Monthly Archives: September 2014

* Bill O’Reilly: The truth about white privilege

At the risk of copyright violation, I’m reproducing the whole text; from here.

Published August 26, 2014 | O’Reilly Factor | Bill O’Reilly

By Bill O’Reilly

Last night on The Factor, Megyn Kelly and I debated the concept of white privilege whereby some believe that if you are Caucasian you have inherent advantages in America.

Talking Points does not, does not believe in white privilege. However, there is no question that African-Americans have a much harder time succeeding in our society. Even whites do. But the primary reason is not skin color. It’s education and not only book learning. Here are the facts.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for black Americans is 11.4 percent. It’s just over five percent for whites, 4.5 percent for Asians. So, do we have Asian privilege in America? Because the truth is, that Asian American households earn far more money than anyone else. The median income for Asians, close to $69,000 a year; it’s 57,000 for whites’ $33,000 for black — so the question becomes why? And the answer is found in stable homes and in emphasis on education; 88 percent of Asian Americans graduate from high school compared to 86 for whites and just 69 percent for blacks. That means 31 percent of African-Americans have little chance to succeed in the free marketplace because they are uneducated. They are high school dropouts.

Asian Americans also tend to keep their families intact. Just 13 percent of Asian children live in single parent homes compared to a whopping 55 percent for blacks and 21 percent for whites. So, there you go. That is why Asian Americans, who often have to overcome a language barrier, are succeeding far more than African-Americans and even more than white Americans. Their families are intact and education is paramount.

American children must learn not only academics but also civil behavior, right from wrong, as well as how to speak properly and how to act respectfully in public. If African-American children do not learn those things, they will likely fail as adults. They will be poor. They will be angry, and they often will be looking to blame someone else.

One caveat, the Asian American experience historically has not been nearly as tough as the African-American experience. Slavery is unique and it has harmed black Americans to a degree that is still being felt today, but in order to succeed in our competitive society, every American has to overcome the obstacles they face. And here is where the African-American leadership in America is failing.

Instead of preaching a cultural revolution, the leadership provides excuses for failure. The race hustlers blame white privilege, an unfair society, a terrible country. So the message is, it’s not your fault if you abandon your children, if you become a substance abuser, if you are a criminal. No, it’s not your fault; it’s society’s fault.

That is the big lie that is keeping some African-Americans from reaching their full potential. Until personal responsibility and a cultural change takes place. Millions of African-Americans will struggle. And their anger, some of it justified will seethe. The federal government cannot fix this problem. Only a powerful message of responsibility can turn things around. And that’s “The Memo”.

It comes down to this.

I ask anyone the same question I ask myself every day:

What will you do
today
to improve your lot
today?

On the other hand, many people are incapable of responsibility, for reason that they lack any understanding of cause and effect.  I will discuss this more in a subsequent post, How municipalities in St. Louis County, Mo., profit from poverty, currently scheduled for release November 29.

FOOTNOTE, 2014-10-24:  Remark from my diary:  “Responsibility presumes ownership of power. But ownership of power is impossible without a grasp of cause and effect.”

(Reblogged 2019-11-28.)

* I Carry a Flashlight

(Reblogged 2019-11-21.)

Tracy Seekins's avatarRandom Words

maintaining-a-garden-3There isn’t always a rainbow in the storm but you can always close your eyes and see one in your mind to create a smile. There isn’t always a silver lining but you can always sew one in. Life doesn’t always smell like a bed of roses, unless of course you plant one right outside your door.

Sometimes life doesn’t feel like those wonderful cliches that are supposed to make us feel better. There isn’t some wonderful light at the end of the tunnel but I carry a flashlight, because I refuse to let the dark overtake me.

Sometimes we have to be our own hero, sometimes we have to create the good within the bad, and sometimes we just have to suck it up and keep moving.

I have had days where I have felt like just giving up, letting go, laying down and never getting up. And somehow…

View original post 580 more words

* A simple lesson

(Originally posted June 22, 2013 at Trojan Horse Productions.  Reblogged 2019-11-14.)

My normal day runs as follows.  After breakfast at the mission, at 5:45 I head for McDonald’s, where I drink coffee ($1.06) and do my prayer routines.  Around 9:15, I head for the library, stopping at a convenience store en route to buy smokes ($2.75) and a soda ($1.69).  From 10:00 to 2:00 I’m online at the library.  When my time’s up, I go to the Wi-Fi café, write in my diary and have another cup of coffee ($1.00).  Then it’s back to the mission, where I have to pay admission ($3.00).

Sunday mornings, I am normally left with bus fare to church ($1.60) and pennies.  I meet my patrons at church and obtain an allowance for the next week.

Continue reading * A simple lesson

* Donald Sterling sex tape

Bookmarks:
Donald Sterling sex tapePolice chokehold deathChild border crisis follow-upFacebook is cracking down on click-baitChronic lateness

Continue reading * Donald Sterling sex tape

* Jimmy, part 2

Thursday 2014-07-03.  Jimmy came up to me at McDonald’s yesterday and sat down and talked about the incident.  He doesn’t say he’d been drinking.  He says people thought he’d been drinking.

Recall his psychiatric diagnoses.

Pastor sent me this clipping about the homeless squatters’ camp underneath the Jones Falls Expressway, which the City was about to raze — again. He thought the housing vouchers it mentions might be available to me. They’re not. A different detail caught my eye: the remark that many people in the camp “struggle with mental illness and addiction.” Note the “and.”

Continue reading * Jimmy, part 2

* Exceptional horoscopes

I will collect here stories of times when my horoscopes have been exceptionally accurate.  This post may be updated from time to time.

Related:  Why I believe in astrology

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Saturday 2014-07-26.  There is a woman who comes into McDonald’s sometimes, who has taken a liking to me, and sometimes gives me money.  Not long after I first composed “Prayer primer,” I figured I could print out a color hard copy to give her as a present; and eventually I did so.  But for weeks, I never saw her.

Continue reading * Exceptional horoscopes

* Job search update, 09/01/14

INTERVIEWS IN AUGUST:

Secretary II – City Health Department, 08/26/14

Tuesday 08/26/14:   I interviewed this morning for the position of Secretary II with the City Health Department.

My success depended on my performance overcoming my appearance.  This was the fourth interview I’ve had since becoming homeless, and the first time that my appearance was an issue.  As things went, by the time I left McDonald’s for the interview itself, my nerves were shot.

Continue reading * Job search update, 09/01/14