Rozay, Keep Yer Shirt On - Chris "Preach" Smith

Rick Ross, you got ONE more time. ONE MO' TIME.

You need to stop recklessly violating Big Boy Rule #1. And
that rule is, keep your shirt on. I'm getting real tired of seeing
you on awards shows and other appearances with your shirt
open or off altogether. I don't know who told you that it was
sexy. I'd like to take a rusty crowbar to that person's calves.
I do know that it's not hot. Not at all. I felt the need to say
this after witnessing yet another shirt fail at the BET Awards
a couple of days ago.

Ricky, I can understand about being overheated if that's what
it is. You're not the first to go topless like that in public. Biz
Markie is known for that, even being on an album cover with
it. Bonecrusher too. But you know what happened after that?
They STOPPED. 'Cause someone, somewhere pulled them to
the side and said, 'KEEP YER SHIRT ON with all that flab. No
one needs to see that.' Heed that advice dude. Especially
considering you have all of those tattoos everywhere on your
chest. Combine that with the beard and bald head and you're
going to keep making me think you're going to be in the sequel
to 'Prince of Persia' or have a side gig in the WWE as the Son
of Kamala. C'mon fam. Biggie never went there. EVER. Biz
and Bonecrusher both went on celebrity fitness shows after
they flashed the world. Even Fat Joe has shed some weight
because he wanted to be more healthy. We've already had
oversized MCs leave us too soon. Drink more water, shed some
pounds, tape 'em down like Kevin Hart said but spare us all that.
'Cause all of that dustiness with your shirt off is nothing to
celebrate.We can get past you being Officer Ross but don't push it.

Wary of Wikipedia? - Chris "Preach" Smith

Sometimes, the danger of having certain groups of
like-minded people together doesn't solely rest in what
they believe in, but what they will do to prove it. The
evidence of it is all around us, with color-coded terror
alerts and new reports. This even extends to ideas, and
leads us into uncertain territory. And with all that said,
I propose this:

Wikipedia needs to be better regulated or disregarded
altogether.

Wikipedia?! What does Wikipedia have to do with anything,
you may ask. Think about it in these terms. Since it broke
onto the scene in 2001, it's grown to be a relied upon
source of information. How many times have you heard of
people trying to settle arguments by looking something or
someone up there? The only online encyclopedia that you
can edit, Wikipedia has become a concrete part of our
culture in a decade. But the freedom one has to edit articles
and entries is a little TOO free. Especially because there's
too much of a reliance on people exercising common sense
and reason when entering information, a risky proposition
in this day and age. For example, when Justin Bieber lost
a Grammy Award to Esperanza Spalding earlier this year,
crazed and bratty Bieber fans took to Wikipedia to edit her
entry and include rude things. Another disturbing trend
that's taking place now is the revision of entries to support
the claims of political candidates, no matter how far off-base
they are. Recently, Michele Bachmann announced her run for
President in 2012. Among other statements, she continues
to claim that John Quincy Adams was a founding father of
the nation. Even though he was EIGHT YEARS OLD at the
time. Now there's jokers who have changed Adams' entry on
Wikipedia to coincide with her erroneous claims.

You can't rely only on people's common sense when some don't
exercise it enough or not at all.

While Wikipedia isn't considered a heavily reliable source of
academic information, it is important enough to be ranked
seventh in the world on a list of most searched websites. And
there are those who are working to make it a valued source
of information alongside news websites like CNN and BBC.
But the issue of free edits without stringent guidelines is a
dicey one. Most edits are removed swiftly, but some remain
with footnotes claiming their bias. Not good enough. You
can't rely only on people's common sense when some don't
exercise it enough or not at all. Look at Craigslist. When it
first appeared, the big appeal was its community ethic and
the owners' hands-off approach to stepping in and resolving
issues that couldn't be handled easily. That came back to bite
them in the butt with the murder of a young woman who was
working as an escort through Craigslist's 'Erotic Services' section,
now eliminated. That situation illustrated a need for a more
structured presence on the site. I may be overreacting, but
we need to vigilant about the information that's available to
all no matter the format. Even if it's online.

Invisible Jumper - Chris 'Preach' Smith

"No wonder so many running backs got by you...you were always
hidin'!!!! You were never THERE...' - Calvin Lockhart, 'Melinda'

Time to show and prove, LeBron.

This is what you wanted. This is what you asked for last summer
after essentially holding the league hostage with speculation and
frenzy. This is what you chose after 'The Decision' and the fan rally
in Miami after signing with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. After
all of the boasting, the struggles, the highlights, you're back in
the Finals as the favorite. So LeBron, let me ask...if this is what
you wanted, why aren't you snatching that opportunity with BOTH
hands?

Everyone(including myself)has made comparisons between you
and Michael Jordan. But there can't be any of that, not anymore.
Not when in your second trip to the Finals, you have only scored
2 or less points in the fourth quarter of every game. This is after
your pregame speech before Game 4's tip-off and a late night
Twitter message. You know what the equivalent of that is? It's
like Rampage The Last Boy Scout's career after his first single.
The refs aren't paying you any attention to the point where you're
not getting superstar treatment on calls. The Dallas Mavericks
are defending you with JASON KIDD. Posting you up!! Deshawn
Stevenson is calling you out. Jay-Z's not going to make another
song dissing him on your behalf if your team loses these Finals.

This isn't the time for hype LeBron. Is it unfair to put all of this
on you? In some ways. Your entire team has issues holding big
leads and they've fallen prey to the belief that even now they
can turn it on and off. Ask the Los Angeles Lakers how that
worked out for them. But you have to take some blame. Because
right now, Dallas is not afraid of you. D-Wade can't carry this
team every night like he did in 2006. Chris Bosh is looking like
he's a better investment than you. LeBron, champions are made
in the clutch. You know this. Jordan, Magic, Bird, Wilt, Kareem,
Russell...all these guys rose above it when it mattered. Maybe
you're afraid. Maybe you're hearing the critics inside your head
a bit too much. Maybe you're too worried about not winning to
the point where you're not being aggressive enough to put
yourself in the place to win. Who knows?

One thing is certain...you've got two games to either prove
everyone wrong...or prove everyone right. We can't keep
being witnesses to greatness that pulls vanishing acts.

Doomsday Aftermath - Chris "Preach" Smith

It's May 22nd. Bills are still expected to show up in the mail.
The NBA Playoffs are still going on. And the world is still intact.
The Rapture, known as the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in
Christianity, was supposed to have taken place yesterday at
6 PM exactly. Thousands of people who believed Harold Camping,
the self-styled prophet and evangelist who made this declaration
took to the streets and awaited doomsday. And 6 o'clock came
and went, all over the world with nothing left in its wake but
jokes and extreme disappointment and questions.

I'd like to have hope that this will put an end to such stupidity,
but as I heard on Sportcenter last night, 'the Mayans are on
the clock.' We've got such a fetish for the world coming to an
end, so much so that there's some elements among us making
sure that happens. It's cool to watch the world end. We've seen
it happen so much on movie theater screens, right? What Family
Radio and Camping will probably do is regroup and redirect their
message to keep these followers in their camp, using another
section from the Bible to keep them in line much like they used
that passage from Thessalonians. Probably Jonah and the whale.
They may even splice some scenes from 'The Perfect Storm' into
any Youtube clips they make. They'll do this because any good
con game needs willing participants. And America is a breeding
ground for Christian-themed con artists. Isn't that right Benny
Hinn?


I don't feel sorry for those folks who burned up their savings,
quit their jobs or gave away property and cars because they
thought The Rapture was imminent. If they really studied the
Bible or possessed common sense, they'd know that one man
WHO GOT IT WRONG already is not someone who should be
counted on tell you the truth!! I feel sorry for those close to
them who are affected, their sons and daughters and loved
ones. Some of these young ones have had their college funds
and trust funds drained and given away to Camping who was
reported to have earned 72 MILLION in donations a couple of
years back. Their futures are tainted by this. And in this age
of social media, imagine the jokes and insults they've got to
deal with because their parents made a dumb decision. Don't
be surprised if you hear a couple of tragic stories come out of
this mess.

What needs to happen right now? Well for starters, Camping
and his organization needs to be dealt with seriously. That
means a full examination of his financial holdings and an
outcry for him to give that surplus of money to charity. (I
didn't mention the possibility of followers getting their money
back 'cause they made a choice to donate.) Counseling needs
to be made available to his followers. The media at large needs
to check themselves 'cause this went from a blip in the news
a year ago to constant hype over the past three weeks on a
daily basis. And ultimately, let's not shy away from calling
this movement a cult. Because we really don't need another
Jonestown.

Enjoy your day after Doomsday folks!!

Bin Laden and Bogeymen - Chris "Preach" Smith

"Wisdom stands at the turn in the road and calls upon us publicly, but we
consider it false and despise its adherents." -Kahlil Gibran

Osama Bin Laden is dead.

It's funny how writing those words still feels strange two days
after the announcement was made to the world this past Sunday
night. The whole idea of Bin Laden, dead at the hands of the
American Special Forces in a wealthy suburb in Pakistan seems
like it was lifted out of a video game. In the brief time span
since the news broke out and President Obama's confirmation
in his address, the entire country, if not the world has gone on
a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Hell, I did the same thing. I
must've taken all of 15 minutes to go from disbelief to elation
to calm. But one feeling undercuts everything else here. And
that feeling is irritation.

Why? Because all I'm seeing from some people is a wave of
flat out foolishness. Granted, Bin Laden's death is a turning
point in history but there is NO reason to go out and dance
like you're at the Burning Man Festival with Miley Cyrus' 'Party
In The USA' in celebration. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!! Sure, we all
know there were people who danced up a storm in some Arab
countries and even on rooftops in Brooklyn but there's no need
for that nonsense. And there's also no need to vandalize a
mosque like the one in Maine that was broken into Sunday night.
We're supposed to be better than this. We've a right to rejoice
because evil's vanquished but we've got no cause to act like
drunken donkeys in the bleachers at a baseball game. Oh, I
forgot...that's become the norm these days as far as the behavior
and attitudes of some Americans.


Another thing that gets me is the sh*tstorm of left-field and random
conspiracy theories that have flown all across the Internet. I think
some of you people uttering these things need to step away from the
cheeba and booze and stay off Youtube and message boards for a
minute. Now I am skeptical about things and I'm a firm believer in
knowing the truth and seeking it out but some of you WHO KNOW
BETTER are sounding like you took your knowledge from one of those
Lyndon LaRouche booths. When a random 'Net page and a fringe
podcast host is your ONLY source of information, you know what that
makes you? A sucker. And of course there are those who feel that
President Obama made this move only to get re-elected. Or that he
faked it along with his administration. Or that they're faking Bin Laden's
morgue pictures, as seen on a Youtube clip. Or that he died years ago.
Reality television, subpar music and fear politics have scrambled some
of your brains like a Western Omelet.

Bin Laden's death means two things to me. One being that all of those
people who have lost their lives from the World Trade Center to Iraq to
Shanksville to Afghanistan and elsewhere died to keep our way of life
the way it is. And we're cheapening that by acting like people who can't
reason, who cling to bigotry and division. The second thing is, while his
death doesn't mean the end of the struggle against extreme terrorism,
it marks a turning point in this country. We've got a new beginning in
front of us, all of us. Are we going to finally stand up and be the United
States other nations percieve us to be? Or are we going to still let the
bogeymen and partisan profiteers compel us to turn on each other?