Paddy’s Blog

VACANCY: Wanted applicants for the job of American President 2008.

July 11th, 2007 . by

PRE QUALIFICATION: No Prior Sins

The Monica Lewinski saga with the then President William Jefferson Clinton left more than just a lasting smile on the President.

In essence, the whole impeachment tale of a President who lied under oath continues to advance the real moral decay in our American society today.

I have often wondered if only President Clinton had trusted his fellow Americans to understand the circumstances of the quandary that Linda Tripp had place him in, would he had even gone through an impeachment process? In retrospect, whilst I did not like the idea of the number one citizen in this great country lying under oath, am I to think that we, the people, would have looked into the shortfalls of our own lives, understood and forgiven the man?

Were we the Americans really prepared to deal with the truth?

I am not a Liberal and nor am I a Democratic leaning citizen in the case the reader may have confused me.

The search for the nails in President Clinton’s political coffin was no better an example from the dark ages; a witch-hunt displayed very craft fully and at a huge expense to the taxpayer by Kenneth Starr at the encouraging of politicians.

Did the American people really elect a mere man, a fellow citizen, to be their President with the expectations holding him to moral codes that of a pastor of a church?

When I ponder with questions as such, I am at the risk of betraying and breaking from my conservative beliefs as an American….I guess. Perhaps it is in my being an immigrant American that I view the whole Lewinski/Clinton saga in a lighter note than that of my fellow conservatives.

Do we, the citizens, really understand the concept of forgiveness?

Similarly, when our current President, George W. Bush, made his presidential run, details about his old DUI records surfaced in an effort to derail his run.

Many politicians have fallen prey to such stringent forms of scrutiny and public trials for things that have happened in their past when they run for political offices, many completely wash their hands off from their desire to lead and contribute.

The 2008 Presidential elections is around the corner and the mudslinging has begun and the ugly moral decay in the very core conscious of Americans has resurfaced again.

Of recent, Washington DC is a buzz with the phone list of the DC madam, an escort service personality under indictment.

Interestingly, a senator came quickly out in the open apologizing for his decisions to use such services and the mention of family and God resurfaces again.

It is interesting to note, in a country, where God is under so much scrutiny and critique, it is the same God publicly referred to in times of trouble. Perhaps this is the one very critical service provided by GOD Inc. – a ticket to forgiveness and salvation.

A reflection in my mirror every morning with my daily routine of shaving shows a mere, mortal human being. A man with strengths but with many faults as well. It reminds me daily of a man who seeks forgiveness from a higher power daily to know pardon so that I can push on another day only to find myself on bended knee the next day with my shortfalls.

However, in the case if I were given an opportunity to judge others I am quick to invoke the rulebook to the “T”, word by word. It is a good thing that other convicts conduct business with GOD Inc. and not with me, since in my court I demand only perfection without fault……I guess I will not make a good God.

Forgiveness for me, no failures allowed you.

Should we not allow a person who has made an improper or poor decision in the past the benefit of doubt? Our judicial system is based on this very noble concept. This is not to say that appropriate consequences must not be dealt but should we continue to crucify and punish a person for their failures and short falls of the past repeatedly in the court of American public opinion? Are we not missing the bigger and crucial issues of concern?

The relevance of the Lewinski/Clinton saga galvanized a pathetic, unfair and confused idea of qualifying a person who desires public office. What do we really achieve by assassinating the being of a man’s strength but also weakness in character?

Has our American society stooped so low as to pass judgments by wanting to know all the private details of our leadership’s bedroom stories instead of leaving this matter an affair between the person and their family?

As was Hitler’s search for the perfect race, unconsciously, the American search for our Presidents of the future will be of a perfect human being without fault and prior sins.

WANTED: American President 2008

……must not have any prior sins

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Public burial of the “N” word

July 11th, 2007 . by paddy

…another misguided act of NAACP

The NAACP (National Association of Advancement for Colored People) has attempted yet again, might I add, foolishly, another public relations stunt.

Did this public act of burying the “N” word, really make an impact in the conditions of African Americans who are afflicted by the hang over horrors of this unacceptable word by definition in today’s society? NO.

This is the crux issue for failure of Black and Minority leaderships. We seem to feel that we must feel good or feel better by burying the truth, in this case the “N” word.

What does the term Nigger equate to in the modern America?

Whilst I am not big fan of rap music, rap artists in their lyrics sing out the best possible description that relates to the use of the Nigger, word, in the frustrations, struggles and despair of African American folks in economically depressed, broken family situations, lost culture and diminished dreams in areas of America. Due to the lack of know how to find a way out, it is easy to seek blame on someone from the perspective that of a victim bogged down with frustration and anger.

Thus then, a publicity stunt to bury the “N” word does nothing to impact or in any way improve the quality of life for the stories of existence in rap lyrics of the plight of African American people.

To affect the real elimination in the use of the “N” word, the leadership must connect to deal with and to address the issues in the complaints of the folks who loosely and lightly use the “N” word in modern day terms.

A child in a depressed environment cannot begin to understand the derogatory meaning of the “N” word unless he can envision a way out of his misery contrary to knowing that his fate and life is meant to end behind bars, uneducated, hopeless, lacking love and family, his failing; being African American.

The use of the “N” word must be a process of removal from the hearts first of those who feel compelled to use and harbor in their hearts this cruel reference. The process involves with the message of hope and an avenue where this hope can be translated and applied effectively.

Then and then truly only, will the “N” word be truly buried.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

A place of seniors in our American family

July 11th, 2007 . by paddy

…….. Dying American soul and demise of a great civilization

Neither a superior arsenal of modern weapons, terrorists nor will a mightier army determine the demise of a civilization, instead it will be the absence of a place for the respect, care and love for our elders from the family units that will determine the fate of the greatest civilization.

A culture that does not acknowledge, support and respect the contributions and efforts of its elderly, that culture is destined to doom.

In very casual conversations, I have come to realize that many average American elderly, when balancing their checkbooks on a monthly basis, have to primarily factor to accommodate a mammoth medical budget. With restricted investment, savings and Social Security incomes, many senior citizens have to go back into menial and limited jobs to supplement such incomes and to afford medical care. In many cases yet, our seniors have to escape our American borders to purchase and receive cheaper drugs and medical care in Canada & Mexico.

It does not matter if one is Conservative or Liberal, Republican, Democrat or an Independent; I am, as of today, a younger, tax paying American, who is not aspiring for my sunset years in retirement in America.

This is a shame.

As a younger employed American, I am committed to my job; pay Social Security and taxes diligently and sincerely. When I grow old, I want my legacy to be one befitting a contributing, and committed American, who paid his dues to earn the repute of the greatest Citizenry in the world, an American. Unfortunately, I am in no hurry to retire due to the fate that awaits my old age, the hopes of my sacrifice and contributions as a citizen today will be dashed by the ever growing medical costs associated with my seniority within my citizenry.

Shame, shame, shame.

I believe in; personal responsibility to one’s own destiny in life because of my choices and decisions. I believe that in the days of my youth, I am to contribute through my participation as an effective citizen to the society in which I dwell and accordingly contribute in support of now old, but once in youth, to the elderly and seniors of my country. My belief as such is no different as is my cultural convictions to take care of my parents in their old age, out of respect, obligation, commitment, and in acknowledgement of their sacrifice and contribution to my life, today.

In America today, we are missing the opportunity to convey our gratitude to our elderly.

Growing old and retiring in America today, for the average senior, equals to financial burdens to self and to taxpayers such as me.

Once the youth, who contributed to the America, we benefit from today, their sacrifice, faith and confidence in self, family, community and country; America disappoints our seniors.

The issue at hand, in the plight of increasing medical costs for seniors, is a symptom of a major ailment in the very soul of America; her conscious.

The quickly breaking down of the American society primarily reflected in the dire conditions of an increasing, less than wholesome family units and lack of sense of community, is the direct result of an individualistic, self centered, selfish and misguided society. The awakening to the conscious of concern, respect and responsibility to parents and elders is the silent but quick decay of a systematic rotting of the American core.

A child that does not understand to acknowledge and love the elders of their family and to respect them, should have parents that need to clearly be warned that their fate of loneliness awaits them at the hands of their children in their old age. As for the children, they need to realize, at their hands remains the decision of their actions as to how they will be treated in their senior years.

The ratifying and correction process of making the American family whole and thus waking the conscious of the American soul is through the involvement and care for our seniors in our lives. If our children do not learn to handle and treat seniors in our family, how do we suppose will we be treated, in the next generation, and generations that follow?

Loving our elders and having a place of gratitude for them in our lives is the first process of easing the burden for our seniors, one family at a time.

The second process involves support from the government which should in place taxation laws that grants relief to taxpayers who take care of elderly parents as dependants. This relief is more than just an economic relief; in actuality, an action as such encourages families to be closely knit and wholesome. On the other hand, our elders, with dignity and due respect can feel welcomed, wanted and appreciated.

A simple approached solution as such will mark the beginnings of a change of course and direction for the current fate of the American family. Not only will action as such ratify the moral issue at hand but also eventually become a starting point in the correction of a grave social ill in American society today; that of acknowledgement, appreciation and place for our seniors in American families. In honoring its elders, a civilization will determine the fiber of her strength and will redeem itself from demise saved continuity of such society. The cornerstone of any civilization is not measured in terms of economic per capita or by the head of bombs, but rather the quality and strength of its value of her subjects in the vigor of her family values. This process begins with the care of her seniors.

American society today faces the dilemma of more than fifty percent in divorce rates and the continual rise of a newly defined half-family unit, “single parent families”. There is also much debate and discussion about homosexually led families, where children are being raised by same sex adults in their claimed role and definition of parents.

Whilst Americans entertain much debate about what a newly redefined meaning of a family should be, is it any wonder why we have strayed so far away from what an actual simple, but strong definition of a traditional family should be? The critical point we seem to miss is the expectations that serves as the criteria to a family unit. In America today, we seem to justify a family unit, as is the case for same sex couples, only in terms of emotional and economic standards in a family. As for the single parent home, it seems that justifications as such equated again only based in emotional terms.

Is it possible that the break down in the American family is perhaps due to the absence of the wisdom, experience and guidance of our elders? Old and traditional cultures, such as that of India, for example, have always revered their elders, as challenging as it may be at times. A place is retained for them in young family households and as a result, the tradition and practices of old through a strong family bonding and identity, remains to this day, and the culture, systematically evolves adopting with changing times but grounded very deeply with certain time-honored expectations within a family unit.

Old folks in history have always been the preservers and wise guides of culture and tradition who ensure continuity. Certainly, the rebellions of youth, and appropriateness of time, subjects to challenge, the version of cultural family expectations of seniors in modern times due to current pressures and demands on the family units. In America today, whilst it is well and right to experiment with the graces of freedom, in the search and definition of the meaning of family values, the answer is quite straight forward and simple; a family unit does consist of grand parents, parents, couples, siblings and children. A family that does not have a place for elders is one, which is utterly puzzled at the lack of proper functionality lacking full potential.

Parental examples in their manner in which they take care and respect elders is the only direct connection that children can envision and accordingly employ within their personal constitutions, as a crucial element of a wholesome family life. It is in such good or bad examples in the care and respect of elders that the fate of parents is willed at the hands of their children in their coming old age.

A place for elders in the American family life will be a turning point in the repair and redirection of where the broken American family unit finds it today. There is much grief, complaints, challenges and despair in many families that do not have elders involved; many of these complaints are unconsciously created with a selfish concept within an individualistic society. Comparatively, families that involve elders have better success than those that do not.

Government through public assistance will do perhaps a lot better at making an impact on family life by supporting taxation reforms for those who take care of their elderly. Not only is this right but it is the moral act to do. Instead of an ever-increasing budget for single moms, welfare or various other assistance etc, government can be a catalyst for change in the very core of American society by encouraging to preserve family units thereby acting nobly for the sake and future of American civilization. Reform to our taxation system that will give a break to those who care for their elderly parents will go a very long way in helping fix grave social problems of the wealthiest nation with a historic society in the world.

If we desire and must reverse the moral decay in our society, it must begin with our care, treatment and respect for elders; the very measure of a grateful nation.

The perception of nuisance and burden of parents is a self-inflicting injury to the moral fiber in the soul of American society. We claim to be a nation of Christian heritage but we do not honor a crucial command to honor and respect our parents. In their old age, honor and respect involves the physical, psychological and emotional care of those who gave us life, our parents,

Let their contributions to society be celebrated with love, respect, dignity and care. To allow our seniors to perish and into loneliness, is to make a path of surety. So shall a civilization, no matter how great and powerful follow suit whilst being able to effectively defend her borders and sovereignty but not be able to withstand the cultural decay as a result of moral bankruptcy, an implosion, from within her own citizenry, due to the negligence and the lack of a place for her elders.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Welcome to America…. drop your pants!

June 25th, 2007 . by paddy

…. superior culture of immigrants

It is common knowledge within our immigrant American circles that migrating to America, besides all the advantages, also is a threat to our age-old cultures and traditions. In comparison, immigrant culture is deemed in a higher repute than that of Americans.

A wife, speaks up, foregoes her traditional garb for blue jeans and cuts her hair to shoulder length for which she is slapped across the face; in turn calls the police on a 911 adventure with her grievance. Such a lost soul is regarded as one who has fallen out of her culture, having yielded to the American or more directly, the white man’s way of life. Similarly, a daughter who has made a choice to fall in love, television style, with a type outside of ingrained religion or race is not spared the grief and rebuke; equated to the status of a heathen. A son who gets sucked into rock n’ roll music and experiments with smoking, alcohol, girl friends, drugs, secularism or a different religion, can easily be disowned as a defector.

Such experiences of immigrant Americans is increasingly evident and posing a real dilemma for the custodians and enforcers of traditional and cultural values in the respective communities. In their hastened judgments due to “declining” cultural identity and character of young immigrant transplants, the true meaning of liberties and life in

America; have fallen casualty to the immigrant’s ignorance.

Moral decay in the very fiber of established order in tradition, culture and language of immigrants under siege in rebellion from within their own offspring, is evidence, and in their complaints thereof, is confirmation, of the American Spirit at work, alive and effectively functioning; to the dismay of cultural keepers, in immigrant American communities.

Revolution is the core value of America, a message lost and confused with the term, “anarchy”. Self-centeredness, a desire to being free from any shackles of unwavering established order is the very nature of America life. American shores tender refuge, safety, dignity, opportunity but the most importantly, freedom, with a very strong element of personal responsibility, greatly misunderstood by immigrants.

Whilst many immigrants come to American shores for one, two or many of the above reasons; be it safety, security or opportunity; it is the nature of the American Sprit to soar, encouraging and alluring the subject, to individual freedoms of choice. Revolt is an honorable act that validates American fundamental values, be they individual or collective efforts. Dissention in ranks, and the challenge that comes from within the inner mortal, sustains continuous regular checks and balances upon which our country was founded. The nature of the American Spirit compels an awakening, and unlocks the individual psychological boundaries of conventional order, challenging the expansion of psyche.

If migration to the United States of America does nothing to challenge the norms of the establishment, effective participation in American life is not being attained and thus is controlled and restricted. In America, one must experience a dare to imagine out of the box, over the confines, to push the envelope and to allow one’s self, an incidence, of a lifetime in individual choice to pursue a life of happiness, liberty and justice.

The equation of lack luster moral values, reverence for traditional standards and the insubordinate temperament of immigrant descendants thus is wrongfully interpreted as white-mans’ culture. Freedom of choice, as an essential character of American life is clearly misunderstood and serves evidence that the immigrant is not fully prepared to understand this aspect of participatory American life.

It is not the white man’s culture to employ bankrupted morality in infidelity, teenage & illegitimate pregnancies, divorce, diminishing religious performance, loss of the motherland language, unique experiences in sexual freedom, substance and alcohol abuse. All that is deemed unacceptable, and those that threaten the ways of old for the immigrant, is merely a transitional process of actualization, adjustment and progression into the American way of life. A breakdown and challenge of customary order is not because of the ways of the white man, accused to be rid and ruined of morality, but instead is the direct result of personal choices in American life that guarantees and encourages a safe environment for such abundance.

The lack of understanding of the American life can be overwhelming, perhaps seriously lacking proper insight in its entirety from the onset, thus severely misunderstood and the bearer of much grief and disappointment to the immigrant. In the newfound insubordinate nature of self-examination, when a set of honorable guides are absent, the results in one’s American life can be devastating.

Revolution necessitated by freedoms of personal choice is vital and a sanctified endowment. However, the standards and method that symbolize one’s pursuit of such conquest must be based on acceptable principles of morality, compassion, charity, liberty and justice; characters of which are well standardized in select traditions of old, upon which we are reared. As such, any personal rebellion in one’s American life must bear a clear understanding that in any decisions made, should be guided by certain principles of civil and moral appropriateness of such personal choices that bear personal responsibilities to the consequences that follow.

The cultures of first generation immigrants are not superior over that of the white man’, nor is the perception that the white man is morally bankrupt, hold true: instead, the immigrants cultures of old are less relevant to her subjects with the progression into American life and falls victim to the rebellious nature of Freedoms of Choices.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Tax Returns & Illegal Immigrants

June 25th, 2007 . by paddy

….a sensible solution to illegal immigration in the USA

As long as there is America, no length of fences or numbers of Border agents will ever stop the human beings to cross over or sail any rough waves to American shores. As long as the American taxpayer monies are doled, calling it what ever politically correct term but still factually welfare and public assistance in the name of humanity, the issue of illegal immigration will remain a permanent dilemma. As long as America lacks the will to set certain standards and expectations in its immigration policies for the immigrants, they will come. As long as there are divisive political establishments and political whores within our leadership in America, an appetite for manipulative strategic desire for racially segregated vote receipts for a certain political party or the other, America, will continue to fall to imports of marginalized, in real terms, contributions from immigrants, crime, social decline and poverty. As long as the American taxpayer remains in his inability to offer a resolute solution of protest, the issue of illegal immigration will persist further dividing and polarizing the country at the hands of surgical politics.

The story of America is the provident yearning in the souls of every human being; pursuit of life, liberty and justice. No, dictatorial & totalitarian governments, communists, hellish temperature, rattlesnake filled desserts, barbed wires or shark infested waters, nor can any regulated and controlled air spaces stop the exodus into Hope, in America,…..this is a fact of oppressed, under privileged, desiring and aspiring human character.

Hope in America is reduced to and equals to, the mighty dollar. A shameless and truthful fact, the very American concept of government and citizenry is a balanced act of economics in the pursuit of life, liberty and justice primarily; a fact most often lacking a matter of frankly explanation, usually misconstrued.

Thus then, pardon for illegal immigrants must be dealt with by means of the same equation, economics. Economic amnesty, it must be right fully called, instead of political pander under the guise of dignity and justice.

The solution to the current crisis of amnesty to illegal immigration is as simple as:

If an illegal immigrant can prove that he or she in the last ten years have paid their taxes, and filed appropriately having not received any welfare or public assistance in any manner for self and dependants and in doing so has not committed unforgivable crime; he or she should be granted a “Green Card” without prejudice. So long as primary allegiance to America can be established with convicted declaration.

The solution is as simple as suggested…but selfish political manipulative machineries confuse the issue at hand with many sensitive nuances as family, suffering, diversity, racial and economical equality, justice etc… all in the name of well intentioned ideas humanity by American standards.

As an immigrant American myself, if the government decides to qualify illegal immigrants based on the above standards, I will harbor no feelings of injustice. As an immigrant, I have followed and met all the requirements of laws in America. In my assimilation process and transition into American life, I have voluntarily taken pride in speaking, reading & writing in the English language. During the progression of life in America, I have learned to love and to cherish the grace of America and I have desired America for America. I have never desired the status and comforts of life just as the same as that of my now long departed country of birth; at the expense and to the burden of the American taxpayer. I have made a choice to be an American and to be part of the volunteer and participatory life in the meaning of being an American as contributing citizen and not one of burden through God’s grace.

As an immigrant, I understand and can relate to the dire situation of illegal immigrants. However, I cannot agree with the selfish intentions to take advantage of American taxpayers’ generosity, her laws and to employ a character short in loyalty and of real contribution, to the very country, that provided me with refuge from my ills and injustices, whatever they may have been.

Similarly, I reject and resent the notion that as a benefactor of American asylum, I should impose on the American citizenry, in guilt of their goodness to welcome, the burden of my expectations. Be my expectations, language, culture or ideology there should be no alternative option short of deportation, in the case of my refusal to assimilate into American expectations, to learn and adopt the ways of my newfound country of preference.

Migration to America is a relocation process in search of new opportunities, ideology, culture and way of life; it is not the process of completely transplanting and imposing the old established ways of self & culture, in its entirety; but rather it is the challenge to maintain one’s identity within the uniqueness of preserving and stimulating the identity that of being an American.

Many immigrants such as myself feel privileged and blessed to be an American; proud to be a tax paying and contributing citizen, appreciative of opportunities, thankful for the laws for our safety and security of self and property, English language “Star Spangled Banner” singing, Red White & Blue flag loving, Naturalized immigrant American citizens.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Slaves & Masters of Hurricane Katrina

June 22nd, 2007 . by paddy

Many, many, months later, I still heed the tragedy inflicted on New Orleans, by Hurricane Katrina, an example of uncontrollable and erratic force of remorseless, unforgiving, nature. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims….the real victims, who lost all that was claim to material possessions and livelihood, family and friends.

I mourn, in pity for the one major and essential devastating blow that the aftermath of Katrina dealt; the loss of the American Spirit, of hope, faith and confidence and the rise of evidence of Slave & Master in modern times. As the levees broke to an onslaught of hastening water burying the city, from within its darkest depths from under the water, arose the beastly evidence of modern day American tragedy: slavery.

Scene after scene, play by play, radios, newspapers, televisions and the internet, kept a shocked American public updated of inconceivable scenes of despair and misery as they unfolded in the aftermath of Katrina, in the richest per capita country in the world, the United States of America.

Not even the aftermath of the events of September 11^th 2001 had shaken us to the core as Katrina. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, the country grieved in disbelief, wept for our lost, rallied behind the Leadership of the country just as they rallied along with each other with courage, brotherhood, determination, self confidence with a willingness to overcome and move on…..in the truest sense of the great American Spirit.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina projected a different image of America. This appalling image invited the world into the dark and repulsive backdrop of a rich, powerful and proud country…. a super power in shambles not from any attacks on it’s sovereignty at the hands of a foreign enemy, but a country imploding from within by her peoples lack of resolve in their crushed American Spirits.

Whether they were blacks, select whites, handicapped, elderly or children, the faces that told the story of tragedy of loss, hurt, hopelessness, frustration and anger; unbeknownst to them, in their brief brush with prime time, they communicated to the world the systematic rotting that grips the very fiber of America today, on the down low.

Reports on Katrina glorified the existence and sufferings of poor folks, the failure of FEMA and the government to control chaos and to deliver the necessary aid and much needed supplies; the world awoke to the shameless capitalization of a tragedy as political spins. The reporting projected gross injustices based on race ethnicity, broken and confused American zest for life, liberty and justice, to the delight of our enemies and appeasing the appetites of political animals of opportunity….but importantly and sadly it told the story of American inability, indecisiveness, a country unable to rise above and beyond Katrina…..a weak and divided country.

The hunt to lay blame for the failure in response spared no one; the President, the head of FEMA, Governor of the State, Mayor of the City, rescue workers, white Americans, Army Corp of Engineers and the list goes on. No one was spared, except the carefully crafted art of complaining, crucifying, blame seeking Americans; this is what occupied the world’s family rooms.

The other stories of tragedy never make it to the magnitude of Katrina news, even today. A tornado, a snowstorm, a flash flood in some outback American country that destroys families & their livelihoods, along with any possessions of any material worth. The faces of despair bewilderment and despondency of the victims of these tragedies never really justify, long drawn-out coverage on television, radio, newspapers or the internet.

Is it perhaps that many folks affected in this manner are poor white folks by majority? Alternatively, perhaps these folks are not poor enough and are at lesser loss levels than those of Katrina? The sufferings of such folks may even be justified at a less significant level of pain and despair than the Katrina victims. On the other hand, is it because these folks do not have news worthy political mileage to warrant political spin or capital?

How can a survivor of such tragedies be in less hurt, pain and anguish than the other?

Alternatively, is it, that the Katrina victims’ despair projected total defeat in their personal constitution, spirit and resolve whilst the backcountry USA victims in their despair, acknowledged loss, but exerted determination of self and community to rebuild and to move on in the truest meaning of the American Spirit?

This is the America today; I am learning to dread.

Desperation, injustices, doom & gloom smother a bias in mainstream reporting. A great country, today; polarized, in turmoil and misery; with a weakened determination, lacking in ability to move on, America is projected deficient in faith in the self of her people and as a country. American arrogance and pride in self-belief, self-reliance and unwavering fortitude upon the foundations of which a great democracy was born, has merely been reduced inaccurately to the faces of dejection in the aftermath of Katrina.

Such inaccuracies about her spirit, is only proven wrong by the backcountry American resilience and the fervor that of Immigrant Americans, who are anything but gloom and continue to reinforce and maintain the American spirit true.

The greatest tragedy of Katrina is not so much the situations of spin that were made apparent to exist, but evidence, of a community with a failed leadership lacking appropriate guidance. The aftermath on the faces of the so-called victims, displayed clearly a fleetingly lack of grounding in basic fundamental values in foundations of self worth, self-sufficiency, faith, determination and courage. A person irrespective of their race or communities can be systematically reduced to this state of existence is proof that the manner of his/their approach and attitude towards life has ill prepared them and warrants redirection as this condition of existence amounts to self-choice and is not a forced condition of life in the United States of America.

The anguish of Katrina is a reality check in reflection of a smoked screened mirror of failures in leadership of a person and community; via misrepresentations, improper guidance, training and flawed ideas of injustices and atrocities in the United States of America. In the broken spirits of underprivileged Americans, we saw a person and his community’s color which reiterated the undercurrent political and social tsunami that if not redirected will eventually become the fact that will implode under the weight of its claims and self-belief of prejudice and inequality in their broken American Spirits.

All the while, immigrant Americans, with less, continue to take advantage and reinforce their beliefs in the American Dream without a necessary want for any special treatments or claims of entitlement.

Instead of self-empowerment and self-sufficiency, the very foundations of American creed, minority communities are well versed to accept politically biased versions of injustices inflicted upon them at the hands of the all-powerful white race. Minority leaderships with vigor continue to preach at us on the hangovers of a slave trading and segregation aspects of tragic American history, manipulating our vulnerable emotions. The wordsmith of such propaganda of doom & gloom, uses careful skill with exploitation on terms such as “fairness”, “social injustices”,“ economic disparity” , “affirmative action” etc….strictly as race based quantification.

In essence, instead, the minority populace in their melancholy of life in poverty has taken bait; hook, line and sinker! In their minds, and even worse yet, in the hearts, of the minority, the in your face manner propaganda of doom & gloom has diminished the self worth of their human, and thus the American spirit. Instead of guiding and advocating paths of family, moral, religious, discipline and educational values as a required set of principles that eventually seeks out a way out of poverty, the minority communities’ are resigned to the acceptance of self-defeat and inferiority of their lives in America.

In essence, the manipulated leaderships of minority communities, have “dumbed- down” their subjects into believing that they are sub Americans with semi opportune American existence; thus justifying the need for more corrupt and dishonest agents of their representation under the guise of Leaders. With such mentality, lacking essential skills, high illiteracy, deficient in discipline, break down of the families and crime-ridden communities, is it any wonder that Katrina factually validated the demise of the minority in America…..not at the hands of the white majority but by their own.

Katrina, brought out the fact in underprivileged communities justifying the need for dependence on government as the intermediary and decisive solution,; between them and their wrecked personal constitutions. This distressing and dire relationship with the Government as Master; and therefore rightfully in control of the beneficiary; the Slave, is the greatest tragedy in modern day American history present.

Have, we, the minorities, really changed the course of American history?, even with much advancement and evolved civil rights? I think not. Poorly equipped and largely misinformed, we employ a victim’s frame of mind as an approach in life; in our lack luster oomph for life, ambition and achievements, we, remain Slaves to our Master, the Government. The reparation for our grievances about our supposed status in American life is compensated by the tax payer due to our exceedingly high dependence on social and public related assistance programs, in many cases on a permanent arrangement basis. Further, due to the lacking of solid training, examples and know-how in the critical foundations needed as traits in life to succeed: we find ourselves lacking an understanding and appreciation for the need of certain priorities to obtain essential skills necessary to compete. As such, we lack the understanding and appreciation again for discipline to stay the course. Additionally, weakened moral standards and values continue to contribute to the undermining and breaking down of family units thus shaking the most important cornerstone of our lives. We therefore find ourselves caught in an uncontrollable downward spiral into the darkest depths…..not because of the white man but due to our own outlook and attitudes in life.

Minorities who depend on the Government for their livelihood may cheat themselves into believing that they escaped the fate of slavery in American history. The fact remains that by no one but of their own free will, they have volunteered their families, future generations and selves into slavery in America today without a gun pointed at their heads or due to the end of a crackling whip drawing anguish & pain, demanding submission and blood. At the hands of corrupt and misleading minority Leaderships, Slaves to the Master, the Government; minorities are volunteering for slavery in draws standing in line for assistance, waiting for their perception of justice and reparations that any savior won’t provide, short of their own personal efforts.

Poor white folks and immigrant Americans have no upper hand any better than the claimed victims of Katrina. However, there are vast differences in the outlook and attitudes towards life; one groups’ resigned with a crushed American Spirit, the other vigorously fans and continues to prove and validate the American Spirit.

One group is a Slave to it’s Master to determine their future, the other, the Master of his own unstoppable and limitless American destiny.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Mohammed Giveth….. The USA Provideth!

June 19th, 2007 . by paddy

A few miles into the taxi ride, I learned that the cabbie, an immigrant from Somalia, emigrated under refugee status to the United States of America some ten years ago.

A man of all but five feet …maybe, five inches, spotting a beard per his claimed requirements of his Islamic faith, the cabbie, professed his religion to me without my invite. Amused and a little dazed, recovering from sinus related pains in my skull and ear popping sensations, due to a rough airplane landing, I put up my best respect in politeness as I was being hauled to my business meeting.

In his heavily laced African accent, he continued, in patch work but understandable English to tell me the story of his life but very importantly his faith…..comfortable with his presence in the company of another immigrant American, me, his passenger.

In between brief moments of the cabby’s continuous upbeat and energy charged oration, I respectfully dodged eye contact in his rear vision mirror. I tried to steal a peak outside the window and take in, the beautiful scenery of yet another American city that I had never been to, prior, in my travels. Silently I suffered in hope that the man would give me a chance to gather and processes my thoughts in preparations for my scheduled business meeting within a couple of hours…..in peace and quiet. Instead, I felt like the sacrificial sole captive audience, stuck within the confines in the back seat of the taxi on a 60 miles an hour journey of this seemingly nice and well intentioned person.

Of the many things I was enlightened on, the one thing that really got my attention was, his telling me that he and his good wife had three pairs of twins and their seventh child was on the way, eight months into his wife’s pregnancy. A “HE” man! The more I became intrigued, he continued to venture to inform me that “God Gives”…..and without any second thoughts in a very matter of factually way, he informed me that his family received public assistance from the Government.

To this day, I often recall this taxi ride conversation. The Muslim’s opinions as to how he disagreed with the American wars that were being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, the assault on the faith of Islam and how America was on an Imperial quest in it’s arrogance to conquer and rule the world………..yet, the same America, in my opinion, that bore the energized and deeply convicted dislike by this fellow American immigrant of mine; fed his seven kids that his God, Mohammed, blessed him and his wife with.

Sadly, there is no shortage of immigrant’s such as the Cabbie who gave me this particular memorable ride and the rant of American moral wrongs of the modern day era. Many yellow bellied, ungrateful and strongly opinionated Americans (by right of birth) continue to support an increasing crescendo as such in America today. In the same note of professed dislike and philosophical differences of modern day America’s global conquest to quash Islam and to rule the world, many of her own, with the mentality of “blame America first” employ no shame or justice to take advantage of all and anything that this great nation offers on the backs of the American tax payer, shamelessly!

Seven plus mouths fed with “milk & honey”, not due to the grace of Mohammed (who is accredited to Giveth) but by the goodness and generosity of the American tax payer and this great country’s values through it’s very generous Social programs as Welfare, Medical, free Public Schools, Women Infant Children, Affirmative Action, Religious Freedom, Law & Order…..yet Immigrants as the cabby, only Taketh without Giveth!

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

American Flag, bag tag, Sir?

June 19th, 2007 . by paddy

A 3” x 5”, red, white & blue, stars & stripes, embossed in plastic, a luggage bag tag, an American flag and a skittish white sales man!

“Do you really want the American flag, bag tag”, he asked, with typical salesperson’s sincerity and an immensely confused American’s (by right of birth) stare.

I responded in kind with a stare equally if not more confused at a question as such by a white American in a Seattle down town store.

“Do you really want the flag on your suitcase?” he ventured further to explain that in this time of War and no Love in America, would I really be willing to display my American flag bag tag through the airports?

An American, male, Caucasian by race and a citizen by birth, posing a question as such to a colored, Middle Eastern looking minority and naturalized American such as me, reeked of trickery and test.

I sympathized with his concern and pitied his cowardice!

“I have always had a flag bag tag, I am not going to stop today” I reaffirmed my request, with even more pride in my purchase of American flag bag tags for my luggage.

How many more Americans by birth echo the same lack of faith and fearfulness of this suitcase salesperson, I wonder? Yet how many more immigrant Americans such as me share a deep, convicted, belief and passionate gratitude of America, only too eager to display our salutations to her Stars & Stripes?

It is ignorance of Americans, by right of birth, who in their willingness to welcome, embrace with their misguided but well intended compassions in America today; we experience a confused American populace seriously lacking direction politically and socially.

Political Correctness and the over emphasis of sensitivity towards the endless endeavor to pander to the influx of immigrants such as me in America today amounts to the systematic rot and a sure demise of what will unfortunately amount to a once great American society, if not redirected will be the “was” envy, desire and moral concise of humanity in the world.

Americans such as this particular salesperson should understand that there is nothing wrong, insensitive or disrespectful of welcoming folks like me with a clear set of expectations in my decision to participate and in being a privileged member of the world in being an American. If I, as an American, cannot understand the meaning of the American flag, then, I should be required to learn so. Instead of your sympathy, offer me your challenge so that I may take pride having understood the meaning of being an American and under the grace, safety, security and protection of the Red, White & Blue…..I am not offended. I am here by my choice irrespective of the reasons, whatever they may have been, which compelled me to arrive on American shores.

If an American by right of privileged birth may exercise his/her right not to display the American flag, then, under the same rights applicable to me, please allow me to display my American flag without prejudice and with pride. Allow me, under the same guaranteed rights, to not burn my Old Glory but embrace the Red, White & Blue, with deepest respect, appreciation and gratitude.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Infant formula & the pawnshop

June 19th, 2007 . by paddy

With five dollars to my name, a paycheck three days away, a quickly emptying can of baby formula and my charge that of a father to provide for my child as the very basic element of my responsibility, I pondered my options.

My very limited options at that moment in my life quickly demanding a solution; greatly troubled me with much grief and pitiful complains of injustice and economic disparity in the United States of America. My complaints felt justified, echoing the sentiments of the under privileged economic classes’ such as mine in the midst of my desperation, economic despair and frustration.

I had worked at every opportunity, put in long hours daily, invested in my craft of improving my labor skills and learning my job, I had earned the repute of reliability that of my superiors, provided for my family……. I had done everything as ethically and honestly as I had known, only to find myself several dollars short to buy my infant child’s formula.

I thought about my bank, which would not lend me any money due to my menial relationship other than to cash, my paychecks. The ATM machine was no solution since there was not a single dollar that that I could withdraw and as for any credit cards to my name, they were all maxed. Friends with money, I had none; the few I had, were in the same boat as me. The thought of some public assistance from Women Infant & Children’s and the Department of Social Health Services help programs crossed my mind, but I did not have enough time to go through their rigmarole and the time to wait for their decisions. I had nothing that I could sell for a quick income given the time constraints and the thought of anything illegal never crossed my mind even in that moment of my dire desperation for a few dollars. There appeared to be no honorable avenue available to me to help me out of my temporary but critical dilemma ….my child needed formula and he needed it within a few hours.

In the lowest of low financial points in my life, there was only one solution to be had that I could think about….against my choice, my dignity and my pride, a pawnshop. As an immigrant, culturally, I was raised to stay away from pawnshops as an avenue of solution for any financial assistance; this would bring about shame and dishonor to my family, self and my manhood as a son, husband and father.

My wedding covenant sealed in my only prized and sacred material possession of any financial worth in my life at that time, my wedding ring, fell victim to the pawnshop’s counter, with my personal pride, in utter shame.

The needs of my child and the situation of my desperation were too much for me to continue to employ and profess my personal pride; I was humbled and found myself at the mercy of the pawnshop dealer, for a few dollars for baby formula.

In my shame, I swore, to never again, allow myself such indignity, I vowed to change the course of my financial destiny so that my child would never ever be fed milk with money from his dad’s dishonor. I vowed to allow my son better, than what that particular point in my life forced me to do…..he deserved better, I lived in the USA.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

A prejudiced shade of Black

June 19th, 2007 . by paddy

The young West African, a well mannered and spoken lad, callously but with directed precision informed me that he would not go to a certain part of town and nor would he pick up any black (African Americans) folks in his cab.

“What about me?” I asked.

“You Indian (East), I have no problem”, he quickly replied.

According to this cabbie, the African American blacks in this particular depressed, drug infested and crime ridden part of town had no respect, had no education, no manners……and the list of his reasons went on.

“But you are black and African as well”, I queried.

“Yeah, but we are different”, he said.

A black cabbie (immigrant from West Africa), in a black part of town and yet he would not pick up black folks in that town because of his unpleasant experiences with some patrons.

As an immigrant and a minority, I find this situation very unique, but the truth be told, to some degree I bear the same prejudices as the cabbie towards other immigrants and the majority minority, African Americans, in America.

How is it possible that a minority such as I? should harbor prejudiced reservations as such?

Is it the different shade of Black, or an issue completely irrespective of a person’s skin color?

The West African and I, as immigrants, to some degree can agree why we, in certain cases prefer not to deal with a certain group of people despite the fact that we are all minorities.

Decency, character, honor, respect; as a person, as a community on the whole; is the basis of our prejudiced judgments as such, based on our observations and experiences. Are we colored immigrants, thus, less of a racist than the Caucasians who are continuously accused of being prejudiced towards, African Americans?

The same African Americans, who through their leadership and sacrifice of the Civil Rights era ensured that minorities such as me had the right to dignity deserving of a human being? Would the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also be in the class of the likes of me, prejudiced towards the different shades of blacks and minorities?

Do our minority prejudices within our own very communities be more moral and different (lesser evil) from that of Whites? Are we colored folks lesser of a racist than when white folks are racist, only because we are colored and we discriminate or perhaps “differentiate” within our own prejudices within the various minority communities?

In the same manner, is it acceptable that Black street lingo should encourage/allow the use of the “N” word as an acceptable casual word in conversations in certain settings, a condescending and degrading word unofficially patented for use by African American folks for their verbiage only?

When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed his dream speech on the mall in Washington DC – August 28^th 1963:

Excerpt:

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today!

This message of Dr. King’s speech is absent from the hearts of many African American communities’ mind sets as displayed in the angry attitudes of community folks in depressed areas; the types as described by the West African cabbie. The fact remains that even though not clearly communicated, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not only specifically dream a world of Justice and Fairness for African Americans, but rather he desired the same for Whites and every one else as he famously proclaimed “ An injustice anywhere is an injustice every where” - MLK

Most immigrant Americans link or equate violence, crime, drugs, lack of morality, break down in families and culture etc to African Americans, unfortunately. As a result, any hope for assimilation within the minority communities (which other wise would help to create a better understanding of each others’ culture, history and heritage) is strictly limited and an unspoken segregation exists within the minority communities.

Most minority immigrant Americans migrate with their faith, family units, social and cultural norms intact. They form part of the first generation of migrants for their off spring generations to come. Herein is the important factor usually missed by such migrants when passing their judgments on African Americans – whose ancestors arrived on American shores several generations removed from their respective countries of origins.

For recent migrants to say then, that the blacks do not have any culture is not correct but is rather a statement of ignorance that completely discounts the fact that their own off spring generations of the future will experience the same demise, in this great melting pot, in a century’s time span, if not earlier. The other fact remains that unlike recent immigrants, African Americans do not geographically live close to each other in close-knit social and family groups as thus limiting their ability to congregate and attempt to revive their now lost traditions and cultural practices. Briefly explained; colored minorities should not feel as an exception with an air of superiority over African Americans in any manner. Recent immigrant claims to a strong culture, social and family groups, is a first generation factor, and for the future, they should realistically accept on a limited basis only, continuity, of their traditions and practices by their future generations in America. In just a matter of two off spring generations in America, an adjusted and renewed version of their culture can be surely expected to have evolved.

The discriminatory remarks of the West African against the African American is simply an expression of frustration and disappointment, not because certain African Americans are Black, but rather due to their completely bankrupted, misguided and socially unacceptable conduct. The African American communities as such in mention are plagued by anger and a deep hopeless belief as a sense of injustice not only at the hands of the white man but also on occasions by other colored immigrant communities. It is not an African American’s skin color that warrants discrimination but rather a mode of behavior that not only is unacceptable in their own communities but by any civilly operating society.

Dr. Martin Luther King’s dreams for the African American communities are only remembered briefly as a triumph in history and unfortunately not lived out by African Americans but by the immigrant Americans in the United States of America.

Immigrants, who take advantage of the civil rights, Affirmative Action, free schooling, law & order, entrepreneurship and endless opportunities in the United States of America. On the contrary, the prevalent dejection and hopelessness in the broken spirits of certain depressed African American communities is a tragic testimony of a great people with colossal potential, unfortunately still wandering in the wilderness blinded to the unlimited opportunities that surround them. The true bearers of Dr. King’s, light, hope and dreams in modern times are not the masses of African American communities; for whom he claimed to lead. Rather, modern immigrants usually arrive with menial resources, economically, socially and politically; but with a very clear sense of direction and ambition to succeed, despite any odds that may be in store; thus actualizing the dreams of Dr. King.

Ambition and drive, coupled with discipline and a clear appreciation for the importance of sacrifice; help achieve results; attained in relatively short periods, surpassing the momentum, desire and zeal of many American Citizens, claim by right of birth, who comparatively, at the point of entry of the immigrants, automatically have at their disposal, certain privileges and rights not available to the new comer.

As thus, discrimination against an African American by a West African immigrant American is not based on race but rather in protest in frustration against a group, not limited to African Americans, but as a whole of American Citizens, who lack an understanding and appreciation of what their great country offers.

Prejudice, therefore based on different shades of Black is merely not limited to African Americans but the American citizenry on the whole, those who are resigned to despair and hopelessness without the faith and ambition that of an immigrant’s. Color is a non issue in this sense of racism. Instead, the color of an entitlement seeking, weak, complaining and undisciplined, American populace, who travel in darkness with the self indoctrinated feelings of resigned human spirit, without respect and any sense of acknowledgment of many great men and women of American history, who sacrificed much to accord the opportunities and privileges we have today.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

« Previous Entries

Paddy’s Blog

VACANCY: Wanted applicants for the job of American President 2008.

Public burial of the “N” word

A place of seniors in our American family

Welcome to America…. drop your pants!

Tax Returns & Illegal Immigrants

Slaves & Masters of Hurricane Katrina

Mohammed Giveth….. The USA Provideth!

American Flag, bag tag, Sir?

Infant formula & the pawnshop

A prejudiced shade of Black

Recent Blog Entries:

Blog Categories:

Blog Archives:

Blog Roll:

Meta: