my phone just rings and other observations

The Party of Y

2025-08-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

I am getting sick of Democratic Party leaders standing around with dumb looks of their faces asking the same stupid question Why did we lose this one? Over the months since the election since the election, the answer is painfully obvious. Ignorance. By ignorance I mean the Dems royally ignored all potientally interest groups with a lack of interest. While the national party tried to maintain party needs. Since the election, the answer is painfully obvious. Ignorance . By ignorance, I mean the Democratic party royalty ignored all potential interest groups with a lack of interest in them while the national party tried to maintain party needs employment, the economy,immigration, healthcare, the environment and education funding. The DNC under president Biden VP Harris and the Dems in Congress had an agenda and made a strong sweeping effort to carry it through but after all is said and done many of the interest groups have been ignored and here they are. African Americans : The DNC considers themselves civil rights experts and rightly so but needs the African American Community to go beyond the need for social equity that was yet to arrive. Being socially accepted from the poorhouse to the Whitrhouse is great but the DNC has yet to move African Americans from the backstreet to mainstreet. For the most part, we are still are on the backstreet and nowhere near mainstreet and this has been going on since 1619 and has yet to change and that is what the African American community is upset about and continues to be upset. When the African American community complained to the mainstreet, the stream would say: 'You have a black president, What more more do you want." One black president may be all we get and the community knows this . The black community organized after the murder of George Flyod took to the streets in June or 2020 and marched right into the ballot box in November of 2020 supporting DNC candidates . Joe Biden who promised movement for the backstreet to the mainstreet. Equality and mobility for all. The American people were awakeand ready for changebut the first and last Biden term did not deliver. Biden was not the Lone Ranger. He put fourth strong policies that built the economy but did not get enough support from mainstreet and the backstreet felt backstabbed. All politics is local . Controlling the White House is dandy but a full house is needed for a strong government. Many of the DNC house was lost in the mid-term election s the DNC took candidates and the voters for granted . So the second half of Bidens term left him unprotected and vunerable to his key legislation being blocked by a Republican majority in the house. Senate ccandidates like Alabama's Doug Jones were defeated by mental miget Auburn football coach Tommy Tuperville because the DNC didnot give Mr Jones adequate support. Two things happened . The DNC took Democratic voter for granted . The DNC came with hope MAGA came with an agenda . Two things cost the DNC the 2024 election . 1 Party members pleading with Ppresident Biden to step downwithout any plan for succesion thrust the nomination of Kamala Harris with just five months until election day. All because the DNC brought up the idea that the president was incompetent enven though he was running against the most incompotent pesidential candidate that I have ever seen. The Democratic party establishment is made up of people is afraind to take risks . this is the second time in over 50 years that that a sitting Democratic president has declined fo run for reelection that has resulted in defeat of the replacement DNC candidate and rhe election of a present with shady intention . first Richard Nixons defeat of Hubert Humphrey which resulted in the secret dombing of North Vietnam and Donald Trump's Project 2025 initiative. The main reason why we suffered defeatin 2024 was the DNC leadership was standing around with egg on its face wodering what happened . A lack of confidence for Democratic candidates . During President Bidens first term i was having a dicussion with friends who thought Kamala Harris was not a good replacement for the president . Basically they said that the GOP is going to take the 2024 election So the profits of gloom and doom were right not because they were inquizitive but I think if you say something long enough everyone starts to belive it and this is what happened. during the 2024 election election a lack of confidence and the tendency to pull defeat out of the mouth of victory and blame it on everyone else. What costs the DNC the 2024 election was the lack of confidence in the party and the ability to successfully win an election and run the nation after victory. A lack of leadership at the top of the DNC is the cause a strong party chair is needed to bring the DNC to victory. A state governor would be a better idea for a party leader. It worked for Howard Dean a physician and the Governor of Vermont, who was a presidential candidate led the DNC through two Obama victories, control of Congress and the passage of hte Affordable health care Act. Saying all of this , I think the best choice for the chair of the DNC is Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota who showed his metel in the 2024 election . What the party needs is a director who can oversee the election and present the issues,lead the candidates to victory. Governor Walz would make a better producer and director than a leading man . Governor Walz has the strength of conviction , the stamina and the will to take the candidate election to victory. At this point in time, Governor Walz would be a better suited at the helm than on the bow . This movement should begin now a new chairman should be selected immediately and a secret strategy should be written and carried out during the midterm elections in 2026. the theme of the election shouldbe the DNC. The next theme should be try it and see and what happens make MAGA know that the DNC is ready and willing to take our country back to what the USA has always been, a free country by any free political means necessary. I think that our base is bigger and more diverse than the RNC. We need to clearly state what the Democratic party stands for listen to our base get their feedback and take quick action to to develop the campaign supporting the issues that all Americans want without compromise. We currently have a president who rules this nation like a dictator unwilling to to compromise unwilling to listen The DNC should do a series of informal meetings and town halls so that we know what our base needs and how to carry it out. We have better candidates progressive policies and care about the people of the US we truly are the party of the people. We have to make it clear that the time not to drain the swamp but to flush the toilet and 2028 is the time to free our nation from a dictator in training who cares nothing for working families or their freedom, The people of the US are not living in a democracy and on a one-way trip to financial ruin while the country is in a tariff war and is in the process of making bitcoin legal tender. Deja Vu Coolidge/Hoover. If we can't defeat MAGA in the midterms and the election 2028 it nay be a long time before we see the light of freedom. The DNC must have a come Jesus meeting with the leadership and look at the real reasons why the 2024 election was lost without finger pointing, which leads to regress not progress and frankly led to the 2024 election defeat. The DNC needs to look at what is good about it and lable it the party of progress . The DNC should not be afraid to call out voters who often expect more from candidatesbut unwilling to learnwhat the real issues are They should expect complex to uncomplex answers and not vote based on single issues. Instead of being like an a premissive parent overindulging their children their children who grow up to do and know nothing as adulls candidates should not talk down to voters but challeng them to think and be responsible for their own destiny . Elections are lost not just because of candidates but of voters who expect the party to do all the thinking know what the real issues are and not make the electorial process just that not a beauty contest/ grudge match . the winner of the election should serve all the peolpe not just the ones who voted for them and not use the election as a way to hurt the losers which is what Donald Trump is doing . FDR bailed out Wall Street and Main Street. President Biden equally served the working class and big business. The president should serve all of the people with charity not revenge. The DNC must prove that our candidate will be a uniting force sworn to upheld the constitution not destroy it . To put the nation back on its' feet and not worry about offending a tryant who is hell bent on destorying our republic. We must let the people that our only goal is to truly make the United States sane again and it starts with the midterms The midterms should be called get rid of the tyrant and make Donald Trump a lame Duck president by taking control of the Congress. Trump is doing all that he can to not make this happen and replace our democracy with an Orwellian autocracy both bothcontrolled by fascists with economic and political control.The midterms will be a litmus test for who will win the 2028 election and the direction of the nation and the world a big task ahead of us and we must prevail

The Florida Situation

2023-09-14T19:40:00.001-07:00

I was shocked and saddened when I heard of the death of Tyree Nichols at the hands of the Memphis Police Department a travesty of justice and a complete act of brutality. There was no rhyme or reason for the attack. Now those officers and the Memphis PD are trying to spin the story of Mr. Nichols' death to no avail. Once again there is a conflict of interest in law enforcement. First of all the main duty of the police should to protect and serve. Enforcement is secondary especially when it gets in the way of safety. The Scorpian unit was formed to cut down on street crime instead it seems more like a gang in blue. It seems like many of the victims of police murders are more nerds than nemisis. From Philando Castillo a school cafeteria manager to Tyree Nichols a skateborder these men had two things in common they were non-threatening and unarmed(Castillo had a weapon in his car which he was licensed to carry ) .You know that these officers are cowards because hardcore gang members still walk the street reeking havok while decent young black men are murdered by these psychopaths.There should be a serious concern as to why the police are consistantly shooting unarmed black men . Not your average Street criminal the average victims of the gang in blue are usually employed and as harmless as a bag of Stay Puff marshallows usually in the wrong place at the wrong time. Iwould probably be one of those guys except I hardly evergo out after 6pm. Id rather not overeat or risk getting choked or shot to death. I do not understand this trend, and why the nation is doing nothing to address and solve the problem of the wholesale slaugther of black men. When the police killed people in a shoot out they were defending themselves and could somewhat justify killing people in the line of duty but now most of the people are unarmed and pose no threat to anyone but are murdered using officers fearing for their lives. Explain this to me. How can an unharmed man be a threat to an armed man who pulls the trigger because they fear for their life. From Geronimo Hemanez to Kyle Rittenhouse, these murderers justify killing unharmed men because they fearned for their lives. This has got to end. BLACK MEN SHOULD NOT BE SITTING DUCKS !!!

The Revolution will not be Twitterized

2017-02-09T07:12:00.004-08:00

The Revolution will not be Twitterized

The revolution will not be twitterized
We will not post our angry uttterings on
Facebook, Twitter, or Snap Chat.
We will not do selfies as we march
toward the Capitol carrying signs
and wearing pussy hats.
The revolution will not be Twitterized.
We will not listen to limo rads with their
undirected angry toward a person they
ignored hoping he would go away.
We will not wait for Cornel West to
define who we are and what we stand for.
The revolution will not be Twitterized .
We will not wait for Bill Maher to tell us
who to listen to by who he invites on his show.
Downing the current situation while wearing
designer suits while the real workers in the nation
have Kmart and Goodwill as our couturier's.
The revolution will not be Twitterized.
We will not follow the Today Show and let Dylan and
All set the trends and the ends. We will not allow the
president and his flawed sense of values direct our
nation from a Twitter page to set off our anger and set off our rage.
We will not let Steve Bannon pick fights with us that we can't and
have no desire to win. We will not be pulled into his hatred
and sin. We will only march through the streets of our own
neighborhoods and towns straight through the hood to bring out
the clowns the ones who stayed at home on election day and
caused our current situation and we will not stray, we will stay
on them until election day and elect a Congress who will do
our bidding or be gone in two more years cause we aren't kidding.
There will be no reason for us to apologize cause the revolution will not be
Twitterized.
RIP Philando

A Tale of Two Cities

2016-11-07T14:13:00.004-08:00

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times . That is what this election brings to mind. We have less than 24 hours before we go to the polls to elect a president. We are coming to the end
of one of the most intense elections in the history of our nation an election that is filled with both passion and resentment. Some who want to maintain the white male status quo , some who want to go against the system and many others who do not know what they want they are angry and do not know where to direct their anger.
I think this election has come down to a tale of two cities where one city is a city of hope and the
other city is a city of nope. The city of hope is an offshoot of the eight years of the hope of the Obama administration. The city of hope is concerned with health care, justice, expanding the middle class and providing quality education to all who desire it . The city of nope is against everything the city of hope is in favor of. They seem to think that their world was destroyed in 2008 and their American dream is being taken away. For some reason they feel they have been living in another country that was run by someone other than who they are used to have them running it and they literally can't stand it . Mr. Trump's slogan : Make America great almost sounds like make make America white again.
The city of hope has a diverse population with an abundance of people of color, immigrants and women. The same people who have been attacked repeatably by the city of nope with threats like building a wall around Mexico, Banning Muslims, calling black people dirty and lazy and calling women, fat stupid bitches. Donald lost any credibility as a candidate when he started making these statement.
Working class white people who Donald Trump has done more to hurt that help follow him like the Pied Piper, listen to his racist and sexist attacks and treat him like the great white hope. Great white hopes don't usually fair well in these types of contests. First of all in order for this great white hope to achieve success he would have to have the backing of all white people and majority of them are disgusted by him and can't wait to vote against him.
In the city of hope Hillary Clinton a lifelong activist who began working with the poor and downtrodden before she was old enough to drive went directly from Yale law to helping poor women and children in the Children's Defense Fund by-passing the big corporate law firms . She does not only believe in hope, she is hope . As first lady of Arkansas she worked with her husband to improve education and the quality of life for the people of the state. They took this state activism and spread it national when she and Bill moved into the White House taking on health care and increasing the quality of life for the middle and lower classes. She set the tone for all first ladies.
Mrs. Clinton may live in the city of hope but she is also willing to visit the city of nope to improve the quality for all American whether they agree or disagree with her . There are people who don't trust but to my knowledge she has never sold out the American people and has sacrificed her good name and private life to keep the dream alive. The difference between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are so clear that no one in their right mind could could ever compare apples and oranges with them . Mr. Trump sees the American People as another mark waiting to to be taken .
Hillary Clinton sees us as the hope of the future who will help us continue the dream started by President Obama in 2008 . The only other thing that I can say is that a vote for Hillary is not just a vote for hope it is a vote for our future and many generations to come. Get out there with all your friends who believe in hope and put Hillary Clinton in the White House not just to put a woman in the office but to keep hope where it belongs, at the forefront of American life

Where have all the Brain Cells Gone

2016-11-03T11:14:00.001-07:00

With less than one week left until election day, I am wondering where have all the brain cells gone and how can we get them back . This came to mind when I was watching CBS news and a group of young people were being interviewed by a reporter who wanted their opinion of the election and candidates Clinton and Trump.
They had a variety of opinions, some I agreed with and some I did not . That was okay but what I did not agree with was the unfocused viciousness of these people who did not seem as if any of them had known hard times or much resistance from anyone. One called Hilliary Clinton a liar another called Donald Trump a fake and President Obama a failure who had done nothing for the country.
I do not mind people with strong opinions but I do mind people who express baseless mindless opinions base solely on campaign rhetoric and very few facts. For some reasons, you may not like President Obama as a person you may even disagree with his politics, but when you say he has done nothing for the country, has a failing economy and is a liar . That is not a fact but double talk straight of the Donald Trump playbook. When you attack his race and are not even smart enough to know that you have done is more insulting than it is informing . The Google generation who can look up the fact on Google seems to be lacking them all of the time.
I hope this is not a good example of the younger twenty something generation who puts a buffon like Donald Trump on a pedestal and calls on of the most intelligent presidents this country has ever had a failure there is something seriously wrong with our education system and how children are parented. I have seen it in my teaching as well as everyday life . From the time these young people were small children, they have been told that they have the right to their opinion and they can blurt out any stupid unsupported statement and no one is supposed to question them .
If you don't like Hilliary Clinton and what she stands for fine, tell me why you feel this way. If you do not like the affordable care act fine, but support it with real thinking and idea design not just I don't like it . What I saw on that television screen was what I used to see in my classroom from some of my students. Any attempt at accomplishment no matter how lame was acceptable and I was supposed to love it without any criticism. not only is that crazy but it goes against every that that I was against my entire teaching career. Looking up a fact on Google then regurgitating it to a TV reporter is not intelligence it is just a low brow, low intellect scrapbook.
I don't care who these people vote for, but if they are going to be the leaders of our nation 20 years from freeze me and thaw me when it's over.

It's my Party and I'll Lie if I want Too

2016-10-25T13:24:00.001-07:00

The election is rigged, the election is rigged. these are the latest words to come out of the Donald's mouth when discussing the election. This latest rhetoric is probably used for the purpose of denial if he loses the election . " The election is rigged, I tell you. "Hillary has rigged the election." If he loses he can use yet another and not claim failure.
This has been his M.O. throughout this election year
between that and throwing false accusations of corruption and incompetence . I think that Mr. Trump is from the if I tell a lie long enough, someone is bound to believe it or instead of actually debating Mrs. Clinton he'll just try to out-talk her and talk over her something he has been doing all of his life.
Donald Trump seems to be committing political suicide and loving it. Someone with as much business acumen as he says he has should also have political the political savvy to handle a crisis and not stomp out like a 4 year-old who did not get desert . Sorry is not in his vocabulary and he does not seem to take rejection well. His psychiatrist, if he has one, has probably paid for a home and a summer home with his counseling sessions.
The only thing that Mr. Trump has managed to do is to Make Hillary Clinton look a whole lot better.
He given her the opportunity to learn how to reject ignorant comments and repel hecklers and nay-Sayers. If there is a Clinton victory, she owes it all to Donald Trump who has truly shown her as the lessor of two evils. With accusations coming left and right, he has managed to trump himself and secure a poll increase for Mrs. Clinton in the polls. His legions of women who have accused him of groping and sexually harassing them have also aided in this endeavor.
Again, this is Hillary's election to lose and one that she has gotten better campaigning and has managed to get better and focus more on the issues while bringing more allies and supporters.
I think that she could secure the election if she would more of two things. A. focus more on the issues at hand like student loans, bring up the middle class through minimum wage and wage increases over all and less focus on Donald Trump . B. make health care more affordable so that the poor don't become poorer because they cannot pay their premiums and use more technology on national defense using fewer boots on the ground and more drones in the air.
If she does these things and more and stop looking over her shoulder for Trump, victory is hers.

You can sue some of the people some of the time

2016-10-24T13:46:00.002-07:00

Less than two weeks out and the raw is rough and the comments are as harsh as they can be . Donald Trump is increasing both the sleaze factor and the obnoxious factor at the same time. Donald Trump, no apologies, no remorse and no excuses this year . Mr. Trump did two things this week, outlined the first 100 days of his administration and threatened to sue all the women who have brought charges against him.
He has made no apologies to any of these charges ans continues to campaign like a 13 year-old running for president of the eight grade. Everything in this campaign is more the movie election than an actual election. Hillary Clinton is still bringing out the issues and and acting quite presidential even she is accused of outrageous things by the worst candidate ever to run for public office calling her everything but a child of god but she manages to persevere against pointless accusations of corruptions and treats of incarceration Mrs. Clinton manages to keep her head held high and keep her campaign focused on the real issues and not the WWF manner in which Donald keeps going into the fray.
I used to become angry at the sound of his voice but now I just waiting to see the look on his and his redneck cadre on election night when the final call comes from Lester Holt that the election has gone to Mrs. C. He can hem and haw all he wants and demand a re-count but the election will and shall so to Mrs Clinton and excuse my language, but there isn't a damn thing he can do about it. He will skulk away to his New York penthouse and emerge a few weeks with another rant about the election and fade like his party into eternal oblivion .

Two Weeks Out

2016-10-18T06:59:00.002-07:00

Hunter S. Thompson said it best. "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." We are over 3 weeks out and the heat is up on the election. Ten women have accused Donald Trump of sexual assault with graphic and disgusting details and Mr. Trump continues to go on the attack instead of the defense. Hillary Clinton is still assailed by Wikileaks emails accusing her of everything from finding good recipes to using her influence to the number state department personal.
What is funny about this whole thing is that Wikileaks never has any leaked emails from the Trump campaign. Julian Assange should should try to figure out how not to go to jail for rape after he leaves the Ecuadorian embassy.
Seriously folks, we are a little over 3 weeks until the next election and the only issues we can deal with is how many women Mr. Trump has grouped and Mrs. Clinton's emails. I'm with Bernie Sanders when he said " I'm sick of hearing about your damned emails."
This election has degenerated from a legitimate election to an after school brawl not dealing with issues like improving an already good economy into a great economy. Investing in public education and putting it into the 21st century and not a 21st century version of the 1950s.
Creating jobs for the new green economy and standing up to the unions and creating light industry jobs that will benefit their children and grandchildren instead creating this vicious cycle that is not preparing America for the future but keeping us squirming in the 20th century without any hope of training for better paying high tech high skilled jobs. Construction work is good hard that build both character and income but it is not a lifetime profession and can easily be replace by unskilled and undocumented workers as Mr. trump has used on many of his building projects. Even his Make America Great Again baseball caps are made in China.
Back to the issues, we live in a country that in my opinion is a great nation where people have spent time effort and lives to make it safe, economically strong and a beacon to all who love freedom and justice. I think the one thing that makes Mrs Clinton better than Mr. Trump is that she believes this .
I think that Hillary Clinton does not campaign on making America great again but keeping it great.
She also has ideas that will keep America great again like spending more money on vocational education, increasing the minimum wage and building up the middle class so that we can create a future for our children and the world . During the last 2 and a half weeks before the election, Mr. Trump is still campaigning for president of the 8th grade instead of the United States. The film flam is still there and he is still not giving concrete reasons for anything.
With a little over 2 weeks left, I do not see much hope that this election will go the way Mr. Trump wants it to go but maybe some of us will stay at home. I hope not

2016-10-14T06:59:00.005-07:00

2016-10-14T06:59:00.004-07:00

2016-10-14T06:59:00.003-07:00

3 Weeks Out and What's New

2016-10-14T06:59:00.002-07:00

Well two weeks ago I endorsed Hillary Clinton for president and I am still true to that decision. Given the events of the last week I think there is more foundation to the Clinton campaign than the Trump campaign . Mr. Trump has given me no reason to switch my support from Mrs. Clinton to Mr. Trump.
At this point it seems that this is Mrs. Clinton's election to lose. It reminds me of the two guys being chased by a bear. The one guy says to the other guy " do you think you can outrun that bear?" The other guy says. " I don't have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you."
Mr. Trump has thrown everything at Mrs. Clinton but the kitchen sink ( that's for next week) and she has managed to overcome his accusations. Honestly every time I see Mr. Trump speaking on television, I get no meat out of anything that he is saying. He says that he is going to make America great again but has no plan to make it great. In my opinion, America has been great since 1776. I think his slogan should be make America greater but is is easier for him to complain that to actually have concrete solution to some of the nation's problems.
Based on what has happened in the last two weeks and the poll numbers, it is Donald Trump that should be worried. From the audio tape that surfaced of his demeaning comments about women to accusations of sexual assault, Mr. Trump is not having a good week. According to news polls if the election were held today Mrs. Clinton would win with 10-15 electoral votes to spare so it is truly her election to lose.
I think that the reason her poll numbers are rising is not just the accusations and actions that have come about it is also how he responds to them. Instead of responding like a future presidents he responds like an eight grade adolescent where he is reactive instead of proactive. Accused of filthy demeaning talk against women, he responds by saying, that's how guys talk or it's just locker room talk instead of saying the best two to six words in the English language; I'm sorry or I made a mistake. He counteracts mud slinging with more mud slinging like a third graders ( If I'm one than what are you?) If someone throws mud at you throw snow back and get own with the issues of this election. His response is always baseless accusations against Mrs. Clinton.
Mr. Trump says Mrs. Clinton is one of the most corrupt candidates ever but gives no concrete examples. He does this so much that I am now calling them "Trumpisms". I would love to see Hillary Clinton in the White House this January but Donald Trump is making it too easy. It is a sad state of affairs in this country when this guy is the best the Republicans have to offer it is a very sad state of affairs.

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2016-10-03T14:36:00.001-07:00

Election 35 Days Out

2016-10-03T14:36:00.000-07:00

Election 35 Days Out

It's four years later and a new election is upon us. President Obama is feeling a little relief because his term is almost up and it's time for someone else to do the job and many have claimed that they could do one better than him regardless of his successes. Health Care, Bin Laden and troop deescalation from Iraq. Candidates on both sides of the aisle questioned his ability to lead at one time or another one even questioned his citizenship and religion. But Mr. Obama with all of his character persevered coming out of one of the best presidencies in history.
His detractors how ever are now at each others throats trying to prove who is the lessor of two evils and not doing a very good job at this point . Hillary Clinton the first woman to make it this far and is at the threshold of the White House door is doing the better job to convince the public that she is the better candidate to take up the touch from President Obama. Donald Trump seems to be attempting to see how many people he can annoy in the next 30 days and still make it to the finish line . He has ratcheted down some of his most controversial statements like building a wall at the Mexican border, questioning the president's citizenship and as Will Rogers never met a man he didn't like Mr. Trump seems to have never met a woman he didn't insult in some way or another. A little more than a month before the election and Mr. Trump is trying to win friends and influence people unfortunately he is influencing them to vote for Hillary Clinton.
For her part Mrs. C is playing it close to the vest and trying to play up her experience, integrity and fitness for the job while playing down the exploits of her husband during his administration and rightly so because Bill Clinton did all of that not Hillary and it was 19 years ago. Since that time, Mrs. Clinton has been a US Senator, Secretary of State and has proven herself to be an astute diplomat as well a lawmaker. She and her husband set the groundwork for health care reform and developed executive policies that created both strong domestic and foreign policies.
The Trump campaign in an effort to discredit Secretary Clinton can only come up with two things emails and Benghazi . If that's all he's got he should pack it up and take his whipping like a man.
Mrs. C. on the other hand has a great more on Mr. Trump . Now lets see, Trump university, Filing bankruptcy
on multiple cases land leaving investors holding the bag and lets not even talk about his phantom income tax return and his Crypto Fascist speeches . Based on this information alone, I do not see how anyone in his or her right mind could vote for Donald Trump . A who has filed bankruptcy multiple times has no business handling the business affairs of the United States. A man who alienates foreign governments and people of color should be not be given Carte' Blanche to handle the diplomatic affairs of our nation either.
Donald Trump is a shoddy film flam man in statesman clothes.
The only thing that Hillary's detractors can truly say is that she is no Bernie Saunders and I do not think she wants to be Mr. Saunders . Mrs. C has made no apologies to being a moderate to conservative on some issues but progressive on many others. We are not just voting for Hilary in this election we are voting for the Democratic Party and who is coming to the table . Mrs. C will bring Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Saunders and scores of other progressives.
Donald Trump on the other hand will bring ultra conservatives like Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani and David Duke a virtual murderers row of conservative backwardness . I don't know about you but I like living in the 21st century and would not like having to return to a 1950s America where women have no reproductive rights, minorities have no civil rights and immigrants are persona non-Grata .
A vote for Hilary Rodham Clinton is not just a vote for the first woman president. It is a vote for progressive policies, an economy that will build the middle class, progressive health care policies and a chance for our children to live in an America that loves them as much as they love America. We have a chance to take our country soaring into the next part of this great century soaring, not kicking and screaming.

The Teacher Gulag

2016-03-10T08:49:00.002-08:00

Teacher Gulag

In a country where we have freedom of speech, are innocent until proven guilty and have the right of self-determination everyone seems to have this right except school teachers.
This really came home to me a few years back when I was penalized for speaking out against an injustice at the school I worked at. I filed a grievance against the principal of the school that I worked at and she retaliated against me by putting me on an improvement and eventually forcing me from my job. I had no protection or support from my union and I have for the last 5 years been out of work. This principal black-balled me and made sure that I could never find work as a teacher wherever she knew I was applying for a position.
I am not the only person in my district that this has happened to. Just the other day a teacher at Como high school was put on administrative leave because of a statement he made on Facebook about conditions at Como high school. This teacher spoke his mind and the organization Black Lives Matter went to the school district and demanded that he be fired. First of all there are or should be rules and guidelines for why a teacher is terminated from their position and expressing one's opinion should and is not one of them .
Rashad Turner the spokesperson for Black Lives Matter said that his organization demanded the firing of a teacher for remarks he made on Facebook . just to reverse the situation a bit and ad a what if. What is Mr. Turner were fired from his job (if he had one) for his involvement in Black Lives Matter. Mr. Turner would probably turn the whole thing into a media event and demand justice for the loss of his job because apparently not only do Black Lives Matter but only black opinions matter. This teacher has as much of a right to his job and opinion ad Mr. Turner does.
I hope that the district does thee right thing and allows this teacher to retain his position but knowing SPPS as I do, I don't think that his will be the case. Superintendent Silva will probably apply district shadow rules and force the teacher out by threatening to fire him or jeopardize the status of his teaching license. Either scenario played out will probably lead to this teacher either resigning or moved to another district or school with a guarantee of employment. The shadow allow the district to do whatever it wants knowing that SPFT local 28 will do nothing to stop it .
Teachers through the district and the state whether majority or minority should stand up for this teacher and make sure that all the written rules apply and that teachers are afforded the same bill of rights that all citizens are afforded that included students and Mr. Rashad Turner .
I do not think that racism has a place in public schools but it will not end by penalizing teachers who make observation about the problems in their schools. The actions by SPPS and Black Lives matter will lead to a slippery slope that none of us want to go down because it leads to the worse censorship makes us all afraid to point out issues that need to be changed in our schools

Boycott the Oscars: Boycott the World it Dosen't Work

2016-01-19T13:52:00.002-08:00

In light of yesterday being the Martin Luther King holiday, a few African-American celebrities have called for the boycott of the Oscars by African-American celebrities. I think this would be a bad idea on so many levels.
First off when you refuse to go somewhere because somehow things didn't go your way and you're going to sit in a corner like a child and stomp your feet because you did not get your way this year. African-Americans are not the only group who was excluded from Oscar nominations this year. When for instance is the last time that an Asian, Latino or Native American actor has been nominated for an Oscar or even been involved in Hollywood as more than scenery in a movie and I don't see any of these groups asking for more screen time or threatening not to attend the ceremony and they have been far more slighted than we have. If you want to talk about justice start with these groups first. African-Americans as a group are no more entitled to Oscar nods than any of these groups . We as a group have a tendency to wear entitlement on our sleeves and expect the world to bend over backwards for us irregardless of the quality of the product.
This brings me to my second point and that is there are a number of white actors, directors, writers and producers who have not been nominated or won Oscars Leonardo DiCaprio and David Russell immediately come to mind and I don't see either one of them threatening not to come to the ceremony. Granted, they have both been nominated for awards but they have never won. There have been countless other white people in the film industry who have also been slighted and they have not threatened absence. Jada Pinkett-Smith and Spike Lee need to get over themselves and do what everyone else does who wants to either win ore be nominated for an Oscar campaign and make the contacts necessary to get them into the winner's circle. We also have to consider the quality of the work we put out there. As popular a movie as it was and as well as it did at the box office "Straight Outta Compton " was no Citizen Cane nor was it meant to be . Most of the people that went to see it went out of curiosity and a devotion and interest to the hip-hop community it was an entertainment vehicle that made a considerable amount of money for it's producers but did not go beyond that. The movies that received nominations were for the most part, more in-depth and three dimensional. Even Ice Cube one of the producers as much as admitted this.
I have had lots of set-backs in my life and have never walked away from my goals because in the long run who is that going to benefit not me, and certainly not the people who believe in me, family, true friends etc. It would benefit those who do not want me to succeed and give them the victory they do not deserve. I have set goals for myself and cannot and will not be hindered by how others see me or marginalized by them. I am the only one who has the right to do that to me and I refuse to do so.
It should not be a given that every year African-Americans should be included in the Oscars. A nomination is something that one earns for themselves and should be considered a given. The years that we are nominated are the years that those actors and directors have earned the nomination.
Again, we must also remember that the Oscars are as much a political game as it is a accomplishment game . I rarely see African-American actors, directors or producers lobby for these nominations most just take for granted that they should be included.
A big push in that direction would be to make the talk show circuit and other venues including taking out ads in the trades and actually talking to members of the academy instead of alienating them ( Spike Lee) Also as I mentioned earlier, we are not the only group that have been excluded but I rarely see the African-American entertainment community stand up for any of these groups. I would love to see more movies that concentrate on other minority communities and I would love to see if deserved those movies nominated for Oscars.
The Academy has given the African-American community more opportunities that any other. The president of the Academy is African-American as well as the producer and the host of the Academy Awards is Chris Rock. It is unfair to tell these people that their accomplishments do not matter and they should walk away or that we as a community should not join the academy of motion picture artists and refuse to participate in the Oscars this year that is unfair and unrealistic. For Spike Lee and
Jada Pinkett-Smith to even suggest this is naive and lacking understanding of the real problem. That problem is maybe that academy members did not see any vehicles produced by African-Americans as being quality enough for an Oscar nod and they will never as long as we whine like children instead of addressing the issue like adult professionals .

I have been trying for years to break into the media industry and have never received any assistance from the African-American community but I am still out there swinging and that is what we have to do as a community is never put down the bat .

My father hipster hero

2015-06-21T13:53:00.001-07:00

My Father, Hipster Hero

Norman Mailer said in his essay , The White Negro that the negro is the source of hip because he has been living on the margin between totalitarianism and democracy for two centuries. My father Virtis Lanier embodies hipster values to the hilt even as he lies speechless from the bed of his nursing home room were even without speech, he is still the king of hip. A stand-up guy and the leader of his group of true hipsters whose passion was being hip . It was his passion, not fashion .

Growing up it was always cool to live in the same house with the king of cool, who as a true hipster did not draw attention to himself and approached life with a sense of cool beyond Frank, Sammy and Dean. If they were the Rat Pack, he was the cheese. My father approached life's situations with a coolness that to this day has helped me get through many setbacks in my life with a cool that glides me over the rough spots. His favorite expression was either you learn the game or be played by it.

He taught me that anger is not the way to solve problems thinking them through and knowing that anger only creates illusion and not much else. As a hipster, he laughed in the face of racism and class ism knowing that the only attitude that you can change is your own and that prejudice was uncool. He felt that the cool would outlive the uncool and eventually have more say to how things are going to be .

My father's style oozed of coolness from his shades to his suede Stacey Adams. He taught me how to dress with style and not trend. How your trousers should hang and how to match clothing that makes you in hipster fashion blend in not stick out. That was his goal in life not to draw attention to himself and focus on home, family and friends
He taught about jazz both as an art form and a lifestyle. I first heard the intense bebop rhythms of Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk and what it means to be original over an imitator. He loved all music but his love affair with jazz as mine goes on to this day . He gave me an appreciation of Jazz and the artists that created it more than even a university education did.

Speaking of education, my dad gave me a good understanding of what it meant from a hipster's point of view . I was taught and I still believe that education that does not open your eyes and pull your coat to what is really happening in the world around is useless. As a teacher this is what I teach my students that education is first to open minds then hearts, then doors. Throughout the Civil Rights Era he taught me that superficial achievements were worthless if they did not first open the heart and the mind. To this day the lesson of true education being the freeing of the mind and understanding what thinking really means. Thinking is not compliance or compromising it is construction of thoughts, ideas and ideals.

He always knew what was important, job promotions were uncool because they caused stress and made a person into an uncool pile of nerves incapable of enjoying the life you were blessed with. He thought that family, friends, building relationships and honor were more important. It took me a long time to learn that lesson, but now that I have, I am more relaxed, less stressed and extremely healthy.
On this father's day I have reflect on my father and the greatest gift a father can give a son, that of hip and sense of person.

2014-08-04T19:23:00.001-07:00

Fighting My Way to 85
Three weeks ago I went to the Doctor for a check up. After he gave me a work up, he found out that my blood pressure was 220/120 and my blood sugar was 450. These are not good numbers in any way shape or form . So I was hospitalized in order to get both of these numbers under control.
After about a week, my vitals were somewhat under control but I would have to work very hard to get my life under control. At least I know how it got out of control.
It got out of control through stress and neglect on my part . Stress because I am out of work and have been for the last three years . It is not like I have not been looking . Over the last three years I have sent out several resume's and cover letters to every organization from schools to retail establishments to no avail. So most of the stress is caused by being out of work for so long and unable to get even one interview. So I spent most of my time eating and watching television but I have been exercising daily since March. So now I have to get my blood sugar and weight down all the way down. This means extreme measures meaning strict control of what I eat and an increase in the amount and kind of exercise I do along with monitoring it properly.
One of the things I am doing is exercising twice a day starting at 5 am . Exercising in the morning helps to set the metabolism for the day it also gets you going for the day. I have also started to monitor and control the amount of carbohydrates that I consume. I am working hard to eliminate as many carbs from my diet especially bread. Eliminating carbs will help lower my blood sugar and lose weight both if which I need to reach my goal of a fasting blood sugar of 85 . The way it works with type 2 diabetes is the lower your weight the lower your blood sugar. The more active you are the less likely you are to have high blood sugar.
The other day I bought a fitbit . A fitbit is a band that you wear on your wrist it monitors the amount of exercise that you do along with caloric intake. I am going to use this to monitor my exercise and what I eat to help me bring my numbers down . Over the next few months I will be writing about about my journey the highs and the lows until I reach my goal of 220 lbs . I hope we enjoy the ride. Me, you my bike and my fitbit.

Black Irish

2014-03-17T19:22:00.001-07:00

I can still remember that famous line from the movie The Commitments where the main characters explained why their band should be a R and B band . He said that R and B was the music of black people in America . He said since the Irish were oppressed in Europe like blacks, were in America, that the Irish were the blacks of Europe. Years after watching that movie, I have the tendency to believe him.
Norman Mailer said in his essay The White Negro that the Negro is the most innovative of all America. Mailer's explanation of this is because black people in America have to be innovative to survive . In Mailer's words, the negro is the true hipster because he lives on the border between democracy and totalitarianism . So it is safe to say that American popular culture was born and still resides in black America. Jazz, Rock and Roll, the Blues and Hip Hop were born of the African-American experience . Style, language and other things like science, engineering and design are also influenced by black America.
I once took a group of students through the high school that I taught at to show them the contributions of black inventors. From the cafeteria on the ground floor to the library on the top floor each floor had something that was invented by a black inventor. So it's not just entertainment that is influenced by black America every part of what we call America has the finger prints of black America. The same can be said for Britain, the rest of Europe and the world.
From Literature to the Sciences to Popular culture, the Irish have used their oppression to create a world that is a lot easier to live in . In how the book How the Irish save Civilization by Thomas Cahill, the Irish saved western culture from the Huns and the Visigoths . Writers like Jonathan Swift and James Joyce gave much to the creation of the western political style. Paul McCartney along with John Lennon created a musical style that has lasted for over 50 years .
The Irish came to America and created political dynasties in cities like Boston and New York and produced a President John F. Kennedy. Writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald chronicled the 1920s and became one of America's premier writer showmen like George M. Cohan produced shows that lauded America's Patriotism .
At the same time that the Irish were doing their thing in America, African Americans were creating the Harlem Renaissance and Jazz music as its' soundtrack. Out of WWII came swing and Rock and Roll in the Fifties . While JFK was in the house and the Senate preparing for the presidency , Dr. Ralph Bunche was negotiating the Arab-Israeli conflict and won the Noble Peace Prize and Richard Wright and James Baldwin were creating the voice of Black America and Charlie Parker was creating its' soundtrack.
All of this came from the oppression and marginalization that each group was subjected to. Each group took that oppression and turned it into gold . As oppressed groups African-Americans and the Irish have gone beyond oppression and have reached our goals. We are still marginalized by the mainstream but both of us have had one of our brethren in the oval office and at the height of cultural.
The Irish are the blacks of Europe but blacks are the Irish of America.

Cause I'm Happy!!!!!

2014-03-16T19:16:00.001-07:00

I was always taught that you can either be happy, productive and proactive or you can be angry, unproductive and reactive. In the scheme of thing that does not give you many options but when you think about it, it does.
Warren Buffett says that his success has been based on a variety of factors including genetics, geography and time. He was born white and male in America. He was born at a time where all of that mattered and he took advantage of the opportunities that were presented to him. With all of those factors combined, he became one of the riches men in the world instead of a guy who runs a service station. The fact that his father was a congressman and he lived an upper-middle class childhood in Omaha Nebraska during a depression that divested many families and killed many dreams . Mr. Buffett took what was given to him and worked toward his success. When he was rejected, he regrouped when he was successful, he did not sit on his laurels but went on to seek his next success. I guess you could say that Warren Buffett was happy, productive and proactive. He took what he had and made his success.
When I look at myself, I also have to look at what gifts were given to me and how they can help me to achieve success. I was not born white or upper middle class. Although I was born male albeit a black male that for me is to my disadvantage. Up to 50% of all black males in America are either unemployed, incarcerated or addicted to some sort of drug. We are not seen a a good risk for anything and even if we are not one of those statistics many people think we are. With the exception of currently being out of work, I am the exception to all of the above-mentioned stats. I do not use drugs or alcohol, I am well educated and I have never been to jail.
I could dwell on the negative, the discrimination and the lack of opportunities available to someone of my race , age and sex and out my head back under the covers but there are many factors that keep me from doing this. The most obvious of these is that I only meet one of the above-mentioned stats and I only meet that one is because of the current economic situation. I am well educated with
a great deal of experience. I come from a good family that is very supportive of me and my attitude is positive and upbeat .
When I think about it yes I am a black male in America so I am not at the top of the success tree. It could be worse, I could be a black male in Brazil or a variety of Latin American or African countries or in Europe for that matter. As things go, America is one of the best places to be black. If I lived in Brazil for instance, I would probably be living on the streets in abject poverty. If I lived in France I might be living in the high-rise ghettos that blacks are relegated to. In America where our success rate is not as high as it should be , we occupy the White House and are CEO's of major corporations, have a seat on the Supreme Court and own several lucrative business and have won many high awards like the Noble Prize and the Pulitzer Prize. Maybe as a whole statistically we have not achieved as much as white men but we are not white men we are black men in a society that practices racism .
When I think about this, I feel that I have just as good of a chance at success as any man 'cause I'm happy and because I am the exception not the rule.