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Tag Archives: As I see It

The Oscars


The media has been hot with the Oscars and the lack of diversity in the selection of candidates behind and in front of the cameras. Unfortunately this issue has been around a long time. Going back to the Oscars after the release of “Gone With The Wind”  when Hattie McDaniel won for best supporting actor (a first for an African American actor in any movie), however she was told to what to say and then essentially get off of the stage. Now there have been many African American  and other ethnic actors who have been nominated and won Oscars but recent events seem to point out that the nominations have been pretty “white”. The issue is with the lack of diversity in the nominations not so much the awards.  This is the issue, the lack of recognition at all.  Being nominated is a recognition of cinematic achievement  as much as winning. Any boycott or lack of attendance may not solve the issue immediately but it has served to focus attention on the issue. Several actors have been approached about this and all have issued opinions which ultimately addressed the issue in several ways ranging from dismissal to agreement. The last word on this has yet to be heard however  the general consensus appears to be that the nomination board need to take a broader view of the industry in its selection process. After all America and the larger world is ethnically and racially diverse in spite of the makeup of their personal circles.

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Election Season


We think of seasons as changes in the weather according to the earth, sun and moon positions as the earth rotates. Election season is a bit different. The election season brings some of the same elements as the natural seasons in that there is light, dark ,warm ,cold and many things in between. We have many people jockeying for the position of candidate of one party or another. Since we don’t or can’t remember the last election season, here are some tips to help: all of aspirants have skeletons in their closets, dirt under their beds and made poor choices at some point. This just shows that they are human. The key is how honest are they? Honesty is measured by their ability to recognize and correct or own their mistakes. Consider their prior lives before it became public, what did they accomplish or try to accomplish? What about their finances , are they above board or as normal as yours? Some of the issues that come out as “dirt” is not as bad as it is made out to be but out of context they seem awful. Your Aunt Minnie’s underwear on the clothesline was just as shocking in her day! To get through the election season just look at the debates if you want but understand that debates are like trials, you have proof and you have conjecture. Unfortunately conjecture often sounds better than the truth. Debates and political speeches have more conjecture than truth as conjecture sells and the truth is dull. We seem to relish the idea of a verbal fight but often miss the messages of those verbal battles and there is a problem. What is said to great applause is usually not a viable solution to anything until it completely laid out and even then sometimes marginal at best. It is good to remember running for office and running an office are as different as night and day. Where we (voters) need to be mentally is that what’s openly said is not necessarily what is intended.

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All Lives Matter


The recent movements specifically called “Black Lives Matter” has apparently not resonated in Springfield, Illinois. The Springfield Urban league has systematically reduced and removed staffing to the barest minimum seemingly in the hope of breaking the back of a duly elected Union. The overall effect has been Black on Black crime as Head Start program in Springfield is predominantly African American. This unfortunate circumstance has affected the Non African American  clients of the Head Start programs  and are recipients of this less than stellar administration as well. The overall enrollment has dropped due to poor decisions by an administration. There is no route to management that allows ground force managers to work effectively for improvement without hands on from upper management who have idea of the real workings of the programs and appear to be against knowing or wanting to know. The Urban League is a National Organization whose purpose is to serve the people and in Springfield that service has become no more than a “buzz word”.

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Where!!


Where we have been and where we are going are questions that need answers. Getting the answers requires conversations and reading. Each of us has an opinion on many things according to our personal beliefs, backgrounds and experience yet we still form opinions based on someone else’s view even if that view is off-center of our own. The current political arena has many of us  forming opinions based more in innuendo and misinformation than fact. I have heard and still hear views that are so outrageous as to be scary. If a larger portion of people actually followed the extremes , we could quickly descend into the black hole of anarchy creating a  wasteland. Example the recent accord with Iran has met so much pushback from people who do not see or want to see the bigger picture. For instance the uproar over the current Iran Nuclear deal-enter the previous Reagan Russia nuclear deal with “evil empire”. This rehash is no more than Obama bashing which serves no purpose other than gaining points for  talking and crowd pleasing. Looking at the minimum wage, it has proposed to raise it to $15.00 per hour, what will be gained is a higher base wage which will result in higher spending (possibly) but the offset is some higher prices in consumer goods, higher tax brackets with tax deduction offsets and a certain amount of growth in durable goods. Overall the economy will pickup because of increased spending and if we (the people) are smart we will save more and become smarter financially. With all of this we still need to pay attention to who we elect with the thought in mind that we will have to live with our choices for 2 to 4 years at a time. We will still have the opportunity to replace those we elect with others who we hope will do better. The thing to keep in mind is whoever is the President will have the opportunity to select Supreme court Judges who are in office for life and that a have a longer lasting effect than anyone we elect. So we need to be as informed as we can be but not according any specific ideology or political theme. Information is gained by listening and reading everything available with a rational mind. How do we accomplish this state of mind. Think about the difference between being religious and being spiritual, once you figure that out for yourself, you will have the answer.

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Boycott Or Strike


Either way the State of Illinois is preparing for some serious stoppage. The Gubernor apparently has no qualms in definitively crushing Unions by reducing services to the entire State population including the most vulnerable. I think there is fault on both sides but the refusal to negotiate at all on the Governors side except on his terms is not leading us in a good direction. The anger and vitriolic speeches, sound bites and buzzwords are not the same as honest negotiations. If the voters are smart , election time will tell the story. In politics the campaign speeches and declarations are no more than ways to get votes. When elected the reality kicks in and those high sounding words become an Albatross. Right now the Albatross(s) weigh heavy on the states residents and not the elected seat fillers. I do not imagine any of our elected officials or their immediate families and associates are suffering any inconvenience in this situation. Point being we need to be careful who we vote for in the future as we have been persuaded  more by “correct sounding” words than facts. Fact is that anyone who spends  obscene amounts of cash to win an office  that pays so little is not a great choice for our welfare. Where did the idea of spending millions of dollars to get a thousand dollar job start?

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The Divide Whitens


The Racial division of the United States has not lessened no matter what the surface appearances are. We have seen the evidence in the election of Barack Obama and to another degree in the recent Oscar Nominations. What is wrong with the so called movers and shakers? These are the people we as Americans have selected, elected or chosen to be representatives of our views ( are these our views?). While the Oscars are not world changing events , they are major events in America. Folks will still go to see the non nominated movies out of curiosity or genuine interest but will never voice an opinion about the lack of inclusion by non white judges or who ever makes the selection of nominees. How many have ever heard of “Oscar Micheaux”  ? A turn of the century Black film maker who has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame and the listed honors and legacy below ( From Wikipedia):

Legacy and honors

Poster for the 2014 documentary film Oscar Micheaux: The Czar of Black Hollywood.

If not now, when? We have seen the divide and we need to immediately start the work to build the bridge beginning  with who we elect to office. Keep in mind that behind closed doors the “dirty, racial and demeaning names” are still being used as divisive tools. It is well to want to believe that the divide is closing but the reality remains as an uneasy layer under our public persona.

 

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Chicago Classic


Chicago has again shown itself to be a classic non changing city-state. The recent revelation of withheld details of LaQuan McDonald’s Murder at the hands of a Chicago police officer has further inflamed the people of Chicago. This video showing the murder was withheld until after the reelection of Mayor Rahm Emmanuel. The mayor was forced into a runoff election with a not so strong candidate and still barely won the election. It is apparent that too many voters have forgotten to exercise the power they have . We have in America forgotten that politicians are more like snake oil salesmen  pushing cures that benefit no one but themselves. “Honest politicians” and “crooked politicians” are the same except in pure definition. The facts of our system of elections is that we wait to hear what each candidate is saying and decide who to vote for based who fires us up. This method of voting is  no different than the excitement we get from movies! The method we need to use is reading about each candidate no matter what they say on the stump as those words are written by people whose sole job is to excite us about the candidate. Lets think about what is being said by the current aspirants, how many of them really know what the ACA is about? How many know all of the facts of our foreign policy? How many understand the full scope of what Planned parenthood does?. These are just a few areas that are highlights of the current political campaigns. Do we want someone whose knowledge at this point is so limited? We need to ask what will happen if they are elected? Will they all of a sudden become well versed in these areas? These are questions that must be answered truthfully even if the answer is “I don’t know”. Our entire focus as voters need to be pay attention to the “man behind the curtain”.

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Not In Our Best Interests


The inexplicable sameness of being different. This is what comes to my mind when I look and listen to the Dupublican aspirants for the privilege of running for the Presidency. Each of them is attempting to create an image of being the best choice while holding to the “party line” of conservatism and other factions within it. Unfortunately their politics seems to be against the interest of the country and many of the people. It has always been my opinion that candidates for any office should be more like the people they are trying to represent, this is not to say that they should be the same ethnicity , race or religion but more like kindred spirits who share the same experiences in some degree of those of their supporters. The modern political arena has more to do with rabble rousing than inspiration using firebrand tactics and explosive rhetoric. If we believe in the candidates who are politically incorrect and inaccurate or worse if we elect them so what does that say about us?  Our dedication to the now standard political machinations of caucuses, polls & ad campaigns has possibly lulled many into the “elect anyone” who isn’t that person  the method of voting. Listening to some of the interviewed attendees of the political rallies lends an insight to how uninformed many of us  are.  It  is well to be in tune with your political choice but blind following is what allowed the overall political climate to exist.

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Law Degree Required?


The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the Health Home Medicaid State Plan Option authorized under Section 1945 of the Social Security Act.  The information is posted to the Health Home (HH) Information Resource Center webpage on Medicaid.gov.  In addition to the FAQs, other new documents have been added that include: HH Map; HH Fact Sheet; HH State Plan Amendment (SPA) Overview by state; and a List of Chronic Conditions Targeted by approved HH States.

The above paragraph is the simplest one of thousands that make up the CMS arm of the government Medicare and Medicaid programs. If you look into the programs and the various links you will quickly see why you need an attorney or a knowledgeable advocate to negotiate the regulations in order to get the health care you require. Would it not make sense to have this information published in terms that most people can understand? Is it possible that the information is made to be obtuse so that it is unusable and frustrating to the people who need it the most? What if there were no advocates available to navigate the waters and mine fields of government paperwork? All of us at some point will fall to the paperwork of Government (that is after a law requiring paperwork reduction commonly called :PRA of 1995. If you look this act up you will see that even the explanation of the act is quite an eyeful and a bit of a slog to get through. What we have here is ” a failure to communicate!”. While another act that simplifies the simplification which would actually reduce the paperwork , that will not happen as long as we have the type of Congressional representatives who are less interested in our well being than their own. It is in our best interests to pay attention to everything spoken by these Seat fillers as what they say and what they do are not the same, by extension not always good for us.

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As The world Churns


The Urban League of Springfield has received a grant to set up a “cease fire” program. This program is in place in other communities and is successful. I have only one issue with the program and that is the administrators. The immediate hands on folks are not the issue these are good people with good skills. The administrators have a track record of poor to mismanagement of grant funded programs due a dearth of understanding how these programs actually work. The ordinary work on the many programs administered by the league have been unfortunately side tracked by under or uninformed upper managers who have no apparent faith in the hands on coordinators and causing the programs to fail through their
micro management. Once a program fails, the local recipients are left in limbo and often worse off than before the program. The drop out rate in these programs is nothing to be proud of but the League often touts the few successes as being greater than it actually is. The effort put into securing grants is sizeable but the effort to sustain the programs is not. Given the large number of professional people who left the employ of SUL (voluntary and forced) has indicated all is not well in the kingdom! There are many wonderful people in the organization but the top tier of executives is rife with incompetence and greed. This has been voiced by many former and current employees. This “insider” information has come about by the accidental meeting of former employees who I’ve met around town. The shame is that this branch of the League has the air of  respectability from business friends and outsiders while maintaining the reputation of poor service in the community. Apparently there is a tacit approval of poor service by the State and National Urban League.

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