Still Ain't Gettin' It (More B.A.D News For America)

"No child, teacher, or anyone should ever feel unsafe in an American school."

President Donald Trump after the Parkland, Florida school shooting, which just occurred yesterday.

And to think: Here I am scolding myself for not speaking about the President's latest tirade (well now it's old news since he made statements about cutting food stamps and giving poor people boxes of food.). This time he blamed immigration laws for the death of two individuals, one being an Indianapolis Colts linebacker, Edwin Jackson.

Never mind the fact the suspect was allegedly drunk, just like the other tens of thousand traffic deaths attributed to drunk driving on a YEARLY basis. Nope, look past that, and get to the heart of the matter, at least in his eyes, illegal immigrants. So now only illegal immigrants are going around in a drunken state, killing others on the road. Wow.

I sat here being mad, trying to find some sort of excuse for why I didn't jump on this latest obvious display of bigotry by the so called Leader of The Free World. Could it be that I was procrastinating, as I usually do? Or was it out of fear of sounding redundant? Or was it because I didn't want to come across as the usual Trump-hating liberal?

Whatever the case, there's always something happening in America to bring events such as this back into perspective, regardless of the age of the issue. This country is draped in enough bigotry on all sides to never have to worry about running out of incidents to compare or reflect on the constant double standards, hypocrisy and denial that continues to plague this "Land of the Free."

Yesterday's shooting in a suburban Florida high school is another constant reminder of what bigotry can do to a person, as well as a society. It makes those who engage in bigotry not see the true reality of things, how the decline of morality, values, and intelligence is a direct result of their own doing, and not some outside entity, as many are led to believe.

We have witnessed during this administration alone SEVERAL mass shootings in a frightening span of only a FEW months. When the church shooting in a Texas small town killed 26 people late last year, people were assured by the President that "God and YOUR COUNTRY are with you." In the Las Vegas shooting we heard practically the same speech, yet no reason why. We witnessed in Plano, Texas last year a shooting at a football watch party that took the lives of 8 people, which included the shooter himself.

So far in only 45 days into this new year, there has been 5 school shooting incidents whereas someone has either been injured or killed. And neither of these incidents happened in Chicago, Illinois or Chiraq, as some may say.

Yet when the smoke clears, the bodies have been buried, and all of the tributes and memorials have dried up, for some reason we go right back to hearing about wild immigrants, shithole countries of color, persistent threats of terrorism from someone who just can't stand America's toxic freedom, or poor people inside the country supposedly tearing this nation down, the usual conservative banter.

But Conservatives are not the only collective of people that can be called into account for displaying bigotry. Liberals and the like are not absolved from such accusations either. Clear case in point is the the out-of-the-blue video from CNN of all people, that supposedly shows Africans being sold into slavery in Libya. Black Americans went up in arms again at the sight of  seeing or being led to see Black people once again in a state of captivity, oppression and slavery.

The usual emotional response? Attack Arabs and Islam, of course. Spread vitriol hatred against a whole group of people, and accuse a way of life as the catalyst for such actions.

Imagine CNN, the news network that doesn't like the antics of the Black Lives Matter movement, but just can't seem to expose the movement for what it really is: a movement led by Black feminists and members of the LGBTQ community, using the plights of unarmed Black men who were murdered at the hands of police, but only as a mechanism to get into the psyche of the Black collective. They can't seem to show the real intentions of the movement in their own land, how it poses as a conflict of interest to heterosexual Black men, families led by Black men, and how they wish to subvert the Black community from the inside to inject its matriarchal beliefs. But they can tell you what's going on in another part of the world. Yeah right.

But it's easy to get the Black public in America. Just take a look at the Disney-produced Black Panther movie. Oh, and let's not forget the pseudo-Black Panther, Black-empowerment tribute from Beyonce at the Super Bowl two years ago. Nothing has changed.

I encountered such a bashing against Arabs and Islam a couple of weeks ago on a Youtube page, whereas a so called Pan Africanist posted a video from of all people, White conservative media reporter Alex Jones. This video has Alex Jones spewing the most agregious lies against Islam, alleging that the Qur'an speaks in the most hideous of terms about Black people, although he could not bring up one shred of evidence. He played off as if to say there was so many bad names given that he couldn't list them all, although he couldn't even list one name and show one single verse.

 He then proceeded to claim that these some of the slaves are butchered, and then fed to other slaves, who are then forced to eat the remains before they are executed, with the belief that this will make them enter Hellfire.

Yet this person supposedly holds fast to the Ten Commandments, which also includes "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

Sad to say, most of the responses from the video proved true about what is said about many Black people, especially in terms of lacking critical thinking, doing extensive research on any given subject, using emotions over intellect, and jumping to conclusions. It also proved that as the old saying goes "stuffed shirts comes in all colors."

When I challenged them to bring one shred of evidence to prove Islam denigrates Blacks and encourages slavery, not one could do it. Just the usual crying out and accusing Black Muslims of being brainwashed and misled, among other name calling.  However one such person tried to reason that his displeasure towards Arabs and Islam was due to some Arabs who sell liquor, pork and lottery in inner cities.

There was a time when such people would chide those who claimed Islam while engaging in acts they knew were forbidden in Islam. Those days are gone for many.

Like Donald Trump, these actions are now used to masked their hatred and bigotry towards Islam, as well as other races of people.  One such individual expressed his joy over some of the atrocities that are happening to the Arabs, even the killing of women and children. He cited that this is the ultimate example that Islam is not true.

Little does this guy truly understand Islam, and how in Islam, the Muslim community can also be punished, if evil and disobedience is prevalent in the community. The Creator will dole out punishment to those who profess belief but act otherwise. However the punishment for the Muslim community only resides in this life, not in the Hereafter.

Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron. Ar-Rad, verse 11

But this is the problem with bigotry and racism. The hatred of others and desire to be better than another based on superficial factors such as color, ethnicity, class, pedigree or whatever clouds their intellect. The mind knows right away that in terms of race, one's skin color does not dictate intelligence or lack thereof, but a corrupted heart, filled with undue arrogance, hatred, and intolerance will lead one to believe the most ridiculous and illogical of stories about another person or culture.

How can the Black community cry foul against racism and White supremacy, when they may hold the same racist beliefs as described in those Hidden Color documentaries? How can they possibly hope for justice when they're willing to believe the first lie that comes to them about someone from another belief or nationality?

Once I reflected on this, it gave me a whole new perspective on why we witnessed all of these recent slave narratives. As one imam said in a lecture about the New World Order, they were preparing us for something.

This country and its inhabitants point fingers at everybody else and everything for the dismal plight and the decline of this country. Meanwhile claiming superiority over all others at the same time. Yesterday's shooting is a reminder that something is horribly wrong with this democracy we claim we live in.  It will not be fixed with the usual finger pointing and name calling that occurs on all sides. It will only come starting with an honest reflection about this society and freedoms we claim to enjoy. Until then it's business as usual.

Whatever reaches you of good is from God, whatever befalls you of evil is from yourself.  An-Nisa verse 79

The Softening of the Sting...More Harm Than Good CONCLUSION

To Conclude: The purpose of digressing from the main topic of this blog serves to show that regardless of any attempts to use Muhammad Ali's life and death as a glowing example of a more "peaceful" ,"progressive" and "moderate" version of Islam and a beacon of American values, the PR campaign does more harm than good for Muslims in America.

The reality is that Muslims, like other marginalized and fringe groups in America, must come to understand they are in the middle of a battle of ideas within American society, mainly between conservatives and liberals, to which neither side Islam has a total alliance and affinity with. Both philosophies express White supremacist thoughts and ideas with regards to other races, cultures, creeds and religions, although the approach and tactics may differ. Since the rapid growth of Muslims and the Islamic Way of Life in the 1990s, especially among the indigenous population, America has had to come to grips with the reality that Islam in America is growing and is not going away anytime soon, so attempts to stifle, diffuse, and neutralize its potential growth, influence and power have become a priority, despite the huge amount of statistical evidence to prove that the fall of the American society is a product of its own undoing.

Accomodating Muslims will always find themselves ping-ponging on both sides in a futile effort to assimilate into a society that has not fixed its internal issues, beit structural racism, government corruption, crime, drug abuse, failing educational system, or the decline of societal values and priorities which has some people valuing the life of dogs over humans. Homicides, suicides, deaths by alcohol and other drugs, along with death by diseases continue to plague the country, reaching newer heights almost annually, yet all of that is trumped by claims of a so-called global terrorist group seeking to "Islamicize" a country in which Muslims only represent 2.5 to 3 percent of the population.

SIDE NOTE: Islam sees the life of this world as a test, as stated in numerous versus in the Quran, such as the 67th Surah Al Mulk, verse 2: 

It is He(Allah) Who created death and life in order to test those who are best in deeds...

Islam does not encourage any forcing of the religion on one who does not believe on one's own volition. There is no need nor use for forced conversions, as some claim, for they do nothing for the soul in the Hereafter.

To Continue: Conservative propaganda continues to range from the overtly bigoted sites such as Answering Islam to all forms media which basically tells its readers that ALL Muslims cannot be trusted, and are potential terrorists, that Islam is to blame for the destruction of the Twin Towers, to discount dissenting opinions among American citizens regarding 9/11 as conspiracy theorists, how Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) encouraged everything from suicide bombings to domestic violence without giving actual evidence, or using gross distortion of texts, such as the article 164 Jihad Verses in the Quran, where any verse containing words such as kill, fight, die, blood, retaliate and so on are listed as a verse allegedly proving Islam's preoccupation with fighting and killing. No such evidence exists in such texts, however despite the Religious Rights' claim to The Ten Commandments in The Holy Bible, in which one of those commandments levy stern warnings against bearing false witness against thy neighbor, conservatives continue an assault filled with distortions and blatant lies to their Muslim neighbors.

Liberal propaganda against Islam is of a different substance, yet it wishes to produce the same results. Claiming that "Truth is relative", "All religions hold truths" and "All religions encourage people to do good", liberal propaganda seeks to destroy the notion of an Absolute Deity and an Absolute Truth, as long is the notion is pertaining to their conservative counterparts. Allegations of possessing phobias such as the recent Orlando, Florida shooting, which has new twists and turns to the story appear daily, claims of misogyny and inequality among the sexes permeate throughout. Adding to this is the support and propagation of Sufism, a self-proclaimed, mystical version of Islam that claims to look beyond mere Sacred Text, and finding the personal connection with the Divine. This sect is supported by such people as Oprah Winfrey, who along with the rest of the liberal contingency, like it's conservative counterpart, wishes to rid Islam of its essence, which is encased in Shariah, or Islamic Law.

Neither of these approaches have sufficiently given any definition of what Radical Islam means, but instead flood the media with pictures, videos, soundbytes, and distorted writings about what it claims to believe, but as of yet has not given a definition of Radical Islam itself. If one doesn't believe the bloggers' claims, then Google it for yourself. You will not find a clear cut definition, but instead a description which at best is merely subjective, and in the eyes of the beholder.

But in closing all of this would be for naught if the Muslims did not believe in the propaganda pushed on both sides, and not use the subversive terminology which floods these airwaves, intended to cause division, dissension, and dissolution of the True Islamic Way of Life. Some Muslims have taken it among themselves to align themselves with groups and organizations that are contrary to the Islamic ideas in an attempt to placate and diffuse an already ignorant and/or bigoted society, ready to attack and scream extremists and radical at the first instance of an alleged ISIS attack, even if no evidence is found to support such an event.

It is of the utmost importance that Muslims establish credible venues and outlets that give a clear definition of Islam, using evidence from the two main sources in Islam, the Quran and the Sunnah of Its Last Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) to dispel all rumors and accusations, and to set forth a premise so non-Muslims can see for themselves, instead of holding circus acts, such as Muhammad Ali's funeral, which should have been a few days after his death, and holding memorial services with eulogies by politicians and so called interfaith groups claiming tolerance and diversity. Islam is in no need of such PR campaigns to prove that it is not intolerant of other beliefs and ways.

Muslims who use words such as fanatical, radical, extreme and the like to distinguish and distance themselves from what the media says will not stop others from attacking Islam, nor will fatwas (Islamic rulings regarding a particular issue) from accommodating scholars. If someone does not like you, there is nothing you can do to change that. Only the wresting of this terrorist and radical narrative from the liars and media magicians, along with giving a complete and true analysis of Islam can one give a true perspective as to whether or not a group is treading the True Path or has deviated, or has become a misguided and disbelieving group, and in some cases a hypocritical group (Munaafiq, a term for one who feigns Islam but wishes to destroy it), and the person will have a true account in place.

In other words as the Nigerian proverb goes, "Don't let the lion tell the giraffes' story." 

Click here to go to Part One:

http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/more-harm-than-good-making-muhammad-ali.html

To Read Part Two, Click on the link;

http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/more-harm-than-good-making-muhammad-ali_15.html

To Read Part Three, Click on the link:

http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-big-switcheroomore-harm-than-good.html

Random Thought

Thought of the Day...My neighbor across the street from me lost a child last week...only 11 years old...died of an asthma attack in her sleep...Broke my heart. I don't know all of the details behind how that happened nor do I want to know, however I know this much.  African American community kids are more likely to develop asthma and other respiratory diseases than any other ethnic group, yet not too many people seem to know how, or most doctors I've faced won't tell the truth. A lot of it is due to socio-economic reasons, but smoking is also a major issue that most don't want to touch. And in all honesty, the way I've seen some Black people smoke, beit marijuana or cigarettes or those funky fruit-flavored cigars, I don't see any reason for decline for Black babies developing asthma anytime soon. While riding the train yesterday a young man with his son stepped on board, and the young man reeked of marijuana, yet this little boy wouldn't stop crying. I thought to myself he could be crying because of the smell he had to endure... I'm speaking of this issue because a few years back a local children's hospital was running laboratory tests and such on Black kids, claiming to be conducting "research" to determine how could Black youth contract asthma more than any other ethnic group in America. As if they really don't know. Anyway that's all I have to say, because if I say anymore, the way people's thought processes have been hampered, many will take offense and put on their ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME shirts, and spew all kinds of names, when all you're doing is bringing an issue to the forefront .

Q crashes da gallery!

Peace all...had a great weekend crashing the South Dallas Cultural Center's opening. This opening featured two amazing women artists, Janice Thacker and Kijana Martin, who lives in the DFW area. This being women's month we were served with a double dose of thought provoking art. Janice Thacker, whom I met a couple of years ago, has some of the most amazing acrylic paintings, where the people are outlined in markers, as she described to me in the first meeting. She also has some great work with poetry included about the struggles and tribulations from slavery. I hope to go back and photograph some of those pics asap.

I met Kijana Martin at the reception, and the picture that caught my attention is a two piece presentation centering around the death of Cicely Bolden, a young lady who lived in my area who was murdered last year after telling her lover after having sex with him that she had the AIDS virus. She leaves behind two small children, and this tragedy has a lot of twists and turns included, however Ms. Martin wanted to touch on the subject of tragedy, but also learning the lessons, accountability of one's own actions, and making choices that maybe can prevent future tragedies from occurring. The second part is entitled Shattered, giving the viewer an opportunity to look at a broken mirror, which shows how making the wrong choices can destroy dreams and lives. I went home thinking about this piece especially, and hopefully in the near future, I'm going to find a way to present it in maybe a joint exhibit, or whatever. The most important part of thought provoking art is to get it out there and start dialogue.

Originally I intended to crash two openings that weekend, but sometimes things get in the way. I found myself talking both of these artists' ears off, and with the St. Patricks' weekend jamming up downtown and traffic, I settled with just this one opening this time. But I have no regrets.

Take care...Q has just started...

Davey D's Interview with the Late Gary Webb on CIA, Contras and Crack

Peace all ... under the weather, but still at work...check out this blog by Davey D...Hope to be back SOON!

http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/the-cia-contras-and-crack-the-first-radio-intv-w-the-late-garry-webb/

What Now?

Peace all...

It's 6:14pm and I'm sitting down with this hot laptop on my lap, I guess I took the name laptop too seriously(lol).

But anyway, I have some good from the homestead! After over 6 months ya boy landed a JIZZOB!(YAY!)The time it took and the mental beating it took on me was brutal, but yeah, I landed one, so all those naysayers can sit down and shut up! But we know that won't happen right? HA HAAA!


With that in mind, the question now becomes what happens now? I mean granted it is a job, however it's a mere job that barely covers my immediate needs. I mean I'm grateful, but I also have to be a realist. Am I relegated to hopping from one job to another? And what does this mean for my art: is this another spiraling tale of unfulfilled wishes and dreams, is it a stepping stone for something greater? Granted when I left my previous job I felt it was the beginning of something great, with a show lined up, people digging some of my creations, and all of a sudden I lost a lot of things. My car was the most devastating thing because it was a source of independence for me. A symbol of efforts made along with patience and faith in God(Allah) and myself. Now I'm back to spending 2 and a half hours just to get to a job that takes 30 minutes to get there by personal transportation.

One of my Facebook friends told me that sometimes you have to purge yourself and keep those things that are needed. I'm realizing that now. It doesn't make sense from the outset when you look at it, after all I have to go and wash clothes, buy groceries, go to work, etc, etc, etc....LOL. But I think I'm getting the jist of what she meant. So I take that deep sigh, but move on...

It's gotta get better somewhere, somehow, someway...




Take care all...

Dustin' Off...

Peace all,

Had a real intense blog this week about my reaction with the HIV/AIDS awareness, but after trying to sort all of the frenzy out, I shelved it. I spent so much time contemplating and discussing the subject, and I faced so many opinions and strategies on supposed preventive measures, and what I can truly say is that this a very emotional and expansive topic, and it seemed to go nowhere. However from the discussions I have learned alot and I feel I can add HIV/AIDS to the topics to address with my art, and hope that God Willing it can spark as much dialogue and look for more avenues to address research and preventive measures than just giving addicts clean needles, making sexual active people use condoms and treading dangerous waters by admonishing the whole population to take tests, even long time married couples based on suspicions, isolated personal experience and sporadic evidence. It will not do a thing to solve the situation, nor to create a society of forgiveness, responsibility, and knowledge nor help those in need to really show sincerity and concern. It's bigger than what we may have expected and maybe some have even hoped. Everyone is affected somehow, someway. How it started and where and who started it is no longer a priority.


Anyway, I have other things lined up as well, and hopefully a website should be coming soon, filled with neat lil' goodies(oh boy!) but that's pending on a couple of issues, mainly financing. I have a potential job lined up, 3 guesses where? THAT'S RIGHT A CALL CENTER!

This one is a bit different, for I have no plans on staying on any job like this. I feel I am more focused than ever on what I really want to do, priorities are in order, strategy is in place, and now I am praying and waiting for the doors to open up. This is only to supplement my immediate needs, for we all have immediate needs right?

And DSL is one of them....Oh boy...

Take care all!

Sobriety is the New Enemy!

Peace Y'all

First I must apologize for my lack of political acumen. I mean I totally forgot this was the year of the elections, so there I said it! LOL

I mean after all, it's not like I don't have any interest in politics, but I don't believe that old cliche' "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again" is an all-encompassing statement, I mean sometimes you have to know when to continue to try and when to quit, when to let it go, ya know?

In this great state of mine our governor has slickly gotten away without any notice about the allegations of taking bribes from a Big Pharma company in exchange for making the HPV vaccine mandatory for ALL public school- attending girls over the age of 12, regardless if they are sexually active or not. Local schoolboard elections have given victory to gangsters who masterfully take the money from school(84,000,000 dollars last I checked) superintendents come and go like Arab nomads, our two-faced mayors and other city officials are continuing to find themselves on the news, and not for good reasons either. And the grand fiasco of all, realizing America's first Black President is not any better than America's last White President, bailing out the real bank robbers, lying about the economy, and now resorting to Juniors' old tricks of the same old tired "somebody's trying to terrorize America" scam, one must begin to wonder what is this politic mess all about.

But I must admit there are some things worth really voting for, and this year brought out some doozies, mainly Propositions 1 and 2, propositions about whether or not beer and wine can be sold in grocery stores in Dallas proper. For the most part Dallas is still a dry city, except for certain business areas and in the parts in the 'hood(as if that's a surprise). Surprisingly my area which is now seeing its part of ghettoization/gentrification taking place, had an ordinance prohibiting the sales of liquor in stores, but like most if not all pre-dominately African-American 'hoods, they were at one time predominately White neighborhoods until the n... well you know the rest of THAT story.



Now advertisements now popping up on so many billboards entering downtown and even skyscrapers are encouraging passers-by to get tow-down, with giant-size billboards of the latest and greatest of hooch, elegantly packaged to make even the stinky-bummy drunk look and feel as if they are privileged to swig such a fine wine.


To suck the voters into approving this move brochures were printed out using the old "enhance the economy" and "encourage economic development" and paying better wages to policemen routine, and adding the notion that if this is not passed, the city will be unable to recouperate at least 30 million dollars from an already whopping 80 million dollar city deficit. This lack of funding has supposedly made the city cutback funding to parks, pools and libraries, now even the downtown library looks like a ghost town every Monday, but strangely enough orchestrated music is piped through the elegant Bose speakers hanging above the entrance. This past summer, stores all around the Dallas area, even Wal Mart neighborhood markets hosted registration tables encouraging people to vote YES to sell beer and wine in grocery stores in Dallas proper.




This photo was taken at a gas station in my 'hood. My area has not had a grocery store in the past 2 years, yet people are being encouraged to vote YES on November 2nd to allow beer and wine to be sold in such places.

A couple of problems here, especially in my hood, where the nearest grocery store is a DOLLAR STORE! Which is more important, a grocery store, or the ability to sell hooch in a grocery store? If you don't have a car in my neck of the 'hood, tough rockos kid, 'cause the nearest decent store is miles away. There's only two ways to get food in my area, the dollar store(with its limited supply of meat, and even more limited supply of non-pork meat), or pretend you're poor(if you're not) and go to Mt. Tabor Baptist Church and front yo' self a sack of groceries every Tuesday.

Another issue is the cry about the rise of crime already in these 'hoods, especially in the impoverished areas, but nevermind that correct? I mean the only drugs that are illegal here are marijuana, crack and cocaine(which you won't see in my parts), right? Never mind that before the invention of crack, alcohol was the suicidal choice in the hood, right? Nevermind that every year more people die of alcohol-related incidents 4 times over than the amount of people killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11, but hey, no one's shut down a brewery right? Or accused a liquor store of being a terrorist cell, right? Then why use the same old revenue-generating excuse( which we the taxpayers won't see anyway) as a means to pump sauce into the neighborhoods, knowing fully we won't see the results of such ventures except maybe increases in deaths, dependency and depression? What happened to the Texas Lottery, that was legalized in 1992, which the proceeds from that was said to fix roads, schools and.... Where's that money? More and more casinos are being built, more ways to gamble your money away are being established, and more and more ways to hype up your addiction or depression are concocted, but what happened to the jobs? How can private-owned buildings continue to go up downtown while public libraries, pools and parks are closing down?




In closing, I want to make it clear that this is not a blog to encourage or discourage voting, or to urge to vote no, but basically showing the sickness of this society, allowing corporations and political pundits to to further contribute to the spread of vices and addictions and hide them under pseudonyms called "urban development" "economic growth" and so on. In the end who really wins?

Peace y'all

Returning.....(Poem)

Although we are grown
And have learned to walk
We still trip, stumble and fall from time to time
Because we are human
The same with life itself
Although we know right from wrong
We still trip, stumble and fall

The goal is not to attain perfection
No one can attain the impossible
Foolish are those who dare try
But the goal is to purify the heart
Before the Inevitable

For as time passes
Life too shall pass
Nothing here on earth is eternal
This is just a brief stop on a journey back

So please while you are on shore
Do not become too enchanted with the glitter of this life
Partake in the sales, but do not let the bargains distract you
Do not become too involved with those who fraternize outside of the boat
The boat will be leaving very soon
And we will all be returning.

© 2010 Quwwa. All Rights Reserved.

Last Grain of Hope

If I sat back and looked at my past
I might be ready to end my life
nothing but pain and struggle
The brief glimpses of happiness are too far and in between
really makes you consider leaving the whole scene

memories of watching bad examples of men
beating on the ones they claim to love
drowning their pain in nasty drinks made with grain
covering up their intelligence and exposing their shamelessness in broad daylight
sometimes I wonder if I was a woman would I believe all men are dogs too, however
many situations have they misconstrued as well
teasing and tempting and turning down those who could love them
to be with those who flash measly pieces of printed paper
makes me want to shoot the ones who sang money can't buy me love
cause I see different

and even worse bad examples of human beings
taking advantage of the poor just to accumulate more and more and more
claiming spirituality but show more compassion to dogs
embellishing and decorating the graves of the wicked and corrupt
not even thinking about the people inside who can't see the glitter
and hear the praises
because all of them are back to dust
and their filthy souls are getting a taste of the eternal punishment
just a taste
just a taste
just....a...taste

and I look back at myself
and I see all that I see and ask is there really hope for me
especially when man is spiralling downwardly?
being this soul
that wants to do right
but surrounded by corruption
people blurring the absolute
and worshipping the relative
just to justify their wrongdoing

this weak soul
who just a couple of years ago did not use profanity
now I feel more profane sometimes
than the words I utter...

Is there really hope for me?
Is there someway I can release this guilt?
Am I exaggerating?



© Quwwa 2010...All rights reserved

Enough Already 2

Peace All,

I would like to thank anyone who listened to my show last Thursday night on the Coach K and Angel Show, it was truly a blast! I am humbled by the response and the comments, and I thank God(Allah) for the opportunity. But that takes second stage here for the moment.

January 16th I posted a blog entitled Enough Already, which started as a diatribe on my job, but easily meshed into an attack on how governments used the same tactics to get what they want, taking liberties, invading much privacy and introducing laws designed to "get rid of extremists" but in reality it is to produce a police state designed by evil people to enslave the masses.

Here is a result of what happens when peoples' prejudices run rampant, and fear of something they know nothing about takes over instead of seeking knowledge. A man is now dead and his earthly reputation has been demolished by ignorants who wish to keep the status quo going. What happens when the country they worship and try to protect comes down on them?

Thanks to my brother and FB friend Fateen Abdullah-Pickett who sent this clip. By the way here is something I've been meaning to ask. Why is it that arrests of suspected terrorists and raids on so called extremists organizations are only relegated to local newscasts but the national media broadcasts just the scare? If there was a war on terror, wouldn't you like to know the score?

God help us.....

Check Da Spin Y'all! (No Voice at All!)

Peace all,

It is 2:31pm and I am on vacation, tired but excited, I have some new things coming up in the very near future that I want you to check out. But this past week has my head spinning in circles wondering what could be going on? Incidents occurred this past week that I felt could have been cleared up just by both parties involved talking it out. Instead people are getting the runaround and are unable to express themselves because of someone else's invested interest or fear of loss.

This reminds me of an incident that took place in April 2005. I worked at this planta- ooops call center that serviced warranties for Circuit City. I was encountering sick remarks from someone because of my beard, which is symbolic of my Islamic belief. I was moved to sit right in front of this person and out of nowhere this person rises from his chair and tells the person sitting on my left " They took so-and-so away and put this ugly boy in her place!" I immediately went to Inhumane Resources(and there is a reason for calling it that) and explained the situation, along with the multitudes of racist statements made against people of Indian descent. Instead of Inhumane Resources doing something about the issue, they wanted me to give names, which I refused, and tried to justify the ignorance by stating that people are upset because jobs are going to India, which I quickly retorted that it was still wrong. I suggested that a notice should be sent throughout the area. The end result? No meeting between me and this guy, they just summoned me into the room, told me that this guy says he was just joking and I took it the wrong way. Then they moved me to the back of room, and after a couple of more weeks, terminated me on bogus charges of attendance issues. When I attempted to file for unemployment benefits the Workforce Commission stated that this sweatshop had notified them of instances of how I allegedly came into work, logged on the phones, then logged off and left for no reason, which made me ineligible for unemployment. So I began warning the other workers there that they will fire you and attach allegations of misconduct so as to protect them from paying unemployment. All of this because they didn't want Circuit City to know there were problems in the workplace that could affect their business. Well, we all know now Circuit City is no more, which obviously means their bread and butter is no more. God don't like ugly.

I have grown increasingly tired of these places who insult the employees, refuse to address the issues concerning abuse, slavery, anxiety and other injustices and spin the web to make the one complaining think this is all in their minds.

Which brings to mind the spin of the week, whereas people are being manipulated again to think of instances of terrorism instead of the increasing issues permeating the US Armed Forces. I wonder if Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Banks has been informed to cease speaking about the growing suicide rate among the troops, anxiety, battle stress, and the fact there were more than one shooter according to his own account, and just let the media spin their web on only one alleged shooter, their alleged past, focus on the Jessica Lynch-esque heroic stories that may/may not have occurred and let the peoples' blind patriotism and prejudices do the rest.

It must be real tough knowing your issues of underpayment, injustices, sicknesses, sexual harrassment and being victimized by discrimination at the workplace are no concern, even if you are protecting and serving your country.

"FOCUS ON THE TASK AT HAND" is what they tell you, in other words "F**** your issues, get out there and work!"

Although I have mixed emotions about the supposed "War on Terrorism" and the "need" to fight these evils, I was always taught that right is right and wrong is wrong, regardless of my feelings towards a particular person, group, organization whatever.








God don't like ugly....

By the way, speaking of spins, my local library has a new sign above the front desk that really disturbs me. It reads, WE REALLY APPRECIATE OUR CUSTOMERS......

I thought the library was free......God Help Us.

When The Shoe........(IS THIS MIC ON?)

Peace everybody,

It's 8:19pm, and I am wrapping up the art part of my week(sigh) to get back to this other part.....(more sigh)....

Anyway I have a few more things in store so stay tuned....But in the meantime while thumbing thru the blogs that I removed from the other site, I ran across this one about the swine flu and the attitudes of the American public, which seemed to have been one of jokes and puns about pigs and swine and pork, and the list goes on. Now that the shoe seems to be on the other foot, what is the attitude of Americans now? Where are the jokes now people? HELLOOOO!!! IS THIS MIC ON?!!!

Arrogance is a mutha..... The thing about arrogance is that the person does not seem to get the fact that he/she is arrogant.

Here is the edited version of the blog....Peace y'all. Love ya.

The Worst Kind of Death

Peace y'all

I know it's been a loooooong time( well actually a month is not THAT long) but when you start something, you would like to finish it. I started this blogging thing on my site, made some friends and contacts, and in the process people also got a chance to see another side of what I be(lol). I have been a very busy camper the past few weeks and blogging has been on my mind. Trust me, there are PLENTY of things to talk about, but not to the point of stopping my painting and just putting my feelings out there. That is until I saw this stupid picture from an email sent to me at work.





To me this is indicative of what this country is about. Arrogance and ignorance. No one can deny that the people in America have good qualities, but for a person on the outside looking in what does he/she see? Out of the hundreds of people in Mexico who lost a loved one to "swine flu" how does it feel to listen or see Americans make jokes about a tragedy?

The past couple of weeks we were bombarded at home or at the workplace with either fears of a pandemic, or jokes that reek of "better them that us" . I was hit with both, as people at work people joked of the swine flu, some people made insensitive comments about Mexicans( but hey I ain't got a racist bone in body!) Then I checked Twitter only to see people with same stupid jokes such as "swine flu is the past tense of pigs fly" nonsense. This past week on an all-talk sex(sorry) sports radio show some idiot went on and on with a barrage of swine flu jokes. But when the shoe was on the other foot, such as the Dallas Cowboy employee who is now permanently paralyzed as a result of the practice facility collasping in Valley Ranch, we heard no jokes, instead I heard "it is sooo tragic." So let me get this straight. One American permanently paralyzed is tragic, but 200 Mexicans dying from the flu is a new monologue for any stoopid wannabe comic, or village idiot.

That's us ain't it America? Make jokes of other countries' cultures, tragedies, still calling them Third World Countries( as if there are no ghettoes or poor people living under bridges and in tents in America) Yet when we hear comments from other countries about problems in America we blow a fuse. We go into this state of denial. For example we hear about rowdy, drunken fans who tear up the city after a Super Bowl or Championship match and immediately drum up riots in London after soccer games to minimize the fact that this country has a serious maturity issue. Our favorite TV shows are CARTOONS like South Park with old goats doing little kid voiceovers, The Family Guy, the Simpsons, my God, FOX TV at one point had a Sunday prime time lineup of CARTOONS (oh but they are for "mature audiences only).

Give me a break.....

Our denials remind me of a drunkard who swears up and down that he does not have a problem, and if he did have a problem he could quit at any moment. Like I just said.....Give me a break.

While the American people make jokes about diseases in other countries we should be very scared. Our habits, oh sorry, our "precious free way of life" has produced everything from breast cancer, fibroids, lung cancer to STD's and even impotence(but hey thank God for Viagra!) We forgot about Desert Storm fever( and for a long time the government forgot also) and the growing rate of autism found in kids from being poked over 50-60 times before they reach the age of 4 or 5 with vaccines that don't work. We have the largest rate of suicides in any "industrialized" nation, but we want other nations to be "industrialized" like us. The rate of Alzheimers and other forms of dementia in this country is staggering.

News Flash: Alzheimers is not a natural process of growing old.

Stress should be our middle name.

While those few hundreds of Mexicans die quickly from swine flu, millions of Americans die from the worst form of death, a slow torturous death. The worst part is to die and not even know your dying. To be a victim of your own undoing. To revel in your own ignorance.

But hey!! God Bless America right? More like God Help America.

Yet So Little.....

Peace All,

It's 5:12pm Tuesday evening, two days since the end of Ramadhan. The end of Ramadhan gives me mixed emotions every year. Sadness because it is the end of a time of deep reflection and contemplation and doing charitable deeds like no other time of the year. Not to say these things are not done throughout the year, but during this time of the year one can say that they are able to raise their level of awareness and consciousness to another level, giving them the ability to do more deeds and stay more focused on the task at hand. I always cry at the missed opportunities at the end of the month.




On the other hand there is a sense of joy and hope because one comes from the month revived and refreshed, ready to take on the world. Lessons are learned, reminders are given about the brevity of life on this earth, giving one the sense of urgency to do whatever is in their power to bring about peace, justice and most of all a society in which God is the Sovereign Ruler, and not man's tawdry desires, which is driving humans to the pit of disarray and utter confusion.

This past Ramadhan was spent reading the Quran and listening to an audiobook entitled The Race Beat, which discussed the role of the media during The Civil Rights Struggle. The book was entertaining to say the least, although the book had gross flaws at the end,especially when discussing the uprising of the Black Power movements. The book failed to go into more detail about the reasons that prompted certain Blacks to opt out of the Civil Rights Movement and take a more militant stance toward racism and segregation in America. The book was brief on the subject, but like other books and reports seem to give the indication that everything was quiet on the homefront and all of a sudden these unsatisfied Blacks took matters into their own hands and started rioting, looting and destroying their own neighborhoods, which sounds strange to begin with. They also scantily mention Malcolm X's name except for the fact that they referred to him as "angry and militant".

It also failed miserably to convince me that desegregation was effective in combating racism, for while those reporters who were railing against the South and their racism, the television ,which by this time had taken over print as the main source of information(and Americans have been paying for it ever since) had cartoons like the one below in full circulation, nationwide, proving that forcing people to live with one another while sharing disrespect for one another is never a solution for something that was institutionalized whether in the workplace, halls of education, and even the houses of worship.



These cartoons are still published and sold to the masses, although some have disclaimers against the racism shown, such as the Oscar Award Winner series, which is as oxymoronic as cigarettes with the Surgeon General's warning on them. I purchased a DVD box set of cartoons last year from Wal-Mart, only to find a large number of the cartoons were similar to the one above.

In short, we have a long way to go and yet so little time to straighten this human thing out, and we keep taking the wrong avenues, hoping to strike a blow at something that is more of a belief or way of life rather than an attitude. Today people are still asking why Blacks allow calling themselves the N word, but others cannot say it?

My people (referencing African Americans) are doing a terrible job at tackling the issues head on, and keep looking for trinkets to justify the Civil Rights Struggle, and the issue with the current Presidency is no exception. There is a war going on in the Black community, and no one is really looking for the solution, but keep harping on the problems.

What does this have to do with Ramadhan you ask? LOL. I guess I just started venting due to a situation over the past weekend in which I spoke with a bus driver who was discussing the problems he encountered in which he asked the question when it came to "US" He asked, is it genetics? This incident also made me think of the young African American woman who posted a video on her Myspace page of a young Black woman with bad manners and she entitled it, this makes me ashamed to be black....

Believe or not, this is prevelant in my community. So far to go, yet so little time.

Take care everybody.

Time to reflect...work...smile....

Peace all,

It is 5:57am and it is the first official day of Ramadhan, which for me could not have come at a better time. Fasting has a way of putting everything back into perspective, and thank God HE has given us a full month to recharge, reflect, and reconnect. My mind was so distracted with the rigours of life, compounded with a computer that still had not been corrected, but I have realized I have to work with what I got. I plan to get this corrected, because I have a so many things planned. One thing I have planned is a full length video of me(THAT'S RIGHT Y'ALL) STARRING ME!

I can say now there were many occurrences that stressed me out over the past few weeks... Deaths, my car broke down, my computer broke down, my easel is no more, you name it. Oh, can't forget the job, gotta love that call center stress...LOL. My feet began to swell from the stress, and fatigue set in. I felt very overwhelmed and thought about certain things, like hanging it up again. Some people may think this is being wishy washy, but believe you me, I'm sure every artist had these thoughts when things seem to be too much.

But I had to suck it in, and just started working with what I have, and take things a little bit at a time, and slowly but surely things will fall back into place.

Thank God(Really!) I discovered gestural drawings. I had been reading about this for some time now, but over the past couple of weeks I started working on them and man, do they loosen you up! It does not take long to finish a gestural drawing because theres not much accentuation on detail.



I have more to write about but I have to get going. Thanks to everyone, I love you all.... I hope you like my short vid I've added.

MUCH BLESSED RAMADHAN to all of my Brothers and Sisters in Islam. May GOD accept our fasting and forgive us of our shortcomings....Ameen

ONE DAY.....

Peace y'all

It's 6:42pm, and my heart is heavy. Too much pain... Can't explain it...But a poem came to me as I saw one of my pictures.

ONE DAY

One day I will be able to laugh
One day I will be able to smile
One day I will be able to love

That day is not here now
There's too much pain
Too much sorrow
Too many tears
Too much crying

One day I will look back at all of this hurt
All of this penned anger
All of this anxiety
All of this worrying
And look at it as a bump in the road

To get where I want to go
I have to endure this
It is the trials of life
But I know God is with me
Because I'm still here
Still loving life
Despite the pains of loss
The pains of being deceived
The pains of being hurt and criticized
I'm still here
And one day this will be no more
I will be able to discard this mask of pain



The few smiles I have now are only an appetizer
One day I will smile so much my face will seem permanently fixed
And the only tears will be tears of joy.....

Victory will be mine...One day... ©Quwwa 2009 All Rights reserved.

You Only Have One.....

Peace ya'll

It's 9:06am, and I am at work.

WAIT A MINUTE, YOU'RE AT WORK AND YOU'RE WRITING A BLOG?
Well, yeah sorta.

YOU MUST HAVE A LOT OF TIME ON YOUR HANDS
Kinda, but this is a different blog.

IS IT THAT IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAVE TO BLOG RIGHT NOW AT WORK?
Yeah, kinda. I have to get it off my chest.

WHAT HAPPENED?
Somebody at my job died....Came back to work from the weekend and someone showed an email announcing his death.

HOW YOU FEEL?
Sad.

WERE YOU TWO GOOD FRIENDS?
We were cool, we joked around when I was in his area at work, but not the palsy-walsy type. But it's becoming so common now. This makes approximately 10 deaths I've experienced in the course of a year.

THAT MUCH HUH?
Yeah, that much.

Actually someone in my family died last week, but I didn't want to tell anyone about it. It's been happening so much now I become sad even if I don't know or even like the person.

WELL YOU ARE HUMAN AND YOU HAVE FEELINGS.

But does it mean that I've become very touchy when it comes to death?
COULD BE, BUT IT COULD ALSO BE AN INDICATION OF YOUR LOVE FOR HUMAN KIND THAT ALLOWS
YOUR FEELINGS TO SHOW. NOT MANY PEOPLE DO THAT NOWADAYS, THEY HIDE, PLAY TOUGH AND ACT THICK-SKINNED, BUT WE ALL KNOW IT'S FAKE.

Is it wrong to feel this way?
NOT AT ALL. AS WEIRD AS IT SOUNDS, DEATH IS A PART OF LIFE.

But most people don't feel this way. They may speak on it for a second, and then back to business.
MOST HUMANS ARE PRONE TO FORGET THINGS UNTIL IT HAPPENS TO THEM. COMMON TRAIT.

I don't know, maybe it's just me, or does it seems like people are taking this death thing lightly?
THEY ARE TAKING IT LIGHTLY.

I think so too, I think people are forgetting that they really have no control over this issue, and now it's so bad that people do not believe people die of natural causes anymore, it has to be something wrong. Take Michael Jackson for instance. No
drugs in his system at the time of death, but people want to make it seem as if something else was the cause of his death. They are not satisfied that he died in this fashion. He was supposed to have died tragically. People need to get over it. The man laid down and did not get back up. Period. But they play it as if there is some written rule that a person can only die in their sleep as an old person. Total disbelief that the One who gives life will take it anyway and ANY MOMENT.

THAT'S THE MEDIA FOR YOU. ANYTHING TO KEEP A STORY RUNNING.

Or another example, I remember a few years ago an ex-coworker told me his 5 year old niece went into the restroom, had an asthma attack and died. Within minutes of their arrival at the hospital, Child Protective Services were there investigating, claiming they are just there to make sure there were no signs of abuse....Couldn't they've just waited until an autopsy was performed before calling Child Protective Services? Have we deluded ourselves that much?

APPARENTLY WE HAVE MY FRIEND. SO MUCH ARTIFICIAL HAS OVERTAKEN THE REAL THAT THE HUMAN NOW SEES THE REAL AS AN ALTERNATIVE.

It seems everything natural has become "alternative". Natural medicines are "alternative medicines", natural foods are given other names, and now natural death is "Abnormal".

THE HUMAN BEING HAS TAKEN THE MORSELS OF KNOWLEDGE AND ABUSED THEM SO THAT HE IS WORSHIPPED INSTEAD OF HIS CREATOR. HE WANTS THAT WHICH HE CAN'T HAVE, OR THAT WHICH WILL DESTROY HIM IF HE OBTAINED IT IN THIS LIFE. WEALTH, POWER, SUBJECTS, IMMORTALITY. HE HAS FORGOTTEN HE IS ONLY HERE FOR A SHORT PERIOD.




GOD HELP US ALL. AMEEN.

Baby cost BUCKS!!!(Life in Marvelous Times)

Peace Yo,

It is 2:24pm and it is HOT OUT HERE!!!

I have a blog coming up but I thought I would send this interesting article out to all of my friends here in Blogland. Take a look at this doozy about the cost of having a baby in America without any means of insurance.

Who would have thought in this so-called "Land of Opportunity" one can be punished for simply being self-employed? Who would have thought that if we choose not to work for the slavemaster corporate conglomerates we give up our God given rights to produce and raise children simply because it "costs too much?" That in this "Land of milk and honey a couple who chooses to raise a family has to think about the cost of raising kids rather than the joy of raising kids?



I've always complained that doctors are like mechanics, they cost too much and they don't fix the problem. Well, this does not help me to change my mind at all. In a land where one CEO of Big Pharma earned over $100 million in profits ALONE and another hundred million in stock returns, one would think that in this land healthcare would not be an issue, but I guess I'm wrong, huh? And don't tell me anything about politicians and promises! As Malcolm X used to stated in a lecture once " All you get is the bill!!!" I am so tired of bills laying on politicians tables that we all know will never be passed...


Anyway, thanks to my Twitter friend @siditty for hookin' a brotha up with this article. And thanks to all of the new people who just hooked up with my site. I do read comments and I do respond...

Take care y'all....Luv ya QUWWA

Take a look at: Baby Cost

Can't Run.....So DON'T!!!

Peace Y'all

Yo Quwwa, what's up? You look pizzissed! I am. How pissed? We'll as Comedian Robin Harris used to say, pissed to the highest of pisstivity(lol)!

Tell me bout it.

Okay. Recently I was invited to another Ning site that was created from someone that was a friend on my Iseecolor site. I thought to myself that this was another opportunity to expose my art and get my voice out there. The person had commented on my blogs and gave me the impression that they dug my steelo.

Well last night I decided to get to work on my page, and posted one picture I entitled Down N Out. No sooner as I posted the picture, I received an email from this person telling me to "keep it positive". Now I can admit I can be of one who jump to conclusions(after all I am human) but it bugs me that people's first impression of my work is "depressing" as if I'm trying to dampen people's spirits or something. I guess people are really falling for this "change you can believe in" jazz.



For the record, my work is a simple reminder of those who fell through the cracks of this life, filled with materialism, and the enticing of the base desires of the human being. One should not be so obsessed with obtaining all the toys in this life, for death is imminent. One should strive for that which pleases God. We all know(or should know) that for most of us this life is filled with tests, hardships and pain. I have experienced this in a concentrated form for the past 7 years, but through it all(thank God) I feel that I have perservered.

In January one my Ning sites asked a question about the impact of having a "black president" would bring. Most of the responses from Blacks were that of "it gives the world a chance to see that we can be CEO's of Fortune 500 companies and big businesses" in other words, we get a chance to show America that we are not all "thugs and welfare queens" and such.

I don't have to prove anything to this world about my worth as a God created human being. I have nothing to prove to anyone except myself. That I would take the talents He(Al-Khaliq) has given me and use my voice for His bidding.

It is with that in mind that I focus alot of my work on downtrodden and oppressed people. While we sit and idolize the Fortune 500 companies, we simply turn our heads and ignore the Unfortunate Millions that are victims of this Criminal Economy and these Global Gangsters. I try to illuminate them. Give them the honor they deserve.

Through negativity one should try to strive for that which is "positive" but the key here is what is one's definition of positive? I don't believe the love of money is the root of all evil, but I don't believe that having alot of money is "positive" either, especially when those who possess it are bombarded with personal problems that money cannot cure. Take a look at your favorite entertainer, sports personality, or politician and see what I mean.

I try to maintain a balance where alot of people wish to "escape" that which is apparent. I don't mind painting landscapes, still life and such, but in the end, what have I done if that's all that I paint? No offense to those who paint these objects at all.

Let us begin to face our problems head on, whether personal, social or spiritual. I guarantee you the feeling of liberation is great. Beside I have never heard of a toeache or a toothache going away by ignoring it, have you?

Take care everybody...LUV YA!!

A Little Sumthin' Diff'rent

Peace Y'all,

My health is deteriorating again, but you've heard that song before right? Some of us never learn when to sit down!(lol)

It's 9:26am, and I'm trying this again. I posted this blog last night, but somehow, someway it disappeared. Anyway it is a beautiful poem about overcoming adversity in life. I try not overburden my friends with some people call "Doom and Gloom" although it is essential to remind people about the life we are living, and the society we are living in. It's great to hear any type of consolation and encouragement from people, and part of the Quwwa Project is to accept contributions from any positive and truthful source. I told you I was an information addict, and I will stop by anybody's site and pick from the smorgasbord of information. Just ask Wild Peach, Freely Speaking and others.

It is a poem entitled The Monkey Wrench, and the sister who was very kind to allow me to JACK- I'm sorry, I mean reprint this has a website and a blog entitled Yarncoture. It is copywritten so any requests to reprint this should be directed to her blog.

http://www.yarncoture.blogspot.com/


Reprinted by permission, Courtesy of Yarncoture.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The MoNkEy WrenCH (poetry from the soul...)
I want to hip you all up to this thing called the monkey wrench;
No one knows what it looks like or when it will hit but
when it hits you just get sick.
Your stomach is churning and turning and your soul is yearning for relief.
The gears in your mind are crashing and clacking while the monkey wrench continues to jam them...
You say to yourself "how could this be?? how could this happen to me??..ME!!!"

But you see, the monkey wrench has a plan to win;
to defeat you...it will treat you like a fool: you know, the fool that everyone thinks that you are...
By far, you are no fool and also have a plan.
Never fall in the same hole twice...it has been said!
If you let the monkey wrench's power overtake you, you'll be dead..
Your heart will cry in grief and your soul will scream for mercy over the monkey wrench's controversy and your mind will be spent.
What?? My plan, you ask? It is quite simple you see..

Patience is the key, you see..
In order for the monkey wrench's plan to work it must enrage you,
enough to make you act like a lion that's been locked up in a cage with no meat.
You see, you must stay calm...cool as a cucumber....don't let 'em see you sweat.
Always have a back-up plan, a frozen dinner waiting in the freezer, an extra change of clothes or whatever! Just prepare yourself for the monkey wrench's arrival...it's not fear, it's just survival!
Don't act like the lion in the cage; when let loose it devours everything in sight.
Believe me when I tell you, I understand your plight.
FIGHT with intelligence..FIGHT with strong character...FIGHT with dignity...
Only the posessor of these qualities will defeat the monkey wrench, you see...
Victory is yours and YES you have defeated it and only the foolish will flee and succumb to the monkey wrench's power. But it will be back! It will continue to test Man until the HOUR...

...until the next time...

~Yarn~