The following is a trailer to a video called American Blackout.  This movie exposes massive amounts of Voter Disenfranchisement in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections.  I think it is important that we know whatis going on so that we can be prepared to make sure that everyone that is legally able to vote doesn’t face what these people faced

Filed under: Uncategorized

Don’t Let The Polls Fool You – Giuliani Aint The Man

I believe that the reason polls are showing such good results for Giuliani is because people do not know him very well.  All they know him for is for his leadership during 9/11/01 and not anything during his time as Dictator, I mean Mayor, of New York City from 1993-2001.

As an “abrasive, stick-in-your-eye” kinda guy, Giuliani created many more problems in New York, rather than solving them.  His attitude was not to negotiate on behalf of the city, but to confront, demand, or maintain a stony silence.  This approach meant key missed opportunities for the city. 

He does not have the temperment to be a President; he does not work well with other people.  In fact he would have to completely overhaul his style of working to effectively work with Congress and the international community.  Giuliani was able to accomplish much for New York City because he was a strong personality in a strong-Mayor city.  He was astoundingly less successful in getting the State legislature to enact the reforms he wanted, such as handing control of the schools to the mayor. 

He was critical of community leaders such as Al Sharpton, whom he simply viewed as a rable-rouser.  He refused for years to meet with frican-American elected officials, such as state Comptroller Carl McCall and Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields.  

During his reign, Giuliani set himself up as “an art arbitor” by threatening to cut funding for a local museum because of a painting that he declared “anti-religious” [whatever happened to freedom of speech].  The leaders of a number fo arts organizations relucntantly and courageously signed a protest letter, some fearing retaliation by the mayor through a slash in public funding.

Giuliani dispatched one of his aide’s to tell Yasser Arafat to leave a concert at Lincoln Center celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.  Now, I do not support Arafat as a person or defend his actions, but Arafat was there at the invitation of President Clinton.  Lincoln Center does not belong to Giuliani, and this action did nothing to bring progress towards “Peace in the Middle East.”

For the past seven years, we have had a President who shares some of Giuliani’s least likeable qualities.  President Bush seems to live in a bubble, closing himself off from people whose opinions and advice could be helpful.  He has shown recklessness by taking us into war, and our stance in the world today reflects this.  I do not want four more years of the same politics.

Filed under: American Politics, Election, Politics, Uncategorized

McCain is simply wrong on Iraq…

In reaction to the Democrats strong stance against Bush’s war, McCain has followed the steps of our commander in chief in calling out the Democrats,  saying in prepared remarks…

“Democrats, who deny our soldiers the means to prevent an American defeat, have chosen another road…It may appear to be the easier course of action but it is a much more reckless one, and it earns them no credit even if it gives them an advantage in the next election. This is an historic choice, with ramifications for Americans not yet born.” 

I must emphasize…There is no militrary solution to the crisis in Iraq. American troops are stuck in the middle of a Civil War, and the best thing we can do for our military [and our interests in the region] is to pull our combat troops out of Iraq, give them time to rest and re-arm, and re-deploy them to Lebanon, Jordan, and Kuwait to allow the Iraqi’s to handle themselves, while ensuring that Iran and Saudi Arabia dont get pulled into a regional war.

Opponents to what i have said argue that to pull out American troops would allow Iraq to fall into the hands of terrorists. I contest this argument strongly. Already, Iraqis are starting to resent the presence of Al Qaeda in their country; they are more concerned with fighting eachother than fighting Americans. They simply view us as an occupier to their land. If we leave their land, they will not follow us to the United States, they will focus on being able to fight their own war that has been going on for the better part of a thousand years.

We may be hit, however, by angry muslims of other nations that have become enflamed at the fact that the United States now occupies a muslim country and has waged a war that has knocked the coutry back – ecnomically, socially, and politically - 100 years.

I find it disconcerting that while McCain was giving his speech proclaiming that the surge “is working” that the cameras scrolled back to expose that he was being guarded by scores of armed and armored soldiers, and that the following day, those Iraqi civilians that appeared with McCain were rounded up and executed.

It is true that violence, abductions, and murder have gone down in Baghdad, but the levels of these violent crimes have skyrocketed in the neighboring cities from which over 30,000 american soldiers were taken to feed this “surge.”

Each day, I become more and more worried about the future of this nation, and its power to take upon its leadership role around the world, and how this is being thwarted by the debacle of Iraq.  With this war, America has become alienated amongst the Western powers and lost its ability to lead the world into a cause because it is “the right thing to do.”

Filed under: American Politics, Iraq, Thoughts, Uncategorized

The following has been brought to my attention by a friend, who happens to be a Republican…

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former president Bill Clinton have operated a family charity since 2001, but she failed to list it on annual Senate financial disclosure reports on five occasions.The Ethics in Government Act requires members of Congress to disclose positions they hold with any outside entity, including nonprofit foundations. Hillary Clinton has served her family foundation as treasurer and secretary since it was established in December 2001, but none of her ethics reports since then have disclosed that fact.

The foundation has enabled the Clintons to write off more than $5 million from their taxable personal income since 2001, while dispensing $1.25 million in charitable contributions over that period. Clinton’s spokesman said her failure to report the existence of the family foundation and the senator’s position as an officer was an oversight. Her office immediately amended her Senate ethics reports to add that information late yesterday after receiving inquiries from The Washington Post.

He told me:
“Fair enough, but had Dick Cheney or any other Republican done the same thing…what would the outcry in the press be? Think this will even make the evening news tonight ? I doubt it. There’s more important matters at hand … Anna Nicole Smith, etc….. and the Market Crash will come to her rescue and be the lead story. If it were GWB’s finances, they’d be blaming him for causing the stock tumble as a cover-up.”

 This was my response to him:

“Sir, I am sorry, your ethical barometer is in distress. 

If this has been going on since 2001 why didn’t the Republican Party criticize her for it, they were in control of the ethics committee, in both houses of congress.  Oh that’s right, they took all the power away from the ethics committee’s while they were busy lining their own pockets and war profiteering (Halliburton – Dick Cheyney, CEO).  Taking monet and gifts from lobbyists while infringing on our constitutional rights and giving the president a free ride to cripple the economy and bankrupt the military. Too bad the Clinton’s used the  Republican Party tax policies to take a right off.  If there is no penalty for their behavior, it is only evidence that the Republican Party’s tax laws are pro-rich!

I can see how you would be upset by this behavior because you’re a Republican that apparently is personally affected by the Clinton family fortune (built from the ground up because Bill Clinton started with nothing).  Perhaps Republicans should ask Tom Delay for tax advice, or one of the other Republican Party moral authorities under indictment, if not already in jail.  At least the Clinton right-off is due to giving money away and not profiting from other’s misery and the misfortune of not being born rich, white, with friends in high places.

The current Clinton phenomena is a result of Republican Party excesses and absolutism.  If the Republican Party had been a good stweard of the country and the economy, the country wouldn’t be running into the arms of the Clintons to relive the good old days of peace, a booming economy, and a world that welcomed Americans into their countries.  That’s what the Clintons represent to most people; whether they deserve it or not.

The press is not the arbiter of our leadership, we are.  No matter what the press reports, or fails to report, doesn’t excuse the people’s responsibility to choose.  We chose GWB – twice – with or without the presses’ help.  The press stood by and reported nothing while the Republican Party went to town, spending like drunken sailors, lying to us all and taking us to war against a country that didn’t attack us.  At what price?  In dollars and human misery.

 People get the government they deserve, that’s how we got Dubya, a corrupt Congress, a right-wing Supreme Court, and a backwards Justice Department.  Maybe haveing a President in the White House that gets called to task for giving their personal money away to charity instead of the top 1% of the nations richest people (Bush’s base) won’t be the worst thing that could happen.  I don’t know, another eight years of peace, a booming economy, low gas prices, and being able to travel without fear…I could go for that!

Where has the Republican’s outrage been for the past six years?

Filed under: Uncategorized

McDonald’s Gift Card for X’Mas? Not a Good Idea

I was watching a McDonald commercial two hours ago promoting its gift card for this Holiday season. So, have you heard of a McDonald’s Arch Card? If not, here it is. It’s a new way of making us, Americans fatter. McDonald’s Arch Card works like a regular gift card. You can refill the money and re-loadable in $ 5, $ 10, $ 25 and $ 50 at any McDonald’s restaurant. You can also take this card anywhere. Instead of carrying money to McDonald’s, you can simply take the Arch card with you. How convenient is that? 

Having a McDonald’s gift card is absolutely a ridiculous idea. I don’t see how people are going to buy this card as as a gift card for the holiday season or for the convenience of not carrying money. If you buy the Arch card for your love ones, chances are they are going to think that you want them to get fatter. Gift card is just a way of making people go to McDonald possibly everyday or every chance they get if the card has the value of 50 dollars or more. To me, McDonald’s just want to make us gain more weight and spend more time at their restaurants. In November, McDonald’s launched a new design for their restaurant which looks more like a family center. A new McDonald will have an internet cafe, new comfortable seats, and more space for kids to play and run around. Now, it’s the gift card. How nice is that?

So, for this Holiday season, I hope that you don’t buy the McDonald’s gift card for your husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend or close friends because I don’t want you to get hurt. If you want your man or anyone you know to gain weight, then this is the right gift for him/her.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Open Fourm

You will be hearing from me on various issues from politics to entertainment. Please, feel free to post up your opinions or reactions on topics I discussed.

Filed under: Uncategorized