Relevant Article

March 16, 2010 – Second Article

And Bigotry, And Ignorance

After His Analysis, Here Is Political Writer Bob Cesca's Take: The Tea Party Is All About Race

(Ed's Note: Political writer, blogger and new media producer Bob Cesca has some strong feelings about people who participate in the current "tea party" protests against encouraging a bigger, more controlling government for the United States of America. This piece by Cesca recently appeared in The Huffington Post. When you are done with Cesca's take, read my reaction—I too have some strong feelings.)

By Bob Cesca

I was going to open this piece with an analogy about the tea party groups and why they're treated seriously by the press and the Republicans. The analogy would go something like: "Imagine [insert left-wing activist group here] getting a serious profile in a mainstream newspaper, and imagine serious Democratic politicians appearing at their convention."

The problem is, when I really evaluated what the various far-left activist groups are all about and compared them with the tea party movement, there really wasn't any equivalency. At all.

Because when you strip away all of the rage, all of the nonsensical loud noises and all of the contradictions, all that's left is race. The tea party is almost entirely about race, and there's no comparative group on the left that's similarly motivated by bigotry, ignorance and racial hatred.

I hasten to note that I'm talking about real racism, insofar as it's impossible for the majority race—the 70 percent white majority—to be on the receiving end of racism. That is unless white males, for example, are suddenly an oppressed racial demographic. But judging by the racial composition of, say, the Senate or AM talk radio or the cast members playing the Obamas on SNL, I don't think white people have anything to worry about.

This isn't an epiphany by any stretch. From the beginning, with their witch doctor imagery, watermelon agitprop and Curious George effigies, the wingnut right has been dying to blurt out, as Lee Atwater famously said, "nigger, nigger, nigger!"

But they can't.

Strike that. Correction. TeaParty.org founder Dale Robertson brandished a sign with the (misspelled) word "niggar." So they're not even as restrained as the generally unstrung Atwater anymore.

Most of the time, they merely imply the use of the word. Rush Limbaugh referring to the president as a "black man-child," for example. Every week, a new example pops up on the radio and somehow the offenders are able to keep their job while Howard Stern is fined for saying the comparatively innocuous word "blumpkin."

Limbaugh, on the other hand, can stoke racial animosity on his show by suggesting that health care reform is a civil rights bill—reparations—and no one seems to mind. And no, the impotence isn't an adequate Karmic punishment for Limbaugh's roster of trespasses.

The tea party is an extension of talk radio. It's an extension of Fox News Channel. It's an extension of the southern faction of the Republican Party—the faction that gave us the Southern Strategy, the Willie Horton ad, the White Hands ad and the racially divisive politics of Lee Atwater and Karl Rove. It's an extension of the race-baiting and, often, the outright racism evident in all of those conservative spheres.

But unlike the heavy-handedness of Dale Robertson and others, the tea party followers are generally more veiled about why they're so outraged by our current president.

In the New York Times this past weekend, David Barstow profiled a teabagger from Idaho:

"SANDPOINT, Idaho—Pam Stout has not always lived in fear of her government. She remembers her years working in federal housing programs, watching government lift struggling families with job training and education. She beams at the memory of helping a Vietnamese woman get into junior college.

"But all that was before the Great Recession and the bank bailouts, before Barack Obama took the White House by promising sweeping change on multiple fronts, before her son lost his job and his house. Mrs. Stout said she awoke to see Washington as a threat, a place where crisis is manipulated—even manufactured—by both parties to grab power." (End of David Barstow's article.)

Now you might be saying to yourself, I don't see the racism here. But if you eliminate all of the reasons for Stout's participation in the tea party movement as being contradictory or nonsensical, all that's left is race.

Let's deconstruct.

She claims to be against the bank bailouts, but the tea party is against the president's bank fee designed to recover the TARP money. They also appear to be against financial regulatory reform. None of this makes any sense.

If tea partiers are against the bailouts, basic logic dictates that they ought to be in favor of getting the money back. Or do they prefer that the banks keep the money and orchestrate further meltdowns? Honestly, I'm not even entirely sure they realize that the bailouts and the recovery act (stimulus) are two different things. But they're also against the recovery act—you know, whatever that is.

She also told the New York Times that she's tired of politicians "manufacturing crisis."

Right. Three things here.

First, where was she—where were the teabaggers—when the far-right endorsed and supported a massive increase in the size of government, unitary executive power grabs and unconstitutional measures fueled by fear-mongering over the very remote threat of terrorism? Crickets chirping. The odds of being killed in an airborne terrorist attack are literally 1 in 10 million. You're much more likely to kill yourself than to be killed by a terrorist.

Second, I refuse to believe that health care is a "manufactured crisis." People are going broke and dying every day. Even the most conservative estimates show that there are 9/11-level casualties each month due to a lack of adequate health insurance. The horror stories are readily available online. Just Google "health insurance horror story" and see how manufactured the crisis is.

Third, look at any bar graph of the economy as of one year ago or any basic jobs number and tell me if the crisis is manufactured. Hell, Pam Stout's son lost his house! How can she possibly suggest the economic crisis was manufactured?

I hate to single out one person, but Stout's incongruous anger is indicative of the entire movement.

From the outset, the tea party was based on a contradictory premise (the original tea party was a protest against a corporate tax cut). And when you throw out all of the nonsense and contradictions, there's nothing left except race.

There's no other way to explain why these people were silent and compliant for so long, and only decided to collectively freak out when this "foreign" and "exotic" president came along and, right out of the chute, passed the largest middle class tax cut in American history—something they would otherwise support, for goodness sake, it was $288 billion in tax cuts!—we're left to deduce no other motive but the ugly one that lurks just beneath the pale flesh, the tri-corner hats and the dangly tea bag ornamentation.

Irrespective of whether the president passed a huge tax cut or went out of his way to bring Republicans into the health care process, the seeds of racial animosity from the far-right were sown during the campaign. In those lines waiting for then-vice presidential candidate and current tea party heroine Sarah Palin, their loud noises spread the pre-scripted lies, lies that entirely hinged on the president's African heritage.

A white candidate would never be accused of being a secret Muslim. A white candidate would never be accused of being a foreign usurper. Only a black candidate with a foreign name would be accused of "palling around with domestic terrorists."

In the final analysis, when you boil away all of the weirdness, it becomes clear that the teabaggers are pissed because there isn't yet another doddering old white guy in the White House—like they're used to. That's what this is all about.

By way of a postscript, one of the many faceless radio talk show wingnuts, Jim Quinn, this week called President Obama a "Kenyan wuss" who should be "slapped silly." The Kenyan lie and the "slap silly" insult aside, this president is no wuss. You know how I know? He's a black man who ran for president and won despite the growing mob of gun-toting militant white bigots like Jim Quinn who are sucking air in America.

President Obama achieving this despite the hatred and threats against him takes serious guts. Guts that Jim Quinn and the tea party movement will never understand.

March 15, 2010

Grabs a 32.5% Share

For the First Time Ever, Digital Advertising Will Outstrip Print Media Advertising as the Internet Grows in Influence

(Ed's Note: As a former newspaper publisher and current book publisher, I know this day was bound to come with the advent of the Internet and the lack of adequate response of the print industry to compete with it.)

For the first time ever, spending on digital advertising will outstrip that targeted toward the print sector. A study by Outsell predicts Web ads will jump 10 percent in the coming year, meaning 32.5 percent of the $368 billion will be spent on the Internet, versus just 30.3 percent on print. Outsell vice president Chuck Richard calls it a "watershed moment," and he's correct.

Movie Review:

"Akeelah and the Bee" Is a Great Film for Children and Families

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

Akeelah and the Bee - 3 Stars (Good)

Learn how an 11-year-old from African American girl from South Los Angeles (Akeelah Anderson, played by Keke Palmer) sets a goal to make it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee and win. Learn how she wins, and another 14-year-old Asian boy contestant wins as well. Learn how she becomes a friend of a Hispanic boy who is another contestant. Learn how and why she becomes such a good speller BEFORE she even realizes there is a national spelling competition.

Learn how a school and community can come together to support her, much like a pro sports team bringing a community together with positive effects, and ripples of wholesome change.

This is a very well made movie that is a model for families and children to watch and learn about the importance of making goals, of thinking well of yourself, of courage, of determination, of taking chances, of standing up for yourself, of appreciating how others help make us successful, and of not isolating on your society-driven minority tag so you can become a real winner in the game of life.

See this film for your family, for your children, and mostly for yourself. This movie can open your heart and your mind; you can become a better person by watching, learning and applying its many messages about the goodness of life, and what can be achieved when you stop blaming others and become open to change. When you blame others, you give up your ability to change.

Akeelah arises above the blame game, and she is 11 years old. How about you? Do you have what it takes to realize your potential through personal growth, and the help of others? (notice I did not say professional growth, and if you do not know the difference, please do yourself a service and find out).

An Unforgettable Gift:

What Makes a Person Want to Run, and Why Few Will Ever Know the Joy of Running

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

He stood there by the side of the track, looking sweaty and satisfied but dazed.

My teammates and I had just come back from a leisurely 10-mile run through the woods and along the banks of the Red Cedar River, and I felt compelled to wander over and ask, "Are you OK, man?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but confused," he answered, looking like he was at a loss for words. "I tried to tell my roommate what it's like to be out here. Do you think he will ever understand?"

"No, don't even try," replied I. "Just be thankful that you are here; leave him where he is."

People just do not get it, unless, of course, you are a middle distance runner, and even more so if you have been a very good middle distance runner.

I remember those fall workouts on the Michigan State University campus when the leaves on the deciduous trees would burst into color along the wooded trail, and the sunshine would filter down through the trees.

Running gives you peace of mind that settles your soul.

You bound along at a pace that would exhaust the average person, but you are trained to run at a brisk pace for a long time and distance. You would run faster in a race, but your goal today is to finish feeling pleasantly tired, knowing that you could have run much faster.

I have my high school cross-country coach to thank for introducing me to the pure joy of running.

Like many of us who have become successful in life, we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to a certain teacher or coach who influenced us in a way that we will never forget.

In my case, it was my coach Varnard Gay, a finer person you will never meet on your best day. He would buy shoes for minority kids who could not afford them. He would go and pick up kids who had no way to get to the school meets and no money to ride a bus. He never said a word, he just did it, as naturally as he would breathe while running.

Varnard was arguably one of the greatest high school cross-country and track coaches ever. He just missed qualifying for the 1932 Olympic Games by 2/10ths of a second if memory serves me correctly. In his day he was the only coach in Michigan high school history to win state championships in all four divisions.

He was an incredible coach who guided his cross-country and track teams to many championships and trained many Flint Central High School athletes to win state titles and to set state, regional, local and school records.

Varnard would call me aside and remind me that my success in running was great, but that I should continue running after my high school and college careers. He would have been smiling from above when I checked in to compete in the 1998 Nike World Masters Games at age 54.

Varnard ran his entire life. When running became impossible, he jogged, and when jogging became impossible he walked. He was an inspiration and remains an inspiration in my life.

I can tell you without qualification that running is one of the greatest natural highs you will ever experience. There is absolutely no need to become a drug head in high school when you can run and compete and enjoy success in a much more productive, positive way.

When training and competing under stress your body can and does release natural endorphins, hormones that are secreted within the brain and the nervous system that activate the body's natural opiate (as in opium) receptors, causing an euphoric effect.

You have perhaps heard amazing stories of women weighing 100 pounds who have lifted up the back of an automobile when their child was trapped underneath, so they could be pulled out by their bigger sister. These feats happen because natural endorphins are released when we are under great stress.

In Flint, Michigan in the early 1960s we had racial unrest, but there was no division on our cross-country and track teams. We ran side by side and won race after race against many other integrated teams and perhaps a few segregated teams we did not even recognize as such. We learned respect for each other. Athletics can bring diverse populations together in the spirit of competition and make us all better people and citizens in the process.

But back to running. I still treasure the times when I am running along on a sunny day without a care in the world. Few people know that O Positive blood types generally release tension by vigorous activity; I would know as I am an O Positive.

My wife, an A Positive blood type, releases her tension by sitting on the couch, clearing her mind and doing nothing except for dozing or reading novels.

Few people know and understand another value of running, and that is it increases your self-confidence, self-image and self-worth. This happens because running puts you psychologically in control of your life. You feel as a free spirit, uncontrolled by the troubles of your world.

I suspect it is much the same effect for people who are fond of riding motorcycles on the weekend.

Should I have a heart attack while running or competing I cannot think of a better way to go. It sure beats the debilitating agony of having terminal cancer and hanging on for five years, knowing your battle against death is inevitable.

I shall work out by running, jogging or walking until the day I die, and this should be interesting because I plan to live to be 110.

Note: Read my sports articles on "A St. Patrick's Day Toast to Irish Runners Marcus O'Sullivan and Eamonn Coghlan" and "Millrose Games Celebrates 100th Birthday as Track's Most Prestigious Indoor Event". Find these articles in my Sports Archive.

You Are Never Too Young to Learn Lessons in Life

(Ed's Note: When is it too soon to learn important financial lessons in life? Answer: Never. This story explains why.)

I recently asked my friend's little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up.

She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, "If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?"

She replied, "I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people."

Her parents beamed.

"Wow, what a worthy goal." I told her, "But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house."

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?"

I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Her parents still aren't speaking to me.

An Internet Breakthrough:

Discover More About Getting Traffic From Social Media Websites – Put Yourself on the Internet Map Big Time

Copyright © 2010 Ed Bagley

Who doesn't like getting high-quality visitors to their websites? If you own a website, I know one thing about you—you WANT traffic.

Social Media Marketing is not just a fad, it is a "revolution". Top 300 social networks include FaceBook, LinkedIn, Squidoo and Epinions, and together these 300 social networks generate more than 3.2 billion visitors and 400 billion page views monthly!

In fact, FaceBook itself gets more 260 billion page views monthly, and rates as the No. 1 social networking site currently on the Internet. Twitter is No. 2 and generates 24 billion page views monthly.

If you are like most people, there doesn't seem to be enough time in your day to promote your brand name, and the precious backlinks these social networks can bring to your website.

That is why I have found a brand new resource that will do all the work for you. At http://BrandGoLive.com/170-4.html, a team of Search Engine Marketing Experts will take all of the hassle out of creating your FULL profiles on more than 300 "busy" networks.

That's right! THEY do all the work for you. With this service, all you have to do is choose your package, sign-up and you will:

1) Make your brand name/website visible to a HUGE crowd

2) Receive FULL profiles with photo, bio, and links

3) Boost your search engine rankings through the roof

4) Get precious back-links from HIGH PR networks, PLUS

They will also create a brand-new, 100% original article on the topic YOU choose AND add to your social media properties. Put yourself on the Internet's social map now!

You have nothing to lose, but so much to gain. Take a minute and claim your brand name today! Go for it . . .

http://BrandGoLive.com/170-4.html

Stop the Government Bailouts of Businesses That Cannot Survive on Poor Management

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Stop this American nonsense of government bailouts with taxpayer money for businesses that cannot survive because of poor management.

Let the poorly run businesses collapse and sink into bankruptcy, foreclosure or receivership, and be sold to businesses with better management that can take these distressed enterprises back to profitability.

Throwing good money at poorly managed businesses is never a good idea. It will make the problem worse. Only a government bureaucrat would think that a bailout is a viable solution to a business problem or a financial crisis in our economy.

Get the idea out of your head that just because it is the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (better known as Freddie Mac) or the Federal National Mortgage Association (better known as Fannie Mae) does not mean that they cannot be brought to their knees and punished for their poor management.

These two stockholder-owned corporations were chartered by the U. S. Congress in 1968 (Fannie Mae) and 1970 (Freddie Mac) to promote home ownership. They buy mortgages on the secondary market, pool them, and sell them as mortgage-backed securities to investors on the open market. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae own or guarantee about half of America's $12 trillion mortgage market, and they have made a sorry mess of it in their rush to riches at our taxpayer expense.

Congress chartered these two enterprises, and government bureaucrats and politicians were asleep at the switch in allowing these enterprises to be motivated by greed and avarice. It happened because the business managers of these two enterprises were just like the government officials and politicians who backed them, caught up in an intense desire for wealth and power.

Shame on them, shame on them all, and especially the politicians who were elected to represent us and chose to line their pockets instead with campaign contributions, and look the other way as if nothing improper was happening.

The government administration, led by our new President, has decided that the two congressionally-chartered business, big insurance companies, big banks, big finance houses, and big automotive corporations need to be bailed out at taxpayer expense because they are too big to fail. This is absolute nonsense. All of these enterprises should have been allowed to fail, otherwise, very little will be learned, retained and applied by the enterprises involved.

By bailing them out, we are enabling them to continue their undesirable motives of greed and avarice. We are paying them to fail and just asking for them to sell us—the taxpayers—out.

Just as social engineering attempts to change our thoughts, beliefs and mores about our social problems, financial engineering is now attempting to change our thoughts, beliefs and attitudes about our economic problems.

But is financial engineering a good idea in a free, democratic, capitalist society? I think not. The jury is out at this time in America's economic history. Time will tell whether I am right or wrong.

January 19, 2010 - 2nd Article

Lessons in Life

A Grandson Learns From His Grandfather Why Hate Is Self-Destructive

(Ed's Note: The following story teaches an important lesson in life about attitude. If you show me a person with a bad attitude, I will show you a person with a bad personality. If you show me a person with a good attitude, I will show you a person with a good personality. In other words, attitude drives personality. In this story, you can learn why.)

There was a grandfather, and his little grandson often came in the evenings to sit at his knee and ask the many questions that children ask. One day the grandson came to his grandfather with a look of anger on his face.

"Come, sit, tell me what has happened today," the grandfather said.

The child sat and leaned his chin on his grandfather's knee. Looking up into the wrinkled, nut brown face and the kind dark eyes, the child's anger turned to quiet tears.

The boy said, "I went to the town today with my father, to trade the furs he has collected over the past several months. I was happy to go, because father said that since I had helped him with the trapping, I could get something for me. Something that I wanted.

"I was so excited to be in the trading post, I had not been there before. I looked at many things and finally found a metal knife! It was small, but good size for me, so father got it for me."

Here the boy laid his head against his grandfather's knee and became silent.

The grandfather softly placed his hand on the boy's raven hair and said, "and then what happened?"

Without lifting his head, the boy said, "I went outside to wait for father, and to admire my new knife in the sunlight. Some town boys came by and saw me; they got all around me and started saying bad things.

"They called me dirty and stupid, and said that I should not have such a fine knife. The largest of these boys pushed me back and I fell over one of the other boys. I dropped my knife and one of them snatched it up and they all ran away, laughing."

Here the boy's anger returned, "I hate them, I hate them all."

The grandfather, with eyes that have seen too much, lifted his grandson's face so his eyes looked into the boys.

Grandfather said, "Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times.

"It is as if there are two wolves inside me, one is white and one is black. The White Wolf is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and he will fight in the right way.

"But the Black Wolf is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is a helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing.

"Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."

The boy looked intently into his grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which one wins, grandfather?"

The grandfather smiled, and said, "The one I feed."

January 4, 2010 - 2nd Article

Lessons in Life:

You Must Answer Three Questions to Find Your True Purpose in Life

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

There have been times in my life when I have sat down and wondered: What is the meaning of life?

Why are we here?

Is this what my life is going to be?

Is this all there is to life?

Who will remember me when I am gone?

Sometimes my answers to these questions were not very positive. Sometimes my answers were downright negative and involved cussing. Sometime I felt helpless and sorry for myself. I even had a pity party.

Then I thought: What is a matter with you? You should be thankful for all of your blessings. I would start reciting old sayings, like "I felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet."

Would any reader who HAS NOT experienced at least one of these thoughts, please stand up and announce yourself. If you stood up, you will lie about other things too. We all, without exception, have questioned our existence and purpose in life at one time or another. Welcome to the club of self-doubt, you are a charter member by simply being human.

What is it that will give you true—not temporary—happiness here during your life on planet Earth? Accomplishment? Money? Notice? The perfect soul mate? I have had them all and still did not find permanent happiness and peace of mind.

There is much in my background to suggest that I should be happy with the blessings I have had, and I certainly am to a degree, but I was never totally satisfied with myself and my purpose in life.

To find my reason for being, I was forced to answer in writing these three questions:

Who am I?

What am I meant to do here?

What am I trying to do with my life?

Finding answers to these questions and putting them into writing was not an easy task, but doing so has make me happier than I have ever been in life. Why? Because now I understand my place in the universe and am comfortable with myself and my role in life beyond being a husband, father and grandfather to my family.

After much reflection and soul searching, here is what I found about myself:

Who am I? I am a survivor, and a man of integrity who became a professional writer.

There are three key words in this statement—survivor, integrity, writer. I am a survivor because I grew up in a very dysfunctional family. As a man of integrity, I learned early on that I could not stand lying, cheating and stealing. In the Bible, Proverbs, Chapter 20 Verse 7 says: "The just man walketh (walks upright) in his integrity; his children are blessed after him." I am that man, and have always been that man. As a writer, I became aware of my ability to communicate with the written word early on and have used my God-given gift to become a professional writer.

What am I meant to do here? Serve others.

Being hard-headed, I spent more than 6 decades of my life waiting for God to reveal to me some great purpose for my life. Finally, thankfully, slowly, I came to realize without any great revelation that there was really only one reason for me to be here and that was to serve others and not myself. This epiphany of personal growth on my part has given me continual happiness for the first time in my life.

What am I trying to do with my life? I am using my writing skills to bring knowledge, understanding and ideas to life that will encourage and motivate people to achieve their true potential.

Perhaps Albert Schweitzer said it best: "I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."
 

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Here are the Top 10 Most Read Articles Since the Site Launched in October 2006:

1) USA High School Track & Field Records and the Current Best 2008 Performances (Sports)

2) Job Interviews - How to Answer When Asked Your Strengths and Weaknesses - Part 2 (Getting Hired and Promoted)

3) Power Secrets - How to Make Money Without a College Degree - Part 3 (Getting Hired and Promoted)

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5) Who Has Had the Greatest Influence on Your Life and Why? (Lessons in Life)

6) Want a Six-Figure Income Without Getting a College Degree of Any Kind? Here Is How (Getting Hired and Promoted)

7) A Little Learning Is a Dangerous Thing, Drink Deep, or Taste Not the Pierian Spring (Lessons in Life)

8) College Football - If You Thought SEC Was the Toughest NCAA Conference, Think Again

9) Which State Has the Highest Beer Consumption Annually?

10) College Football - The Sagarin Ratings - What They Are, How to Read Them & What to Do With Them (2007 Football)

 

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