High Truths and Low Lies

Almost every day in our local paper there is an article about “the affordable housing crisis.” County and city leaders are wrestling with zoning laws and proposed development plans for all types of housing, usually in the city. According to the local “fish wrap” the demand for rental housing is higher than the supply and the rental fees are not affordable for lower income families.

For the last 3-5 years that issue has been presented as a supply and/or affordability problem. And-our local leaders have tried everything to resolve.

However, I believe that income is the major problem. That side of the equation is never cited in the articles. If families want to live in the city where rents are always higher than the outer areas, than those families need better incomes. The pathway to higher incomes in this area is training and education. The area needs electricians, HV/AC techs, medical technicians, mechanics, welders, nurses of all types and office staff.

If a family of 4 has two incomes, each making $20/hour that would make their annual income at least $80,000. At that income, rental property would be available, leaving some saving amount for the purchase of a home.

Family income is the answer.

Just got back from a wonderful 10 day vacation to Jamaica. The island is open to travelers from the US. All the proper covid protocols were in place. Our resort was at 60% occupancy because Europe and Canada was closed to travel. The Jamaican Staff truly appreciated the American guests. As usual, the resort was excellent, especially the Staff. The drinks were good too!

We met a lot of people from the US, including couples from North Dakota, Arizona, Georgia, TN., Ohio, WVa., Pa., MN., and North Carolina. There were a lot of honeymooners, and lots of beachfront weddings. Everyone cheered for the newly married couples.

Couples over the age of 45 were very engaging. Younger people were on their smart phones. Hmmm! Perhaps they were reading. The older crowd read from books. There was even a book exchange, very nice.

The resort had several restaurants with dress codes. The older couples did dress up, especially the women. Not so much for the younger couples. Young men often wore hats to the restaurants. I even saw a “Sons of Ragnar” tee shirt being worn by a younger guest. Hmmm!

I noticed that some couples were in to fitness. You could tell! But, regrettably a lot of couples were overweight, especially the younger crowd. Perhaps working from home added some extra pounds. I also noticed and heard people that had spent their Stimulus Payment on the trip. Guess the US economy did not get those dollars.

Many of the Jamaican Staff wore flip flops. One Staff member admired my Nike flip flops and asked if I would sell them. I paid $34 for the pair. He said in Jamaica the pair would sell for $70. Ugh!! I traded those for two drinks, both with rum floaters!

I met three lovely couples from the Phila. area. We gathered each day at the pool to discuss many topics. Very nice people.

Travel to Jamaica and take an extra pair of flip flops!!!

Lebron James plays basketball for a living, He entered the NBA right out of high school. His teams have won multiple championships which has helped Lebron become a billionaire. Amazingly, he has about 50 million twitter followers, so you could consider him highly influential.

Lebron has not spoken out against the genocide going on in China against the Uyghur people. The Chinese government is committing horrendous human rights violations against these people. No comment from Lebron. Why–because China is the largest market for the NBA.

This week Lebron tweeted a picture of a police officer that was involved in the shooting of a 16 year old black woman. Lebron tweeted “you’re next” beside the image. So-50 million followers saw the image of the officer and the threat from James. That tweet was despicable. The details of that shooting have not been released although the videos clearly show the woman attacking another woman with a large knife.

LeBron James should be punished by the NBA and by twitter.

Tiger Woods is a professional golfer, perhaps the greatest of all time. I am a fan! For many years he was absolutely dominant on the PGA tour and across the world. TV viewership, revenues, prize money and tournament attendance rose significantly when Tiger was playing. Tiger was great for the game of golf.

Tiger also had some problems. Back surgeries, traffic violations and a marriage that went bad.

Sad, but not unusual!

But recently, he almost killed himself in a single-car accident. That accident occurred on February 23. The evidence reported indicates he was driving at 85+MPH on a road with a speed limit of 45MPH. And-there were no skids marks.

I want to know what happened. Tiger Woods is not above the law. There should be a thorough report of that accident including blood/urine tests. Why was Tiger not charged with reckless driving? Why was his driver’s license not revoked. Hmmmm! Did the investigators study his cell phone records?

Equal justice under the law. I wonder what would have happened if John Daly or Phil Mickelson had been driving???

I am glad Tiger survived, and I hope he fully recovers. And-I hope we get all the answers regarding his accident. After all, it has been 48 days since that morning. Tiger Woods is not above the law, nobody is!!

In 1973, Billy Joel released a song titled “The Piano Man”. The song was a huge hit. The lyrics told the story of a piano player in a local bar that customers came to listen to. The piano player drew a crowd and the owner of the bar knew it. The lyrics included:

“It’s a pretty good crowd for a Saturday night, and the manager gives me a smile. Cause he knows that it’s me they’re coming to see to forget about life for a while”

Those lyrics a especially important today. When people turn to entertainment like professional sports, TV shows, etc. we do not want to listen to or see political statements or antics. Just play the game! Make us laugh. Entertain us with your talent. We do not want to see social protesting, displays of politics written on shoes or helmets, or shirts. We want to be entertained. We want to “forget about life for a while”

We especially don’t want to hear about politics and “social justice” from millionaire athletes, or actors.

According to recent studies, the top 50 cities in the world that have the most polluted air are all in Asia. Those cities are heavily populated. Very crowded. And those cities contribute to poor air quality and climate change worldwide. Poor air is linked to climate change. Most environmentalists agree on that fact.

Environmentalists also agree that human population is a major cause of pollution and thus climate change, Humans burn fuel, eat food produced using fuels, generate solid wastes that either get burned or buried. Humans need housing so forests are destroyed for lumber and for land to build upon. Housing construction also needs concrete which during the manufacturing process also causes air emissions. Wildfires worldwide also contribute to poor air. Often, humans are the cause of these fires. Case in point-California’s recent series of mega fires. Poor land management by local and state governments help make those fires worse.

So-the Democratic party that claims to be climate change party in the US has radical policies to open up our borders to allow millions more people into the US. Millions!! More people means more pollution (air, water and land). What is the correct population of the US? Currently, there are 328 million people in the US. Not sure if all the illegal immigrants are included. How can the Democrats drive climate change policies and allow open borders. What would happen to our environment if we allow 2-4 million immigrants into the US each year? How will they be fed? Housed? Educated? How many more cars will be on the US roads?? What about our hospitals??

I believe the US needs immigrants but I want it tightly controlled.

I believe some of the most despicable and difficult people to work with are those people that are highly arrogant and stupid. AOC is exactly that.

AOC is 31 years old. Upon graduation from college she became a social activist, and waitress. Her father was an architect. She attend Boston University which costs $70,000 per year for in-state students. She was a resident of New York. Ouch!! According to her website she has student debt.

A progressive wing of the Democratic party recruited her to run for Congress in 2016. She was nominated by her brother. She got the backing from many social justice groups, Hispanic groups, and extreme socialist groups. She ran for Congress in a largely democratic district (5 to 1) in NYC and won

She was sworn in and took her Congressional oath on January 3, 2019 at age 29. By all accounts that was quite astounding. Her Congressional salary is $174,000. Not bad for a 29 year old!!

So-for the last 2 years she has taken advantage of her position to propose many socialist programs. Many or these programs have catchy names with goals that seem attractive to various groups like “free public colleges” and forgiveness of student debt (guess that would include hers).

She openly supports the abolishment of Border Police (ICE), single payer health system, free support for immigrants, federal job guarantees (whatever that is??) and of course, the “Green New Deal”. Two years ago, on national TV she said the world will end in 9 years.

Her nickname is “Follow-up question” because after she announces one of these looney programs she does not take any questions to get at the details of her proposals. And-most importantly, how are these programs going to be paid for???? She needs to be challenged.

She is a brilliant actress, performing on social media and TV. She once visited the southern border during the Trump years and was filmed crying at how the immigrants were treated. The filming was of an empty parking lot. This year, she has not commented on Biden’s boarder crisis.

AOC is dangerous. She gets media coverage and often makes outrageous comments about the US. She is a socialist, hates America, and wants to destroy almost all those pillars that have made this country the most successful and free society in world history. She must get challenged and called out for her stupid and shallow ideas. She is a loon!

Recently in NC, many political groups have asked the state and local governments to release crime statistics and other data. Those groups are specially focused on police data, like deaths while in jail, shootings by police, etc. I support the release of crime and police data. Let’s be transparent. I suggest reporting the data each calendar quarter. The general public should have the complete picture. Here is a partial list of the data I want to see:

Total number of felonies by crime type

–Total number of felonies committed, displayed by race, and gender of suspect.

Felonies committed by repeat offenders, displayed by race and gender

Felonies committed by non-citizens. Again displayed by race.

Number of police shootings, again displayed by race/gender of officer and by victim cave/gender.

Deaths of inmates excluding natural causes.

We all want to see the facts. This is a good place to start.

I grew up in rural Virginia, one of 6 children. My father worked in a factory on rotating shifts. He never went to college. At age 24 he joined the Eighth Airforce and flew 38 missions as a bomber pilot during WWII. My mother stayed home and raised us until my younger sisters were in junior high, then she worked part-time at Kmart. She never finished high school.

Growing up, money was very tight. I started working odd jobs at age 13, mostly cutting grass, picking apples, shoveling snow, helping a local farmer, etc. Both parents stressed making good grades in school. I was an average student, but took top classes in HS. My parents insisted that I prepare for college. When I finished HS, my parents had saved $1,118 for my college education. They insisted that I attend a regional university in TN. I took out a loan from an local bank, and worked during college (every summer, Xmas break and part-time while in school).

By the Spring of my junior year, all my money had run out, so I started working construction. The company allowed me to work M-W-F. I took classes on Tuesday and Thursday and at night. During that time I lived in a trailer. Those years were very difficult. But, I earned my BS degree, and received a Fellowship to purse my MBA. During that time, I lived in the basement of an old home near campus. I did not have a reliable car. Two years later, I earned my Masters. During those 2 years, I worked 3 part-time jobs.

To this point, I felt that I had earned everything in my life. I was not “given” anything. except the $1,118. If I didn’t work, I didn’t eat.

After graduation, (my family did not attend), I wrote 92 letters to companies seeking a job. My girlfriend paid for the stamps. Only 5 companies responded. I went on 2 interviews wearing a blue blazer my landlord loaned me.

I received 1 job offer and moved to West Va. and started working in a salaried position. I had a 12 year old car and a 12″ B/W TV. The company I joined was excellent. I worked hard and was promoted many times. However, to pursue my career, I had to move to SC and then to Delaware. One of those moves came as a result of me being “replaced” by an “affirmative action person”. I had to move my family to make room for a black women. While working in Delaware about 11 years later, I was “transferred” again, to make room for another minority. That particular job change was very scary for me since I was moving to a less important role, one subject to downsizing, and I had a disabled son. I had to have family medical insurance. Those 2 job changes were unfair to me. And, my family.

I finally left that company after 27 years. I moved to NC to seek employment and did find work in Raleigh. And, continued to work for 10 more years with 2 companies. The last company required a move to Charlotte. Finally, I retired due to medical reasons.

Looking back on those 37years, I never felt privileged, nothing was “granted” to me, handed to me, or bestowed on me or available only to me. I got what I earned.

That is why, white privilege is hard for me to swallow. Lastly, my story is not unique. 1 know hundreds of people like me. Their story is the same.

A few days ago, our local paper “The Daily Fishwrap” ran a front page article about black students being suspended from school. The “investigative journalist” used data from the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, a non-profit located in Durham. According to their recent study, black students are disproportionately disciplined and even suspended from school. according to the study, blacks 7 times more likely to receive short term suspensions than white students.

Of course, according to this non-profit, racism is the reason. Teachers and administrators do not understand the black culture, even though 38% of these teachers are black. If you are not black, then you cannot understand their background and thus the students responses.

Keep in mind, that over the last 10-15 years district discipline rules and policies have been re-written to account for minorities. Teachers have received mandatory training on the policies. I am an educator. I was married to a high school teacher, I have known many teachers ((friends, neighbors, family members, etc.) They will tell you that often the black students cause trouble in the classroom. And- more importantly, black students are allowed much latitude; second, third and even four chances before being disciplined. Teachers are extra sensitive to the “race card”.

The non- profit claims that more law enforcement is in schools with students of color or low incomes, so these students are exposed to law enforcement and thus get “referred” to law enforcement more frequently. The loon reporter that wrote the story should do much her job. She should investigate these claims. And-she should write a balanced piece.

These experts claim that black students are being targeted, and vilified for “being themselves”. I say that is complete nonsense and dishonest. I say install video equipment in these classrooms and watch the behavior of disruptive students. Watch for yourselves what teachers have to deal with.

Is it possible that black students disproportionately misbehave? Can all these suspensions be explained as racism? Let’s see the videos, let’s see more details. I ask the Southern Coalition for Social Justice how much effort and money they have spent teaching black students and their families how to behave in school.