ClydeStyle

Tag: Accountability

  • ICE-Capades are not new; What have we learned?

    Since the Trump Administration took control of the government, there has been a crackdown on immigration. As of this post, the Trump Administration has deported just over 280 immigrants, and there is a lot of innocent folks mixed in there.

    He is trying to surpass former President Barack Obama in deportations. His administration exited more than 400 immigrants, and we hardly heard about it. He also did it with half of the resources Trump is using.

    You could make a comparison of the two, but there is no comparison because Obama was trying to get rid of migrants who came here and didn’t follow the rules. Trump is just trying to get rid of Brown people.

    Why? Because of White fear. There will come a time when white people will lose their numerical majority, and this country will change. Most whites are in fear of being mistreated when the tables turn. This fear is conjecture because they have no idea what will take place.

    Will there be some people of color who will seek revenge? Sure. Will there be people who want to rid America of White people because of their past behavior? Absolutely. But will it happen? Doubtful.

    The reason is simple: If Black and Brown people were that savage, they would have fought to take the country long before this. If they were that savage, they would have fought themselves into extinction by now.

    In Europe’s “Dark Age” when the Roman Empire fell, one of the main causes was greed by the government, which led to underdeveloped communities — basically, the people were too stupid to know what was happening.

    The lack of literacy and learning is a major problem in America despite the advancements we have. Greed has overcome everything — divided we will fall.

    America has always been controlled by certain folks — in fact, they have always been in control of Europe, and yet that region would have nothing if it weren’t for the help of the Egyptians. And when they destroyed themselves during the Dark Ages, the Moors came and greatly contributed to their existence today.

    America is not far from the fall. It can not all be blamed on Donald Trump as this country is 249 years old. Who’s fault do you think it is? Maybe it’s the fault of those who stay silent.

  • How do you feel now?

    This is blog 2 of 5 in this series regarding history and what your feelings are about it today.

    Given what has taken place in the last couple of months, this is very timely, and A.I. has helped to make it easier.

    The George W. Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was primarily based on the belief that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and posed a threat to the United States and the international community. The administration also cited Iraq’s alleged support for terrorism and its violations of UN Security Council resolutions as justifications for military action. 

    Specifically, the Bush administration claimed Iraq was actively developing WMD, including nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. They also asserted that Iraq had ties to the terrorist group al-Qaeda and that Saddam Hussein’s regime posed a threat to regional stability. These claims were used to garner international support for the invasion, with the US and UK arguing that the invasion was authorized under existing UN resolutions. 

    However, the claims about WMDs were later found to be unsubstantiated. No WMDs were discovered in Iraq after the invasion, and intelligence failures and flawed assessments were identified as contributing factors. The invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq led to a prolonged and costly conflict, with significant loss of life and long-lasting consequences for the region. 

    The Bush Administration, due to the false information and lies, cost the U.S. nearly one trillion dollars for that war that lasted from 2003 to 2011, which is about 255 billion per day.

    In summary, while the legality of the Iraq War remains a subject of ongoing debate and many have argued that the invasion was illegal, the UN’s inability to pursue charges against the Bush administration stems from a combination of factors, including the lack of Security Council authorization, the US veto power, and the limitations of international legal institutions like the ICC.

    We did nothing for the Middle East. We did not stop terrorism. We senselessly killed more than 655,000 civilians violently, and there were no consequences for the Bush Administration in this life.

    In June, the Trump Administration, without congressional support, bombed Iran. Is history repeating itself? What say ye?

  • Scariest phrase: The past is of no consequence

    Do you ever think what it would be like to live without consequences? I mean, of course, there are always consequences, but we have a history of weighing the consequences and making the decision based on what we can handle or how much we have to pay.

    Former heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson, loved cars and loved to drive fast. One time, on a back road, he is caught speeding by an officer. The officer charged him $25 for the speeding ticket, which was huge back then. Johnson gave the officer $50, and the officer said he did not have change. Johnson said it was ok because he has to drive back this way.

    Clearly, he weighed the consequences and accepted his fate, which led him to pay in advance.

    Everyone seems to do that with concrete things, but what about abstract?

    If I say something to hurt my wife’s feelings and I can tell that I did based on her actions, I could just apologize, or I can simply trust that she will get over it and move on.

    If my 5 year old grandbaby gets caught playing with the electrical outlet and I slap her hands and yell at her until she cries, I could feel justified in what I did because she could have seriously gotten hurt. But I see that my actions were more than just disciplinary in nature, as her ego is bruised. Do I attempt to recover her or stand as the authority?

    What if I’m the boss over 40 employees at work and I create a hostile work environment? Or, I create racial tensions by paying my white employees 37 percent more than minorities? What if I decide to make all my supervisors white? What if I never lay off anyone white? Or how about I just treat everyone badly because I can? What if I allow my bias to lead me? What if I am demeaning to women in the workplace?

    The past has no consequences, which is one of the greatest lies ever told. Offenders must recompense their victims. But before that happens, there has to be an acknowledgment of the wrongdoing. You can’t curse your wife, and then the next time you see her, you just start talking sweet to her without acknowledging your past mistakes.

    When we don’t acknowledge our wrongdoing, we lower the victims self-esteem. God takes that personal.

    Let me be clear: There are always consequences! Whether you get them immediately or later, now or in the future, today or in the afterlife, consequences are coming! Make amends today before it’s too late.

  • The embarrassment of America’s Memorial Day

    Today typically marks the start of summer and barbecue season. Here, in the Midwest the weather is normally very nice, with fresh air and plants doing their thing.

    People are graduating, schools are preparing to dismiss for the summer break, and the majority of the time, our minds are far from war – let alone anyone who died in one.

    After WWII, America tried to prove to the world that we were the leaders of the free world and that democracy was this really great thing. We boasted about our constitution, our rule of law, our desire to be the world’s big brother, and tried to pass ourselves as the greatest ally.

    Meanwhile, back at the range, America was lying through her teeth. The wealth gap, income inequality, racism everywhere, and a lack of equal opportunity have minorities and women being treated like second-class citizens, and there needed to be several movements for change.

    We saw the Cuban missile crisis, the War in Vietnam, Operation Desert Storm, a ridiculous 10-year attack on Iraq, battles in Afghanistan, and foolishness in Gaza. All of these events helped change the view of America to nothing more than a self-absorbed bully. What’s worse is that men and women died for these causes under the impression that they were doing some great things when they weren’t.

    Then, when many service men and women came home, many failed to receive the benefits promised by the military. Now, this was no surprise to minorities because after WWII and Vietnam, many Blacks were denied the GI Bill and the stipend to assist in buying a home. And if you did get your stipend, you were “redlined” to keep you out of prospering white neighborhoods and good schools. Today, people of all colors are denied benefits, and neither political party has tried to fix it.

    So that brings us to today. How do you celebrate such a dishonest holiday? Why attempt to remember folks that you broke promises to? Until we fix this atrocity, we should not celebrate what we have done, we should be ashamed.

  • The scam of insurance

    Let’s talk insurance. We live in a time where insurance companies are denying hurricane victims, California fire victims, and auto insurance is overwhelmingly high, especially in no-fault states, and life insurance is too hard to secure.

    Families are suffering as promised benefits are denied while Congress continues to get richer from insurance lobbying. You can not expect to see the current Republican Congress do anything about this. Since 1992, Republicans have benefitted the most from insurance lobbyists receiving millions of dollars for their silence on the issues.

    Democrats have had opportunities to deal with this problem, but even when they controlled both houses of Congress, nothing got done on this front.

    The insurance industries philosophy is to find a way not to pay so the stock holders can reap their dividends. Greed has taken over morality, and the middle class and poor are suffering the most.

    Insurance was actually started as an act of benevolence in Rome and Greece in 600 AD. You can even trace the concept of insurance as far back as 4000 — 3000 bce.

    In the US, insurance had its origin in the late 17th century. Like everything else, it was on the level, and people paid faithfully their premiums and could expect to receive payment on their claims filed during that time. The complete reniging of insurance payments for qualified clients wasn’t widespread until the Reconstruction era, where former slaves were denied claims mostly because of the color of their skin.

    In his autobiography, Malcolm X tells the story of what ultimately drove his mother insane started with trying to collect on a life insurance policy for her husband. In the movie Malcolm X, his father was murdered by the KKK as they bashed his head in with a hammer and stretched his bloody body across train tracks to be destroyed. This left Malcolm, his siblings, and his mother devastated and destitute. She eventually lost her children because she could no longer take care of them because the insurance company denied her claim, stating that they believed his death to be a suicide.

    I would love to tell you that this was the only incident where this happened, but that would not be true. You see, poor Blacks during this could not afford to take the matter to court and secure a lawyer, so the insurance companies knew this and could take advantage.

    Today, billions of dollars flow through insurance companies, and they have found a way not to honor their policies. Over the years, the list of things that can deny your claims has grown tremendously, as have the payouts to Congress for their silence. In just 2024, insurance companies spent more than 117 million to Congress. In previous years the number has been higher than 150 million. They have also spent around 130 million in campaign contributions for the candidates that will ensure no legislation is passed to stop them.

    So, in the meantime, constituents suffer from natural disasters, health challenges, death, and dismemberment and other unpaid claims and the insurance machine rolls on! God bless America.

  • Make America great? HDI is the right place to start

    For centuries, America has boasted about the great lifestyle its people share and how democracy is the best form of government.

    We brag about capitalism and all the opportunities that are available for those who work hard. The advertising we show to the world does not tell the true American story.

    We say nothing of crime, racism, sexism, xenophobia, and the ever-present wealth gap. We don’t discuss our troubled history that still plagues us today. Our poverty, poor education, and limited affordability for healthcare have the majority of America struggling. One percent of America has more money and resources than 99 percent of America.

    America always had a problem with the “haves” and “have nots,” and the “haves” like it this way. Consistently, rich politicians appear on news shows expressing what’s important to most Americans or pretending to know what Americans want. What we really want is easy.

    The Human Development Index (HDI), which was created in 1990 by a committee in the United Nation’s, was created to statistically measure and rate a country’s excellence in three main areas: life expectancy, education and per capita income.

    You would think that a country so rich in wealth and opportunity would lead the free world in this index. You would think that we would want to boast about the advantages available for our citizens and how well we all flourish. It should be expected that America rate in the top 5 of these great countries.

    Well, here are the top 15 countries: Switzerland (1), Norway (2), Iceland (3), Hong Kong (4), Denmark, and Sweden (5), Ireland, and Germany (7), Singapore (9), Netherlands, and Australia (10), Liechtenstein, Belgium, and Finland (12), and the United Kingdom (15).

    These United States are tied for 20 with Luxembourg, which means that there are roughly 19 countries that have better opportunities in wealth, health, and lifestyle than we do.

    We need to let politicians know that the type of America we want is one that stays in the top 10 on this index. We want opportunities for everyone who works hard. There is no reason that education and healthcare can’t be free, and in this country, we should have already wiped out homelessness.

    Crime is lowered by opportunities to learn and earn. Imagine that there are countries that never have mass shootings. Greed is killing us, my friend. The rich only care about getting richer, and democracy is not working for us. It is almost impossible to get the masses to vote a certain way, and both political parties have been detrimental to the majority of America.

    We need a better way, and it starts with making the top 5 of the HDI.

  • The blessing and curse of belonging

    God created all humans with a desire to belong. Humans desire to fit into a group to satisfy this fundamental need for connection.

    When America began, we understood that our ancestors relied on group cooperation for survival, protection, resources, and social support.

    We have a psychological need for grouping, which fosters a sense of security, reduces feelings of isolation, and contributes to positive self-esteem. For its conception, belonging is a good thing intended to unify and benefit each other.

    Well, somewhere along the way, we learned bias. We started dividing ourselves by our differences. Then, without empirical data, someone said one race was better than another. Hate began to infiltrate our ranks. You see, part of being a member of a group and reaping the benefits thereof, we begin to feel obligated to the group, and this leads to conformity — this is a part of the belonging curse.

    Conformity means that if my group goes left, I don’t want to leave the group because of the benefits, so I will just stay silent.

    Imagine benefitting as an active part of the group, and then the leaders of the group decide the want to start discrimination practices. Conformity makes you not leave the group, but you now have a choice. You could stay silent and do nothing, but you would be just as guilty as the perpetrators. Or, you could speak out — truth to power — and let the leaders know how wrong they are.

    We have many silent partners in groups today. They have benefitted from a certain privilege and feel guilty over their horrendous past. There are some that have the audacity to say it wasn’t me. No, it wasn’t, but it was the group you benefit from.

    Our president recently signed an executive order to allow businesses to discriminate. Belonging still gives us a choice. What are you doing with yours?

  • Can we really trust the FDA? Not by its track record

    There was so much controversy about the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to head up the Food and Drug Administration because of his radical views and conspiracy theories. But if there was ever a government agency that needed shaken up, the FDA was it.

    Now, this is not a blog in supporting of RFK Jr., it is about the harm that has been done by the FDA to the American people because they refuse to let lobbyists keep their checks.

    Right now, there are over 100 countries that will not eat our meat. It is cruel and criminal how we treat chickens, pigs, and cows in this country — and we’re doing it to our own detriment. As a result, countries like Canada have decided to pass on our meat.

    There are some extremely dangerous and cancer causing chemicals that we put in our food that is extremely harmful. I asked A.I. for some specifics on the most dangerous of these chemicals. A.I. broke it down this way:

    The following chemicals are toxic and harmful to human health or banned in other countries. Some examples of these chemicals include: 

    • Lead: A metal found in some dietary supplements, vinegars, and spices 
    • Asbestos: A toxic substance linked to cancer, genetic mutations, and fetal harm 
    • Hexabromocyclododecane: A flame retardant used in some building materials 
    • Azodicarbonamide: A food additive that breaks down into other chemicals, including semicarbazide, which can cause cancer in mice 
    • Brominated vegetable oil (BVO): A food additive used in citrus-flavored drinks that may affect the thyroid 

    Other chemicals that are considered hazardous include: 

    Arsenic, Benzene, Chromium, Cadmium, Mercury, Chlorine, Hydrogen cyanide, Nitrous oxide, and Phosgene.

    Chemicals can be toxic in our bodies, so we should read labels carefully and by organic when possible. Also, processed food is an absolute thumbs down! Lamb and fish are better meat choices, and you should only consume whole foods.

    Our government is more worried about what fentanyl is doing to us than the true enemy, which is sugar. White sugar and other sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup are responsible for the obesity problem in America and all of the degenerative diseases that go with it.

    Artificial sweeteners are also known as sugar substitutes, non-nutritive sweeteners, or non-sugar sweeteners (NSS).
    Here are some common artificial sweeteners:
    Aspartame: A non-saccharide sweetener that’s marketed under the names NutraSweet, Equal, and Canderel.

    Acesulfame potassium: Also known as Ace-K, this sweetener is about 200 times sweeter than table sugar.

    Sucralose: A non-caloric derivative of sucrose that’s 600 times sweeter than sucrose.
    Saccharin: A non-nutritive sweetener that’s made in a lab and looks like a white, crystalline powder.
    Neotame: A sweetener derived from the amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine.
    Advantame: An ultra-intense sweetener that’s 20,000 times sweeter than table sugar.
    Stevia: A natural herb that’s zero calories and 10–15 times sweeter than sucrose.
    Cyclamate: A potent sweetening agent that’s been the subject of safety and carcinogenicity studies.

    Artificial sweeteners are often used in foods and drinks to reduce sugar intake. They’re generally calorie-free and don’t raise blood sugar levels, but they have no nutritional value.

    So obesity is not a single person’s fault. The FDA has a dominant role in keeping you fat, sick, and unhealthy. There is no profit in healthy people.

  • Accountability is missing in our government

    I have posted on the problems we face because we don’t read. Critical thinking skills go right out the windows when we don’t challenge our minds to think.

    To leave yourself vulnerable to manipulation is a hurtful and disrespectful truth, but what is worse is that you suffer the manipulation, and you have no idea where it came from.

    Drops of water from the sky on a cloudy day are not a problem until the drops smell like urine. At that point, you have a few choices: Check the weather forcast; assume that someone obviously doesn’t like you much; or grab your umbrella and endure.

    I have not listed my favorite option because when you have been tricked or manipulated, the option isn’t there, and that is to hold someone accountable for the urine!

    I bring this up because the Democrats and Republicans have been playing a game with us. They flood us with information (knowing we won’t read or research anything), and they are never held accountable for lies.

    Why would President Biden allow so many illegal immigrants in our country? The Democrats never gave a reason for this. Clearly, this would not be their agenda as President Obama never did this. He publicly stated that if you were here illegally, you would be deported.

    We know Obama did this because it was the law. Republicans are always for less immigration at our southern borders, mainly because it does not benefit them in any way. It does, however, give an advantage to Democrats.

    You see, these immigrants end up in these so-called sanctuary cities, which are normally in blue states. This is a benefit to them because it raises their census. Biden signed an executive order as soon as he became president to halt a previous executive order from President Trump to not count illegal immigrants in the census. Why does this matter? Because the number of seats you get in the House of Representatives is based on a percentage of the US population. So then, if your numbers get padded by immigrants, you could potentially get more seats and control the House.

    Biden, in his fear of a Trump election win, would have tried this and any other method to gain an advantage.

    For the Republicans to tell the truth about this would not have been enough for the American people to get behind securing the border. So, instead, he made up lies about immigrants taking jobs, sending their criminals over to us to rape our women, steal, and sell drugs.

    See how we are so easily manipulated? Accountability is what is needed in our government, and it should be a consequence for knowingly telling the American citizens a bunch of lies!

  • History is who we are and why we are the way we are

    Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” He said it as more of a war cry to call activists and those who care to a sense of urgency regarding injustices. The idea is that if it is allowed in one place, it can be in all places. So then, let us rise up against injustice when we see it because it’s only a matter of time before injustice affects you!

    Injustices have been fluent in America since 1865. That date should sound familiar because it was the year President Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation, which freed the slaves in the south. Shortly after this, Lincoln tried to establish a bank for former slaves, but its white board of directors took the money and lost it on bad investments. There was no accountability.

    With the end of slavery in the south, accountability was emancipated completely. Treating a black person wrong was always acceptable as punishment for ending slavery. The time immediately after slavery was very telling because lynching immediately became popular once slavery ended.

    Bastard children, often called mulatto back then, were the result when white men raped very young black girls and impregnated them. These kids were often made orphans because the former slaves owner did not want the child and they would not allow for the victim to have the baby. This injustice became widespread.

    Everyone talks about the destruction of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, OK but that, of course, was not the only time that happened. Time Magazine, in 2021, published an article on the subject and listed other “Black Wall Street” scenarios that many were unaware of because there was never any accountability.

    The article states: “Now, 100 years after the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, awareness of this American tragedy has grown thanks to the work of activists and descendants of victims, local political support, and depictions in the HBO series Watchman and Lovecraft Country. But Tulsa’s was not the only Black Wall Street. The history of other such districts nationwide is still not widely known beyond their home cities, though they were many: Bronzeville in Chicago; Hayti in Durham, N.C.; Sweet Auburn in Atlanta; West Ninth Street in Little Rock, Ark.; and Farish Street in Jackson, Miss.”

    Police brutality toward minorities has been around as long as policing has existed. There are too many cases to name of unarmed Black people being murdered by police because they claimed they feared for their lives.

    The bottom line is that because we violate the famous MLK Jr. quote, we are paying for the widespread lack of accountability because if the injustice didn’t happen to me, why do I care.

    I believe that this lack of accountability negatively affects the reparations’ conversation because many black and whites are ignorant of history. People treat many of the injustices like isolated incidents. Then, the fact that it is widespread means that if we award damages form one incident, we are libel for all the others. This means that justice can never truly be served because America’s history is full of injustices, and to reward them all would be an end to America as we know it.

    Happy Black history month!