High Truths and Low Lies

Clinton Portis is a 40-year-old black man currently living in Fort Mill, SC. He played 9 seasons in the NFL as a running back. His combined salary for those years was $43 million, or approximately $840,000 per game.

Last week he was sentenced to 6 months in jail and 6 months home confinement for filing false insurance claims. The NFL provides medical insurance for ex-players through Cigna. Portis and 14 other ex-NFL players filed phony medical expenses.

Some people might say Portis needs help. Or, that he needs counseling. Hmmm! I think he was a talented athlete but had no sense of personal responsibility or self-control. Here is some history on Portis:

1. Portis grew up in Gainesville, FL and was a star athlete in football and track. He was offered a football scholarship to USC, but that scholarship was withdrawn after Portis got into a fight in high school.
2. Portis played football for U. of Miami and was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the 2nd round in 2002. In 2004, Portis was traded to Washington and signed a $50 million eight-year contract. Portis was a star running back but suffered several injuries which impacted his playing time.
3. In 2008 Portis signed a re-structured contract with Washington with $15 million guaranteed and a $9.3 million signing bonus. Injuries continued to plague Portis and in 2010 Portis was released by Washington after both sides failed to reach a new contract. Portis retired from football in 2012.
4. In 2015 Portis filed for bankruptcy. Records indicate he owed $412, 000 for domestic support to four women (he has 4 children), $390,000 to the IRS, and $287,000 to the MGM Grand Casino. Portis was arrested that same year for owing one of those women $150,000 in child support. According to court documents, Portis made bad investments, spent money at casinos and lived a lavish lifestyle.
5. Portis again filed for bankruptcy in 2017. That same year, Portis filed his first bogus insurance claim.
6. Portis was finally arrested in 2019 for insurance fraud. It was reported that he had less than $150 in his checking account.

Clinton Portis seems to be a very reckless man, without the sense to control himself or be aware of the consequences of poor decisions. He made a string of bad decisions, most, probably hurt many others. He’s only 40 years old, he still has time to live a better life. While in jail, I suggest he pursue his college degree and study Finance. I wish him well.

Here is a simple formula: Education = knowledge and skills = Employment = Income

So, get the best education you can. Your life starts there. For college, get into the best university you can. There are hundreds of wonderful and affordable choices. But do not choose an online college or university. Those programs are a scam! What kind of an education will you get for free or $100 per class?

I am a retired corporate executive (37 years) and current university professor. I have hired 100’s of college graduates in the US, UK, Japan, China and South America. And I have managed teams of salaried professionals. The vast number of these people became highly successful and well paid. None graduated from online universities.

For about 2 years I have studied the various programs offered by online colleges and universities, especially the business schools. Here are my observations:

• The course curriculums are “fluff” without hard skills or technology. As an example, “Business Ethics” is offered by many. Sure, this is important, but not deserving of a whole semester class. Another listing I see is “Marketing Communications Strategy.” I am not sure what is presented for an entire semester. Perhaps deserving of a few lectures at best. Another course I frequently see is “Leadership!” Again, what is taught for 13 weeks? Perhaps good examples of leadership. OK, that might be interesting and helpful, but for a whole semester?
• Curriculums for business schools must include 2 years of accounting, 1 year of economics, 1.5 years of finance, some statistics/analytics, operations and supply chain management, 1 year of law, marketing, strategic planning in business, money and banking, risk management, and case studies in business. No fluff.
• Person to person classes- Zoom instruction is not effective. Every professor I know hates the online instruction process. Compared to face-to-face learning, the average grade per class declines by 10-15 points. Ugh! Student learning is much lower. There is no real discussion or student engagement. Frankly, the classes are boring.
• The faculty at most of the online schools have thin credentials. Most do not have advanced degrees and/or years of experience. This is very important. College professors must be able to explain complicated concepts in multiple ways and provide excellent real-life examples. Examples are critical to student learning! At online colleges, the student is often reading class materials and writing papers.
• The Honor Code is very hard to enforce during online classes. Students take exams while at home. Ugh! Their notes are available, same with textbooks (if any?). Students do not study as hard when they know their notes are available. Lack of studying leads to lack of retention! Ugh!
• Online colleges and universities lack accreditation, mostly for the reasons above. Online colleges often rank themselves against other online collages. I am unaware of any online college or university ranked in the top 500 of colleges in any category.

Online colleges and universities are not worth pursuing. Period.

FOOTNOTE: The above commentary does not apply to face-to-face colleges/universities that offer some classes online. Nor does it apply to colleges that were forced to go online due to Covid. These colleges and universities are trying to get back to in person learning!

I get my mail on a regular basis. The USPS truck delivers my mail each afternoon from 1 to 4 pm. The postal worker seems pleasant, and rarely is the mail delivered to the wrong address or lost. Yay!

But, the USPS is operating at a loss of $12 billion this year. Year after year, the postal service costs US. taxpayers $10-14 billion. That is a tremendous amount of money! Money that could be used for other services or “refunded” to taxpayers. If the $12 billion were paid back equally to each state, then my state, NC, would receive $240 million.

Things need to change at the USPS. Stop Saturday deliveries to private residences, close small rural post offices, find more innovative ways to deliver letters and packages, tighten cost controls, establish efficiency metrics, and review pay practices and benefits for all postal workers. These are the type of actions a good businessperson would do.

There is not business in the world that could continue to exist with operating losses of $12-$14 billion each year.

Also, I went to the local PO before Christmas. As usual, there was a long line, about 13 people in front of me. The counter had room for 4 workers but only 2 were present. Ugh! I finally got my turn and mailed a package. I next asked for stamps. The postal worker asked me which stamps I wanted. I said the stamps with the American Flag. The worker said that they did not have any stamps with the American Flag. She handed me a collection of stamps to choose from and as I sorted through the choices, I did not recognize any of the various places or people on the stamps. Finally, I found stamps with Bugs Bunny!! That ended up my choice!

I am not sure what person or committee selects USPS stamp images, but I would celebrate this wonderful country and its people. There are a lot of choices!

Send billions of US. dollars to Central America!!

Illegal immigrants crossing our southern border is a national crisis and major threat to America. Biden invited these immigrants to come to America. He promised social benefits, healthcare, education and amnesty. He stopped building the wall. He cut funding the Immigration and Customs enforcement.

Millions of immigrants have crossed our border this year. Biden is not enforcing current federal laws regarding illegal crossings. Instead, he is loading these immigrants onto airplanes and buses and dropping them into our cities. These airplanes and buses travel at night.

Data shows that 20% or more are infected with Covid. These immigrants are from 150+ countries, including countries not friendly to the US. Drugs are also being smuggled into the US. via our southern border, same with human trafficking. What a national disgrace and complete disaster. And, a very dangerous situation!

In March, Biden appointed Harris as “Border Czar” with the responsibility to fix the southern border disaster. Here is what she has done over the last 9 months-nothing!

But recently she announced her plan! Yay! A plan!! Her plan is to convince major US. companies to invest billions in Central America. Really?? These companies are to set up operations in Guatemala, El Salvatore, and Honduras. Of course, even, if possible, this will take years. Meanwhile, millions of illegal immigrants from 150+ countries, plus drugs, weapons, and Covid enter our country.

Harris is no leader! She is not a person of action. She has not demonstrated any courage or problem-solving skills. When a leader tries to solve a critical issue by offering a long-term solution, they are just deferring or dodging.

How did she get elected?? What has she been doing for 9 months?? Pressure US. companies to invest in Central America. What a crock!

Currently, the US. has 11 million job openings. This is a record number of openings. And at the same time, there is a record number of people dropping out of the labor market. That is the major reason for the labor shortage. People do not want to work! Here is why:

1. Some people fear Covid and/or do not want to wear masks all day. Government policies that require masks at work are part of the problem.
2. Millions of people got used to not working during the pandemic. They liked being at home. Some had to be home in 2020 for childcare, but now that schools are open, they can and should work again.
3. People have money. Regrettably, the 4th Stimulus payment is being made this week. Many are receiving child tax credits, unemployment, enhanced food stamps, rent relief, and many other cash payments. The top job search sites in the US. reported a dramatic decline in search activity when the first “stimulus” payment was made.
4. Personal savings accounts are at a record high., over $1.4 Trillion in US saving accounts. People are living on their savings. People saved money in 2020 since the economy was shutdown. No travel, restaurants, etc. AND- many did not have to pay rent!!!!
5. Student loan payments were “paused” beginning March 2020. About 44 million people have student debt. The average loan payment was about $390/month. But that payment was “paused” by Biden. This is another reason people are not working. They don’t have to pay their loans.
6. People got used to their leisure time. The USGA reports record numbers of golf rounds being played in 2020 and 2021 I live near a golf club. I see hundreds of young men and women playing golf and tennis during the day. Everyday! They are not working, or they are “working” from home. What a crock! Our national parks report record numbers of visitors this year. Yellowstone was so crowded that the Park Service had to limit traffic.
7. Video games have hurt the labor force. Young men are playing video games all day. UGH! Some work part-time so they can afford “Call of Duty.” That video game had $3 Billion in revenue in 2020!!! More sales than most small corporations.
8. There is no skills mismatch! That is also a crock. The skills needed for these open positions are available. People don’t or won’t work.

When all the savings are gone and all the government payments stop; and rent payments and loan payments come due, people will go back to work. It is that simple!!!!

I have been following this case for 15 months. This is an update along with my other posts.

Ex-NFL player Kevin Ware has been indicted for murder. Finally!! He is also charged with tampering with evidence-her corpse!!!!

Taylor has been missing since April, 2021. She vanished after a party. Her boyfriend, Kevin Ware, is in custody, and finally charged. Tragically, here are some of the known facts:

1. Taylor Pomaski was 29 years old and worked as a master data specialist. She lived in Spring, Texas. Over the last 6 years, she held many jobs with different companies. She also struggled with addiction. She was 5’2″ and weighted 110 lbs.
2. For about 2 years, she dated Kevin Ware, an ex-NFL player.
3. Kevin Ware is a 40-year-old thug. Ware is 6’3″ and weighs 260 lbs. He played a total of 16 games in the NFL in 2003 and 2004.
4. In 2010, Ware was accused of running out of a bar without paying. He was also charged with assault, evading arrest and theft that year.
5. in 2018, Ware was convicted of manufacturing a controlled substance and spent 2 years in prison.
6. On April 19, 2021, Ware was charged with 2 counts of drug procession and unlawful possession of a firearm. On April 23, Ware posted a $23,000 bond, and was set free.
7. On April 25, Ware and Pomaski got into a violent fight in their home. That was the last day anyone saw Taylor Pomaski.
8. On June 11, Ware was arrested, charges pending.

This week, human remains have been found near Spring, Texas. As of this writing, the medical examiner has not identified the remains.

When I investigate stories like this I am always saddened and astonished. Why do women hang around men like Ware? She deserved much better.

Update-On March 10th, the judge in the case severely scolded Smollett for his false accusations and fake hate crime and sentenced Smollett to 150 days in jail. The judge also ordered Smollett to pay $120,000 in fines. Seems like a light sentence to me!

Jussie Smollett is a 39 -year-old gay black man. He has been acting in various roles for 20 years. He has appeared in some low budget movies and did some guest appearances on TV. Recently, he starred in the TV series “Empire” for 5 seasons. I did not watch that show, but understand Jussie was very good. His contract was extended for a 6th season, but the script did not call for the actor to make any appearances.

So- to make himself more relevant, to get more $$$ on new contract, and to gain some press time, he directed a fake hate crime. He claimed on January 29, 2019, that he was assaulted by 2 white Trump supporters at 2am in downtown Chicago. The liberal press, many democrats, Harris and Biden, social media pundits, and CNN/MSNBC anchors were outraged. They used this assault as “yet another example” of racial injustice, white oppression, hate crime, and many other outrageous claims. All of these people did not wait for the police to investigate.

The entire incident was written and directed by Smollett. He lied. The Chicago police conducted an extensive investigation and charged Smollett with 6 felony counts of filing false police reports and lying to the police. Smollett also lied on the witness stand during his trial. On December 9th, 2021, Smollett was found guilty on 5 felony counts. His sentencing awaits. He is now a convicted felon.

Smollett is an ignorant punk. He “forced” the CPD to spend hundreds of investigative hours to learn the truth and make the case against his false claim. Chicago has had 524 homicides this year. Sad but true. The police have more important crimes to resolve other than a poorly orchestrated fake assault.

Shame on Smollett, his supporters, CNN, MSNBC, Robin Roberts, the Obamas, Harris and Biden, and the idiots on the View. All of these people were wrong and guilty of fanning the racial flames. Don Lemon was also duped and apparently not intelligent enough to suspect a hoax. He is either stupid or motivated by ratings.

Finally, the true damage is twofold; first-alleged hate crimes will be more difficult to accept/believe as suspicion will sneak in. And secondly, millions of Americans believe the hoax was true. They are unaware of the facts. Social media often reports inaccurate stories and fails to retract or correct the report later.

Smollett is a punk.

Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have committed crimes. The primary delivery process is conducted by the police, the prosecution, the defense, the courts and prisons.

Typically, in the US. there are 4 levels of government. The city or town, the county, state and the federal level. Each of these government bodies has the primary role of protecting the citizens from personal injury and loss or damage to private property. Period!

Many major cities in the US have introduced “criminal justice reforms” which include no cash bail laws. This scares the hell out of me. Criminals arrested for violent crimes will be released from police custody because they are not required to post bail. The reasoning put forth by extreme liberals is that bail laws disproportionately impact low-income felons, many of whom are repeat offenders. Of course, it does. Most violent crimes are committed by low-income people. That’s a fact.

The FBI reports crime statistics each year. Go to their website and study Table 43. For the most recent year, 2019, the FBI reported 7,964 murders in the US. Most of these murders occurred in the major cities; 51% by blacks and in mostly democrat run cities. These cities have liberal DA’s using their powers to allow felons to go free. No cash or low cash bail systems put arrested felons back on the street. Often, these criminals commit more crimes. In New York City, 83% of the felony arrests involving gun crimes, the person arrested was released on the same day. This year, NYC has had 443 murders, Philadelphia has had 523. That is a fact!!

“Criminal Justice Reform” is loaded with very harmful policies. That is why crime rates have soared in 2020 and 2021.

One liberal pundit wrote in our local “fish wrap” that a crime committed by a recently released repeat felon is no indication that the “system” is broken. Really?? Gather the data, look at the repeat offenders, and study the rap sheets. Why would any local law enforcement official release a repeat offender?

These felons are dangerous!

My local paper is the Charlotte Observer. I have subscribed to that “fish wrap” for about 5 years. I like the sports section, comics and some national news.

In recent months, I have noticed that each day the paper runs a front-page story about some rather obscure racial oppression happening in the local area. This week’s story was about jogging.

According to the Charlotte Observer, running is unfair to blacks. The paper stated that “historically, jogging has long excluded black runners.” What a load of crap!! How exactly have black runners been excluded. You simply put running shoes on and go outdoors. Where is the exclusion??

The newspaper mentions running clubs and the “fact” that most are majority white. Perhaps that is true, but how are blacks excluded. Every running club, and group I know accepts all runners. Their events are staged in public areas. There are no fees to join. Groups simply organized themselves and run. I have several running groups that run in the morning in my neighborhood, often before 6am. I admire that.

The local “fish wrap” is running made-up stories to sell papers and keep the racial flames burning. Shame on the editor, Rana Cash. She is a 51-year-old black woman.

Symone Sanders is a 31-year-old black woman. She has spent the last 12 months as a “Senior Advisor” and “Political Strategist” to VP Harris. What exactly qualifies her to be a senior advisor to the Vice President of the US.

Sanders was born in Nebraska. She attended a small and very expensive private college in Nebraska. The yearly tuition at that college is $57,000 today, including on-campus housing. Her working life started in Omaha as “deputy communications director “for the mayor. In 2015, she worked on Bernie Sanders campaign for 10 months, and in 2020 published a book about racial injustice and black oppression.

Symone Sanders never worked in the business field, never owned a small business, she does not have experience in foreign affairs, law, finance, macroeconomics, banking, healthcare or government. She has never held a public office nor run for public office.

So, what exactly is her field of expertise? Exactly what advice did she provide to the Vice President? My guess is she is another racial/gender activist.