Vivek Ramaswamy republican presidential candidate – Not A Good Choice, Nor Are Others…

Wow…!! 

Vivek would have been the first Indian American to hold the office of President of America (I still refuse to say “United States of America” due to all of the craziness taking place in this country, further dividing it) and I was thrilled to hear about something like this. Until I found out more of his background…

He wants to run on the platform of fighting ‘wokefulness’. He wants to have the states dictate, sorry – determine the fate of women who want to have abortions.

This guy also ‘apparently’ paid some Wikipedia editor to modify Ramaswamy’s profile, wait, let me put this snippet below:
“In May 2023, Forbes reported Ramaswamy had paid an editor to alter his Wikipedia page to appear more favorable to political conservatives before announcing his campaign. The paid editor removed references to his involvement with the Ohio COVID-19 Response Team and his Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans postgraduate fellowship (other editors later restored the removed content, citing the report). Paul and Daisy Soros are respectively the elder brother and sister-in-law of businessman and social activist George Soros, who has been the subject of numerous right-wing conspiracy theories.

Ramaswamy’s campaign confirmed that it had paid an editor, but denied it was trying to “scrub” his Wikipedia page. A campaign spokesperson said the edits were revisions of “factual distortions” and blamed a Ron DeSantis-aligned super PAC for amplifying the story.”

—- So, take what you desire from that info, AFTER you do your own research to corroborate the info above.

Moving on. This guy wants to remove America from the Ukraine / Russia situation.

Does he not know that if Russia is ‘not stopped’ that Putin WILL continue perpetuating mass murder, ignoring sovereign powers and authority, continual corruption and killing its own citizens for speaking up. Wait, did I mention dictatorial control of all Russians and hopefully of citizens in countries surrounding Russia…? Disallowing Russian citizens from having ‘free speech’ – forcing these citizens to listen to whitewashed Russian news (from Tass and Pravda – look up the meaning of Pravda for a chuckle of your own).

Stopping Russia will help restore some small amount of peace in the world. Look, this Ukraine/Russian engagement (war) has already united NATO, forging it into a stronger alliance for peace and democracy.

We, America, also have an alliance of friends for peace in Southeast Asia – a united front to stop China from trying to take control of that hemisphere – India, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, S. Korea and even the UK.

How does pulling back from the Ukraine / Russian war in order to protect America first work…?

Allowing Russia to gain control of Ukraine makes Russia stronger and gives them an enabling thought process of “hey, we took over Ukraine, who else can we take control of…?”  It is not just about fighting in Ukraine, it is also about the global economy with Russia trying to influence it, illegally. The FSB and SVR are known to have considerable influence via hacking or killing individuals around the globe. Whether these victims are Russian or another nationality. Go look up the stories on how Russian operatives:

• hacked the country of Georgia’s electrical grid – just because Russia could, then how
• operatives killed activists and journalists with Ricin poison – or throw acid liquids in their faces.

And note for Facebook, LinkedIn and Medium – this is NOT a bully paper against China and Russia. Besides, how does an individual impugn the story and historic knowledge of China and Russia, when it is known FACTUALLY that these two countries are either causing mass murder, detaining hundreds to tens of thousands of people against their will (Uighurs, Falun Gong, Russian activists, etc.).

So hey, if folks in America want to use their votes to vote for someone like Ramaswamy who wants America to turn inwards and THEN have the states dictate individual state laws such as abortion or getting rid of woke culture – go for it.

But, WE have a problem with that line of thought. How many Americans are there out there who learned history in high school and college and then forgot about it?  How many Americans are there who learned whitewashed history of America.  For basis, I know quite a few younger Americans and some of my own generation who learned history that was MISSING a great deal of history for which they discovered years or decades later what they missed in school because the school system failed them. Just look at Florida’s push to whitewash books in the school system and even rig colleges. Racism and the history of racial discrimination was not taught in MANY schools across this country.

How does one stop abhorrent, disgraceful activities if it is not taught in school so students can learn from it? Want to repeat those crimes, do you really want to repeat history? Well, if folks like Ramaswamy are elected into any kind of power, this is what is going to happen because he wishes to stop wokefullness.

Ramaswamy also wants to raise the voting age to 25. Will he also raise the enlistment age to join the military to 25…? Hmmm…. What he is stating is:
“unless a person serves the nation in the military or as a first responder or can pass the civics test immigrants take when becoming citizens.”

Then there are a couple more of actions that Ramaswamy wants to implement – removing the Department of Education and abolishing the IRS.  Sounds wonderful huh…?  Think about it if you agree with Ramaswamy, then think about it again, deeper this time.

Here may be something you have not heard, Ramaswamy considers Tucker Carlson ‘worthy’ of entering the Republican primary, believing that Carlson is a smart and sharp individual… Wow.

States will continue to devolve into individual fiefdoms, if more of us do NOT stand up and vote for the better candidate. We will return to states having inchoate, non-inclusive and discordant laws from those of its neighbors.

We will return to having (I pulled this from Wikipedia for a better description than what I could pass on here) Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, were all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in America that practiced a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combination of discriminatory local laws, intimidation or violence. The term came from signs posted that “colored people” had to leave town by sundown.

And yeah, we will definitely make a return to back-alley abortions because of the conservative, religious groups who want to talk control of couples, specifically women, bodies.

This is if, IF, we allow individuals like Ramaswamy to consume the taste of power. Life will turn negative, for MANY of us in this country.

IF more people like Ramaswamy get into power because more Americans did not stand up and vote for better people (consider George Santos from New York) – America will devolve into a has been power, fading into the pages of history as a once glorious space where so many people from around the globe wanted to come to.

We will spiral down into a, ummm, haven of pathetic, tribal zones of autocratic, dictators. Dystopia anyone…. Whites only here. Blacks only here. Asians only here. Gays only here.  You know I could go on and on for that line of thinking.  But I am not.

You, YOU have to do some serious soul searching, deep, far reaching and heavy soul searching. And then talk about it with others, outside of your close hold circle – having CONVERSATIONS and not fighting arguments to see where things actually stand and ‘hopefully’ learn something better.

YOU will have to open your eyes and watch and listen to other news outlets for truth. I had a shocking moment with a co-worker a few months ago who made the comment of “oh, that communist news outlet.” Another co-worker and I were talking about CNN and this other co-worker with that salacious comment walked up, heard CNN, then made the comment.

Going back to Ramaswamy, he is a prime example of someone who is doing narrow thinking and not national and international thinking and extrapolating down the road, like, ohhh, say a decade or two.

So, consider the consequences of voting Ramaswamy into power.

• More, much more restrictive control over women’s bodies and back-alley abortion deaths because of possibly contaminated surgical environments, all because the women could not obtain a better environment legally.
• COMPLETELY whitewashed history of America being taught in all schools. With most of the schools having funds diverted to them because of, you know, racial skin tones instead of divvied up amongst all schools. Leaving many schools of people with, you know, skin tones of a different color. Educational deserts…
• Crime. Please. There will be even more heavy handed, jack boot thugs running around the country doing “law enforcement” work because they have a badge and a gun – and NO body cam to record their work.
• Here, chew on this one where Ramaswamy talks about discrimination and affirmative action:
  “If elected, Mr. Ramaswamy said in an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday (Feb 21, 2023), his first action would be to repeal Executive Order 11246, which has banned discrimination and required affirmative action for federal contractors since 1965.”

Talking about skin tone colors. Does many of the people in America NOT see that there will MORE racial diversity than ever as each year passes. More people are discovering that just because a person is of a different skin color, IT-DOES-NOT-MAKE them a hands-off creature of ill repute or repulsiveness. Diversity is a wonder and it is wonderful. Diversity can make the lives of so many people SO MUCH BETTER.  And improve those around them as that diversity spreads.

What matters is what is that other’s nature. The character of the person is EVERYTHING.

When it comes down to it SKIN COLOR IS NOTHING! It is what that person has in their heart, in their mind, in their character and in their ethics as you look into their eyes…

Personally, I prefer to be around “Woke” individuals who have open mindsets… What do we have to be fearful of?

• Gays? Worried about turning gay if you’re around an LGBTQ person?
• Race? Are you really worried about someone else’s skin color affecting you – or maybe changing ‘your’ skin color due to their presence…?
• Women in power? Really? Afraid of smarter women…..??

And yes, “ALL LIVES MATTER!” So again, start doing some heavy thinking and make better use of your voting power. Please pass on folks such as Ramaswamy. Or Trump. Or DeSantis. They only want to take us back, no, SET US BACK decades. All the gains we as a country have attained – it will all be for naught.

This is not naivety, just pragmatic thinking. 

Having ‘national’ standards is far better than having 20 – 30 wildly differing standards to adhere to in order to not go to jail in the state that is being offended…

DeSantis – as President? Be Careful What you Wish for… Could be a Dystopian World?

If you voted for DeSantis of Florida for anything in the past, you “may” wish to re-visit your thought process. That is, unless you are of a certain demographical race and political party make-up….

As it has been noted by multiple news outlets and personalities out there, DeSantis is moving towards Fascist mode – requiring people that are different than him to like, follow and do everything that he wants them to do.

This is how Hitler started in his younger days after WW I – making noise and getting people riled up to follow him.

For Hitler, it was the Jewish people that he wanted gone. Hitler wanted a pure white race.

Is this what DeSantis is angling for in the long run, a possible long con…? An attempt at a pure white race, full of extreme Conservatives only? To rid the Florida LGBTQ community of all those who consider themselves as such? And possibly for the entire country if he somehow manages to gain the presidency down the road. Really!!!

First and foremost – RACE should NEVER play a part in anything – NO discrimination – NO hate crimes…! We should be engaging with, listening to and enjoying people for who they are, NOT based on the color of their skin, ethnicity or culture.

Then too, I am not gay or bi-sexual or trans or queer – but I am like many Americans out there who consider ALL LGBTQ individuals to be equal in ALL aspects. Why should one be afraid to accept anyone of the LGBTQ community (or ANYONE else) as equals?

Why, in the 21^st century are certain groups attempting to put a strangle hold on growth and diversity? Yet, we have various groups of neo-Nazis popping up, wanting a pure white race, with blacks, browns, yellow skinned people and do not forget the Jews and Gays gone… Is this fear? Fear that they cannot grow and compete in the ever-changing landscape of progressive life?

Why are some straight white conservative males attempting to mold others into something they want instead of what others themselves want? Again, “Fear”…? Do these individuals, instead of looking to the future and growing – do they really want to return to a backwards period in time where certain people held the power, while repressing those around them?

Why are we as progressive, open-minded liberals not banding together to stomp out these individuals who want to:

• Ban books because the books talk about history
  • Many of us grew up to be successful and who we are because most of us were able to read books that today appear controversial in the eyes of the vocal minority – To Kill a Mocking Bird, a book I read in Jr High was and is a great book
• White-wash, sorry – re-write history books to remove any talk of slavery and what happened since it happened
  • Yes, bad things happened in the past that is what History is made up of and please note that History cannot be erasedremember, the Japanese in a dark period of their history attempted to re-write history and remove the history of Nanjing, China’s horrific point in time when the Japanese Army invaded and did what they didthe Holocaust, what was done to the Jewish community since the early 1920’s and throughout WW II
  • and of course, the past killings and lynchings of Blacks because they were, well, Black and different – and I really hope that everyone understands that being different is a good thing – it promotes growth

DeSantis wants to tell people what to learn and what to adhere to… Him, a governor telling the school boards what should be taught in schools – really? DeSantis appears, while not stupid since he did go to Harvard, somewhat of an odd bird. Telling schools in Florida that teachers/professors that they cannot teach Black history to Blacks and anyone else who wants to learn about Black History.

Really?

Is Black History not worthy in his eyes? That White History is the only thing that should be taught, with a cherry on top? DeSantis seems to have forgotten (or is illiterate on this point) that a lot of things in our lives today were built on the backs of Blacks, Chinese and Mexicans.

Going to stop here, otherwise, this will turn into a very serious diatribe. The point is, if those of you out there continue to vote for DeSantis for political positions, remember – you will have brought the consequences upon yourselves in your state.

Voting for more repressive/suppressive laws and regulations ala DeSantis will drive your state into even more of a pariah state than it already is. (Trump…)

DeSantis’ moves and shenanigans will cause a brain drain out of Florida – talent, knowledge, growth will start to dissipate. What will be left in Florida besides rising sea levels; more people of that specific repressive demographic make-up – racial and political and religious…?

Who will want to live in that kind of atmosphere, let alone invest in Florida.

Think about it. Think very hard – this will require some good education (likely good, broad education gained out of state) in order to do some very serious extrapolation as to what the make-up of Florida will be in 5 – 10 (or yikes, in 20) years, socially and economically.

Wouldja’ wanna live or visit a state that is attempting to force people to be straight? To be highly Conservative? To be Religious? To frown upon Racial mixing or attempt to ban it, again as it was in America’s past. (Pssstt, Hey, there is nothing wrong with race mixing and it has been a thing for centuries and it is really showing up now as more and more happy folks of different races do the mixing?)

Think very, VERY hard as to who you want to continue leading Florida, let alone America. Do you want to grow old in a state or country where free will and growth are constricted…?  Or see your children’s children grow up with poisoned mind-sets that one race is superior to another and that there is a god (with non-believers being, gasp, Heretics) and that aspect will be shoved down their throats every single day and not to forget another big one – that men are and have always been superior to women (supposedly)…?

Is that the kind of future you see as you extrapolate into the future IF you follow and allow to lead you down a repressive road…?

Think twice about who you vote for….

Those who are very conservative and repressive (for sure that is how DeSantis is starting to come across) and who wants to limit growth and continue to feed homophobic fears…. If that is who you want, this is the beginning of a dystopian country/world…

Or those that embrace change and growth and diversity and open-mindedness and equality of and for all…

By the way, for those of you out there who ‘think’ you are of a pure white race, in today’s environment – you might want to have your DNA checked… You may be surprised of what your “actual” racial genetic make-up is comprised of.

And for those of you out there who CONTINUALLY try to yell where gays are concerned – look at your own circle, or yourselves for that matter. As it happens time and time again, some of your straight peers (or yourselves) end up outing themselves as being gay… Just do a search on how many loud mouth congressmen, senators who were against gays were themselves – Gay.

The Taliban, errr – sorry, ‘American Right’ Are Coming for YOU… (part 1 of 2)

Is That What’s Really Happening….

Note, I wrote this in a rush to get it somewhat off my brain to get back to some other tasks I need to do, so please bear with me for this article, I may come back to polish it up more but you will get the gist of it here… That is, if I can put with WordPress’ pathetic mode of editing…

To be clear, this does not extend to all Republicans, or folks on the Right – there are some that are very decent and very democratically oriented. This is primarily aimed at the, ummm – more outer edge and QAnon type ‘Right’.

But. We do have quite a significant number of Conservative Republicans – men (mostly men), women, white (mostly white), black (interestingly), yellow, brown, red, straight (mostly) and a few gay (again, interestingly) – that are quite puritanical and religiously oriented about how ALL Americans should behave and act.

Because of the “Draft” Overturn of Roe v Wade from the Supreme Court, the country has gone into banana mode, led by McConnell and some of his buddies and their red state legislators. I am not even including Trump in this, he is just too far off the rails to be considered sane.

This has finally led me to believing that America is being led astray by a LOUD minority of folks in this country. Here, let’s compare a few things and you make up your own mind – AFTER you do your own research AND your own thinking OUTSIDE of all conspiracy circles and Facebook siloes.
YOU need to do the deep soul searching and information content on your own and by yourself first before coming back to debate/discuss it with others.

(Apologies on the table formatting, it did not come across as in the original paper)

Taliban Edicts

Republicans’ Wet Dreams

Women cannot drive long distances without a guardian (this means a male, of any age), since the Taliban believes women need to be overseen at all times and have no say in anything. And if there is no guardian and the woman does so, the guardian (man or boy) will be paid a visit by the Taliban.       Women will not be educated beyond grade school (upper education schools are being shut down or already shut down – May 2022) Women will cover their faces at all times in public and on TV         Women are not equal to men and never will be         Religion shall be all about Allah – no other religion will be practiced or allowed                   Adultery – beaten via the Sharia mechanism or even stoned to death     Taliban want supreme control over everything

* Women will be banned from any abortion, regardless of rape or incest * Women will be banned from leaving the state for abortions * Women will be banned from receiving abortion medication * Women will be forced to endure the unwanted, repugnant pregnancy, whether they like it or not – even if they were raped by their FATHER or UNCLE or a LUNATIC criminal * Women will have no right regarding pregnancy, except to deliver the baby Education will be led by the conservative republicans, there will be: * no gay subject matter for grade school; * no anti-racist material in schools; * no critical race theory will be taught in grade school, high school or college * meaning – republicans really do not want future generations to learn about racist attitudes of the past (and today) nor any horrific activities that their ancestors undertook (lynchings and raids and firebombing towns and outright murder – even tar and feather) to quelch ANY kind of equality and continue to suppress anyone of color and gender * Conservative republicans want to continue to whitewash history, especially in Texas; * removing any kind of racist horrors and history from ALL text books in grade / high school – leaving only some kind of puffery (and a very short blurb at that) regarding that time in history. * Then when these school kids become adults and move to another state – the adult who grew up in a state whitewashing history becomes horrified (the smart liberal ones at any rate) to learn that they were taught partial history (or none) which was covered up rather than the full and complete atrocities that were done * The Japanese tried this years ago regarding the murder, raping, looting, and burning in the Chinese city of Nanjing (then known as Nanking) in 1937    Next will be what kind of clothing women and young people are allowed to wear in American schools – there have already been multiple cases of what kind of hair styles boys and girls in school are allowed to have – which all ended up backfiring     And yes, women of America, many men still want to suppress you to this day – primarily white men * There are still TOO MANY men who do not want to see women earning as much as or more than they earn and many of the men do NOT want you in positions of power * This is where I fail in my comprehension – with the suppression of female equality, ESPECIALLY amongst white women – there are STILL so many white women who will gloss over this and continue to be suppressed and not want equality as other women do   Religion – the vast majority of republican conservatives want there to be god everywhere and in everything we do. Even though science continues to disprove nearly everything brought up. For the first 20 years of my life, all religious talk was about how the world was only 6,000 years old. You do not hear that any more… People can believe whatever they wish to believe but they CANNOT CONTINUE TO FORCE RELIGION on those who do not believe… Nor force any non-religious individuals to heel to ANY religious ways of life…       Women get the short end of the stick in America because they cannot just go enjoy sex the way many corrupt, philandering men do…   Mostly white men want to regale supremely over all non-white men in America: * the militias want their weapons to fend off future attacks by uprising blacks and browns and China (which is simply all crazy) * SUNDOWN Towns want to continue to exist by ‘persuading’ non-whites to not stay in their towns overnight * the KKK still wants to come back to power and then there are * the neo-Nazis who also want to be the power brokers of America to save the pureness of the white lineage (hint – bad news for ya folks, many of you have mixed blood in your ‘pure lineage’)

And because American Red states want to dictate what should be primary and final determinations for pregnancy and abortions.  The problem here is, the final decision regarding a pregnancy abortion is ultimately up to the woman – she is the SOLE arbiter of what should happen. It is HER decision to live with for the rest of her life – no one, not religious or atheist, not conservative or liberal should tell any woman what she should do. In the end, it is up to her, not the woman’s parents; not the husband or boyfriend – but the pregnant woman.

So, it will be pretty simple for women who are doomed in their home red state and cannot afford to do anything.

1. Miscarriage – easiest answer and I really hate to say it but this may be the woman’s only option – but remember, too many precious women may die and have died over the decades because of getting rid of an unwanted fetus (a non-breathing, non-thinking, non-conscious entity)
2. Have the baby, put it in a box and leave the box on the doorstep (not at any church or fire station) of your favorite Associate Judge of our “Supreme Court” – Judge Amy (not the t.v. star), Judge Kavanaugh, Judge Gorsuch or everyone’s beloved (not) Alito and not to forget Judge clarence. But, you need to take precautions (which I would do if I were a woman and had to be forced through this nightmare):
   • Use a box with no markings to indicate you
   • Wear surgical gloves when handling the box and the baby – leave no DNA and to hide your skin color
   • Put the baby in the box wrapped up in a blanket with a note for Auntie Amy, I mean Judge Amy
   • Wear two sets of clothing – one for bagginess to cover the set underneath and you must wear a Burka, damn, sorry – a hoody and keep it down
   • Have a spare pair of shoes to switch to after you drop off the box with the baby
   • Avoid as many cameras as possible
   • After doing the drop, find a safe, dark/deserted spot blocks away – outside of camera view – switch clothing and shoes and put them in a trash can, keep the gloves on and later dispose of them somewhere else
3. These are things are what I would do, not saying you should do them – besides, doing the drop on these associate judges door steps should be a dear thing of god that these justices would want, right, leaving the babies with someone who would love them – it should be as legal as dropping the baby box at a fire station or church – correct….???

But this is what we face, red states – that want to dictate and force people to do things the person does not want to do. Yes, the pandemic forced people to get vaccinated because that affects EVERYONE around them, not just the person refusing to get the shot. I wish we had some kind of mechanism to track how many people died because the “hands off my body anti-vaxxer” refused to get vaccinated…?

1. hundreds
2. thousands
3. 10’s of thousands…?

Because of refusing to get the vaccine, many anti-vaxxers / hands-off my body individuals caused others to get sick and die. Or they caused people who needed to be hospitalized for other issues – heart attack, liver transplant, cancer surgery – to not undergo surgery in a timely manner and then died.

The pandemic was a different animal – that affected everyone – forcing a woman to retain and undergo a pregnancy is an individual issue. A woman who is pregnant and wants an abortion does not cause anyone who is a living, breathing, thinking and conscious entity any kind of physical pain. It ‘might’ cause emotional distress but that is the price the religious pay for following a god.

What a pregnant woman decides in the end, that is her business and does not affect how anyone else’s life, that is – anyone breathing, thinking and conscious continues.

And remember, this “abortion ban” – this is only the prelude to more attempted restrictions or bans. Such as banning mixed race marriage, where others like my wife and I would “not” be able to get married in the future. The Loving’s work to get legally married would have become a terrible wasted effort…

A huge hurdle and effort, wasted – gone, because too many Americans chose not to stand up to Trumpist’s, Trumpism and narrow-minded bigots and white supremacy wannabes…

Oscars 2015 & 2016 – White Actor(ess) Gifting Oscar(s) to Actor(ess) of “Another” Race…

UPDATE: Feb 28, 2016

Well, here we are in another year and another Oscar event – same situation as last year as everyone has noticed. I wonder if this year will be different, as far as an actor/actress of one race gifting their hard earned Oscar award to an actor/actress of another race – I do wonder.

Yes, I do know a great deal of work went into getting to the Oscar level, but still, I wonder? Will there be anyone big enough to gift their Oscar tonight…

Feb 22, 2015

Who Won This Year?

So…. it appears that the folks (and leadership) responsible for picking out the golden people to win an Oscar this year seem to have been, ahhhh, missing some brain tissue or at least a small bit of intelligence…

 

Were there really no ‘superb’ Black or Asian or Hispanic actors/actresses worthy enough of being chosen for such an illustrious award?

Were the reviewers who picked out the possible actors/actresses somehow, ummm, dissuaded or even persuaded to only pick white actors? Not sure on this one – will we ever know…

Were the folks who needed to review possible films in order to choose Oscar candidates clueless and/or asleep at the switch (screening room)????

 

Well, what if one of the white actors/actresses, onstage and live, gifted their Oscar to one of the black (or Asian or Hispanic) actors/actresses who were snubbed this year.

Wouldn’t that shake up the news cycle for a week or two? Wouldn’t that make Twitter go ballistic in the number of tweets during and after the awards?

Wouldn’t that raise the stature of the white actor/actress gifting their 2015 Oscar to another actor, due to the lack of color a person of the year…??? Wouldn’t that make that gifting individual appear to be the most gracious and generous person on the planet – in actuality…???

That gifter would become the best gifter on the planet in making the life of another THAT MUCH BETTER…

 

But what can we expect; this is all just wishful thinking. But, if it did happen, it would make winners out of some special people…

Many of us only hope that impropriety or, aaargghh, racist were not the primary causes of this oversight.

 

Using your Intelligence for Beneficial (NOT Evil) & Successful Influence

UPFRONT      

Influence, as to what many of us expect, should be used for ‘good enablement’ and not ‘evil manipulations’ for all people. Thus, this paper is for ‘good.’ And not the dastardly, horrific things we see in other parts of the world.

We have far too many entities worldwide using influence to suppress people and most of what their people hear and see in everyday life. To wit:

• State run media in Russia, China, Turkey and other closed societies
• Religious control by so-called religious groups such as Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda, ISIS (or ISIL or IL) but are nothing more than fanatical, brainwashed thugs with its seemingly sole purpose of controlling women, girls, education, prohibition of any western influence (no pun intended) and oh yes, possibly religion as well.

And no, this does not excuse some of the practices in the U.S. and/or the western world, where men of some religions suppress women or attempt to suppress them. And yes, we still have covert racism in this country – this is one arena of the most evil influence machinations in this country or the world.

We can do without racial and religious influences which are meant to suppress anyone.

 

Beneficial Influence

This paper is to discuss the excellent benefits of gaining and using influence with some modicum of ‘wise’ and ‘thoughtful’ intelligence.

Wielding influence can be a highly powerful and valuable tool and, yes, you can read up on this topic in many, many books. You probably should too because there is a plethora, a great deal, of information and large bodies of knowledge on the topic.

Unfortunately, influence can also be wielded powerfully for malicious means as well – more on this later.

Primarily, this paper on influence is meant to spring from good, meaningful and even altruistic intentions. Influence used with any small measures of intelligence is a wonderful thing. What is meant by that statement is that when you use influence in a good fashion, to help others (individuals, businesses and non-profits) – you can have lasting, powerful impacts and ripple-like effects on AND for those around you as well as well on AND in the work you do.

Now, when it comes to influencing others around you, you do so – not in any pronounced or inflated fashion but in a manner where others willingly want to emulate you and do as you do. You should be going about your work and activities as you normally do, all the while thinking in a positive vein of what good can come out of your efforts and what you ‘can’ pass on to others.

You want to do things that have influence on others by you being you.

One little effort you can make is to help others to see things that they would not ordinarily see simply by helping them look at a situation or problem from a different perspective. Look at the forest of trees, not just at that single tree. And then extrapolate on it, by thinking – “What if?”

If you want to be a brilliant influencer, you should be one of those who are very willing to impart the things you’ve learned in your past, your career, your education, your travels and/or your upbringing.

Being a brilliant influencer means you look beyond the:

• Looks
• Race
• Age
• Religion
• Physical (and maybe even mental) handicap and last but certainly not least
• Gender

of the other(s). You are ONLY concerned about helping, enabling others to be better and show them the road to being better.

None of this means you have to be a full-fledged mentor or even someone with the svelte tongue of a perfect orator. You just need to be ‘YOU,’ while continuing to do the great job you always do. You should just be honest and open with the clearly delineated intentions of sharing.

And yeah, this could even be interpreted as being altruistic – but there you have it, the interpretation is totally up to you.

 

Successful Influence

So, successful influence means:

• Enabling/helping others/business become better and in turn – successful
• Your being a great role model, whether intentionally or subconsciously
• Being an enabler for significant and deep collaboration in all endeavors, with another, others or businesses

Where does intelligence come into play for all of this? It means using your great and wonderful, ever growing brain (you are continuing to stretch it – correct?) in being smart in how you engage and interact with others.

It means being judicious in how you influence others. You want to use your stockpile of accumulated and ever growing knowledge in how you successfully respond to and with others, with those who could benefit from that vast pool of knowledge of yours.

 

Criminal Influence

Now then, there is also the flip side of “good” and intelligent influence and none of it is good.

Crime

Criminals use influence to their benefit in taking advantage of the weaker, slower and less educated of our fellow citizens. And at times, even the smartest and most educated fall victim to the criminal element, so in essence we all have a bone to pick in this fight in preventing, finding and stopping the criminal element in all its myriad forms, wherever we can find this perniciously evil group of miscreant thugs and silver-tongued devils.

Criminal influence, well, with greed and desire for power, we will need to always be on the lookout for malicious use of influence so we do not wind becoming victims of some smooth manipulator.

State Sponsored

We have state sponsored elements that use their influence and manipulate those under their purview and citizens who are powerless in stopping their mates from being victims of evil influences.

Take for example, China and its great firewall, where everything that passes through the nation’s communication network and internet is prone to censorship – blocked communication, deleted content, websites’ being shut down – without any hesitation, even if the site is for good, for education or to help others in the country just be better.

How do you have free and open dialogue when a government wants to muzzle you and/or its people? How do you have free reign to explore and connect with disparate people around the world without being spied on by your governmental leaders who tell you who it is okay to talk to or to seek out new and more accurate information?

Then we have Russia, with all of its voice, data and internet traffic being “required” to flow through government equipment. There is nothing secret here, do a search on the ‘Net for SORM I, II and III.

For example, you can go to one of the following sites and check out info on SORM:

          www.fas.org

          http://csis.org

Again, as I noted, this is not secret, classified info, it is publically available at multiple sources. But when you do seek it out on other sources, use multiple sites and then collate it so you can then think on what you have found. THEN – you can make your own informed decisions as to what you can risk saying in Russia without becoming a target of any Russian government agencies.

 

Both, Russia and China, as the two preeminent examples, attempt to control their people by restricting communication – visual and audio – so the people cannot grow and become aware and knowledgeable of what is true around the world. Russia and China control the media so the leaders in power can remain in power and control all outcomes.

Both countries, especially China, revert to saying that they do so because they do not want western influences creeping in and subverting their way of life. The leadership does not want to see the current way of life being lost, so, they control what people see and say.

 

These various kinds of state sponsored influence is just flat out wrong – let’s hope we can keep chipping away at that kind of wrong and evil influence and eventually manage to shine a light on equality and openness on what is happening in society.

 

Good and not Evil influence

Look, the bottom line is that, whatever you do right (or even in making an honest mistake here and there), might just become something that another wants to do.

There are many out there who want to do a great job in whatever they do, and if this makes them an excellent role model, so be it. And if there are those who want to follow in the footsteps of those excellent role models, those role models should do whatever they can, overtly and even surreptitiously (in a good manner), to enable others to grow, intelligently and successfully.

And yes, this paper could have gone on much longer – but you get the gist of it by now.

 

In a Sane World – Religion, Race & Gender

 

Okay, this past week of incidents has gotten my dander up, too many crazy things going on in the world. In watching Rachel Maddow one night, I saw her talking about John McCain and what he said about Chelsea Clinton and Janet Reno during the 2008 Presidential campaign. After seeing that piece, I have lost complete respect for him, decorated POW or not, he of all highly educated people should know better. The segment was the one on Reno and Eric Holder being the only two non-white or non-white males out of 82 Attorneys-General in our history. What McCain did was, he made a very disparaging joke about Chelsea C and Janet Reno – I won’t repeat it here. Very, very sexist!

Then there was the ISIS beheading of the French individual who was kidnapped.

And then there was the shooting of a black guy in Ohio who was following a policeman’s request to show his drivers’ license and the poor guy wound up being shot (by a poor shooter).

 

So, let’s talk about freedoms that everyone on the planet should be observing, freedoms that allow each and every one of us to be happy.

Sure, everyone has an inalienable right to partake in any religion they desire. And yes, people can also be a bigot, or rather, an individual that believes they are more superior to others of a different color. And yep, you can also dislike the opposite sex as well.

But, here’s the kicker – you cannot take your religion, gender discriminations and racist leanings and do harm to others. That harm could take the form of mental, physical and/or emotional abuse. You just can’t.

 

Let’s take on religion first. Religious battle has been going on since time immemorial. Those battles have gone on for millennia, not just centuries where people of one religion fought with those of a different or no religion. Those battles have gone on far longer than the old saying of – ”earth was created 6,000 years ago.” And yes, there is a lot of fossilized proof to prove humans have been around for quite some time, you just need to do your own research. The reason why I say do your own research is because that is the only way you will learn anything. Just because someone else tells you a fact that in and of itself may not convince you, you need to dig into the info on your own.

We will never get anywhere if people continually throw religion into the mix of politics or society instead of using commonsense and respect for the other. Muslims are not going to follow Catholics. Those of Jewish descent are not going to follow Muslims. Baptists are not going to follow Catholics. That list goes on and on and on. Who is going to bend and simply recognize that people follow other religions because that is what they choose to do. No one can make another believe in their own religion or god. There are only a tiny proportion of religious individuals who do respect and follow those of another religion, as far as I know….?

We have seen time and time again, so many high level religious leaders with their hands in the cookie jar. The cookie jar could any of the following or more:

== Embezzlement

== With prostitutes

== Partaking of drugs and alcohol [WHILE railing those who do, during church sessions]

== Engaging in homosexual acts [WHILE railing against the act as being sinful] and/or

== Just not acting as a religious leader when they “think” no one is looking

So, many of the pious out there do not have a moral leg to stand or lean on…

And as for the extremist crazies around the world today, who in their right mind would willingly follow those folks?

In this piece, you may notice the use of lower case g’s throughout… It is not meant to be disrespectful; it is only personal disbelief towards any god.

What matters is that you, the individual, are respected as a person – pure and simple. It is not the religion which only makes up some of you (even though many will say that religion is all of their makeup – let’s just agree to disagree). YOU are what matters. That which makes up your character, your integrity – that is what matters for many of us. It is the person inside.

 

Now, let’s take a peek at racism next. Racism has gone on unchecked for, again, millennia and not centuries, around the globe. Too many people in the world are “STILL” worried and scared of others only because they look different, because the other has a different hue of skin color. Or that they have different facial features.

At this time, many people just do not follow the path of history and use “their own mind,” “their own brain” to do any research or logical thinking beyond their favorite radical radio show or favorite reality television show.

There seems to be no consideration, at least the way it appears, to what kind of conditions people have to live in, in their part of the world. And then of course there is not much consideration to how the ancestors of those people had to endure even harsher elements to survive. Have many people, in the 21^st century, simply stopped thinking for their own sake and are relying on those with loud voices but few truths?

No one can subjugate a race of people and make them subservient or to stay in the status of less than second class people or some kind of lower caste system. That is, unless you wish to bring back an older and uglier time to the present…

What matters, again – is you and your character, your integrity! That is what matters for many of us, not the simple, ridiculously thin layer of upper epidermal skin color. It is the person inside.

 

And now, on gender, just because the other is a woman; what gives anyone else the right to harass her? What gives anyone the right to be a dictator over that woman, even if they are boyfriend/girlfriend or married? Who gives the right to say that a woman cannot be a CEO or President of a company or any country? A woman can also become a submarine captain if she is qualified and not be denied that position just because she is a woman.

Just because a woman has a uterus and a pair of breasts, why do so many continue to act as if she does not have a brain (sometimes a BETTER brain) than you do???

 

Does anyone, today in the 21^st century, realistically believe that anyone can control another human being because of race, gender or religion? Why?

Why does anyone believe that they are far more superior, just because of race, gender or religion and for some reason has some inherent right to control others?

Could it be a case of “well, I’m bigger and stronger and I can beat your head in if you don’t listen and do as I say” – is that it?

Is it a case of “well, I’m of a different and better race (or caste), so of course I am far more superior to you” – really?

Or, is it a case where “well, MY god is the one true god and since we follow that god, we are more arrogant, sorry, superior to you because our god is the only god” – c’mon? Not everyone believes in superstition and mythical beings that have evolved since humans learned to walk and became clans with their shamans, or their witch doctors and then later on, priests and bishops. Just because some people believe in a god, it does not mean that everyone else has to believe – just because someone else says you should or must.

 

We now have a situation in Colorado where a school district (Jefferson County west of Denver) wants to “only teach positive and patriotic aspects about the U.S. and nothing negative” to students in the AP history classes [1, 2].

This truly is incredible that a schools’ educational system wants to: “only teach positive aspects” and maybe not talk about the Suffragist Movement, or how the Chinese were treated in building the U.S. railroad system or even slavery in this country…

Say it ain’t so – that we have another state that wants to foster censorship, in the schools no less. Has McCarthy arisen from the grave? Because censorship is what it boils down to, the students in that school district full well know and understand that it would be censorship.

If we censor history, then our descendants will most definitely repeat the sins of the fathers – as it was nearly all men who fostered most of the atrocities in our near and distant past. The originator(s) of the school district proposal may have had their hearts in the right place but were completely misguided in even thinking about ‘removing the negative aspects of our history’ because that is what it is if you start deliberately whitewashing, sorry, if one starts leaving out chunks of history.

This is akin to what Japan of old attempted to do with the Nanking, China situation. The Japanese leaders wanted to alter the history books in Japan so no one would learn about the atrocities that took place in Nanking decades ago. As if the rest of the world would forget about it…

Or, it could be similar to Kansas in how they want to, ahhh, remove evolution from their history books… On this one, there is no reference added, please, do yourself a favor and research this and come to your own conclusion. There is plenty of lucid and accurate content out there on Kansas and their ongoing struggle between evolution and creationism and what to teach their children (I would not suggest to any family to move to Kansas).

 

Have people lost their minds? No one can sugar coat the past. No one can control others in what they believe in. If a group of people want to believe in a god that is up to those people. But those people cannot force it on others.

Listen, if no one wants to talk about the problems that exist, they just won’t magically go away – now will they? We have to communicate with other in reaching compromises. That is how we coexist.

But with religious extremists, now that is a whole ‘nuther cup of noodles. It seems that communication does not work with that group. The only thing that works is if you convert to their religion and their way of life, simple as that. Oh wait, if you do not, well, they kill you.

People around the globe have got to become better educated, learn to communicate and try to see through the eyes of the other. In doing so – that is the only way we are all going to survive as a race of people. It will not matter if you are male or female, black or white or green, religious or non-religious – communication and compromise will be the only solutions to the survival of the human race.

To prove how much better you are than others, you only have to show it in the good things you do – that’s it.

 

Folks, we all share the same basic DNA and that will never change, not in the next couple of decades anyway. The genetic difference between individuals is something like 0.1% and of that, skin color differentiation is even more miniscule than that… Many people will simply refuse to believe the differences between the different races are so tiny. Yet, we do. As well, many people would be shocked to learn that they are not as pure as they believe themselves to be. Some will be shocked into learning that they might have the same racial traits as others of a different race, thanks to their long ago ancestors.

So, people, come together and enjoy life instead of trying to destroy the lives of others. Please.

 

References

1 – Hundreds of Colorado students stage protest over history curriculum, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/24/denver-students-walkout-protest-history-school-board, 24 Sept. 2014, retrieved 25 Sept 2014

2 – Colorado students walk out to protest proposed curriculum changes, http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-colorado-student-protests-story.html, 24 Sept. 2014, retrieved 25 Sept 2014

 

50 years later & SCOTUS – We’ve Failed…

Really? Really!!!

Okay, 50 years later and SCOTUS (supreme court of the US) has apparently failed people of the U.S., those who are morally inclined for doing the right thing for the many and not just the vocal. 

Religion, as I know it, is a private affair and as such should never play a part in local, state or federal government. Yet, it does.

Yes, when this country was formed, people knew less about science but they knew more about racism, bigotry, suppression, oppression, sexism, discrimination – well, should I continue on…?

My point is, is that this country has changed over a couple of centuries – at least a little bit – and the world has changed. It is supposed to be for the better, not in taking strides to go backwards. 

Yet, this is what the SCOTUS is doing, with their latest decision for Hobby Lobby and contraception, causing us to go backwards in our nations’ progress. That decision was a slippery slope (Justice Ginsburg and Hillary Clinton both stated that). That decision is going to open up a Pandora’s Box of more discrimination across the country – no service for gays, attempts to do away with minimum wage, etc., etc., etc.

Nia-Malika Henderson wrote a great piece on this topic: How Justice Ginsburg’s Hobby Lobby dissent helps shape the debate about reproductive vs. religious rights — www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2014/07/01/how-justice-ginsburgs-hobby-lobby-dissent-helps-shape-the-debate-about-reproductive-and-religious-rights/ Jul 1, 2014

 

Religion as I understand it, and no disrespect, is that if individuals want to practice any religion, they are free to do so, as long as they are not forcing others to see it or be an unwilling participant. For example, those of us who may be atheist or agnostic – are forced to handle currency with “In God We Trust” or to see it in courtrooms and/or other public governmental institutions.

If one wants to practice their religion – don’t make everyone around you be unwilling (or unwitting) participants. Hobby Lobby, in its zeal wants to implement their religious belief on their thousands of employees and not all of them are religious, just because they work at Hobby Lobby. For those of you who say ‘maybe those employees who don’t like it should get another job elsewhere,’ – what do you know of the plight of those workers? Do you know how easy or difficult it will be for the Hobby Lobby employee to ‘easily’ move on to another job, one that is as good paying (hopefully) as the one they are leaving?

Why are people trying to force religious beliefs on others? Why aren’t the religious, those that are trying to spread religion, letting the non-religious go about their business in peace? Not allowing the non-religious (or even the willing religious) to partake of something like contraception is somewhat abysmal and akin to Sharia Law. Yep, I did say Sharia Law because that what it boils down to when one wants to put their religious stamp on others who do not want to participate.

If one is religious that is fine, you can believe the world was created 6,000 years ago that is quite up to you. There are even those who believe that mankind domesticated dinosaurs but there are no dinosaur fossils (T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Brontosaurus, etc.) as young as 6,000 years old.

But for some people, they believe in the science of the world being created hundreds of millions of years ago (and more) with the human race evolving over the past several million years, with fossils to prove it (Australopithecus, homo habilis, homo erectus, neanderthals, homo sapien, etc.) – that is, if one believes in carbon dating as many do.

We have got to separate and remove religion from politics and government, we have to.

 

The Supreme Court has been making decisions they believed were helping but in fact are actually hindering and causing us to become a have and have not country.

A case in point, the Citizens United decision, where more money can be dumped into politics – that is simply bad but many people seem to believe it is a good idea. It is not.

If those with the most money influences (and dictates behind the scenes) political events and issues because of that vast wealth being sent in at fire hose torrent speeds, the less wealthy will feel the effects and suffer accordingly. This is akin to going back to the robber baron days where the rich were the one’s setting the rules and regulations, the poor “be damned!”

Now of course, not all rich are as maliciously inclined to gobble up all they want with scant disregard to the ‘little people’ or the ’47 percent.’ There are many altruistic wealthy folks, just not enough to overcome the non-altruistic…

 

And the voting rights issue, it is bad enough that we have the problem of political gerrymandering compounding every single problem facing us. Because the SCOTUS knocked down sections of the VRA, we are at this cliff drop off of states making sweeping changes to hinder and impede the votes of certain people. And using the fear of voting fraud in certain conversations keep cropping up, yet, there is very little fraud…

Please do your own wide research on this, “do not” just go to one news outlet and read content there – READ & RESEARCH FROM MULTIPLE, VARIED SOURCES!” Otherwise, you will doom your own knowledge and filter only on what you want to read rather than other varying opinions, which ‘may’ help you to form newer, better and more knowledgeable opinions.

If some of the states wanting to implement some of the draconian voting laws, why not make it easier for the people? Why not put into effect, mobile voter registration vehicles where the vehicle can go to different communities on a rotating basis to let those folks register? This would alleviate the commuting people for many of these folks… right…?

The SCOTUS, in their great wisdom, in cutting out parts of the VRA allowed many states to modify and cripple voting for quite a few citizens.

Overall, the SCOTUS has failed. They have failed, more than likely, in using their personal values rather than logical and contemplative reasoning to decide momentous decisions that spread far and deep into the future.

So ultimately, we, the people of the U.S. have failed along with the Supreme Court. Why? Because we get who we vote for in the political arena. If one votes for a vitriolic individual who refuses to compromise, poo-poos any real science and looking to establish extreme measures to resolve some problem – that is who goes onward doing things many people dislike. 

Subsequently, these individuals in office, they are the ones who go on to decide in some form or fashion the types of people who serve on boards, committees and institutions like the Supreme Court. People like members of the SCOTUS make decisions, which extrapolated out into the future, can cause chagrin, harm and little progress.

We failed because too many people are too short-sighted and use things like gender discrimination or religion, a hugely personal belief, in attempting to brand everyone around them with the same philosophy or belief – whether others want it or not.

SIDEBAR: On the topic of gerrymandering, we have to stop it and stop it now or else we will just see, for the long haul, political parties no longer having truly competitive races with continual gridlock at every turn. We need an independent organization that is bi-partisan to create new district lines in every state, a system that is fair and equitable and not one where we have: “okay, this group here is fine, they will vote for democrats at every election” and “this group over there is fine, they are all one race and wealthy, they will only vote for one party forever.”

Why can’t we stop this gerrymandering nonsense, it is at the heart of political gridlock….!!!??? Or are we doomed to having one party or the other, because of gridlock, blocking commonsense changes and progress for everyone…?

NOTEABLES: To obtain medical supplies dependent on your employer’s beliefs and desires, who in Hades and/or in their right mind would want to do that?

To allow the rich to dictate (again) the direction of politics and societal norms (if we have any left) – who in their right mind would want that?

To allow states to hobble the voting activities of many of their citizens because it would make the voting more slanted towards one party, well, that is just so disingenuous…

Maybe the worst of all, having men decide what is right and best for women and their productive organs (their bodies) – that is simply unbelievable of the utmost magnitude.

Solutions for inequities, religious superiority (anywhere in the world) and other discriminations:

Many of us are as stumped as anyone else, successful and resourceful answers are difficult and difficult to implement once found. There are too many people who are too dogmatic in their beliefs and refuse to modify their beliefs – even if you put illuminative and very verifiable evidence on their plate in front of them, served up with a heaping bounty of ‘no guilt’ and complete lack of finger pointing.

We just do not seem to have enough people in this country (or around the world) who are looking past their own nose, their own short-sightedness and looking down the road to the future as to what will be best for society overall… Too many people (and businesses) are looking at short-term gains and goals and not the long game.

We need ‘more’ people in this country that are willing to:

• Open their eyes and their minds to become better educated and to broaden their mental and moral horizons
  • Read or watch or talk about topics that stretch your own internal compass
• Stop the self-filtering habit of continuous conversations with the ‘same’ people discussing the ‘same’ topics free of differing, open and diverse viewpoints
• Stop the self-filtering habit of only listening to the ‘same’ radio stations (radio or online) and/or to the ‘same’ TV news channels all the time – instead, more people should watch different TV/radio programs
  • Watch PBS, BBC, AlJazeera America, FOX, CNN, Bloomberg and/or CNBC to gain a grasp of other opinions from differing viewpoints, from other perspectives – to see what is going on in other parts of the country (and the world)
  • Stop listening only to individuals who rail and rant about limited topics that make little sense in the short term – such as stopping change, things like renewable energy and gender equality (at everything, as much as is possible but most certainly in pay and power) – go outside of your comfort zones and hear/see multiple other aspects of life and the economy – many people around the country have different thoughts than you – you do not control what others should be thinking or seeing or doing
• Help educate other people in their communities to broaden their minds and stop thinking and acting as if we were still in America of 1800, or 1880, or even 1955
  • People HAVE GOT to start thinking of those long term goals that was mentioned previously, 10, 20, 50 and 100 years into the future – yes, there may be pain now, the initial cost and the mental disequilibrium, which is sure to arise
• Help the less advantaged people rise up and become better, where in the end, the entire society prospers and not just the few who had it handed to them from their ancestors – those who simply took what was available while oppressing and suppressing others

None of this can be accomplished without many more people ‘stretching’ their minds to learn newer things, accept more ways of thinking and certainly not least – becoming more adaptive to the ever changing world of the future. And being old, young, religious, straight, gay, white, brown, black, blue or green – none of that excuses anyone from changing for the better and bringing EVERYONE forward with them.

There is no excuse for being unwilling to change! We are moving further into the 21^st century, all of us must change…

 

 

 

C’mon, Really – “It’s always been that way ‘historically’”…. Racism

Really? Really!!!

It’s always been that way ‘historically‘…. a statement purportedly made by Donald Sterling to his girlfriend V. Stiviano who is a woman of mixed race, which races are not important, at least to myself and many others around the globe.

Why should it matter? Why should anyone care at this point in our history as to what color someone else is? “NO ONE” should care what color or race someone else is, here in the 21^st century – we should be moving on to a better and more enlightened future.

 

Yes, Sterling (purportedly) hit it on the nail head that it has been that way historically but do we need to continue on with any bigots, racists, racism or anyone who believes in racial supremacy? There are those who believe we need to get rid of affirmative action because the time is right (Supreme Court amongst others). Yet we have individuals like Sterling and Cliven Bundy (Nevada rancher who believes in a sovereign state but not the U.S.) who open their mouths and make it blatantly known how they truly feel, to the world.

 

These two individuals are not isolated cases of racism; there are many, many more incidents of racism in America and around the world – it is only more covert and insidious. These individuals and some of them will tell you to your face they are not racist, thrive in restaurants, in your workplace, at your gym, at your local bar, etc.

There are many people who can recount multiple painful situations (I know I can) where they were either an outright victim of racism or were a victim of more insidious racism – i.e. on the job receiving unequal pay or less favorable jobs (same as in gender discrimination).

Along the lines of covert racism, there are so many fraudulent people out there who will joke with the person of a different (“inferior”) skin color, slap them on the back out of camaraderie and even have drinks together – but it is all a front. It is a front because, behind closed doors with ‘others of their kind,’ the frauds will let their inner thoughts come out and ring true as they trash talk and belittle the person(s) of a different color. They may not be members of the KKK but it may as well be the same thing, the frauds act as if they are superior.

If you have experienced this, you will know what I mean. For those that do not or doubt it, let me point you in the direction of two recent points of reference:

==> Exhibit A – Cliven Bundy & Exhibit B – Donald Sterling

 

We still have ‘good old boy’ networks thriving everywhere; the problem is in proving it. One cannot know or find out unless the racist(s) in question lets it slip accidentally or someone in the know blows the whistle. We have vast numbers of racism occurring everywhere, at a time when it should not matter what color a person’s skin is or what race they belong to.

— Why does race matter?  Why should race matter!!! —

 

And as to affirmative action I mentioned previously, unfortunately, we do still need it for a bit longer in order to continue to level the playing field for many who would not move upwards without it. Examples, okay, how about this one – schools that receive more funding or better *you name it* than schools in disadvantaged areas.

 

Back to race issues though, some people look at the skin color of another and automatically stigmatize that person with having the “wrong” or “different” skin color. Some of these people who act racist do it intentionally, while others do it sub-consciously because of years of growing up and being brain-washed with it (similar to growing up in a religious family where every single day, all you hear and see is religion with no countervailing arguments or viewpoints).

 

Why is it that people who do have racist issues continue having those issues in the 21st century?

 

Is it out of fear that the person of a different color might do a better job or be a better person? Are people still afraid of – “becoming tainted” from being around someone of another color? Do so many people ‘still’ believe they will become contaminated from interacting with others of another race?

 

Why aren’t even more people starting to look beyond the skin color of another and put value on the person within that skin? Why don’t more people realize that interacting with many more others will allow for more growth, more sharing and a better society?

 

 

It is what is inside and under the skin that makes the person. It is the person’s integrity, character, ethics, heart and thoughts that make the true individual – not just the outer layer of skin of whatever color.

Everyone needs to become educated that skin color is ONLY skin deep and that the person beneath that outer layer of skin – wants and desires the same things you want and desire.

 

It is a flat out shame that we still have to continue working on racism at this time. Many years ago some of us (and then many more years ago for those who came before us) were so optimistic that in the future, race would no longer be a problem. We thought, acted and talked in a manner of inclusiveness, hoping that others who did not act/think that way would pick up on our cues – and that it would accelerate over time, growing in an ever expanding curve upwards.

We were wrong. We were very, very wrong…

But we still continue to have hope that one day, most racism will actually die out (and groups like the KKK along with it).

Our Society… Our People… Our Country… Our World… Are We Doomed or are we treading on thin, dirty ice…?

Even though I am an eternal optimist, I am nevertheless heartbroken and wearily saddened of so many things unjust and wrong in our society, here in the “United” States and around the world. Also, this piece is for those who want to read a somewhat serious discourse on various topics.

The few things (of ever so many) that I write about here are nothing new. Many thousands and tens of thousands of others have written and are writing about some or all of the same things. I only want to add my voice and hope that maybe just one person will read this and hear, clearly, what I say. Maybe that one person will be an even better carrier to spread the message, the message of equality and fairness and respect to and of others.

It is not just up to leaders to provide guidance and direction but it is also the individuals in our society who can lend their voices to reflect winning words of: forward thinking, encouragement, equality, respect, collaborations and moving in the right direction. With all the many, many voices out there – some of which have very little meaningful things to say, while there actually are others out there who ‘do’ have good, strong and constructive things to say but are drowned out by the mean, snidely sarcastic and ill-meaning people all around the country.

It is up to someone who is magnetic, energetic and has enough of an audience to concentrate all the good messages into a good platform.  

Are we becoming a stagnant group of people, heading in the direction of the Romans, towards a failing society? No, not in the way of being decadent but rather in the way of just, well, dissolving into a meaningless group – wait, no, into meaningless ‘bunches’ of groups of people scrabbling over things that really should not cause the conflict, ignorance and suffering we are going through as a nation.  

Yes, I will say it, I am a bleeding heart and at times I do wear it on my sleeve. At the same time, I am an eternal optimist and have been for many years. As well, I am a pessimistic pragmatist at times and because of that it causes a conundrum for some people are going to say “You can’t be all of those at the same time!” But therein lies some of the ignorance of some people – you actually can be those, it just takes some judicial balancing at various points in time.  

Look around; you don’t need me to give you specific examples of where we are failing many in this country or where things are just flat out wrong. You just need to open your eyes in your neighborhood, your workplace, your gym. You can see these things in your daily lives – if you would only remove your blinders and open your eyes and your mind.

Look at folks in wheel chairs or those who need to use crutches – those devices do not diminish their mental abilities. Some of these folks also have brilliant minds but so many firms will not hire them. This makes me angry to no end that so many handicapped (or disabled) individuals are simply blocked out of being hired. 

I am saddened that so many women are being treated as less than equal:

• In earning less than their male counterparts in doing the same job
• Not being as readily considered for leadership as their male counterparts who have the same experience
• Because they have breasts and nothing dangling between their legs
• Not being allowed to drive and/or obtain a job and/or education because they are women
• AND being raped, around the world, while large numbers of men do not place much emphasis on this as being morally, physically and legally wrong (in some parts of the world, men believe the women deserved it…) – women are NOT chattel nor cattle
• Or the coordinated moves against abortion, where many men are attempting to make decisions for pregnant women that is arduous enough as it is and for sure will drive many women to their deaths as they attempt self-abortions or those infamous ‘back alley’ abortions of years past.

Basically it is about the lack of respect that so many women should be receiving… 

I am saddened that people of different races are being treated as less than equal, solely because of the color of their skin.

This is a topic I could really go to town on because racism is still alive and well. It may not be as noticeable (overt) as it once was, it is just more covert today. But here is a tidbit on racism for some of you; many people do know they actually are racist because it is likely at their subconscious level just below their conscious awareness of how they interact with and treat others of different races. I’m not only talking about blacks and whites but all races.

Many people, not just in this country but around the globe, believe that ‘some’ races are inferior and should never have a voice in anything and are only worthwhile as cheap labor.

When a people (pick one from the past couple of centuries) are suppressed, kept ignorant (uneducated in school, politics and society) and not paid (adequately) for what they do – for what they are worth, then we should never be surprised that people of those ‘other’ races do not do as well as others who have been privileged to gain a) better educations, b) better jobs along with c) much better pay.

Massive discrimination is one result… Simmering resentment is another result…

Skin color is only skin deep. Just because your skin color and the skin color of your closest peers are the same – it does not make you and your peers the better person(s).

As well, good looks or less than good looks are only skin deep. Just because you look better than someone else, it does not make you the better person we would necessarily want to stand side by side with in moments of stress and hard times. We all sweat and bleed the same.

Repression and/or suppression of others, just to retain your place in life or your power is not the way it should be. That is wrong in all aspects.

I am saddened that people of various religious faiths treat those of different religions as somehow being inferior to them OR treating people of no religion as being flat out wrong in their view of a godless life. And yes, there are many of those kinds of persons in the different religious faiths – you know that. And yes, I do recognize that there are many in the various faiths who ‘do’ look at others as equals, so don’t get me wrong, I am not chastising all religious individuals.

Buddhists, Muslims, Catholics, Baptists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witness’, etc… MANY in each of these groups believe their god to be the ‘one’ true god. And the more extremely religious groups/individuals wholeheartedly believe that if you disrespect or ridicule or profane or disbelieve their god (you pick the religion here) – then you deserve to be ostracized (or killed) for failing to follow their faith.

Then too, many individuals of these same extremely strong religious treat women as secondhand, as chattel, fit only to work in the kitchen and in the bedroom, all the while remaining subservient to the men, even to boys. Some (many?) religions do not allow women any positions of equality or authority within their particular band of religion – because their bible, in so many words, states it as being wrong (I don’t get that)…

Discrimination… Stupidity… Ignorance… Education…

Backward thinking

Look, here’s another sample of backward thinking, gays and gay marriage. Are people just ill-informed or undereducated and are not aware that homosexuality and bisexuality has been going on for thousands and tens of thousands of years around the world – in Africa, in Asia and in Europe, long before the U.S. became a country.

Being gay is nothing new and nothing to be afraid of. If you’re not gay, then you’re not gay but don’t try to force those people who are gay that they are wrong in believing in that lifestyle and for feeling that way. Your hatred ‘and’ fear is of your own making and of your own possible feelings of inadequacies and insecurity or whatever other label you might wish to give to that.

I am willing to bet that you likely know a neighbor / co-worker close to you whom you believe to be straight, is actually gay. And on top of that, I am also willing to bet that you believe that that person is a “great” person to boot…

Why do so, so many people in this country (and around the world), here and now in the 21^st century continue to live in the past or want to go backwards to days of unjustness, such as:

• Witch burning
• Exorcisms (because someone is epileptic)
• Crucifixion
• Separation of the races (because it is heresy for them to mix)

to name but a few…

Why aren’t more people stepping up and becoming forward thinking individuals? Is it because our education system is failing us? Is it because our political system is allowing religion to creep in where it should not and actual science be damned?

Are more people content to remain isolated in their own small self-filtered world, head ‘constantly’ down, peering into their smart phone or tablet with their earpieces inserted instead of looking up and around at those nearby?

The old ways of life are gone.

Our society and jobs

Because of the economy and confused state of employment, we need to pull together – in a much better fashion than the current state of bickering in political circles… Thanks to outsourcing and offshoring, which really started ramping up in the late 80s, it kind of took the wind out of our American sails. And so, because of that, the availability of lower cost labor in other parts of the world, we saw our jobs and old American way of life taper off, or disappear.

But today, as labor costs around the world continue to increase, as well as transportation costs, some jobs have come back to the U.S. but not nearly enough. Many have written on this topic(i.e. www.economist.com/news/special-report/21569574-offshoring-has-brought-huge-economic-benefits-heavy-political-price-story-so The story so far – Offshoring has brought huge economic benefits, but at a heavy political price Jan 19th 2013)

On top of that, automation, sophisticated computing and now robotics are taking away additional jobs, forcing more people to acquire to obtain more than high school education. And advanced education is no longer inexpensive.

I include this segment on the economy and society because this planet is becoming ever smaller every year due to some better living standards and access to traveling anywhere at any time. We need to be better. We need to treat each other better. We need to act better. 

Forward thinking

When are ‘more’ American’s, and others around the globe, going to wake up and start judging others by the character and content of that person’s heart rather than going by anyone’s superficial outward appearance (skin color, handicap, speech)???

YOU have to look at the whole individual and value the individual in that light. YOU cannot simply judge others by their outward appearance and/or by the way they talk. You have to take into consideration the totality of that person to judge that person and of course that means you will need to get to know that person to discover that, rather than making uneducated or baseless flip / snap judgments of others. Malcolm Gladwell talks about some of this in his 2007 book “Blink,” a book in which I recommend others read. You do not need to read the whole book to gain better insights, but I would recommend that you do. But be sure to read the part discussing “unconscious prejudices.”

You should strive, in your moments of snap thinking (or “slice thinking” ala – M. Gladwell), to do a better job when thinking of others and what you think about them. Go beyond superficiality – look beneath the surface, look at the sum of the person, not at the individual component of a person’s life.

Go deeper!

Earlier I mentioned that there are some great folks in wheel chairs or on crutches, here I expand on it. There are many phenomenal people who come from multiple diverse backgrounds, whether it is with a silver spoon or from the depths of poverty. There are many strong and amazing people today who can make a difference, regardless of their gender or race or upbringing, look at past people (and a few of the present) of influence:

Women – Rosa Parks, Ida B. Wells, Harriet Tubman, Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, Golda Mier of Israel, Joan of Arc and the young Pakistani – Malala Yousafzai

Men – Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., Mandela, Gandhi, Galileo, Booker T. Washington, Ralph Nader and Lincoln

These women and men refused to give up, they stood their ground and of course this is an incomplete list… I only hope if confronted with a difficult situation, you and I can be like them and stand our ground. And no, I do not mean like the stupidly written Florida ‘Stand Your Ground’ nonsense.  

Then too, there are the older senior citizens and the youngest amongst us – don’t just cast them off and push them to the side just because ‘you’ think they are too old or too young to offer any fulfilling and informative thoughts and/or solutions to problems and issues of the day. They have valuable input too, sometimes they do not but don’t just discount them right off the bat. Listen to them, process their info and THEN make a “conscious” decision on whether to use or not use their information.

Remember, you do not know everything. Only those who think they know everything believe that, while those around them may disagree…

Our society, the infrastructure to the air we breathe…

As it stands, some people in our country (and around the world) want to have clean air, clean water, access to better living conditions, access to better medical care and access to vastly improved transportation. But we have so many in authority (or not) who seem not to care as much. Some of these people believe that it should only be their way that should be the norm (vouchers for medical care and education is a joke, even to me).

Some of these people in authority (or not) believe that the poor or unemployed should not have as much help financially as they are (or were) receiving and hence – their support should be cut.

Some of these people in authority (or not) believe that there should be more voting restrictions (and even more rigid gerrymandering – pick your group here, I’m not singling out any one group) in order to knock out any votes that could strip them of their position.

We should be conducting free and fair elections in every city, in every state – not reducing the days of voting, or the locations of voting, or even the requirement to show birth certificates or passports to prove citizenship (which of late is popping up in some states) because the threat of voter fraud is so worrisome.

Our society and humanity and fairness

So, why does it take disasters to bring us together, albeit for a brief time? That is probably the most disheartening of all in that it takes something of such an extraordinary measure for us to come together…

You know, when Rodney King stated “Why can’t we all just get along?” – many people derided that statement then and still do to this day. But, that is a very valid statement!  

What is happening to us? For many years, I have continued on in my life trying to improve myself and becoming a worthy role model for others to emulate. As we know, you cannot make anyone follow you and what you do. You can only show them the way and hope they pick up on the good that you are doing, whether it is in the work you do, the way you handle yourself in your social life or in the way you treat others.

The way you treat others shows a great deal about what kind of person you are – and many of you know it. Do you treat a poor, undereducated person as less than your equal and become patronizing or condescending to them?

How do you actually know that person is not your equal, do you really know that person? That person may have a masters’ degree, or even a doctorate from where they came from but due to bad luck, or the U.S. not recognizing that person’s advanced degree – you ‘might’ feel that person is not of “good” caliber or breeding. Is it because:

• Of the way the ‘other’ talks?
• That person has an accent that you are not used to?
• That person just never had ample opportunities to learn better diction or oratorical skills?
• Even better, is it because that ‘other’ is not as good looking as some are fortunate to have been in life?

These are all superficial things, what about the person inside – that is what counts. Does that ‘other’ have great integrity, ethics, kindness and/or generosity that YOU do not have and are jealous of having a lack of?  

There are far too many people among us who do not really care about others around them. All they seem to concern themselves with is the lining of pockets, primarily their own. And yes, some of these individuals make noise as if they ‘really do’ care about others but covertly, they just want to keep on lining their pockets, in any manner or fashion – even if it turns out to be illegal and the rest of us can just fuggidaboutit…

Note: You can watch a piece on the CBS Sunday Morning with Nancy Giles talking about TIPS where she is talking to the cab driver on that topic. The cabbie told her of a recent fare of two guys in the back with one on his cell phone as they are leaving the airport. The guy on the phone ends his call, tells his passenger buddy “I just made $6 million.” But after arriving at the passengers’ destination, the cabbie only receives a $1 tip… [www.cbsnews.com/videos/tipping-points-when-and-when-not-to-pay-extra/ Tipping points: When and when not to pay extra (Sunday Mar 23, 2014)]

We have too many people in power and leadership positions who want to retain power, by any method possible with complete disdain and disregard for those with a less fuller and rich life. And this is inclusive of people in public firms, private corporations and in government.  

People, we/you, need to get out more and talk to others. You need to talk to others WHO ARE NOT LIKE you so you can see and understand the differences amongst all of us and what makes this country what it is today. Maybe then, we can start making progress of building up all of us and making America the leading country of the planet again and not be the schizophrenic, indecisive, squabbling country that we seemed to have become.

There are many people who have something to say but do not say it because of so many others who instead of offering serious debate, discussion and/or constructive responses, they want to shoot the other person down with snide, sarcastic, rude, insensitive, offensive and threatening language.  

Are we doomed to become a stagnant and dying society, of Americans, of humans? Or are we going to continue growing, once we lift up everyone in getting everyone the chance to get an education and access to better health care? People can no longer seek out enclaves where they can live and be with others who look like and act like them, free of any real diversity.

Diversity is what is going to make our country, our world grow. Not religious growth. Not racial exclusion. Not gender bias. Diversity, collaboration and treating each other with respect and fairness are the answers to a bright and growing future.

Otherwise, we are doomed…

Society: Bigotry, Gender discrimination & Stupidity

Originally posted Aug 15, 2013 at & moved from: http://patrick642.wordpress.com/
Change. Improve. Innovate. Be better.
~ Pressing issues, from cyber security, to strategy, to innovation, to improvements (self, others, organizations)

Society What is happening to us? Are we losing our minds around the world or what? And no, this will not be a diatribe; it is a soliloquy of frustration at what is happening in the world. This was somewhat long but it is a big deal to me, all of the following.

We have so many people who only want things their way and no one else’s. We cannot do that, not anywhere in the world. The world’s population is growing and it ‘ain’t’ gonna stop, not in our lifetimes and as such, we cannot afford to say, okay, this part of the world, we’re only going to have Sharia law where women are 2nd class (or less) and girls cannot go to school. Here, in this part of the world, it is only for the white race and no gays. Are you serious? ARE YOU BONKERS!!!! We have men and women; we have blacks, whites, Chinese, Arabs, Latinos; we have atheists and Christians and Muslims; we have gays and lesbians and heterosexuals; we have older and younger; and on and on and on. We have got to stop treating people like they are not welcome in any part of the world. But in order to do so, we have to get more people to realize that their way is not the only way – and I mean this for those religious groups who have one way of life or for those who believe that their race (skin color) is the superior race…

America What is happening to us? We, here in America, are supposed to be the leaders of the free world and we STILL have all these racial, religious, class issues here in this country. We cannot lead the world if we cannot first learn to live and work together!!! Yes, conservatives have their say, just as liberals and other parties have their say or thought process. But whatever happened to helping each other? We need to help each other up even if it means getting our own soft hands a bit dirty to ensure everyone is being pulled up. However, when you become polarized and antagonistic towards other different groups JUST because they are different – then you slow down or even halt progress. Just because you, hypothetical you in this case, grew up in a nice neighborhood and your family had a decent income to live off of, it does not mean that others who did not have that same luxury are beneath you. They, these lower class individuals whom you look down on (if you even notice them), just never had the same opportunities as you did. And on top of that, if you continue to suppress them, errr, deny them opportunities to grow – they will remain in that economic miasma. What are you afraid of, the other person’s skin color? Religion or lack of? Gender? Sexual preference? Dearth of education? Why?

Sacrifice Many people have to go through sacrifice to get to where they are today. It may mean breaking a glass ceiling for women. It might mean someone of a different skin color going through agonizing periods of time to attain a spot in society that means middle class or better. It might mean someone hiding their homosexuality in work environments that are strictly homophobic – for years! All of these people have to suffer through the same bloody things. To become equals in society, they have to endure emotional humiliation and even physical pain every day. They have to endure stupidity from those around them and these individuals spewing stupidity may not be the best and the brightest our society has to offer – even though, sometimes it is our best and brightest (who years later may say that they do not recall ever doing horrible things to others). For many of us, sacrificing multiple things in our lives for a period of time to reach a milestone is a fulfilling thing. However, many people should ‘not’ have to suffer needlessly and foolishly to achieve any goal – but really, NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO SUFFER needlessly and foolishly to grow in their lives. We all will need to sacrifice something in order for the world to grow as one.

Commonsense Just because you believe in one thing and only act in one manner, you are not on this planet alone. You are amongst hundreds of millions of people who want a better way of life. Or who just want to live a peaceful life, one where you can walk the streets without people locking their car doors as you approach. It might be a world where you can be a woman without every single guy in the world hitting on you just because you smiled back out of niceness. Some want a world where they do not care if you practice a different religion from them but that you allow them to practice their religion in peace without being castigated for it. Each and every single one of us has to look out for the others, especially the weaker. We have to protect those who have a difficult time protecting themselves or cannot. We have to get past the notion that skin color means something. It does not really and I mean that respectfully. It only means your ancestors were born in a different part of the world at a very, very different and difficult time. And I’m not talking about the religious 6,000 years ago when the world was created. I am talking about the scientifically recognized time of millions of years ago as humans evolved and developed (if you disagree, I am sorry and that is your right). Many people today who believe they are of a pure race would be shocked to discover (if they underwent a DNA genetics test) that they are not as pure as they believed. When are we, as a collective race of people, going to start recognizing as a whole that we should not be letting skin color separate us, marking us as totally different? Or in the case of some misguided groups, that skin color or religion marks you a lower class individual (Hitler and the Jews, KKK and blacks, etc.) When are ‘more’ of us going to start recognizing that mixed race marriages or relationships are going to continue to grow and there is nothing wrong with that? Is it wrong in your eyes?

Today! Personally, I’ve been waiting for decades for the world, but America specifically, to grow and appreciate the possibilities of synergy of mixed races and to get past stupid and meaningless racism. I continue to believe that we are getting better but watching the news seeing some individual in Norway (2011) blow up a building and shoot up an island summer camp because of racism – it makes me saddened. Then you read about some nut jobs who want to join some group but need to track and target gays or blacks and kill them, just because they are different and as part of the groups’ initiation process. I cry when I see these kinds of stories in 2013, I cry because I still have that little bit of optimism in me that says we will get better, we will be better. What is happening to us, are we devolving to lesser peoples, only concerned with little old me?

Harvey Fierstein was on “All in with Chris Hayes” (Wed., Aug 14, 2013) in regards to Russia and that country’s anti-gay laws. Harvey was fired up about this and equated it to Hitler and how the people of the time, over time, let the little things continue to go by until they became big things, and well, you know how that ended. Jews were massacred. Well, it is the same with gays this time, the Winter Olympics at Sochi 2014. How can an entire country, or most of the population still have such a difficult time moving forward into the future, here in 2013? How can so many people be so conservative that they allow gays to be beaten in the streets and arrested? How can this be? Iran is the same, recall Ahmadinejad stating that there are no gays in Iran. Something has to be done, around the world as a hold in getting countries to change their regressive ways of thinking and beliefs. And it means that the people of the world have to unite.

I recall, during the week of Martin L. King Jr.’s death, my being asked to give his “I have a dream” speech to the student body. I have held the same thoughts ever since, about his dream, but adding the inclusiveness of gays and people of all religions, or no religion. I still harbor these desires…

Lastly, it does not matter to me what your skin color is, how old/young you are, what your gender is, what religion you are nor your sexual preference. What matters to me is your character – your integrity and ethics, these are what matter to me. Can you reciprocate?