Kim Kardashian vs. Manti Te'o: Media Frenzy

I know already, it has been two days and you have probably heard the name Manti Te’o a billion times. The media circus forgot about Kim Kardashian’s baby bump and flocked to Indiana to swarm the most decorated linebacker in college football history. Why though? Catfishing. Now you’re really confused. Catfishing is a scam where one person takes on a fake identity on the internet for personal gain or revenge. Apparently, Notre Dame football player, Manti Te’o , was a victim of such scam, or so he says. On Tuesday, Notre Dame released a statement basically saying that Manti was a victim of an internet plot to trick him, but this is most likely not the case. In an interview with ESPN in October, Manti Teo started out by saying, “I’ve seen the most beautiful girl I have ever met,” leading watchers of the interview to believe he had actually met his girlfriend. In fact, it was reported that the two met at a Stanford game last year, but Teo’s story keeps changing. The fact is, there is nobody alive going by the name of Lennay Kakua, she never attended Stanford, or died in California of Leukemia. Some have insinuated that Manti Teo was “complicit in the fraud” for self-promotion (ESPN). Not a bad consequence for someone who is the most decorated Linebacker in college football history. If Teo is found to be complicit, expect his draft status to go further down after his stunning lack of performance against Alabama in the national title game. I think an even bigger question than the whole story itself is the fact that people are finding this out so late. I keep asking myself, Why are we finding this out three months after the fact? The biggest issue of this story is not really the hoax that Teo may or may not have been a part of, but is the fact that the media used his dying girlfriend story and never once confirmed any details of the story. Not one reporter looked her up to find a facebook or media page. Not one reporter found out that she never existed. Not one reporter thought it was weird that nobody had ever seen Lennay Kakua, in person. The greatest fraud here isn’t the fraud to Manti Teo, it’s to the fans who expect our media to confirm sources. An even worse fraud is having national stories about a football player’s girlfriend, when we have the next Vietnam occurring in Mali, Africa. And the biggest fraud going on here, is not a single reporter will face backlash because they throw up their arms saying, “Sorry, I was duped.” There are apparently many facts that we have been yet told by Notre Dame, Manti Teo, investigators, and the soon to be found out perpetrators. Be ready for the media snakes to cover this until the end. Sorry Kim Kardashian, you should have waited for your divorce to go through before you decided to have a baby.

Mitt Romney: Panda Bear or Panderer

After watching the week long Republican National Convention citizens of the United States are to believe that Mitt Romney is a loving person who cares about EVERYONE in the USA, including the poor, middle class, women, even minority groups. I must admit, there was about 3 seconds of the entire week where I almost thought, “Mitt Romney is a nice guy.” Then I woke up to the reality of both his parties politics and the fact that Mitt Romney is not a loving panda bear, more like a panderer. In the days of the convention we saw what Mitt Romney plans to do with public education, much like that of speaker Governor Scott Walker (WI). Walker made draconian cuts to the public education system paralyzing the famous college system of Wisconsin Universities. Teachers in the public system barely get by, making abysmal wages of that of people with no degrees at all (unlike Walker who makes over a hundred thousand). You see, Scott Walker never even graduated college. It amazes me how an entire state can elect a guy who has the credentials of high school graduate. If a major company hired a person with similar credentials as their CEO, there would be a stock sell-off. Scott Walker may be charismatic, smart, even likeable, but mostly he is a poster child for what is wrong with the system of our government. He has accepted major donations from sources outside of his state in the millions of dollars, sidestepping campaign laws and loop-holes. David Koch, noted conservative businessman from New York, donated one million to the Walker cause. In a sting operation by liberal journalists in New York, they taped Walker having a pretend conversation with a fake Koch, praising Walker on his win over unions. Walker gleamed in the spot light and bragged about his ability to give it to the working man. If only the working man had access to college in Wisconsin it wouldn’t have seen the worst unemployment stats in the first year of Walker’s tenure as Governor. As the week continued we heard from Mitt’s wife, Ann, who I must say I admire. Anyone who can put up with such a polarizing figure must be a saint. Ann talked to Americans about her husband and how he is a good father and loving husband. In a descent marriage, I guess that is just something that most Americans expect. I mean, if she would have come out and called him an “abusive bastard,” that would have for sure locked up Obama’s presidency for the next four years. In all seriousness Ann did an excellent job portraying her husband, unfortunately his party kind of ruins her picture as a man who cares about women. The Republican Party is opposed to all abortions in all cases, plain and simple. This is a view that is so far right that almost fifty percent of voters are lost already. Then we have Republicans in the last fews years spewing comments like that of Sam Brownback. He said he doesn’t want to deny women’s rights but if you want birth control, “…go work somewhere else.” Rick Santorum said, “… Birth control is not O.K., because it’s a license to do sexual things.” Jennine Notter (R) of New Hampshire released a statement that linked birth control to prostate cancer. I am not sure if she is unaware that women lack prostates. In any case, Mitt has followed his party to the T on major issues, and birth control and abortion are no exception. Romney pandered big time to the elderly using a time tested tactic of Hollywood stars to support his cause. Democrats have used this tactic for years, the only difference is that they are good at it. Using Clint Eastwood at the convention seemed more like a prop than the chair he referred to in his speech. I don’t know how to mention this to Republicans, or any party, but Americans want a plan that isn’t “cut everything” or “do nothing.” They want clear ideas of the future and someone who offers them an excellent chance at a stable economic recovery along with educational and financial goals. They want to be able to invest in the stock market, send their kids to public school, afford college, see their retirement (without the age increase), hold a steady job, increase the value of their home, and not go to another God-forsaken war. This nation wants fairness with taxes, not tax breaks for the wealthy with the middle class picking up the bill later. The nation wants to rebuild, and we are ready. We need investment away from our military (ITS PEACE TIME) and more towards our education system. If anything, our kids cannot sustain a job in this economy or any economy when they have to compete against India and China, which may I add that they are investing in education too. Overall, I would say that the Republican Convention was and has been (the last few elections) a tool to rile up the Republican base, while ignoring your average voter. Which it doesn’t surprise me that Republicans barely won with Bush (maybe didn’t) and lost with McCain. Ladies and gentlemen, I am not one to predict outcomes, but our country is changing for a better government and society. Americans, specifically children have access to healthcare, we have caught our nemesis Osama Bin Laden, and we no longer have to worry about our children dying overseas. Our home prices are making a comeback, our economy is slowly moving forward, but we have a long way to go. My prediction is that Mitt Romney will not win this election, not because he isn’t successful or a great candidate, but because he would make a great president in 1980. It’s not Mitt’s time, and as long as Republicans continue their 1950-1980 ideology, it won’t be their time.

Class Conflict.... Alive and Thriving

Imagine a world where the middle class no longer exists. Imagine a world where the richest in their class take a strangle hold on those below them and work them for every ounce of blood and sweat. Imagine a world where paychecks continue to drop, taxes are higher (only on the middle and lower class), and unions become less influential because in most states it is illegal to organize. These are the times of our age the 2010's. As Republicans get ready to square off against President Obama, their mouths are watering and waiting for the opportunity to grill him over his economic shortfalls. I must admit, I am disappointed with much of the work the President has done with trying to enhance our economy, but the Republicans in this country have a list of zero's on their side as well.

In fact, in a recent push to increase job production in the U.S., President Obama tried pushing a bill through the Senate that many claim would have helped construction workers, education (teachers), firefighters, police, and veterans. The bill met a wall of Republican Elephants who said the bill cost too much. Being Conservative and all, I think they believe wasting billions of dollars in Afghanistan and Iraq is a much better investment. Better idea! Lets spend 17 billion dollars on 75 F22 Raptors. What an investment in the future.

Some people see security as an American soldier carrying a light machine gun through the streets of some 3rd World country. Others see security as a paycheck, a job, or being able to afford their home. As paychecks continuously go down in the U.S., CEO paychecks have increased, even after the major bank and car company bailouts. As the richest 1% get richer in the U.S., they are hoping to get even more richer as the Republicans try to lower taxes on the top 1% of wage earners, a trend that started to erase the middle class since President Reagan. As taxes fell to new lows on the richest Americans, higher costs fell on most of our parents. Education and college costs were raised due to less federal spending, again, double hitting the middle class. Now is the time to act. The 9-9-9 plan proposed by Herman Cain and similar plans to lower taxes on the richest 1% of Americans needs to stop NOW. For every percentage point they lower taxes on the rich, it is billions upon billions of taxes that get raised on the middle class. Enough is enough.

I always hear our upper class individuals talk about how people like me bring about class conflict in our society and how it breeds hate for the upper class. Let me remind you that the conflict that exists remains because your responsibility of taking care of the lower classes, you know, the ones who work at minimum wage to supply your bank cophers, are sick and tired. With our health care benefits being taken away, our pay checks decreasing, education and taxes rising, we refuse to pay the load so that millionaires and billionaires can live comfortably in both their summer and winter homes. I refuse to pay more so that they can own 3-4 expensive cars, while mine is bought used and is rusting out. I refuse to pay more so that their kids can have no responsibilities, while mine may have to work at age 16 to help our family survive. I refuse to pay more so that they can purchase expensive dresses, shoes, diamonds, jewelry, exotic animals, or rolex watches while I struggle to pay for my gasoline so I can drive to work.

I won't pay more. And if I have it my way, those who make more than 1 million dollars will pay more. I refuse to pay one dime more. I am the middle class American. There are more of me, than there are of you. I will out vote you in the next election. I will succeed in making sure I live more comfortably, all the while I will succeed in making sure our upper class think twice before they purchase their 5th car. I am the middle class. I am one, but we are many.

The Koch brothers are the Real Terrorists

About a year ago the state of Wisconsin was in an uproar when Governor Scott Walker was pushing an anti-union bill down the throats of Wisconsin workers, teachers, and public servants. A sting operation by a New York reporter, Ian Murphy, revealed that Walker and David Koch (multibillionaire) had some backroom deals that show the class divide between the richest one percent of Americans and those who struggle to pay their bills, or middle class. It seems like the Koch brothers are at it again; only recently were they found to be aiding and abetting the enemy by selling petrochemical materials to the Iranian government. That's right, our very own American businessmen are selling materials to a country who not only do we have an embargo with, they are state sponsors of terror.

The Koch brothers are the epitome of what is wrong with our business laws and tax codes for multinational companies. These companies often run outside of American laws under subsidiary companies and are entirely against workers rights to strike or deal with management. Not only do these companies break most American labor laws, but they sell materials to a known state terrorist organization. The Koch brothers would sell crack cocaine to an 80 year old if they could make a dime off it. In all seriousness, after hearing the news that Koch-Glitsch subsidiary sold materials to Iran, I was outraged. During World War II this would be considered treasonous to send materials to the Japanese. In Vietnam, vets despised Hanoi Jane Fonda for doing a photo shoot with the enemy. Now, we find out that American businessmen are finding loopholes in our legal system to sell materials to a country who has been actively attacking troops in Iraq.

Join me in denouncing the Koch industries label by boycotting the purchase of Brawny tissue, Quilted Northern, Angel Soft, Vanity Fair, and Dixie products. Maybe we can send these dip-shits a call that when you aid and abed the enemy, you pay for it in America.

God bless everyone, even the Koch brothers.

Ayn Rand: Conservative Favorite, Atheist Best Friend

The last couple of days I have been researching conservative theories on conflict, economies, and war. I came across a book written by Ayn Rand which comments on statism. Rand wrote in a section of her book about how communism/socialism and peace movements are parts of "statist" ideology. She went on to say that peace movements only fight to stop war where the participants on one side have weapons while the othe side sees the worst of genocide. In her analysis of peace movements she assumes that such movements allow for dictatorships.
In my participation within peace movements, most if not all of the participants want justice. War is not fair, nor just. The weak almost entirely die or are targeted at some point, even with our so-called "smart weapons." As a Christian society in America we jump sometimes at the thought of taking out terrorists, a euphemism often used to describe people who disagree with American policymakers. The word terrorist has been used to describe countless figure in the last ten years and has nearly lost its true meaning, but that is not the point of this essay. As Christians we need to look at the gospels to see what Jesus thought of war. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus commented on acts of violence while he was about to be arrested. Jesus said, "Put your sword back in its place..."for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." Jesus doesn't seem to literally say that we will die because w lift the sword in body; he is talking about our spirit. A part of us dies whenever we cause violence on another. Our souls are stricken when we support policies that murder, kill, and even take the lives of criminals.
Let us remember the last act that God revealed for us on Earth. While dying on the cross Jesus forgave the men who had committed crimes. Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." A great example for all to forgive others for their sins.
As a major influence in philosophy Rand has presented a conservative dialogue on how economic systems should forget about the lower classes of people because in her ideology it takes away from individualism. She is pro-low taxes on the rich, anti-government with regard to social programs, and atheist in nature. She believes that religion irrational, something most conservatives who follow her ideology never mention. At best, her books present a philosophy of hatred for the underclass, something to resent from the middle and upper classes. Jesus teaches us to love our brother, but Rand would argue he wasn't even God.
As we move into another year where politicians will debate social and economic theories and proposals, if you hear any arguments that mention Ayn Rand, realize her theory of economic development is much like her theory on religion. It's ludicrous, selfish, and utterly despicable.

Love, love, love, crazy love.

Christmas Time

Hello everyone...

Tis the season to be jolly and happy. Well, that is at least until you see that you over spent your paycheck on gifts for people that they really do not need. don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. It is the season that Christians celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ, the Lord in the flesh. One thing that I think Christ would be unhappy about is the way that we truly do not follow his word. God tells us to be simple, to come last, to offer help to others, and to love everyone. Often people get the wrong idea about what love is and think that it has something to do with giving outrageous amounts of money or gifts. Love is not material. It is the way we act towards one another, giving a helping hand, offering to help out a friend, giving to the needy (not giving the rich in expectation to receive more), praying for a special someone, or just doing a favor to lighten the load for someone else. These ideas enumerate love. Remember your friends and family and take time to say I love you to some close to you. Share with them a handshake or hug and remember that this year’s time of giving doesn’t have to include a $20 gift certificate or a new stereo. Show your friends and family you really love them by talking to them or giving a helping hand.

Also, I would like to mention the death of actress Britney Murphy. Her talent on this Earth was beyond most actresses of her time. I pray and hope your family the best. Godspeed and rest in peace.

Halloween

One of the greatest holidays in the world is constantly under attack each year. Some years Halloween is known for its unsafe candy (with razor blades), pedophiles handing out candy, or gang members initiating new members by holding up kids for their candy. The simple truth is that Halloween is relatively safe. In U.S.A Today, statistics reveal that 2.2 deaths per Halloween are caused by cars hitting children. Some reports say that this is more than two times more likely to happen on Halloween, but fail to reveal that probably 20-50 times more children are crossing the street at night on Halloween.

Also, we have all heard the urban legend that children get poisoned by people giving out trick or treat candy. In actuality, no such case has ever been discovered in the U.S. WOW, pretty lame story for how many times people pretend it happens.

Now this year, family members are worried about the swine flu being spread throughout the community by people spreading it hand to hand. Even Barack Obama has made it a national emergency. I question why it is such an emergency? Are medical companies going to make millions upon billions on these vaccines? Of course they are. To date, less than 115 people have died from swine flu this year (Centers for Disease Control). As of 2006, 73.7 million children under age 18 were in the United States. Thus, one in 640,869 children will die of swine flu. More children a year die of pneumonia, diarrhea, drowning, HIV, tuberculosis, suicide, etc. Which means, leave your child in a bubble if you want them safe.

Listen parents, Halloween couldn't really get much safer. Please consider being safe while trick or treating by participating in groups, having parental supervision, and providing flash lights and reflective gear for your child. Halloween is safe for the soul and the body, just don't get a tummy ache by eating too much candy!