Entries Tagged 'Rants & Raves' ↓

I did not watch the entire convention, but I caught Giuliani’s speech, Palin’s acceptance speech (which was a regurgitation of her introduction speech), and McCain’s acceptance speech tonight. I’m glad it is finally over.

Did you notice that McCain was repeating many of the ideas Obama stated? What is it, don’t the republican’s have any original ideas of there own?

I’ll tell you though, McCain’s description of his torture while a POW was very moving. It made my eyes water. BUT, does being a POW qualify one to be the President?

Now that the circus show is over, the candidates will finally be able to debate side by side and state their case to the American people. The Presidential candidates will have three debates, and the Vice Presidential candidates will have one. These debates should prove to be very interesting though I’m not sure how many new voters each candidate will draw since, I believe, most voters have already decided who they are going to vote for.

The political pendulum swings both ways; extreme right, as we’ve witnessed the last eight years, and extreme left. If history repeats, it is now the Democrats turn since they are more left leaning. I hope so, I cant stand another four more years of the since.

In an effort to steal the thunder and capitalize on the Democrat’s momentum, the presumptive Republican Presidential candidate, John McCain selected Republican Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. The effect seemed to have worked for a little while since it was a well guarded secret until the very last minute.

In her introduction speech Palin attempted to use the Democrat’s successes against them by giving shout outs to both Geraldine Farraro and Hillary Clinton. Well then, since she brought it up let us compare accomplishments & philosophies:

Sarah Palin
is pro-life and a prominent member of Feminists for Life
…creationism does not need to be part of the curriculum
opposes same-sex marriage
supported a non-binding referendum for a constitutional amendment to deny state health benefits to homosexual couples.
admits that she used marijuana, does not support legalizing it
Palin is a life member of the National Rifle Association, and is popular among gun rights activists
Geraldine Ferraro
a Democratic politician and a former member of the United States House of Representatives
served as a United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1994
is a board member of the National Organization of Italian American Women
she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of cancer where plasma cells secrete abnormal antibodies known as Bence-Jones proteins, and has become an avid supporter of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, has beaten the disease’s Stage 1 survival mean of 62 months by a factor of 2
in Congress she served on the Public Works Committee, the Budget Committee, and the Post Office Committee. She also served a term as the Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus, the first woman in that position. She was the Chairwoman of the Platform Committee for the 1984 Democratic National Convention.
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton
This is just a small sampling of Hillary’s accomplishments:
junior United States Senator from New York
was the First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001
twice listed as one of the one hundred most influential lawyers in America
was the First Lady of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and 1983 to 1992 and was active in a number of organizations concerned with child welfare, as well as sitting on the boards of Wal-Mart and several other corporations
played a role in advocating for the establishment of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and the Foster Care Independence Act
the first American First Lady to run for public office, and is the first female senator to represent New York
she was reelected by a wide margin in 2006.
working pro bono in child advocacy
her interest in children’s law and family policy, publishing the scholarly articles “Children’s Policies: Abandonment and Neglect” in 1977 and “Children’s Rights: A Legal Perspective” in 1979.
 Historian Garry Wills would later describe her as “one of the more important scholar-activists of the last two decades”
As chair of the Rural Health Advisory Committee she successfully secured federal funds to expand medical facilities in Arkansas’s poorest areas without affecting doctors’ fees
Hillary Rodham Clinton became the First Lady of the United States, and announced that she would be using that form of her name. She was the first First Lady to hold a post-graduate degree and to have her own professional career up to the time of entering the White House. She was also the first to take up an office in the West Wing of the White House: the First Lady usually stays in the East Wing. She is regarded as the most openly empowered presidential wife in American history, save for Eleanor Roosevelt
In the 2008 presidential nomination race, Clinton won more primaries and delegates than any other female candidate in American history.

If I were to list Senator Joe Bidden’s accomplishments againgst hers, she would not measuure up. So, I think the Republican thunder turned out to be just a little pop!

The Real John McCain

John McCain: The Manchurian Candidate connection:

McCain was subjected to 5 ½ years of Soviet driven “brain perversion techniques.” Is he fit to be President and Commander in Chief of the military?

John McCain’s suicide attempt and his resulting PTSD

Betrayal, deceit, corruption and John McCain

I have not verifyed the statements made on the above website, but the information makes for some good reading.

Is the Internet saturated with blogs already?

There are blogs just about on any subject, category or topic you can think of. How is a person supposed to create a unique blog these days? There are software applications, and websites, designed to search the Internet to see if the content you write is unique or if it has been posted elsewhere already. How can one guarantee that what they are writing is unique?

Suppose I have a blog about recipes. I post a blog about my favorite spaghetti sauce, it’s a family favorite. Someone in Italy post a blog about spaghetti sauce is this unique? We both will be using the same ingredients. That person may write “…into the boiling water you will add…” while I may write “…after the water begins to boil I will add…” but the fact remains, we are both using boiling water.

In one of my post I wrote that “the last original idea was the wheel, and that everything else is just a permutation” here is what Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary has to say about permutation:

1: often major or fundamental change (as in character or condition) based primarily on rearrangement of existent elements <the system has gone through several permutations>; also : a form or variety resulting from such change <technology available in various permutations>

Everything has been written already in one shape, fashion or form, hasn’t it?

How do the supporters of Georgie W. keep finding ways to defend his antics? Better yet, how do they do so with a straight face? Never in the history of the United States, and of the U.S. Presidency, has a sitting President stooped so low as to politicalize a campaign beyond the boarders of the United States. While he did not mention Senator Obama by name, everyone knows that it is he who Georgie was referring to. I guess “don’t air you dirty laundry in public” has no meaning to Georgie Bush. How do you defend that if you are a Bush supporter? It’s outrageous, hey but so was his election.

Everyone knows that the 2000 election was stolen from Al Gore. So, here we are almost at the end of his long, long rein in the White House, and what does Georgie have to show for his Presidency? Well lets see, when he came into office he inherited the biggest surplus in US history. Today we are trillions in debt. When he came into office we were basking in the sun of peace time. Today we are in our seventh year of a war that he declared over and won by us 90 days after he had begun it. One year after he was in office, the United States experienced the worst invasion in our history. Topping even the invasion of Pearl Harbor. Then when he had the guy that orchestrated that attack trapped in the mountains of Tora Bora, he gives the command for them to abandon that mission and instead go seek out Saddam Hussein. Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11 but he did embarrass Georgie’s father when he was President. Nice to know that our President has his priorities correctly in place.

So, Senator McCain - you “Good Ole Boy” from the “Good Ole Party”, (GOP) in your next campaign speech let us hear you ask that one famous question that Georgie’s father asked when he was running for President, “Are we better off today than we were eight years ago”.

Ronald Reagan must be turning over in his grave; what a blunder you republicans have made of his (President Ronald Reagan’s) legacy. What with a bumbling fool that always manages to put his foot in his mouth for President! Not only did Reagan not like George H. Bush, now he has to R.I.P. knowing that Georgie Jr. is in the oval office. All I can say Ronnie, is that you left us in the nick of time.

God save us all, God Bless America.

From a strictly practical point of view, I think that Marriage Licenses Should be Renewable. Think about it. Every four years you have to renew your drivers license, if you don’t it gets revoked. Have a dog? Every year you have to renew your dogs license. If you don’t, you get a summons. Even the batteries in your smoke detectors get renewed, so why shouldn’t marriage licenses?

It’s not fair. People get married because they are young and in love. But, to quote Tina Turner, “What’s love got to do with it?” After four years of marriage, you’ve had enough. The sex is not regular, you don’t care how you look, she doesn’t care how she looks. You both walk around in PJ’s and slippers. She with her hair in rollers, you with five o’clock shadow and a cigarette hanging from your lower lip. And, right around this mark, the four year mark, you start finding fault in each other, and you seek excuses to stay at the job late, “working” overtime.

Wouldn’t life be simpler if at after four years you could renew your marriage license? Or better yet, opt out of renewing it. She’d have to pack her bags, jump in a cab and that’s it. The marriage license becomes null and void. Then you could go get a new model. The second time around you’d be prepared. We fellas go into a relationship all macho, but after a year or two of nagging, and seeing her walk around in rollers, lack of sex and no more hanging around with your buddies - you’ve had enough, you surrender. We go shopping with our wives and we’re in a daze. Our job is just to push the shopping cart, unload heavy items and mow the lawn.

But if we could renew our marriage license after four or five years, things would be different. You’d each know that in order to stay together past the four year mark, you each have to be on your best behavior. You wife would look as lovely as she did when you first met her. You would shower more and actually wear cologne. At night you’d be playful and frisky, and sex would come more often. But, since marriage is forever, there is no motivation to be playful at night, to look one’s best and be caring. Ever notice, that after the four year mark all married people start acting like brother and sister. They no longer act like lovers. Yeah man, they say marriage is an institution. I say so is a mental hospital.

Another part of marriage that should be optional is keeping the offspring. I mean how cruel can it be? You kill yourself doing everything for your children. Rush to the hospital on cold winter nights because the baby has a cold or slight fever. You put up with them slobbering all over you clothing, breaking everything and pooping all the time. You go crazy when they start dating, get their drivers license and go off to college. And how do they pay you back? They move out. But if keeping them after their fourth birthday were optional, everyone would be happy. The children would have to learn to become self reliant very early in life. They’d have no choice. If they want to eat they would have to learn to survive. We could opt in to keep them or to get some new children when we renewed our marriage license.

But it will never happen. Marriage will continue to condemn us until death do us part.

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Every May 5th Americans have another excuse for getting drunk. Walk down any main street USA and you will see signs proclaiming “Happy Cinco de Mayo”. All the chain restuarants have festive signs up inviting you in for some good “original” authentic Mexican “Chimichanga’s” and the bars have signs welcoming you to the Cinco de Mayo happy hour.
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The people just love it. Just for a day, everyone is Mexican, just as in March everyone is Irish for Saint Patricks Day. Now ask anyone to explain the significance of El Cinco de Mayo and not one soul will be able to. Fact of the matter is there really in nothing to celebrate. Oh sure there was a minor victory in one of the Mexican war’s. Some small Mexican town was able to fight and defeat one of the larger foes. Who knows, I don’t, if it was during the French or if it was against the Americans. The point is there is nothing really to celebrate.

Cinco de Mayo is another American made thing to extract money from the masses. Think about how ironic it really is. Many of the folks out celebrating today are the same ones that want to get rid of all the “illegal” immigrants. Yeah, happy May 5th to you to.

It’s like that famous word used to describe us, you know which word I’m talking about. I’m talking about the word Hispanic. There is no such a race or ethnicity known as Hispanic. When I was a young boy growing up in Spanish Harlem, New York, the only options on government forms regarding race were white, black, other. Then is became, white, black, Puerto Rican, other. At least on the East Coast, I’m pretty sure that on the West Coast it was white, black, Mexican, other. During the later part of the 1970’s they concocted the term Hispanic in an effort to quantify the many peoples entering the USA that were primarily Spanish speaking. Lets see, we have Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Colombian, Panamanian, Costa Rican, Salvadorian, Chilean, Peruvian, and so many others that I just can’t remember them all. The point I’m trying to make is that we Americans, and I include myself because Puerto Rican’s ARE Americans, we have been since 1917 when legislation granted us citizenship- it was called the Jone’s Act, are hypocritical we don’t want the immigrants but this nation was founded by immigrants and is composed of nothing but immigrants. The only true, native Americans are well, the Native Americans. The one’s that were practically annihilated and forced to live on “reservations.” Everyone else is an immigrant or a descendant of an immigrant.
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My favorite TV station is the History Channel. On it I saw a look back to the 1940’s in California and the American-Mexican border towns. When the term zoot suit was introduced in the American culture. It was as a result of the Mexican American youth trying to retain some form of cultural identity as well as a mark of rebelliousness against a Government that systematically discriminated against them. The flashy clothing, big hats with feathers on the side, and cool swagger as they walked, marked the beginning of the Chicano wars.

Because the Mexican males living here in the USA were not citizens they were not compelled to go off to fight in the war (World War II). The Mexican American youth with their flashy clothing would go to parties for fun and since most of the White male youth were in the military fighting the war, it became inevitable that White women would start going out with brown boys. There was big animosity between the White soldiers home on leave and the brown Mexican American boys. The soldiers, so the documentary states, felt that it was unfair the the Mexican boys did not have to go off to war, but it was worst when the soldiers came home to find all the woman “taken” by the Mexican boys. The tension was very thick. Then an event occurred that would change the climate for the worst. One day a white woman was found beaten and raped. When news about this spread, the drunken soldiers began beating up on all the Mexican Males they’d come across. The young, American born Mexicans would fight back. But then it was taken up a notch. One day a Mexican Man was out with his family enjoying the crisp night air as they strolled home. A group of drunk and angry white soldiers (when I use the term soldiers throughout this post, I mean all military personnel. For in fact most involved in the melee were from the Navy) grabbed the man and in front of his wife and children beat him to death. What ensued after that incident was forty bloody and riotous nights. Of course only the Mexicans were arrested and sent to jail.

Also during the 1940’s, but in New York City this time, there occurred a mass Migration of Puerto Ricans. In the history books this period is most often referred to as the Great Puerto Rican Migration. Prior to this migration of the 1904’s, Puerto Ricans were shipped to this Country as cheap farm labor. Pretty much the same way Mexicans were. Puerto Ricans picked and loaded potatoes for slave wages and never earned enough to get out of this predicament. The money they earned never lasted the entire month. Soon the foremen in this farming communities began lending money to the workers to “tie them over” until the next pay period. However, when the pay period arrived the workers were flat broke again because of the exorbitant interest attached to these “loans.”

After this mass migration the cheap farming labor jobs all but vanished. In there stead came the factories. During the war factory jobs were plentiful. Soon the factory owners realized that they could hire the Puerto Rican (mostly woman) for a fraction of what they were paying the white factory workers. Needless to say, this caused a tremendous riff between the white workers (mostly Italian, but there were other’s as well) and the Puerto Rican. It is almost as if the entire American system by it’s very design exploits people of color. By the 1950’s there was already a large segment within the Puerto Rican community that were born here as opposed to the Island. These American born and raised Puerto Rican’s were very different than there parents. These would fight back. When the white boys formed gangs to control their turf, the Puerto Ricans formed gangs to. In fact, it was because of what was happening in New York City between the white and Puerto Rican youth that the musical “Westside Story” was written.

Things did not come to a head until the 1970’s. It took an entire decade for the protest mentality that had swept the nation by the white anti war hippies to reach the ghettos. Suddenly all the crime in New York City was attributed to Puerto Rican’s. Puerto Rican youth were hauled off to jail in record numbers. But the worst part was the fact that many of these Puerto Rican males were being found dead, hung in their jail cells. The community was outraged, especially one group of Puerto Rican college students that organized and formed a political party known as the Young Lords Party. Of course the media made the “Lords” out to be nothing more than a gang, and the public, or the white public, believed them.

Tension was high throughout the Puerto Rican community on many front, poor sanitation, absent landlords, lack of heat and hot water, rodent infestation, a deplorable education system, and the organized murder of Puerto Rican males- in jail, while still presumed innocent.

The incident that sparked the riots was very similar to the incident that sparked the Mexican riots. Julio Roldan was a community organizer for the lords. One of the techniques used when doing community organizing is to be were the people are. This cold winter day in Spanish Harlem, Julio was warming his hands over an open flame that a group of homeless men had started to keep warm. (back then the derogatory term used was “bum”, homeless had not yet entered into the American language). A policeman came by and began to harass the men. Julio being more educated tried to explain the situation to the officer. An argument ensued and Julio was rushed off to jail. The next day he was found hanging in his jail cell. This prompted the Young Lords to demand action. Of course, the NYPD did nothing about it. The Lords got the elected officials involved and together demanded an investigation. Eventually an “investigation” took place– it was ruled that Julio Roldan had in fact committed suicide. The community erupted. At the prompting of the Young Lords a massive protest march took place up Third Avenue, one of the main throughfares in Spanish Harlem. With a mock casket carried over there heads the Lords began to march. With every step they took more and more of the community joined in. Mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, little boys and little girls, black, white and Puerto Rican. What could have been a peaceful protest turned ugly. The police wanting to show muscle did not budge. It was only a few year before that Malcolm X had organized a similar protest march and demonstrated his muscle before the NYPD. One could assume that the NYPD did not want to seem weak, and out of control in the other side of Harlem, East Harlem or Spanish Harlem. Nevertheless, the police acted with force and the community retaliated with force. I can’t recall exactly how long the melee lasted — Spanish Harlem was all but destroyed.

After this more landlords became absent, until eventually they just walked away from their properties, abandoning them and their tenants. East Harlem and the South Bronx became havens for crime, drugs, and all sorts of vice. It would take decades for both of these communities, East Harlem and the South Bronx to rejuvenate, revitalize and thrive again.

So, these are the things that I think about every year as the nation prepares to celebrate El Cinco de Mayo. Oh, I’m sorry but I have to go now - my wife, daughters and I are going to enjoy some of the May 5th festivities. While I don’t drink alcohol, my wife does and hey, May 5th is as good a day as any to be with the one’s you love celebrating life. God Bless America.