Welcome Back!

Hello everyone. I know it's been a long while since I last updated my blog. I apologize for that. I promise to do that more often for now on. (Yeah, I know I said that back in October, and five months went past, so shut the fuck up QDeezy. lol)

Well, LOTS of things have changed for me, a whole lot for the better. First and foremost, I'm no longer unemployed! *Does Happy Dance, Shouts and Jumps, Breaks into Holy Ghost* It feels good to be back in the land of the employed. I'm working as an educational aide at a transitional high school in DC. I'll go further into this in my next post. Finally, after fourteen months of being without a job, it feels GREAT to wake up at 6:15am to head out to make a living for myself.

Second, I finally moved out of the crazy woman's house! *Does Happy Dance again* I moved out at the beginning of the year (actually, I signed my lease on New Year's Eve. What an excellent way to bring in 2010! My God, let me tell you, there's NO GREATER FEELING than being on your own, being able to come home to PEACE AND QUIET, without having to worry about coming in and seeing someone wearing your clothes, things coming up missing, hearing someone yell all day, sit on their ass doing nothing, being a fat, lazy, beached whale relying on the government for everything (ok, I'm flattering myself too much lmao). I haven't spoken or seen the crazy woman since I moved my stuff out; we're on absolutely NO speaking terms. It sucks somewhat, because technically you're supposed to have a good relationship with your parents, but my egg donor, aka my mother, is, has been, and will continue to be an abject failure as a parent and mother.

So, new job and new house. Just two more big-ticket items missing: a car and a woman to share my immediate future with. But those will come soon. Just like it took time for the job and house to come, these things will come soon too.

Well, that's all for now. Gotta get back to work.

Take it easy yall,

QDeezy

The Violence Needs To End. TODAY!

I almost hate turning on the news these days. No matter what the channel, no matter what time the news comes on, you can count on the following stories being the lead: murder, robbery, another murder, a shooting, negative, negative, and even more negative. This society has become increasingly violent, and now that violence is pitting kids against kids. When you throw in illegal guns, it makes things even more tragic. We all have heard the story about the 16-year old high school student, Derrion Albert, who was killed needlessly, caught up tragically at the wrong place at the wrong time. This story caught national headlines, and it shone a light on how violent our youth have become in America, and throughout the world.

I turn to today. I go to the website of the Washington Post, and the big headline on the local page: Drive-by Leaves 2 Dead, 3 Hurt. Here's the link to the story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/13/AR2009101302377.html?hpid=dynamiclead. Clicking on the story, it says that all the victims were between 15 and 18 years old. Because of a beef between two rival 'hoods over in Clay Terrace, two kids' lives were cut short.

It is sad, a shame, a travesty, that we have become a society, a world, that no longer solves our problems and conflicts with others by talking to each other and reaching a resolution. Why is it that we must use the nuclear option, using a gun, a knife, etc., to solve conflicts? No one wins when weapons are introduced into a conflict. Someone's life will forever be changed. Someone will not get to see the sunrise of a new day because someone, being a coward, chose to use a gun or other weapon, to achieve a quick resolution.

When will the senseless violence end? Wake up people. We are killing ourselves! We are exterminating our futures, and for what? A stupid beef? Because someone looked at someone the wrong way? Ridiculous.

Stop. The. Violence. NOW!

A Quick Update

Hello everyone! I know it's been a long time since I last posted on here, and thank you to all who has continued to follow my blog. Here's a quick update on how I've been doing so far:

Well, I still don't have a job, but I'm not letting that hold me down. It is frustrating, yes, but I know my day is coming soon. Yes, I'm still living with Lucifer, but things have been going a little better recently. I still am very ready to move out, but I think I can hold on just a little bit longer.

I have an important question to ask: I want to take my blog to the next level. I'm going to establish my own domain name soon, but I need your help. What do you want to read about? Learn about? I am a man of the people, and I want to be a vehicle of change in my community. I plan on featuring many different things, use my blog as a means to promote good things and people in the community, that sort of things.

Bear with me as this will be something very new for me. I appreciate your support, and I look forward to entertaining, informing, and educating you in the very near future!

Thanks! Q

A Move in the Right Direction... FINALLY!

I know I've neglected my blog the past couple of weeks, and for those who follow my musings closely, I dearly apologize. Times have been a little rough and busy recently, and I will resume my normal writing schedule soon. Today I take a break from my usual political ranting (though I will have a doozy of a political post once the Sotomayor confirmation hearings are completed) and talk about sports.

I am an avid sports fan. I LOVE ALL my DC sports teams, even though they will probably lead me to an early death because of the indigestion and disappointment they bring each year, in some way or another. Now, before the Expos moved to DC and became the Nationals, I was an avid Orioles fan. I still watch their games, still root for them (except when they play the Nats), but I am a home team guy. I try to make an occasional Nats game or two a month when the season's in play, watch them all the time on the teevee machine. The high points, and the many, many, many, many, many, many low points.

This season, however, has shaved about ten years from my life expectancy.

This season has been an abject, complete failure. I can deal with losing. I may HATE it, but I understand that a team is not going to win every game. But the way that the Nationals have lost games this are just downright unbelievable! Not being able to catch a routine fly ball, missing the second base bag and costing the team a run and an out (Adam Dunn, this past Saturday, even though the Nats blew out the Astros 14-2), a bullpen that absolutely collapses after the 6th inning, among many, many others. To watch a Nats game is like looking at blood, you better have an extremely strong stomach, and a lot of Maalox. Or Tums. Or a stomach pump.

Today, well last night, the Nationals fired Manny Acta, the manager for the past 2 1/2 seasons. Now all the blame can't be placed on Acta. He is a very knowledgeable manager, but was not the right manager for this team. Well, I don't really know who really is for the team as currently constructed. My brother's little league team is better than this team. The Nats have absolutely NO bullpen, NO one who can play an ounce of defense, except for Nyjer Morgan, who was acquired for Lastings Milledge, NO one willing to play situational baseball (move a runner over, bunt for a base hit, hit a sacrifice to move over or score a runner, etc.), a crapshoot middle infield, outfielders afraid to charge the ball or make the tough catch (besides Morgan). NOTHING!

This team should be completely blown up. Castrated. Stripped to the core. Hit the reset button. Here's who should be saved: The starting rotation. The Nationals have an excellent up-and-coming young core of starters in John Lannan, Shairon Martis, Jordan Zimmerman, Scott Olsen, Craig Stammen, and Ross Detwiler. Lannan has the stuff to be an ace. Jordan is one of the game's most promising rookie starters. Stammen just pitched a complete game against the Astros. Winning in the majors begins and ends with great pitching, and the Nationals' rotations has the ability and talent to be one of the game's best, with further development. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is the face of the franchise. With Zimmy, Adam Dunn, and Josh Willingham anchoring the 3-4-5 spots in the lineup, you have a trio that can easily hit over 100 homeruns a season. Jesus Flores is a remarkable young catcher. Morgan has what it takes to be a star centerfielder. If Mike MacDougal can control his wildness, he can be an outstanding closer.

Everyone else: Trade. Cut. Release. Send to Mars. Bury them in the Red Sea, whatever. They have to go! This season has been a complete embarrassment. Steps have been taken to try and righten the ship, by forcing the disaster named Jim Bowden to resign, trading Milledge, sending down Elijah Dukes, and, now, firing Manny Acta. Hopefully, in the offseason, our penny-pinching owners will open up the wallet, land one major free agent, get some serviceable players who can play defense, small ball, the little things, and hire a competent, energetic, fiery manager, and maybe the Nationals will become respectable and not the national punchline they currently are at the present.

It's been done before. The Tigers hit rock bottom in 2004, and less than 2 years later they were in the World Series. The Marlins fire-sold their team, TWICE, and they've won 2 world championships. The Celtics did it in the NBA in 2008. The question is: Will this be a sign of change for the Nationals, or just the same? We'll see in the coming months...

Be blessed.

I Love You President Obama, but please: GROW SOME BALLS!

So we're now nearly seven months into Barack Obama's presidency, and while it feels great to have an adult in the White House, his policies are starting to really scare me. Granted, the man came into office with a stinking sack of shit sitting on his desk, with the economy headed towards total extinction, a record budget deficit, two very costly wars- one of which was completely unnecessary, and America's standing in the world severely weakened by the idiocy of George W. Bush, but come on, what the fuck is going on now?! I hate to admit this, but maybe that old fuck John McCain was right when all Obama was all talk, no substance. A celebrity who just wanted TV time. I can't turn on the teevee machine and NOT see Obama on it. Yes, he's the President, everything he does is televisied. But come on! "Obama gets new dog", "Obama takes Michelle to New York and Paris", "Obama and Biden at a burger joint". Don't get me wrong, I love that he's very personable, but shit! There are very serious issues that need to be tackled.

One of which is health care, and making it more affordable for American citizens. Congress is debating a plan that will, in theory, make healthcare coverage more affordable for all citizens. However, the plan as currently constituted caters to the needs and wants of the powerful health insurance industry, NOT ordinary citizens. As it stands right now, more than 50 million Americans (yes, that's no typo, 50,000,000+ American citizens) do not have any health care coverage. Let's make this even more personal: You see the following picture?


That's me. Hi. My name is Quentin Allen Hairston, and I am one of those more than 50 million citizens without any health coverage.That's right. I'm one major illness, sickness, broken bone, whatever, from complete financial ruin. I lost my coverage when I was laid off in November. In addition to myself and the more than 50 million people without health coverage, there's another 20 million with inadequate healthcare. Put the numbers together. More than one-fifths of the American public is either completely without health insurance, or with inadequate health coverage. It's a complete travesty, in the RICHEST (well, used to be richest) country in the world. Where we have the best medical care, the best doctors, that 1/5 of your population is without adequate coverage. If you've had to buy prescription drugs recently, its stupidly expensive.

Health care desperately needs to be reformed. The decision on medical care needs to be in the hands of DOCTORS, not insurance companies looking to pad the bottom line. That is what President Obama is trying to do, by giving us the option of either going through a private insurer or going with a "public option". Now, what's a public option you ask? A public option is a taxpayer-sponsored medical insurance plan, similar to Medicare. Opponents (Republicans and the almight insurance industry) believes that a public option will drive out competition and have a bureaucrat making decisions on your health care. The American Medical Association says that, "The introduction of a new public plan threatens to restrict patient choice by driving out private insurers, which currently provide coverage for nearly 70% of Americans."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/06/19/2009-06-19_whos_afraid_of_a_public_option_health_care_debate_is_stuck_on_a_strawman.html#ixzz0JqlNPvVC&C

However, there are plenty of areas where private and public entities exist and compete just fine. Public schools is a great example. The Post Office is another. Recreation, travel, scientific research. Here's the biggie: SOCIAL SECURITY! What the fuck is wrong with having government-subsidized health coverage? Oh, wait, we have that already too: MEDICARE & MEDICAID! The public option will work to make coverage more affordable, and available to ALL citizens. Sure, it will cost a lot, A WHOLE FUCKING LOT, but it's not like we haven't mortgaged our future, our children's future, their children, and their children's children's future to bail out Wall Street and the greedy banks.

Republicans don't give two shits about us. We don't make money for them. The insurance industry lobbyists are stuck so far up their ass they should be charged with sodomy. Apparently, the sodomy has crossed over to the Democrats, and, sadly, I think President Obama is getting in bed with them too. Mr. President (and I parse my words very tightly when I say this), your presidency will be a complete FAILURE if you DO NOT PASS HEALTHCARE REFORM by the midterm elections! I voted for you because I though you would be the best person to bring REAL reform, REAL change to our country. In some areas, you have. You've restored dignity and decency to the White House and to America. You're working extremely hard to earn back the respect America lost during President Bush's tenure.

HOWEVER, you have ONE SHOT to get health care right! ONE! It's time you grow some balls and RAM this reform down the Republicans' throats! It's time to act like George W. Bush and say "Damned the Torpedoes!" We will pass this with or without you! 72 percent of the country support the public option. Fuck the Republicans. If they want to filibuster, let them go right ahead. I'll donate every book I own for them to read while they're obstructing the change that's so DESPERATELY NEEDED! You mean to tell me that you're going to allow 39 people to prevent the change that 72% of the country supports? GET. THE. FUCK. OUTTA. HERE!

If you don't think I can say things any better, I'll let Bill Maher be my voice.

Mr. President: I love you, but please: GROW SOME BALLS!

In Memoriam: Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

Yesterday we lost a giant in America's (and the world's) recent music history. Michael Jackson, known to many as the King of Pop, passed away suddenly at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, after he stopped breathing in his home. He was 50 years old. When the announcement broke that Jackson had been rushed to the hospital, the Twitter world went absolutely nuts. Without knowing the full details, whether he had regained consciousness or whether official news sources had confirmed if he had died or not, people started tweeting "RIP MJ", relying on a non-official news source, TMZ.com as their source of information. What a shame. We have digressed so much that we allow non-credible blog sites, such as TMZ, to be our primary source of news. A complete shame!

Michael Jackson transcended the R&B and pop music industries, mixing the two genres better than anyone could ever do. He did it with much ease. From his childhood days starring with the Jackson 5 and Motown, up until now, he had been a fixture in American music and American culture for some 40 years. Recently, people had associated MJ with all the looney details of his later years in life, the two allegations of child molestation, the assorted facial surgeries that distorted his face, the prescription drug addiction, the skin disease that robbed his skin of melanin, the famous picture of him hanging his then infant son over a railing, his wanting to be Peter Pan, the massive amount of debt he owed to many debtors. Sure, a lot of bad happened in his life, but the man was a pure musical genius. He possessed a gift for music and dance that not many people have, but work so hard to achieve.

He was a genius when it came to music and dance. He transformed, recreated in a way, how music videos were made, starting in 1982 with "Thriller". In fact, his Thriller album STILL remains the highest selling album of all time, with over 100 million copies sold. Yes, that number will no doubtedly increase, along with his other albums, when the newest Soundscan numbers come out next week. Since his death yesterday, his albums are the top selling albums on iTunes. He's the man who brought us the Moonwalk, his dance moves are envied by others. His influence on music and dance stretches into the current century, with artists like Usher, Omarion, Chris Brown emulating his dance moves. Chris Brown often states that his main influence was Michael Jackson.

He will forever be remembered for his music. He will forever be a musical legend in my eyes. I will continue to play "Billie Jean", "PYT-Pretty Young Thing", "You Are Not Alone", "Thriller" and all his hits. Ladies and gentlemen, his music will definitely live on. Yes, his life, especially the later years of his life, will read like a Greek tragedy, but his music, transcendent as it was and still is, will reign supreme forever.

To close us out, one of my favorite Michael Jackson cuts: Smooth Criminal


God Bless You, Michael Joseph Jackson, and may your soul finally be at peace.

The Misconception of Reality

I was on Twitter tonight, and a few things made me create this blog post. I was reading through my timeline, and Trey Songz, whom I was previously following, wanted ppl to tweet to him, "I love you Trey". Talk about a self-absorbing jackass! Within minutes, it became a trending topic. That immediately set me off the rocker! My rant officially begins now.

This world has become so self-absorbed, so short-sighted, so "Twitter-listic" that reality doesn't exist anymore. We are now a society of sound bites, of 140 character status updates. No one listens to the full story people have to say anymore, we're so concerned about the 15 second sound bite we hear on MSNBC, CNN, Fixed News and the Internets. No one reads newspapers anymore. No one reads period! If it's not on YouTube, it's not news worthy.

Why in the flying fuck is "I Love You Trey" a trending topic? More serious, real-life news stories took place yesterday. For instance, the Red Line train crash in my hometown, Washington, DC. Nine people lost their lives in that crash. The current political uprising in Iran is a major story. ACTUAL NEWS! We have a failing health care system, a failing education system, a declining economy, and "I Love You Trey" is a trending topic? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU FUCKERS?! Hop off his dick, you fucking groupies! Trey and all those other fucktard celebrities on Twitter could give two shits about yall! I saw him make that tweet, and I immediately unfollowed his ass and anyone who responded back. Them fucktards have over 100,000 followers, but do they actually respond back to the little people, you fucking groupies, that tweet to them? Rarely if ever. Now, there are some that really connect with their fans and interact back, but for many of them its a popularity contest. A self-absorbing ploy to say the least. Down right SICK if you ask me.

Another thing. All these lame "reality" shows on TV these days. Hey dumbass, that shit's FAKE! Don't know what fake is? Let's see what Webster's define fake as: "To manipulate fraudulently, so as to make an object appear better or other than it really is". That's all what these so-called reality shows are. NOT REAL! It's all scripted. Make-believe. A fairy tale. The even funnier thing is: YOU DUMBASSES FALL FOR IT! Think it's real, that this is real life. News flash: IT'S NOT!!!! Wake up and smell the fucking coffee! This is the reason why reality is being misconstrued.

I don't have time for bullshit and lameness anymore! Do me a favor, exit stage right and never come back! The technolization of society has had its many benefits, but it's completely full of downfalls. For example, take a look at this picture:


That is a picture of my 11 year old brother. He just woke up no less than an hour ago (12:40pm, it's 1:21pm) and already his ass is on the laptop. Repeat this every day, around the same time, with many, many other children in the US. And we wonder why our children are the dumbest, the fattest, most unathletic of any of the developed nations of the world. We are lazy, we are complacent, our children are lazy, if it doesn't involve an Xbox 360, PS3, PC or Macbook, they're uninterested.

Ladies and gentlemen, its a shame and a dangerous, critical problem.

Be Blessed.