Racist? That's fine, as long as it's in favor of a minority...

Last night at the Democratic Presidential candidates debate, which over the next fifty years will probably be held the day after general elections, candidate Bill Richardson declared his inherent racism which favors Hispanics. Up until now he's been my favorite candidate, on paper his qualifications blow the others out of the water, and after the last 6 years the White House desperately needs a diplomat. But after his remarks to The Hill, and the debate last night, where he bluntly proclaimed he didn't call for Alberto Gonzales' resignation because he was Hispanic, he's clearly not what we need to unite people.

“The only reason I’m not there is because he’s Hispanic, and I know him and like him,” Richardson said, adding, “It’s because he’s Hispanic. I’m honest."

Why do we excuse racism when it seems to favor the minority, and I'm not talking about affirmative action or quota's which work to stop racism inherit in the system. I'm talking about out right favoritism for a specific race, any race, by declaring actions are less important than skin color, that guilt is demonstrated not by your actions, but rather we must assess punishment based race. Replace Hispanic in his statement with "white" and he would have committed political suicide...

We have to stop this. We have to stop placing blame on a race, we must stop giving privilege simply because of race, we must stop determining guilt based on it, we must stop!

Do As I Say, Not As I do.

Take one from the Bush Admin, don't do a half-assed job when you don't have to do one at all:
“These are treaty obligations, and everyone is expected to live up to treaty obligations,” [Rice] said.

US pulls out of Kyoto Protocol
US pulls out of Rome Statute
US pulls out of Antiballistic Missile Treaty of 1972

I guess if you don't feel like living up to them then you should just pull out...

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Think about it while you shop....

New York State Governor Ellior Spitzer needs your help passing marriage equality legislation! In the coming weeks he will be introducing legislation so that all of New York State's citizens can receive equal treatment under the law. Please, email your NYS assemblyman or woman, and your state senator to tell them you support this legislation.

Soldier In Iraq: War Can't Be Won, That's Unfortunate

Busy week...

light posting this week...many tests, much to do!

McCain: Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran

Citizens of the world...

While we all sit behind our TVs and mourn the loss 30 Virgina Tech students 127 people died in Iraq, the result of 4 bombings; eleven were killed in Mogadishu amidst fighting between rebel groups and Somalian troops; 50 people died in Nigeria when government elections faced charges of fraud causing mass protest; continuing violence in Darfur has resulted in 200,000 murders and the displacement of 2.2 million people. While we sit in dismay, and read the Virgina Tech murder's blog post in a vain attempt to find his motive, our fallen in Iraq reached 3, 309 resulting 6, 618 mothers and fathers without their child.

"Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes--one child every five seconds."

"Worldwide, more than 1 billion people currently live below the international poverty line, earning less than $1 per day."

"In 2006, 4.3 million people become infected with HIV and 2.9 million people died of AIDS."

While our 24 hour cable news covers nearly exclusively Virgina Tech, Israeli's fear each trip to the cafe, Iraqi's fear stopping at the market, and millions in the world face torture and murder at the hands of repressive regimes, many of them US backed.

"In extreme situations when human lives and dignity are at stake, neutrality is a sin. It helps the killers, not the victims." -Elie Wiesel

The Program, The Legend

Practically all my life I've heard people speak negatively about the welfare program, and coming from a small, low income town this always shocked me. But I guess the abuses of the system are more apparent when you're in a rural area and you know each and every neighbor and ALL of their business. What really perplexes me is why do so many people hate the welfare program? Constantly comments are made about paying for these "lazy" people's taxes or that it's all going to illegal immigrants, but is that actually the case? Can people really just have another kid and make some extra income?

Some truths lie in the above, for example Welfare used to be known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC),thus increasing your assistance with each child, but in 1996 Bill Clinton proposed legislation that changed ADFC to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. This, in the words of the 42nd president, would "end welfare as we know it," and it did in many ways, but some people still hold on to those old notions of an idle-able body mooching off the system.

Truth: Workfare (today's welfare) has a 5 year limit on benefits
Truth: Workfare recipients must work 30 hrs/per week after two years of benefits
Truth: Since the passage of workfare the number of people on workfare/welfare has decreased

The people on the "welfare system" are living in poverty, to suggest that many of them enjoy this life style is absurd, and to alleged that they keep "popping out children" in some revenue raising scheme is nonsensical since the child would cost far more than any available benefits.

Often the problem is those two or three people we know that just seem unwilling to help themselves, and so we grumble that they are the reason for our high taxes, surely if they weren't receiving assistance we would have and extra 300 or 400 hundred dollars in our paychecks. Although the many billions being shipped off to Iraq might...


Welfare: aid in the form of money or necessities for those in need

Government Funded Welfare Programs:

Social Security
WICK (program for newborns provides formula, diapers, etc)
Unemployment Insurance
HUD (helps people afford housing)
Student Aid

Click here for a list of government funded programs, chances are you have or will one day receive some form of welfare, and I'll bet you'll be thankful it's there.

Thank you for your money, you'll have to leave now.

"No person shall...be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." These are words taken directly from the Fifth Amendment to the UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. It does not say citizen, tax payer, male, women, black, white: it says NO PERSON!

This should strike many Americans as a shock, especially among all of the "go home" rhetoric spewed out by republicans and democrats alike. But I wont bore you with the "your parents were immigrants" argument. Rather I'll point to a recent New York Times article which paints the subject on a new, but nonetheless, terrifying canvass. Apparently if you are an immigrant, we (America) are more than willing to take your taxes. In fact, the IRS has set up an entire system to process "non-citizens" taxes.

This whole situation should turn everyone into a skeptic, or at least cause alarm. What kind of message does this send, "we are willing to take your money to pay for those roads and hospitals you keep 'crowding-up,' but if we catch you, you have to go home, thanks for paying!" This is not a consistent, nor a noble message. The fact of this whole matter is, our nation was founded on the notion that each individual P-E-R-S-O-N has a right to liberty and justice, not certain people at the expense of others. Yet somehow, we've decided to ignore this, embracing a state of fear and terror--which has only been used to control and subjugate.

Imus, A Distraction From the Real Problem?

There is a line that we all draw somewhere in the sand, each of us places it where we'd like and then those that cross it are racists, unless, of course, you yourself are a member of that race. In that case you can say and do anything you want without fear of criticism, even when it is duly owed. Don Imus said something he shouldn't have, but he said it on his radio show, where listeners tune in, or they don't. And that is the choice we are all blessed with, we can watch what we'd like, or not, listen to what we'd like, or not, and we can say what we'd like...or not? Apparently not because you'll be fired if you do. However, my guess is that Don Imus wasn't fired because of racially charged rhetoric, which mind you was not inciting violence, mob behavior, or even hatred, but rather he was fired because advertisers started pulling from his show. CBS masked this fact by saying what's the point of a code of ethics if no one has to abide by it, but you can bet this came down to dollars and cents, as everything in business does.

Now, lets stop for a minute and ponder this: is there racism toward whites? Undoubtedly so, but when was the last time you heard of an African American being lambasted for saying something racially charged? If you think they don't then you live in a false reality. When was the last time some one was fired for degrading women, or gays (both historically suppressed minorities)? Rappers have been making a living off degrading women, and gays, for years, and they have a right to do so, AND we have a right not to buy their CDs, but we do. Ann Coulter called John Edward's a "faggot," but what punishment did she truly receive? Eminem makes fun of homosexuals in his lyrics, where are the groups calling for his dismissal from his record label? Art is no excuse for racism, is it?

Back to that line, when is it crossed, that depends on an individual. Was it crossed when George W. Bush called a reporter from The New York Times an "asshole" in 2000? Probably not, but why not? That's mean, should we call for his firing? Maybe, but for several different reasons not relating to that comment.

Society, and each of us, has a right to draw the line, where ever fit. But none of us have the right to stifle free speech. If you don't like Imus making jokes and making fun of people, don't listen. Had Imus incited violence I would have a very different take on this and I'd be over there with the ban wagon demanding his dismissal, but I draw the line at free speech, and jokes, whether I think they are funny or not, fall into that category.

No Child Left Behind - Unless you suck, then we'll shut ya down.

Possibly some of the worst education legislation to have ever been created is coming up for debate in Washington, D.C. The No Child Left Behind Act, which, despite its name, cares little about children and completely about numbers, needs to be reauthorized by Congress. Why is this bad? Because NCLBA demands students perform to a specific degree on national standardized testing, and if they do not their school is disciplined. Penalties can range from reduced federal aid to federally focred closure. On its face, and certainly within its title, this legislation may sound responsible, but since its establishment four year ago scores have not imporoved.

More importantly local school districts must prove to the federal government that its students are leanring at an appropriate pace;

"Federally funded schools that fail to bring their students up to par quickly enough face sanctions, from having to pay for after-school tutors to possible closure."
-StatesmanJournal

This type of legislation seems odd coming from a party that has triumphed state's rights and fisical conservatism. On the other hand, when you learn the NCLBA is a federally unfunded mandate, the math becomes a little less fuzzy.

The worst components of the legislation is not simply that it places federally stipulated targets or that it uses coercion in its demands, the truely reprehensible part is that students are made into pawns during this game of statistics. No longer does Mr. Johnson care about learning as an individual nor can he take into account Joey's progress or background, no, now he simply must ensure Joey reaches that magic number so that his district doesn't lose even more funding. And this is admist many school districts budgets already shrinking, requiring cuts from programs such as music and art.

We need new legislation, a bill that will promise to fund education and work to improve our schools. Continuing NCLB is a mistake, this legislation should be overhauled. Tell your Senator and Congressman to put children first and to give districts the money they desperately need to improve, not take it away. OR sign the petition to end NCLBA.

Stop Stopping Sex Education

Finally, the truth comes out and we discover the increase to $176million in abstinence spending, under the Bush administration, was a complete waste. Of course, that was likely anyway, maybe now the Republicans will take the bureaucrary they created with the new funds and try to stop the spread of STDs. Can you imagine how many condoms we could buy with $176million? Or better yet, since we know they're gonna have it, why not invest in sex education classes instead of pretend-youth-have-no-sexual-urges-classes that clearly have worked out so well.

Who's Judging Judge Judy?

What is it about American culture that allows for people like the one to your left. Now, not to pick on Judge Judy, but since she is flashing across the television, using her as an example is relatively easy.
There is something about those cheesy television shows that reminds you of nails on a chalk board. Has American society become so disillusioned that rather than concern ourselves with starvation in Darfur, death in Iraq, or the hidden Chinese Human Rights monster--we'd rather focus on who Mr. Smith married in 1989 and whether or not that trailer home he lives in is really his own. Now, not that I think there is anything wrong with living in a trailer home, but come on America!

As a society we seem perpetually poised to point fingers as to the causes of degradation in our children and ourselves. We wonder why almost 30% of us are overweight? We blame the media for only being negative, we fault the fast food chains for our burgeoning obesity, I could keep going. The point is, we should all start blaming ourselves. American's, and I include myself, have become indolent, we say what we'd like to do without actually doing it (more on this to come). We'd rather sit on our couches and revel in the spectacle of Joe Schmo's personal problems flashing across the television.

There is a tiny rumor that the problem could be rap music, or video games, or children with cell phones. However, as we sit and eat our potato chips, most of the world scourges for enough water to make it through their day, while others worry that if they go to their favorite cafe, chances are they may not leave. I don't fault Judge Judy entirely for this, but as I sit and listen to her screech, I can't help but think "what crazy fork did we take on the way to the twenty first century?"

Feed the hungry, a click away!

Click the photo above, every day if you can.
Your click counts as 1.1 cups of food! Even a college kid can afford this!

Be sure to bookmark The Hunger Site.

Boycott '08 Olympics, Stop Genicide?

It might not be quite that simple, but according to The New York Times, that's were things are heading. And since China will undoubtedly cloak their repressive nature behind a masquerade put on by the "Department of Publicity," formerly known as the Department of Propaganda, outsiders must milk the Olympics for all we can get. I know, these games are supposed to be a celebration of what the world has to offer, but with a human rights record like this how can we be celebrating what China offers its citizens? With the highest rate of executions in the world, no freedom of press, assembly, and no political opposition, there isn't much to be celebrating. Meanwhile our trade deficit with China is astronomical and shows no signs of stopping, and who gets the short end of the stick, the middle class, you, me, and every other American without stocks or a company to run.

So, if you know anyone who plans on going to the '08 Olympics tell them why they shouldn't. Better yet, do your part by writing to NBC, nbcolympicsfeedback@nbcuni.com, and tell them why you won't be watching next summer.

Green Zone Gone?

Yet another bombing in Baghdad today, once again in the "green zone," in parliament nonetheless. I'm not sure what neighborhoods John McCain was alluding to when he proclaimed, "there are neighborhoods where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods today." Obviously it wasn't the ones he visited April 1, 2007. What an insult to the thousands of Iraqi's living each day in fear, making each drive to work in distress. We couldn't begin to imagine, but that doesn't stop the pro-Bush, pro-war politicians from decieving the American public. They did it to get us into the war, why stop now?

American Deaths = 3296
American Wounded = 24476