~ Morals pt. 2

Hope you had a good weekend.
Enjoy part 2 of ‘Morals’ ——
If you don’t remember what happened last Tuesday, here’s the link:
http://cheetahkitandfrankied.blogspot.com/2013/07/morals-pt-1.html


I had mentioned a week ago that today’s generation got a bum rap by being verbally attacked and then ignored when we try to defend ourselves.
Well, let’s reexamine the evidence from where we left off~

CNN has done ‘research’ about the internet and how one reverts back to pre-teen adolescence {as suggested by the title chosen “It’s like never leaving Junior High”}, having evidence backing up his claim.

Here’s some key points from it~
“Janet Sternberg, a communications professor at Fordham University, says ‘the Internet and digital media have produced this ‘Peter Pan effect’ where we never grow up, we’re perpetual children, we never have to be responsible for anything — we keep this juvenile mentality’; ‘Restraint is one of the signs of adulthood, and our whole culture is celebrating a lack of restraint’….”

“….the Web has a clique for every would-be adolescent — class clowns, bullies, drama queens and fanboys; get to indulge in their petty squabbles, and few of them show signs of growing up….”
“Sternberg final statement is that ‘the idea that being an adult is prized in our culture — that idea is evaporating, it’s really uncool’….”


I also found another article that CNN did on advertising; this one was about an uproar in regards to a Victoria’s Secret ad targeted for the teenagers and pre-teens {now known today as ’tweens}~
“The popular lingerie brand was advertising items in its PINK line, which is geared toward younger women, with the slogan “Bright Young Things." The campaign featured underwear printed with phrases like “call me," “feeling lucky" and “wild." A 16-second YouTube video featured young-looking models splashing around in skimpy bikinis with the tagline “new spring break must-haves….”

“Diana Cherry, a mother of three and creator of a petition against this issue stated that it was ‘a glaring example of a culture forcing girls to grow up too fast’…."

“Commenters on the Victoria Secret Facebook page said the campaign was ‘disgusting’ and ‘sexually [exploited] teenagers’ —- many called on shoppers to boycott stores…..”



And now, the rebuttal ——starting with Miss Janet Sternberg’s commentary~

It’s true that we “down-grade” ourselves when we’re online {see Cyber Blood Bath #1-2}, I suspect it’s because we don’t know who’s on the other end and probably never will; so we talk smack with little to no repercussions. But in regards to her statement, I’m not sure using today’s youth as analogies makes any sense.
I have seen first-hand around me that most of our pre-teens are in the rebellious stage, yes; but still have a good head on their shoulders by thinking through before acting.
Verbal is another story.
Even though most have not heard the fine art of ‘tact’, the internet is one of the few places to communicate thoughts and stay in touch; mainly cuz no one actually REMEMBERS writing ‘snail mail’ or even bother doing that unless it’s a class project called Pen Pals.

As for the lingerie ‘mishap’~

I say again, kids are not to blame for the entirety of this supposed digression.
Let’s flip the script here —— WHO made this ad and countless others that drill the phrase ‘sex sells’ into our subconscious? WHO created the outfits that most of us look upon as ‘unique’?

Remember, the current generation’s powerless until we get that piece of paper after torcher from High School and again in College for x amount of years. It’s because companies have stooped to a level that causes the kids to think like sex-crazed maniacs be it on TV, internet or magazine.
Growing up, stuff like that wasn’t plastered on commercials often and if they were; they were on channels made for the adults of my time. The only thing my parents were concerned about was if my cartoons were too violent or showed too much racism {amongst OTHER things that happened to them at a young age —— again, a personal matter}. Sadly, “boycotting” is not gonna solve anything now cuz as a society, we’re too far gone. We are so used to finding bikinis and men with nothing on but a pair of boxer briefs shown on billboards and such; it’s become the norm.
The only way we can get out of it is to make a new motto like ‘COMEDY sells’ or something like that. I mean down-home loving gets many in the mood, but then why do we have so many Action and Horror movies?


A final thought on this subject…..if the new age parents take a good look at what their kids are buying, my Fashion blog, “WTF?!” and countless others would not exist {make no mistake that K.I.R. would continue ;) }; but then, they probably don’t care due to their treatment from the past generation in some way.

Next week, I will continue by asking you, the fans; your take on this matter since no one bothers to comment.
Also, with the craziness going on in her life between her new man and her family; Frankie D won’t be updating for a while. So, now you have to deal with me until she gives me a sign.

ALWAYS keep it real!

T*S*E Rant ~ Morals pt. 1

Here’s a subject for ‘Generation Y’——

Starting with the buzz on one Edward Snowden.

Don’t know who he is?
That’s alright, cuz your girl Cheetah’s got you ;)

Long story short, Snowden revealed information about a variety of classified intelligence programs, including the interception of US and European telephone metadata and some internet surveillance programs.
To dumb it down for those of us who aren’t Tech Term savvy {i.e. Me ;) }, these new programs are to basically eavesdrop on what we do and say to other people that most would agree —— are private to those involved like personal conversations and such.

When asked, Snowden said that he did what he did so that “the public can be informed as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them,” {My translation: where our tax money is going during this economy crisis and what we classify as ‘valuable info’ to the Average Joe is apparently statistics for our government}.
He continues by saying “I don’t want to live in a society that does these sort of things … I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under".
There are lots about him as a person that I found fascinating, but since I only have the maximum of three (3) pages; I can’t disclosed them all; to find out more, type in his name in your fave search engine. I will say this though, this guy’s one lucky SOB to get this job considering he has no High School Diploma.

The dude is now on the run to different countries that would welcome any chance to learn more about North America —— last I heard he was residing in Russia with a prank attached to it as he sent some journalists on a 12-hr flight to Havana with no alcohol due to the airline’s policy, to a destination he never planned on showing up to and they can’t leave the country for 3 days because of their laws {serves them right; bunch of parasites :P }…..bottom line, the rave about it is that because he gave away classified information, he is either seen as a ‘Traitor’ to some and a ‘Hero’ to most.

Overall on the Snowden subject; NSA is now currently being questioned on good judgment.


The main reason why this topic was called to my attention was the “stink” carried off from the comments made by most of society. They CLAIM that our children have no sense of responsibility or morals like knowing right from wrong.

…WTSF!

They are saying in between the lines that it’s OUR fault that US of A is in financial ruin, that we’re shooting out babies at a young age so we can get the government to bail us out; that we have no ‘work ethnic’ and don’t believe we never will and that we are disrespectful to those that came before us.
I’ve heard some BS before, but this goes beyond it! Now, I’m not saying that it doesn’t exist in some teens today; but they gotta realize that this shit didn’t just show up out of the blue —— it had to have come from somewhere!
They LIKE to think that we taught ourselves this stuff; in truth the current generation has NO power for change.

Let me sum it up for the people who actually AGREE with the statements that Generation Y are made up of sponges that create MORE problems~
MOST of what they said is the end result of what we learn from ADULTS from birth to pre-teen.
Think about it: Racism, Religion, Criticism….most of that comes from the home life we live in. 
From the womb to we head off to school, we’re taught what’s “acceptable” in the real world; depending on WHO we learn it from, it’s skewed to the point that we have to fill in the blanks from the rest of society {TV programs, other ‘experienced’ kids, the internet, etc}.
Now take a look at the contents of what we have as our “role models” —— you’re telling me that we’re responsible for that as well?

I’m gonna let the topic sink in for the rest of this week.
Part 2 will consist of more + go in depth on the influences of the internet AND show what exactly they are advertising.
Don’t forget to come back for Frankie’s Being Real: Sex, Lies and Drama update.
Keep it real, fans :)