My two-cents worth and then some. An online journal by LP Brown.

Browsing Category Lifestyle and Culture

General news topics.

Halloween: Celebrating All Saints Day or Runnin' With the Devil?

by on ·Lifestyle and Culture

“Trick or treat?” That’s the rhetorical question that follows the knock on your door on Halloween eve. Upon opening the door you see giggling, anxious children, eagerly holding out their bags, waiting for you to drop in candy, fruit, or other goodies.

Many adults as well as children enjoy the annual celebration that gives imaginative children the opportunity to fantasize that they are the characters of their dreams – or nightmares – by dressing up in appropriate costumes and going door-to-door trick or treating or attending parties. Some child-at-heart adults join in the fun and put on costumes, too.

While numerous religious factions have no problem with Halloween, some

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Perception – Everything Is Not What It Seems

by on ·Lifestyle and Culture

I want to get something off my chest, so I’ll get right to the point. When you see two women or two men hugging in public it does not necessarily mean that they are gay. To paraphrase an old Flip Wilson adage, “What you see is not always what you get.”

Here is the situation. A female friend and I were standing outside a small office building talking with Jim, a male business acquaintance. A trio of young male landscapers were working nearby. My friend, who I will call Gail, told Jim that she and I were in complete agreement on a business decision. Jim said “I know. I know you two always agree.” “Definitely!” Gail replied laughing, and then impulsively she  grabbed and hugged me. During our brief embrace, I glanced over her shoulder and saw the landscapers watching us. Two of them exchanged telling glances and one of them smirked before turning his attention back to his task.

I am a very intuitive person and sensed that they were thinking that we must be lesbians, simply because we hugged. Gail and I are business partners as well as close friends. However, neither she nor I are lesbians, nor are we bisexual. In fact, we both are in fulfilling relationships with our male soul mates.

Some of you are probably wondering why did I feel so uncomfortable over what I believed the workmen must have been thinking? It’s because I am well aware that although many people say that they are receptive to alternative lifestyles, everyone is not. Some people, if they are honest, will tell you that

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McIntosh to McDonald’s “I’m not lovin’ it!”

by on ·General, Lifestyle and Culture

Greenwich Village McDonald’s cashier, 31 year old Rayon McIntosh, was having an ordinary day before customer Denise Darbeau hauled off and slapped him.

Reportedly, Darbeau began cursing McIntosh after he questioned the authenticity of a $50 bill she handed him. Attempting to add injury to insult, after slapping McIntosh, Darbeau ran behind the counter as her friend, Rachael Edwards jumped over it. That’s when McIntosh delivered a super sized Mac attack by grabbing a metal rod and beating both women like he was tenderizing beef. The incident was captured on a cell phone camera by another customer.

Let me be perfectly clear when I say that I do not condone a man hitting a woman, but I also feel that any woman who throws the first punch against anyone, and especially against a man — unless she is Laila Ali — she had better be prepared for an a** whipping.  That is apparently what both women got. One of them was left with a fractured skull and broken arm, the other suffered cuts. McIntosh was fired.

Judging from word of mouth and comments on various blogs, a number of people believe that McIntosh was wrongly fired by McDonalds when he was obviously defending himself. He had no way of knowing whether the bold women would pull a knife or gun.

Some people are also upset over the fact that a few stations including CNN did not initially show the slap rendered by Darbeau, choosing instead to edit that portion out of the video. They showed only the footage of McIntosh striking both women with the rod.

Before the incident McIntosh was just another Mickey D employee trying to earn a living. The fact that he was also a convicted felon, who had served 10 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter in 2000, apparently became an issue only after the incident which resulted in his being fired and locked up again; this time on charges of felony assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

He is currently being held under $40,000 bond. McIntosh has the support of his father and many people in cyber space. The incident has also prompted Facebook fans to create the Rayon McIntosh Defense Fund. Darbeau of Queens and Edwards of Brooklyn, both 24 years old, were reportedly drunk at the time and both were charged with menacing, trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Set the video below to full screen, closely watch the cashier and see what set him off.

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