Have You Noticed? Changes in the Out-of-Wedlock Conversation in the Black Blogosphere

 thecrazyartist Just remember that the Internet does empower immaturity, because of its lack of accountability.

But I'm always glad to see more intelligent and measured responses to anything.

 Kiwiwriter I think I've heard about that Newark program. It's a great idea. Somewhere the cycle needs to be broken. I've always thought there needs to be widespread parenting classes and mentoring programs. 

 keimiasmoon The classes have gained national media attention. We just had a Wall Street Journal reporter do a story about our Ex-Offender Re-Entry Program. It has a 70 percent non-recidivism rate.

It's one of the EASIEST THINGS for a guy to become a father....just one night...for a mother thats a 'little' different  (40+ weeks with hormonal crashes) BUT it takes at least 18+ years to raise a human being...and not less. Those with fathers and mothers together are blessed indeed...double if they lived a little 'traditional' (mother and father in a business together)

Very true...it takes only six seconds for a man to become a father. Very depressing.

I had a pal who was a social worker...she said her single female clients with kids all regretted not having got the abortion after the kid hit age 2, and started TALKING and WANTING. They were very delighted to have a cute little live baby that didn't do much but wet its pants and gurgle on cue, but once that kid started talking and talking back, they were in over their heads. And it only gets harder.

Every child who comes into this world should be planned and wanted, I think. I know that's impossible to achieve, but we can try.

 Kiwiwriter DS9 is my favorite out of all the Star Trek shows, mainly because of Avery Brooks. I didn't realize until I was an adult how important Capt. Sisko and Jake were.

I had trouble keeping the Star Trek characters, plots, and situations straight after they unveiled "Deep Space Nine," "Voyager," and "Enterprise." In fact, I have never seen the latter two series at all, and only a few episodes of "Deep Space Nine." 

I do like what they did in the reboot of the series with 2009' "Star Trek" movie, which I saw with Mayor Booker at a special event in Newark...he paid for the picture and popcorn, and we had kids from the community and a collection of Navy midshipment on a leadership course in Newark attending the screening. I handled the media (they were there) and took photographs for photo captions. One kid brought a "USS Enterprise" model.

As an Aspergian and a nerd, I was delighted to see that the nerdish and Aspergian Spock got Uhura (and we finally learned her first name), over Jim Kirk.

But back to your point...yes, I caught on Captain Sisko and Jake pretty quickly, and saw their importance. The show was very much about Europe rebuilding after the collapse of Communism, in some ways.

And for the record, I think the best "Star Trek" uniforms were in the movie series, those red outfits with the straps at the collar...Nick Meyer was right when he said that "Star Trek" was about "gunboat diplomacy" and Horatio Hornblower. Those uniforms looked snappier and more impressive than the mini-skirts and pajamas of the original series and first movie.

 Kiwiwriter  Yes, you need a big spreadsheet to keep up with everything. My mom loves Star Trek and has several of the movies. I grew up watching TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise (although I can't say that I care too much for the last one). I liked the 2009 movie as well and I hope that do another one soon.

I hadn't made the connection between DS9 and Europe after the fall of Communism. Interesting. I'll have to go back and re-watch it when I get the chance. You know, didn't care for the red uniforms with the straps. I liked the ones from TNG and DS9 better but to each his own. And I definitely agree with you about "gunboat diplomacy."

I liked the red uniforms of hte movies, because they made the crew look sharp and professional.

DS9 came out right after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and I remember someone at the time compared the luxurious nature of USS Enterprise-D under Captain Picard with the run-down condition of DS9, and suggested that the Enterprise, with its holo-decks, represented 80s excess, while DS9 was attuned to the early 90s, after the fall of Communism and the stock market crash.

My favorite "Star Trek" moment came when Gene Roddenberry himself came to NYU, and did his lecture, and showed the blooper reel. After that, he took questions and answers.

I asked the creator of "Star Trek" why Starfleet had a "USS Hood," when the only ship of that monicker in the Royal Navy's history was a battle-cruiser that was sunk in the Denmark Strait in 1941, with the loss of all but 3 of its 1,500-man crew and was now a Commonwealth War Grave, whereas...

The Royal Navy has had nine ships named "HMS Warspite," the eighth of which set all the endurance records for battleships, most miles sailed, most shells fired, etc., serving with gallantry in two World Wars, being flagship at the surrender of two enemy fleets (Germany in 1918 and Italy in 1943). The ninth, at the time, was a nuclear-powered attack submarine. Surely that record rated a starship better than the luckless Hood.

Roddenberry stood there, amid audience laughter, and said that he had once taken a test on "Star Trek" trivia. He'd failed. He had no explanation. My girlfriend at the time was there, and was not amused.

They still haven't done a "USS Warspite." But they did another "USS Hood."

 Kiwiwriter I sometimes wonder if a legalized alternative 'marriage' might be a better fit to the BC than that of the so-called 'nuclear family' (wife, husband and 2.5 kids) - it's just an idea - the best exemplar might be the idea of line-marriage, such as proposed by Robert Heinlein, in his SF book, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.

 SirLoinDeBeef Never read "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress," I'm afraid...wasn't into much science fiction...it all seemed to be allegories about the modern world, with the author saying, "If only the world was as wonderful as I." I like Star Trek, but Gene Roddenberry had only one story: The Enterprise meets God. And God turns out to be a child or a computer, or both. That was the plotline of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture."

I don't think of "The Hunger Games" or "1984" as science fiction. I enjoy both. If I had read "1984" in high school, I would have done an essay for some class, entitled, "George Orwell's '1984:' Blueprint for a Glorious Future," and would have argued that the rhetoric and policies of 1977 America and the New York Board of Education mirrored that of Oceania, but confounded everyone by saying that creating a dystopic and sadistic dictatorship would be a good thing, as history shows that humanity's guiding and linking thread is our unvarnished sadism, power was both a means and an end, and one could not argue with the principal on any subject.

In my old high school, I have learned that kids today have to write "senior theses." Apparently the kids of today at my school are all brilliant in math and science (as before), but lack the ability to communicate well in the English language. So they make them do "Senior Theses," to stretch out their writing ability. They have to know that they will be writing Master's Theses and scientific reports, and those MUST have some clear English in them, so they write "Senior Theses." So if I had to do it again, I'd get my chance to argue the dictatorship's case.

I have an MFA in Creative Writing, and have been doing writing and journalism for 32 years. However, I am convinced that the most powerful form of writing on the face of the Earth is not a novel, an essay, a speech, a poem, or a song. It's a memo.

Memoranda live forever, thanks to filing cabinets, and while the public has a short memory, corporations and hierarchical organizations never forget. Memos end careers, start wars, launch corporate mergers, and cause all kinds of events that dramatically re-shape and even end lives.

No novel ever sent men or women to their deaths in a war...memos did. And if you can write a memo that starts off properly, viz. "It has been brought to my attention that..." which finishes off, "...and therefore, you are dismisses from this organization. Please clean out your desk immediately," you will do fine in life and the workplace.