Well, let's pile on shall we. I like to be the voice of reason when people cry racism. I do believe the racism card is played way too often and America is the least racist country in the world. That is why they have to grasp on to non-racist quotes and twist them to be racist. Like Rush Limbaugh when he made the comment that the media wouldn't care about Donovan McNabb if he was white. That's an anti-media comment, not an anti-black comment. That is why when I saw on the ticker while watching the NBA playoffs, "Clippers owner Donald Sterling being investigated for racist remarks reported on TMZ" I was skeptical. First, I don't consider TMZ very reliable. I quickly googled the TMZ recording and heard it for myself before the media tried to influence my thinking. Well, this time, the media seemed to be dead on. I will preface all this by saying I am assuming that the tape is authentic, hasn't been altered and the male voice is Donald Sterling. I've never heard Donald Sterling speak so I have no way to identify that voice as his and given that guys like Frank Caliendo can expertly mimic other voices, it is possible that it is an impersonation.
All day yesterday, I tried to make sense of the comments. The male voice believed to be Sterling was upset because his girlfriend posted a picture of Magic Johnson. He tells her "People will think you're associating with the enemy." Alright, fine, this may not be because Magic Johnson's black. This may be because he represents the Lakers as he was a star for the Lakers. He does say later that Magic Johnson should be admired. Maybe it's a LA Clipper vs. LA Lakers rivalry. I can handle that. Another aspect of it, maybe he doesn't like that she's being photographed with another man in general. A lot of guys are insecure in their relationships and don't want people to think their girl is cheating on them so if they're walking/photographing in public with other men, it gives gossippers fuel to think this. I know men like this. To believe any of these things, however, would be doing exactly what I blame people that grasp on to any remark and twist it to be racist for doing; ignoring what was actually said. Sterling specifically says people will talk about you associating with black people. His entire issue is the public perception of her being seen with black people. This is so asinine and retarded to me that I hoped the tape was a fake. I mean, public perception and society is literally the last place where you will receive condemnation for associating with minorities. Later he says, "If you want to fuck them fine, if you want to have them over privately fine, but not publicly and don't bring them to my games." This comment really baffled me. I know racist people. I've traveled extensively to Europe where they are extremely unapologetic of their racism. This is not consistent with any type of racism I've seen. For lack of a better word, "interbreeding" or having intercourse (I hate the term "slept with") with a person of another race is the worst thing you can do to a racist. Sterling seemed okay with that but not okay with being seen in public with them? It just made no sense to me. Anyone who believes that "the people" would be against someone hanging out and photographing with minorities in America, has absolutely no grasp of reality and is just plain stupid (ironically, Sterling calls his girlfriend stupid for not realizing that society is against it). To make this even funnier, his girlfriend is half Mexican; half black. Sterling calls her white in the video. I've seen a picture of her, she looks Latina. Did he really not know her background? During the video the girlfriend tells him a couple times of her background. How did he not know? He just says, "You just want to fight me. You're a fighter" and "You don't understand" Well you know what? I don't understand either!
Now that I had garnered my opinions, I listened to the media. Exactly what I expected: Whites and Blacks alike showing how upset they were over the comments. Like me, they were pissed that it was overshadowing what is an amazing first round of the NBA playoffs. It wasn't until Sportscenter this morning that I was given confirmation to what I already believed and an explanation for the mentality which I didn't think made any sense. Baron Davis, who was an amazing player for Golden State, then he went to the Clippers and didn't play so well. I never really understood why. Full disclosure, when he went to other teams, he didn't play that well either. But in an interview last week, before the TMZ video, Baron Davis calls Sterling "Delusional." That's exactly what someone who believes that American society would be against someone associating with a race that is not their own is; delusional! I still didn't get an explanation for the mentality until David West posted his comment, "It is plantation mentality, make money off the bucks, lay with the women, nothing in public." It is known that slave owners had sex with their slaves. Yes, they made money off the men's work in the field. No they weren't public about it. I loathe when people reference slavery for any black issue, but, in this instance, it absolutely fits. Well said David West. You are exactly right!
The Clippers players should focus on trying to win the series. I am routing for the Warriors, but I don't want to see them win based on a forfeit or a strike by the Clippers. Leave the striking and such after the playoffs are over if the league hasn't stepped in and ended it before then. The commissioner said that he is planning on finishing the investigation in the next couple of days. The playoffs are over in June. It could be sooner for the Clippers, but that remains to be seen. I don't like the media forcing business owners to govern their businesses. I am a firm believer in private businesses and CEO's and owners can do whatever they want with their businesses. That being said, Doc Rivers, and every black athlete on the Clippers are not forced to work for an owner that believes what Sterling does. If Sterling wants to try to make a team of white people...good luck! Not only would they have to be White, they would have to be White and not mind a racist or the public ridicule they would face for being a scab worker for a racist. Like I said, good luck with that one! But Sterling should understand that. After all, wasn't the issue what "The people" will think?"
After all this, I have concluded that Sterling's comments are completely indefensible. There is no truth in it. It can't even be seen as simply being politically incorrect or truth that people don't want to hear. It's exactly what the mainstream media has called it ranging from asinine, to bozo, to no place for it in today's society. Not only is it racist, it's flat out untrue! It is wrong in every sense of the word; morally and factually!
Autographed copies of my book The World Hasn't Progressed in 5,000 years can be bought at the bottom of this page
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Remember the Alamo
Ah the Alamo, we all know the expression, "Remember the Alamo." What happened there? Oh yea, it was a massacre by the Mexican army; they came in and killed a bunch of Americans including Davie Crockett. Was it a war? Was it an invasion of the United States? What is the significance? Or is it simply where we lost a battle?
The Alamo to me is a microcosm of the way the Union views the South. The general of the Alamo requested back up because a Mexican attack was imminent but the request was ignored. Kind of like Benghazi wouldn't you say? No, not really. Although, technically the U.S. Consulate is United States territory, even the surrounding area of the Alamo is still in the United States. As I looked into it, I wondered what it is that spurred men to rally behind it. Was it the ruthlessness of the Mexican army? How vicious were they? Did you know that many of the soldiers brought their wives and children with them into the Alamo because they believed it to be the safest spot? Well, we know all the soldiers in the Alamo were killed so what did the ruthless, barbarous Mexicans do to those women and children???
The Mexican general told them to go home and spread the word of what they did to their husbands and fathers. You can spin that as insensitive and a little like Natural Born Killers but I actually think it was quite gentlemanly of them. My conclusion is that the Mexican army's actions and nature were not what caused the uprising but merely the bravery of the men that stood and fought even though they were going to die. Much like the 300 Spartans inspired a nation but the 300 Spartans took their fair share of Persians before perishing. Those in the Alamo didn't do so well. I'm not sure where the inspiration came from.
The history of how Texas became part of the United States when it was Mexican territory is what most fascinated me. When Texas was a Mexican territory, Americans emigrated there and flocked there in droves to get away from the oppressive American laws. The Mexicans began to worry that Americans were outnumbering Mexicans almost 10-1. A few years after this population shift, the Mexican succession happened. See any parallels? Now the Mexicans are coming to America to escape the harsh living conditions of Mexico. They say that even if no illegal immigrants come, the breeding rate of the Latinos vs. the Whites will lead to more Latinos than Whites by 2020. Interesting how these things seem to reverse themselves in less than 200 years.
Autographed copies of my book The World Hasn't Progressed in 5,000 Years can be bought at the bottom of this page.
The Alamo to me is a microcosm of the way the Union views the South. The general of the Alamo requested back up because a Mexican attack was imminent but the request was ignored. Kind of like Benghazi wouldn't you say? No, not really. Although, technically the U.S. Consulate is United States territory, even the surrounding area of the Alamo is still in the United States. As I looked into it, I wondered what it is that spurred men to rally behind it. Was it the ruthlessness of the Mexican army? How vicious were they? Did you know that many of the soldiers brought their wives and children with them into the Alamo because they believed it to be the safest spot? Well, we know all the soldiers in the Alamo were killed so what did the ruthless, barbarous Mexicans do to those women and children???
The Mexican general told them to go home and spread the word of what they did to their husbands and fathers. You can spin that as insensitive and a little like Natural Born Killers but I actually think it was quite gentlemanly of them. My conclusion is that the Mexican army's actions and nature were not what caused the uprising but merely the bravery of the men that stood and fought even though they were going to die. Much like the 300 Spartans inspired a nation but the 300 Spartans took their fair share of Persians before perishing. Those in the Alamo didn't do so well. I'm not sure where the inspiration came from.
The history of how Texas became part of the United States when it was Mexican territory is what most fascinated me. When Texas was a Mexican territory, Americans emigrated there and flocked there in droves to get away from the oppressive American laws. The Mexicans began to worry that Americans were outnumbering Mexicans almost 10-1. A few years after this population shift, the Mexican succession happened. See any parallels? Now the Mexicans are coming to America to escape the harsh living conditions of Mexico. They say that even if no illegal immigrants come, the breeding rate of the Latinos vs. the Whites will lead to more Latinos than Whites by 2020. Interesting how these things seem to reverse themselves in less than 200 years.
Autographed copies of my book The World Hasn't Progressed in 5,000 Years can be bought at the bottom of this page.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
What school didn't teach you about WWII
I recently took a cross country road trip across the south of America. As I visited many places, I got a huge American history lesson that I never learned in school. I have found a lot of things out about FDR that has made me doubt his status as one of our greatest presidents. The New Deal made a recession into the Great Depression and his subsidies to farmers and sugar producers led to high fructose corn syrup and all the synthetic crap in our American foods, which makes us by far the unhealthiest food in the world. I didn't think my view of him would change too much when I visited New Orleans of all places.
If you're like me, New Orleans would not be the place you'd think of getting a World War II history lesson. When I went there, I was looking forward to the Jambalaya, Gumbo and Cajun food. I must say that it was the best food on the trip. I had the freshest seafood I've had anywhere in the United States, and I've lived near a giant body of water my entire life. As I was randomly wandering around the city, I happened upon the D-Day museum. I must confess I was surprised to find this in New Orleans. I went inside and looked around and then in the main room, I saw a carrier boat with a caption. "Why is the D-day museum in New Orleans? Because as President Eisenhower stated to Dr. Stephen Ambrose 'Andrew Jackson Higgins is the man who won the war for us. Without Higgins designed boars that could land over open beaches the whole strategy of the war would have to be rethought.'
Fact, in September 1943, the very middle of the war, the American navy totaled 14,072 vessels of these 12,964, or 92% of the entire U.S. Navy, were designed by Higgins industries."
I had never heard of Higgins. Some people know about Higgins boats, but did they know he was from New Orleans? Did they know that he had 7 factories in New Orleans building ships? Did they know that they produced a navy ship every hour? I certainly didn't. It appalls me that in my American education, I had no idea of Higgins. This guy should be as famous as General Patton!
Back to FDR. Although I believe he forced the Japanese to attack us at Pearl Harbor by refusing to speak to them and he desperately wanted us to get into war. I have to hand it to him. At the start of the war, the American army was a small fraction of the German and Japanese armies. We were ranked 18th in the world, behind Romania (Guess World War I didn't raise our ranking too much). I don't give him any credit for the 1% unemployment. He initiated a draft, sent most of the workforce to war and had the rest, mostly women, replace them. Forcing them to war so they are no longer considered unemployed doesn't impress me much. He then went about multiple ads and campaigns telling Americans to sacrifice and give back to the war effort. The point is though....it worked. American production exploded. We popped out ships, planes, ammunition, tires, etc. etc. anything that our boys at war needed. Heavily supplied with the might of American work ethic and production, we won the war.
Unfortunately America isn't producing anymore. Maybe it's because we are the greatest nation so we can export that out and focus on the higher business aspects much like a lawyer focuses on preparing his argument in case but his secretary and paralegals do the research and typing for him. The american work ethic isn't dead though. If one travels the world, you see that people in other countries not only don't work as hard as we do, they brag about it and look down at us for living to work. It was FDR that started this culture of work within us. But 85% of American entrepreneurs are either immigrants or children of immigrants. We are losing our sense of pride as hard working producing machines. Could you imagine telling someone now to not get new tires because the army needs it more than you do? That is exactly what World War II ads said. No, we had wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the only thing we may have been asked to sacrifice was slightly higher gas prices...and yes we bitched about that!!! that is why the World War II generation calls themselves the greatest generation. But I am an advocate of selfishness but I believe Americans need to remember what led us to greatness; our work ethic and our ability to produce quickly and efficiently.
Autographed copies of my book the World Hasn't Progressed in 5,000 years can be bought at the bottom of this page
If you're like me, New Orleans would not be the place you'd think of getting a World War II history lesson. When I went there, I was looking forward to the Jambalaya, Gumbo and Cajun food. I must say that it was the best food on the trip. I had the freshest seafood I've had anywhere in the United States, and I've lived near a giant body of water my entire life. As I was randomly wandering around the city, I happened upon the D-Day museum. I must confess I was surprised to find this in New Orleans. I went inside and looked around and then in the main room, I saw a carrier boat with a caption. "Why is the D-day museum in New Orleans? Because as President Eisenhower stated to Dr. Stephen Ambrose 'Andrew Jackson Higgins is the man who won the war for us. Without Higgins designed boars that could land over open beaches the whole strategy of the war would have to be rethought.'
Fact, in September 1943, the very middle of the war, the American navy totaled 14,072 vessels of these 12,964, or 92% of the entire U.S. Navy, were designed by Higgins industries."
I had never heard of Higgins. Some people know about Higgins boats, but did they know he was from New Orleans? Did they know that he had 7 factories in New Orleans building ships? Did they know that they produced a navy ship every hour? I certainly didn't. It appalls me that in my American education, I had no idea of Higgins. This guy should be as famous as General Patton!
Back to FDR. Although I believe he forced the Japanese to attack us at Pearl Harbor by refusing to speak to them and he desperately wanted us to get into war. I have to hand it to him. At the start of the war, the American army was a small fraction of the German and Japanese armies. We were ranked 18th in the world, behind Romania (Guess World War I didn't raise our ranking too much). I don't give him any credit for the 1% unemployment. He initiated a draft, sent most of the workforce to war and had the rest, mostly women, replace them. Forcing them to war so they are no longer considered unemployed doesn't impress me much. He then went about multiple ads and campaigns telling Americans to sacrifice and give back to the war effort. The point is though....it worked. American production exploded. We popped out ships, planes, ammunition, tires, etc. etc. anything that our boys at war needed. Heavily supplied with the might of American work ethic and production, we won the war.
Unfortunately America isn't producing anymore. Maybe it's because we are the greatest nation so we can export that out and focus on the higher business aspects much like a lawyer focuses on preparing his argument in case but his secretary and paralegals do the research and typing for him. The american work ethic isn't dead though. If one travels the world, you see that people in other countries not only don't work as hard as we do, they brag about it and look down at us for living to work. It was FDR that started this culture of work within us. But 85% of American entrepreneurs are either immigrants or children of immigrants. We are losing our sense of pride as hard working producing machines. Could you imagine telling someone now to not get new tires because the army needs it more than you do? That is exactly what World War II ads said. No, we had wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the only thing we may have been asked to sacrifice was slightly higher gas prices...and yes we bitched about that!!! that is why the World War II generation calls themselves the greatest generation. But I am an advocate of selfishness but I believe Americans need to remember what led us to greatness; our work ethic and our ability to produce quickly and efficiently.
Autographed copies of my book the World Hasn't Progressed in 5,000 years can be bought at the bottom of this page
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