Decline of America: Part 1

     Where have we as a society gone wrong?  What message are we sending to our children that their education takes a back seat to being able to sing or excel in athletics?
     Long gone are the days where children are held responsible for their lack of performance in the classroom. Now any failure is the mistake of the teacher.  Extra curricular activities have taken the forefront in our measurement of a child's performance, as we have strayed away from the very basics of education.  If you don't believe me, take a look at the video from this past Martin Luther King Jr. Day, where Jimmy Kimmel's Lie Witness News shed some scary light on our educational system.  
     I am beyond 100% positive that if I were to go survey a handful of people, I bet that all of them would know who Tina Fey, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Michael Jordon, Tom Brady, and George Clooney are.  If I were to ask those same people who Ben Franklin, John Hancock, Paul Revere,Walt Whitman, or Benedict Arnold were, I would not receive as many knowledgeable responses.  This makes me ask myself where all of this started.

        I think we first have to point to technology.  We are so connected with everyone and everything at any moment time.  Case in point, we are all able to be connected to out favorite celebrity or athlete through social media.  Looking at Twitter, the top 100 of the most followed people, nearly 95% of them are entertainers who have millions of followers.  In today's world, those people with the most social media following are influencing our youth and society in ways never before.  Every day, millions of people can see how these celebrities are living their lives and mold themselves around what foods they are buying, their dress and where they stand on current events.  Make no mistake about it, today's celebrity is far more powerful than the President.
     So how can we fix this decline?  How can we fix a culture that bases their ideologies on today's celebrity?  First it's important to teach all of our children that just because someone is on TV, or on stage, does not mean that these people hold more value than that of someone who is not.  More importantly, just because someone is a celebrity does not mean their ideas are the solution for the world's ails.  Let's start awarding academic accomplishments more than that of anything else in school, and cease the non-sense of giving everyone a ribbon for attending.  We are only harming our children by sparing their feelings if they did not win.  Defeat can lead to great innovations!
   

  

My Open Letter to our President

Hello D.C.

     Election season is over, and now that the dust has settled it's time to go full throttle and work.
Ever since the Democrats have had control of all three branches, this country has been in a never ending race to see how much they can alter the culture of America.  These changes that have happened have NOT been for the betterment of our society.
     Let's begin with Obamacare.  Anyone who is supposed to be a leader in our government that would just allow anything to be passed without reading the entire bill should be automatically removed from office, and not able to run for any sort of office again in their lifetime.  Was it too much to read?  A GREAT and reasonable excuse.  Not that I think reading it would have changed the voting outcome, but the laziness that it shows is inexcusable and sickening.  I am in the group of the American populous who believes that every elected official and their family, staff, etc. be subjected to the new rules of Obamacare.  Maybe then we'll see a change.  Isn't it part of being an American that gives us the freedom to not have health insurance? Most of those who did not before this law was passed did so because they could not afford it, and I dare you to tell me this made it more affordable for my family.  None of the plans offered now are affordable in any sense of the word, and these plans don't start kicking in until you have spent at least $5,000 or more out of pocket to begin with.  Instead of being worried about your legacy, you were better off doing nothing Mr. Obama... Or how much of your own law did you actually read?
     Can we please stop putting on this front that you know what you're doing when it comes to foreign relations?  The only reason I can even think of why you refuse to call what happened in Paris, or with some of the attacks in the U.S., terrorism is because you're frightened.  You must be scared out of your mind about these people who are willing to murder in the name of their religion.  However, I could be critically wrong in thinking that you and your cabinet are sitting in the White House shaking in your boots on a daily basis.  You could actually think that these acts are not terrorism, and you could actually think that these people are peaceful.  If that is the case, then go there without a security detail.  If these people's actions are purely out of a peaceful place in their soul, go to Syria to prove us all wrong.
     We need peace in our nation and you are not doing anything to help.  Not once have you actually stepped up and told the rioters to stop there nonsense in Ferguson.  Not once have you told those in the country illegally that they need to show respect for our laws and go through the naturalization process.  Not once have you come up with a taxing system to be anything better than those who came before you.  Not once have any of your policies helped to create jobs in the U.S.  Not once have I heard that you care about the American people.  All that I have seen from you is a continuous blame game on those who came before.  All I have noticed when you travel to foreign country is how you bow down to their leader and apologize for all the wrongs we as a nation have done to them.  All I ever see is you on late night TV trying to show how hip you are with the nation's young people.  All I ever notice is how many vacations you take.
     I implore you to do SOMETHING that helps our country for the better.  I beg you to stop borrowing money from foreign powers, to end government handouts that have long become known as entitlement handouts.  I ask that in your address to our nation this coming week, that you put your ego aside and make Washington work. Stop endangering our national security and take a powerful stand against terrorism and tell me HOW you will make this happen.  
     If you cannot start acting like the President of the United States of America, then I ask that you relinquish control of the Presidency and go play golf.

The Call for Radical Change since the emergence of Radical Islam

     Thomas Jefferson, one of our nation's most iconic Founding Fathers, was the first American President to have to lead the military in our nation's first foreign conflict known as the First Barbary War.  The Ottoman territories of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers were seizing American merchant ships and enslaving the crew.  These states demanded a yearly "tribute" be given to them in exchange for the attacks on American ships and their crew to cease which consisted of one-sixth of the U.S. budget.  Previous Presidents had paid this tribute to keep the peace on the waterways, however, in 1801 Jefferson refused to pay the sum of $225,000 to Yusuf Karamanli who then went to declare war on the U.S.  Why was it that these Barbary states demanded payment from a newly established America?  As the Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman told Jefferson and John Adams at their meeting in London, there was a belief that all  "nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave."  Today this would be called "radical Islam" and these people who breed and foster hate are the ones we are at war with.
     The events that unfolded this past week in Paris at the hands of more radical Islamists raises the question of just how much violence is enough that we need to expect and take all in the name of a religion.  How much more of these terrorist attacks are we as a nation, and the world over, are we going to except?  Egypt's President, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, called on all Muslim clerics to modernize the faith with a religious revolution.  His powerful statement to the Muslim clerics stated that interpretations developed over time have made the Muslim world a "source of worry, danger, killing and destruction in the whole world."  How has it taken this long for someone to publicly voice this idea to the clerics?  More importantly, we should be asking why do we even need to?  Why do we need to call upon people to declare that murder is wrong no matter the circumstance?  How is it a difficult concept to instill in human decency that no God would ever demand you to kill?
     One also can't help to wonder why the American leaders of today are slow and reluctant to lead in the fight against terrorism and radical Islam?  The United States has long been at odds with those who have adopted the radical Islamic ideology and it's time we adopt a page from Jefferson's model of not giving in to terrorism.  Never once have I heard any sort of passion being uttered from our own President Obama in regards to stopping these radicals.  Never once have I heard Obama passionately declare that human life has a priceless value and that he will go to all lengths to defend the American way of life and its citizens.  The only passionate declaration I have heard being muttered from the President's lips is that of a defending rhetoric of the Muslim religion and its followers.  Is it because he is frightened like those Presidents before Jefferson?  Does he believe that if he cowers and quake in fear of those who follow the radical ideology of the Muslim religion that he is somehow saving American soil from being targeted? 
     Surely  it is a worry for all that one day we could be a target of one of these individuals who are taught this radical view of their religion, but this fear should not deter our way of life nor our way of defending our citizens.  The President of Egypt calling on all clerics to help guide their followers from this dangerous road of terror is a glorious change of pace from our own "leaders" and their lack of firm solidarity against those who order and carry out acts of violence.  The United States is walking a fine line of being respectful of the Muslim religion and being a coward.   It's time to call on our nation's leaders to call a spade a spade when it presents itself.  Not to label the Fort Hood killings as work place violence.  To glance over the beheadings of journalists.  Acts of terror are just that, acts of terror and we need to stop skirting the issue, to be afraid to call these actions exactly what they are.
     Saudi journalist  Mshari al-Thaydi and Sheikh Ashraf Saad engaged in an open conversation this week.  Sheikh Ashraf Saad did condemn extremists, however, he went on to say that "we must also condemn these freedoms that have reached the point of insulting the prophet."  To which Mshari al-Thaydi  countered  with: "the question is, why is it Muslims who get so angry and kill and blow things up? The French magazine insulted the pope, the Dalai Lama. ... Why do we express our anger in this way?"  That question from Mshari al-Thaydi is so moving, it should be a strong calling to all.  Why do some think the only way to get their point across is through violence?
     Khalid Samad said, "obviously the act of terrorism is a far greater evil that the question of satirical comments," in response to the terrorist attack in Paris this week.  Another wonderful show of support for those lost was the cartoon of the pen standing up to the gun in support of  Ahmed Merabet, the Muslim policeman  killed by the attackers. "I am Ahmed the dead cop. Charlie ridiculed my faith and culture and I died defending his right to do so."  Maybe what we all need now is to put our pride aside, come together in a mindset of peaceful understanding.  Let's stand together against all who would try to do others harm, whether it be in the name of religion, or something else.  Let us come together, Eastern and Western civilizations, and find middle ground in our understanding of religion and human freedom.  Let us all stand together in solidarity against terrorism so every human life can realize it's true potential, because that is why we are all on this planet. 
     We are here to make a change for the betterment of our society, not to cause harm to one another. 
  

Illegal Immigration

     Illegal immigration. This topic is just one of many key issues dividing the American population. On one hand, you have those who continuously cite how we are a melting pot of various cultures, that no one in the country has a right to limit or oppose those in this nation illegally because not all of us are natives of America. Then there are those who are passionately against those immigrants that are here undocumented because of concerns that it strains the American way of life, opposed and angry that these individuals are possibly going to be getting a fast track to citizenship. If we were to listen to the media on this subject matter, those opposed to this immigration reform have no heart while those who want to help these poor souls become U.S. Citizens are the true humanitarians. Either way, this is a truly complex matter that requires more than just misguided compassion to be steering the ship.

      For a moment, let's travel back in time. Try to imagine the emotions many of the immigrants had when gazing upon the Statue of Liberty for the first time in their lives; one of America's greatest symbols of freedom. Some children of immigrants who would really not understand its importance right away, would be told stories from their families on the injustice and hardships they endured before coming to America. They would be told why their parents or grandparents uprooted from the only land they had known and braved a long passage for an uncertain future looking for freedom and a chance at a better life. Arguably many people's lives were changed in a positive way, with the freedoms we can often forget today (such as being able to voice your true opinion or worship freely without fear of reprisal from your government.) Having freedom of any kind was a new concept for most that migrated to the United States. America was a land where they knew that, if they worked hard enough, their life and the life of their children would be better than any life than of their native lands. How undeniably moving is that? Knowing the only way you and your family are going to realize their truest potential is to leave the only land they had ever called home to go to some great unknown country. Then there is the sad truth that not all immigrants made it whether it be monetary issues or illness.

      Admission into America was not simple, nor was it guaranteed. The amount of money one had for their passage held great weight as to whether or not your travel would be one of comfort or that of cramped quarters with a high probability that you could contract a disease. The more money you had also would weigh in the screening processes. Those who traveled in first or second class would generally be inspected on board the ship and granted access to begin their journey. If you were lucky to not be found ill upon meeting one of the inspectors, as a person of lower economic means, you still had hours to wait to be medically and legally cleared. Not all who made the journey to the United States were allowed in. For those unfortunate souls who were too ill or did not pass screenings, they were sent back to the land in which they fled. Those who did make it in often entered with very few personal effects. It was this idea of freedom and a promise at the American dream that was enough to encourage thousands to endure the hardship of travel and the possibility that they may not be allowed in worth the risk.

      That value of the American dream seems to be slowly deteriorating. Too often there is a sense most have of entitlement that is hampering the idea that if you work hard, you will be rewarded with any dream that you can imagine. This is just one of the problems that some, like myself, are facing when hearing of the immigration reform in this country. This idea that if you bypass our laws, you're going to be awarded with a fast track pass to citizenship. It is true that a vast majority of us are children of those who migrated to this country, however, most of us who had family come here did so legally. I can remember a couple of people I knew who had family they were trying to get into the country and the piles of paperwork that they had to do in order to get their family members on a plane to come over. How about those people who studied American history and learned the English language to take tests in order to be sworn in as a citizen of our land? How should all of these people feel when there are numerous illegals in this nation that broke the law and are essentially going to be given a free pass? It devalues the time and effort that those who came before and it devalues the passion and the joy that becoming a U.S. Citizen holds.

      It's not only the free pass that certain illegals are going to be getting, but we seem to be primarily catering to those who are here illegally from Mexico, Central America, or South America and in that process we are losing our American culture. I cannot remember a time, when I was a little girl, that I was at the grocery store with my mother where any of the food labels were in both English and Spanish. Never was there a thought of putting Spanish on our road signs; you had to know the rules of the road by reading the signs in English and pass the DMV test to obtain a license. Now we cannot buy a common food staple without accommodating those of the Spanish language who have not learned English. I often ask myself why that is? Why are we so overwhelmingly accommodating to those of Hispanic ethnicity and not any one else? Where is the consideration of those coming to live in America from China, Japan, or Russia for example? If we are supposed to be turning into a nation full of compassion for people in other lands where their way of life is restricted, why are there not more languages on food labels? Why are we not compassionate enough to put those languages on our road signs or food labels. We are to accommodate everyone into our country yet we seem to be more accommodating of those speaking Spanish than any other language. I can tell you that traveling abroad to Germany and France, you either knew the language or you had someone with you who did. My experiences in France especially showed me that they go out of their way to not use any English words or phrases as possible. Part of that is to maintain their French culture and part is because of the contempt some have towards those who are American or British. During my time in Germany, as long as the effort was there to speak the language, you would get assistance if you needed it.

      Arguably, that is a contentious issue now with illegal immigrants. There does not seem to be any effort to adapt to our culture. Not all of it is their fault though. We, as Americans, have become so politically correct for fear of being accused of not caring or being racist, that we have become highly accommodating for these non-natives (especially those of Hispanic origin.) We are the ones who are giving them no incentive to become citizens, because we're gladly handing over anything and everything they need to survive. We're so accommodating that we have even adapted to putting Spanish on a majority of the products sold within our boarders and are employing an overwhelming amount of people who can speak the language in our businesses. You're not going to see this in any other nation but ours. Everywhere else you are either going to sink or swim trying to learn their language, but not here and that's a problem.

      This lack of effort is part of what is derailing the path for American citizenship and American values. There is no pride in knowing you passed a citizenship test and that you can now speak the language since we are going to bend over backward, at the expense of our culture, to accommodate those who are not willing to adapt to our way of life. It makes me wonder why we even have boarder security when those in power don't seem to have a care for who crosses it or for the purpose. I'm sure you have heard stories of those illegally in the country who have committed numerous crimes and are not being sent back to their native land, nor are we prosecuting them. If we, as Americans, did these crimes in other nations we would be jailed and possible never see American soil again.

      Of course, there are people who have passed our tests and who do value being a citizen of the U.S. There are many here legally who love and appreciate this land, yet it seems that those people are few and far between because of this sense of entitlement and enabling. There are other ethnic groups who are abusing the system, but as a nation we are catering overwhelmingly more towards the Hispanics, and I cannot help but wonder why. Could it be for votes? Is it because they are our closest neighbors? Is it because of cheaper labor?

      Is it reasonable to want to offer some kind of reprieve to those children who were brought over by their parents who illegally entered our boarders, of course it is. That seems reasonable enough to want to help that specific age group, but there should be tests they have to pass just as those who entered through Ellis Island. There should not be an automatic path for those here illegally, it needs to be earned. There should be limitations on any kind of federal aid they can receive as well. Just as those who entered into the country years ago, you need to be able to prove you will not be a financial burden on the state and you need to be able to offer a valuable skill. We as a whole need to dismiss arguments that say these illegals do work that American's won't do. This argument is obsolete because those who say this have never been in need of employment and are willing to do anything to make a living.

      Being an American citizen is one of the most amazing things in this world. We are a nation that not only recognizes that not everyone is going to have the same opinion, but embraces different schools of thought. Differences in humanity leads to change, to innovation and to progress. We are a nation that is exceptional. America is the only place where you have a choice in the person you want to become. You can be, do and say whatever you dream and desire.

      It's time that we start believing in the beauty that is this country, and demand that those living here have enough respect for this land to learn our history of those who came before and pass our citizenship tests. We need to stop allowing our elected officials to dictate to us that we need to adapt our culture to that of those here illegally. It is this basic request that would help to keep the American dream alive and that would, I believe, bring a great unrest among the population to ease.