Harbor News Post

Thought On Whitney's Funeral

2012-02-18T13:42:00.000-08:00

Whitney Houston funeral service was held this morning. It was in a word an event, of family, friends and those close to the family who attended the event and they family appeared to do it without fanfare, but with more a dedication to the direction of the life Whitney lived..
Her high school principal mentioned that Whitney Houston honed her skills around the greatest singers if all time Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, were her mentors. Whitney was raised to be a singer, even though many did not realize it. She was a well-connected person, who knew lots of celebrity.
Whitney Houston taught modern pop and R&B singers how to sing. A lot of today’s singer modeled their delivery after Whitney Houston. She carried the torch. But more importantly Whitney Funeral was truly a celebration of life, with singing and praise being given to the Lord in Celebration of Whitney Houston’s life. It was truly an African- American going home celebration. BeBe Winans tribute was telling with the insight on Whitney’s life. Tyler Perry’s tribute, about the Love that Whitney had for the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Kevin Costner, spoke at the funeral. Spoke about what becomes of our broken hearts. Kevin Costner said that they both grew up in the Baptist church. He grandma played in the choir. Costner said his earliest memories were tied into the Baptist Church.
It was great funeral and it was a tribute well given.

Aretha Franklin Reflects On The Death of Whitney Houston On CNN

2012-02-12T16:54:00.000-08:00

Aretha Franklin gave a telling an informative interview on CNN on Whitney Houston’s death on Sunday night. Aretha Franklin was Whitney’s Godmother and early on helped to shape and guide her career. She was a close friend to Whitney’s mom, Cissy Houston as well. She talked about the pitfalls of being an overnight star and the pressures of stardom that come with it. Aretha felt that Whitney was turning the corner on the difficulties that she had encountered. However Aretha shed light on the pressures of stardom and gave heartfelt advice to those in the entertainment or in the public eye. She said her father, Rev. C.L. Franklin once told her that you must prepare yourself for the time when the music stops, the accolades go away, and someone younger than you enters the spotlight and perhaps takes it away from you. That day will come. Her advice was to prepare yourself for it, and be prepared for life after stardom.

That is insightful and practical advice that not only applies to those in the entertainment industry, but also in major league sports, and other fields. Athletes as well must prepare themselves for the day when they cannot jumps as high, run as fast, shoot better, pass better than the next person. There is definitely an up and coming younger person that commands the spotlight and suddenly the fame and fortune is gone. Those in the public eye must be able to deal with these changes. Aretha Franklin has withstood the test of time and continues to be an icon in the music industry despite her age, her fame continues.

The World Lost An Icon In Whitney Houston-Dead At 48

2012-02-12T14:13:00.001-08:00

Once again an entertainer’s life is taken from us, although we do not know the cause of death, but we lost a very gifted and talented singer in Whitney Houston. She was 48 years old. Ms. Houston sold over 170 Million Albums and songs. She won numerous Grammy awards and arguably was one of the greatest singers of the 20th Century. That in a word is the impact that Ms. Houston had on the music industry and the world. Whitney Houston ranks right up there with Aretha Franklin, Patty Labelle, Gladys Knight, and Chaka Khan among top Soul Singers. But perhaps Ms. Houston could in fact be considered the greatest African American Pop singer given her range and ability to cross over to a diverse audience. No one who came before her was able to claim that honor.It is perhaps an oversight to consider Ms. Houston a Soul singer. She was not from the start; however African American strongly identified with her and saw her as one of the greater African American singers of all time. Perhaps a better way to describe Ms. Houston is that she was a crossover artist who appealed to all races, sort of the female Michael Jackson. She had that type of influence musically throughout the world. She had so many hits there is not enough ink to name them all. She had a melodic voice and the ability and range to deliver it along a musical matrix that is unequaled. Thus the comparisons to Aretha Franklin and Patty Labelle, who all who possessed larger than life voices that defined their careers. Chaka Khan is most definitely included in this sorority of African American singers.Whitney Houston was on top of the world throughout the late Eighty’s and soon she met Bobby Brown during the 90’s and they married. Many thought that the union with Bobby Brown was not a good one for Whitney Houston, and it was during her time with Bobby Brown that she begin to use and abuse drugs. Their life was chronicled on a reality show including Bobby and Whitney and the entire Brown family. It was not a flattering story. Now the News of Whitney Houston’s death has shaken up the world. More to come when more details become available.

Jackson State First White Quarterback- White Tiger-Casey Therriault

2012-02-09T21:42:00.000-08:00

"I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice."
-- Martin Luther King Jr., Aug. 28, 1963
Reprint of ESPN Story a great story- written by Pat Forde
JACKSON, Miss. -- Scenes from an oasis:
A fence separated the old black woman from the football field, but it didn't stop her. She wanted to meet the young white quarterback. She asked the coach to bring him over. If you don't have a place to go for Thanksgiving, the old woman told the quarterback through the fence, we will feed you.

Jackson State Casey Therriault has been embraced by the Jackson State community.

In the stands in Memphis, Tenn., weeks earlier, a black stranger struck up a conversation with the white quarterback's father. He was easy to pick out, after all, a pale face in a section full of dark faces. By the end of the game, the quarterback's father had been invited to stay at the stranger's house for the next home game.

Everyone wanted to reach out to the white quarterback. He had come hundreds of miles from his native Michigan to this strange place -- to Jackson State University, a historically black college -- because he had nowhere else to go, with a past he was trying to escape. He didn't know what to expect. He sure didn't expect all this. All the support and attention and generosity directed his way was startling.

Just a few months before, no college wanted anything to do with him. Now, this novelty act of a quarterback was suddenly a minor celebrity.
In a state that was crippled by racial intolerance, the Jackson State fans didn't care that he was different from them. They didn't care about the trouble in his past and the chilling word that was attached to him. Or maybe it was because of the differences, and because of the trouble, that they reached out.

Maybe this was the latter stages of a dream come to fruition.
The guy was intensely drunk, with a blood-alcohol content that later would be measured at .27 -- more than three times the legal limit to drive a car. He swung first. He hit Casey Therriault in the face.The reaction was immediate, instinctual. Therriault retaliated, and Therriault connected. Dropped the man to the cold Michigan sidewalk with what police and media reports say was the one and only punch he threw.Therriault apologized to Jonathon Krystiniak's mother in court, and has since received her forgiveness for his role in her son's death.

Therriault was scared then. He was 18 years old and home from College of the Sequoias, a California junior college, on Christmas break. He'd been in this nightclub, the Margarita Grill in his hometown of Grand Rapids, with some buddies and some friends of those friends whom he didn't really know. He hadn't been drinking, he said, but trouble followed them out the door when they left. The drunk guy was grabbing at them, trying to start something. Someone in the group directed an insult at the drunk, and Therriault laughed. That's when the drunk guy hit him. And he hit back. And then he was scared, and he got out of there.

What happened next would change the life of everyone out on the sidewalk that night. Some of the other guys in the group jumped on the drunk guy. Kicking. Stomping. They beat him into a coma. Two weeks later, when the phone rang back at junior college in California, the prosecutor's words were incomprehensible: Therriault was wanted back home for questioning in the death of Jonathon Krystiniak. Charges eventually were filed against five men, Therriault included: manslaughter. "It was kind of like I had lost everything," Therriault said. "It was somewhere you never expected to be."

When a plea deal was offered, Therriault attorney Richard Zambon told him he should take it. The judge believed he was the least culpable of all the defendants and would sentence him accordingly. The other alternative was to risk a trial -- and although a self-defense argument was compelling, a conviction could result in 15 years in state prison.
So Therriault took the deal and the six-month county jail sentence that came with it. Three other defendants were given one- to three-year sentences in state prison. A fifth gambled on a trial and lost, and was given a sentence of 27 months to 15 years.

In January 2009, a year after the fatal altercation, Therriault entered the Kent County Correctional Facility in Grand Rapids.

"It's something that you have to accept, and if you can do it, you can learn a lot about yourself -- not that you'd do it to have a learning experience," he said. "But it's a place that's so dark and so low, that's the only thing you can take from it." After several weeks in the county jail, Therriault was moved into the adjacent work-release facility. For the next five months, he made pizzas and washed dishes at Frankie V's, a sports bar owned by his old position coach at Wyoming Park High School in suburban Grand Rapids. His girlfriend, Sarah Hernandez, would pick him up in the morning for work and drive him back to the jail at night. That's when Therriault would take stock of where he'd been and how he ended up there, behind bars.

"I got put up with somebody in a room, one person who turned out to be someone who helped me a lot," he said. "He was someone who kind of couldn't get away from [criminal] situations and made me realize that no matter what's going on in your life, somebody has it much worse. I had people who were there for me, and some people don't even have that.
"I grew up. I found out that I've got to appreciate things a lot more. You kind of go from having a lot, having a future, to nothing."

Julie Therriault was heartbroken and irate.
Her son had served his time. Why couldn't he get another chance?

Therriault Family Casey Therriault is very close with his brothers.

Casey had come out of jail and gotten on with life. He enrolled at Grand Rapids Community College and became an immediate star of the football team, passing for more than 2,000 yards and 24 touchdowns while leading GRCC to a 9-2 record. He played well and stayed well clear of any trouble. Yet all the four-year schools that had shown initial interest in Casey shied away. They loved his game but not the alarming word that surfaced with his name: manslaughter.
"I wanted to scream, 'Hey, this is a great kid right here,'" Julie said. She wanted to tell them about how Casey and older brother Chad (now serving an Army tour of duty in Afghanistan) doted on their two handicapped brothers. Kyle, 27, has spinal dysplasia that curbed his height and has led to multiple major surgeries. And Lucas, 18, has both spinal dysplasia and a severe mental handicap that his family said has left him with the brain development of a 2-year-old.

Julie wanted the coaches who bailed on Casey to see him hold Lucas' hand. To see him change Lucas' diaper. To see him toss Lucas a football and make him smile.
She wanted to tell them about how Casey stood up in the courtroom and apologized to Krystiniak's mother, and how she forgave Casey. She wanted them to know about how Julie and Ed Therriault and Krystiniak's mom were all in tears and leaning on each other at the end of those traumatic court proceedings.
But most colleges didn't want to go beyond a troubling Google search and a surface explanation of what happened. They knew the impossibility of selling an administration on recruiting a guy who did time for manslaughter. "He was a good kid and then, bang," Julie said. "Getting hit with that was hard. It was the most horrible thing I've endured as a mother, and I've been through numerous life-threatening surgeries with two sons. The thing I went through with Casey I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy." So even after a productive season at GRCC, there was nowhere for Casey to go in the spring of 2010. That's when the most unlikely of schools made a phone call.

Earnest Wilson had been an assistant coach at New Mexico State, and he'd had his eye on Casey Therriault for a while. A disciple of Hal Mumme and his Air Raid offense -- which emphasizes quick, precise throws from the shotgun formation, in some ways a precursor of the current spread offenses -- Wilson saw a quarterback who fit that offense perfectly.

Paul L. Newby II\Grand Rapids Press\Landov Therriault passed for more than 2,000 yards and 24 touchdowns at Grand Rapids.

But Mumme had gotten fired from New Mexico State in 2008. His successor, DeWayne Walker, had retained Wilson -- but after a shaky, 3-10 debut season in '09, Walker was in no position to bring in a guy with a radioactive résumé like Casey's. Like every other school, New Mexico State backed off. Then Wilson relocated to Jackson State as offensive coordinator and installed the pass-happy offense at a quarterback-poor school. "We were looking for a thrower," Wilson said.
He told head coach Rick Comegy about Casey and got the go-ahead to recruit him. Comegy is a 35-year veteran of coaching at HBC programs, and among his reclamation projects was former Oklahoma quarterback Charles Thompson. After an infamous cocaine bust at OU, he wound up with Comegy at Central State in Ohio.

"Guys are going to make mistakes when they're young," Comegy said. "Not one of the guys on our football team hasn't had an incident in their life that they regret. I think they understand it better than we do as adults sometime." One other thing the kids seem to understand better than adults: race. Casey's reaction to being recruited by a black school? "Oh, that's a little different," he said. "It didn't really cross my mind. … I didn't think of going to a historically black college."
Fact is, Casey had played on racially diverse teams in high school and junior college. When his father plunked a portable basketball hoop at the end of their street, it attracted kids of all variety. The Therriault house was a melting pot then and now -- Chad's girlfriend is black, and Casey's is half Hispanic.

"I really don't think it fazes him that much," Julie said. "The biggest obstacle was getting over the Southern accent. When he went on his visit, he said, 'I don't understand what everybody's saying.'" That was in May 2010, and despite the language barrier, Casey decided he would attend. Then he started getting cold feet, thinking about moving that far away from home. The jail experience had left him more attached than ever to his girlfriend and family. Julie read him the riot act. "This is your only opportunity," she told Casey. "You better take it."
On July 5, Ed and his third son packed up and left Michigan for Mississippi. They were dumbstruck by the heat, and in the dead of summer, there weren't many players on campus or any formal workouts to dive into. Casey called his mom crying twice, talking about coming home.

Therriault Family Therriault's parents are happy that their son has been given a second chance at Jackson State.

"You make a decision right now," she told him. "Get your ass in the car and drive home, or stick with it. But don't call me again." He never called again. What followed was an unlikely but perfect marriage of player and program. Casey's 3,600 yards of total offense and 41 total touchdowns (31 passing, 10 running) made him the Southwestern Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year and the first-team all-SWAC quarterback. He was second nationally in the Football Championship Subdivision in passing yards and total offense, leading Jackson State to an 8-3 record and a share of the SWAC East title.

A proud school with a passionate base and a gilded football heritage, having produced the likes of Walter Payton and Lem Barney, Jackson State had never had a standout white player before. There were a few lesser players who came and went, but nobody with the ability of Casey.
The fans adored him. They nicknamed him "White Tiger." Teammates called him "Blue-Eyed Soul Brother."
He was never more popular than in leading Jackson State past rival Southern 49-45. Four touchdowns were scored in the final three minutes -- the last of them on a 28-yard pass by Casey to Rico Richardson with two seconds left. Casey had driven the Tigers 60 yards in two plays for the winning touchdown.
Afterward, everyone raved about Casey's poise. His dad knew where it came from.
"He told me one time, 'These defensive linemen used to scare the s--- out of me,'" Ed said. "'After I was looking at 15 years in prison, those guys don't scare me.' He doesn't get jitters anymore. After you've been scared like that, you don't get scared."

Sarah Hernandez and Casey's parents attended one of Casey's home games this past season. Her description of the experience: "It was intimidating, and not because of anything anyone said or did," she said. "Nobody made us feel unwelcome at all. But it opened up our eyes. I know now what a black person means when they say what it feels like to be the only black in a room."
If her boyfriend ever had that feeling, it is gone now. On a bright and breezy October Friday on the Jackson State campus, Casey was moving through a crowded quad at ease. Girls called out his name in flirty tones, but he pretended not to notice. It was homecoming week, and the football team had gathered with the marching band and homecoming court to help boost a United Way fundraising drive.

The white quarterback stood out amid the sea of black faces, yet seemed oblivious to it.
"He described it once as saying that he forgets he's white," Hernandez said.
At Jackson State, they don't care what color Casey Therriault is. Or what happened in his past. They're happy the White Tiger has made an unlikely home in a Mississippi oasis a great man dreamed of decades ago.
Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com

The Ordeal of Thomas Robinson

2012-02-08T22:50:00.000-08:00

Thomas Robinson, a 6-10 NBA prospect who plays for the University of Kansas, for most of his life raised his sister to help his Mom out who had to work. His Mom who dealt with multiple health issues died of a brain aneurysm, after losing Thomas' Grandfather and Grandmother. In effect Thomas has to deal with the death of the three most important people in his life

He only had his sister whom he developed a close bond with. The entire Jay Hawk team, went to the funeral of his mother in Washington, DC. He was forced to leave his sister with her Father, and was not able to bring her back to Lawrence , Kansas. Her father, who was just released from prison, applied for custody of his sister and was awarded custody.

The story continues and life's twist and circumstances continue to confront Thomas Robinson is projected to be a Lottery pick and may soon be able to take care of his sister. Stay tuned to this heart breaking story.

Qualities of Our Best Presidents

2012-02-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

This is a good time to reflect on those qualities that we consider admirable in a Presidential candidate. These are qualities that stand the test of time. Throughout American history, presidents have faced many challenges that have over time defined their legacy. For some the legacy improved over time. For others their presidency proved to be more disastrous than previously stated. What are the qualities that define a good president? This is a quite subjective opinion, but these are my thoughts on what defines a great president.

Demonstrate willingness to serve-

Presidents should have a commitment to service and there should be no conjecture here. This should be readily apparent when one reviews a President's life, what did they do in service to others? What pet programs did they champion and what political offices did they previously hold? John F. Kennedy, demonstrated a willingness to serve early on in his political career. When he first started his career as a Congressman in Massachusetts, Kennedy's commitment was to serve. Prior to this he served in the US Navy, assigned to PT Boat 109 during World War II, in the South Pacific., where he saved his entire crew, by rescuing those who were burned and wounded, swimming to their aid. Kennedy demonstrated that he cared and this caring attitude served him well in his short tenure in the Office of President of the United States.

George Washington answered the call of the American people first as Commandeer and Chief of the Revolutionary Army and he answered the call reluctantly to lead the new country as its first President. His reluctance was because he was somewhat weary from a hard fought battle to win Independence from England. But Washington put his fatigue aside and served two terms as the first President of the United States.

The ability to confront challenges decisively and in a way that is in the best interest of the American People-

There are many examples of Presidents who reacted to challenges and threats decidedly, not because of vendettas, but truly because it was in the best interest of the American people. This is a tricky situation for a President. There have also been presidents who have reacted because of party affiliations, lobby groups, and constituents.Their actions certainly were not in the best interest of the American people.

Franklin Roosevelt comes to mind as a President who saw a threat, the attack on Pearl Harbor and reacted to it, but saw a bigger threat from Nazi Germany and declared war on both Japan and Germany. He saw Nazi Germany as a real threat to American Interest, particularly if England fell to Nazi hands. Roosevelt did what he needed to do to support England, while building up the American army, preparing the Army for the D-Day invasion.

Roosevelt should be credited for creating a way for America to work it way out of a depression. He authored the social security system that is still in tact to day, where millions of Americans have relied on this service for their survival in old age . Franklin Roosevelt had the vision to protect Americans in their old age and created a system that despite its protractors, has withstood the test of time.

The ability to see both sides of an issue -

Abraham Lincoln has the vision to see beyond the bickering between the Northern and Southern States enough to see a brewing resentment that would tear the country apart from one single issue; slavery..Lincoln had to walk a fine line, but in the final analysis, Lincoln saw slavery as a travesty of the human existence and something that should be abolished. He was not at all liked, below the Mason Dixon Line.

Despite this Lincoln sought valiantly to keep the Union in tack; in an effort to placate the south. In the final analysis Lincoln knew that there was only one clear choice that slavery would have to be abolished. In 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and effectively freeing the slaves.This final act eventually brought the war to a swift end 4 years after it started in 1865.

John Kennedy- sought to pacify Southerners during the turbulent years of the Civil Right movement. When George Wallace stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama, denying black students the right to enter the University of Alabama. Kennedy watched as lunch counter protest were conducted all over the south and intervened when he could. Kennedy did what he could by trying to logically coax the southern establishment to do the right thing. The fire burned and Kennedy tried to extinguish the flame, but on the horizons were the culmination of an 11 year movement that would change the face of the South and foster in the most progressive period in American history for African Americans and for women.

Although Kennedy considered the passing of the Civil Right Bill. He was assassinated before he could implement It. Lyndon Johnson picked up the torch and finished where Kenney left off with the passing of the 1965 Civil Rights Act.This bill had far reaching effect and to this day has helped in gains for African American, and women.

My choices for American Presidents who have made a difference and had unique qualities that has stood the test of time.

George Washington

Abraham Lincoln

Franklin D. Roosevelt

John F Kennedy

These are the four great presidents in American History. All reacted to turbulent times and held the country together. Not because of personal belief, or personal agenda, but because it was the right thing to do.Two of these presidents were assassinated while in office, Lincoln and Kennedy. One died while in office, Franklin Roosevelt.All paid a heavy price because of a strong belief in their country.These American Presidents are icons and their actions over time shaped American life into what it is today, without their contribution America would not be the country it is today.

Patriots Make a Great Effort

2012-02-05T17:51:00.000-08:00

The general opinion about Tom Brady is that he is a can't miss winner. Brady and the Patriots offense is a threat, particularly when it boils down to the opposing teams ability to stop the Patriots. If the defense is not aware and unable to keep up with the Patriot receivers run their routes with precision, then they are in for a long night. This is just a fact when you face the Patriots.

Tonight , at this writing the Patriot lead the Giants 17-12, so it boils down to the Giants ability to stop the Patriots. At this point is is crucial that this happens. We will soon see if the Patriots can win their 4th Super Bowl or if the Giants can pull it off.

The Fab Five

2012-02-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

The Fab 5 the latest installment of ESPN films premiered tonight. It proved to be another brilliant presentation. The documentary started by detailing the recruitment of Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson. Michigan then spent all the rest of the year recruiting Jalen Rose and Chris Webber.
Jalen Rose's is the son of Jimmy Walker, former Detroit Pistons star, who played for the Pistons in the 60's. However Jimmy Walker had no relationship with his son, Jalen Rose. Jalen Rose and Chris Webber were hot on this list of Steve Fisher, then the coach at Michigan. Rose attended Detroit Southwestern High School where nine to ten players went on to receive Division I scholarships.
Chris Webber wanted to be an inner city guy, but he wasn't. Webber attended Country Day High School. Juwan Howard recruited Webber by calling him two to three times per weeks. They wanted to win. They were looking to recruit the best college team in the country.   Michigan recruited five of the top high school players at the same time.
Jalen Rose says this revolution was televised, contrary to Gill Scott-Heron's seventy recital, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.   Fisher was elated that he had this core of outstanding players,three freshman, Rose, Howard, and Webber in the starting line-up.
Jalen Rose said Duke only recruited black players who were Uncle Toms. Jalen Rose was upset with players like Grant Hill, but Rose resented everything that he was not, the product of an absent father, who did not accept him.
The match up with Duke was bitter, the game went into overtime. Duke won the game. Although the Fab 5 did not respect Duke, they thought Grant Hill and Christian Laettner and the rest of the Blue Devils were soft. They soon learned that they were not. They were excellent hard nosed basketball players.
So the stage was set, the country learned that Duke was king and the defending national champion and the Fab 5 proved they could hang with the defending national champions.
Ray Jackson struggled his first year at Michigan. He was a high school star in Texas, but Ray Jackson was not starting. He was out of his element, he had never seen snow and he was miserable and he was not starting. Steve Fisher finally relented and started Ray Jackson. They had a chance to finally see what they were made of. They were an electric team, they were now playing together.
Mitch Albom, well known Sports writer, said that Fisher created a hard thing to overcome by deciding to start the Fab Five as freshman. Michigan's Eric Riley felt resentment, he lost his position and it was not taken lightly. Despite this the slighted upper class men were able to contribute and blend with the Fab 5. When the Fab 5 traveled like rock stars.   They had to employ 24 hour security for a college basketball game.
Alumni became alarmed. Five inner city black kids represented Michigan and alumni resented them sending hate mail, calling them 'the "N" word, so Steve Fisher took the heat for bringing them in. They were brash and did not take a back seat, even some of the majority white alumni could not stand this, so they did the unthinkable, sent out death threats.
But these were not Jackie Robinson clones, they were brash and out spoken and there in rubbed nearly everyone the wrong way. One can see the resentment that the Michigan alumni felt, because the Fab 5 talked trash to no end, but no one deserves to receive a death threat.
Most people thought that Steve Fisher let his players run over him. They accused Steve Fisher of coaching a playground team, typical of how inner city black kids are perceived. Undisciplined, and unable to play together.
Michigan lost the 1992 National Championship to a highly superior Duke team. The Fab 5 was not equipped to be national champions. They were immature and not ready for the spotlight. This would be illuminated in the next few years of the Fab Five era.
The next season, The Fab 5 knew they had to dominate every single game. Their goal was to win the national championship. As freshman they felt excited and as sophomores they felt exploited. Nike sold shirts and called everything Fab 5. Michigan made $10.5 million dollars on merchandising. However the Fab Five, like other college players received no revenue.
Jalen Rose was accused of being at a crack house and being on drugs. He was not of course, but it tainted his image. Rose said he was embarrassed and hurt.

Everything came crashing down when Chris Webber called the time out in the NCAA finals against North Carolina in 1993. It was something that no member of the Fab 5 can forget, Chris Webber declined to be interviewed for the documentary; that's how devastating that moment was for the Fab 5. Webber has not put to rest the allegations that he took money from a friend.
Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard and Chris Webber went on to solid careers in the NBA. Juwan Howard plays for the star studded Miami Heat, with new stars like LaBron James, D-Wade and Chris Bosh, but none of the Fab 5 will forget the experience.

Chris Webb lied about getting money from a friend who some said gave money to many Detroit area basketball stars. Which is an NCAA violation. It is said Chris Webber received a significant amount of money. The legacy of the Fab 5 was tainted. Everyone was not involved in the this, but everyone suffered for this mistake.

Steve Fisher, today, says there are still times when he will get a call from one of the Fab 5 congratulating him for a win. They still stay in touch. Juwan Howard says the legacy still lives on and the Miami Heat players identify Howard by saying , "That's Juwan Howard from the Michigan Fab 5".

Texas Western vs Kentucky, the NCAA Game of The Ages- 1966

2012-02-05T16:16:00.000-08:00

The 1966 Texas Western ( now known as The University of Texas at El Paso -UTEP)- Kentucky NCAA Championship. Certainly the most significant game ever played in the history of basketball. Simply because of the segregated nature of basketball in the south during the sixties. This game and this game alone served to remove the barriers and unwritten rules that college coaches observed in the failure to sign the black athletes to a four year scholarship in the segregated south . After this game, the barriers were lifted and southern schools began in earnest to recruit the black athlete.
Adolph Rupp, The head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, went to great lengths to refrain from diligently recruiting black basketball players. He did recruit Wes Unseld a graduate of Louisville Seneca High School and he also recruited Butch Beard from Breckenridge County High School in Kentucky, but both players felt that Kentucky would not be a welcoming environment and they chose to attend the University of Louisville. Rupp did pay a visit to Ron King in his home in 1969. King along with Otto Petty led Louisville Central to the 1969 Kentucky State Championship. The same year King was named Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball. King decided to attend Florida State, where Hugh Durham, a Louisville native was the head coach.

Adolph Rupp won 4 national Championships at Kentucky during his career. He wanted to win just one more championship before he retired and 1966, he felt this was his year to do it. Rupp had a team, featuring five undersized players, led by Pat Riley, current Miami GM, Louie Dampier, Tommy Kron, Thad Jarez and Larry Conley. They were known as Rupp's Runts( no player was over 6'5 inches tall) and they terrorized the Southeastern Conference. They were a great team and they played an exciting brand of basketball.

Texas Western had one of the best point guards ever in Bobby Joe Hill from Detroit. Don Haskins recruited five black players and he promoted that he would flaunt it doing warm ups. He would encourage his players to dunk to create intimidation. Haskins was a con-man, and a pool shark, he transferred those characteristic to the basketball floor.
A white basketball player on Texas Western team, said he grew up hating opposing white players, because of the despicable things that they said to the Texas Western’s black players. Pat Forde, a reporter for the Louisville Courier Journal, said they brought a street game with them. It started with Don Haskins' Texas Western team.

Kentucky won a number one ranking by beating nearly everyone, with a unrelenting defense and fast break offense, Rupp’ s team was a well oiled team. Texas Western survived Kansas by one point in double overtime. The other semifinal game over shadowed the Texas Western-Kansas game. The general consensus was that the Kentucky – Duke winner would be the national champions. Texas Western was furious. They wanted to beat Kentucky not because they had the possibility of being the first all black team. They wanted to beat them because they were being overlooked.

Haskins made a crucial strategic decision prior to the game. He played three guards to keep up with Kentucky’s speed. Haskins, rolled out five black players to start the NCAA championship game. Just understand there was an unwritten rule by white college basketball coaches in the south; never start five black players at one time. Haskins did it. It was on. One undefeated team in Kentucky and one once defeated team in Texas Western.
Haskins was a gambler and he would do anything possible to win the gamble; beat Adolph Rupp. Haskins did ,more in this one game to further the cause of integration than Martin Luther King. This game was the defining game of the century for College basketball.
It had tremendous social implications. I remember seeing the game myself . I was only 11 years old, but this game is sealed in my memory as the most exciting and significant game ever in NCAA finals history. There was the notion that if you had five black players that they were not as intelligent as the white players. If you put pressure on them they would crack. Texas Western proved this to be unfounded.
At the start of the game Big Daddy Latin rejected Pat Riley's shot and the next time he dunked over Pat Riley. Later, point guard, Bobby Joe Hill made two consecutive steals in the game. Kentucky was down 34-31 at the half. Kentucky kept it close they felt they could still win. Texas Western won the NCAA Championship 74-65.
The Texas Western players, as always took it in stride, Haskins hoped his players would be a little excited about the win. Coach Haskins smiled. Don Haskins begin to realized the impact of the victory. He would later received basketball cans filled with hate mail for coaching all black players. He even received a letter from black leaders who called him an exploiter. Haskins, a white coach, paid a price for his courage.

But if it were not for his courage, college basketball would not be where it is today. Adolph Rupp fought the memory of that game for the rest of his life. In a time when our country was in turmoil, fighting for equality for blacks in the south The Texas Western- Kentucky NCAA championship played a significant role in breaking the chains of integration. After this game, southern white coaches started recruiting the black athlete, one by one the ban was lifted. Adolph Rupp coached five more years before his retirement. He finally successfully recruited and signed to a scholarship, his first black player, Tom Payne, out of Louisville Shawnee High School in 1969. Rupp died of cancer in 1977. In 1998 Kentucky won the National Championship, ironically, with a team coach by Tubby Smith, a black man.

The Role of The CEO

2012-02-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

The Chief Executive Officer of a company is the most important person within the company structure. The CEO's responsibility is to relay the vision of the company, both internally and externally. The CEO is responsible for setting the perception and tone of the company, while skillfully laying the groundwork, through strategic networking to foster the continued economic well being of the company.

The number one goal of the CEO is for the vision to be relayed clearly to the external partners, consumers, business leaders, and vendors, while insuring that all employees understand the vision, direction and goals of the company. The CEO must be adept at insuring that all employees can skillfully advance these goals while conducting their day to day business. Most of all the CEO must be proactive in in identifying hostile challenges and acting strategically to nullifying them before they become unmanageable.,
It is a tall order. Many MBA professionals have entered into CEO positions only to find the waters tough in navigating through the maze of a constantly changing business landscape. The challenges of today's economy make these goals and success in achieving them, a challenge to say the least. What are rates of success for CEO faced with these challenges? There are many examples.

Larry Page was the founding CEO of Google, under his leadership Google grew to over 200 employees and profitability, before he moved to his new position of President of Products. Because of Google's vision and its tendency to be on the cutting edge of innovation and growth, Google grew to unprecedented growth, evolving into the premier search engine on the internet. The vision that fueled Google's growth was driven by free technological thinkers and the ability to think and anticipate trends in technology.
Page had the vision to create a high tech environment, where people really felt comfortable working at Google. The vision was to create an atmosphere conducive to the free expression of ideas; While presenting user technology that met the needs that changing technological innovation created.

Google today has involved in a number of areas, now offering free internet mail series incorporating the blogs, document management, photo management, a and a number of other applications, that allow users to access information at anytime, from any computer. Sort of a traveling office, all you need is access to a computer and the internet. Google joined the internet advertising mix, by creating Ad Words, which has generated hundred of dollars in online advertising sales.

Google growth is unprecedented and today they are the most innovation search engine company, far out distancing Yahoo it nearest competitor. The recent news that Microsoft offer to purchase Google, as created quite a buzz, because of the ramifications. So Google is faced with an immediate challenge that threatens it very existence. Google's leadership, namely it current CEO, will have to find a quick answer to the advances of Microsoft.

As you can see from the Google example, the leadership of the CEO is critical in order to meet challenges, not only from competitors, but form a changing business marketplace. The mold has been cracked and a new one has evolved. Creating a need for all companies to think strategically not just for profit now, but for their very survival. Strategic moves from competitors to take over the market share through consolidation caught Google by surprise. The CEO was caught napping. This cannot in any way happen in today's market place.

Republican Presidents Have a History Of Overseeing Political Incompetence

2012-02-05T12:34:00.000-08:00

Let's call it what it is. Sleazy Republicans! They know they lie and they tell you to your face that they are liars. Admittedly the lipstick thing is a total fabrication by the Republicans. They are all talk, propaganda, and rhetoric. Republicans are empty suits. They can’t discuss issues because they don’t stand for anything of substance. Ask a Republican what they will do for you and you get generalities. No taxes, less government, etc. They have the same tired message and it is a recipe for disaster.

All one has to do is look at the Republican Presidential administrations since the 1920’s. Calvin Coolidge oversaw prohibition and gangsters literally hijacking the country. Soon after his Republican counterpart was elected, Herbert Hoover, we saw the absolute worst depression in American history.   America was virtually destitute.    It took a Democrat, Franklin Roosevelt, to get America out of the most enormous economic mess this country as ever witnessed. That makes two failed Republican administrations prior to Roosevelt. If you count Warren G. Harding; its three.

Enter Franklin Roosevelt a Democrat, who was elected four terms to the office of the Presidency by the American people.   Roosevelt led America through the Great Depression.   He authored, sponsored, and put through the New Deal, which put American’s back to work.   At a time when Republican Presidents had many Americans jumping out of windows, because of the bad news on Wall Street. By the way in case you need to be reminded, the stock market crashed in 1933.
Roosevelt’s legacy still lives, because we still have social security, and Republicans and Democrats alike still benefit from Roosevelt’s creation. Social Security was designed to give American's something to fall back on in their retirement years because they had nothing when Republicans were in office.

Not only that, Roosevelt led America through World War II. A War fought on two fronts, when America was ill prepared to fight the war. Still Roosevelt brought time to build up the military fighting machine and liberated and defeated the Axis Powers, Germany, Italy and Japan.   Due to failing health, Roosevelt died and Harry Truman another Democrat ended the war with Japan by releasing the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.   Japan soon surrendered after suffering untold losses; 220,000 people died as a direct result of those two attacks. Thousand more died from the effects of the only nuclear weapon ever dropped.    It ended the most dreadful war in the history of mankind.

Enter Dwight Eisenhower, Commander of Allied forces in Europe, and orchestrator of D-Day. Eisenhower oversaw America as it tried to get back to work. Eisenhower, a republican moderate, served two terms in the White house.
John Kennedy, a Democrat, brought style and grace to the White House in the face of turmoil. The problem of Viet Nam was inherited by Kennedy from the Eisenhower administration.   After the French abandoned Viet Nam, Kennedy sought to minimize the Communist threat to South Viet Nam, through diplomacy and sponsoring a puppet government. Viet Nam along with the Bay of Pigs were two of Kennedy’s greatest failures.   On the social front Kennedy put in place what would become the two most sweeping laws in history, the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Right Act. Both far reaching laws that continue even today. Lyndon Johnson, to his credit, took up the Kennedy fight after his assassination and steered both laws through the congress and senate. both were sweeping, landscape changing laws.

Perhaps you see a pattern here. When Republicans are in office, noting happens. Big business prospers from tax breaks and perks, while the average American, just makes due. It happened during the Republican administration of Calvin Coolidge’s, Republican Herbert Hoover’s administration, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and his son George W. Bush. Nothing happens good for the average American during Republican administrations; nothing! If anything; probably disaster.

Now we come to the biggest crook of them all Richard Nixon. You all know the story, Nixon resigned from office in disgrace, because of the Watergate scandal, the first American president to do so. Only one other American president was threatened to be impeached; Andrew Johnson, he dodged impeachment.    Excuse the omission, Bill Clinton, a Democrat also dodged the impeachment bullet .

Nixon was followed by Gerald Ford, a Republican, who took office by default after Nixon was forced to resign. Ford’s best accomplishment? Pardoning Richard Nixon. That really helped the American people!

I want discuss the Reagan years because quite frankly nothing good happened during those years. He was an actor. He had a stage, perhaps summer stock. Reagan was a great actor.    He took care of big business, which is what Republicans do. You see "That's The Way They Roll".
George H.W. Bush #1 carried on after the Reagan years and started a war with Iraq, which he did not finish. That’s Bush #1’s legacy. Then we come to George W. Bush (Bush#2). He’s is absolutely one of the worst Presidents ever. He’s probably should be rated the number three worst president behind Calvin Coolidge and the number one worst president ever, Herbert Hoover.   All Republicans.

Now given this information, knowing the McCain has not articulated his stand on any issues, who also picked an unqualified vice presidential candidate in Sarah Palin, who has absolutely no business being the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, how can either one of them be considered to lead this country?   Trust me, we are looking at one more Republican disaster if McCain/Palin are elected. We have plenty of case stories to look at to insure it does not happen. The best predictor of future behavior is to look back at past behavior.

What Motivates People On The Job?

2012-02-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

Most people take pride in what they do for a living. Yes compensation is a big factor and one must get paid in order to live, but the keys to job satisfaction are not necessarily based on pay alone. Most people look for good working conditions. They must feel safe in their working environment. The job must be satisfying and meaningful. Of course it helps if the job pays well and offers good benefits. It is good if you feel appreciated and respected for the work you do. In short people must feel motivated to do a good job and go the extra mile while at work.

Management style is important. If there is not a match here, personalities can and will clash and it does not matter how much you are getting paid if you are miserable in your job. It helps if you like what you are doing; this can help you to overcome a demanding work environment. If you are good at what you do, management style will not cause you to leave, even if there are conflicting personalities involved.

Fairness is important, this is at the top of the list. Are promotions determined fairly and the same for everyone? If you perceive that promotions are not fair, then they will be dissatisfied with the job, which will cause productivity to go down. The employee will feel more stressed and undervalued. It also helps if you work in a nurturing environment where management really does care about you, your feelings, and your opportunites for advancement in the job.

Most people have different primary needs from their jobs and if these needs are not met, they will be inclined to leave and go somewhere else. According to the the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, who conducted the 2006 General Social Survey, 27,000 people were asked questions regarding job satisfaction and general happiness. The survey found that the individual level of contentment affects the overall sense of happiness. The theory is that we are at work,more than any place else in our daily lives, so satisfaction in your work environment is key to your well being.

The survey found that firefighters, clergy and other professionals involved with helping and serving others, are more satisfied with their work and or more happier than others. This is a tall order for most companies to meet, with the high demands of share holders in the company. Trying to meet those demands can be challenging at best in today stressful work environment.

According to the survey these are the top ten most satisfying jobs.

Clergy—87 percent percent
Firefighters—80 percent percent
Physical therapists—78 percent percent
Authors—74 percent
Special education teachers—70 percent
Teachers—69 percent
Education administrators—68 percent
Painters and sculptors—67 percent
Psychologists—67 percent
Security and financial services salespersons—65 percent

Clearly, pay is not the most important parameter for job happiness. Unfortunately unless you have one of the above special skills, you probably are not satisfied with your job. Only 47% of those surveyed said they were satisfied with their jobs.

Given this scenario, short of job hopping; which does not work. One must come to terms with what they expect from a job, find their niche and dig in. When you find a job that you really like everything else will falls into place. In this case it's best to follow your heart and not your pocket book.

Myra Krafts Patriot Legacy

2012-02-05T09:02:00.000-08:00

Myra Kraft passing last year in the mist of the NFL Lockout, took its toll on the patriots Owner, Robert Kraft, but it also shined a light on the legacy of Myra Kraft and what she met to not only the Kraft family, but also the Patriots organization. Robert Kraft purchased the Patriots for a little more than $172 million dollars, but not without the blessing of his wife Myra Kraft. She faced and defeated one battle with Ovarian Cancer and faced a second battle which eventually took her life.

But she left a legacy with the Kraft family and the Patriots organization which is undeniable. The Patriots honored Mrs. Kraft throughout the season and left a legacy of love throughout the organization.

Ways to Increase Voter Turnout

2012-02-05T00:16:00.000-08:00

Electing a president is one of the most important decisions an American can make. Whats at stake is the very future of our country. Policies will be voted on. Laws will be put forth and voted on in the House and Senate. While future foreign policy will be developed and implemented. All this will be implemented over the next four years and it will effect the American people for many, many, years to come. In short the very future of America and its people is at stake. Why would we not consider observing a holiday on election day? This would enable all Americans to go to the polls to vote.
Voter turnout is a measurement of the percentage of actual voters within the entire voter pool. The mood of the voter can be determined by the voter turnout. For instance a low voter turnout may indicate a disenchantment or apathy with both political parties. It can also indicate disappointment or agreement in how both the Senate and Congress have voted on specific issues. Voter turnout has decreased nearly every election since the 1960's. This year is an exception given the high voter turnout generated in the Democratic primaries races.
This could be a direct correlation to the mediocre Presidents and the many unqualified candidates that have been involved in political elections since the 1960's. American's truly have not had anyone to be excited about since the candidacy and eventual election of John F. Kennedy in 1960. In 2004, election turnout was 64% among voting age US citizens and considered a very low turnout. Meaning 36% of voting age US citizens did not vote. No one can argue that making election day a holiday will in fact increase voter turnout, but perhaps it can help.
General opinion is that race, gender, and ethnicity have very little influence over the factors that draw voters to the polls. In 2008 the factors in voter turnout has been turned on its head, by George W. Bush. Bush has caused a tremendous awakening of voters who have flocked to the polls in record numbers during this primary season.

One factor that is an overwhelming influence on voter turnout is change. Particularly in the 2008 Presidential Election. In the Democratic primaries voters were passionate about who they supported and age factored into this equation. Voters under 50 years old supported Barack Obama. Voters over 50 years old and older supported Hillary Clinton. The voter turnout was huge. Voters are motivated by one big issue this year; that would be change.

On the Republican side Evangelical Protestant voters split evenly between Huckabee, Romney, and McClain. Again the voter turnout is strong. But how much more stronger could it be with everyone free to vote whenever they wanted to doing an election day Holiday? In many countries across the globe voting is compulsory and the voter turnout is consistently 80% to 95%, with Australia having the highest voter percentage. Why Australia? Because they have compulsory voting. Of course we cannot have compulsory voting in America, but we can do all we can to encourage more voter turnout by having a election day holiday.

Our holidays are really important occasions, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, New Years, Martin Luther King, President's Day, Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, why not add another, Election Day!

Our Issues In The Black Community

2012-02-05T00:07:00.000-08:00

The plight of the black man in America is a diverse and complicated picture. A CNN special aired on July 25, 2008 and focused on the lives of two African American brothers in America. It was a reverting documentary. The documentary focused on the The Dyson brothers. Dr. Eric Dyson is a prominent Minister, Political Commentator and a Princeton Graduate. His brother is a convicted murderer sentenced to life in prison. The documentary focused on two brothers who traveled two separate paths each leading in divergent directions. One, a life of good works, the other on a path of destruction. The question is this; even though the brothers are black did skin color play a role in one brother succeeding and the other ending up incarcerated? It was a divergent view of the contrast between lives of two different brothers from the same family.

Ironically, both brothers had it hard. Michael the Princeton graduate along with his brother was raised in poverty, but became a success. Edward, who Michael calls the less fortunate brother, joined the Marines and was later discharged. Edward then begins selling drugs on the streets. In 1989 a dying man’s last words were that Edward Dyson shot him. Edward was convicted and sent to jail for the rest of his life. Michael felt that this was tragically unfair and that his brother was innocent. When he looked back on Edward’s life Michael saw a pattern of hard luck that Edward was subjected to and everything was not directly traced to things he influenced, but rather a bias against Edward, due to his skin color. A hard issue to prove or to accept, but there is documentation that preferential treatment for some blacks among slaves owners occurred in the past, but continues to occur in some cases even today in hiring for jobs.

The documentary created a bombshell of an issue. Dyson the fair skinned of the two felt that he had more opportunities because of skin color. Michael Dyson feels this is the reason he had way more opportunities than his brother. This in itself has over many years created ions of debate in the black community. That skin color can be a detriment even within the African- American community. There’s not enough space to delve into this issue. The issue dates back to slavery when lighter or fair skinned slaves were given the choice assignments, butler, nannies, in the plantation home of the plantation owner. While darker skinned blacks were relegated to working in the fields and hard labor.

These were not the only issues that were touched on. In the African- American community the number of households headed by a Woman is well over 60% in America. Meaning the overwhelming majority of African American children are being raised with no father present. These issues were touched on in the documentary. Many people have their own hypothesis as to why this is so and the issues vary from difficulties in corporate settings to breaking the generational traps that has ultimately destroyed many black families. Families are beset with drug addition, social dysfunction and a host of ills that are common for lower case families.

The documentary served to illustrate our challenge as a society. Can we continue to deny the destructive cycle of absent fathers from emerging families? Our challenge is to continue to discuss these issues and talk about the crises that are destroying the black family. So we will undoubtedly continue to discuss causes, but come away with one truth, at some point a line must be drawn in the sand by black men and women to break the cycle of drugs, to break the cycle of being absent fathers, to break the cycle of unwed mothers with no father in sight, all these are generational behaviors and acts that cannot be supported or condoned. This destructive cycle must be eliminated. The very survival of the black family depends on it.

Romney Says He Is Not Concerned About The Poor

2012-02-04T08:25:00.001-08:00

Mitt Romney said this week that the is not concerned about the poor and the government has a safety net in place for them. This is not a political discussion but it is a Biblical one that merits mention. Throughout the Bible there are references where we are instructed to reserve a special place in our hearts and in our outreach for the poor.

There are clear a present instructions in the Bible, both Old and New Testament admonishing us to hold a special place in our hearts for the poor and the elderly. Those who believe in God's word should follow these instructions.

If there is among you a poor man of one of your brothers inside any of your gates in your land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother. Deuteronomy 15:7

For I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. Job 29:12

Romney's Poor Comment Causes Stir

2012-02-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

Mark 10:21-22 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Mark 12:41-44 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" (Mark 8.34-36 ESV)

Great Letter from Freed Former Slave

2012-02-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

From Letter of Note- Appropriate for Black History Month

In August of 1865, a Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee, wrote to his former slave, Jourdan Anderson, and requested that he come back to work on his farm. Jourdan — who, since being emancipated, had moved to Ohio, found paid work, and was now supporting his family — responded spectacularly by way of the letter seen below (a letter which, according to newspapers at the time, he dictated).

Rather than quote the numerous highlights in this letter, I'll simply leave you to enjoy it. Do make sure you read to the end.

(Source: The Freedmen's Book; Image: A group of escaped slaves in Virginia in 1862, courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Dayton, Ohio,

August 7, 1865

To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee

Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.

I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.

As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.

In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve—and die, if it come to that—than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits.

Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.

From your old servant,

Jourdon Anderson.

Segregation Down

2012-01-31T19:59:00.000-08:00

Thinkstock

From The Root

When Newt Gingrich says that housing project people don't work, our job is to show that they do. When he says that Obama is the "food stamp" president, our job is to show that most food stamp recipients are white. When Ron Paul writes that we're about to start rioting again, we are to make sure that everybody knows we're not.

In other words, although this isn't the lesson usually taken from these recent episodes, it would appear that we are getting more comfortable admitting that progress happens for us. Real progress, even if racism still exists, as it always will. And not just symbolic progress, such as having a black president. When we get angry at whites depicting us as poster children, we are saying that being black is less of a problem in 2012, even if it occasionally still is one.

Well, now there's more good news. We need to trumpet it to the skies as eagerly as we do the news that not so many of us use food stamps. It's about segregation: This new report by Edward Glaeser and Jacob Vigdor shows that black Americans are living under less of it than at any time since William Howard Taft was president.

As Glaeser and Vigdor, writing for the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, show, "As of 2010, the separation of African-Americans from individuals of other races has stood at its lowest level in nearly a century. Fifty years ago, nearly half the black population lived in what might be termed a 'ghetto' neighborhood, with an African-American share above 80 percent. Today, that proportion has fallen to 20 percent."

Indeed, I used to work for the Manhattan Institute and am proud of it. But I am hardly the only one who will be writing about this report this week, and I would be shouting it to the heavens even if I used to work for Burger King. This is important news.

So often we are told that despite the civil rights revolution, black America's big problem is segregation. Black people live together too much, we are told. And when everybody is black and poor, then we have to understand that the neighborhood must fall to pieces. Not enough middle-class role models, we are told. About twice a year the New York Times runs a story on segregation that pings around the country madly for weeks, in which assorted people are quoted spinning variations on "We've come a long way, but we have a long way to go."

Here, then, is a story about the way we've come. From 1970 to 2010, segregation declined for black people in all 85 of the nation's largest metro areas. From just 2000 to 2010, segregation declined in 522 out of 658 housing markets. By 2010, out of 72,531 census tracts, only 424 had no black people in them. And as recently as 2000, that number had been 902. In 1960, there were 4,700 all-white neighborhoods in America. Today there are 170.

Herman Cain Sat Out Civil Rights Movement

2011-10-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs Fulfilled Is Purpose In Life

2011-10-06T06:31:00.001-07:00

Steve Jobs was a visionary. There are literally very few people in America who would not agree. Jobs creativity affected nearly everyone and the technology he developed clearly redefined our lives.

How many of you listen to your favorite tunes wherever and whenever you want on an iPod or iPod shuffle? Are what graphic designer has not marvelled at the creativity of the Apple and the fabulous software and it's companion software?

And if you're one of millions who own the ipad or ipad 2, you are no doubt simply estatic just to own it and all it an do. God gave Steve Jobs a talent and he used it well. He impacted our lives and made it easier for us to deal with life's circumstances sickness, work, creativity issues, and nearly everything else you can think of.

Steve Jobs did what God expected him to do- use his talents to help others and bring them closer to God.

Rest in peace Steve Jobs!

Republicans Lack The CHARISMA To Win

2011-10-05T13:52:00.001-07:00

Republicans are in shock mode now that New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie has dropped out of the race. It is a field of candidates that quite frankly lack the appeal and style to defeat President Obama.

Style and substance are two characteritics that any Republican candidate hoping to defeat President Obama must have. It is an absolute requirement. Mitt Romney simply will not cut it against Obama.

Obama, IMF Chief Agree Boost Need to Economy

2011-08-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama and International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde both feel the world economy needs further steps to boost growth in the short term, the White House said on Friday.
Obama will lay out proposals to boost hiring in a major speech after the September 5 U.S. Labor Day holiday, and has also said he wants lawmakers to seek deeper cuts in the deficit than mandated under a recent law to lift the U.S. debt ceiling.
Obama must lift growth and cut U.S. unemployment currently pinned above 9 percent to be confident of winning re-election next year.
"The President and the Managing Director agreed on the need for policies that foster growth and job creation in the near term, while securing medium-term fiscal consolidation," the White House said in a readout of a telephone call they held earlier on Friday.
"They also concurred on the importance of rebalancing global demand toward emerging markets," the White House said.
It was Obama's first conversation with the former French finance minister since she took the top IMF job over from her countryman Dominique Strauss-Kahn in July.

Linkedin Rising Internet Giant

2011-08-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- In its first quarterly update since its sizzling IPO, online professional networking service LinkedIn Corp. reassured investors who have been buying into the hype surrounding a promising crop of Internet companies.
The second-quarter results announced Thursday injected some hope into a grim stock market and could feed the mounting excitement for upcoming initial public offering of stocks from other rising Internet stars such as online coupon Groupon Inc. and Web game maker Zynga Inc.
The reason: LinkedIn reported the accelerating revenue and membership growth that it needed to support its lofty stock price and delivered higher earnings when analysts were bracing for a loss.
It marked the first update since LinkedIn's headline-grabbing initial public offering of stock in May. The company's shares immediately doubled from their IPO price of $45 and remained in that range, stirring debate about whether investors are overvaluing Internet companies that build large audiences with mostly free services.
The fervor has raised fears that the Internet may be in the early stages of an investment bubble akin to the late 1990s hysteria that culminated in a devastating collapse.
LinkedIn's performance served as a reminder that there is at least one significant difference in the latest Internet frenzy: Some of today's online companies are making money, unlike the ones hatched in the Web's early days.
LinkedIn earned $4.5 million, or 4 cents per share, in the April-June period. That contrasted with earnings of $938,000, or 2 cents per share, at the same time last year.
Revenue more than doubled from last year to $121 million while membership climbed 61 percent to 116 million at the end of June.
Analysts, on average, had projected a loss of 4 cents per share on revenue of $104.5 million, according to FactSet.
LinkedIn shares rose $3.50, or almost 4 percent, to $99.02 in extended trading to recover part of a steep decline that occurred during the regular trading session amid a sweeping market sell-off.
"The IPO and attention certainly helped raise the company's profile and compounded the momentum we had already been seeing," LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said in a Thursday interview.
The earnings in LinkedIn's most recent quarter represented the most money the company has made in any three-period so far in its eight-year history. It's still a puny profit for a company whose market value is sitting around $10 billion.
Losses could loom ahead too. LinkedIn has indicated it's willing to sacrifice short-term earnings to increase spending on technology and new product development.
Growth is also expected to slow, partly because of economic uncertainty and partly because of the temporary lift provided by the IPO publicity
LinkedIn expects its third-quarter revenue to climb as high as $125 million, which would be slightly below the second-quarter growth rate of 120 percent. For the full year, LinkedIn sees its revenue rising to as high as $485 million, roughly doubling from $243 million in 2010.
The company, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., thinks it is better positioned to weather another recession than most businesses because its network has been designed to help people find better jobs.
"We connect talent with opportunity on a massive scale," Weiner said in the interview. "When times get tough like this, I think our platform can make a real difference in the lives of people."
If LinkedIn loses money for a couple quarters, it may not bother investors too much, as long the company is still persuading millions more people to post their resumes and other information about their careers on its website. As its audience grows, LinkedIn's website will become a more attractive place for advertisers to promote their wares and for employers to recruit talent.
LinkedIn gets more than two-thirds of revenues from fees that it charges companies, corporate recruiting services and other people who want broader access to the profiles and other data on the company's website. The remainder comes from advertising.
In a conference call with analysts, Weiner said LinkedIn is adding about two members every second. That works out to about 173,000 new members, a pace that would give LinkedIn about 132 registered accounts by the end of September. Weiner told analysts the company had more than 120 million members as of Thursday.

Obama Changes Approach To Rally Voters Against Republicans

2011-08-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

CANNON FALLS, Minn. — House Speaker John A. Boehner once explained conservatives’ hard line on the debt limit this way: “A lot of them,” he told a radio host, believe “enough chaos” would make opponents yield.
Chaos arrived in financial markets last week after Standard & Poor’s, citing Washington gridlock, stripped the United States of its AAA credit rating.
Whoever ultimately gains political advantage, the events of the last few weeks have opened a new phase of President Obama’s fight to advance his agenda and win a second term.
Ever since Democrats lost the House in midterm elections last year, the president has vacillated between conciliation and confrontation with ascendant Republicans.

He struck a lame-duck deal with Mr. Boehner and the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, after the 2010 election to extend the tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush. He assailed the budget overhaul proposed by Representative Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin. Then, under threat from House Republicans who would not raise the government’s borrowing cap, he retreated to private negotiations on a “grand bargain” to reduce the budget deficit.
But the failure of those talks and the deterioration of the country’s economic outlook have unsettled Mr. Obama and are now altering his approach.
He still wants Congress to pass stimulus and deficit reduction measures that his economic team is preparing to unveil as early as this month. But his strategy no longer turns on coaxing Republican leaders.
It turns, instead, on his ability to leverage public opinion through events like the town hall-style meeting planned for Monday here, kicking off his Midwestern bus tour. If he cannot apply enough public pressure to move Congress, he will try to move 2012 voters to give him a mandate.
Test for White House
White House aides saw the shift after handing the president his speech for last week’s appearance at a factory in Michigan, as economic advisers monitored post-downgrade gyrations on Wall Street and the full-blown debt crisis in Europe.
Mr. Obama thought the draft speech was too soft on the Republicans — and so he personally sharpened it. The result: a famously “cool” president delivered the hottest rhetoric of his tenure, blistering opponents for refusing “to put the country ahead of party” because they would “rather see their opponents lose than see America win.”
His effectiveness will be tested when Congress returns in September to consider his ideas for reversing recent economic setbacks that have freshly alarmed consumers, investors, the White House and the Federal Reserve. The global economy appears stuck in what Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of the bond investment firm Pimco, calls “a damaging feedback loop” of eroding circumstances, slow government action and market volatility.
In addition to extending the current payroll tax cut for employees, Mr. Obama’s economic team is considering extending that cut to employers — doubling the $100 billion annual cost. In addition to a $50 billion infrastructure bank and a $45 billion extension of unemployment benefits, the administration is considering seeking a $75 billion tax break for companies hiring new workers.
Those steps would steepen the path for a special Congressional committee, created as part of the compromise over raising the debt ceiling, which seeks at least $1.2 trillion in new deficit reduction this fall. The White House is mulling whether to advance Mr. Obama’s deficit-reduction recommendations for that panel separately, or in an integrated package with job creation ideas.
Expectations remain low for anything beyond least-common-denominator accords — unless economic conditions and public pressure shift the political facts on the ground. At this point, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner said, the House has “no plans to take up” the president’s job creation ideas except for patent reform and pending trade deals.
The Deal-Averse
In 21st-century political culture, the presidential bully pulpit is far less powerful than it used to be.
Moreover, Republicans have a simple and powerful story to tell about Mr. Obama’s bottom line: 9.1 percent unemployment, economic growth below a 1 percent annual rate for the first half of 2011, trillion-dollar budget deficits. Mr. Obama’s explanations can offset, but not erase, an incumbent’s responsibility for results.
The compromise-averse House Republicans who share power with him have suffered blows, too — in the polls from independent voters, in private complaints from business leaders, in public warnings from veteran Republican politicians, pundits and intellectuals. The party’s accelerating 2012 nomination race may not help.
In the Iowa straw poll over the weekend, a candidate who opposes raising the country’s debt limit under any circumstances (Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota) edged out a candidate who supports abolishing the Federal Reserve (Representative Ron Paul of Texas). Every Republican candidate in a debate before the straw poll pledged to oppose any tax increase — even if paired with spending cuts 10 times as big.
That leaves even some of Mr. Obama’s fiercest critics helping him make the public argument he will sound again on this week’s bus tour.
“If taxes cannot be raised under any circumstances, then we have veered from economic policy to religious catechism,” Peter Wehner, a former deputy to Karl Rove in Mr. Bush’s White House, wrote for Commentary.
He continued, “There is something amiss when the political pressure in a party, any party, is so intense that it prevents a serious intellectual conversation from even taking place.”

The Democrats Must Examine Strategies

2009-11-04T18:31:00.001-08:00

The debate is on within the Democratic Party in the House and the Senate on exactly how to interpret Tuesday night's election results. Should they pull back and rein in spending or totally embrace the liberal wing of the party as well as the young generation that swept them in office?

Those are the choices that are facing many who will be up for reelection in 2010. For most, gut feeling tells them that the political landscape is changing and that the minority base is growing faster than any segment and the those under thirty or sill quite ardent supporters of the Democratic agenda.

Medicare- Confusing and Costly

2009-06-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

Medicare Advantage Regulations

Medicare Advantage is the new name for Medicare + Choice. Medicare advantage includes Medicare Managed Care Plans, Medicare Preferred Provider Organization Plans, Medicare Private Fee For Service Plans, and Medicare Specialty Plans. Medicare typically provides supplemental coverage to supplement what primary insurance carrier will not cover or cover you when you have no insurance coverage. When you select Medicare coverage there is a price you pay. If you have no insurance and you are 65 or older, Medicare is available. However, there are cost that must be paid. If you have no income. Your personal assets must be exhausted before Medicare will pay for any coverage. In fact you can be denied any coverage if you have any personal assets.

The incentive for the elderly with no income is to rid themselves of assets in order to insure coverage by Medicare. The current rules is a five year look back. That means your assets must be sold at least five or more years from the time of coverage request. Even then it is a scary and tentative situation.

Medicare Advantage merely gives you choices of the type of plan you would like to receive. Much like the employer sponsored Group health Insurance plans. There are regulations involved in this coverage.

Regulations

1.)Enrollees must use only HMO Providers Only
2.) Specialty care must be approved in advance ( special request are often turned down)
3.) Medical Coverage request can be appealed (this causes delays and cost valuable treatment time)
4.)HMO can decide each year whether to offer a Medicare Plan
5.)You must be 65 or older to participate in the plan.
6.)To enroll in the Medicare Advantage Program individuals must be entitled to benefits under Part A and enrolled under Part B of the Medicare Program.
7.) People with end stage renal disease (pre-existing condition) or excluded from participating
8.) If end stage renal disease is contacted while enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan, the individual can continue and coverage will not be denied.

(Source: medicareadvocacy.org)

Summary

You must be very careful in selecting a Medicare coverage plan. Things to consider would be what is covered under the plan? The cost of the plan. Are you eligible for participation? Will you have to pay a premium for supplemental coverage? What are the pros and cons of standard Medicare coverage vs. Medicare Advantage . What is the out of network cost, should you choose to select a doctor, that is not in the Medicare Advantage Network? How must will the plan actually pay for services and how much will you be responsible for uncovered treatment?

These are just a few the questions that must be answered in deciding between stand Medicare programs and Medicare Advantage. You also must be careful when dealing with private Insurance carrier who try convince you to buy their coverage, knowing that full payment of services will not be covered. There are a number of things to consider. The Medicare system is extremely confusing, before deciding on any plan or program do your homework and confirm any and everything that is said to you.

Case Study

In February 2007 my father experienced a hard and unfortunate fall in his bedroom which resulted in a fractured vertebrae at the base of his neck. While reaching for a weight scale, he lost his balance and ended up striking the back of his head on a bedroom dresser. The fall resulted in paralysis over 98% of his body. He was only able to move his right arm and hand. He had full use of his head , mouth , eyes and ears and sense of smell. It was a devastating fall that resulted in ten months of nursing home care. The fall took it’s toll on his recovery and at his advanced age ( he was 78 years old), he fought an uphill battle for survival. My Father died in December 2007 from complication as result of this fall.

My father experienced many coverage denials from his insurance provider as well as Medicare covered insurance. His new home became nursing homes and assisted living facilities. He operated in and out of the Medicare system, primarily because he had private health insurance. According to his insurance policy, the insurer would only pay for 100 days of coverage per year in a nursing home, a little over three months. Although my father had the choice of receiving his care from a facility covered by Medicare, often the facility was more than 200 to 400 miles away from his home and family in Nashville, Tennessee. The facilities that were available in Nashville were filled and in some cases the waiting list was well over 150-200 people. After exhausting his insurance coverage My father exhausted his retirement income of a little over $100,000 in a period of nine months.

I mention this because of the tremendous and exhaustive difficulties that the elderly face in navigating through the Medicare system. If you have a loved one that has gone through an ordeal similar to my father; you are well aware of what I write. Great preparation and care must be taken to insure that your insurance options are in order to meet future individual demand.

Free Copy of Sports Industry Review

2009-03-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

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Newspapers Struggle To Find Their Identity

2008-12-09T05:17:00.000-08:00

The Chicago Tribune is in trouble because of an over zealous investor. Where does this lead Tribune employees, many of whom are destitute without pensions and working for a company on the brink of total failure. The newspaper industry is in it's final hour across the country, as advertising revenue is falling. All the while bad decisions are being made to keep papers afloat. It is a difficult situation. What happened to the Tribune is just the tip of the ice berg. The Gannett Corporation recently completed a third round of layoffs by cutting 10% of its workforce in it 85 paper newspaper division.

Shrinking advertising revenues are the culprit and the the carnage will continue as every newspaper publisher is cashing in on moving everything to the internet. it will not save them. Primarily because newspaper are not equipped to be a web based entity. There local news content and flavor does little to to help. Today news content can be accessed quickly and easily via the web from a variety of sites, that have very little to do with a standard newspaper or local reporting.

News Content on the web is nationally driven. Newspapers have their place and it is to report on local event in the community. You can't compete with local content on the web; there are simply to many national players in the game that know how to play it. Using a baseball terminology, Newspapers are playing Class A caliber ball in the Major leagues of the internet.

Citizens in St. Louis Are Warned to Take up Arms.

2008-12-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

As reported on CNN. A city Alderman in St. Louis, recommends that citizens in St. Louis actually armed themselves, because the Police who were hired to protect them can't, because of lack of funds to pay them. Is this a return to the wild west? But money is drying up and for protective services the the police provide and St Louis is suffering.

The question continues to be raised, what can we do about the economic downturn in America? Your comment are wlecomed.

Layoff Are Absolutley Devastating

2008-12-05T12:50:00.000-08:00

The Jobs report is out today and it says that this is absolutely the worst job loss ever over 550,000 jobs. It was a dismal day. For many Americans, particularly those who have been laid off. It is not a good feeling to get a tap on the shoulder and told to report to the HR department. But that it the fate of many Americans who are relegated to find employment in a job market that is at best is not good and at worst devastating.

This is what faces Americans and the new President Elect Barack Obama. It is sad situation that we are facing a this time. Companies are laying off on a monthly basis and it will get worse. Senator Barney Frank asked Barack Obama to get in there to take the office of the Presidency right now. This is definitely something he cannot do, via constitutional laws. However the economic meltdown has been devastating to Detroit Automakers. They are seeking bail outs totaling over 43 million dollars.

Cost Of College Education Rises 439%

2008-12-03T13:59:00.000-08:00

If today's statistics are any indication the cost of a college education will soon be out of reach for most American. According to an article in the New York Times, The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education found that college tuition and fees increased an unheard of 439% from 1982 to 1987.White family income rose only 147%. The report also showed that Student Borrowing also increased, doubling from the last decade. The most startling finding is Students from lower income families on average get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families.

If this trend continues a college education will be out of reach for the average income American. American is the 25- 34 year old age range are less education that older American. This is a startling reality that brings home the importance of legislation make an affordable education available to our young.

More on The Inauguration

2008-11-29T06:07:00.000-08:00

The presidential inauguration is an historic affair that dates back to our first President, George Washington. Barack Obama will be the 44^th President and the first African American President to be sworn in. “A New Birth of Freedom is the theme for Barack Obama's inauguration and commemorates the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. The words come from the Gettysburg address, and express Lincoln's hope that the sacrifice of those who died to preserve the nation shall lead to "a new birth of freedom" for our nation. Washington, DC is marking the Lincoln Bicentennial with a 4-month promotion featuring more than 80 events celebrating the life and legacy of President Lincoln.

Inaugural balls and parties take place at venues throughout the city, beginning approximately January 15 and ending the evening of January 20. The official balls are planned by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which is established shortly after the election. Other balls are planned by the state societies. There will be many other balls and ceremonies held during the week.

Rockie Top Vols are About to Fall Completely Off The Cliff

2008-11-29T06:04:00.000-08:00

I can't say I know an awfully lot about Lane Kiffin. But I do know two things. He is the new coach at Tennessee and he will earn $2 million dollars a year at Tennessee. He has somewhat of a name value for a school that has sought mightily to be a National Power. I can't say they have really obtained that lofty status, that just about every other school in the south seeks. One could hardly classify Tennessee as a championship factory. They have only won two championships and they were years apart. How about 47 years, 1951 and 1998?

So it only stands to reason that they will follow that pattern. It has been 10 years now since they last won a National Championship in college football. Yet they have been known to fire coaches for not producing and have even sent moving fans to speed up the departure of a failing coach.

I don't see Lane Kiffin working wonders at Tennessee, a school that has a long history of hiring in-house people with Tennessee Volunteer connections. Their last two coaches grew up in the program, Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer. Fulmer spent much of his time throwing Johnny Majors under the bus to get his job. But that's politics in Tennessee. By the way Kiffin is only 33 years old.

Kiffin does not bring much to the table other than a few years of "Just lose baby" instead of "Just win baby for Oakland's Al Davis. Eventually he was fired as the Raiders head coach after going 5-15. Kiffin claim to fame is being a glorified offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans, but colleges have a habit of throwing large sums of taxpayer money around so as in Tennessee case, they can find someone to beat Alabama. Believe me it will not be kiffin.

Obama's Grass Roots Beginning and Heritage Pays Off

2008-10-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

The phenomenon of Barack Obama is not a chance occurrence; it seems Obama was nurtured intellectually by his mother, who devoted herself to life of social and community action and instilled as such in Obama’s life. Stanley Ann Soetora was a wanderer according to an article published on March 14 in the New York Times. Obama’s mother’s marriage to his father was brief, with Obama's father leaving him when he was only two years of age. But his mother’s influence is apparent in Barack Obama.

Obama's mom was heavy into grass roots organizing, and was according to reports , an idealist and exacting. Obama had many other influences as discovered in his book, Dreams of My Father. Obama went by genetic instinct and became very adept at community activism early on in his work as a community organizer in Chicago. One union leader spoke highly of Obama and how he skillfully won elections at the lower level while managing to help both friend and foe.

So what we have is a very intelligent man that is somewhat of a visionary, but very adept at organizing and, networking, and project management. These skills or quite apparent for by the successes he had enjoyed in his life from his days at Harvard, his community activism days in Chicago, and his years in the United States Senate, and now becoming the first African American ever nominated by a major party as a Presidential candidate.

To be sure Obama life could have taken many twist, he was away from his mother, by choice for most of his high school years and chose to engulf himself in the African American community. This is the route that he chose to take for his life. But the biggest story is that Obama learned valuable lesson from his Mom. Namely discipline, a intellectual world view, and the ability to embrace inclusiveness. All characteristics that will serve him well as he prepares to lead the greatest country in the world.

Sarah Palin Has Become A Fund Raising Bonaza For Obama

2008-10-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

Sarah Palin has become a bonanza for the Democrats. She has been an absolute hit for Democratic fundraising. The Palin effect has meant more dollars for Barack Obama. The Obama campaign will just like Palin to keep talking all the way to election day. Yes the Palin effect has been quite effective.

Palin spending $150,000 shopping spree at New York Stores has Republicans no less complaining about her extravagance. Republican congressmen and women are saying the spending by Palin is unconscionable. It is a travesty when this country is going through a tremendous economic downturn. Companies are laying off workers worker. Families are losing there home to foreclosure and it is a constant fight for most middle class families to stay afloat.

Yet Palin has lived extravagantly on the campaign trail. Even though the Republican National Committee gave this money to Palin, morally Palin should not have accepted it. It says a lot about the character of Sarah Palin........... You be the judge.

Ditka Was Drafted to Run Against Obama In 2004

2008-10-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

Mike Ditka was almost drafted by the Illinois GOP to run against Barack Obama in 2004. Some think that Ditka, a Chicago Legend, may have been a formidable candidate for Barack Obama. But Ditka Had other obligations and did not want to give up his NFL Analyst job, so he passed on the offer

The GOP eventually selected Alan Keyes to run against Obama. Yahoo News Link

Winning The White House Comes Down To Battleground States On The Electoral Map

2008-10-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

The electorial college map continues to change. Various polls report a variety of leads depending on who you tend to believe. According to CNN, Obama is up 264 Electorial Votes to 174 for John McCain. There are seven battleground states, Ohio, Florida, Missouri, Colorado, Nevada, Virginia, and North Carolina, that could fall either way. According to the numbers, if Obama wins one of the seven and holds his lead in Blue States, he wins the White House.

So the stakes are High and with the election now less that three weeks away, the heat is on, and the two candidates are working hard, to close strong down the stretch. Click here for polling numbers for today from FiveThirtyEight.com

Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama

2008-10-19T09:41:00.000-07:00

After months of silence, Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for President today. This is a landmark endorsement by Powell who painstakingly explained his decision to endorse Obama, citing that he was a transformational figure needed to restore the standing of America in the world.

Powell is a staunch Republicans who carries a tremendous amount of weight in Political circles. This is the take from the LA Times today

Palin's View Of America is Too Narrow

2008-10-17T23:03:00.000-07:00

Sarah Palin has her nerve. This is your America and my America. Sarah Palin does not have the luxury to define her vision of America and who is patriotic and who is not. Yet Palin was on the campaign trail saying that different parts of the country mirror her vision of America. This statement was to the exclusion of other parts of the country that she perceived as being opposite to her viewpoint.

Although Palin later refuted and clarified that all America mirrored her beliefs. This largerly because Joe Biden called her on her original statement. Perhaps one could say that this was Sarah Palin being Sarah Palin. Basically beign incompetant. Only a few Days ago Palin made a similular comment about a Obama;

"This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America," she said. "We see America as a force of good in this world. We see an America of exceptionalism." ...Sarah Palin.

This statement was made only a few days of the campagin trail. The probems is Sara PalinView of Americs is not a broad, diverse one. She has not been exposed to what America is all about. It is a diverse country, not a country dominated by one idealogy, but one that is diverse. We as American's do not have the luxury of picking and choosing our country,our states, or the people who inhabit it. That is what makes America great; it diversity.

The Great Rewind-Obama Vs Clinton Revisted

2008-10-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

I remember the hard fought Democratic primary race, where Obama, battled Hillary Clinton down to the the wire. Clinton used every tactic known to both man and woman to fight Obama. There was certainly no quit in her. There was venom. Hillary was not someone who would give up.

She threw everything at Obama short of the kitchen sink. And she would have no trouble throwing that if she could. We witnessed an extreme cast of characters during the primaries, Rev. Wright, was the star of a bad "B" Movie, his u-tube video was played on Network television constantly. Mysteriously Rev. Wright was invited to speak at the National Press Club in order to further embarrass Obama. Obama repudiated rev. Wright for his comments and move on against Republican onslaughts.

Now Republicans' Sarah Palin and John McCain are both taking a page out of Hillary Clinton's play book of smears. Now Hillary is on board with Obama, and past arguments have past. So we now see desperate measure taken in desperate times for John McCain. McCain feels this is the only way that they have a chance to overtake Obama's considerable lead.

So we are faced to review and see this rerun of a bad "B" movie.

More Sarah Palin Revealed

2008-09-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

Sarah Palin's Interview with Katie Couric revealed that Palin in not ready for prime time. She is an empty suit and is not capable of being the Vice President of the United States. Check out the link to the New York Times article

Then watch Sarah Palin's Interview with Katie Couric on this page.

McCain/Palin Hope to Stall Their Way To Election Day- No Debates, No Interviews

2008-09-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

John McCain continues to display bazaar tactics in stalling for time as he continually attempts to delay discovery of McCain's ineptitude by the American people. It is a slash and hide mentality designed to take McCain to the November election. The less the public knows about the McCain/Palin ticket the better. It is a classic stall mentality. Sort of like a slow deliberate basketball team that cannot possible make a game of it against a fast, athletic team (in this case team Obama). How to you beat them? You hold the ball on each possession and hope the clock runs out.

By the way in basketball this strategy almost never works. They often end up losing by 50 points.

Check out this link to the New York Times Article.

Obama Opens up a Clear 8 Point Lead Over McCain

2008-09-24T04:02:00.000-07:00

Obama Opens up a commanding 8 point lead over John McCain in the latest Washington Point Opinion Poll. Voters opinions are changing as they see Obama is better able to lead our struggling economy.

Washington Post Poll

Senate Democrats Push Back On The Proposed Bail Out

2008-09-23T21:04:00.001-07:00

The Senate was pretty hard on the Republican led treasury, and posed hard questions as to why we should even give the bail out. Treasury Secretary Paulson, said that we need to act quickly and that the bailout is the single most effective things we can do. The bottom line is that mortgage loans were given that this not provide the borrower with any favors or the country as a whole.

The deregulation of the economic community caused the mess that we are in. Now the CEO's would like a "Golden Parachute" attached to the bail out proposal. Now we are faced with the hard choice; help the struggling home owners or not helping them and take our chances in seeing if the market will play it out.

There was absolutely no oversight in watching exactly what was going on in the economic community. Democratic Senators are saying that the the Bush Administration has not been truthful to congress and did not alert them that this crises was on the horizon.

Congress Works on Bail Out Plan

2008-09-23T04:05:00.000-07:00

Democrats continue to push back on the Republican bail out proposal. However they appear to be gaining some concessions to aid struggling home owners with their mortgages, despite Republican concerns. Republicans remain heavily in favor of bail out executive CEO. Link is below.

Congress Works on Bail Out Plan- New York Times