Episode 032: Let Me Show You How Your [Insert Here] Works

This week’s episode of The Axiom Amnesia Theory starts out with Heit kicking off the show with his rendition of Brian McKnight’s new song “If You’re Ready To Learn.” The rest of the show follows suit and teaches you how many of the things we encounter work!

Topics discussed include the changing landscape of R&B, Don Lemon’s skin color, celebrities who get nose jobs and other cosmetic procedures, Shaquille O’Neal’s PhD, Beyonce’s journalism award, Zip Cars, communities where there’s no need for money, the myth of food scarcity, petri meat, bankers playing God with technology, Mother’s Day, FAMU band members charged in hazing death, books and movies Heit & Cheri like, and the impact of Facebook on organ donation.

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Segment 1

• A discussion of a song from Brian McKnight’s new mix tape, which includes the lyrics, “Let me show you how your pu$$y works.” This is a significant departure from the songs his fans are used to hearing him sing.
• It seems that many of the R&B artists have resorted to a more bold sexual message to reach the younger audiences. It will be interesting to see how successful the song becomes.
• Brian McKnight also made a video for the new song, and he takes a comedic approach to the song.
• A mention of Erykah Badu’s interview where she says you just have to do some “hoe shit” in order to get noticed.
• Discussion of how people give Axiom Amnesia a hard time, with hate mail and racial epithets.
• Don Lemon on CNN seems to have some recent changes in his skin color. Is he lightening his skin? Is he using that special soap or is it just the makeup? Every week he seems lighter and lighter…
• A discussion of a video of South African singer Mshoza, in which she discusses bleaching her skin and her obsession with with whiteness.
• Celebrities who get nose jobs and other cosmetic procedures in order to look more Anglo–Halle Berry and Alicia Keys. Perhaps they want to look more like the most beautiful woman in the world–Beyonce!
• Discussion of Beyonce winning a journalism award. Did she actually write that piece herself?
• Heit & Cheri give themselves a journalism award.
• Shaquille O’Neal received a PhD this week. He actually scheduled his coursework during his off-season. His degree is in leadership and education, specializing in human resource development. He plans to become a motivational speaker and eventually go to law school.
• Applauding Shaq for not limiting himself to one career or one pursuit. His basketball career has allowed him to fund all of these different pursuits.
• Shaq was the only current NBA player with an MBA.
• Heit talks about his friend who has a talent for remembering the dates of events–he can remember the year that almost everything in his lifetime happened!
• A discussion of the Zip Cars service where people can easily rent a car for an hour or two or even an entire day.
• The price can range from $6 to about $10 per hour, or $69 per day. This includes both gas and car insurance. Does this cost too much?
• What happens with minor accidents?
• This may make sense if you only need a car for a couple of hours per week.
• Are there ever any shortages of cars? What if the car has an odor?
• Discussion of a community where things are community based–everything–food, transportation, etc. at no cost. The community supports it.
• How do you consider the situations when there are competing priorities and people want to use the same resources?
• What if people were not bound to living life according to the hours and times dictates by store and business operating hours? Night owls could operate at night instead of being forced to be up in the daytime to conduct business.

Segment 2

• There is no scarcity of food. There is more than enough food available in the world to feed all of the people. The issue is the condition of policies that allow there to be “haves” and “have-nots.” Everyone cannot have resources because the markets make sure that there is an uneven distribution of all resources, including food.
• Different cultures have demands for meat products that require the fattening of animals to produce them. Grain and other food products are fed to the animals to fatten them. People could be eating that food.
• The animals would be able to graze in their natural habitat off the land, had the humans not destroyed their habitat–building cities and destroying the forests.
• Mention of companies guaranteeing that the animals they use for food are not abused during the process.
• The story of a man who was criminally prosecuted for having sex with a neighbor’s dog. Was this animal cruelty?
• Check out our article on Obama’s Julia tool.
• Scientists suggested that growing meat in petri dishes could possibly eliminate world hunger–not so.
• Petri meat would become a delicacy.
• Some people suggest that growing meat in a petri dish is “playing God.”
• The bankers and investors of the day also “play God” when it comes to what technologies they allow to come to market. They choose what will be funded and what will be trashed–even what technologies will be purchased just to keep them from going to market as competition.
• Alternative energy is another industry where we see bankers and investors flexing power over which technologies are released.
• One of the problems is that the bankers, investors, and even members of Congress are not really equipped to understand the inner workings or implications of these technologies, yet they are making major decisions about them.
• It’s all about money. The corporations want to maximize their profits. They won’t release the new product until they’ve squeezed the last drop of profit from the current product.
• Many times it’s not even the best technology that makes it successfully onto market and into peoples’ homes. HD DVD vs. BluRay and Beta vs. VHS are a couple of examples of this phenomenon.
• Patents are another issue. Sometimes you have people holding patents for the sole purpose of keeping people from using it.
• Discussion of the movie “Extraordinary Measures,” in which a father is desperately seeking a cure for his sick son. The challenge is the power structure in place that keeps him from the life-saving drug.
• We also see trademarks being used in the same way. For instance, Beyonce and Jay-Z have a trademark for their daughter’s name, Blue Ivy. Nobody can use that name in an official capacity.
• Discussion of an Oklahoma state Senator holding a sign that says she’d fuck a senator if she wanted the government in her womb.
• There is a new drug that will rival Viagara and works twice as fast.
• Mother’s day is coming up this weekend! There is a song by DJ Chosen that is so poetic and it talks about him relying on his mother for guidance and assistance throughout his life.
• The main theme of the song is that he is not proud of the things that happened in his own life, but that he needs his own mother’s help. You’ll always be your mother’s child.
• A poem about a father who went out to have dinner or something with his son, and he’d provided some guidance during the meal. His son reminded him that he was an adult, and the father refrained from telling the son that sometimes when he crossed the road he still reached out his hand for the “child” to hold.
• Cheri tells the story of the dynamic between her great-grandmother and her grandfather.
• These different emotions and outward shows of emotions are not necessarily consistent across the board.
• Heit & Cheri admit that they both received whoopings as children.
• Cheri describes herself as a ride-or-die chick… lol
• The FAMU band members associated with the death of the drum major Robert Champion, resulting from hazing, were charged with felonies.
• A young man in Ft. Worth was sentenced to life in prison and he made some outbursts in court, and the court used the outburst as justification for his incarceration.
• Discussion on how Heit has a thing for labor movies–anything that talks about corporate work conditions or labor unions is something he loves.
• A discussion on the commercialization of Mother’s Day.
• Heit & Cheri discuss what they’ll do on Mother’s Day.
• Organ donation has spiked in California and Texas because of the drives on Facebook.
• Pretty soon you’ll be able to do everything on Facebook. Just connect your bank account and go!
• A TED talk about why organ donations are up or down in some places depending on how the question is phrased–opt in vs. opting out.
• Facebook makes it very easy to opt in–just click a button.
• Campaigns on Facebook are also boosted because of the “audience” effect. People will do things just so that others can see them do it.
• Discussion on all of the free books available on Kindle. Heit & Cheri share their topics of interest. Of course anarchism is at the top of the list–philosophy, labor, and psychology too!
• Heit & Cheri promise to discuss a book that they are currently reading together. Stay tuned for more on the details!

Audio Credits:

“If You’re Ready To Learn (Let Me Show You How Your Pu$$y Works)” – Brian McKnight
“If You’re Ready To Learn (Let Me Show You How Your Pu$$y Works) Official Video” – Brian McKnight
“I Can Tell” – Mercedes Ft Mac
“Cross This Road” – DJ Chose Ft. Aloe Blacc

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