Let's Discuss

"NEW YORK (AP) — Lindsay Lohan referred to President-elect Barack Obama as the country's "first colored president" in an interview on "Access Hollywood." Describing her experience on Election Day, Lohan said: "It was really exciting. It's an amazing feeling. It's our first colored president." A spokeswoman for Lohan didn't immediately return messages left Wednesday.

Interviewer Maria Menounos didn't question the 22-year-old actress on her use of the term. "Access Hollywood" also didn't cite her remark in its online story, but did post an "extended interview" video on its Web site that included the remark.

Lohan blogged about her support of Obama during the presidential campaign. "

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I am intrigued today about the uproar over Linsay Lohan's use of the word, 'coloured' when describing president elect, Barack Obama and it got me thinking about the hypocrisies involved in the uses of words whether referring to black people or women. The two most prominent examples in my mind right now are the uses of the words 'Nigger/Nigga' and 'Bitch/Biatch'.

Black people call themselves and each other 'Nigga' all the time. The word is rooted in an extremely painful past so it is very much understandable when a black person becomes offended if a white person or non-black person refers to them as such, but if its so painful to hear, why do black people use it so often? Is it that the word ITSELF is offensive or is it that it only becomes offensive when used by what I call a non-black?

Ditto for the use of 'bitch'. Regardless of the changing society Id never want to be called bitch. Its extremely offensive to me so even when people use it as a 'joke' it will still offend. When did it become a term of endearment? Women get offended when men call them bitches but if u look at quite a few facebook pages ull see those same women writing things such as 'Hey Bitch!' on each others' walls! Again, I ask, is the WORD itself offensive or do you only get offended when people you don't know use it?

And then we're surprised when people get confused as to what to call us.

We get it. PETA disagrees with fur coat wearers. Is that a reason to physically assault them? I, personally, do not see what's wrong in being decked out in a nice fur as long as that fur is not being harnessed from endangered species...and even in the event that they ARE being harvested from endangered species, does that make it ok for people to walk around with buckets of blood and bags of flour? I disagree with teen smoking. Im gonna follow PETA's footsteps and wait outside teen hangouts and dowse anyone I see smoking in ash...fling an ashtray or two, why not?

If that's the case, why don't we start stalking courtrooms and prisons and fling whatever's handy at suspected murderers, rapists and other criminals? If its fine for PETA and their cohorts to do whatever they want without thought to the value of people's property nor to their personal well-being, why don't people who are homophobic start setting gay houses on fire? Isn't that what PETA is teaching our children? If you don't agree with what Im doing, by all means, beat me up for it!

And what I think is ridiculous...PETA is not only lashing out at what you wear but what people eat! Im not allowed to eat meat anymore just cause someone decided THEY didn't like it. What if all of us 'meat-a-tarians' decided to shove meat down YOUR throats???? What if we decided PETA is responsible for global warming since they just won't leave those poor plants be??? Aren't plants living things? Don't they grow? Why are you allowed to kill them for food? Is it because they don't cluck or moo or grunt? Does that then mean I can eat a dumb person? THEY don't talk! Even MORE ridiculous - PETA disagrees with seeing-eye dogs for the blind!

Don't you have better things to protest? What about children being raped? What about poverty? What about genocide and all that REAL crap that ACTUALLY threatens mankind? What I eat and what I wear should be MY choice. Don't get me wrong - animal cruelty should not be allowed and protecting them is a noble thing to do, but what about simple education as opposed to assault? You can campaign, you can demonstate, you can do all those things that actually ALLOW people to see the sense you're trying to make. And then we talk at length about being free? Hypocrites.

...but insignificant fools that we are...

All winter we got carried away
Over on the rooftops, let's get married
All summer we just hurried
so come over, just be patient, and don't worry
So come over, just be patient, and don't worry

So come over, just be patient, and don't worry
And don't worry

Try
Try
Try
Try

No I don't want to battle from beginning to end
I don't want a cycle of recycled revenge
I don't want to follow Death and all of his friends

No I don't want to battle from beginning to end
I don't want a cycle of recycled revenge
I don't want to follow Death and all of his friends

At night they would go walking ‘til the breaking of the day,
The morning is for sleeping…
Through the dark streets they go searching to seek God in their own way,
Save the nighttime for your weeping…
Your weeping…

Singing la lalalala la lé…
And the night over London lay.
So we rode down to the river where the Victoria ghosts pray
for their curses to be broken…
We’d go wandering neath the arches where the witches are and they say
There are ghost towns in the ocean…
The ocean…
Singing la lalalala la lé…
And the night over London lay.

God is in the houses and God is in my head… and all the cemeteries in London…
I see God come in my garden, but I don’t know what he said,
For my heart, it wasn’t open…
Not open…

Singing la lalalala la lé…
and the night over London lay.
Singing la lalalala la lé…
There's no light over London today.

'To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made All things to all men, that I might by all means save some.' - Corinthians 9:22

According to thefreedictionary.com, being all things to all men means 'to try to please everyone, even when it is impossible to do this.' I find that in the Jamaican society, it is becoming increasingly important for people to learn this skill in order to move ahead or avoid being taken advantage of. Examples of persons who were required to become 'all things to all men':

1. Jesus Christ - in His quest to save souls, Jesus had to become all things to all men so that many would identify with him, thereby accepting how a Godly life could be beneficial. This is actually where the phrase was coined.
2. Richard III - in order to sow seeds of discord, Richard had to become all things to all men so that people would trust him, according to Shakespeare's depiction of the War of the Roses in the play Richard III.
3. Politicians - this one is pretty obvious.

I wonder: how easy is this skill to acquire? Is it easier for some people to display chameleon traits more than others? And, does it really serve a worthwhile purpose?