Monday, November 2, 2009

Chase Bank Sucks


Chase Bank Sucks

Customer Hell

Does anyone who was born before the seventies lament the lack of customer service in the world today. I will pay extra for good customer service and it is truly a lost art. That is why, when I returned from Central America and found Washington Mutual I was happy. They actually had good customer service. They cared when you were in crisis and needed their help.

Well, as we all know, WAMU is no longer with us and has been replaced by that behemoth Chase. A few days ago they changed their system to Chase permanently and all signs of WAMU were lost. Take what happened to me today for example.

I deposited my check from my job as a teacher. I get paid once a month so it is rather a large sum and I am going through a divorce and I recently changed checking accounts. So, for about two months I have been stuck in the cycle of waiting on my paychecks in the mail and then depositing them in the branch.

Today, my check came and I took it to the bank to deposit it. I have done this in one form or fashion for the last seven years. It is a government check and I realize that that is not saying much these days. I deposited it and the first thing that I noticed was that there was no balance on the receipt. That should have caused me to pause, but I was in a hurry. I went and took care of some business in Los Angeles and was headed to sit and have dinner with two friends when I decided that I should get some cash. I bought a car recently, so I was low on cash before my deposit. I put my card into the ATM at Chase in downtown Los Angeles and it said insufficient funds.

I immediately called Chase customer service. Now, if something like this had happened before with WAMU, it would have been fixed before I hung up the phone. However, Chase’s customer service people have a script and no matter how often you call them they give you the same patronizing corporate dribble.

The minions at Chase told me that there was nothing they could do for me and—one of them even said this—“we are not Washington Mutual anymore.” I spoke with a supervisor, whom I told, that I only needed a little cash available for the night and she gave me the same dribble.

I admit that by this time I was very peeved and my tone was not as professional as I would like, however, what horrible service. A customer—7 years—asks you to make a slight concession and you can only spout scripted baloney to them. Customer service means that sometimes you have to think outside of the box. Chase is so wrapped up in the box that their employees are like robots.

It’s a shame that WAMU had to disappear, but you would think that Chase would understand that customer service was why many of us went to WAMU in the first place. I would rather have the customer service people in India, who at least try to be friendly and accommodating than those at Chase whose brains have been taken out and replaced with sound bites. I’ll be changing banks this week. I’m looking for service and the smile.

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Monday, September 7, 2009

Blurring the lines between church and state

Blurring the lines between church and state

Keep Church and State separate

Coach Scott Mooney of Breckinridge County High School in Louisville, KY took a group of football players on field trip to a church where a revival was going on and several of them were baptized without their parents’ permission. School Superintendent Janet Meeks was at that service. One mother was angered because her husband is Catholic and she is Baptist and they wanted to be a part of this decision with their son.

Meeks says that none of the students were coerced or forced into going to the service and that parents were told about it. She also said that it did not violate rules against separation of church and state because the gas for the bus was paid for by another coach. The pastor at the church said that about nine players came down to be baptized however none of them were manipulated into coming down.

Now anyone who has ever been to a revival knows that the whole process is manipulative and anyone who has ever played on a sports team knows the power of a coaches words to his/her players. So the pastor is a blatant liar because revivals are inherently manipulative because of the stories told and the music used and team sports, especially, football are coercive by their very nature.

Now we hear that a new law in the state of Texas requires teachers to teach bible literacy. Now, as a literature teacher, I find this an interesting proposition since most of our early American Literature was based on religion and bible beliefs. However, the State of Texas has required teacher to do this without giving them training or telling them how to do it to keep it religion neutral.

Texas has just opened the door for proselytizing by teachers with religious agendas. They have also broken their own laws by not training teachers to do the job they have given them to do. The program also lacks funding. This means that how to teach this material is left to individual teachers. Can you see the lines between church and state being blurred?

People have the right to believe what they want. The problem arises with forcing students to read a book they may not believe in. That goes against the Constitution of the United States. It also offers the opportunity for teachers with extreme beliefs to ingrain those beliefs in the minds of impressionable students without the consent of those students’ parents. Does this concern anyone else?

How do parents who do not believe in the bible guard against their children becoming indoctrinated with unwanted religious ideas? How do we guard against those who would indoctrinate children with their brand of radicalism or hate that they believe that the bible sanctions?

President Barack Obama took a lot of criticism for just asking kids to pay attention and stay in school. Yet, no one is screaming about this? I don’t believe in religion. I think that it has caused or been the catalyst for most of the world’s atrocities. As a literature teacher, I find it an interesting idea of teaching the bible as part of the literary experience. The problem I have is how do you keep your individual beliefs from being forced on the young minds before you? It is almost impossible.

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Support Healthcare now


Support Healthcare now

Stop the rhetoric

I heard about this charity called Remote Access Medical (RAM). Generally, RAM, drops medical supplies and medical teams into remote areas and treats people who may need it in countries like Haiti, Somalia, or Guyana. However, just last week, RAM was in Inglewood, CA at the Inglewood Forum helping people who lack health care. Many of the people lined up at 4 p.m. and were still there at midnight.

The stories were amazing. One little girl had to skip school so that she could go get glasses. When her father was asked about the alternative, he said, “She just wouldn’t get glasses.” Another gentleman who suffers from constant pain said that if he had not gone to the Forum, he would have had to suffer. Now many of these people were uninsured, but the vast majority of them were people with healthcare who could not afford their premiums or had inadequate coverage. Many were minorities, but a large number were Caucasian. Many were unemployed, but the vast majority hard working people.

The director of the program was appalled because he said that he should be in a third world country and not in downtown Los Angeles. I am amazed that most Americans do not agree. How horrid is it that hard working Americans have to go to a charity for basic health care, for dental care, and to have an eye exam. These seemingly intelligent people listen to the rhetoric of people like Sarah Palin who talks about death panels for seniors, they fail to see that the same representatives who jumped on this band wagon about death panels voted for the same language in a 2003 Medicare bill that was passed. Sen. Charles Grassley, of Iowa, who is one of the biggest opponents of health care reform voted for this bill which allowed seniors who were terminally ill to receive end-of-life counseling.

The question is one of equity. America is the richest country in the world, yet we have millions of children who go to bed each night hungry. One of the people at the RAM event said that she was afraid that she could be having a heart attack and not be able to call an ambulance because she would have to pay a large bill later. America is the richest country in the world and yet we have a large homeless population, many of which are children.

Christians are required to tithe 10% of their salary to the church to provide for those who give them spiritual “food”. This is an organization whose mandate, according to the Isaiah 58 is to care for those who can not care for themselves. My question to the church is where is the money? Why are you not taking care of the people in Inglewood? Why are you not taking these homeless people into your sanctuaries and feeding and clothing them? Why do you refuse to care for the infirmed?

Instead you preach hate, you preach intolerance, and you preach rhetoric while you fill you coffers.

RAM is doing what those in the church are supposed to be doing. Yet, we as a nation have the opportunity to do something great and take care of those who need a little help caring for themselves. Grow up America and support health care.

Watch 60 mins. About RAM in Tennessee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9JmEHsCv4c

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Comparison: Who is more like Hitler--George Bush or Barack Obama


Comparison: Who is more like Hitler--George Bush or Barack Obama

George Bush's Legacy

Racism abounds in America and a black president has just brought out the redneck in people. People have compared him to Adolph Hitler. However, the question must be asked, who is more like Hitler: Barack Obama or George Bush? Lets compare shall we?

George Bush started a war in Iraq under false pretenses. Reports range from 100,000-1.2 million Iraqis killed so far. However, no on knows for a fact because according to one American General Tommy Franks, “We don’t do body counts.” Obama wants to give all Americans health care and to make sure that our economy recovers. George Bush arrested, humiliated, and tortured men who had nothing to do with Osama bin Laden or September 11th. Obama has been working to close Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

George Bush took away liberties and invaded our privacy more than any President since the McCarthy era, however, Obama is being called Hitler because he wants to fix health care in this country. Hitler killed 11 million people. Six million of those people were Jewish, but many others were gay, gypsies, or people who did not fit into Hitler’s master race plans. He sounds a bit like a Republican to me. George Bush allowed people to be tortured as part of his War on Terror. He imprisoned thousands and then used techniques that made them hate Americans. We are less safe as a nation because of George Bush.

George Bush waited while thousands of Americans died and suffered in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He praised his FEMA director who did nothing as the people died and the levees overflowed. Maybe, it was not important that most of these people were poor and African American.

George Bush had a private firm that Vice President Dick Cheney hired to assassinate the enemy. The problem is that this private firm is more like Hitler’s Gestapo and they believe in Christian Supremacy and that all Muslims should die. The owner of Xe/Blackwater is now being accused of murdering informants against his operation, running a child prostitute ring, and wife swapping among his top executives. Hitler had a lot of the same things going on in Nazi Germany.

What does the right say about Barack Obama? He is a socialist. He wants to change our way of life. He is muslim. He was not born in the United States. All of this hides a racist countries insecurity over having a black President.

The fact is that George Bush was the worst American President ever. He did more to damage American relations with other nations that Obama could undo in two terms. He murdered innocents, tortured people, and allowed people to die because of his political ideology. Maybe we should put the Hitler mustache on him.

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Churches do your job!!!


Churches do your job!!!

People are dying

Pastor Steven Anderson of Arizona has a prayer that he says to God every day. That prayer is that President Barack Obama will die or be killed. One of his parishioners was the man who carried a loaded rifle outside of an Obama appearance in Arizona a few weeks ago. Anderson believes in the bible, but I am not sure which bible it is since the one that most Christians read is clear that believers should pray for the well being of their leaders and for their wisdom. However, a black president seems to bring out the worst in the faithful. It is obvious that Pastor Anderson does not read the bible because if he did he would not be praying for the death of another man.

Wednesday night I took part in a vigil for healthcare reform. There were about 150 people there. Most of them were pro-healthcare reform. There were six or seven people who were against healthcare reform and they were the most vocal people at this candle light vigil. They carried signs that disparaged President Barack Obama. Most of them called the idea of single-payer health care a socialist idea. Most of them spouted rhetoric—saying the same things over and over. They were aggressively pushing people and yelling in their faces. In another event in Thousand Oaks, CA, the violence escalated and one man had his pinky finger bitten off and had to rushed to the hospital.

The highlight of my night though was talking to a younger man who was basically saying the same things again and again. I asked him if he was Christian and he said yes. My next question to him was what was the solution for those who did not have health insurance? His answer was, “Get a skill and get a job.” With that, I asked him did he know that it was the church’s responsibility to care for the sick, the poor and the needy. His answer, “Says who?” The simple answer, “The Bible.” After a while, he just disappeared.

It became obvious that he doesn’t read the bible after a couple minutes of conversation because if he did, he would know that countless passages in bible from the old testament to the new testament direct those who believe to be the safety-net if you will--for those who cannot care for themselves. It is the theme of the entire Book of Ruth. Jesus said and taught that believers who did not do that were not even welcomed in the Kingdom.

So the question is where does the virulent hate come from? Why is it that those who are charged with caring for the poor are so adamant against legislation that would protect them? What happens to the money that big-time religion gets from its parishioners? It goes to building large sanctuaries and supporting political platforms based in hate because the faithful sit in pews and listen to rhetoric without questioning its veracity.

The fact is that the first church practiced a form of socialism. People sold land and brought there earnings and food and shared it in common with others because of the political climate of the day. I have heard this explained away in several ways. The first way is that the first church was not a government, however, it was a governing body and it used what was given to it as it saw fit. I have heard it said that under socialism there is no ownership of property, well the first Christians gave up their ownership of their property for the common good of their brothers and sisters.

The truth is that most of those who believe never read the book they say leads them or listen to and believe the politics of the right and deny the basic doctrines of their beliefs. They sit in churches and are spoon fed rhetoric which they take to the streets as the truth. They become an army for their leaders’ political agendas. They spread this vitriol without ever thinking about the logic. They do not question their leaders or their leaders’ doctrine.

There are a few for whom this will never change, but my problem is with those who know better and refuse to stand up to the hate. I have been proud to call many of these people my friends for years and now it is time for them to stand up for what is right. Most right-wing doctrine is based in the racism of the 50s and 60s. People are dying. Stop the rhetoric and look at the facts. It is your job to care for the sick, the needy, the widows, the orphans, prisoners and anyone else who cannot take care of themselves. Do your job.

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Texas EXECUTED an innocent man




Texas EXECUTED an innocent man

Murder by state

Before his trial in 1992, Cameron Todd Willingham refused to plead guilty to the murder of his children in return for a life sentence. For the next twelve years, he maintained his innocence even though he faced the Texas death machine. On February 18, 2004 he was executed.

Now, it appears that the state of Texas murdered an innocent man. In an article in the New Yorker, writer David Grann makes a compelling argument that the State of Texas ignored an experts report that a fire in Willingham’s Corsicana, TX house was an accident and not arson. Further investigations into the case by a board of Arson Experts reached the same conclusion. Texas will release its own report next year and the question is whether officials in the death state will finally acknowledge that they murdered an innocent man.

The facts of the case are simple. On December 23, 1991 Willingham’s wife had left to go buy a Christmas presents for his three children at the Salvation Army. Willingham went to sleep and was awakened by his daughter Amber calling “Daddy, Daddy”. Willingham said later that he could not get close to the children’s room. He rushed outside and yelled at a neighbor to call the fire department because his “babies” were inside. He broke out windows and tried to get to the children to no avail.

Policemen, firemen, and neighbors all said at first that Willingham was trying to get into the house and he had to be restrained. Other people reported that he was hysterical. His babysitter and his wife said his children were spoiled and that he could never hurt them. As a matter of fact, no motive was ever found for Willingham killing his children except that he was a sociopath and they crimped his “beer drinking and dart throwing” time.

Willingham was tried and convicted on evidence collected by Douglas Fogg and Manuel Vasquez, two state investigators who were convinced that Willingham had killed his children by using an accelerant because, according to them, the fire had at least three points of origin. The investigators concluded that Willingham was the only person who could have started the fire.

The trial lasted two days and the jury was out for about an hour. Willingham was sent to death row where he spent 12 years. They relied on the testimony of jail house informant Johnny Webb, who testified that Willingham had confessed to him that he killed his children. Webb has since been diagnosed as being bi-polar. The defense only called one witness.

A short time before he was executed, his case file was given to arson expert, Dr. Gerald Hurst of Austin. Hurst systematically and scientifically disproved all of the evidence against Willingham and sent a hastily written report to the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole. This group never vetted the report and voted by fax to execute Willingham. One member said that the board had never once met to in person. Governor Rick Perry denied clemency to Willingham and the state killed him, even though another inmate was earlier released using the same type of evidence. Willingham went to his death protesting his innocence.

Now, faced with a mountain of evidence, the state of Texas has to look in the mirror and decide whether to be the first state to admit that an innocent person was executed. If it is true, there should be an immediate stop to the death penalty and every case that is suspect should be vetted to see if those who claimed innocence are lying or telling the truth.

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Stop Paranoia over Obama's Education Speech


Stop Paranoia over Obama's Education Speech

Well, tomorrow, The President of the United States plans to speak to the school children of America about their responsibility for their education. Despite all the rhetoric and fear that has been going around in the media, that is what the speech is about. If you do not believe me, read it for yourself. Now there has been a lot said in the media and by those who believe in this politics of paranoia that he is somehow going to indoctrinate there children into some socialist/Marxist/communist agenda. Well, if getting a good education and being responsible for yourself is socialist indoctrination, hallelujah.

I am a teacher and I see the effects of students who have no motivation and refuse to be responsible in the classroom every day. Most teachers spend valuable time dealing with those students instead of teaching those who actually came to learn. Yet a faction of American society has placed fear in the hearts of others because of this idea that the Obama will use mind control to indoctrinate children into his political agenda. They have done this without ever reading the words the President intends to deliver. Well, now is your chance to see for yourself what the President plans to say and stop the fear-mongering.

Most of this fear is from the far right and it carries with it a political agenda that is based in hate and racism. I have not seen such virulent hate since I was a boy in sixties watching the civil rights movement. There was the same paranoia in the sixties when some of the most religious people in the country fought vehemently to deny black people the right of citizenry.

I hope that every child who can watch takes Obama’s message to heart because we as a country need it. San Bernardino County, where I work, has a 25% dropout rate overall and it is closer to 50% among Hispanics and African-American males. Most people want to blame it on teachers, but the problems go deeper than that and most of them begin in the home. Kids come to school hungry, abused, and sometimes neglected. There are other distractions for their time including video games and the internet. Many seem to think that their education is not important and the President, by using his own life and that of others who have overcome difficult situations, is trying to point them in the right direction. Good for him.

I am teaching persuasive writing and speeches to my writing classes and I plan to use this in my classroom to show students the different techniques used to persuade people. I also plan to ask them, as I do every year, to be responsible for their education on a daily basis because it is the only way for them to overcome the poverty that surrounds them. I know because I was one of those kids who went to school hungry and struggled to stay focused on my education. Yet, I prevailed and they can too. Get over the paranoia America.

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Sunday, August 2, 2009

Extremism Kills


Extremism Kills

Extremism kills

Two stories today really caught my eye. One was about a shooting in Tel Aviv where a shooter walked into a night club frequented by gays and opened fire. He killed two people and injured twelve others. Police have yet to catch the gunman who ran out of the club and into the night. The other story is about a father and mother in Wisconsin who prayed while their 11-year-old daughter died. The father, Dale Neumann (pictured) said he believed until the end that God would heal his daughter. It took the jury two days to reach a verdict in his case. His wife was found guilty earlier and both will be sentenced on the same day.

Extreme ideas bring on extreme actions. In the first story someone planned to walk into that club and shoot those people for no other reason than they were gay. He had to plan, he had to gather ammunition, and he had to go to the club and execute his plan. In the other case, two parents sat by and watched their flesh and blood die because of their of their belief in faith healing. This child suffered because they did not have the ability to use the common sense that GOD gave them and take the child to the doctor.

What kind of demented mind watches their child die? What kind of person can walk into a bar and shoot and kill people randomly because he doesn’t agree with their lifestyle? Extremism is dangerous and many of those who hold extreme ideas are powder kegs ready to explode. Yet, media outlets like Fox News and pundits such as Bill O’Reilly fuel their fires with rhetoric that is aimed specifically at them.

My concern, however, is those good people on the right who listen to this rhetoric and pass it own. They may not be extremist, but they support them by not standing up to those whose rhetoric is dangerous. They are no better than the organizations that support terrorist cells financially, but claim no responsibility when it comes to the destruction they cause. Spouting rhetoric that causes the modern day stoning of gays or that causes those who may be mentally unstable to allow their 11-year-old daughter to die is a crime. Those who use the rhetoric understand that they are protected by the first amendment. However, should they be?

Extremism is a killer. Intelligent people should be able to see that extreme ideas are destructive and cause those with extreme behavior to act. America needs to stop the rhetoric and get rid of extremism in any form

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Saturday, July 25, 2009

No Child Left Behind: Teaching Tales


No Child Left Behind: Teaching Tales

No Child Left Behind: Teaching Tales

The President and his educational secretary want to pay me based on my student’s performance on test. Lets get this straight: I believe that all children should be taught. I believe that all children can learn. I run my classroom so that all students get attention and their personal educational needs are met. That said, NCLB does not work and we need to stop putting all of our students in the same box. Here are some of my favorite student tales:

I teach a writing class and last year I had three such classes. In my final period of the day, I had 36 students. Half of those were students who did not speak English. One student in particular was very trying. We will call him R. R was born in the United States, but his first language is Spanish. He did not start school until he was six. His parents do not read in English or Spanish. He is on the fringes of a gang and has a bad attitude about school. For the first six weeks, he does not even come to class. After a call home, he comes sporadically. He cannot write a complete sentence and has trouble expressing himself in either language. He speaks Spanglish 80% of the time. When he takes test, he plays games and makes pretty patterns. His parents have no control over him and he has been arrested numerous times.

Another student is N. N is a 15 year-old soon to be mother. Her parents have thrown her out of the house because of the baby. She lives with an aunt. Her baby is due in January and she and her boyfriend do not have jobs. She was trying to get pregnant so that she could have someone to love her. I know this because she told me. She is afraid, but she is trying hard not to let her fear control her. She cannot concentrate on school. She comes to class every other day. Her belly is getting bigger. She eventually leaves school for three months after the Thanksgiving break. She does some home study, but no one is there to make her do her work. She has her baby and comes back but now she is even more distracted. The baby is at school with her in daycare. She cannot focus on her studies and her grades slip with all of her new demands.

G is an African-American male who at 14 is already over 6’ tall. He looks like a man. Most teachers are afraid of him. He does not read well. Gets kicked out of every class and has general contempt for teachers and authority in general. His main goal, once he is in class, is to get out. If he cannot get out, his goal is to disrupt. He does not sit in his seat. He does not do any work. If he can intimidate a teacher he will. His parents have four boys in high school and none of them go to class. They don’t care. No one cares. He does what he wants too, when he wants too.

Teacher merit pay sounds good and is politically correct, but it is a bad idea. We will lose good teachers because they teach in bad situations. Americans have this idea that teachers sit on their butts, get lots of holidays, and do not care about their students. That is not true for 95% of the teachers I know. They are hardworking dedicated professionals who only want the best for their students.

The problem is that we have been trying to teach G, N and R the same way for the last 50 years. It is time for a change and it is time for us to realize that not all students go to college and not all students are going to pass standardized test. Many students deal with grown-up situations. School and learning are the last things on their minds. They are hungry, being abused, neglected, or just simply alone. These things are not my fault and I should not be paid based on them. Policemen are not paid by the crimes they solve and firemen are not paid by the fires they put out. However, you want to pay me based on whether a student, who does not have the ability, can pass a test. Go figure.

Oh, by the way, I had all three of these students in one class. Grow up America.

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Racism in America: Three Modern-Day stories


Racism in America: Three Modern-Day stories

Who says racism is dead in America?

I just got through watching a documentary about a little town called Charleston, Mississippi. The heart of the story was that in 2007-2008 students at the local highs school were still having segregated proms—a black prom and a white prom.

Actor Morgan Freeman is from Charleston and he held a meeting at the school and told the student body if they would end the practice, he would foot the bill.

A couple of days ago, on of America’s best minds, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was arrested in his own home by and officer who felt that he was being abusive. They arrested Gates, even though he produced an identification that proved that the home was his. Gates became belligerent and has been outspoken about racial profiling every since.

Now, a story comes out about these so-called “birthers” who are claiming erroneously, that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. They insist that he does not have the right to be President because he was not born on U.S. soil. Lou Dobbs has allowed the story to fester by his refusal to say the story is wrong. Now, all those who refuse to read for themselves are screaming the same stupid thing.

The question becomes one of race. Some parents in Charleston, Mississippi forbade their children to go to the integrated prom because said one of them, “My daughter ain’t gone be grindin on no nigger, we didn’t raise her that way.” None of the parents who chose not to allow their children to go to the integrated prom were black.

Dr. Gates is over 60-years-old. What harm would it have been to step away from the pissing match with an old man and show some deference. I am assured of one thing: If Gates were white, he would not have been arrested. However, the police were responding a call that “two” black men were trying to break into a home. However, if Dr. Gates produced his identification the Officer should have shown deference and allowed him to stay home.

Finally, for those who believe that President Obama was born in Kenya. Go to Ancestry.com and the original birth record is there. Also, pick up some literature that tells the entire story. Racism is still going strong in this country and it is time that we begin a true dialogue on what causes it. Grow Up America.

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Friday, July 24, 2009

Racial Profiling: My own personal stories


It Happens

MY OWN PERSONAL PROFILING STORIES

Why did President Obama say Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley was stupid for arresting Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., because he was stupid. Whites do not understand racial profiling because it doesn’t happen to them. They do not understand the degradation that black men have experienced in this country for years.

The last time it happened to me was about four weeks ago in downtown Los Angeles. I was there taking pictures when two cops pulled me over. They were very polite and once they realized that I was not some drunk, they just gave me a fixit ticket. I drove off and thought, hmmm, maybe the LAPD has changed. The strange thing was I did not have my license and he did not ticket me for it.

At the end of the 2007-2008 school year, I was coming home from work when I pulled up behind a a Riverside County Sheriff’s officer and another car. The officer pulled over in front of both myself and the other car and pulled over to median, pulled in behind me, and then pulled me over. Two officers came up to me with their hands clearly on their weapons. I sat in my car and thought I was going to jail because I did not have my registration or insurance card in the car at the time for reasons beyond my control.

They approached the car and the officer asked me if I knew why he stopped me. I said no. He then asked me the standard question, “Do you have any warrants.”

“I said no.”

He said, “You’ve never been arrested?”

“I said nope.”

He then asked me for those papers that I did not have. My wife had the insurance card and my step-son had taken the registration from the car by accident. I called both of them on my cell phone and my wife headed down with the insurance card. I sat in the car and waited for the officer to get my information straight. When he came back he told me what he stopped me for. He said I had a brake light out. I was incensed.

I came home and started a phone calling campaign. I knew that this officer had stopped me because I was black. I called all around and finally I found out that officer who stopped me was a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) officer who was on a warrant hunt. A warrant hunt is when an officer stops someone in hope landing a bigger perpetrator through warrant search. The problem was that I have never been arrested.

When I finished my calling campaign, I started a letter and e-mail campaign to find out where this guy worked. It turns out that he works in Indio. I wrote a letter to Sheriff office and even filed an official complaint. I eventually received a call from the officer’s supervisor who pointedly told me that I was part of a sweep for felons. The only reason these officers stopped me was because I would have a warrant. He apologized, but it did not assuage my anger.

I have never been arrested. I am college educated. I am a professional and I am a good father. I pay taxes and I work ever day, I have since I was 14-years-old. I have worked extremely hard all of my life. I am bilingual. I worked nine years for one of the largest newspaper in the country.

However, this happens to me all the time. I was once stopped in the middle of a street and when I asked the cop why he told me it was because I looked at him. I even wrote a story about this in the Los Angeles Times circa 1990 and it was later mentioned in an article by a Times editorial writer that included an incident with the Secret Service and future Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

This is not a figment of my imagination. I have no doubt that had Professor Gates been white, he would not have been arrested. Officer Crowley is a professional. Once Professor Gates showed him his ID, he should have walked away from a senior citizen who was tired, frustrated, and highly agitated because he was being asked to leave his home. He acted stupidly. Professor Gates may have overreacted. He may have even berated the officer, but the officer should have said thank you and then walked away. Instead he humiliated an old man for the sake of ego. Stupid.

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Sunday, July 19, 2009

Drug fatalities mounting: End the War on Drugs


Drug fatalities mounting: End the War on Drugs

Legalize It

"Police in law enforcement understand the facts," said Aaron Zelman, President of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. "They know restrictive, prohibition type laws only breeds more crime."

I copied that quote from an essay on gun control laws. However, it really does apply to the issue of the drug war. Just recently, 12 bodies were found on the side of a road in the state of Michocan, Mexico. A threatening not was found beside the bodies.

The war on drugs has become a scourge for our society. Drugs are now the centerpiece of war in Mexico that has claimed over 8600 people have been executed in Mexico alone because of drugs. Isn't it obvious that our restrictive, prohibition type laws are only breeding crime.

Restrictive drug laws have caused countless deaths and allowed cartels to terrorize entire nations. The main problem is that it America's fault. We have an appetite for illegal drugs that cannot be satiated and government's heavy-handed tactics have only made it worse. We need to begin to take responsibility for our on weaknesses and change restrictive drug laws so that those who need it can get help.

I was adopted into a family of addictive personalities. There were five kids in this family and at one point or another all but myself were addicted to something. The oldest son is a crack addict, the next to oldest son died from food addiction and smoking addiction, the next son was killed in a crack house, and the daughter has been a hooker on and off because of drugs.


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Friday, July 17, 2009

The Right's Wrong Thinking: Gays and hate crimes


The Right's Wrong Thinking: Gays and hate crimes

Human rights should apply

The religious right is at it again. The Senate approved a bill that would expand current hate crime legislation to include homosexuals. Though the bill narrowly focuses on violent crimes and has nothing to do with free speech, here is what some conservatives are saying: "This is the first time you would have written into law a government disapproval of a religious belief held by the majority of Americans—that homosexuality is sinful," says Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. "It's more of a slippery slope argument than about the law itself."

"When you have pastors being called to testify about what they taught or preached to a person convicted of a hate crime, that's going to send a shock wave through the religious community," says Stanley. "It will lead to a chill on speech and free exercise of religion as it relates to homosexual behavior."

How do these modern day prophets divine this information? They do so by not reading the legislation. If they had read, they would have known that the bill is focused on hate crimes. This legislation has nothing to do with the First Amendment. It has to do with the safety of other humans.

You are, also, able to believe whatever you want about homosexuality. You can believe it is a sin. You can believe that all homosexuals are evil. However, what you are not allowed to do is to beat, harass, or kill another Human Being based on their sexual preference. No one is disapproving of your religious belief Mr. Stanley, instead what they are saying is that you do not have a right, based on those beliefs to harm another human being.

Finally, as a matter of common sense, if you stop preaching hate from your pulpits, then maybe you will not have to worry about whether one of your parishioners commits a hate crime.

Discrimination in any form is wrong. People ask me why am I so passionate about this? I tell them that it is not because it is my sexual preference, but because every man, woman and child deserve to be treated with respect.

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

I was an Illegal Immigrant


I was an Illegal Immigrant

Culture Shock

Illegal immigration is a thorny issue simply because there are people in the world who want to kill Americans. We need to close our borders, but we also need to have compassion on the people who are already here. I say this, because I understand what it is like to be a foreigner and not know the language. I was an illegal alien in Guatemala for one year. I know what it is like to have to leave your family behind in a third world country because there is NO MONEY to be MADE.

My family calls me the adventurous one because I am the only one who left Texas. I have always loved learning about people and cultures. I always knew that at some point in my life I would live in a foreign country and experience that culture for myself. When I met my ex-wife, I got that chance.

She came here as a child and when we wanted to get married we found out that she would be deported because she originally came here on a student visa. Even though we were about to get married, the United States was going to deport her back to Guatemala for 10 years. She spoke perfect English, worked for almost 12 years at the same job, and was a culturally an American.

At the time, I worked for a major newspaper and I felt stuck in an editing job and really wanted to get out. I thought it was a great idea to go to Central America because we would be able to fix her papers, I could learn Spanish, I would get the experience of living in a different culture, and I could get my teaching credential when I returned.

We arrived in Guatemala City on her birthday and in the town we would live in on mine, the very next day. Antigua, Guatemala is gorgeous little town that sits up in the mountains above Guatemala City. There were many people who spoke English, but to do business, you needed to speak Spanish. I had taken one Spanish class in high school. I had a basis to learn so I set out to do just that.

I taught English, did some freelance writing and photography, and even helped a guy from "Navy Intelligence" start a newspaper. However, by the end of April we were pregnant and I need to work right away. The prospects were grim and after seven and a half months of pregnancy the midwives we were working with told us my wife's blood pressure was rising and she needed to see a doctor. My daughter was born on December 30, 1999.

We lasted a year, but soon the government in Guatemala changed and that changed the economy. There was no money for anything. My daughter was almost two years old when I made the decision to catch a bus from Guatemala City to Moreno Valley, CA. I did have one problem and that was my visa had expired and I was going to have to pay a hefty fine for being Guatemala illegally. So, I told the embassy that my passport was destroyed by a dog and got another passport for $75.

I left on a September morning. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. I remember just trying to survive the journey through Mexico because the Federales stopped the bus going north about ever 20 minutes. I arrived in Moreno Valley on September 10, 2001. I went to the beach that day and watched the planes fly into the World Trade Centers the next morning.

It took me two months and five letters to get my wife her visa and return to Guatemala the same way I came, three days on a bus. One of those letters made to Senator Barbara Boxer's office and she solved the problem of the my wife's visa. I was back in Guatemala before Christmas. My wife and daughter flew out of Guatemala a month after Christmas. I stayed another month.

So, that is the story of how I became an illegal immigrant. However, because of my education I was able to change things. Most of the people who come here from Mexico don't have any such thing. Take for instance, the little girl who rode up here with me on the bus. Her clothes were tattered, she was frightened, and she parked herself on the inside seat next to the only American on the bus, me. I also happened to be one of the biggest people on the bus. She was going into a world to cross a border that was dangerous and filled with pitfalls. She had no agenda, except she wanted to get to family in Jurupa.

Have some compassion America. Let's close the borders and accept the immigrants who are here into our melting pot. By the way, on the trip back to Guatemala, the Federales didn't stop the bus.

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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

My Healthcare Story


My Healthcare Story

Give us healthcare

It is time that Americans had healthcare. I am always hearing stories about people without healthcare and it makes me wonder how Americans can be against the idea. The truth is that we all have horror stories about healthcare, but this one caught my attention.

I am a teacher and I see all kinds of horror stories working in a poor school. However, when I saw one of my students walk onto campus with a swollen jaw it aroused my curiosity. It turned out that she had a toothache and it was getting worse. I asked her if she had been to the doctor and she said her parents couldn't afford it. I called her parents and they said that the father had recently lost his job and they were on the verge of having to move anyway.

Her mother then frightened me with this story. It turns out that the youngest child, a male, has a tumor on his testicle. If you are not aware, testicular cancer strikes young men under 30. He went to the doctor, but had not been back since because they do not have healthcare.

Recently, I read another story about a woman whose father was a doctor. He developed a serious illness and had to leave work and had NO health insurance. The medical bills wiped him out and his dying wish was to have universal healthcare for his children and grandchildren.

Grow up America. We need healthcare and we have to pay for it.

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Sunday, July 12, 2009

US policy on Gays in Military is like Saudi Arabias


US policy on Gays in Military is like Saudi Arabias:


Great Britain allows it. Australia allows it. Israel allows it. The Netherlands, Italy, New Zealand, Romania, and Switzerland also allow it. However, Americans cannot tolerate it. We are in league with Cuba, China, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela. What am I speaking of, Gays in the military.

USA Today is reporting that our Allies stance on Gays in the military is much more open than ours. However, the tide seems to be changing according to U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy who said, 'I take it as a personal affront to our warriors to say that other countries' soldiers are professional enough to handle this and Americans aren't is really a slap in the face.'

Over 30,000 soldiers have been removed from American military roles because of their sexual orientation. We refuse to allow those willing to serve access to the military because of our closed minds. Isn't it time we came into the modern age and should we not bring our military with us.

Stop the idiocy of 'Don't ask, don't tell' and lets allow those who are willing to serve our country to do so with pride.
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Dick Cheney is a traitor


Dick Cheney is a traitor

Charge Dick Cheney with Treason and George Bush with idiocy

We know that the Cheney Administration, come on lets call it what it was, stole an election. We know that they capitalized on our fears after September 11th and attacked Iraq without merit. We know that they arrested Muslims and put them in prison for years without so much as a hearing. We know that they tortured them.

Now we find out that the CIA had secret programs and it was Dick Cheney who told them to keep them secret.

Charge Dick Cheney with treason. I would say charge George Dubyuh Bush with treason too, but I fear he is just an idiot. Dick Cheney is a profiteer. He committed war crimes and he broke the Geneva Convention. If he were from Bosnia, Somalia, Cuba, or Venezuela we would be calling for his blood. However, because he is an American, even those who know that what he did was wrong refuse to speak out.

Americans have a habit of rationalizing heinous crimes when we are the ones committing them. We rationalized slaver, segregation, and hate crimes against blacks. We rationalized the annihilation of Native American societies. We rationalized the anti-Semitism of Hitler until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. We rationalized after we were defeated in Vietnam and we rationalized when we entered Iraq this time.

Even after we found out that the Cheney Administration lied to us about Iraq, the mainstream media did not cry foul. If it had not been for the internet and the bloggers, the story would have died. Still, the most liberal Americans I know were the only ones asking the hard questions and they were being called traitors.

The real traitors in this scenario were Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and others.

It is time that Americans stop rationalizing and put these criminals away.

As for Dubyuh, he was a puppet. He should be charged also, but it is to bad you cannot throw someone in jail for being an idiot.

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Get Rid of Handguns




Get Rid of Handguns: "HubPages

Handguns Kill

The Los Angeles Times has a story about a guy named Bruce Pardo. Pardo had an interesting Christmas Eve. He dressed up as Santa, rang the door bell at his ex-wife's home and shot nine people and himself with five 9-millimeter handguns. The first person he shot was a nine-year-old girl who was running to greet Santa. He shot her in the face.

Pardo had planned well, according to the article. He had five 9-millimeter handguns and had taped $17,000 in cashed plastic-wrapped to his body. He also had an air pump filled with octane fuel. He also had an airline ticket in his shoe. He spent months amassing a small arsenal. The thing about this guy was that he was charming and likable to the outside world, but a terror to his family.

This guy went to the same store over a period of five months and bought five handguns worth a $1000 dollars each. He had to wait 30 days after each purchase according to California law.

Now I am from Texas, and as such was raised around guns. I can handle all types of guns really well. I am not against people having guns, but I am amazed at the fascination with handguns. Handguns are meant for one thing and that is killing or harming humans.

Since this is true, I despise the National Rifle Associations desire to have them. I, recently, did a comparison of gun deaths in Canada and the United States. I chose Canada because Canadians have guns but not nearly as many deaths. Canadians hunt, target shoot, and go shooting on ranges also, but they do it with rifles and shot guns. It almost takes an act of Congress for a Canadian to get a handgun. Why, because handguns are used to kill people. Hence, here is thenumerical comparison:

Canadian Firearms Centre:

  • There are an estimated 7.4 million firearms in Canada, about 1.2 million of which are restricted firearms (mostly handguns). In the U.S., there are approximately 222 million firearms; 76 million of the firearms in circulation are handguns.
  • For 1987-96, on average, 65% of homicides in the U.S. involved firearms, compared to 32% for Canada
  • For 1987-96, the average firearm homicide rate was 5.7 per 100,000 in the U.S., compared to 0.7 per 100,000 for Canada.
  • For 1989-95, the average handgun homicide rate was 4.8 per 100,000 in the U.S., compared to 0.3 per 100,000 for Canada. Handguns were involved in more than half (52%) of the homicides in the U.S., compared to 14% in Canada.
  • For 1989-95, the average non-firearm homicide rate was 3.1 per 100,000 people in the U.S., compared to 1.6 per 100,000 for Canada.

Why do Canadians have less murders by guns than we do? It is because Canada really restricts who gets handguns. Guns kill, and those who hold on to these archaic ideas that you need a gun to protect yourself are delusional. Stop making excuses for failed policies. Owning a gun is not a right, it is a privilege and we need to start looking at it as such.

By habueld






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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Gays Deserve HUMAN Rights: Two Gay Bashing Incidents


Gays Deserve HUMAN Rights: Two Gay Bashing Incidents

What Does The Church Do With Hermphrodites

People are going to begin to think I am some kind of Gay Rights Activist and maybe I am because I do not see gay I see human. Now comes two stories that have me wondering has the world gone insane or do we really live in a society where people could be denied their basic human rights.

First I must digress, I find the entire idea of two guys having sex very a-natural idea, to coin a phrase. By that, I mean that it is not something that I would do, but if we examine the food chain, we encounter it through out. I am a follower of Christ, but organized religion has shown itself to be the beast, or the AntiChrist to me. This Beast would deny other humans basic rights while it fans the flame of hate and war around the world.

It's not the body, it's the head. The people who follow the agenda set aside by organized religion allow others to think for them. That head has denied people their basic human rights for an innumerable amount of reason. Can we just name a few: Africa (almost the entire continent), India, Vietnam, Korea, countless islands, Hawaii, women, African Americans, Irish, Scottish, French, Mexican, all of Central America, Spanish, gypsies, whores, muslim. They truly are sheep led to a slaughter, whether it be theirs or yours.

Now we find out that a young seaman has been murdered at Camp Pendlenton and that it allegedly could be because of his sexual orientation. Andrew Provostwas found shot to death in a guard station while he stood sentry. The Navy has someone in custody but has not yet released the details of who and why.

The other incident happened in Fort Worth, Texas where the police raided a gay bar and seemed to get offended when the patrons gave them a few obscene gestures. This group of professional law enforcement agents bashed one guys head in and injured his brain causing it to bleed.

In both incidents, professional people who carry guns for a living do not seem to deal with the issue of people having sex with whomever they choose. The military I can understand, but police officers getting offended by gestures and losing their cool is inexcusable.

It is time that we realize that homosexuals have always existed. They are not new to the planet and we cannot go around 'stoning' them, no matter how much we may disagree with their preference and YES it is a preference. For those that do not think so, I have two questions. What do you do with people who are intersex, meaning that they have both sexual organs, neither functional usually? And do you remember choosing whether you were attracted to the opposite sex?

Gays are human and as such, they should have every right given to them as a member of the race.

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