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Monthly Archives: March 2012

Again What Is Wrong With Us?


Where is the common decency and respect? We already know that some of the Southern areas have still remained in the pre and post Civil war mentality but you would think college students would have  progressed beyond that. What have the parents of these students taught them at home?

“Southern Miss band chants ‘where’s your green card?’ to Puerto Rican Kansas State player

Members of the University of Southern Mississippi band chanted racist taunts at a hispanic Kansas State player during the schools’ NCAA tournament game on Thursday.

After point guard Angel Rodriguez was fouled late in the first half of the second-round game, a few band members showered the freshman with cries of “where’s your green card?”

Where is the common decency and respect? We already know that some of the Southern areas have still remained in the pre and post Civil war mentality but you would think college students would have  progressed beyond that. What have the parents of these students taught them at home?

Recently Read.


“Fact has been suppressed by fiction, and the fiction is much more interesting to a lot of people.”  This quote was from a recently read article about 19th century accused Axe murderess Lizzie Borden. This quote gave rise to the idea that our current political campaigns have been built on the same premise. The ongoing belief that President Obama is a Muslim and  is not an American citizen is still in the minds of anti Obama citizens. This misinformation is nothing new and has been used for years in politics (politricks) as a way to disgrace the opponent. Why is it that people want to believe the worst about a person even when it proves to be false. Is this a Race issue or is it ignorance or desperation? Now we know one candidate is a womanizer and possibly has an  unsavory character but he is running strong in a political race to run for the presidency . There are many people supporting this candidate, does that mean they approve of him and trust him or is it that they just want a white guy in the White house no matter how unscrupulous he might be? The other candidates while constantly bombing one another have less baggage (but baggage none the less)  yet they are gaining support or least they appear to be at each area caucus. Remember these candidates are seeking the right to run for President under the auspices of their party. We have another issue that has been brought to the fore and that is the :”the Critical Race Theory”. While this theory is too long to bring into this writing, it is an issue brought forth in a negative and total 360 manner the website Breithbart.com. It is the source of many non fact based ideas about race in America and has enough following by diehard racists, wannabe racists and not so sure what they are’s to seem feasible. In these turbulent times a sizeable number of Americans are so desperate for something positive in the economy and Government that any information that appears to be true and unfortunately plays to the Racial tinge (including  non whites) is embraced. The future is just that , our present is what the future is in retrospect.

Pages and Pages


When knighthood was in flower, their servants or Aides were called pages. In our modern Government, Congressmen (and Congresswomen)  have aides designated as  pages to clarify this, I have included the Medieval definition of a page and the Modern Legislative definition.

In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a knight; an apprentice squire. A young boy served as a page for about seven years, running messages, serving, cleaning, and even learning the basics of combat, and the lord he was working for would usually treat him fairly but they went through intensive training. The lord sometimes gave the page private combat training from the age of seven until he was fourteen. At age fourteen, he could graduate to become a squire, and by age 21, perhaps a knight himself. Similar pages served in castles and great houses, fetching things and running messages for aristocrats and royalty. These boys were often the scionsof other great families who were sent to learn the ways of the manorial system by observation. Their residence in the house served as a goodwill gesture between the two families involved and helped them gain political contacts for their adult lives.United States

Legislative pages:Both houses of the United States Congress have formal page programs. In both the House and Senate programs, pages are high school juniors from throughout the country. The application process is very competitive. Pages serve for periods of several weeks during the summer or for a full school semester during term. They live in dormitories near the Capitol and attend special schools for pages, but are always present on the Senate and House floor during session to assist the proceedings as needed

Is it possible that our elected Legislators consider themselves Knights? or maybe knight Errant (or should that  be Errant Knights?)

“Atta Boy”


Congratulations to our Illinois legislature, the recent action of taking up the action of cutting their pay a again is laudable, this indicates that they have perhaps turned the corner on self and are beginning to look to the well being of All of us. No one can make rational policy or major tax changes until they walk in the shoes of another. Of course there will be those who oppose and cry out the need for an increase in their pay or maintaining the current status but these are folks whose abilities would still earn them more than many of their constituents. I believe a cautious but congratulatory “atta boy” is in order for the Legislators. The next step is to get a real Governor.

The Chicago/Illinois Wall Crumbling?


The mayor of Chicago after proposing a State wide handgun registration for entire state, with a fee on each firearm (Chicago has one) to control the illegal guns coming into the city of Chicago, is meeting with the Peoria businessmen and elected officials. This proposal so far has gone nowhere, the Executive committee has passed this proposal on to the full Legislature with no action on their part. To be clear no amount of additional legislature will curb the purchase and illegal use of firearms. The legal firearms owners have state issued and required Firearms Identification cards which they pay to renew when due. Now the mayor has visited Peoria Illinois to speak to local business people and elected officials to tell them that after all of these years that the tension between Chicago and downstate Illinois isn’t constructive. Yahoo!. This will  not help the situation until the Chicago politicians (this includes our State Leader) understand the other part of the state . As a former resident of Chicago I can tell you the people in Chicago are not happy with the state of the State or Chicago. This meeting is no more than a ploy to gain an edge with the legislators to get “his” work done. Chicago like the “other” part of the State has financial woes which can no longer be solved by more taxes on gasoline, sales tax and other fees, some of which have quadrupled over the years. When ALL of the people we have elected begin to act like servants of the people we may begin to make progress.

What In The World Is Wrong With Us?


I recently read a news account of the shooting (murder?) of a  Black teenager in a Florida gated community. This act was  committed by the :Neighborhood watch Captain. The young man was returning from a nearby convenient store with his purchase of skittles and an Arizona tea drink. From reading the story apparently there was an interaction in which the unarmed youth was fatally shot by this “Watch Captain” The details appear to be that the Watch Captain was on the line with 911 and reporting the young mans presence and was told by the 911 operator to remain in his vehicle, it appears that either that did not happen or the Captain got out of his vehicle and confronted the young man. This young man was visiting relatives (also African-American) in that “Gated” community then unfortunately wanted a snack and ran afoul of a person who is so afraid of Color as to be trigger happy. I ask : “What is wrong with us”. There was no reason for this Adult to do anymore than watch and wait for Police officials, in Florida firearms can be carried under the law if a person has passed the designated course in handling firearms and passed the legal challenge of background checks but seemingly this may be one who slipped through the cracks thereby making the rational legal owners seem like so called “gun Nuts”. I am adding a copy of the event as known.

Family of Florida boy killed by Neighborhood Watch seeks arrest

By Barbara Liston | Reuters – 17 hrs ago

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – The family of a 17-year-old African-American boy shot to death last month in his gated Florida community by a white Neighborhood Watch captain wants to see the captain arrested, the family’s lawyer said on Wednesday.

Trayvon Martin was shot dead after he took a break from watching NBA All-Star game television coverage to walk 10 minutes to a convenience store to buy snacks including Skittles candy requested by his 13-year-old brother, Chad, the family’s lawyer Ben Crump said.

“He was a good kid,” Crump said in an interview, adding that the family would issue a call for the Watch captain’s arrest at a news conference on Thursday. “On his way home, a Neighborhood Watch loose cannon shot and killed him.”

Trayvon, who lived in Miami with his mother, had been visiting his father and stepmother in a gated townhome community called The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, 20 miles north of Orlando.

As Trayvon returned to the townhome, Sanford police received a 911 call reporting a suspicious person.

Although names are blacked out on the police report, Crump and media reports at the time of the shooting identified the caller as George Zimmerman who is listed in the community’s newsletter as the Neighborhood Watch captain.

Without waiting for police to arrive, Crump said, Zimmerman confronted Trayvon, who was on the sidewalk near his home. By the time police got there, Trayvon was dead of a single gunshot to the chest.

“What do the police find in his pocket? Skittles,” Crump said. “A can of Arizona ice tea in his jacket pocket and Skittles in his front pocket for his brother Chad.”

Zimmerman could not be reached for comment on Wednesday evening at a phone number listed for him on the community’s newsletter.

Crump said the family was concerned that police might decide to consider the shooting as self defense, and that police have ignored the family’s request for a copy of the original 911 call, which they think will shed light on the incidents.

“If the 911 protocol across the country held to form here, they told him not to get involved. He disobeyed that order,” said Ryan Julison, a spokesman for the family.

“He (Zimmerman) didn’t have to get out of his car,” said Crump, who has prepared a public records lawsuit to file on Thursday if the family doesn’t get the 911 tape. “If he never gets out of his car, there is no reason for self-defense. Trayvon only has skittles. He has the gun.”

Since Trayvon, a high school junior who wanted to be a pilot, was black and Zimmerman is white, Crump said race is “the 600 pound elephant in the room.”

“Why is this kid suspicious in the first place? I think a stereotype must have been placed on the kid,” Crump said.

(Editing By Cynthia Johnston and Peter Bohan)

The Audacity of Intolerance


We as ordinary people (in our own ways) have brought me to believe that we do not care anymore or we are not willing to believe anything true anymore,either way we are in trouble.I do not believe any of us  are willing to continue with same old Congress that has led us astray decade after decade. It is of little importance who is President when the Congress controls which programs live or die as they have to approve funding for all of them.The president can only propose programs and fight for them, the money comes through the grace of Congress. These current seat fillers have shown their true colors in the wat they have treated this President. If as citizens you fall in line or get behind the erratic and dubious rhetoric of the Congress then shame on you also. The Congress in its seemingly anti Obama stance (racial?) has allowed the upsurge of the Rust Lumpbacks, Herman Cons and other radical ranters who serve no other purpose than disruption and deviation from the truth. We already have candidates running for the opportunity to face off with the President, yet continually bombard the airwaves with half truth, little truth and no truth. It’s certainly easy to quarterback from the sidelines but extremely difficult to do it in the game. We have many sideline QB’s but unfortunately we will not know how they perform until they have the ball. Do we want to take that chance?

What are Thinking Or Perhaps Not


As I read the variety of publications and other media issues, I have come to the realization that we as Americans  (and not all of us) are still closeted racists or bigots of some sort. There are so many Americans who harbor an actual hate of the President due to his natural tan, its scary. These are the same single issue folks who have supported the re-election of Congress as long as they have supported their single issue. Now that there is a person in the Oval office who is telling you what is actually going on in Government we would rather believe the truth variations put out by many other factions including some of the Presidents own party. The Congress is not interested in the truth and especially from a not so “white” guy. It is my opinion that if we are ever to become a true “world Power” we need to get off of the Race horse and treat America’s top dog as the head of Government instead of a whipping boy for every failure of the previous heads and the Congress what made them. America the Beautiful has grown uglier as we continue the  modern “civil war” with all of its restrictive policies and ancillary nonsense. If by some chance we can ever evolve from the pro slavery mentality we could actually make progress. So the question is” What are we thinking?”

Black Moms


I recently read an article on Black Mom’s and the general perception of them in the media, in the world and  in stereotypical conversations. Rather than excerpt this I have included a short part and the link to the blog:

I am a Black mom. And my mom — she’s a Black mom, too. And so was my Nana. And never not once did my mother address me with a three, five or twelve-letter slur (I’ll let you figure out what those are on your own). Sure, I got lectured about running in and out of the house and jumping on the furniture. And if I asked her to go to McDonald’s, she would whip right back and ask me “You got McDonald’s money?” That much rings true. But she didn’t spend the preponderance of her time devising new ways of saying she was going to kick my tail.

Read Janelle Harris’ entire blog entry at Essence.com.

 

Media Manipulation?


The daily papers cover the campaigning of politicians with a fervor bordering on fanaticism and often this coverage influences the minds of the voters. A case can be made for the voters being unduly influenced by the media but what if the candidates themselves are leaking information or facts (sometimes) to influence the voters? This could point to the possibility of voter manipulation, yet it is possible that none of the voters have considered that they have been had or manipulated. This is nothing new but modern times have brought a wide range of avenues to disseminate information be it truth, innuendo or out right lies. The political system has only degraded into folks who lie for a living and think nothing of receiving “gratuities for services rendered” (at our expense). The banking problems started years ago, these problems affected the housing markets, credit cards and even labor (jobs). The current candidates and even our elite Congress have spent more time, energy and money assailing the policies of the sitting President ( and they have done the same thing in the past) while offering no substantive alternatives. With this in mind what will we do when the elections arrive, vote against the devil we know or our perception on the new devil? No one likes to be  wrong but we need to stop looking at the various shades of “gray” and look at the pure  black & white of the situation. Our Government is broken and will be until we the people take back control of the election process by not voting by rote! The Congress was never designed to be a lifetime, retirement position and we the People have allowed it!  Apparently it is un American to want the Government to work as designed so perhaps I am Unamerican or worse a Patriot!