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BY: Armstrong Williams
Let's face it. Baltimore has been a-riot for decades, and was looted long before its citizens finally rose up in glaring sad and pathetic anger before the global media world this week over the still unexplained death of Freddy Gray in police custody. While the cops try and get their story straight, the citizens have taken to the street in a largely symbolic display of outrage, burning a few cars and torching a few businesses in a city that for all intents and purposes is already too burnt-out to really destroy.
Against a veneer of development along its harbor, Camden Yards, and a few blocks of recently developed homes around the ball park, the city has large swaths of broken down homes and vacant lots. The roiling speculation of the 2000's left the city almost half rebuilt, with islands of development surrounded by a vast sea of urban blight. The new residents, many of them refugees from the rapid gentrification of Washington and its precipitous housing costs, have started circling the wagons like settlers in some distant and hostile outpost at the edge of the known world.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Community and Police
"There needs to be a mindset of objectivity where we can all sit down together and have productive conversations instead of painting each other in the worst light possible. The building of relationships is crucial, and It is important to get police involved early on in the community so that the first encounter a young person has with a police officer is not a hostile encounter. That is the type of thing that will make a huge difference in this country…We need to create relationships [because] they are key to resolutions of problems." The building of relationships is a two-way street that cannot be avoided, and in order for it to prove beneficial for everyone, we must all be invested with a positive mentality.
The people of North Charleston should be proud of their strength and peaceful response to such a horrible act that occurred within their community. While there is certainly a feeling of resentment and anger regarding the cold-blooded murder of Walter Scott, police injustice can only be solved through sensible steps that foster actual change. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself". That doesn't necessarily need to be the case, but a peaceful relationship and an ability to walk the streets without fear is a sound start."
Easter reflections
BY: Armtrong Williams
As I reflect back to my recent journey to Israel, the visit to the Mount of Olives where Jesus had his last supper is a reminder of what Easter really means. Many people think of Easter as the colored eggs, plenty of candy, and the Easter Bunny. But I am reminded of Christ's final journey-from the place where Pontius Pilate condemned him to die, to where he bore his own cross, to the site where he was hung, to the tomb where he rose from the dead. These steps leading to Christ's crucifixion leave me awakened to the truly beautiful possibilities of life because the very moment Jesus rose from the dead, was the very moment we would be given everlasting life. Christians would now receive new life after death.
As I passed through the garden of Gethsemane where Christ was delivered to the Romans and paraded through the streets of Jerusalem, before being nailed to a cross, in between two criminals, I recalled that, even as Christ hung on the cross, he saved the repentant soul of one of those criminals. Christ always reached out to those who were different than Himself. We should and must always do the same in following his example.
So this Easter, let us not just think of chocolate bunnies and colored eggs, but remember the sacrificed and risen Christ. Let us also remember the compassionate Christ who reached out to a person totally different from Himself to provide comfort and salvation. Instead of condemning those who believe and worship differently from us, let us start embracing and having real dialogue for their understanding of our faith and belief system.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Hillary's deceit
God morning :
The Clinton machine is skilled at deflecting the core issue, and focusing the discussion on the unimportant. The recent statement her people made about the server being destroyed, and there is no record of the emails anywhere isn't true. Second, there was no risk of loosing an "unclassified" email server that contained classified government information, because it was guarded in their house in NY by the secret service. This is deflection from the core issue. No one needed to steal the server, they only needed to know that it existed. There was no danger of someone stealing the server, the risk was hacking it, and taking all the data from the server, in real time. I am certain, every email and text she sent or was sent to her, via that server, by her and her staff, was vacuumed up by the Russian intelligence service, the Chinese Intelligence service, the British intelligence service, and likely the French. ALL of her email and text traffic through that server has been recorded, examined and disseminated by the countries I mentioned. She was, and remains, a high level intelligence target because she is so arrogant, careless, and blatantly ignores the value of things she did, said, and received, "in the clear", while working as Sec of State.
BY: Armstrong Williams
President Obama and lack of minority progress
According to a scholarly paper published in March 2014 by University of San Diego political science professors Zoltan Hijnal and Jeremy Horowitz entitled Racial Winners and Losers in American Politics, over the past fifty years black have fared significantly better under Democratic administrations than Republican Administrations. According to an empirical study of census data between 1948 and 2010, "African Americans tend to experience substantial gains under Democratic presidents whereas they tend to incur significant losses or remain stagnant under Republicans."
But that trend has not held true under the current Obama administration. In all three measures covered under the study – poverty, income and unemployment – blacks have fared worse under the Obama administration than under the previous administration. And yet the rallying cry of Democrats has been to resort to fear-mongering, essentially arguing that Republicans will deny black the right to vote and rescind social welfare programs popularized since the civil rights era. The fact remains, however, that the Obama administration has failed miserably at preserving civil rights era legislation (for the first time in 50 years sections of the voting rights act were struck down), and miserable at preserving black wealth and economic opportunities.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Obama and Innercity America
God morning :
We are finally at a point in this country where the civil rights era politics have worn too thin to serve as a freedom suit. First, they are not as relevant to today's political realities. No one is talking about taking away anyone's vote or instituting a system of de jure segregation. And yet in practice, blacks have found themselves isolated and gerrymandered on the local level – ultimately unable to build coalitions to advocate for broad-based change within the Democratic Party ghetto. Furthermore, blacks are starting to fall behind economically – and not just at the lower levels of the socio-economic spectrum. Even black college graduates have fallen prey to intractable unemployment in a rapidly changing economic climate for all Americans.
The point here is that the price of identity politics may have proved to be too high. That is, by overcommitting to the Obama administration the black leadership may have failed to strengthen and develop relationships in the business and corporate community that have generally considered Obama's economic policies inimical to growth. But then there is the cost of the Obama Presidency itself. Obama has generally gone out his way to seem race-neutral with respect to black issues in a way that no prior President would ever have to. He has not spoken out forcefully against systemic factors that have kept blacks mired in poverty and unemployment – specifically the system of local governments over-fining and criminalizing citizens for minor infractions as a fundraising strategy. The Justice Department's report on the police and court system in Ferguson provides a scathing condemnation of these practices. It is worth noting that these draconian practices – which are frankly reminiscent of something out of a Dickens novel - have taken hold in states like Ohio and California, which have liberal Obama-supporters in the Governor's mansions.
When it Comes to Iran and Israel, Obama is Way Off Target
The unelected mullahs in Iran must be having a hearty laugh this week, enjoying the spectacle of the Obama Administration falling over itself to drive a wedge between America and our vital Middle East ally Israel.
For a wartime president who campaigned on pledges to end conflicts in the Middle East, his latest actions suggest that he may be just the man to keep them burning and to even ignite new ones.
In Washington a firestorm of controversy has been sparked, but not over Iran's continued intransigence, its stonewalling of international arms inspectors, or even its expanding sphere of deadly influence in the Middle East and gross repression of civil and human rights. Instead, the President's minions are playing politics to discredit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before he addresses a joint session of Congress on the very real threat posed by Iran's nuclear arms program.
The absurdity of the world's superpower undercutting the only Western-style democracy in the Middle East would be laughable if it weren't deadly serious for this country, Israel and the rest of the world.
At this very moment, government officials whose salaries are paid by American taxpayers are actually cooking up ways to harm America's relationship with an ally that serves as a bulkhead against radical Islamic terrorist forces in the Middle East and cooperates closely with us on myriad arenas ranging from intelligence, defense and homeland security to agriculture and biotechnology.
BY: Armstrong Williams
national security predicament....one more time
BY: Armstrong Williams
I was watching a news show, and like a favored talisman every liberal feels obliged to cite the "original sin" of GW Bush in assessing our situation now in the Mideast. To be more accurate, it would be better to blame the British for the "real original sin" of how they carved up the region in the wake of the fall of the Ottomans, but I digress. Here's the facts:The record since then has been one of constant, systematic failure on the part of this administration.In Egypt, where they deposed a 30 year US ally (and frightened the Gulf monarchies), to support the Muslim Brotherhood. And now to compound the error by only perfunctorily supporting Sisi even though he is now fighting ISIS in Libya.In Libya, where they ignored the War Powers Act to participate in a measure to overthrow Quaddafi (OK) but had no post-war plan and thus left a region of chaos ripe for Islamic extremists to flourish.In Syria, where misguided comments on red lines highlighted a brain-dead and feckless approach. His, "I didn't draw red lines, the world did" remark takes the prize for the most idiotic, and downright embarrassing, statement by a POTUS in my lifetime (and I include "I did not have sex with that woman...." and "If you like your healthcare, you can keep it").In Iraq, where a precipitous withdrawal has destabilized the country and made the ISIS phenomenon a growing concern.In Yemen, where just 3 months after the president pointed it out as a "success" the US backed government has fallen and a Iran-leaning gang of thugs holds sway.My conclusion - allusions or blame, at this time, for GW Bush are a complete copout. GW Bush cleaned up his mess with the surge. BHO was left in a stable, and tenable position. He has squandered that with both hands. Why do we ignore present difficulties to go back to an argument you think you can win, please explain the "genius" of BHO's strategy in the region. It would be best if we simply say, "well, he was dealt a tough hand by events." That would not be true but it would save the embarrassment of trying to blame on GWB what is manifestly BHO's fault.
Williams is Manager and Sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The corporate execs want a legitimized low wage, hard working labor force. The government is working hand-in-hand with corporations to incentivize passing over a qualified American black applicant for a similarly qualified nuAmerican. Now they don't have to worry about punitive legal actions or bad PR, they get to hire a minority nuAmerican.
I say nuAmerican because they are. They share no common culture or history with this country. Their families live abroad and most of their money is wired back to Mexico or Latin America to help the economy in those countries. Their allegiance, and family home, is elsewhere.
Pearls of wisdom
BY: Armstrong Williams
The Teflon Don of Civil Rights --
Rev. Al Sharpton seems to have learned this lesson long ago: When you're a controversial civil rights leader who's made a career out of harassing the cops and embarrassing the government, never keep any assets in your own name. But that has never prevented authorities from vigorously inspecting the good reverend's personal and organizational finances over the years, and often coming up with troves of improprieties, ranging from misappropriation, to delinquency and possibly fraud. And yet even when the government seemed to have Sharpton squarely within its' sights, his organization hobbled by the costs of litigation, fines and arrears assessed for unpaid taxes, none of it seemed to stick.
He has repeatedly stuck his thumb in the eye of the best laid plans for his demise, and risen to a level of mainstream power and influence that belies what many feel is at best an unorthodox style, and at worst, a cynical exploitation of the suffering of the people he purports to represent. Certainly Sharpton's role in the tawdry Tawana Brawley hoax, and his subsequent conviction for defamation for his role in tarnishing the careers and reputations of the falsely accused police officers, should been enough to bury him for good. But the lessons he learned early on stood him in good stead. When the cameras are on, Sharpton seems to be literally everywhere. But when it comes time to pay the bill for that infamously earned publicity, he vanishes into a cloud of impalpable smoke. What assets does he own? Who pays his expenses? How does he manage to get around the country and set up shop at a moment's notice each time there is a controversy involving the police and African Americans? Those are questions that government officials have tied themselves in knots trying to answer over the years, mostly to no avail.
Brian Williams and NBC
BY: Armstrong Williams
Brian Williams has been telling and embellishing the same lie for years. Why would top brass at NBC allow the continuation of this tale, given that several military vets quietly led a campaign for years demanding a retraction? On Wednesday night Williams with no hint of humility on "NBC Nightly News" apologize for misleading the public.
Well, that apology has created a fire storm and it is now being rumored that Tom Brokaw has met privately with NBC executives and made it clear that Williams should resign immediately.
Why continue such a lie when you know that you are the face and trust of one of the most important nightly news shows in the world ? Why would NBC Executives allow their credibility further eroded, when their have been credible challenges by military vets and outrage for years ? What are we missing in this bizarre and developing story of credibility, trust, honor, and character ?
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Age of Ignorance
When ideological purity is forced at the point of the sword, there is little or no wiggle room for dissent. Any idea that conflicts with the party line is met with instant recrimination. When the alternatives are obey or die, any difference of opinion becomes a de facto act of violence. The editors at Hebdo understand that the pen becomes a bullet. Their goal was to provoke a reaction, and they were not naïve about the implications. And that's why they are true martyrs for freedom. And so, while we may not be willing to use their crude language in polite company, the writers at Hebdo have forced our hand as a society. We have no choice but to vociferously defend their right to speak freely even if it angers and incenses violent extremists. We will not coddle, we will not side-step we will not walk on eggshells for fear of ruffling fundamentalist feathers. Doing so would create a dangerous precedent which would have monstrous implications for our society. Imagine a return to the ages of ignorance where if a religious authority says it's dark at noon, everyone fawningly agrees and starts stumbling into each other.
Call Islamic extremist what they are ?
BY: Armstrong Williams
The last major Christian atrocity people can point to the Spanish Inquisition, and that ended over 200 years ago. In six centuries, the Inquisition turned over about the same number of people for execution (2000) as Boko Haram killed in a weekend.The fact is, here and now, Jihadists are the number 1 cause of violent extremism in the world. There is a problem.It is not insensitive to point this out. It is insensitive to make excuses for these dregs of humanity.Rather than saying, "Not all Muslims are like that," the apologists should be talking about how other religions have faced down such issues and what needs to be done to fight those violent extremists from within the Islamic community itself.We know that the West itself can never defeat such terror completely. The victory over extremism must come from within. It is time for the stable and peaceful Muslim countries and peoples of the world to come together and rip out this cancer themselves.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren opposes the "CRominibus" provision that would restore FDIC insurance for high-risk trading in derivatives. Warren democrats have already jumped out in opposition to the change. By removing the Dodd-Frank separation of derivatives trading from federally insured traditional banking, the "CRomnibus" spending bill effectively restores federal insurance for the kind of high-risk derivatives trading that over-leveraged Wall Street and toppled the economy in 2008.
Indemnifying bankers against losses from high-risk derivatives trading means bankers reap rewards without risk, while taxpayers assume risk without rewards. It essentially would let derivatives traders on Wall Street gamble with taxpayer money and get bailed out by the government when their risky bets threaten to blow up our financial system. In other words: Private profits, socialized losses.
This is an anti-market, anti-middle class provision:
BY: Armstrong Williams
Destructive immigration executive order for inner city America
No one, not one single person in the black community should applaud Obama's amnesty for Hispanics push. Think, for just a second, who is rewarded by this action.
Legal aliens do not want this, they are paying their dues and taxes, yet will see no benefit.
Legal Hispanics do not want this; it casts illegitimacy on their own legacy and accomplishments.
Asians do not want this; it brings no benefit to them.
main stream conservatives do not want this; it destabilizes the economy, the polity, and the rule of law.
Blacks should not want this, but many overwhelmingly go along with it despite the fact that amnesty directly hurts blacks more than any other group.
The only people that want this are white liberals and corporate executives.
BY: Armstrong Williams
A Tale of two Cities
The tale of two cities.
Was actually shocked that the grand jury didn't issue an indictment in the Eric Garner NY case. The role of the Grand Jury is not too convict, but determine probable cause. A sensible view of the tape clearly indicates that the NY cops were using excessive force. Without a doubt from the tape, it was not their intent to kill Gardner. The issue is not whether they were trying to kill him but whether they used excessive force. One must always consider that our Rule of Law gives the benefit of the doubt to the defendant, especially if the accused is law enforcement. Policemen in the line of duty make split seconds decisions and they are not always correct even with the best of training.
The proper response to this decision are the exemplary peaceful protesting in NY with no violence or looters. New yorkers are sending several message to the political establishment and the world. Their is never a reason for violence and looting when we vehemently disagree with verdicts by the Grand or any Jury. They also remind us that policeman must exercise more control in their duties and suspects don't have to die in the process.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsIsis Challenge
ISIS, although complex and challenging, is an issue that can be addressed, and ultimately destroyed, without the commitment of American conventional combat forces on the ground. The deterioration of the middle east order, is a vexing challenge, but there are a variety of national security options and paths to consider, if the administration was willing to listen. This administration lacks the creativity, understanding and shear brain power to first understand the issues, and then craft an approach to deal with several things at the same time.
BY: Armstrong Williams
At war with Radical Islamist
When are we going to admit to ourselves that this nation, under God, is currently under fire. Muslim extremists are beheading our citizens overseas, gaining political strength at home, overrunning fractious societies in Europe and wreaking havoc in every part of the globe. It's considered non-PC to admit what should be plainly obvious: we may not think that we are at war with radical Islamic, but they are clearly at war with us.
The sooner we admit this to ourselves, the sooner we can commit ourselves to prevailing over the people who hope that we wake up too late to the threat, or will be cowed by their actions.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Our Economy
Wall Street financial performance, which many view as a significant cause of the recession in the first place, has reached record levels over the past year. And so the President has had to carefully temper his desire to trumpet the top line economic numbers, with the reality that the recovery has been unevenly distributed -- the lion's share of gains going to investors and not wage earners.
Who do we have to thank for the robust economic recovery? Who's to blame for its uneven distribution? Some economists have pointed out that ending the extension of Federal unemployment benefits created a more motivated labor force, and putting in place the budget deal in 2011 that resulted in reducing the national debt, have put the country on firmer financial footing. This was not a popular medicine to be sure, and the political fallout from the impasse over the debt ceiling is seen as having hurt Republicans who stuck to their guns in favoring growth over distribution.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Muslim extremist
It's true that not every terrorist in the world is a Muslim. But it is also true that radical Muslims are at the core of violence all across the globe, and with every passing day the scope of conflict is increasing.
We hear all the time about the so-called silent majority of Muslims who abhor this type of violence, who practice a religion of peace that celebrates the teaching of the Prophet. Yet, why are they so often silent when it comes to speaking out loudly, in one voice, to clearly denounce the twisted mindset and murderous violence pursued by those who claim to act in the name of Islam? Perhaps it's because many are sympathetic, perhaps it's because many of them are also afraid.
American values means standing up for what we believe, and refusing to be intimidated and threatened by those who care more about tearing down our society than building one for themselves. We can continue down the current path we are on, or we can decide to act more forcefully.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Our destructive education system
It took us 50 years to destroy our education system and now we are forced to deal with the wasted lives it produces. But if we started tomorrow with the kindergartens and made sure that proper facilities and teacher competencies were at a high standard and then extended that goal one grade per year, in 13 years we would live in a whole new world. Young, ignorant, poor men are the problem--whether you are dealing with gangs in the inner city or Muslim jihadists. Ignorance leads to poverty and lack of hope. The poverty and lack of hope leads to anger, self-depreciation, and a hatred of self and everything around them. (This why they burn down their own neighborhoods.) Add those ingredients to testosterone (young men) and you have the makings for chaos, destruction, and death. The cycle begins with ignorance—the way to stop the cycle is education!
BY: Armstrong Williams
Continuing to remember Veterans
By coming together yesterday in a large communal ritual, we reinforced the notion that our soldiers, these people, have actually died. And that they died to strengthen our individual freedoms.
After the fighting, some of our soldiers returned home with tattered minds and spirits, only to be held in lower regard than the enemy they had struggled to defeat. Some were still relegated to the back of the bus because of the color of their skin; others never lived long enough to see the civil rights legislation of the 60s. Yet they fought for an idea so powerful that it moved many of them to die for their country.
We must never forget the tremendous sacrifice our Veterans continue to make for the American way of life.
We cannot forget that what is best about this country rests on their shoulders.
With this in mind, do something different today.
Continuing visiting cemeteries and place flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.
Visit memorials and fly U.S. flags at half-staff often and pledge to aid the disabled veterans, widows, widowers and orphans of those that died in conflicts and wars.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
The people have spoken
It was most disheartening watching our commander n chief press conference on yesterday. He displayed little humility and was defiant that he would continue his veto power in the new congress. Why must leaders learn the hard way and at the expense of their party and the people that continue believing in their leadership? Only time and a reawakening to the new reality of the changing political landscape will eventually bring Mr. Obama to his senses.
The facts are the facts. Voters across the nation expressed their discontent with President Obama and Congressional Democrats. Can the GOP, now that it will control both Houses ,deliver the leadership and return our nations economy to health ?
It was outrageous how Democrats played the grievance card in many races and lost resoundingly. Americans are not happy at all with the GOP and decided to give them another chance to put Americans first. Will they ? Two years will go by real fast and if Republicans don't deliver, they will be the party ousted from power
BY: Armstrong Williams
Can the GOP now deliver the expected results
The facts are the facts. Voters across the nation expressed their discontent with President Obama and Congressional Democrats. Can the GOP, now that it will control both Houses ,deliver the leadership and return our nations economy to health ?
It was outrageous how Democrats played the grievance card in many races and lost resoundingly. Americans are not happy at all with the GOP and decided to give them another chance to put Americans first. Will they ? Two years will go by real fast and if Republicans don't deliver, they will be the party ousted from power
Still vote, despite the odds against you for delivery from politicians
BY: Armstrong Williams
Who do we have to thank for the robust economic recovery? Who's to blame for its uneven distribution? Some economists have pointed out that ending the extension of Federal unemployment benefits created a more motivated labor force, and putting in place the budget deal in 2011 that resulted in reducing the national debt, have put the country on firmer financial footing. This was not a popular medicine to be sure, and the political fallout from the impasse over the debt ceiling is seen as having hurt Republicans who stuck to their guns in favoring growth over distribution.
On the other hand, the democrats promised their base benefits that they could not deliver in the lean years. There were no major fiscal policy initiatives supporting employment, and unemployment benefits and food stamps were cut in the budget deal. Government worker unions, such as teachers' unions and other state and local employee unions felt the pinch, especially in places like Detroit, where union benefits were excluded from a financial restructuring plan to rescue the city. Despite major symbolic victories such as increased inclusion of gays in the military and signing equal pay legislation into the law, the Democratic base feels that the President has failed to deliver for them in his second term. So, while there is a feeling that Obama cares about the issues that concern democratic voters, there is severe lack of confidence that he is actually capable of delivering the goods.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Child Abuse
The abuse of children occurs within a context of broken families, domestic violence, neglect and declining societal values.
Community expectations have eroded when it comes to families and raising children within a married two-parent household where faith and discipline are exemplified by both parents. The kids may have received conflicting messages about the potential consequences of outrageous behavior. Another unspoken theme is single mothers who are in conflict with their children's father and using the child as a wedge, or overcompensating by indulging misbehavior out of a feeling of guilt at not having an intact family life.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Military officials are now warning that the war that is getting underway in Syria could last for years. Given the President's tattered track record when it comes to making foreign policy decisions related to the Middle East, every American should be deeply worried about what could happen next. Time and again, President Obama has misjudged the unfolding of events in one of the world's most troubled regions. Our feckless, inconsistent and haphazard policies have emboldened our enemies who increasingly view us as a paper tiger whose occasional purrs are worse than our bite. In Libya, our strategy of "leading from behind" ultimately left behind a chaotic country that is more unstable than before. In Egypt, we repeatedly shifted course, ultimately throwing our support behind efforts to unseat Hosni Mubarak. In short order this brought the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood to power, before the military ultimately managed to regain control.
BY: Armstrong Williams
College Campus unreported Rape
Let me be the first to say this. Colleges and Universities are not equipped to adjudicate violent crimes like sexual assault (or assault in general). They do not possess the investigative resources, training, expertise, or legitimacy that traditional law enforcement bring to the table. And yet every day across America, colleges are attempting to try and determine which assault allegations merit disciplinary action and which don't.
In many instances, even when Universities do the right thing and the victim is informed of his or her option to report the crime, the crime still goes unreported because victims feel that once the police are involved they won't be able to control the process.
The Two Party System is Killing America
By Armstrong Williams
The tale of Ferguson, Missouri is in many respects the tale of two cities. One half white, overwhelmingly Republican and conservative. The other half, black, overwhelmingly Democratic, and at least nominally liberal. In a perfect world, such a community would never come into such stark and intense opposition. An ideal political process would have mediated those differences long before their anger engulfed them. Perhaps the zero sum game of partisanship followed by gridlock is the best the two party system has to offer at this point, but as a society we deserve much, much better.
The problem with the two party system is that you have to keep the bathwater in order to save the baby. And of course, the dirty water ends up harming the baby in the long run. One wonders whether it would be possible for blacks to really get what they need at this stage – jobs and economic empowerment – without sacrificing too much in the way of Democrats' overregulation overspending, both of which have had a stifling effect on job creation and American competitiveness. While the Tea party has widely been blamed for the decline in U.S. government creditworthiness because of its' role in the government shut down and failure to raise the debt ceiling, the fact is that America's crushing debt problem caused the fall in the credit rating.
If blacks or any other group broke away from the Democratic Party and formed an activist pressure group like the Tea party, the question is whether they would push the party to the left or to the right. The calculus may not be so simple. Surely, the Democratic Party has had significant victories on social issues – ranging from same sex marriages, to equal treatment in the military. But where it counts on economic issues such as wage growth, job creation and pension reform, Democrats have failed to deliver. The business community has been largely successful in doing an end run around organized labor to convince workers that their jobs depend upon the profitability of the company, not on union power. The extent to which a splinter group would be likely to break left is therefore somewhat questionable.
The bottom line is that we are a country of and for the people. We are not state, we are not parties, and we are not districts. Those can be convenient organizing tools, but at the end of the day the power is invested in the people to change themselves. People should begin to demand more accountability of their elected officials. For too long the choice has been seen as supporting the lesser of two evils. However the success of the Tea party in holding an establishment party accountable should be a lesson learned for the voters irrespective of their political leanings.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Physical evidence in Feguson
The facts in the Ferguson shooting supports Mo. police office Darren Wilson testimony of what happen. The autopsy is clear that Brown moved toward the officer as they faced off in the street, according to eyewitness interviews ( eight black witnesses provided testimony to a grand jury that largely supported Wilson's version) .
Some of the forensic/physical evidence including the location of blood analysis, shell casings, and ballistic tests supports Wilson version.
It is always diffcult and inconceivable why law enforcement needs to shoot a human being repeatedly as if they are animals. However, will the protesters and race hustlers finally concede that regardless of perception, a person under our rule of law is innocent until proven guilty. Given the recent evidence from the autopsy, the bar for convicting officer Wilson of any crime, seems faint at best.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Several African countries have themselves banned travel from the Ebola-stricken neighbors. South Africa, Kenya and Zambia currently have total or partial flight bans in place. It is not coincidence that these are places that have had some of the worst problems with the AIDS virus historically. AIDS came close to completely destroying these societies, and they have learned their lesson about early and aggressive containment rather than denial and delay. The health officials in these countries also know that they do not have enough public health resources to deal with an Ebola outbreak should it occur. They do not want another AIDS on their hands, and so out of an abundance of caution they have restricted travel to the Ebola-infected countries until the virus is contained.
The benefits are practical as well as conceptual. On a practical basis, leaving one day free of the worldly concerns of earning a living or making an impact politically or socially, gives the mind and body a chance to rest and replenish itself. After a Sunday at Church or at home reading the scripture silently for a couple of hours, I experienced a very pronounced sense of of calm and relaxation. Everything else that seemed so important and urgent all week falls away and takes its place below the majesty of our creator. On the conceptual level, we human beings tend to be self-centered both as individuals and as a species. It wasn't so long ago that the Catholic Church saw itself as second only in majesty to God himself. And that had real world effects.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The nation is finally awake to the reality of Ebola on U.S. soil. In less than six months, we have gone from a country that had never had a case of Ebola on its soil in its' entire history, to five Ebola victims (including evacuated medical personnel) and one death caused by the virus. And so predictably (and justifiably), the U.S. public has become concerned about not only the possibility of persons infected with the disease arriving from Ebola-stricken countries, but also about the U.S. health care system's real capacity for containing the disease once it arrives. In fact, National Nurses United, the largest union of professional nurses in the country, announced that it believed the nation's hospitals have not received adequate training or resources to deal with Ebola, and stated that almost 90 percent of its' members had no training at all on how to deal with an Ebola outbreak.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Ball and Strikes
The video recording this week of a confrontation between St Louis Cardinals fans and protestors chanting justice for Mike Brown, the black youth killed by police and Ferguson outside the Cardinals' stadium provides a bit of illustration. The protesters, who were peacefully assembled outside the game and not blocking entrance to the stadium, nonetheless soon attracted a small crowd of hostile Cardinals fans. Various insults were traded back and forth between the drunken Caridnals fans and the disorganized group of youthful protestors. Police officers were on hand to keep the peace. Aside from some of the ad hominem attacks, it was clear that many of the Cardinals fans felt insulted that the protestors had identified them as part of the problem. One fan shouted across the picket line, "cops shouldn't be going around killing young kids, but this isn't the way to go about it." He was apparently referring to the activist tactics of the protestors. The young man across the picket line responded, "hey, this is a peaceful demonstration against police brutality." He was of course entirely correct and within his rights.
The uncommunicated subtext on the part of the anti-protestors seemed to be that while we agree with you on the issue of justice for Mike Brown, we believe that the legal process is the best forum to mediate the dispute. And we certainly don't want our team's moment of triumph, not to mention a good mention beer buzz, ruined by the intrusion of social or political issues. However, the protestors, who at first glance seemed to be somewhat out of their league, made a brilliant point. Injustice by its very nature disturbs everyone's peace. The more subtle point is that even the criminal justice system does not operate in a vacuum.
BY: Armstrong Williams
PC is now destroying us
Do we truly put America first anymore. Is PC destroying our way of life? Are we now defending the identity politics the left's claim that no department of American life — whether sports, arts or education — should be autonomous from politics. That strikes me as a recipe for unceasing social and political conflict conducted on terms largely dictated by the left. The new PC and bias media leads many to assume that justice in the Michael Brown case demands not impartial investigation and evaluation of the facts — let alone the presumption of innocence —but, rather, conviction of Darren Wilson. This is seriously not the spirt of who we are as Americans.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Unmasking the Church
The critical moral message is being lost and ignored in the church. While focusing on attaining wealth, the message ignores the value of temperance, hard work, and development of character through suffering. What ever happened to the protestant ethic, where wealth was not just a blessing from God, but the result of the rigorous cultivation of moral virtue? It is reported in the Gospel of St. Matthew that Jesus said, "You cannot serve both God and money." It is the height of irony to have to say this; but it is time the church made a choice as to which master it really wants to serve.
BY: Armstrong Williams
America needs to wake up. How much blood and treasure are we prepared to spend fighting wars without clearly articulated goals? How is it possible that we move from having no strategy to racing down the path to full-fledged war? If our commander in chief had demonstrated even a basic understanding of the Middle East then perhaps we could feel confident that he had a plan in place that would serve our country's best strategic interests. But President Obama has shown time again that he doesn't truly understand the dynamics of the Middle East and what it will take for America to play a role there. Make no mistake about it, the region is replete with bad actors and there are no easy fixes. Yet in order to construct a solution you must first understand the problem. For America to get what it needs, our President first needs to get a clue.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Time and again, President Obama has misjudged the unfolding of events in one of the world's most troubled regions. Our feckless, inconsistent and haphazard policies have emboldened our enemies who increasingly view us as a paper tiger whose occasional purrs are worse than our bite. In Libya, our strategy of "leading from behind" ultimately left behind a chaotic country that is more unstable than before. In Egypt, we repeatedly shifted course, ultimately throwing our support behind efforts to unseat Hosni Mubarak. In short order this brought the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood to power, before the military ultimately managed to regain control.
BY: Armstrong Williams
November 2014 Midterm elections
We have to ask ourselves why over 90% of House members and 91% of senators
that ran in 2012 were reelected when Congress had only a 14% approval rating.
The true definition of an addiction is someone who can't get enough of something
that they don't want. America has been addicted to Congress.
We need to take a step back and ask ourselves why America has a deep-seated
resentment and dislike for Congress but seems to crave keeping those whom they
detest in power. Psychologically, when there is a contradiction between that
which we are doing and that which we are wanting to accomplish, it is known as
cognitive dissonance. This psychological disorder can be summarized by the
concept of re-electing those whom we have deemed should not be in office to
begin with.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Random thoughts
1) this is a Long War
2) it is a Global War on Terror
3) it must be fought on THEIR turf, not ours....with allies preferably, but alone if we must (for those who say we won't ever go back with infantry, Gen. Dempsey's testimony threw cold water on that notion).
4) we reserve the right to strike pre-emptively to thwart untoward acts.
It is significant not only that the strikes were widespread, but that we acted alone against an Al Qaeda cell in NW Syria that was "an imminent danger" to strike the U.S. (Gives the deception to BHO's convenient election year assessment that they were 'significantly degraded').
The commander in chief has finally understood his first responsibility: to safeguard this country, its allies, and our interests. You don't do that by unilateral withdrawal, ceding international leadership, and issuing hollow threats. Congratulations. To echo his wife: for the first time ever in his presidency, I'm proud of BHO and support his actions. His instinct to save US ground troops for a last resort is also admirable though I am skeptical that commitment can be kept.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsMental Illness
BY: Armstrong WilliamsOur Food is our medicine and poisonWe need to abandon the attitude that we can consume all the artificial sugars and fats we want and then run to the medical community to save us once our long-suffering bodies start to break down. A refreshing start is a recent partnership between a Houston-based organic food co-op Rawfully Organic and Dr. Garth Davis of the Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center. Their program, called a "Farmacy" allows doctors at the clinic, which specializes in weight loss surgery and medication, to 'prescribe' fruits and vegetables to their patients in addition to or instead of medication. The clinic issues a prescription for a basket of raw organic fruits and veggies that is in turn supplied by the co-op. Naturally the prescription is not covered by standard insurance. The partnership has been able to secure charitable funding to subsidize some of the cost of this practice.Volumes have already been written about the problems surrounding the American diet, corporate marketing, the food industry and the medical and pharmaceutical rackets. Volumes more are sure to be written because people are gradually waking up to this major societal problem. People these days not only expect to live longer, they want their lives to have quality that only health and vitality can afford them. It was perhaps the legendary fitness guru Jack Lalane who said it best. When questioned about how to achieve a healthy diet, he simply replied – "if man made it, I don't eat it." Enough said.
The benefits are practical as well as conceptual. On a practical basis, leaving one day free of the worldly concerns of earning a living or making an impact politically or socially, gives the mind and body a chance to rest and replenish itself. After a Sunday at Church or at home reading the scripture silently for a couple of hours, I experienced a very pronounced sense of of calm and relaxation. Everything else that seemed so important and urgent all week falls away and takes its place below the majesty of our creator. On the conceptual level, we human beings tend to be self-centered both as individuals and as a species. It wasn't so long ago that the Catholic Church saw itself as second only in majesty to God himself. And that had real world effects.
Society has never been fair, but this does not give us an excuse to throw our arms in the air and give up. Prominent men and women of all races have made their success despite the odds stacked against them.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsDemocrats in desperate need of a Tea PartyIf blacks or any other group broke away from the Democratic Party and formed an activist pressure group like the Tea party, the question is whether they would push the party to the left or to the right. The calculus may not be so simple. Surely, the Democratic Party has had significant victories on social issues – ranging from same sex marriages, to equal treatment in the military. But where it counts on economic issues such as wage growth, job creation and pension reform, Democrats have failed to deliver. The business community has been largely successful in doing an end run around organized labor to convince workers that their jobs depend upon the profitability of the company, not on union power. The extent to which a splinter group would be likely to break left is therefore somewhat questionable.The bottom line is that we are a country of and for the people. We are not state, we are not parties, and we are not districts. Those can be convenient organizing tools, but at the end of the day the power is invested in the people to change themselves. People should begin to demand more accountability of their elected officials. For too long the choice has been seen as supporting the lesser of two evils. However the success of the Tea party in holding an establishment party accountable should be a lesson learned for the voters irrespective of their political leanings.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsWhere are the Jobs ?Friday September 19There has been a lot of concern lately about why after six years of economic recovery and a steadily falling unemployment rate, there are still so many people seemingly not working in America. Economists have pointed to historically low labor force participation rates, especially among males, as a curious phenomenon that could potentially spell a troubling future for America. But the fall labor force participation may be telling a different story altogether.Both the Wall Street Journal and Barron's recently featured alarmist headlines bringing attention to the declining labor force participation rate. Barron's title, "The Decline of Work" cites a Bureau of Labor Statistics study showing that labor force participation has fallen to roughly 62%, its lowest point since 1978, and is further projected to decline even further to 61% in 2022. The Wall Street Journal published an article with exactly the same title, albeit a few months before Barron's, in which it implied that the government safety net, including universal health care and disability claims, were keeping able bodied workers on the sidelines. Barron's largely parroted this claim, adding in addition that the long-term unemployed were becoming increasingly unemployable because of atrophied skills.
By Armstrong Williams. Thursday September 18.The tale of Ferguson, Missouri is in many respects the tale of two cities. One half white, overwhelmingly Republican and conservative. The other half, black, overwhelmingly Democratic, and at least nominally liberal. In a perfect world, such a community would never come into such stark and intense opposition. An ideal political process would have mediated those differences long before their anger engulfed them. Perhaps the zero sum game of partisanship followed by gridlock is the best the two party system has to offer at this point, but as a society we deserve much, much better.On the black, largely democratic side of the Ferguson divide you have a triumph of symbolism over substance. Record turnout of black voters in Presidential elections enabled Democrats to achieve stunning victories. And yet in the congressional races, Democrats have consistently lost ground to a focused, organized grass roots conservative movement. Hoping for change, many Democratic voters got more of the same, only less of it. Here's why: the Democratic establishment promised less than one would think given it's surefooted victories in the Presidential elections 2008 and 2012, and they were able to deliver even less than what they promised because of the rightward drift in the Congress.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsWhat truly matters ?The good news is that I have always and remain someone who defines me and not someone else. It is a blessing in America and the world that you can continue uninterrupted success and empower many for a life time.
Thankful for the karma of being educated employed and an employer ,worked hard and adept at makingthe necessary sacrifices for sustain success. Many people think that I am lucky and unusually rare in my success . They refuse to recognize the hard work ,discipline ,continuous networking, saving, and having an attitude of self confidence that keeps me connected to people of similar Characteristics. Unfortunately there are still many people who view grievance as there defining characteristic. This is especially true for large segments of so called minorities liberals. They use grievance as an excuse for the lack of necessity for individual responsibility. This creates a victim mentality in a large segment of their community. The victim mentality is exploited by traditional civil rights leaders and many liberals. Their solution to victim mentality is large government, and the nanny state. This Eliminates the need for individuals to be responsible and accountable for themselves. Liberal and civil rights leaders who propose this nanny state solution, use it as political exploitation to retain control of the overall grievance vote. When big government is responsible there is no requirement of you to take care of yourself . If you have a failure in education, A child out of wedlock, unemployed , violate the law, hungry, etc it is not your fault and you bear no responsibility for your bad choices. I refuse to allow the grievance class to put me in a box. You will never place me in a box of failure, blame, and finding every excuse possible, as to why you cannot realize, celebrate, and pass on the American dream.Armstrong Williams is on Sirius/XM Power 126, 6-8pm and 5-7 am, Monday through Friday and S.C WGCV 4-5pm.Become a fan on Facebook- www.facebook.com/arightside, and follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/arightside.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsThe New Economy
For many Americans today, the knowledge economy and rapid advances in information technology and communications make remote collaboration the norm, even among teams in large corporations. No longer are most workers bounded by time and location. What we are seeing is work being assembled and delivered asynchronously. This trend continues all along the value chain in both large and small corporations. Not only are employers becoming more nimble and short term oriented, so are workers. Many workers favor working in spurts, with mini-retirements in between jobs, rather than working continuously until retiring near the end of life. People are living longer, meaning that they are living longer after retirement than ever before. This might seem like a strange new world, but is the new reality of the American economy. Cyclical events such as recessions only help to hasten and entrench structural shiftssuch as increasing worker mobility, career switching, and lifestyle choices that value life experiences over income maximization. The field of economics will have to evolve to capture these changes as citizens of developed economies seek to add more quality to their lives.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The question many have raised is first of all whether the U.S. has an articulable strategy in the region, and further, whether that strategy has been effective. That's a fair question, as the Obama administration has mainly relied upon seemingly doing as little as possible in terms of engaging U.S. forces in the region. However, given the political and ideological cesspool into which the region has recently sunk, one wonders whether more aggressive direct action would clean up the situation or merely end up sullying our own hands.
There is also the question of whether Islamic extremism is a threat to the west or Western interests. The answer is that of course it is. Their actions demonstrate extreme barbarity and wanton disregard for the sanctity of life. But the distinction here may be that ISIS is not yet an imminent threat. If the U.S. can help to foster a more unified government in Iraq, it may be able to stem and reverse some of the gains that ISIS has made in the country. If Iraqi's learn to respect and tolerate each other and share their more than abundant resources equitably, it will be difficult for outside groups to divide them. In the abundance of water, only the fool is thirsty. Of course the knee jerk reaction would be to go in and step up the bombing of ISIS (which is really just bombing Iraq) and/or risk American boots on the ground. However, we've tried that in the past and just ended up wasting money and blood with little to show for it. At this point, instead of trying to lay down the roach powder, it may be more appropriate to clean house.
BY: Armstrong Williams
So what informs your philosophy of life? Is it getting more Twitter followers or watching the latest episode of the newest show on TV? I sure hope not.
Individual self-esteem is now determined by how many people follow you on social media, and how many likes you get. But self-esteem should in fact be based on the undisputed truth that we're created in the image of God.
The Scriptures should inform your philosophy of life. Knowledge of the Scriptures reveal the character of God, the difference between right and wrong, and an understanding of the purpose of life.
The Scriptures give you a set of values and those values ultimately guide your thinking and living. The values given to us by Scripture guide your sense of purpose.
Most people spend their lives on distractions and never reach their goals and objectives. Why, because they don't have a sense of purpose. Purpose is your zone Raison D'être, French, for your reason of being.
BY: Armstrong Williams
When the suggestion that structural factors have resulted in black family destabilization is raised, eyes start rolling, and the arguments in its favor are dismissed as far-fetched conspiracy theories. Personal choices, individual responsibility, not societal factors, are often cited as the ultimate controlling influence on human behavior. And yet it is readily conceded that the presence of fathers within strong family structures can and do influence children to make better choices. No one would deny that access to education has a huge influence on both the availability of options and the ability of individuals to choose the best options for themselves.
Few would disagree that juvenile and adult prisons are not only poor substitutes for family structures, but ultimately untenable as a societal solution to the problems of social decay. Several states, including California and Texas, have almost bankrupted themselves because of their ridiculously inflated prison populations. The math is simple. It costs close to $40,000 per year on average to house a prisoner, who, when released with no education and a criminal record, is even less likely to become a contributing member of society able to resume his role as a father to his children. On the other hand, it costs about $7,000 per year or less to adequately educate a child and produce a productive member of society who is likely to be able to assume the responsibility of fatherhood.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsDevastating prison cultureWhen the suggestion that structural factors have resulted in black family destabilization is raised, eyes start rolling, and the arguments in its favor are dismissed as far-fetched conspiracy theories. Personal choices, individual responsibility, not societal factors, are often cited as the ultimate controlling influence on human behavior. And yet it is readily conceded that the presence of fathers within strong family structures can and do influence children to make better choices. No one would deny that access to education has a huge influence on both the availability of options and the ability of individuals to choose the best options for themselves.Few would disagree that juvenile and adult prisons are not only poor substitutes for family structures, but ultimately untenable as a societal solution to the problems of social decay. Several states, including California and Texas, have almost bankrupted themselves because of their ridiculously inflated prison populations. The math is simple. It costs close to $40,000 per year on average to house a prisoner, who, when released with no education and a criminal record, is even less likely to become a contributing member of society able to resume his role as a father to his children. On the other hand, it costs about $7,000 per year or less to adequately educate a child and produce a productive member of society who is likely to be able to assume the responsibility of fatherhood.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Your network is your networth
In entrepreneurship you should strive to continuously stock your pipeline with new prospects. To avoid being caught without any customers you should be constantly working to line up new prospects while simultaneously servicing the customers you already have. This can be one of the trickiest balancing acts performed by a small company, especially in the case of one that is in still in their start-up phase. While the cost of acquiring customers is always higher than the cost of retaining them, the time to dig your well is before you are thirsty. This principle of preparedness is necessary not only in business but also in everyday life.
Be sure to brace yourself for turbulent times. The media paints a distorted picture of what success looks like. For a handful of companies, which really only represent a miniscule fraction of the top 1 percent of businesses, growth is explosive and off the charts. For everyone else this line doesn't look like to be climbing higher on a chart, but more so favoring that of a roller coaster. For nearly every new business there will be dramatic ups and downs, especially in the earlier years of the business. Entrepreneurs will learn very fast whether or not they have the pertinacity to stomach the unavoidable downs that could potentially punctuate the gains.
Make no mistake about it, there is opportunity available to those willing to take a leap of faith and go it alone. The key is to know what you should expect before you take a leap with your new enterprise. Prepare yourself. Don't look back. Try to enjoy the ride and try to avoid the killer mistakes that can cause a crash landing.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Will Peace come ?
The Palestinian contention that "occupation" is to cause for Hamas' militarism is absurd. Gaza is not occupied. Israel unilaterally withdrew from the area years ago, and Hamas today rules it with an iron fist.
When Israel evacuated every Israeli from Gaza, they left valuable infrastructure fully intact that the Palestinians could have used to their advantage. American Jewish donors bought for $14 million more than 3,000 greenhouses and transferred them to the Palestinian Authority. Instead of using these greenhouses to produce food for their people, the Palestinians looted the facilities and tore them down.
Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir famously declared that "peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us." Until Hamas changes course, stops its attacks, ceases incitement to hatred and finally recognizes the right of Israel to exist, it will tragically condemn both Israelis and Palestinians to more death and destruction.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Where is our unconditional loyalty ?
Time and again, President Obama and Secretary Kerry have shown a propensity to pressure Israel and to somehow morally equate a Jewish state that seeks peace and respects human life and radical murderers who would rather destroy Israel than create a future for the Palestinian people under their rule. In the run-up to this latest war between Israel and Hamas, the State Department rushed to express its willingness to work with a new Palestinian unity government that included Hamas. This despite the fact that Hamas remains dedicated to the eradication of Israel and refuses to recognize prior peace agreements brokered by the United States.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The Israelis are able to afford the Iron Dome batteries and the warheads that comprise the system thanks to vital American military assistance. For that, and for the close military and intelligence cooperation President Obama deserves some credit. Yet the most stalwart support for Israel continues to come from the legislative branch.Congress approves military funding for Israel each year, and throughout the Obama administration the Republican held House and the Democratic Senate have been united in their support for our closest ally in the Middle East.Yet the overwhelming impression of President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry is that they are extending a hand of friendship to Israel with one hand while holding its nose with the other.
At no other time in recent memory have relations between the White House and Jerusalem been more frosty. Some can probably be chalked up to a lack of personal chemistry between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But much of the blame for the daylight between the two allies lies in the fundamental inability of this president to understand the murderous nature of the radical Islamists of Hamas.Time and again, President Obama and Secretary Kerry have shown a propensity to pressure Israel and to somehow morally equate a Jewish state that seeks peace and respects human life and radical murderers who would rather destroy Israel than create a future for the Palestinian people under their rule. In the run-up to this latest war between Israel and Hamas, the State Department rushed to express its willingness to work with a new Palestinian unity government that included Hamas. This despite the fact that Hamas remains dedicated to the eradication of Israel and refuses to recognize prior peace agreements brokered by the United States.
BY: Armstrong Williams
One of the most effective ways to overturn a culture is not to take it on directly, but to undermine it gradually. If you carry out a full-frontal assault on majority opinion, people become alarmed and fight back. But when you do it slowly, step-by-step, you can make your destruction look harmless... even reasonable.
That's exactly what's happening in this country.
For the past half century, there has been a slow but unrelenting attack on the Christian foundations of the United States. The evidence is beyond dispute. First, secularists took prayer out of the public schools, because it "promoted religion and alienated non-believing children." Even a simple moment of silence was too threatening.
Then they wanted the study of the Bible taken out of schools, because that "promoted Christianity." Never mind that the Scriptures form the basis of Western civilization and thought, and have inspired believers and non-believers alike over the centuries. Try reading Shakespeare or Dante or Robert Frost or just about any of the classics of Western literature without some familiarity with the Bible, and you'll be lost.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The existence of racism or prejudice is so deeply entwined in human nature that it is almost at the point of unfathomable reversibility. To fully eradicate the world of racism would be consistent with trying to rid the world of hate and jealousy. However it may be possible, though such progress remains unlikely after, quite literally, thousands of years of regress. All men may be created equal in the sight of God, but all men are not born equal. Some are born into favorable circumstances others are born into extremely unfavorable circumstances.We live in an age where our young men unequivocally dwell on an unequal playing field, yet if we are to allow the unfavorable odds to defeat us we have lost before even competing in the game called life. The president has recognized this disparity and established the 'My Brother's Keeper' initiative to help disadvantaged youths of African and Hispanic descent. This is a laudable initiative to correct a symptom, but at the core of the problem is accountability. The measure of a man's ability to progress is directly attributable to how well he plays a hand of bad cards rather than his performance with a sure-winner.There are certain norms and customs established in society that help create an individual and this phenomenon happens for better or for worse. If the individual has been affected by his socio-culture in a negative way, it very quickly becomes apparent that that individual did not weather well. Oddly enough, there are individuals who have endured the exact same socio-cultural conditions if not to a worsened degree who somehow manage to fare well. For this type of individual, these hardened conditions only exist to strengthen them. After all, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams July 17 RSW Blog exclusiveThe changing Broadcast TV LandscapeBehind the recent battle over the Federal Communications Commissions' quadrennial review of television and cable ownership rules are a host of rapidly evolving economic and political dynamics. Not the least of which is, at the very top, a political decision by the executive branch to circumvent the elected Congress by implementing a series of executive orders designed to force into existence the Chief Executive's priorities. On the economic playing field an intensifying competition for consumer attention is heating up rapidly, mostly due to the proliferation of the internet, which has given rise to a multichannel, multiplatform environment for media consumption (and thus advertiser spending).This autocratic political environment has produced, at the FCC, an informal decision to 'slow track' and excessively scrutinize applications for new local broadcast station ownership by small businesses who are seeking to finance their acquisitions under what are known as Joint Sales Agreements (JSA's) and Shared Service Agreements (SSA's). These mechanisms have long been used by small business owners to control costs and keep the lights on. They are essential to larger media companies as well, as it enables them to make strategic acquisitions in major markets, while taking advantage of economies of scale by providing back-office services to local owners in smaller markets. Critics of the arrangements have complained that they constitute a sort of back-door consolidation among the big players, and are designed to circumvent the FCC's media ownership rules.The reality couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, the costs of producing original content and attracting advertising at the local level are often crippling for individual station owners. Advertisers, for example, often prefer to negotiate large blocks of ad time in advance, and find it inefficient to negotiate separate contracts with multiple small station owners. Similarly larger broadcast networks often cannot afford the idiosyncratic risks associated with producing and managing content in smaller markets. The operating economics are quite tough for local owners, and it is usually through a combination of creativity, grit and ingenuity that they are able to survive at all. Thus, JSA's and SSA's are critical mechanisms for ensuring that local ownership continues to be a feature of the American media landscape.
BY: Armstrong Williams
out of control Unions
Howard County Maryland arguably has one of the best public school systems in the country. Yet its teachers' union is demanding more than its fair share of the spoils. How else can you explain the union's rationale that salary increases between six and nine percent don't constitute raises? It is this type of union behavior, combined with a refusal to be held accountable,that creates a desire among parents for better education options. Until parents are given more choice in where their children attend school, their education options will be held hostage by two-bit union officials like Paul Lemle.
Howard County, Maryland
Howard County, Maryland
To hear educators and pundits talk you'd think we are at thedawn of a change in public school education that will herald a new commitment to providing students and parents an education worthy of the tax dollars spent. Yet, until such time that teachers' unions stop being impediments to success, our education system will not deliver the results we need to prepare today's students for tomorrow's challenges.
To see this play out in real time and to understand why parents deserve the ability to choose where their children go to school, one only needs to look at Howard County, Maryland, to see how union leadership can - with the tacit approval of the County Executive - stand in the way of efforts to enhance education.
Currently, teachers in Howard County have the third highest starting salary in the state and the second highest overall salary,according to the state Department of Education. To build on this,the Howard County school board is offering a guaranteed three percent raise for teachers who meet certain criteria such as years of service, advanced education and other training certificates.
BY: Armstrong Williams
For most Americans, Independence Day is a lot like the beginning of a baseball game. A famous artist sings the National Anthem and everyone in the stadium stands and places their hand upon their heart. Some people sing along or at least mouth the words, but most put on a fake look of sincerity thinking, "I can't wait till the song ends so the game can begin."
Americans are very good at looking and sounding patriotic, but it's fake. We put on face paint and wear ridiculous costumes for the world cup, but we fail to ponder the sacrifice made by past and present American military heroes.
We get more excited at the beginning of a sports game than when a soldier safely returns home to his wife and kids or when soldiers on a helicopter crash narrowly escape the jaws of death. We are more proud when the American soccer team scores a goal in overtime than when American soldiers successfully bring freedom to millions of people across the Atlantic.
BY: Armstrong Williams
To criticize is the right of all Americans regardless their race. No concept of the "race man" necessitates stupidity and imprudence. No chief executive can exhibit a learning curve without rich, and unfeigned, critique. The lack of deserved criticism has hurt Obama. The silence of black Americans particularly spares him the necessity to give issues of urban economic development, and education, their due. And so, black America languishes, and contributed disproportionately to the 'inequality gap' about which the president claims to care so deeply.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Without the help of the JSAs my company has entered into with Sinclair Television Group, Inc., I would not have been able to fulfill my lifelong dream of being a TV station owner. These agreements allowed me to obtain access to capital that would have otherwise been unavailable to me. Access to capital and financing are without question the single biggest obstacles to new entrant and minority broadcast ownership. Single buyers of a TV station, especially in small and medium size markets where HSH operates, simply cannot get financing without JSAs and similar types of shared services agreements. In my experience, JSAs and shared services arrangements provided the only means over that obstacle, and are thus a critical avenue for addressing the FCC's goals of serving the public interest in fostering competition, diversity, local programming, and minority ownership. So, you can imagine how hallow it sounds to me when the FCC says its action banning JSAs is designed to "enhance broadcast diversity and minority ownership."
BY: Armstrong Williams
July 4 after thoughts
Long gone are the days when the war was a shared part of the American story, unifying people across race and class; everyone knew the stories, shared the burdens, and felt for loved ones who were out fighting for us. Today, as fewer and fewer civilians choose to serve in our military, the gesture of thanking our troops is done without full understanding of their actual sacrifices, and that is yet another freedom afforded to them. It is this lack of true understanding for what their service costs that weakens the bond between the civilians and the protectors of the community.
Our veterans become like estranged family members whom we know we ought to care for, but they just seem far away. Indeed, the VA scandals in the news today are shameful, but they are really only a symptom of this disconnect. When civilians feel distanced from our servicemen, we lose a valuable part of our community: we lose those who not only had the heart to serve us, but who have become some of the world's most skilled thinkers and organizers.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Power is always the interpretive key by which to understand liberalism. The left promotes the victim mentality because it sends them sheep they can shepherd, sends them lemmings they can lead. The more they can make people feel helpless, the more people will give them power. If we all started really believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in His promises, if we really started believing that God is our Father, then we wouldn't need government to be our daddy.
Perhaps you have no faith. Then I will put it to you this way: If you don't like your circumstances, will you let them win? Will you give in to them? Wayne Gretzky famously said that you miss all the shots that you don't take. Will you miss all your shots, or at least try to make a few? Will you settle for blaming other people for your problems, or will you own your pain, own your struggles, own your weaknesses? Only if you do own them will the victory be yours, the reward be yours. How can you feel successful if you think you just got lucky?
BY: Armstrong Williams
I am against welfare, against handouts, whether for those who won't work or for big corporations like Solyndra. The Bible says that he who will not work ought not to be fed (2 Thess 3:10), and that the man who will not provide for his family is worse than a heathen (1 Tim 5:8). We must not be encouraging, or creating a victim mentality. We do no one any favors, and we ignore the Bible, which is the Word of God. Instead, we need a supernatural outlook: faith, hope, and love (1 Cor 12). We need real hope, the kind of hope that drives away the victim mentality. And hope comes from faith.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wisely said that "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
Take the first step.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Attitude Adjustment
BY: Armstrong Williams
Lois Lerner deserves jail time
Former IRS employee Lois Lerner deserves jail time. It is a stastitical improbability that her emails were lost. Consider what must happen . First, her computer and backup system must crash. Remember that most businesses backup their computer files with multiple backups. Others with emails being sought by the congressional investigation committee, were destroyed through computer crashes and backup malfunctions. Again, this series of computer crashes and backups is virtually impossible. Lois Lerner could not have destroyed these emails alone. She had to have professional help, which probably included someone high up in the IRS computer department. Under the most benign interpretation of these events, Ms. Lerner's IT manager responsible for her computer and the IRS backups, should be tried for tampering with evidence.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Watching the continuing debate swirling around the Washington Redskins' name, I can't help but shake my head. American Indian nicknames is a tired issue that we have heard about before. Yet something seems different this time, and much of that has to do with the liberal United States Democratic Senators signing a resolution demanding a name change to help fuel the fire. While their resolution and clout in this matter is meaningless, it still has strong symbolism for a movement fueling this ridiculousness.
The Redskins name should stay. The team has a historical attachment to the name that goes back more than 80 years. The team has declared that its intention is to honor American Indians and not to demean them, so we should take them at their word. If ever there were an example of political correctness run amok, then demanding the Redskins give up their name is it.
I respect Redskins owner Dan Snyder as a successful businessman and at the end of the day the team is his investment. It's not our place to tell him how to run his business. He can call it whatever he pleases. If some people choose to be thin-skinned and take offense, then that is their problem.
But somewhere along the way this issue regarding the Redskins also became about personal attacks, and that is a far more serious problem than some sports team's nickname.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Prep Schools
Rich students dominate most top universities. These bastions of higher learning claim to want "diversity," and generally are ethnically, religiously and even geographically diverse. Socio economic differences, however, are sparse.
You can point out that lower-income families are either intimidated by the possible cost of those schools, or simply are ignorant of the financial packages available for their children, but that tries to blame the family/student rather than the problem inherent in the system.
That problem is the ever-increasing cost of jumping through the right hoops and creating the appropriate narrative in order to gain admittance.
You can pay $30,000 or more a year per child to send them to a top prep school. There they will be properly challenged, get to play a second-tier sport like lacrosse, and be offered the chance to build orphanages in Africa so their resume looks properly polished for an Ivy school.
Unless you are among the 1 percent, your child is not going to such a prep school.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Government encroachment
We are at risk of squandering a real opportunity to make a statement about how the encroachment of government and diminishment of the rights of all Americans, especially minorities. It is really an opportunity to restate the states' rights thesis as an enabler of freedom, not a tool for oppression.
In fact, it is critical that we do so. With an emerging majority minority electorate – an ethnic plurality – it is more important than ever that principles that will appeal to a broad cross-section of Americans come across as clear and unsullied by the mistakes of our past.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
President Obama is doubling down in his defense of his blunder in defying the rule of law, exercising poor judgment, and mischaracterizing (I'm trying to be charitable) the service of Sgt. Bergdahl in his ill-conceived 'deal' to free the lone American serviceman held captive in Afghanistan. The proximity of this poor decision to the heat of opprobrium the president was recently suffering for the VA access-to-care scandal is disquieting. When it is set against his prior action in jumping at the Joint Plan of Action to "give diplomacy a chance" in the matter of Iranian nuclear ambitions, there is a downright disturbing pattern. Is our narcissist-in-chief jumping at available, but poor, deals-in-the-offing to turn the page on his own political difficulties.
BY: Armstrong Williams
A Dreadful Choice
During his tenure as Secretary of State, John Kerry has invested huge efforts in pushing the Palestinians and Israel toward peace—he has made nearly a dozen trips to the region since 2014 began. Yet the likelihood of a final agreement seems increasingly less likely with each passing da.
America cannot want a Palestinian peace agreement with Israel more than the Palestinians themselves want it. And Israel cannot be expected to sit across the negotiating table from people who are unapologetic about wanting to eradicate them.
According to Hamas elder statesman Mahmound al-Zahar,"The reconciliation deal will not change Hamas at all and will not bring the organization to recognize Israel's right to exist."
So there we have it. Observers of the Middle East need not speculate about what this PA-Hamas alliance could means for progress on the peace front. Hamas has told us.
It is truly tragic that there appears no end in sight when it comes to the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel. We can only wait and see if the Palestinian Authority decides to reverse course yet again, or makes the fateful decision to continue down this path.
The Palestinian Authority's reckless rapprochement with Hamas does nothing to advance peace. Rather, it guarantees another needless round of violence and bloodshed that will ultimately inflict serious consequences on its own people.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Ignore the Constitution, Mr. President
President Obama has decided he is no longer willing to work with the Republican Party in Congress to pass legislation. His desire and will for reaching compromises has wholly diminished. He has made clear that he will henceforth move with actively implementing laws without convincing a majority of the Congress that it is the right thing to do. This is in clear violation of our Constitution.
I'm sure that President Obama has good intentions and the best interest of the American public at heart through implementing by executive order certain changes in American law. Unfortunately the only issue remains is the fact of the matter that this quite plainly is called a dictatorship. While authoritarian dictatorships ignore the will of the people, dictators will passionately hold that they know what is ultimately best for their constituents. We as Americans can expect to see our freedom drastically eroded if Congress and the Supreme Court do not impede this president at once.
And thank you so much for this exclusive and rare interview Dr. AngelouThank you very much Mr. Williams.Dr. Angelou is there anything in your life that you have yet to accomplish.Oh, my goodness yes, I'm in progress. I'm just like you, I want to be a good human being, I'm doing my best and I'm working at it. And I'm trying to be a Christian. I'm always amazed when people walk up to me and say I'm a Christian. I always think already? You've already got it? I'm working at it. And at my age I'll still be working at it at 96. If I'm here I'll be trying to be a better human being, a better writer, a better friend, and a better beloved.What in your life over the decades have made you a better human being, that you can pass on to others ?Well I've learned among other things, this is just off the top. I've learned that forgiving is one of the greatest gifts that I can give myself, when I forgive other people. I let them go, I free them from my ignorance. And as soon as I do I feel lighter, brighter, and better. I like that feeling, so I don't carry somebody else's mistreatment of me around as baggage. That's one thing that I've learned. I've learned to laugh, try to laugh as much as I cry. Yes I'm still practicing; I'm working at it.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
In potentially taking on the mantle of ownership, be it by blacks or any other race, the issue of character will remain front and center. Classifying yourself as a minority business owner will not make ownership of your enterprise any easier. It's one thing to play the victim and blame one's circumstances on discrimination. It's another stance to take responsibility for one's circumstances and succeed, not despite – but in fact because of the obstacles one faces and overcomes. Ownership changes one's orientation towards life in that regard.
As a business owner, I rarely think about race, minority status, or society or what's going on in someone else's mind or in their closet. The buck literally stops with me, and I find myself much more than fully engaged with the challenges of meeting payroll, generating new ideas, and providing quality products in the marketplace. There is a certain level of being above the fray that's necessary to manage such responsibilities. Employees may have the option of not showing up, but ownership is a 24/7 job with no days off. As an owner, one has a broader constituency than just the racial or social class to which one ascribes. In reality, owners themselves are owned by the marketplace. And because so much is riding on it – employee's families and careers, providing critical goods and services to society at large – ownership demands the very best from us.
The reality is that ownership of a business is not an entitlement that one assumes based on one's wealth, but it's a job just like any other within an organization. It requires the skill ownership, which is really the judgment to make certain sacrifices in furtherance of the overall success of the organization. Unfortunately history continues to document that many owners across the board, despite having demonstrated great business acumen over the years, lose sight of this. They allowed their personal prejudices and, apparently, appetites, get in the way of their better judgment.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The absurdity of the Palestinian Authority
BY: Armstrong Williams
My late father's 20% Rule
Growing up, my father often reminded us of the 20% rule of savings and building wealth as a safety net, just in case our best laid plans didn't work out the way we would have wanted them to.
The 20% rule is a heuristic rule which encourages people to benefit from savings in their future. The rule states that if you put 20% of your income into savings with the benefit of compounding you would significantly increase your wealth. My father drilled this concept in my mind as a child growing up on the Farm. The 20% concept has been repeatedly reaffirmed as a benefit benefit derived from regular savings and investments. For example in my first job I put aside $5800.00 yearly. Even when the job had ended I continued to make the investment for 28 years. I also increased the amount I invested whenever I was promoted or made a special bonus or had substantial returns on investments from my Dick Gregory Bahamian diet and other enterprises. After 28 years of continuing to make these and other investments, that originated with a $2800 investment, my setting aside 20% of all my earnings alone by the age of 50 total $4.2 million dollars. Just think about this, the original $2800.00 yearly investment for over 28 year at the age of 50 total $600,000.00. This is a lesson in the multiplier compounded impact of saving money over time. Just like the huge oak trees that continue to grow on my parents' farm, everything started with the first seed decades ago. Money and wealth is so similar, you can't do it quickly, it must happen with patience, steadfastness and discipline.
BY: Armstrong Williams
If we look at the first cause of poverty, which is basically a want of wealth without effort, better known as a wish, we can correctly guess that the first step towards building wealth is desire.
Napoleon Hill describes this type of desire as a burning desire. What is that? Something you cannot live without. Something you would rather die trying to attain than to live without. Now that sounds intimidating doesn't it? The burning desire is what will sustain you and allow you to grow inside when you encounter failure after failure.
The desire will cause you to examine yourself and ask what you could do better, how you could have done something better so that next time you encounter a similar situation, you will succeed? In this process you'll realize that all success is built on failure, and that is the way to learn and continue advancing in life.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Entrepreneurial Opportunity for American Blacks
Donald Sterling repugnant words marks an opportunity for African Americans to mature in the arena of expanding entrepreneur opportunities. Some American blacks have taken comfort in a position of victimhood in this society. In some respects it has removed the responsibility to take control of their own lives. For them racism has been more of a crutch than an impediment, in that it discounted personal failures and amplified personal success. The very fact that black ownership of professional sports teams remains a milestone despite the financial capacity of members of black community to purchase them, is an obvious example. Why does it take such a repugnant event to spark the ownership bug? And is the symbolism of having blacks in the owner's box ownership possibly overshadowing the real business realities of professional sports franchise ownership?
In potentially taking on the mantle of ownership, be it by blacks or any other race, the issue of character will remain front and center. Being black will not make ownership of an NBA franchise any easier. It's one thing to play the victim and blame one's circumstances on discrimination. It's another stance to take responsibility for one's circumstances and succeed, not despite – but in fact because of the obstacles one faces and overcomes. Ownership changes one's orientation towards life in that regard.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsDangers of expanded FederalismIn fact, the expansion of Federalism has run rampant into areas such as health care, banking, and environmental protection – virtually every area of authority once reserved for the states. In fact, under the guise of protecting racial minorities' rights, endangered species rights, women's rights, and a whole host of other individual rights, the Federal government has engaged in a decades' long power grab that has made a sham of the notion of local government and individual rights in America.And the consequences have been catastrophic. It is now mandated that if one chooses not to purchase mediocre health care from the government, often at a higher price than existing private plans, you'll be taxed. Gone are the days when people who live in an area in which a species is being threatened can get together and decide an appropriate land use policy that supports the environment while enabling people to use the resources abundant resources our country has afforded us. In fact, the Cliven Bundy case illustrates the absurdity that arises when a bureaucrat in Washington writes land use policy that purports to save a desert tortoise – at the expense of using grazing land that has been managed for over a hundred years in a way that enables high quality beef to arrive at the American table. Oh, and by the way, there's significant evidence that cattle ranching helps, rather than harms the desert tortoise.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsBennie Thompson would be MassaOf what is Mr. Thompson afraid? Are ideas like race-blind admissions, the right of a state to guard the integrity of its elections, and advancement on merit really that dangerous? Who is it really whose stance harkens back to plantation days? Recall it was a capital offense to teach slaves to read and write for with these tools of free thinking all kinds of wild, inappropriate ideas might fly into their heads. Is Justice Thomas, the intellectually courageous jurist who continues to build an enduring legacy on the court through a litany of closely reasoned opinions, more akin to an "Uncle Tom" than Mr. Thompson is to the cruel driver of Negroes who strove to deny any vestige of free, independent, and liberating thought to the minds of his chattel? I think not. Thompson it is who would be 'Massa Boss'. Thompson it is who would be the determiner not just of what is 'right' but what it is permissible even to think. Thompson it is who would subvert the freedoms of the mind, and condemn the people he claims to serve to the depredations of big state clientism. For if they can think for themselves and do for themselves they have little need for his brand of bring-home-the-pork politics and even less need for his two-bit hucksterism masquerading as political discourse.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsBennie Thompson would be MassaOf what is Mr. Thompson afraid? Are ideas like race-blind admissions, the right of a state to guard the integrity of its elections, and advancement on merit really that dangerous? Who is it really whose stance harkens back to plantation days? Recall it was a capital offense to teach slaves to read and write for with these tools of free thinking all kinds of wild, inappropriate ideas might fly into their heads. Is Justice Thomas, the intellectually courageous jurist who continues to build an enduring legacy on the court through a litany of closely reasoned opinions, more akin to an "Uncle Tom" than Mr. Thompson is to the cruel driver of Negroes who strove to deny any vestige of free, independent, and liberating thought to the minds of his chattel? I think not. Thompson it is who would be 'Massa Boss'. Thompson it is who would be the determiner not just of what is 'right' but what it is permissible even to think. Thompson it is who would subvert the freedoms of the mind, and condemn the people he claims to serve to the depredations of big state clientism. For if they can think for themselves and do for themselves they have little need for his brand of bring-home-the-pork politics and even less need for his two-bit hucksterism masquerading as political discourse.
By: Armstrong Williams
Expressing your devotion
While there may be no monolithic approach to worshiping God, the same can be said for the myriad ways that people have available to them in order to make the world a better place. In America, we must continue to celebrate freedom of speech at the same time we steadfastly preserve freedom of religion.
In this country, those who believe in God should not feel intimidated to express their devotion. And they should never ever be muzzled by people who are willing to sacrifice the rights of their religious countrymen on the altar of political correctness.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The Left is not only attacking behavior they don't like, but attacking omissions, attacking non-activity. The most famous example of this is Obamacare, which forces people to buy something or else pay a tax.
They raise your taxes, and then, when you try to put your money offshore, they try to find a way to tax it there too.
First they got you to pay for the elderly to retire. Then they got you to pay for their healthcare. Then they got you to pay for the poor. Then they got you to pay for people who were just slightly above poverty.
They got you to give food stamps to the poor. Then free healthcare. Then free cell phones. Then free apartments.
Who will they fleece next ?
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
There are so many problems that can be solved by having money. You can get better medical care if you are sick, employ people to help with tasks that are time consuming and routine, thus freeing one's time up to focus on the really important things in life. It's also possibly to travel and expand one's horizons, and to acquire possessions that make life more enjoyable.So why, if having money has so many benefits, is the desire to become wealthy viewed with such scorn among some people in this country? There seems to be a growing sensibility among some that the wealthy are inherently greedy or selfish and don't care about their fellow human beings. Worse yet, some claim that people with money are working in cahoots to deny the opportunity to others. From my perspective this is totally a wrongheaded approach. It assumes that the blessing one person receives automatically diminish the prospects for others. This is a scarcity mentality based upon fear and greed. This attitude is not just found among the poor, however. Some wealthy people also think this way.I believe god wants us to prosper not just survive. He wants us to enjoy the bounties of the earth upon which we have been placed. If no, why would he have given us talents, desires and ambitions? These are innate motivations within all of life to grow and live a better life. Every living organism seeks to maximize its' chances for survival and propagation.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsCondemn racist thoughts and speechI want to tell you one more thing I know about ignorance, which it is merely a nickname for Nevada's Virgin River Rancher, Cliven Bundy. Bundy's statement that the African American community "put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton" is simply beyond the pale. It is quite frankly insulting, racist and reflective of a bygone era in American society, an era that we have striven to bring to an end because of the hurtful divisions it caused in our nation. Even more troubling is Bundy's speculation that blacks are "better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy." His feeble attempt at justification, claiming "they didn't get no more freedom. They got less freedom," merely added insulting our intelligence to injuring our sense of justice. I seriously doubt that if Bundy's family and supporters were descendants of slaves who were whipped senseless, tarred & feathered, and lynched for hundreds of years in this country, he would profess these ridiculous beliefs. It is genuinely troubling to see such a combination of racism and ignorance much so alive and strong in America more than 50 years after the Civil Rights movement sought to end racism and prejudice as the lingua franca of American social and political discourse.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Transcending Race
The good news is that I have always been, and remain, someone who has transcended race. Much like the ancients, to me one's family, one's place, one's religion, one's trade are more important shapers of self than race. I am not alone. I have a friend, who is black but who's wife is white, who when asked, "What's it like to be in a mixed marriage?" wryly replies, "I wouldn't know, we're both Lutheran!" To him, the common mindset provided by a unified approach to the essential questions of life is more important than sharing skin pigmentation. Race hasn't vanished of course, but it need not be determinative or even necessarily very important.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The divide and conquer party
The Democrat created artificial "war on women" campaign is their desperate attempt by Democrats to anger the woman vote against conservative Republicans. On "Equal Pay Day", earlier this month, the White House cited numbers from the census bureau that women get paid 77 cents for every dollar men make. When asked by a reporter about the accuracy of the statistic as it relates to gender discrimination, considering the fact that women in the White House only make 88 cents on the dollar, press secretary Jay Carney struggled to answer the question.
Many variables account for the difference in pay between men and women, but none of those variables have to do with Republicans hating women. The "war on women" campaign against Republicans is a flimsy stack of cards that when blown on with facts, falls over.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsBill Maher and God ?Comedy has many approaches and subjects: leaders, governments, things we don't understand. In the vein of the latter, I suppose it is understandable to pick on religions. In any event, freedom of speech allows it. What is generally not condoned, however, is continuous and repeated sweeping insults to those with a differing point of view. The worst forms of prejudice and racism are bred out of this type of one-sided banter. Blacks in this country were never given the chance to defend themselves against claims of being less intelligent than whites during the time of slavery. Jews and non-Aryans were never given a chance to defend their humanity during the Holocaust, Muslims were never given a chance to defend themselves during the Crusades and on and on.Whenever a group of people is slanderously described repeatedly with no consideration of a contrary view intolerance flourishes, and the seedbed of human rights violations is laid. We should be more careful. Our country still feels the effects of slavery, the Holocaust is an unmentionable tragedy, and even the most fervent Christian regrets the Crusades. How is it then, that in this country we still hear this sort of rhetoric from seemingly intelligent men? Why is it that yet another group is being subjected to one-sided slander? Is it because comedians and some members of the more serious media are only willing to pick on people who generally don't defend themselves?Armstrong Williams is sole owner/manager of Howard Stirk Holdings, Inc and Executive Editor of American Current See
BY: Armstrong Williams
Developing an attitude of self reliance
The best solution in drastically reducing poverty is marriage. A single person with a child making ten dollars an hour, make $20,000 yearly. A married couple with a child at the same rate make $40,000 annually. They live a lower middle class and not a poverty life style. By living together their expenses are lowered per person and their joint family income allows them to substantially exceed the poverty levels. The policy implication resulting from this observation, is that government should do everything it can to promote marriage and discourage out of wedlock births. Government assistance should never discourage anyone from working or getting married, it should set the standard for developing a self reliance attitude.
The descendants of our nation's former slaves constitute the legacy of a deep spiritual well. A well so deep, and a force so powerful, that their forebears could endure the perils of the middle passage and the systemic depravity of intergenerational slavery in a foreign land. Not only did they survive, but they prospered and gave to their new homeland the finest elements of its culture: jazz, the so-called Negro spirituals, and the moral excellence of the Civil Rights movement. The accomplishments of other minorities resonate as well. In war, in peace, in culture and in commerce, all have come and all have contributed to the rich tapestry of America. Still, despite these riches, the passage of time, and expansion of opportunity, there is yet still a burden to bear. Nowhere more so than in their political outlook. If America is going to have a spiritual revival of faith, of values, and of accomplishment, it can have no better starting place than in the sons and daughters of its former slaves and immigrants. I believe our nation is now at the precipice of chaos, a chaos that ravages and affects minority communities above all, but it need not be so.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Logevity and Social Security
Interestingly enough, there were more centenarians in 2010 then there were Social Security recipients in 1937, the first year benefits were distributed. Those first recipients received a total of $1.278 million in 1937. The Class of 2010 centenarians had received no less than $18 billon at the time of the '10 census. That is $18 billion with a B.
There is absolutely no way that FDR thought social security would pay 53,364 people a monthly stipend for over 35 years. Less than 1% of the U.S. population was 65 or older in 1940, by 2011 that figure exceeded 18%. To give those percentages a number, 222,488 people in 1940 versus over 56 million in 2011.
The lifespan of the average American in 1935 was already unprecedented in the history of the world. In 1900, the average lifespan was 31 years, which was the norm for every advanced civilization at their peaks. Hobbes may have been describing the State of Nature when he said life was "…nasty, brutish, and short," but it just as much describes life in civilization until the last half of the 20th Century.
I know many of you are thinking, "Armstrong's writing another Social Security is going to fail column. Ho hum." But no, that point is obvious and has been written to death.
No institution could prepare itself for the unprecedented extension of life we have seen in the past 100 years. Humans were not designed to live as long as we have. Our longevity has not only fundamentally changed how our governments and institutions must deal with us, it has changed how we relate to others and ourselves.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsPresident Obama. "I am my brothers Keeper"President Obama should be commended for his recent speech in Chicago urging young black men to be more accountable and responsible.The less you can control your "oppression" the easier it is to accept and more fun it is to complain about how life is so unfair to you.So you delude yourself into believing a lie that transfers your own deep-seeded culpability onto the people you feel responsible.Go ahead, blame it on the system's secret preference for whiteness. Doing so is easier than acknowledging that you screwed by not giving your all or facing the fact that your parents taught you that no matter what you do, society wants you to fail.Rather than overcome, you stew in rage and jealousy that you were not born with a silver spoon.The left relishes in your resentment. It uses those feeling to convince people that it is protecting people from some nebulous evil "others" when it is actually trying to control society by protecting people from themselves. Every bill they write and law they enforce centers around their underlying assumption that a group of supposed "experts" know better than you.In the case of white privilege, they are protecting you from facing the fact that you are ultimately responsible for your own success or failures.Not only that, the left is trying to distract blacks with indignation over perceived injustices that we accept a government controlled by the left as our only salvation.Once you buy into to their vision, you see the world trough a paranoid and pessimistic prism where everything is an intricate network out to exclude you regardless of race, class, or gender. You cannot be judged on your own merits, rather you fail because you are not in the right group or club.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Are President Obama's recommended gun law restrictions reasonable ?
Security guards at our schools and better mental health treatment plans are decent enough ideas, but I'm doubtful that they will have the greatest impact toward reducing gun violence in our country. Do you believe from your experiences that the best solution to this problem is in the form of tighter gun controls?
President Obama's proposal, introduced earlier this year, includes more restrictions. Do you feel the following restrictions that he is recommending are reasonable ?
One, he seeks to reinstate the ban on assault weapons that passed in 1994 and expired in 2004. He also wants to ban magazines with more than 10 rounds, as well as to expand national background checks for all gun sales. He feels this would close a loophole that currently allows gun sales with no background checks at gun shows and private sales. The President's expansion of national background checks would include exceptions for transactions between family members. Again, do these additional regulations seem reasonable and progressive.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The majority of politicians, including President Obama, on theleft have given into the power of the Teacher's Unions. The President and majority leader of the Senate, Harry Reid, refuse to bring up school voucher legislation in Congress. Republicans continue to introduce school choice legislation, but no progress is made. Last month, Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina introduced a bill that would provide $11 billion in federal funding to low-income families for vouchers to attend a private school. Many of these low-income families are of color and live in dangerous inner cities, but it would seem that politics is once again coming before our children's education. The chance of this legislation passing is a long shot.
But the status quo cannot last forever. America's current education system is based on a top-down one-size-fits-all government approach, but it doesn't have to stay this way. America's children are blessed with a variety of gifts and skills. The government doesn't know your child like you do. Parents, not government, understand the strengths and weaknesses of their children and how best they learn and grow. School choice is a fair and simple way to begin allowing the parent to make the decision of how best to educate their child. After all, God has given parents the primary responsibility of educating their children.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
President Obama's loss credibility
I don't regret voting for president Obama, and will make no apologies
for it. I'm not the first person in history to fall for a politician's
empty promises of reasonableness and moderation. But I think the
way I voted is instructive on the subject of race in America. It's another
example of just how compelling an issue it is, how central to
our nature, that even a conservative like myself could vote for one of
the most liberal senators in Congress.
Life certainly hasn't been easy for President Obama since his
election. The broad array of constituencies that brought the president
to power have proven difficult for him to manage since his election
and reelection, as he seeks to galvanize a fractured base to defend his party's
agenda against a strong Republican onslaught.
Liberals are disappointed because he has not been the transformative
progressive they envisioned. Independents are disappointed
because he has dramatically increased government spending and
raised our national debt to previously unimaginable levels. Internationalists
are disappointed because his foreign popularity has not
translated into a de-escalation of global conflict. Many will continue their
disappointment, as Obama is now permanently a lame duck President.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The prism of race has obscured a realistic view of the Obama
administration. It's not going to solve all of black America's problems
– no government, no matter how representatively black, ever
will. To put this matter in perspective, the black community is
still complaining about the same issues it was griping about 40
years ago – through successive generations of liberal and conservative
administrations. What makes anyone think that things will
miraculously change because the chief executive happens to have
brown skin?
Gripe if you must, but the policies that Obama has managed to
pass in the first term arguably benefit blacks disproportionately. He
passed health care legislation. Guess which ethnic minority has the
largest percentage of uninsured? He passed laws regulating against
predatory lending. Who suffers the most from lack of access to affordable
credit? He stepped in to ease foreclosures and pressed banks
to negotiate with distressed mortgage holders. Which community
suffers the most from foreclosures?
BY: Armstrong Williams
Women balancing motherhood
Many may still scoff at women who choose the road of motherhood, but it's by taking this high road that this and every other society can be elevated to a place where everyone can reach the American dream. Women, by nurturing their families and supporting their husbands, can be the greatest force for positive change in America. However, if we continue with our selfish and greedy ways, we will continue to destroy the land our forefathers fought for and that we've come to love. In doing so we will complete the undoing of the most sacred institution mankind has known since the beginning of civilization, the family where two parents and their children are the most sacred of all.
BY: Armstrong Williams
It must halt the brain drain of its best, brightest and most educated young people, many of whom depart from the country in search of greater opportunities. An estimated 3 million-plus Nigerians are in the U.S. and Canada with many others residing in the United Kingdom. The departure of human capital should be halted and then ultimately reversed to welcome back the human capital that will propel the nation forward.Nigeria must also find ways to relentlessly battle corruption and improve its global image as a hotbed for lawlessness and scams. These hurt the image of the country, and too often overshadow the positive attributes for which Nigeria should be receiving attention.The security situation must also be further stabilized, and investments in infrastructure and education must proceed apace.Perhaps more than any other country on the continent, Nigeria possesses the resources and resolve to grow and develop into a major global player. It will take time and lots of hard work.But as it enters its second century, Nigeria's future appears to be one of limitless promise and potential.Armstrong Williams is on Sirius/XM Power 110, 6-7pm and 4-5am, Monday through Friday and S.C WGCV 4-5pm.Become a fan on Facebook- www.facebook.com/arightside, and follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/arightside.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The poorer get poorer and the rich get richer
By: Armstrong Williams
April 2008
Perhaps one of the most misunderstood minorities today is not
racial or ethnic. In fact, the minority I'm referring to comes with
people of every race, color, creed and religion - the wealthy. Make
no mistake about it. Building wealth is one of the most difficult
things someone can do, which is why so few people do it. How few?
Wealth estimates derived from 1998 Federal estate tax return data
show that about 6.5 million individuals in the United States had
gross assets of $625,000 or more and represented about 3.4 percent of
the U.S. adult population. As a group, they owned more than $11.1
trillion in total assets or 32.6 percent of the total U.S. personal
asset holdings. That's 3.4 percent of the population representing
32.6 percent of the country's wealth! The wealthy are a true minority
in the world and are often criticized and ridiculed for their success
in spite of the fact that everyone, given the choice, would
rather try it rich than continue being poor. I don't know where it
originated, but the cliché "the poor get poorer and the rich get
richer" has been in use for some time, implying that the poor will
never rise out of poverty. Is this true? Why do people stay mired in
poverty while others can pass on generational wealth?
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Building businesses
Many minority communities either emphasize "get rich quick" ideas, or strive for professional athletics or entertainment, trying to hit the million dollar mark by their early twenties. In these regards minorities have exploited themselves, as they make money off of their likeness, as in an exhibition. Not to discredit or attack any individual's accomplishments through these fields, but what these communities must realize is that they must diversify; they cannot place all of their eggs in one basket, least of all one as small as that. Often, once the professional athlete gains his riches he does not understand how to turn that into wealth. According to Sports Illustrated, 78% of NFL players go bankrupt or nearly broke just two years into retirement. Among NBA veterans, 60% fall into the same predicament after five years.
What we need is for businessmen to get more involved in their communities outside of the school system. Instead of building another youth basketball center in a self-righteous act, they need to build centers to teach kids about computers and business.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Should the truth always be told ?
BY: Armstrong Williams
Upcoming Olympics
The Olympics really aren't truly international games anymore, for the Summer Olympics so many athletes live and train in the United States, yet they still play for their country? Take advantage of our county, facilities, and coaches even, but then your medals go elsewhere? We are such a globalize society now, I understand, but I think the old mystique was what made the Olympics great. When I was younger, I knew our athletes trained in our country and the soviets trained in theirs, it seemed like a more even playing field at least. That nationalistic luster has had its day, and it's what made the Olympics great.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Al Gore and global warming
Where is global warming when we need it? The Midwest is experiencing temperatures plunging to 36 below zero. Former Vice President Al Gore assured the world in his book "Inconvenient Truth" that this thing called global warming was taking place. If we were not to reduce our carbon emissions, energy consumption, and our economic output immediately, world temperatures would rise five degrees, polar ice caps would melt, and the oceans would rise over two feet. Mr. Gore should have entitled his book "Inconvenient Myth". The real life facts that we face today are not in the slightest of alignment with the allegations presented in his book. Temperatures in the US are at lows not seen in two decades and a scientific Russian ship-vessle is ice-bound in the Antarctic Ocean recquiring multi-national rescue efforts. We welcome Mr. Gore flying around in his private jet, burning outrageous amounts of fossil fuel in order to increase world temperatures. Thank you Mr. Gore unfortunately you have not created the carbon footprint we much needed this ever cold winter.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Al Gore and global warming
Where is global warming when we need it? The Midwest is experiencing temperatures plunging to 36 below zero. Former Vice President Al Gore assured the world in his book "Inconvenient Truth" that this thing called global warming was taking place. If we were not to reduce our carbon emissions, energy consumption, and our economic output immediately, world temperatures would rise five degrees, polar ice caps would melt, and the oceans would rise over two feet. Mr. Gore should have entitled his book "Inconvenient Myth". The real life facts that we face today are not in the slightest of alignment with the allegations presented in his book. Temperatures in the US are at lows not seen in two decades and a scientific Russian ship-vessle is ice-bound in the Antarctic Ocean recquiring multi-national rescue efforts. We welcome Mr. Gore flying around in his private jet, burning outrageous amounts of fossil fuel in order to increase world temperatures. Thank you Mr. Gore unfortunately you have not created the carbon footprint we much needed this ever cold winter.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Benghazi Manipulation
Does the Obama administration truly believe that We The People are ignorant and will blindly accept everything thing they and The New York Times tell us as truth? Last week this administration reported that the Benghazi incident had no significant affiliation or relations with Al-Qaeda. The report maintained that the raid of the American Consulate was the result of a mere spontaneous riot which was raised in response to an anti-Muslim film. Unfortunately for the Obama administration and NY Times' story, spontaneous riots never actually occur with the sort of precision planning involving the usage of military grade weapons that were used in the instance of the American Consulate attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Furthermore, in progressively undermining the Times' maintaining of their report, none of the Americans whom were actually there on the ground in Benghazi at the time find their report to be anything more than a great distance from the truth. In bringing light to the fact of the matter that American sources on the ground firmly hold that it is gravely implausible for the Times to even remotely suggest that the attacks in Benghazi was anything short of a highly sophisticated attack coordinated by Al-Qaeda or any other international terror group for that matter, would be purely ludicrous. Fortunately, bi-partisan efforts have been launched in Congress in challenging the fairy tale of a report.
Was this version of the Benghazi affair an attempt to exonerate Hillary Clinton from the State Department's disastrous performance done as a quid-pro-quo towards former president Bill Clinton for his support of Obama in the 2012 election?
Does the Obama administration truly believe that We The People are ignorant and will blindly accept everything thing they and The New York Times tell us as truth? Last week this administration reported that the Benghazi incident had no significant affiliation or relations with Al-Qaeda. The report maintained that the raid of the American Consulate was the result of a mere spontaneous riot which was raised in response to an anti-Muslim film. Unfortunately for the Obama administration and NY Times' story, spontaneous riots never actually occur with the sort of precision planning involving the usage of military grade weapons that were used in the instance of the American Consulate attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Furthermore, in progressively undermining the Times' maintaining of their report, none of the Americans whom were actually there on the ground in Benghazi at the time find their report to be anything more than a great distance from the truth. In bringing light to the fact of the matter that American sources on the ground firmly hold that it is gravely implausible for the Times to even remotely suggest that the attacks in Benghazi was anything short of a highly sophisticated attack coordinated by Al-Qaeda or any other international terror group for that matter, would be purely ludicrous. Fortunately, bi-partisan efforts have been launched in Congress in challenging the fairy tale of a report. Was this version of the Benghazi affair an attempt to exonerate Hillary Clinton from the State Department's disastrous performance done as a quid-pro-quo towards former president Bill Clinton for his support of Obama in the 2012 election? |
BY: Armstrong Williams
Jesus race, the human race
By "proving" Jesus is one skin color or another, many people believe it discredits the history of another race while empowering their own. If Jesus were white, then God is white and favors Caucasians. On the other hand, proving He was black serves to affirm black aesthetics, culture, and history. Furthermore, "authenticating" Jesus' heritage can insinuate that one group is oppressing the truth in order to subvert history and a race of peoples.
We can point to historical examples of groups twisting Jesus' heritage. In the 20th Century alone we saw the Klu Klux Clan co-opt Jesus for religious justifications to oppress and lynch blacks. Nazi Germany actively pushed the idea of the Aryan Jesus, fabricating scholarship about Aryan colonies in Judea and such, in a direct attempt to de-Jewify Jesus.
Every insistence that Jesus is actually such and such ethnicity only serves to demean Christianity, obfuscate Jesus' message, and create hate and bitterness.
Why do we continuously allow ourselves to be distracted by these meaningless and divisive opionions about our Jesus and Santa's race?
BY: Armstrong Williams
Edward Snowden and our Government
There is an idea in government called the "noble lie," suggesting that some things are better left in the dark for the general public if we wish to conduct affairs of governance properly and maintain a safe and peaceful society. The noble lie extends to such matters as foreign diplomacy and national defense. The notion is that politics is a dirty game, and sometmes peeling back the layers can have a disastrous effect on the public trust, not to mention international relations.
Obviously, what comes to mind is the government now considering cutting a deal with Edward Snowden. Do you not believe that our government has it's own agenda and we will never know the true facts for these negotiations until decades later?
The question is : Will we be any better off knowing the truth in this Snowden/government case ?
I would argue yes, we are better for knowing. Transparency is one of the cornerstones of good governance and democracy.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Immigration denied entry
The easiest way I can prove the real importance of our immigration laws is to call your attention to a specific section of the Immigration and Nationality Act, (Title 8, United States Code, Section 1182) that establishes the categories of aliens who are to be excluded from the United States. It is vital to note that there is absolutely no distinction made about race, religion or ethnicity.
Among classes of aliens who are ineligible to enter the United States are those who suffer dangerous communicable diseases or who suffer from extreme mental illness and are prone to violence or are sex offenders are to be prevented from entering the United States as are aliens who have been previously deported, are convicted felons, or are fugitives from justice. Additionally, aliens who are human rights violators, war criminals, spies and terrorists are also deemed excludible as are aliens who would become public charges or work illegally, thereby displacing Americans in the workforce or causing wages or working conditions to be adversely impacted.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Sought out a different perspective on ACA from someone I respect. The following is her response. What are your thoughts ?
"With regard to the Affordable Care Act, I have not changed my mind. At all. Am I beyond disappointed in the exchange rollout and believe that a few folks should be fired, including Kathleen Sibelius? Absolutely. However, I still believe and fully understand the benefits of the law when it comes to accessibility of care and the trend toward the of coordination of care and a shift away from a fee for service mentality that is driving a lot of the costs. Remember that I have a very different perspective than most people as a former health insurance executive and have been in meetings with CEOs, business leaders, physicians, and policy leaders discussing what to do with regard to an exchange strategy, accountable care organizations, increasing transparency in costs for patients, etc. Those conversations would not have happened any time soon without the ACA, and at its core, the law is a great first step into transforming the largest (and one of the most inefficient) industry in our country.
None of the exchange rollout issues take away from the fact that the law itself is the right thing to do to make sure people in this country have better and eventually more affordable access to healthcare. An ER is not and should not be treated as primary care. And folks without insurance are already being subsidized by the rest of us (hence a $50 Tylenol in a hospital), so why not have them get coverage in the first place?"
BY: Armstrong Williams
Thoughts on Mandela
Nelson Mandela is truly a remarkable example of putting aside bitterness and anger even if it was in order to
effect a political end. In fact that is what makes him so special, that he had the discipline and moral fortitude to be able to realize the responsibility thrust on him as founding father of the nation upon his release to build a rainbow nation and succeed in bringing enemies together and form a nation of many peoples with one common goal, the well being of South Africa.
As Mr. Mandela is now being mourned by his native South Africa as well as the rest of the world, I cannot help but reflect on how much he genuinely meant to the world. He transcended race and progressed upon his own ability to move on. He truly was prophetic. On a personal level, one of my greatest keepsakes is a signed note of gratitude from both Mr. Mandela and Winnie that I keep framed on my office wall. That note was written on a page from my passport, the passport that acted as a shield from hate. It reminds me to never rent space in my heart or head to the hatred and bitterness. How fortunate I was to be there and live through that time, and to meet the man called Mandela was the experience of a lifetime.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Making money for a lifetime
To make money you must consistently create value. To consistently make your money for a lifetime you must be ethical, moral, legal and everyone around you must make more and more money.
A business that make nothing but money is a poor business.
All successful businesses must have a social agenda that empowers people, communities, and organizations.
Please remember that Money is only a tool that will take you wherever you need to go, but can never ever
replace you as the driving force. You are always the driving force of how far and deep your money can reach.
BY: Armstrong WilliamsWill real immigration reform ever happen ?It is clear that the administration has absolutely no desire to stop the flood of illegal aliens from entering the United States. And even less desire to seek their removal. According to my sources, the US/Mexican border is witnessing at least a 50% increase in illegal aliens running the border as compared with last year. Additionally, it is estimated that 40% of the illegal aliens in the United States did not run the borders and evade the inspections process but were admitted into the United States under the lawful inspections process either with visas or under the aegis of the Visa Waiver Program.Furthermore, promises of Comprehensive Immigration Reform by the president and by members of congress only serve to entice ever more aspiring illegal aliens from around the world to head for the United States, confident that if they can enter the United States they have nothing to fear.Many illegal aliens are exploited- there is no argument about that. However, their home countries would want to send even more of their illegal aliens to the United States. They count on the remittances as a major source of income for the economies. Last year, in fact, it is estimated that more than $200 billion dollars was wired from the United States to the countries from which these foreign workers- both legal and illegal aliens came.You may be surprised to know that according to the United Nations, India received the greatest amount of remittances from the First World, including the United States. it received more than $60 billion. China came in second and Mexico came in third.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The wealthy are a minority
The wealthy are a true minority in the world and are often criticized and ridiculed for their success in spite of the fact that everyone, given the choice, would rather try it rich than continue being poor. I don't know where it originated, but the cliché "the poor get poorer and the rich get richer" has been in use for sometime, implying that the poor will never rise out of poverty. Is this true? Why do people stay mired in poverty while others can pass on generational wealth?
The first myth that keeps people poor—in my opinion—is the myth of easy money, or more appropriately, "get rich quick" (without effort). Lotteries, gambling, hot stock tips, music videos all fuel the myth that money comes easy. While it may be easy to make money, keeping it and building wealth is a whole different story. Industries are built around people's ignorance of building wealth. Like a miracle diet pill that lets you eat whatever you want without exercising, beware of wealth promised without effort. Why do people continue to go to these "quick fixes"? I believe one of the reasons is a victim mentality. In other words, there is a sense that wealth is something owed to them; that by their existence wealth and ease of living is guaranteed.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Another day for thankfulness.
A friend of mine and I the other day were discussing the different seasons of life, and how times of difficulty can be, in the long run, beneficial. He told me that, despite being stuck in a job that he didn't like, and struggling to make ends meet, he felt as though God wanted him to be there to meet certain people at the right times.
I was struck by what he said and I remembered a line of C.S. Lewis: "there are no ordinary people." Everyone is unique, everyone is irreplaceable, and everyone is immortal. All of this other stuff—debating about our president every day, the votes, the money, the material realm—will be rolled up like a scroll on the Last Day, but people—whether it's your father/mother or the man or woman in the vehicle, on the bus, airplane, or train next to you—will still exist.
All of you who contribute on this page are infinitely more important and more valuable than whatever perspective you bring to our daily debates, than your political party, than your income, than anything else. You are important, respected, and cherish by me not as a supporter or non supporter of my way of thinking, but as men and women, as a beloved child of God. Just know my appreciation and respect for you and how much I enjoy and learn from your daily postings. Thank you .
BY: Armstrong Williams
Just trying my best to understand our President and the latest negotiations with Iran. Yes he is honoring his campaign promise as it relates to sitting down and talking with the Iranians. Maybe in the slightest of ways this could lead to an unprecedented break through given that Iran was once a great ally of our nation. However, we only have them in a freezing pattern and not asking them to give up or concede much in their march towards developing nuclear weapons. The Chinese already see this as an excuse to continue doing business as usual with the Iranians.
It is much worse than we know though. What is not being discussed is Iran's warhead and delivery program remains untouched. Despite Tehran's protestations that it has no intention of ever creating a nuclear weapon, Iran, in fact, has been developing a warhead for some fifteen years. That design is now near perfect and can move forward without a hitch, and all thanks to the Obama administration..
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Heterosexual Pride Day
Last month our Military had it's first gay pride parade. It is because of this that I would like to propose an official day in America to celebrate Heterosexual Pride Day! Hey, while we're at it can we also have a White Pride Day or just celebrate White history month? Can the white people of Appalachia be allowed to celebrate redneck pride? Lastly, but not least can we have male liberation with Affirmative Action in colleges and Universities, equalizing the number of male college graduates; so they equal the number of female graduates.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Saying women must be responsible and aware in order to prevent getting into a bad situation is "mansplaining," or "slut shaming," or contributing to "rape culture." No it is saying that you do not walk down a dark alley in a bad part of town drunk and alone.
Telling someone they are overweight and it is unhealthy, pointing out how a proper diet and exercise actually improves their mental disposition and looks is "fat shaming" and not accepting them for who they are. There are even court cases where clients sue their trainers for mental anguish because they tell them to stop eating junk food and keeping working out. Is everyone taking crazy pills?
There is a difference between bullying; being rude; calling someone on their bad behavior; and constructive criticism; but frankly, I do not think that the left and the culture they have helped to create sees the difference anymore.
People can declare that life should just be full of love and acceptance, but to do so is to delude oneself. Life is not rainbows and unicorns. It is a grind that takes perseverance and fortitude to come out ahead.
Denouncing opposing ideas and thoughts as bullying cheapens those that are truly bullied and oppressed. If we are ever to overcome the rancor that permeates our modern society, we must fight against the attempt to give into political correctness and cry "bully!" any time someone hurts our feelings. Sometimes we should simply grow thicker skin, but we also need to take a step back and examine our own behavior. Instead of hiding in an echo-chamber of affirmation, we should engage those with different thoughts and experiences to understand their point of view. If we step out of our own projections, we might just find that the person we thought was a bully, is actually a friend.
Armstrong Williams is on Sirius/XM Power 110, 6-7pm and 4-5am, Monday through Friday and S.C WGCV 4-5pm.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Muslim fear in America
One thing that continues to make America great is freedom of speech. Freedom is not free nor is it always popular. From an American perspective, this freedom is worth defending at all cost and has been by many Americans since the country was started. The undertone of many conservative writers (myself included) is that Christians in the USA don't have equal rights to practice their religion as Muslims do. And at worst, that somehow a Christian nation, the USA, is allowing itself to be subjected to Muslims having special rights over Christians.
To the contrary, I would now say its less safe to be a Muslim in America since 9-11. This fear that hangs over moderate Muslims for their safety because of the extreme factions is not something that I'm happy about being an unapologetic God fearing man.
I'm the first to point out that American society isn't perfect and, in fact, one could argue its suffered an internal decay over the last 20 years. But neither have I seen a country or person on this earth that doesn't have warts of its own.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Will King Obama come clean
I am not sure our country can overcome the damage that King Obama has done to our once great nation. I know the King's sycophants will come to his rescue and condemn this morning pontificating by yours truly. However did the King flat out lie to you about to expect from Affordable Care? Did not the King's Champion Williams Jefferson Clinton implore his majesty to honor his word to the people regarding Affordable Care ? Will King Obama truly allow "we the people" to keep our Health care plan if this is what we prefer ? Will this White house find a solution that will halt the tripling of your premiums ? Believe it or not but I was truly praying that our President would succeed with Affordable Care and empower the people with more options. All of us regardless of our political leanings have given this King and his court the benefit of the doubt, time and time again. We can no longer ignore the facts that this white house has mislead, deceived, and made an embarrassing mockery of affordable care in our country. This is shameful and disheartening.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Hate Speech
In America circa 2013, your own intentions do not matter if you express any idea that can be construed as "hate speech." Intentions only matter when you enact the leftist idea of what is good even if it destroys people's lives.
According to the American Bar Association, "hate speech" is speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits.
A noble gesture, but what happens when you call someone of a different race a jerk or more colorful explicative? If you are a white male, that is hate speech. If a black man says it to a black woman, that is sexual discrimination or harassment, another form of hate speech.
When it comes to policing language, it is the offendee's subjective interpretation that matters, not the offender's intent. In fact, the offendee's prior actions are not even a consideration—the person may have just run over your pet, but your anger and mental anguish does not compare to the supposed psychological damage the offendee suffers when you express outrage at that person.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Anyone can be bullied. Most often bullying isn't physical. It is intimidation in order to force action or words that don't truly represent the invididual being bullied. Political correctness is a form of bullying that is most prevalent in our society. Traditionally the only way to stop bullying is standing up to it. That may result in increased turmoil in the short run, but in the long run it has a dampening affect on the bullying. If one succumbs to bullying it only gets worse and never better.
BY: Armstrong Williams
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BY: Armstrong Williams
Tax exempt status
Our country is wracked by one budget crisis after another. When the IRS permits an organization to enjoy 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, every American must pay the difference. Knowledgeable tax experts tell us that for every one million dollars in donations received by a 501(c)(3) charity, $440,000 of it is subsidized by US taxpayers. That is why we must ensure that taxpayer dollars going to activities in Israel are working to achieve peace and reconciliation—which remains an American priority in the Middle East.
Some of the biggest tax-exempt organizations operating in Israel are doing the opposite. Many of these organizations are devoted not to charitable works but to political turmoil and confrontation between Palestinians and Israelis. And this agitation is powered by US taxpayer money.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Affordable Care redux
The president committed a major tactical error in not compromising with the Republicans to extend Affordable Care for one year. It is unlikely that the affordable care web site will be operational in sufficient time for Americans to utilize it prior to January's deadline. Consequently many Americans will be subject to fines if the deadline isn't extended. It appears that the administration will extend the deadline to accommodate many Americans subject to fines and threatening the loss of their existing insurance coverage.
If the President had compromised he could have extracted a quid pro quo from the Republicans and it would not had shut down the government for three weeks. Instead the public will hear the GOP's new mantra "I told you so" and the administration will again appear foolish for shutting down the government on the presidents intransigent adherence to principle.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Power in hands of too few
Are the current economic problems we face due to liberal capitalism or self-interest regardless of someone's position in society ? If it is self interest, which is an ineradicable quality of human nature that exists in all countries around the world and at all levels of society, then we have to look at which economic system is best able to direct it into positive, virtuous channels. And I would submit that it is capitalism that guides self-interest with sound individual principles and allows us, as a society, to elevate.
Our current financial crisis has taught the world a lot about the way the economy and individuals can behave if they have little or no regard for their neighbors. It wasn't the masses that created this economic mess, but a select few. Thus, if I were to speculate as to what went wrong, I would argue that too much power was concentrated in the hands of too few. Over history this has long been a recipe for wars and other disasters. Our current crisis is no different. So, don't blame capitalism. Capitalism and its virtues will rescue our nation from the global quagmire, though it may take some time.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Reclaiming Fatherhood
If the law made procreation a little more of a serious proposition for the American man, there might be more family planning, more birth control usage----in short, a much more serious approach to the decision to be intimate with women for the purpose of fathering children.
Such a law might also play a positive role in the lives of fathers who do want custody and who do want to remain a daily influence in the lives of their children. Our legal system simply makes it too hard for willing and capable---and even re-married---fathers to remain the primary care-takers of their kids.
There is also a troubling development in our culture, reflected in our school systems' emphasis of legitimizing single-parent homes through children's books and the like. Although these de-stigmatizing efforts are generally well-intentioned and help children feel better about having no father in their homes, they have the unintended consequences of trivializing the importance of two-parent households. In a sense, they glamorize single parenthood, or at the very least, desensitize us to its negative consequences.
BY: Armstrong Williams
End of excuses
Even if you live in a broken neighborhood, there is no reason to sell drugs or commit other crimes. Black men are more likely to get caught trafficking narcotics, beginning the cycle of incarceration from which 70% do not escape. There are plenty of legal methods to earn money. Just because they are not as quick or easy does not make them less worthwhile. They will teach you patience, endurance, and the self-reliance- all necessary values to make it in the world. Most importantly, it will keep you free.
There will always be others out there trying to make excuses for you and pardon your bad behavior. Do not let them, especially when they try absolving you of something by citing your race or "the system." Rebuke them, take responsibility, and learn from your mistakes.
Never let where you are from, nor where you are currently, hold you back. An absent parent or role model does not mean you cannot work hard in school, get a good job, nor be a good father or mother to your children.
If you are at the bottom of a pit, refusing to climb out is on you. You can ask for help from others in the pit, you can cry out to those already out, but only you can initiate the action to free yourself. And when you climb out, be sure to reach back and help those that helped you or are crawling out themselves.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Soft Bigotry of low expectations
Some principles remain the same no matter what the circumstances.
And that principle is that every person is special and has God-given talents to achieve what they were created to achieve . . . the only limitation is their own will to do it. The messages often conveyed, that is unsettling on so many levels, is that not everyone can achieve or be successful and we shouldn't tell them they can. We often hear that there are only a few people who can achieve what Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Ben Carson, David Smith did.
That is not the point . . . it is not about the math of achievement, which ironically W.E.B. Debois suggested on several occasions. If we restrict our society to the concept of the "talented tenth" then we are saying that 90% of the population is irrelevant and already assigned to a life of servitude. It reminds me of the theory which often raises it's ugly head in this space, the "soft bigotry of low expectations."
BY: Armstrong Williams
Dan Snyder and the Washington Redskins
I respect Redskins owner Dan Snyder as a successful businessman and at the end of the day the team is his investment. It's not our place to tell him how to run his business. He can call it whatever he pleases. If some people choose to be thin-skinned and take offense, then that is their problem. But somewhere along the way this issue regarding the Redskins also became about personal attacks and that is a far more serious problem than some sports team's nickname. The Daily Caller website ran a recent story that purported to be about the leader of the campaign to change the mascot, but it amounted to little more than a smear against him. I have never met or even spoken with the Oneida Nation's representative Ray Halbritter. But I'm willing to bet that the Daily Caller reporter didn't either. Yet that did not stop them from publishing an "article" that relied on quotes from a detractor of Halbritter and "documents" that suggest he is not a legitimate member of the Indian tribe that he leads. In the interest of full disclosure, I wrote about the Oneidas several months back, when they expanded their growing enterprise with the opening of a new multimillion dollar restaurant and entertainment complex. I praised their business acumen as an example of the kind of entrepreneurship that this country needs more of. I happen to think that the Oneidas are wrong on this Redskins issue, and I disagree with them. Yet I respect their view and the fact that they believe what they are saying. Hopefully they can respect my perspective as well.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Disruptive cell phones
I am shocked and disappointed that some parents and politicians believe that cell phones as safety devices are a worthy tradeoff for disruptions at school. That philosophy is comparable to claiming that weapons should be allowed in school to prevent after school attacks. Frankly, it just doesn't make sense. Students survived for hundreds of years without cell phones and they don't need them now. If parents are seriously worried about the safety of their children, they can take other steps to ensure their safety. A cell phone is not the answer.
Public schools have become war zones with teachers and administrators acting as the unequipped arbitrators. Cell phones are a big reason these behavior problems are occurring in schools everywhere around the country. Students are inciting violence by calling gangs and older kids anytime an argument occurs, running away from teachers who see them talking on the phone, and turning their cell phone ring tones to a pitch that adults cannot notice because of hearing deficiencies. Students are downloading inappropriate movies and images and sharing them between friends which disrupts class and can lead to sexual harassment situations. Students are using cell phones to cheat by either taking pictures of their answer sheet, sending the image to other fellow students or even by text-messaging the answers. They also use cell phones to coordinate drug deals and to call into schools where they fake absences by pretending to be their parents or other false identities. Besides distracting the cell phone users, other students are unable to focus because of cell phone disruptions.
BY: Armstrong Williams
It is usual for conservatives to point to the social issues as having spiritual import, as having spiritual causes, and moral effects. But we often completely ignore the spiritual elements of our spending addiction.
In fact, the only thing that can remotely compare to the phenomenon of abortion—in which a person is so depraved that, rather than abstaining for sex, they must kill another human—is this spending addiction. We are so lustful after our spending that we are killing our children, and our children's children. Money that is borrowed is ultimately borrowed from them, and our dessert today is really a dinner taken from them.
Conservatives have written very many good books about how the welfare state softens the soul, and weakens the will of a people. But it takes a very soft soul, and a very weak will, to get a welfare state in the first place.
Plato wondered inconclusively if there was not some analogy between a soul and a state: can a well-ordered soul be likened to a well-ordered state? He spent hundreds of pages inquiring into the ideal state, in order to seek the ideal soul.
BY: Armstrong Williams
The ongoing debate for a serious budget reduction in the future does notwork without a big initial down payment in spending cuts. Today'sCongress cannot bind future congresses, and Congress has beennotoriously unreliable with respect to the fiscal management of thecountry's finances. Only a naive observer of America's today'spolitical environment could believe that congress will constrainspending to bring the deficit under control when the economy improves. The only point that the left may have is that fiscal stimulus may have asmall temporary benefit when the money is originally spent, but theextent of the benefit depends on how the money is spent, e.g.infrastructure, tax rebates, government program, etc., and technicalarguments about the multiplier effect of the spending. However, it has anegative impact when it is finally paid for.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
There will never be a health care right.
Obamacare shows us that adding a right to health care has already taken away the most basic First Amendmentright of Catholics to exercise their religion. A right to abortion handed down by a court takes away the citizens' right to vote their conscience. Any new, or unnecessary right, always takes away an old necessary one. I wish it were not so. I wish that we could make everything good into a right, but we just can't.
Healthcare cannot be a privilege either, if we look at the true definition of privilege. Privilege is a special favor granted by another entity, whether it is government, the private sector, or within a household. It is also not something that we only obtain from the government. Healthcare is a service that is provided through both public and private means. If we want to live out the liberties granted to us by our founders, we should reserve our right to purchase healthcare in the free market, allowing opportunities for those to purchase at affordable rates, not by allowing healthcare controlled by bureaucrats.
Of course there is, and can never be, a right to health care. But there is, and will always be, the duty for us to take care of our brothers and sisters.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Affordable Care consequences
Businesses currently employing more than 50 uninsured employees will see their per employee costs increase $5,000 to $10,000. A business with 51 employees could have an insurance bill of $500,000! For all but the largest corporation, it will be cheaper and make more financial sense to pay the fine and not insure any of its employees.
Whether they offer insurance or pay the fine, the higher balance will be financed out of profits, necessitating higher prices to customers or a reduction in employment. If it comes out of profits, there is less money for the business owner to invest in business expansion assuming he has the profitability to pay the additional costs. Higher prices to consumers result in less money spent on other goods. Reduction in employment means higher unemployment. None of this is good for an anemic economy that can barely grow 2% annually after the 2008 recession.
Read Armstrong Williams, author of the brand new book Reawakening Virtues, content on RightSideWire.com and Come join the discussion live 4-5p.m. est at www.livestream.com/armstrongwilliams or tune in 4-5 p.m est on S.C. WGCV, Sirius/XM Power 110, 6-7 p.m. and 5-6 a.m. est, Become a fan on FaceBook, and follow him on Twitter
He has since spoken to several of his African American friends and asked them the same thing and 95% were in shock but a few said, it's the way it is…..he wanted my take.
What continues to impact him is that he so desperately wanted to say something to these individuals at this party, but thought it was out of his place, but nonetheless have been bothered by it all week.
What advice should I convey to my friend of 15 years ?
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong WilliamsPublic EducationPublic education teaching does not pay the greatest, you tend to get teachers of lower quality coming out of inferior schools. Honestly, why would you want to pay more money for schooling, earn less, and put up with all the garbage that teachers have to these days if you had the possibility to make big bucks as a computer programmer, lawyer, doctor, or venture capitalist?That is not to say there are not plenty of smart, qualified, and exceptional teachers; but there is no denying the brain drain in education can be directly correlation to higher earning potential in other fields.Qualifier aside, the result of such inadequately prepared educators is that the smart kids tend to go unchallenged and get bored, in turn they become a disruption and many are inadvertently tossed into the dustbin of "what might have been."So the generalist enters the unruly classroom focused on trying to maintain order and insuring the dumber and less motivated kids are catered to over the ones with true potential. The teaching itself has now become geared toward learning how to answer standardized test questions over developing the children's understanding of the how and why.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Please simplify our tax system
Surely good laws and regulations are essential in ensuring orderly societal direction and providing for the public good. A just, sound legal system can, in many ways, foster entrepreneurship and international trade. And by protecting the rights of minorities, they exemplify the best that Western Civilization has to offer.
One idea for simplification would be to abolish progressive taxation and institute a single, flat tax on all personal and business income. The Bible teaches us to tithe ten percent of our income. It does not ask one person to tithe more of their income if they are rich and less of their income if they are poor. By tithing ten percent, each pays to the common trust an equal proportion of their means. This practice alone would virtually eliminate the need for the army of accountants, tax lawyers and government agencies dedicated to enforcing and mitigating the laws of this country. But more importantly, it's what the founders envisioned – a tax levied based on the population, and not ability to pay. Perhaps they saw the inherent political danger in allowing politicians to vary this or that constituency's tax burden, which would be an invitation to the very kind of class warfare we're engaged in today. Imagine a nation in which all are in – everyone pays the same amount to the government. What would such a nation look like?
Read Armstrong Williams, author of the brand new book Reawakening Virtues, content on RightSideWire.com and Come join the discussion live 4-5p.m. est at www.livestream.com/armstrongwilliams or tune in 4-5 p.m est on S.C. WGCV, Sirius/XM Power 110, 6-7 p.m. and 5-6 a.m. est, Become a fan on FaceBook, and follow him on Twitter
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong WilliamsGovernment nappingWe don't need more Big Brother, but we do need the government to do its job and properly vet those who are going to be in sensitive positions, like Alexis, or Snowden, or Manning. Each case had glaring red flags, and each time government napped.In the end, what we have is a horrific phenomenon that has no easy answers. By now, the media should know better than to jump to conclusions and report fallacies. Also, pundits and politicians must stop trying to blame pop culture, weapons and ideologies that are not part of the causation. Instead, we need to start taking mental illness seriously, enforce laws we already have, and demand more accountability from our government and officials whose job it is to treat, protect, and/or investigate. This, unfortunately, will not be the last mass shooting, but we must work harder to prevent such tragedies before they occur.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
We are not created equal
One of the founding principles of our great republic is stated in the first line, second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . . " The idea of equality governs our interactions and expectations.
The simple truth of the matter is that all men (or women) are not created equal.
Because we are not all equivalent, there are certain facts that are unavoidable.
1) Some people are born with innate talents.
2) Some people are smarter than others.
3) Some people are born with more opportunities.
4) Some people have a greater drive to succeed.
However, we as humans living in America can overcome one of these inequities and not let the others limit ourselves.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Sports and Academics vs the Athlete
Now, for sure, some racist claim that Blacks are simply born with the natural ability to become exceptional athletes, however, such an argument has no merit. While it may be true that on the average black men are physically larger than other races, size and strength play only a minimal role in determining one's success as an athlete. To compete at the highest level of any sport takes a tremendous amount of discipline since the athlete must devote energy and time to perfecting such skills as dribbling or passing. In addition, success hinges greatly on the athlete's intelligence. He must not only commit large amounts of information to memory but must also be able to adapt to the play of his opponent. If the athlete is unable to think analytically, his jumping abilities and speed will prove useless as he will simply be outsmarted by his opponent. The fact of the matter is young black men excel at sports because they work at it, and they work at it because they know that it will be held to higher standard than all others. The coach who reassured his young player that he could play better did not really have to say anything at all; he already knew he was better, not out of any sense of false pride, but from understanding that he had adequately prepared himself to excel in such an atmosphere.
There should be no doubt in your mind as to whether many of the underachieving minorities in today's educational system, can't achieve and excel at the same educational level . What it takes to become an elite athlete in the world of sports, is no different than what is recquired in the world of academics.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Our Young Black Brothers
Many Young black men who are academically challenged must be compelled to compete in the classroom, if they are ever to achieve success in life. However, the only way public schools will be compelled to lift black men from the depths of academic despair is if they themselves are forced to compete with private schools. This can be achieved with school vouchers which would allow parents to put their children in schools that will hold them to higher standards in the classroom. Such policy has not taken off because teachers unions vehemently oppose vouchers. They recognize that vouchers would mean fewer teachers, fewer membership dues, the likely defections by public school personnel to privatized systems that have traditionally resisted centralized unionization, and the birth of competing collective bargaining entities. For the teachers' unions, the idea of competition can only mean giving up leverage. Nevertheless, if faced with such competition, public schools would be forced to push their young black men to succeed in the classroom, just as they push them on the basketball court.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Teaching isn't what it once was..
Public education teaching does not pay the greatest, you tend to get teachers of lower quality coming out of inferior schools. Honestly, why would you want to pay more money for schooling, earn less, and put up with all the garbage that teachers have to these days if you had the possibility to make big bucks as a computer programmer, lawyer, doctor, or venture capitalist?
That is not to say there are not plenty of smart, qualified, and exceptional teachers; but there is no denying the brain drain in education can be directly correlation to higher earning potential in other fields.
Detroit's Demise
BY: Armstrong Williams
Every pundit worth their salt has addressed Detroit over the past few weeks. On the Right you hear it is because of Democrat rule that lead to an untenable debt, mainly due to the pensions owed ($9 billion of the $11 billion debt). And they are 100% correct.
The left says, "It's just one of those things that happens." That was the actual profound analysis offered by the darling Heart of Liberalism Paul Krugman. It gives the powers that be cover to formerly remark, "Oops, my bad. Mulligan?"
There are no mulligans here. The government of Detroit screwed up over and over and over again. In 60 years the heart of America was destroyed, and all that the party that brought this demise about has to say is, "Sorry about that. Not our fault; stuff happens, ya know? We'll do better next time and it won't happen again."
The cognitive dissonance is staggering.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
The Washington Post
The sale of the Washington Post has many implications. It is more obvious than ever now that Daily print newspaper business is a broken model. The sale of the Washington Post and the Boston Globe within a week (with a loss to the NY times corporation of approximately one billion dollars) is proof positive that the newspaper business has changed forever .
The Graham philosophy was that the Post would never be a national newspaper. They wanted to service Washington DC primarily and speak to the Power of the U.S. government. The Washington Post has made and destroyed President's, Heads of State, and Government's throughout it's illustrious history.
The Washington Post is a global brand which is why Jeff Bezos paid $250 million dollars to have the ability to speak to power daily. Not withstanding the Post losses over the last year of over a $100 million dollars , Bezos with a net worth of over $20 billion dollars and innovative marketing skills recognizes there is intrinsic value in the Post brand.
The Credit Divide
BY: Armstrong Williams
The issue of making consumer loans to people on the wrong side of the credit divide raises other issues that make lending to this group very expensive.
Despite a mid-July report by the S&P that says consumer credit default rates have decreased for the sixth consecutive month, the default rates among different demographics show a sharp divide.
First, default rates among the poor are much higher than among the rich. Therefore, everything else being equal, loans to the poor will reflect premium pricing to cover the higher default risks. Second, because these are riskier loans, the banks will be forced to have higher capital requirements to support these loans, leading to higher capital costs. Third, because these loans are smaller than similar loans to the wealthy, the expense of issuing and servicing the loans must be amortized over a smaller loan principal. This also makes a loan relatively more expensive to the poor. Fourth, loans to consumers tend to be subject to much more government consumer and banking regulations than loans to businesses. This too adds to the costs of low-income consumer loans.
Given the high cost of low-end consumer lending, it is no surprise that high cost payday loan companies and pawn shops have arisen to serve these low-end markets. It also should not be a surprise that the large commercial banks shun these markets.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Money is always a Verb
In money and banking one of the fundamental principles that are maxims that we are taught is that the Federal Reserve creates money. But that's simply not the case, and that reminds me, and we're going all the way back to elementary school for a moment; where we are taught that money is a noun. WRONG. Money is a verb. The definition of a Verb is too work. Money is created by commercial bank which means lending (hopefully to business people) and not buying government bonds. America back to work means banks lending money to its business customer base which results in greater employment and greater productivity.
Jobs are created only one way and that is through production. We must remember that jobs are a bi product of production.More jobs and a free market system allow more people to be competitive, and more successful. More successful people create a network which breeds more success: culturally, financially,and emotionally. I have created jobs for people over the years, good jobs, and I am proud of that, and buying a TV station willallow me to create even more. Minorities need this system because of all the trickle down results. The potential for a wealthier or more successful friend or family member can only help minorities rise out of poverty, and the free market system is the foundation of that.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Debt and Leverage
When it comes to leverage---debt---it has to be managed very carefully. I believe that it should only be used when you have enough in reserve to cover defaults. People who are overleveraged--like those who bought property with low income and no down payment (equity)---are vulnerable to any shift in the market. If you are overleveraged, or get into a variable adjusted rate mortgage, you end up paying more for the property than necessary, and when things become difficult, you may find yourself in trouble, living way beyond your means.
The virtues of saving, work and thrift must form the basic foundation of capitalism in this country again. It's what we have to get back to in order to restore sanity to financial markets. It's what we must reawaken in ourselves and everyone else if we want to establish America's rightful place at the head of the table among the leading economies of the world.
BY: Armstrong Williams
That nasty Stigma
The reality is that both Democrats and Republicans are absolutely right when they decry whichever set of preferential policies they oppose---legacy admissions and nepotism, on the one hand, and race-preferential policies on the other. The key difference is that the former only affects a handful of companies and random individuals who work in and, in some cases, run the "big businesses," while the latter has a vastly negative impact on entire classes of people in our 300-million-plus nation.
So, while the recipient of a legacy admission to Harvard might have to live with a stigma, he also might not. After all, he'll have the Harvard degree, and few of his future employees will be any wiser that his rich alumnum daddy got him into school; he'll either succeed in the real world or he won't.
Sure, his immediate circle of friends and family will know, but something more pernicious, pervasive and wrong follows around a minority who rises to the top throughout society: affirmative-action beneficiary.
With admissions quotas in place at many colleges and universities that require less of minority applicants, that nasty epithet--affirmative-action benificiary--has become commonplace.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Education results
At every turn we are putting obstacles in the way of preparing our children to succeed. Every politician's speech on education reform results in America ceding ground to the rest of the world. Each parent that insists their child is an angel and should be passed despite never doing homework is dooming the future generations of Americans through entitlement and low achievement.
We watch as America burns from the ground up, focusing on bullying and self-esteem over knowledge, achievement, and success. Acceptance of the status quo is without a doubt akin to saying "I hate America and my children."
BY: Armstrong Williams
Teachers share the blame
Good morning:
The high-minded progressives see public education as something to be protected from private competition and the ravages of better, more innovative systems from not only domestic systems independent of the decayed US institution, but also those from abroad.
Teachers are not without fault in public education. I feel most teachers are the whipping boy of education reformers, especially among the right.
In public education, teachers are not specialist in their fields unless they are coming to it as a second career. Typically, mathematicians do not teach trigonometry, nor do those with English literature degrees teach high school English. The vast majority of teachers are education majors with a subject matter certification.
BY: Armstrong Williams
Aaron Hernandez
A contract worth 40 million dollars, a newborn child, a fiancée, on top of being the star receiver for one of the NFL's best teams and historically successful franchises apparently didn't matter to Aaron Hernandez. How anyone in their right mind do something so sinister after becoming "set" for the rest of their life seems to be the general consensus. The headline for the Aaron Hernandez case however shouldn't be about the tragedy he was involved in, as horrific as it was, it should focus on the fact that despite stardom, athletes fame and fortune actually enhances their past demons, they become lost in an inner image struggle, and revert back to their comfort zone and their old life, too give them a deeper sense of power.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Mandela and forgiveness
Today is former South African President Nelson Mandela's 95th birthday. In the last century we have had amongst us one of the greatest transforming men in history .
Mandela's example of forgiving his tormentors and forgiving the South African government for it's brutal apartheid system, remains one of the greatest examples of a worldly leader.
A man whose life and career proved that righteousness prevails in the end. We may not see it initially but time is a corrective element to all things.
Mandela who saw and was subjected to the harshest forms of bigotry and discrimination changed his immediate world and the world at large.
This former prisoner has been received by King's , Queens, world leaders, ecclesiastical leaders, for it is recognized universally that we should all strive to be more like Mandela.
One of the great men of the 20th century, Mahatma Gandhi attempted to change South Africa to no avail. Gandhi stood up to the British Government and it capitulated. However when he stood up to the South Africans apartheid system he was reduced to tears and humiliation. Former President Mandela did not have the luxury of retreating to another land. He had no choice but to cast his bucket where he was and say No Mas!.
BY: Armstrong Williams
BY: Armstrong Williams
Final Zimmerman thoughts
George Zimmerman, like O.J. Simpson, must spend the rest of his life facing the torment of his conscience having taking the life of a young man in such a reckless way. Mr. Zimmerman must not only someday face his maker but spend the rest of his life enduring the pain and suffering of robbing someone of their God-given life. The rest of society must put this sad chapter behind us and let heal the wounds against racial harmony each case led to.But we also must be extremely cautious about trying to enact new laws as a result of the Zimmerman verdict. New laws and regulations enacted in response to bad outcomes in particular cases often in the end have unintended consequences. And continuing to prosecute Mr. Zimmerman at the federal level will only intensify racial animosity .Read Armstrong Williams, author of the brand new book Reawakening Virtues, content on RightSideWire.com and Come join the discussion live 4-5p.m. est at www.livestream.com/armstrongwilliams or tune in 4-5 p.m est on S.C. WGCV, Sirius/XM Power 110, 6-7 p.m. and 4-5 a.m. est, Become a fan on FaceBook, and follow him on Twitter
BY: Armstrong Williams Young people must establish work ethic early in life Young people need to learn to work. Their parents must not let them be idle all year for, as they say, idle hands are the devil's workshop. When I was growing up, it was early to bed, early to rise. My family worked hard, every one of us, starting even before the sun rose. Sure, I wanted to rest many times, but my parents wouldn't let me until our work was done. They needed a rest more than anybody. They taught by example and instilled in us a strong work ethnic. Today, many parents fail to provide that example. Now, I am not saying that young children should be put to work. We do not want a return to a time before child labor laws went into effect. Little children need and deserve their playtime. We should not take away their childhood. But once they reach a certain age, they must realize that it is time to accept a certain degree of maturity and responsibility, part of which involves going to work. Whether it is flipping burgers at McDonald's, delivering newspapers, washing cars, cutting lawns, or walking dogs, as long as they are working, they stay out of trouble, they learn better how to interact with adults. Plus, they get to make a little money. The trouble is, many young people today want something for nothing. They don't want to have to work for anything. They expect to be handed everything, and many parents often give in to their demands. What those parents should do instead is to force their sons and daughters to see the value of hard work. Being handed everything diminishes the value of everything. The rewards are much greater when you have to work for them. When you work for something you feel a real sense of worth, both in yourself and in the object or goal you are trying to reach.
BY: Armstrong Williams Can we sell Conservatism in the foreseeable future ? There is simply no way to sell conservatism to people anymore: people have other values now. Obama has fulfilled left-wing dreams that go back decades, not only bringing universal health insurance to a once-limited government, outlawing Catholics from owning businesses, and getting rewarded with four more years for doing so. I can only tremble to wonder what Valerie Jarrett meant when she said that Obama's second term will be about punishing their enemies, if this is what they have already done. The Republican Party lost multiple unloseable elections (see Mourdock, Akin, Romney). They did not merely let winnable elections slip away, but actively gave them to Democrats, a situation much more heartbreaking than the narrow defeats of 2010. At best, the Republican Party has even more cautionary tales for its younger members, more examples of what not to do, but that is small consolation for two more years of Obama and Reid. In the same way, the only good that will come out of this for the country is suffering, which is the greatest teacher. The Democrats will continue to show us what does not work. Read Armstrong Williams, author of the brand new book Reawakening Virtues, content on RightSideWire.com and Come join the discussion live 4-5, 6-8 p.m. est at www.livestream.com/armstrongwilliams or tune in 4-5 p.m est on S.C. WGCV, Sirius/XM Power 128, 7-8 p.m. and 4-5 a.m. est, 6-7 p.m. D.C. a.m. 730 WTNT, 7-8 p.m. WGNU a.m. 920 St Louis . Become a fan on FaceBook, and follow him on Twitter