connecting*the*dots

He has chosen death:
Refusing to eat or drink, that he may bring
Disgrace upon me; for there is a custom,
An old and foolish custom, that if a man
Be wronged, or think that he is wronged, and starve
Upon another’s threshold till he die,
The common people, for all time to come,
Will raise a heavy cry against that threshold,
Even though it be the King’s.

– W. B. Yeats

Artist: Public Enemy (Featuring Paris)
Song: Coinsequences

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[Intro/Chorus: Paris]
Is it a, coincidence that we ain’t taught truth
A, coincidence that they target the youth
A, coincidence everything is the same
That a message in the music ain’t a part of the game
A, coincidence that we livin a lie
A, coincidence that we only get by
A, coincidence that so many are lost
And do prison time ‘fore we notice the cost

[Paris]
It really ain’t difficult to break the mold
And take a close look at the lies we’re told
Wipe away the facade, see we got to know
See the plot to control and to rot the soul
You can make anybody that don’t read believe
anything that they see on the TV screen
That a lie is reality, the sky is green
That there’s weapons in Iraq, and the President’s clean
When it’s on, thinkin you can trust police
Every black is a beast and our women are cheap
And that brothers gettin murdered is the way of the streets
That it’s normal to die when we still in our teens
And that’s the way it is, what’s the use to try
That school is a motherfuckin waste of time
Slang yay, die young, maybe get rich rhymin
And prison if you black is just a part of life
And that all of America support the Pres’
Religion is the way, and we all full of sin
That it’s better after death if we suffer and pray
Even though they fuck us off in this life today
And that white Jesus hangin on the wall in church
ain’t a part of a lie to keep a brother subservient
And that the whole world need the word “Amen”
Got troops overseas gettin murdered for free
If you buy that shit, I got a bridge to sell
Like I said I’m a rebel, so I must re-bel
And lies be the truth now, war is peace
Like corporations don’t dictate the streets
Like brothers don’t die for the diamond or bling
Like brothers don’t die over songs we sing
Like patri-ots act like the Patriot Act
While we swing on this bitch ’til we break it in half

[Chorus: Paris]
Is it a, coincidence that we ain’t taught truth
A, coincidence that they target the youth
A, coincidence everything is the same
That a message in the music ain’t a part of the game
A, coincidence that we livin a lie
A, coincidence that we only get by
A, coincidence that so many are lost
And do prison time ‘fore we notice the cost

[Paris]
You guilty if arrested and niggaz are thugs
Only good for welfare, murder and drugs
The media is true, with no bias at all
And Fox News ain’t on the President’s balls
That Lacey and O.J. and Kobe and Mike
ain’t bullshit and really do matter in life
That you shouldn’t be insulted they give ‘em the time
but never talk about all this corporate crime
That they generatin news stay loose with facts
Relate fake views that’ll keep us attracted
like sheep so we don’t think, never react
Never question authority, never suspect
Never trip off of why what matters to us
always seem unimportant, and never get love
Why it’s never any money for the school support
But it’s fallin out the sky for these corporate wars

[Chorus: Paris]
Is it a, coincidence that we ain’t taught truth
A, coincidence that they target the youth
A, coincidence everything is the same
That a message in the music ain’t a part of the game
A, coincidence that we livin a lie
A, coincidence that we only get by
A, coincidence that so many are lost
And do prison time ‘fore we notice the cost

[Paris]
They never give real shit space to shine
Just donkey-ass niggaz on assembly line
Cookie cutter pop-slutter make music designed
to pedal Coca-Cola, Motorola and Sprite
No love for the Enemy with video play
But they give Flav a show to take the focus away
from the realest group ever made, whaddya say
when to them it’s Eminem that’s goin down as the greatest?
When the plan is a shame like we makin a choice
Understand it’s a scam who get handed a voice
And it’s only a few and they decide in advance
Like votin for the President and both of them fam
All that “God bless America, and nobody else”
But I can smell racism, however it’s dealt
Know the real shit never miss, see how it’s felt
All around the world, hear the people cryin for help

[Chorus: Paris]
Is it a, coincidence that we ain’t taught truth
A, coincidence that they target the youth
A, coincidence everything is the same
That a message in the music ain’t a part of the game
A, coincidence that we livin a lie
A, coincidence that we only get by
A, coincidence that so many are lost
And do prison time ‘fore we notice the cost

[Outro: Paris]
A, coincidence ex-cons can’t vote
A, coincidence they can’t get no work
A, coincidence that they can’t hold heat
Now they know that they enemy don’t look like me
A, coincidence that we shit out of luck
The consequence of coincidences all add up
When you never know the reason and you’re set up to suffer
The offense is coincidence is never the cause

I can’t tell you how much I love playing Spades.

52 cards, split up between four players in teams of two. Your partner is your pahtnah; you know his tendencies, he knows yours. If you’re really tuned in during the bidding process and through the first two books, counting count cards and deductive reasoning takes over without much effort. After some practice, especially with the same partner, you can look forward to setting your opponents with amazing regularity.

Spades is about sharing that moment of victory with your pahtnah; it’s a game for bravado and talking smack. It’s Love & Hate on Radio Rahim’s knuckles. It has a pulse of its own.

Poker is so different.

1. No matter what game of poker you’re playing, you’re on your own.
2. Only cards dealt face up and player movement will give you a hint in counting cards.
3. You have to play your hand, the cards on the table, more than one deck at a time and the tendencies of your opponents. Patterns have to be established from the way your opposition reacts to various situations, but unless you play with the same people for an extended period of time even that strategy doesn’t help too much, as tendencies based on a stereotype aren’t too reliable.

Poker forces you to execute at a precise moment in time based on a plethora of variables; a majority of which are unknown.

A player folding twice in a row, with face cards in the second hand just to throw the table is a perfectly, rational strategy. Being conservative with three aces to raise the stakes, after raising on a bluff to gain a stake of the pot is SOP. Playing a straight game 85% of the time–in the midst of the madness — creates even more of a competitive advantage.

Poker is cold and calculating; poker is schizophrenic.

A poker player doesn’t strive for that moment of Quan; he plays to take all the chips for himself.

So which of these two games would you guess to be more popular in institutionalized environments, such as a federal prison? Which would you guess is more popular with Wall Street types on a Wednesday night after raking in $10k of commisions on speculative stock trades?

Let the gamble of our non-sustainable future continue.