Category Archives: News And Society

Privatization Of Government Services Nothing But Corporate Welfare In Disguise

Posted by on October 19, 2011 No comments


The article at The Huffington Post titled “At Kaplan University, ‘Guerilla Registration’ Leaves Students Deep In Debt” hit a nerve. The premise of the article is that many at the mentioned private University used less than honest tactics to either enroll students or keep students enrolled. Worst, student’s diplomas and/or transcripts were held hostage for phantom owed fees.

This should not be surprising. Since Ronald Reagan professed that “Government is the problem”, the government began the march to privatization. This was done under the premise that privatization would increase efficiencies and would somehow be less expensive. As an engineer well-schooled in math I always considered that statement one of the most deceiving lies of the politicians.

To believe that privatization is less expensive one must believe the mathematical impossibility that the cost of a service or product alone is greater than the cost of the service or product plus profit plus taxes. It makes no sense.

It is true that government bureaucracy can be very inefficient and needs to be fixed. You do not however fix it by passing a government bureaucracy to a private corporate bureaucracy that has the additional responsibility of making a profit for its shareholders. You fix it by concentrating on fixing government.

A private company’s ultimate fiduciary responsibility is to its shareholder. The government product/service becomes nothing but a commodity to extract a profit. The government product/service is the means by which the corporations usurp corporate welfare.

In Iraq & Afghanistan private corporations charge on the order of $30.00 or more per meal as they hire foreign workers to serve our troops and buy foreign food at all substantial discounts. Private corporations pay some American private soldiers and workers six figures & foreign workers a pittance as they charge taxpayers several times a soldier’s salary per employee. Hiring our capable soldiers to take care of our own is less expensive and does not become a corporate welfare catalyst.

A private school pays low wages to teachers which translate into poor education as they take over 25% of all federal student assistant dollars. Outcomes from private universities are poor relative to public institutions.

Ultimately in order to maximize corporate profits the taxpayer receiving the product/services from the private company will always be short changed. Some functions in society should always be maintained either government run or at best non-profit. There is absolutely no way that the privatization of education, wars, health insurance, and other social services that require no innovation can be successful because in order to maintain profits the private companies only option is to short change the taxpayer.

When our friends on the Right continue to decry the evils of big government they conveniently forget that the greatness of our country is that we are a government by and of the people. The Corporation is for and by the shareholder. It is for this reason that it is critical that the right balance is maintained between the Government, The Corporation, and the Individual with an absolute bias to the individual.

The drive to the privatization of everything will ultimately result in; the continued pilfering of the middle class, those who least can afford to be robbed. Privatization of rightful government services is nothing but corporate welfare, a transfer of the middle class’s wealth to the top two percent.

By: Egberto Willies

Lack of "Ethnic Pride" Stunting the Development of African American Youths

Posted by on June 14, 2011 No comments


I have been an advocate of researching and teaching ancient African spiritual and cultural traditions to African Americans for as long as I can remember. I have always believed that it is important for African Americans to connect with its indigenous culture from a spiritual and social perspective.

Many African Americans believe that the significance of connecting with our African heritage is overstated. They believe that it is not necessary for us to reconnect with our African heritage in order to be prosperous in America.

African American leaders and sociological experts claim they have the answers to why African Americans have so many social problems. However; when I listen to these so-called leaders, I am amazed, as well as frustrated, when I fail to hear them mention lack of ethnic pride and lack of unity among African Americans as a source of our problems. I hope that a recent study titled “The Effects of Changes in Racial Identity and Self-Esteem on Changes in African American Adolescents’ Mental Health” will change people’s minds. The authors of this study are Jelani Mandara, Associate Professor at Northwestern University, Maryse H. Richards and Noni Gaylord-Harden (Loyola University Chicago) and Brian Ragsdale (Walden University).

According to the study, as stated by Professor Mandara, “A rising sense of ethnic pride appears to be particularly helpful to boys in buffering against symptoms of depression. He further states that “It may be that race is a more salient issue for boys in this age group than it is for girls.

The study validated the importance of ethnic pride separate and apart from self-esteem. “Psychologists have been theorizing about this for years,” Mandara said. “Our empirical evidence indicates that we’ll see African-American teens with fewer depressive symptoms if we pay more attention to building ethnic pride.”

In my opinion, this study is one of the most important research projects regarding African American youth in the last 20 years. This study helps answer the question: Why are the African-American people not as prosperous or as unified as other ethnic groups in America?

The answer is: We are the only ethnic group in America who does not have linkage with its indigenous ancestors; thus, there is no linkage to our indigenous culture. Our indigenous culture is part of our nature. In essence, we are not living according to our nature; therefore, we are dysfunctional as a people. Living the “American Way of Life” without any true understanding of our own culture has been a major reason why we have not reached our true potential here in America.

Armed with the results of this study should make it easier, for African American scholars, teachers, community leaders as well as national leaders, to galvanize our people towards seeking the truth about our indigenous cultures, traditions and spiritual philosophies. Many prominent African American political leaders shy away from speaking from an African American perspective for fear of alienating other ethnic groups. This is silly, because other ethnic groups could care less about what we think about them and how they stand united and prideful of their ethnicity.

We are descendants of a great and mighty people; we need to stop looking at ourselves as minorities or as some helpless people who need others to help us. Our history goes back to the beginning of civilization; actually, Africa is the birth place of civilization as we know it today. Everything from mathematics, science, astronomy, medicine and religion has it roots in Africa. Our people need to know their true history; with that said, let the teaching and the learning begin!

By: Malik Green

The Demise of Public Education

Posted by on April 12, 2011 No comments


From time to time during my tenure in public education, I have received emails or documents on what might be wrong with American education. Each new idea usually is accompanied with the perfect solution for our educational crisis.

Most recently, I received an email from a good teacher friend of mine, who shared the “Blueberry Story.” Essentially this metaphorical story stresses that, unlike industry and businesses like ice cream manufacturing plants, educational institutions cannot send back a bad batch of blueberries. The schools have to take all the kids with all their limitations, disabilities and dysfunctional family situations. And they have to meet the harsh standards of “No Child Left Behind” with that “batch” of kids. No sending them back.

I responded that I liked the story, but I felt the problems in public education were much worse than just having to work with a diverse group of students with all their problems and distractions. I offered to share my views on American education if she cared to listen. She emailed back that she would like to hear my take on that. So, the following rant is my spin on what is wrong with our schools today.

The demise of public education has been carefully and systematically orchestrated since WWII by those who run our government. These individuals are not necessarily those who make our laws, but rather those who lurk behind the scene to bribe, coerce, lobby, and threaten our governmental officials, Senate, House of Representatives (banker bailout), Department of Education (Rockefeller Foundation), and courts. They are backed by trillions of dollars of stolen money from the American taxpayers. Their power is enormous and their presence is ubiquitous. Andrew Jackson, Lincoln, Garfield, T. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Kennedy tried to warn us of their ominous and dark presence.

As we can clearly see, even in the mainstream news, not to mention the alternative news sources, that we are moving steadily towards a world government, the treasonous dream of corrupt elite like David Rockefeller, Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, and Bilderberg Group, (which incidentally is meeting in secret, with police protection and under media blackout, this week, (June, 09), in Athens Greece to plan the next phase of the swine flu hoax, monetary manipulation of the stock market, forced inoculations, control of the food supply (Codex Alimentarious), and other “conspiracies” to scare the hell out of the public and cripple the U.S. economy and render us into third world status).

However, historically, the ultimate obstacle in our world that blocks this globalist movement by the world elite has been a democratic republic called the United States of America, the last stronghold of democratic ideals, free speech, and a Constitution. It has served as the beacon for liberty around the planet and a thorn in the side for the forces of tyranny. Key to the demise of the U.S., the “globalist” thugs must undermine and compromise our educational system.

And this is exactly what we have been witnessing before our eyes for 40 years. It is no accident that we are on overload with ADHD kids through the effects of vaccines, kids on medication, fluoride in our water supply, kids in gangs, MR kids, dysfunctional families (by design), single parent homes (by design), disenchanted kids, kids turned off to education but turned on the 100 channel TV, video games, cell phones, rap music, drugs, and sex like never before (the Romans called it “bread and circus”). All by design.

Yes, the “Blueberry Story” says it all. We can’t ship them back. We have to somehow address the problem, which in my mind is denial, ignorance, and apathy – rampant and pervasive. Our world ranking in education certainly is evidence for that. And, that too, is by design.

By: Glenn Schuyler