Why America Isn't Number 1.......Right Now

On February 1st of this year, former Massachusetts Governor and GOP Presidential Hopeful Mitt Romney said in an interview, "I'm in this race because I care about Americans. I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich, they're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90 percent-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling". Immediately this statement was taken out of context and there was a backlash that Mitt Romney didn't care about the poor. Allow to me say first that I think Mitt Romney can't be trusted and will say almost anything to win, but this wasn't what he was trying to say. He was trying to appeal to the middle-class voters by stating that they would be the central focus of his administration. However, Mr. Romney, you are wrong. The poor is who we ALL need to be focusing on. Why? I thought you'd never ask.



Mitt Romney seems to think that 90%- 95% of Americans are middle-class and that would mean that 1% are rich and therefore, 4%-9% Americans are poor. This number doesn't seem right to me at all. The Association of the Worlds Developed Economies (OECD) states that about 17.3% of Americans are poor. Well that doesn't sound to bad. But among the 34 top countries in the world, we rank 31. Only above Chile, Israel, and Mexico. The United Kingdom has 11% of it's citizens living in poverty, Germany with 8.9%, and the French with 7.2%.



That isn't even the worst number. Children living in poverty is one of the best indicators of the poor because the poor usually stay poor. In the US, 20.6% (1 in 5) of children are living in poverty. That's compared to countries like Germany who have 16.3%, the UK with 10.1%, and France with 7.6%. This is a horrible number considering that poor students don't do well in school and tend to rely on social programs like Welfare throughout their lives. A study conducted in 1988 on 8th graders shows that even poor kids who test well on the standardized test are least likely to finish college than children who did not test as well but were from financial stable families.

Health Care is another indicator of how our country is as a whole. The infant mortality rate is the number of children who die within the first year of their lives. For every 1000 births in Japan, an average of 2.78 kids infants die within the first year. In the UK, it's right at 4.62. But in the "Greatest Country on Earth", it is a staggering 6.06 deaths. Cuba is even more successful at bearing children then we are with only 5.12 deaths. The infant mortality rate is usually caused by poor health care. Parents have children but do not have access to sufficient health care for the child, and the child doesn't receive the nourishment that they need to grow up healthy (and now they want to make it so you can't even get birth control to prevent going through this?).


And yet an even more disturbing statistic. As I said before, the poor stay poor. Children from poor families in the US are 40% more likely to than others to continue being poor. Compared to 30% in the UK and 25% in Denmark.

So what do we do about it? We cannot take care of the middle-class and the rich when there are so many poor bleeding our tax dollars dry. I don't blame the poor for surviving by any means necessary, but I blame the local, state, and federal government for allowing the US to fall so far from the top.


In order to jump start the poor community, we need to invest serious amounts of money into real world programs that cater specifically to the disadvantaged. I'm talking American Recovery Act dollars! Money needs to be dumped into intercity schools so kids can receive proper education and learn that drugs and crime aren't the only way to get ahead. College tuition costs needs to shrink significantly so that going to college isn't just a great accomplishment, but the status quo for education. Rehabilitation for addicts  and Vocational training for the unemployed needs to be more easily accessible and persistent in poor communities. In fact, we need to renovate ALL poor communities because it is just awful to build a compound unsuitable for animal and lie to a child and say "You can be anything you want to be".


All of this is possible. I believe the President shares similar views that I do, but can't act like he wants do to a stagnant Congress. However, he has made major strides (Health Care, Tuition Cost, Higher Pay for Teachers). America isn't number 1 today, but it doesn't have to be true forever. Unfortunately, if we elect someone this November who doesn't truly understand why America isn't booming, then that dream becomes significantly more vague.

Thanks for reading and please leave feedback.....MLK

How Obama Bought Me a Car

So this past St. Patrick's Day I caught a ride from a friend to Atlanta, GA and purchased a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro 1LS (base model, but I'm not a rich man). This has been the car of my dreams ever since I first saw it in Transformers in 2007. A true American muscle car. A show of true American ingenuity and innovations. As I shift gears flying down the interstate (hey America, why make a car that go a thousand mph if you don't even have roads I can drive that fast on?) I'm reminded how this couldn't even be possible if it wasn't for a bold man going against the establishment for me and millions of other Americans. 

This man is President Barrack Hussein Obama Jr.

When I first met the President in 2008.

When Barrack Obama took office in 2008, it was a great day for America. We had a dream of "Change" and "Hope". I understand that from the outside-in, there is much optimism about what one can do, but once the crown lies on the head, how heavy it lies. The country was in the worst financial crisis it had seen sense the great depression. 3.5 million jobs were lost in Bush's last six months and there were no signs of stopping. Almost every major bank in America was on the verge of collapse and the American Auto Industry, the jewel of American production, was literally days away from collapse. Imagine being excited about a new job and on day 1 and realize before you can get to work on what you have to do, you have to clean the desk your former?

So where did he start with such a monumental task? He needed to pay to keep the agencies and departments running that would devastate the country if they couldn't pay to continue. These are police officers, school teachers, and firemen. Then we needed to pay for the auto industry. The three biggest Auto companies (GM, Ford, Chrysler) employs 14 million Americans. That is roughly 10% of all jobs in America. Obama was told by other that he should simply let them fail (Mitt Romney and every other Republican). That that is the natural progression of capitalism and that it would fix itself. From a business point-of-view, this could work. But from a compassionate point-of-view, it could not. 

How can we fight for the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and others and not fight for ourselves? So Barrack Obama said, "Damn the deficit" like any other American would. If it cost you $200/month to eat and you have credit card payment of $100/month, but this month you only brought home $250, do you pay your credit card before you eat? Absolutely not! You take care of your own first and then you worry about your debt. This is exactly what the President did. He went against all the nay-sayers and paid the money to keep everyday Americans employed and the country running.

In 2008, General Motors was on the brink of collapse. Today GM is the again the #1 Auto Company in the world and they paid every cent of the money they borrowed. Chevrolet is owned by GM. My car is a direct byproduct of the boldness of my President. At the end of day, I want a leader that is going to fight for me, not one that is going to lookout for the best interest of his buddies (Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Ginrich, Joe Boehner, Mitch Daniels, Nikki Haley, Sarah Palin, and I can think of so much more).

This is a thank you to my President for doing a hard job that at times we Americans don't understand. This is why you get criticized as much as he does. But let's stop bitching for a second and let the man do a job that he was elected to do.

Click here to watch a Mini Movie about the last 4 years

Thanks for reading guys. This post wasn't suppose to go in this direction, but that's the way it did. Hasta Mañana Amigos!   MLK 

Update to Trayvon Martin Shooting......SMH

They finally released the 9-11 tapes of George Zimmerman and the tapes of the neighbors that reported it. I'm so sad and mad that I can't even write about it.

What I originally wrote about this

911 Audio Tapes

Most Recent Update to the Story

Take note when Zimmerman says "They always get away".

Why I Can Have Butt-Sex While Killing My Baby

Last month, President Obama unveiled his mandate that would require all employers to cover birth control in their employee's medical coverage. The Catholic Church, which has many types of businesses, became enraged and stated that President Obama was attacking the Catholic church. President Obama then came out with a compromise. The compromise was that religious institutions  were exempt from offering birth control but, at the mother's request, they would have to perform an abortion in the event of rape, incest, or physical harm to the mother (mom would die in child birth situation). The Catholic church did not accept the compromise and demanded that the mandate be repealed.

Let's forget the fact that only 5% of the organizations affected were Catholic. Religious institutions are always trying to prevent the government from passing laws that that church doesn't agree with. Birth control, abortions, stem-cell research, and gay marriage are just some of the hot topics right now in America. As far as the US government is concerned, they should allow all of them. Why? I'm glad you asked you strange person that talks to computer monitors.

Between the years of 1629 and 1640 a religious group called the Puritans (Pilgrims)  first came to America to escape their persecution in England by Catholics because they didn't share the same beliefs as the majority. They wanted a land where they were free to worship or not worship any God of their choosing. This idea stayed with early Americans until the drafting of the US Constitution some one hundred years later. The Founding Father made it very clear that they did not want any one religion governing the people and that Americans would be free to praise whomever without fear that they would be punished or treated unfavorably by their own government. This idea was echoed again in 1960, at a time when Catholicism was looked at similar to how we view Mormons today, when the then Catholic Senator John F. Kennedy stated in his historic speech that their must be a clear separation between Religion and State in America.

JFK Speech in 1960

This means that no one religion can make laws that dictates the lives of every American. I know that there are many reason one might say that abortions and gays shouldn't get married, but the number one reason is clearly Christianity. "Gays can't get married because the Bible states that in the end times (Revelation) two people of the same sex will have sexual relations". "You can't get an abortion or use birth control because a child is a blessing from God and God doesn't make mistakes". What if a person doesn't believe in God? What if a person's God is different from your God? These arguments would hold no substance to them and they are very well within their rights to believe in whatever they want.

Christianity is the de facto religion of America (78.4%). Always has been. It is not; however, the only religion in America. And by having laws that don't allow two people to be together because of a religion says it's wrong is wrong in itself. If you were a Christian woman living in a Kuwait, would you like to forced to wear a Burka because that's what the Muslim women do? Some of the worst atrocities in history have taken place because a majority imposed it's will on a minority. The Holocaust occurred because Christian Hitler hated those of Jewish faith. The Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in 1915 killed 1.5 million Armenians because the Turks viewed them as "second-class" citizens. Saddam Hussein on March 16, 1988 killed 5000 of his own people because they weren't the same type of Muslim he was.

Photo of the dead after the Attack of Saddam Hussein  on the people he was supposed to protect

This is foundation for America that we are laying right now. I am a Christian hetero-sexual man. Two gay people is not ideally what I would like to see, but who am I to tell someone else how to live their life? Who are we to tell a woman that she can't take birth control and she has to keep the child should she become pregnant? This is exactly what we are doing. We are telling someone else how to live their lives when we ourselves don't even know how to live our own.

The Christian Church should not be looking at the fact that certain things that they don't agree with are available, but they should be striving that much more to ensure that its followers don't take advantage of them. You should scold the person who sniffs paint; not the company who makes it. Don't scream at the government for providing a service; scream at your members for using it.


Hey guys thanks for reading and I hope we can spend time again tomorrow. MLK

P.S. If there is a topic you would like me to get on my Soapbox about then leave me a comment and I promise I will talk about it if it interesting enough.

Whites Piss on Black's Faces and Say It's Raining

Who is Trayvon Martin? I'm glad you asked :-). Trayvon Martin was a 17 year-old African-American male from Sanford, FL (notice how I used "was"?).  George Zimmerman is the Caucasian  Neighborhood Watch Captain (noticed how I used "is"?)

Zimmerman first called 911 on February 26, 2012 and said that he saw a suspicious character walking around in the neighborhood. The 911 operator told him that the police was on the way and that he shouldn't do anything. He didn't do that. Instead he got his 9mm pistol and went to confront the suspicious character. This story ended with 17 year-old Trayvon being shot in the chest and killed by Zimmerman.

The police arrived later and they took Zimmerman to jail for (get this) "investigative detention". After questioning him he was free to go home.

End of story.

Trayvon Martin

I immediately asked myself, "well what's was Trayvon doing?". Even I am so polluted and stuck in the mentality of the status-quo that the first question I ask is what was the victim doing wrong? He was guilty of walking in the neighborhood of his father's fiance with a small amount of cash, some candy, and an iced tea while, of course, right after sunset.

Then why would Zimmerman shoot him? Well he saw someone in his neighborhood that he didn't recognize and he thought he was keeping his community safe, but I don't think this is the right question to be asking. What do we call it when an armed person shoots a defenseless person who is not threatening or attacking you?

Murder

George Zimmerman

Then why is Zimmerman not in jail? Zimmerman told police that it was all self-defense and the police released him because there were no grounds to disprove his claims. Now this is the right question.

You mean to tell me that a 28 year-old white man with a 9mm handgun was defending himself from a 17 year-old black boy who was armed with a bag of skittles and a Nestea? Even after the 911 dispatcher told you to not confront the suspect and stay in your home? And not only did he disobey the dispatcher but he approached the victim and shot him in the chest? I call Bullshit Sanford Police Department. 

If it we flipped the colors around in this situation, there is not doubt in my mind that Zimmerman would be getting butt-raped by pointy end of a broken broom (that may be a little too descriptive). Trayvon didn't approach Zimmerman. Zimmerman approached Trayvon. Black people and black men especially have to prove their innocence before they can be released.  Apparently white men in Sanford, FL have to do the complete opposite. The police must prove that the suspect is lying in order to arrest and charge that person.

I know critics will instantly say that this is isolated incident, that I am inciting hate, and that I am only increasing racial tension, but they said the same thing about every black activist to ever roam our nation. I'm not saying I'm MLK (hehe). I am just a man with a keyboard, but you can only spit in my salad so many times and tell me that it's dressing.

 Black people have been taken advantage of and mistreated ever since the first African arrived in these lands.  Black households only bring in half of the money of an average white household. Whites make-up 70% of the nation and Blacks make up 12%, yet Blacks outnumber Whites in prison 9 to 1. Not to mention a third of all black children have lived in poverty compared to 13.5% of white children.

The Little Rock 9 in 1957

These numbers are appalling. It reminds me of why Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. didn't get along. MLK wanted little black boy and white girls to play together without looks of scorn among the community and for the most part, people can say that's the times we live in now. Malcolm X, however; did not want the same thing. He wanted segregation. He thought that Black people could better prosper if we disenfranchised ourselves from Whites. That Blacks live, trade, and govern themselves. That Blacks wouldn't have to worry about incidents like Trayvon Martin because we wouldn't be afraid of each other like how the Whites aren't afraid of fellow Whites now.

We went with Martin Luther King's Dream instead of the philosophy of Malcolm X. Was it the right decision? One could easily argue that the most powerful man in the world is a Black man, but the equally true counter argument is the weakest, abused, and taken for granted person in America is without a doubt a Black man.......

Or a Mexican! Lol 

I love white people and know that this one man doesn't represent you guys as a whole. 

Thanks for reading and I'll see you tomorrow. MLK 

We care Africa....Just not right now

Can I talk about Kony 2012 for a second? How can you say that we need to stop Kony and not understand what that entails? At a time when almost every American household is complaining about the economy, the wars in the Middle-east, and gas prices, do you think it's really in our best interest to get in bed with Africa? Especially when it's not dire or an imminent threat to America? Kony has been doing Kony shit for 29 years. He arose in the wake of Idi Amin. Amin was an awful dictator from Uganda who killed thousands of his own people in the 70's (Last King of Scottland). So Uganda was already a hell hole before this man and you think with him gone there will be peace and stability there? Not to mention Kony doesn't even operate in Uganda anymore. He operates in 3 other countries now!

If you live in a cave and haven't seen the video

Click Here

Idi Amin on the cover of Time Magazine March 7, 1977

Check out what actually Africans are saying about this.  

So you vote for Ron Paul and want America to mind it's own business but then watch a 29 minute, obviously dramatized video from an organization that you never even heard of and now you are persuaded otherwise. Are you really that gullible? Do you know how fucked up Africa is (Black Hawk Down, Blood Diamonds, Roots MOFO). Don't you think our Soldiers are tired of going to shit hole countries. The Soldier from this weekend's slayings should show people that the military is splitting at the seam. They are fatigued, traumatized, and just plain tired. This is the result of wars that really aren't well-evaluated. You have wars where nobody is the clear winner or not much has really changed. 

Link to Invisible Children Website.

Click Here

Kony is one man. Obviously he reflects the views the views of others because he has an army. Who's to say that Kony Jr. won't come up and take his reins? And now we are in another conflict where we are battling an ideology instead of a physical target. If you want to stop Kony so bad, instead of "Liking" and "Retweeting" a video on the internet, go to the gun store, purchase an AR-15 and book an open ticket through expedia.com and go handle Kony your damn selves. Think before you speak people...MLK