As someone who is a Democrat and voting for the President, it was a disappointing night. In fact, I suspect that no one thinks President Obama won the day. Romney finally emerged as the formidable challenger we expected but failed to see before this evening’s debate. Romney was glib, forceful, and articulate. The President was disjointed, inarticulate, and frankly looked he had an illness. There will be no fist bumping in the Obama camp tonight, and high fives all around in the Romney camp. The situation is not expected to get better as the Vice Presidential debate up next. This will pit the Vice President (who is known to make a few gaffs) against a feisty Paul Ryan on the Romney side. To be honest, the debate was painful to watch for this Democrat.

The troubling facts are that while Romney preformed better than expected, the President did not preform anywhere near his potential. Key issues such as saving the auto industry, the 47%, prescription drugs, Bain Capital,  on Massachusetts that being 47th out of 50 states in jobs,  student loans, were either omitted entirely by President Obama, or glossed over to be effectively inconsequential. While Romney chanted “not true” dozens of times, all the President seemed to be able to muster was a series of “and ums” while looking like he pulled an all nighter. The good news, is that everyone including the Romney camp is aware that the President had an off night. We know this was not our President firing on all cylinders. The reality is that though Romney won the debate tonight, he was not specific regarding his programs, though he was specific in his accusations. The President has the luxury of having a well oiled machine and very definite programs that anyone can find online, but unfortunately he only mentioned that once.

The facts are now being bantered about on social media, and the facts will come out by the fact checkers. Romney can promise the middle class a new Mercedes Benz, but he can’t deliver. Romney can insist there is no 5 trillion, but there is. Romney may be better versed in economics than the President, but the President has teams of experts. The housing market is returning, jobs are sluggish, but improving steadily, these are realities that Romney can only deny, yet the facts support the President. You see, Romney can make all kinds of promises, but he can’t deliver. Congress being in gridlock is not the President’s fault despite what Romney says. Romney insisting he can end gridlock by reaching across the aisle, is absurd, you see, making grandiose statements, is not the same as delivering, the President is delivering.

If you have not seen Alan Sorkin’s The Newsroom, you should, sure its a bit high brow, but it addresses the wake of the news, admirably. The news team in several episodes recognizes that the current debate format is weak, and suggests a better one that takes candidates off their talking points, a concept worth considering. Mr. Jim Leher turned in the worst performance by a moderator I can remember. He was limp, failed to keep to his schedule, allowed both candidates to roam off topic, and asked questions that a primary student would receive a fail on. Let’s hope the President gets out of the funk that swallowed him by the next debate.

  Mr. Brett died in 1995 working on Sherlock Holmes until close to
the bitter end. He was admired and befriended by Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle's daughter Dame Jean Conan Doyle. The forty one episodes are all
delightful. All are available on DVD or online at Netflix. I saw the
series first on PBS and later on A & E. I was thrilled to see them all
again on Netflix and mind you, it did not bother me in the least. It
did remind me of just how wonderful Mr. Brett was as an actor. It
reminded me of that period of time in British Television when series
like Upstairs Downstairs, All Creatures Great and Small, Poirot (to
name a few) were not only highbrow, but actually taught us something
positive. These were family shows, there was never an abundance of
violence, they were elegant and taught us manners. One of my favorite
line's of Holmes is at the end of the video I'm sharing: when he SIC tells
 an adversary that " He should take off the cigar band from his cigar or 
people will assume he is a bounder". It is nuances like these that not 
only school us, but we remember.

  Some may want to challenge my "Colonial" views on this Blog
because I am in THIS instance, saluting The Raj, yet those would be
the lowbrows. Fortunately the highbrows have absorbed what they
choose to of Colonialism and spit the rest out. Perhaps it is because
my Dad was an architect that I enjoyed the Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes so much. When we look at all the manufactured crap that we are
producing in today's world and the decline and fall of artistic
masters of tradesmen be they working in iron, stone, fabric or woodwork
its little wonder I liked the sets. There are a few giants of film
that painstakingly reproduce a set the way it should be like David
Mamet, Robert Altman or Ashutosh Gowariker, but not many who don't cut
corners these days.

 I miss the lack of these type of family shows and to be honest I
miss Mr. Brett and his cerebral charm or maybe it was more of his
aloofness or dismissive nature. You can find Mr. Brett in a few other
notable films, but not many. He was in War and Peace with Audrey
Hepburn and again with her in My Fair Lady. I always thought he'd make
a great Jeeves as I have always found those who tried to be PG
Wodehouse's unique character Jeeves to be somewhat lacking.
 Unfortunately, we'll never know. It is ELEMENTARY that If any actor
deserves an award (of any kind) posthumously, it is Mr. Brett. Do hunt
for the series and you'll not be disappointed nor do you require to see
 the episodes in any particular order.








Here is a very worthwhile petition you can sign

www.bafta4jb.com/the-petition/petition-letter/

327 pages 
Ana Maria was a was what I call a floater she was baptized Catholic and born in Lucumi, and eventually crowned. Being a Santera just did not seem enough for her and she began to  learn IFA. She was relentless in her studies, but had no interest in marrying a Babalawo because she was a lesbian. During her studies she cast aside Catholicism and took it out of her personal practices and worship. This was an improvement, but she still felt she was destined for higher service. Next she became a Palera, but never felt that IFA (her passion) and Palo walked hand in hand, as they seemed to in Orisha worship.  She tried Voodoo, Hoodoo, and other traditions, always coming back to IFA, despite what she felt was a suppression of equality for women and gays. 




After a time, she began reading how women were treated as equals in Yoruband, so she joined an ile in the state of Ogun and learned that in Yorubaland there were still things a man could do, that a woman could not in IFA. She asked many elders about this, who usually answered evasively, or asked her to consider why Olodumare made male and female. The wise Awo would entreaty that women have an equally important role in the religion as in day to day life, but there is a difference, just as a male can not birth a child, neither can a woman initiate the process without a man. She understood, but still she was unhappy and felt women were slighted from, not just IFA, but counsels, and the hierarchy. Ana Maria began to see that it was not just Lucumi where women were not equal, the more times she heard "equal, but different" the angrier and more frustrated she became.  She visited Brazil where woman have a rich history because the Portuguese had murdered all the male Babalawos centuries ago. The problem in Brazil was that she found Portuguese to be difficult to learn. She saw that while Orisha worship was perhaps even skewed to women in Brazil, IFA seemed to be newer there and more murky. 



327 paginas 

 

 

            Ana Maria met Jim in a forum on Facebook, Jim was gay and like Ana was a floater, they had traveled the same road for different reasons. He was well spoken, knowledgeable and an independent student of IFA. Jim like Ana was frustrated and unwilling to accept the tenants of IFA that preclude gay men from the priesthood. For my part, I met both Ana Maria on a Facebook, but separately, both had written me a nice note congratulating me on my book, Nature's Ancient Religion. Ana Maria had read my book in Spanish (IFA y los Orishas: La Religion Antigua de la Naturaleza), and Jim had read my book in English. Over time I began to see both Ana and Jim pop up on many groups on Facebook and forums elsewhere. In the course of things we three became Internet friends. Not being gay or a woman caused me to reflect on their plight, their gripes, and their feelings. You see it was not just Ana and Jim, it was a large group of women and gay men who were equally frustrated. 

             Like many Awo, I understood their frustration, yet I was and am in no position to change the way things are, and in fact I am not sure I would , if I could. In fact this irked and irks me to see the same exact discussions over and over, and in every single group I belong to. You see, while I am sympathetic to their plight, I am happy with my beloved Lucumi, there is no chance of changing the tradition as I see it.  However, I put on my thinking cap, because like a baby that is crying, crying and crying, the baby will not stop unless he or she is attended to. The baby may need changing, food, or simply attention. 

              We all learn from history, be it oral, written or experienced. It we look at our religion(s), we find they are fragmented with traditions, some of these fragmentation's in diaspora came about because of necessity rather than choice, yet other purely came from choice. Even in noble Yorubaland there are fragmentation's, Oyo does not do some things as Osogbo, just as Osogbo does not do all things as in Ife. These differences can be either in mechanics or philosophy (or both), the same is true when comparing other West African traditions to Yorubaland, There is often a misconception that all of Yorubaland does things the same, when the reality is quite different. There is a beauty to our structure, that not enough followers appreciate. Some of those seek misguidedly to combine all the traditions and make one super religion. This of course will never happen, as centuries of tradition and culture are not given up, ever. Many of these ONE Super religion types also tend to insinuate and in some cases outright claim that their tradition is superior in power, history, or culture to others. There are other motives like money, but let's avoid looking at these and focus just on those who seek to consolidate. We'll often find the consolidators the worst culprits in disrespecting other branches or traditions of our religion, why? Because they have a motive or motives. The enlightened, see the futility of promoting consolidation, and tend to be more receptive in respecting those traditions that are not their own, but related. If we look at my beloved Lucumi, we find that like in Yorubaland (or anywhere else) mechanics and philosophy vary somewhat ile to ile, and more so from rama to rama. Therefore, the reality is anywhere on the planet we look, we see differences. 

          These differences are to be respected, just as our many similarities are to be celebrated. Disrespecting another tradition, or ile is much like a divorced spouse ranting and raving about their former mate. It is unsightly, and we ask, " Humm, I wonder why she or he married them in the first place". It also can and often does damage the children born from this union.The wise former spouse, sings the praises of their former mate, and learns the lesson to not drink the same dirty water. If we look at other religion, (ANY other religion), we see differences that through history have cause fragmentation. Look at the Jews who spawned, both Christianity and Islam. Islam has Sunni and Shi'a, and other branches that fall from that tree. Christianity we can start with East vs Roman Catholic, continue to Martin Luther branching off, and all the branches of Protestantism. We can do this exercise in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc, etc. Now coming full circle, we notice that while there are many branches, the trees they belong to are clearly defined, and not in dispute. The same is true with all the diaspora based traditions, they came from West Africa and are part of those various trees in that grove, 

            In conclusion, I must ask when will Ana and Jim and all the other gay and women who want to have a larger role in IFA begin to learn from history? Why have they not started their own tradition(s)? My ogbe sa brain tells me that at some point they will stop exhausting themselves swimming up stream in Oshun's river and just create their own tradition. When this happens, history will tell us there is much resistance and perhaps centuries before the rest of the groves accept them as family, yet like all religions this is the price of being a separatist.

About the author: 
www.amazon.com/Charles-Spencer-King/e/B002ELIWKI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

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