Sith Lords Run the White House?

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Steve Bannon represents a group of people who are the epitome of hate and bigotry, and that coincides with his vision of America being a very extreme place. The problem isn’t Steve Bannon – the problem is, characters like Steve Bannon find employment and comfort in the Trump administration.

Shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration, recently removed White House Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon infamously said this about the media: “They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the President of the United States.” Those two lines might be the wisest words ever uttered by Bannon. Not only do those lines accurately describe media outlets and the 24-hour frenzy following Trump’s November victory, but it also describes Steve Bannon himself and his role in the Trump administration.

Prior to being removed from his newly created White House position, Bannon was never the face of the administration. But many feared that his influence and most importantly his ideals would weigh heavily on the policies implemented by the Trump administration. Bannon seemed to have the feel of a Star Wars Sith Lord, and he nefariously embraced that image. The fear of Bannon was real, and his background had all the makings of being on the wrong side of history. From his workings at Breitbart to being labeled racist and anti-Semitic – Sith Lord Bannon, I mean Steve Bannon, luckily wasn’t on the job long enough for any of his true influence to transpire.

So, what does this mean?

For starters, a man like Bannon should’ve never held a position in the White House given his history. Imagine if President Obama had appointed the likes of Louis Farrakhan to “anything” in the White House. The outrage would’ve been immediate! If conservatives and pundits can spend weeks talking about a strapless dress worn by Michelle Obama, I’m pretty sure a Farrakhan appointment would be as action packed as the 9th installment of Fast and Furious. Nonetheless, Bannon was appointed under the title “Chief Strategist.” One would have to conclude that by selecting a man with such a past who has strong views and ideologies the Trump administration had plans to carry out or at least incorporate many of the same views and ideologies. Bannon being in the White House really isn’t of consequence, but the notion that he is able to call the White House a place of employment is of major consequence.

Going forward, those not cheering for Sith Lords and the dark side, I mean non-Trump supporters, must not bother with the musical chairs of job placement within the Trump administration. What’s most important is why certain people are there.

Post Charlottesville, Trump has made it clear there isn’t a clear line between which side of right he stands. That ambiguous stance translating towards true policy has yet to be seen, and like Bannon being fired, I hope it stays out of the White House.

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Venezuela: A Nation Divided And Why It Matters, Pt. II

by with No Comment International

(Part I includes reasons 1 and 2)

Here are reasons 3 – 5 why the crisis in Venezuela matters to not just you, but to everyone else in the world.

III. It could turn Venezuelans to hate America in the region

  • Dictators in Latin America love to find sentiment to rage against the United States. From Fidel Castro’s passionate denunciations of the American “imperialists” to Venezuelans late president Hugo Chavez, who spoke out against George W. Bush at the UN in 2006.
  • So it’s no surprise that Maduro is using the same rhetoric to stoke up flames of anti-American sentiment throughout the region.
  • Latin Americans are cautious and sensitive to what some consider “imperialist” policies coming from Washington, making it very easy for leaders like Maduro to build up dissent for the United States.
  • With this being said, it is important for the U.S. to play an active role in Latin America so that it can combat the negative remarks and false images that dictators are trying to create.

 

IV. It has created unimaginable suffering

  • Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” There is a fundamental human reason why we should care and pay attention to what is currently taking place in Venezuela. Venezuelans are going through unimaginable suffering, and it’s unfathomable to many of us.
  • High inflation, especially soaring food prices means that many people are not just skipping meals, but are not eating all together. According to a national survey conducted by three of the country’s major universities, the percentage of malnourished Venezuelans is increasing.
  • Some have jokingly dubbed this the “Maduro diet” who has said that doing without “makes you tough.” WTF?
  • There have also been shortages on basic goods such as toilet paper and medical supplies. Venezuela can’t pay to import goods because its government is desperately strapped for cash after years of foolish spending. The sight of people sifting through trash to find food is unfortunately a common sight.

 

V. This could ultimately hurt us in our pocketbook.

  • This crisis in Caracas could hit American citizens where it hurts the most: The gas pump.
  • The US is the main buyer of Venezuelan oil, so there’s a very intimate relationship between both governments, in that regard at least.
  • If President Trump decided to actually follow through on his threat to place heavy sanctions on Venezuelan oil, or bar shipments to the U.S., Venezuela would be crippled because at this point that is their only source of income. Its humanitarian crisis would worsen. But surprisingly, the sanctions would hurt us as well, because Venezuela is third in oil exports to the U.S., right behind Saudi Arabia and Canada.
  • Sanctions would force the U.S. to buy oil elsewhere, which means that it would inadvertently force you and I to shell out more money when we decide to visit our local BP or Mobil gas station.

So pay attention, this is bigger than our media is leading you to believe. This crisis in Venezuela can definitely get out of control, if it already hasn’t.

Venezuela: A Nation Divided And Why It Matters, Pt. I

by with No Comment International

As of this year, you have probably seen the news reports: The Vice specials, and AJ+’s coverage of the protests in the streets, the long lines at the stores. But you probably have not paid enough attention to the actual chaos gripping Venezuela.

How are the events taking place in a socialist nation of 30 million people, thousands of miles away, relevant to you in the U.S.?

Here are 5 reasons why the crisis in Venezuela matters to not just you, but to everyone else in the world.

I. It’s creating thousands of new refugees

  • The lack of food and medicine, soaring inflation, political instability, and violence are all key ingredients of creating refugees. This has and is currently taking place in Venezuela, and has forced tens of thousands of its citizens to flee. These same refugees are now the top asylum seekers in the U.S., ahead of citizens from countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and China. This is, in fact, the first time that Venezuelans have topped the list.
  • As of now, more than 21,600 Venezuelans have sought asylum so far in 2017. That number has increased by as much as four times since 2015 when 5,605 Venezuelans applied for asylum.
  • What makes this all the more challenging is that with the current American political climate, a wave of new asylum-seekers would not be welcomed with open arms.
  • There is currently a rise in xenophobia in the U.S., and a flood of Venezuelans from across the social strata into our country creates an opportunity for U.S. politicians to use them as pawns for their political agendas.

 

II. It’s an attack on democracy – which is disconcerting

  • Observers of this conflict have noted that what is currently going on politically in Venezuela over the last few years is an attack on the people’s ability to choose how they wish to be governed, which is also an attack on their presumed liberties.
  • President Nicolas Maduro filled the Venezuelan Supreme court with his supporters so that he would be able to block any impeachment attempts after the country’s opposition leaders won a majority of seats in the National Assembly in 2015.
  • To make matters worse, the Maduro-backed Supreme court then briefly tried to deconstruct the National Assembly and grab hold of its legislative powers, which only ignited a wave of violent protests that have continued almost every day since March 2017. As many as 100 people have been killed since then.
  • Last week the country held an election that was highly controversial to create a new lawmaking body, named the Constituent Assembly. The 545-seat legislative body, packed with Maduro’s supporters, would finally have the power to rewrite the country’s 1999 constitution and promptly take control of all branches of Venezuela’s government under Maduro.
  • With what is currently taking place in our own country, this should make ALL Americans sit up and pay attention. Having a leader try and bend the will of the government to suit his needs is something we all have become quite accustomed to in the U.S.

 

Part II includes reasons 3 – 5.

Trump Bans Transgender People In U.S. Military

by with One Comment Uncategorized

“What the Commander in Chief did yesterday was shameful. Yes, as a servicemember I am openly rebuking the Commander in Chief. An act of bigotry and discrimination is wrong, regardless who it comes from.” 

On July 26, 2017, President Donald Trump issued a ban on all transgender people from serving in the military. Trump is known for his love of banning and placing barriers on groups of people, so this isn’t too shocking. What is shocking is an all-out ban. One of the Obama administration’s last acts regarding military policy was the allowance of transgender people in the military and persons in the military to transition into a gender other than the one they originally entered the military as.

This move done by Trump flies in the face on a couple of fronts. It goes against candidate Donald Trump who in 2016 stated he would be a strong defender of the LGBT community. It also goes against President Trump by allowing a review of transgender recruiting enrollment into the military, which was slated to end in December 2017. Instead, Trump abruptly broke his campaign promise and ended his own administration’s plans.

Until this ban, the U.S. Military for the first time in its history was truly inclusive. Women could finally serve in combat roles, sexual orientation no longer mattered – we had finally arrived. Many will still say this nation has the greatest military representing the most diverse group of people on the planet. If this ruling stands that simply will not be true. To have any reservation of any group of people entering the military not based on universal standards regarding their ability to get the job done is meaningless, shameful, and discriminating.

The main justification Trump used was “tremendous medical costs and disruption,” which could also be applied to a pregnant woman or to any veteran on disability. Just for number’s sake, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated to cost taxpayers nearly a $1 trillion dollars in healthcare costs alone. If nearly $1 trillion dollars spent on healthcare as a result of two wars isn’t a tremendous medical cost and disruption, I don’t know what is. Does this mean we can expect the Trump administration to withdraw military forces worldwide? Close bases stateside? Shrink the military budget to reflect pre-Reagan numbers? This ban just doesn’t make any sense.

Barack Obama… The Man Vs. The President

by with No Comment Uncategorized

“One can have profound respect for Barack Obama the man, and one can also show no support or care for Barack Obama the President.”

A week before leaving office outspoken President Obama critic Tavis Smiley penned a brief, yet direct, letter of appreciation towards President Obama. The message of appreciation was titled, “A Letter to Obama, In Gratitude and Love.” In summary, Mr. Smiley detailed his appreciation for Barack Obama the man and his character and grace as President. There was no mention or thanks regarding Barack Obama’s accomplishments as President. I’d argue that Mr. Smiley’s lack of appreciation for President Obama is appropriate, and similar to Mr. Smiley, I was a strong critic of the President as well. Despite the criticism, Mr. Smiley stayed the course for Obama by voting for him twice, which something I did not do. I know, shocker! A black man who didn’t vote for Obama?!? Yes, and I’ll easily explain.

Like my fellow fraternal brother Tavis Smiley, I appreciated Barack Obama the man. I thank him for his sound mind and spirit and efforts in attempting inclusion of all American interests in his policies. From the moment I voted for him in 2008 to the point I was greatly disappointed followed by his final days in office, make no mistake about it, I admired Barack Obama.

Mr. Smiley was very outspoken against President Obama during his presidency. Obama’s lackluster response to the Trayvon Martin case and the fact that Black Americans lost great economical ground in America during his presidency were two of the main issues in which he criticized Obama.

I personally stopped supporting President Obama due to his failure to pass universal healthcare in 2010. I don’t want to hear anything about what he couldn’t do. Democrats controlled Congress and it could have been done. If he would’ve passed universal healthcare, what’s going on now in the Republican led Congress regarding the healthcare debate would’ve been much harder to do. Moving on… Obama failed to revise the tax code, failed to make social security solvent or even attempt to make it solvent, failed to address the next economic bubble of student loans/education cost, and last but not least failed to address draconian federal drug laws.

Sure, my social media timelines are filled with people posting pictures of the Obama first family and support for Obama. However, I wonder if that support is for Obama the President or Obama the man. Obama the man, from what we know is as honorable as they come. Obama the President, well, I’m glad I can order my politics a la carte. For that’s a dish I prefer not to have.

Tavis Smiley: A Letter to Obama, In Gratitude and Love

Betrayal of the Coal Miner

by with No Comment Uncategorized

No, coal is not coming back.

Among President Trump’s many campaign promises was to bring coal back, claiming to increase jobs to miners who are unemployed. Experts disagree, and cite a number of reasons, not the least of which is that other forms – including natural gas, hydroelectricity, and solar – have replaced coal as a viable and sustainable source of energy.

This is nothing new. Alternative sources of energy have been outpacing coal for years now. While federal regulations aimed at improving public health increased the pace of decline, experts say that natural gas is largely to blame. Cheaper and cleaner than coal, natural gas has increased in market share, forcing out coal as the dominant source of energy in this country.

The entire coal industry employed around 53,000 in 2016 – 25,000 of which are directly related to the actual mining and processing of coal. The industry has seen a nearly 39 percent decline since its most recent peak in 2008. Coal makes up a very small percentage of total employment numbers in this country.

The problem with this empty promise is that the vast majority of coal mining jobs are isolated to small pockets of Wyoming, West Virginia and Kentucky, where some 585 million tons of coal are extracted and processed. This means that miners are concentrated in very small areas where it is just about the only game in town. This puts those who work in the mines in a very precarious position. Most employed in the mining industry come from generations of family members who also made a living that way. This small section of the labor force saw Trump as the hero of the coal miner. So far, his actions have been anything but heroic.

The main driver of the promise, however, is that Trump has friends in the coal industry. Coal magnates like Wilbur Ross, the current commerce secretary, have been tight with Trump for years. Ross was the owner of the Sago Mine at the time of the explosion in 2006, killing 12 miners. He is also indirectly responsible, along with other investors of a failing mine they purchased, for stripping the health benefits of miners – some of which had black lung disease. Trump, Ross, and other billionaires are no friends of the people. Their sole goal is to line their pockets without a thought to the people whose lives are destroyed in the process.

It could be that Trump and his supporters genuinely believe that coal mining can come back into favor. This is dangerously delusional and patently unrealistic, and the laughable and completely bogus campaign of “clean coal” is intended to bolster that belief.

The bottom line: Trump is selling a bill of goods. There is no possible way that coal can come back to employ all those who have suffered in the wake of the decline. But some organizations are trying to help the coal miners train for and find skilled work in other sectors. But, Trump is seeking to axe those programs, putting unemployed miners in greater jeopardy.

Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary, OUT!

by with No Comment Media

Sean Spicer Quits His Day Job

After a tumultuous 6 months of defending and fighting off droves of reporters and media outlets for President Trump, Sean Spicer has called it quits. He attributes this decision to being undermined constantly by the Presidents own public statements and for the new house communications director Anthony Saramucci. Sean believes Mr. Saramucci is not fit to be press secretary, which will leave him to carry both jobs, and that is not manageable.

My Take: Tough Role From Day One

Spicer was repeatedly pushed into a defensive position. He was urged by the President to take on the briefing room from day one to defend the Trump administration’s perspective from the coverage of the size of the crowd that attended Trump’s inauguration, to Trump’s tweets and statements that brought him and his staff under scrutiny and criticism.

This story is breaking and will be updated with new information.

Trump’s “New” Cuba Policy

by with No Comment Uncategorized

During a speech given in Miami’s Little Havana” on Friday, June 16th, 2017, President Donald Trump criticized his predecessor’s Cuba policy, saying it allowed the Castro regime to benefit from increased tourism. “Effectively immediately,” Trump said, “I am canceling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba.”

Technically, this is not the case. The real policy changes Trump is going to implement are less significant than he led everyone to believe they would be. Many of the Obama administration’s policy will remain in place. Under the new policy – Americans will no longer have the ability to plan their own private, individual “educational” trips to Cuba, and those who go as part of authorized educational group tours will be subject to stricter rules and guidelines. American companies and citizens will also be banned from doing business with companies controlled by the Cuban military or its intelligence or security services. But the relaxed rules that made it easier for US companies to do business in Cuba will stay in place. Cruises and direct flights between the US and Cuba will still be allowed, and Cuban Americans will still be able to travel freely to the island and send money to relatives there.  

These actions come at an inopportune time because, towards the end of his tenure, President Obama directed his attention on the thawing of relations between the two cold war enemies. Using his executive authority, Obama relaxed some of the trade and travel restrictions in the longstanding US economic embargo on the Cuban nation. In July 2016 – The U.S. officially restored diplomatic relations with Cuba and reopened its embassy in Havana. All of which makes Trump new initiative frustrating for growing businesses in Cuba, and travelers alike. In November, then-president-elect Trump tweeted that he would “terminate” the deal unless Cuba agreed to “make a better” one, but instead of terminating the deal, it seems that Trump is content with leaving most of the important policies in place.

So why do all this?

The main reason Trump cites for opposing the Obama Administration’s deal is that it didn’t go far enough in the right direction — Trump has so far shown little commitment to promoting such values elsewhere, especially if doing so comes at the expense of US economic interests. Part of the reason Trump’s new policy doesn’t go far enough as his rhetoric suggests is that it has to do with US economic interests. Consider the direct flights between the US and Cuba, as John Kavulich, the president of the US-Cuba trade and economic council mentioned back in November 2016. The administration would face major opposition, which would include lawsuits from the airline industry if Trump were to do terminate the deal. Why, because airlines have already made large financial investments in “good faith” based on the new regulations from the Obama administration.  And that’s just the airlines! A number of tourism and travel companies such as Airbnb, Carnival Cruise Line, and Starwood Hotels have also taken advantage of the Obama administration’s relaxed restrictions to expand into Cuba, hoping to cash in on what will become a hot new tourist haven. Airbnb alone (Cuba to Trump: US in no ‘condition to lecture us’ on human rights), over the past two years has been able to bring 40 million dollars back to the Cuban people who have rented out their homes for travelers.

Hilariously, this somewhat tougher stance with Cuba won’t get Trump the response he’s looking for. After all, 50 years of tough US policies toward Cuba failed to achieve the desired political, social, and economic reforms inside the island nation. The idea of what Trump wants and desires are totally out of par with what Americans want and desire. The world is continually evolving and changing, which makes decisions such as this all the more frustrating because of the impact it has on our countries relationships with our neighbors as well as with our ability to travel freely and learn from other cultures. 

A Billion Dollar Industry That Doesn’t Pay Its Employees

by with No Comment Sports

As a young child, I had dreams of being an Olympic gold medalist, a professional basketball player, and a WWF (before it became the WWE) superstar. I just knew I’d be able to do it all. I unfortunately had an injury in high school, which put a damper on those dreams. 

However, I still received an athletic scholarship to work (not play) with one of the main sports teams at a major university.  This scholarship helped cover my tuition, books, and a few other expenses such as housing and my campus meal plan. In return, I spent roughly 5-6 hours a day at the athletic facility between practice, game prep, study hall, etc. On game days, I spent more time at the facility than the athletes did! Did I forget to mention, I had a full course load of classes?

Although I came from a privileged family, my parents never gave me an entitled upbringing. That meant if I needed something, I had to work and earn it, which included everything I needed in college. It really started to hit me towards the end of my freshman year when I had exhausted the extra funds I was granted via my scholarship, loans and other awards. I needed additional income to be able to travel home, go out with friends, and do normal everyday activities! 

I was fortunate enough to find a work-study position in one of the school’s offices that was willing to work with my hectic athletic and class schedule. If I had one free hour in the day or even just one free hour in the week, they’d let me come in and work. The work-study position allowed me an opportunity to earn extra income, but the athletes on my team didn’t have that option because of compliance rules. I knew many of the players would’ve loved to earn an honest extra income especially during the off-season or free time between classes and practice. As a result, some of them unfortunately resorted to wrongful activity that I will not discuss. 

So what is my perspective? I can go both ways on this argument. The NCAA, specifically Division-1 televised sports, is a billion-dollar industry and a major source of revenue for institutions. The athletes who contribute to that success should be compensated accordingly. But, college tuition costs between 30-120k or more for many of these four-year institutions, and these collegiate athletes should be grateful for that. Right? But what about the athletes who are walk-ons who contribute to a successful team but aren’t receiving any type of athletic scholarship? The time they put in and the contribution they make still helps that team; yet, they’re receiving no scholarship or type of compensation. What about the other collegiate sports that aren’t moneymakers for the university? Does that mean only football, basketball and baseball players should get paid? What about the irregularities that also exist between the male and female team funding? 

There are so many factors that exist that I haven’t even mentioned, and all of them contribute to the very reason on why a solution hasn’t been made. Considering the disparities that exist between the different programs and the different schools, I do believe that potential resolutions should be thoroughly examined on a case-by-case basis. I do like the thought of athletes at major Division-1 teams being considered as student work-study employees.  Higher performers receive higher wages; bonuses and additional grants or scholarship aid is given based on individual and team performance.  Also, walk-ons and those without scholarships should be able to receive some type of funding for their work contribution. This could help student-athletes learn the valuable aspect of money management, which tends to be the ultimate demise for many professional athletes.  Whatever the solution is, student-athletes need to be valued and compensated considering the billion-dollar industry that relies solely on their athletic ability. 

“Patriotism, No T-Shirt Needed”

by with No Comment CultureFeatured

Since my childhood, I’ve had an unadulterated love and support for all my respective sports teams, all of which hail from the DC area. Sadly, outside presidential inaugurations, there haven’t been any parades going down Pennsylvania Ave in quite some time. Like all fans of a respective team, we’re fans of the team, not every aspect of the team. We question player transactions, hiring of coaches, even supporting changing a certain team’s name. (More about that later on.) In the final analysis, wanting better and questioning the ways and means of your team isn’t the characteristic of a non-fan, it’s the opposite.    

So, what does sports fandom have to do with patriotism? In a sense, if you replaced the word fan with patriot in the aforementioned paragraph, all the elements stay true. By definition, patriotism is the vigorous support for one’s country. By definition, a fan is one who is enthusiastically devoted to something or somebody. In my example I used sports fandom to illustrate how it comes with both criticism of your team as well as support for said team. As a fan, being critical of a team, is something as unifying around a team as cheering for a team (see Randy Quaid as Johnny in “Major League II”).

Being a patriot on the other hand, for some, does not engage in critical discussions about their nation. I’ve noticed post 9/11 the term patriotism used as a shield to fend off the need to address and solve real issues and problems. Typically coming from conservative and republican circles, patriotism is many times used as a political guilt trip. The goal being one should feel ashamed for their reason for it goes against the essence of the nation. If that fails, the “If you don’t like it, you should just leave”, standard becomes the last resort.

Being critical of one’s nation is not a loss of patriotism. This is nonsense. Disagreeing with another person on their views of the nation is not grounds to question their patriotism.  

Much like a fan wants best for their team, a patriot should want what’s best for their nation. What’s best for the nation is a little harder amongst social political topics than sports, for the end game isn’t as clear. Thus why many deflect to terms like “if you don’t like it, you should leave”. To figure out the needs of a nation, it requires real work, research, dialogue, and the inevitable debate.  In sports for example, at the time of this writing my beloved Washington Nationals are having the time of their lives trying to save games. So the solution is the need for a closer. Regarding social political issues, it’s not as cut and dry. Standard national issues like healthcare, the environment, and education are contentious and divisive. What each issue means to all citizens and how in the most sensible and feasible way it comes into fruition requires a process. A baseball save is very much defined, something my Nationals seem to have a hard time with; however, it’s still very much defined.