Best of Times or Worst of Times

Is it wrong that I am proud to be white?

2008-07-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

So, I received this email and I thought I would share it. Please feel free to tell me what you think.

Proud To Be White

Someone finally said it. How many are actually paying attention to this? There are

African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans,

Native Americans, etc. And then there are just Americans. You pass me on the

street and sneer in my direction. You Call me "White boy," "Cracker," "Honkey,"

"Whitey," "Caveman" .. And that's OK. But when I use words like, Nigger, Kike,

Towel head, Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink ... You call me

a racist. You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you, So why are the

ghettos the most dangerous places to live? You have the United Negro College

Fund. You have Martin Luther King Day. You have Black History Month. You

have Cesar Chavez Day. You Have Yom Hashoah You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi

You have the NAACP. You have BET. If we had WET (White Entertainment Television) ..

We'd be racists. If we had a White Pride Day .. You would call us

racists. If we had White History Month . We'd be racists. If we had any

organization for only whites to "advance" OUR lives ..We'd be racists. We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black

Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce. Wonder who pays for that?

If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships.... You know

we'd be racists. There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US ,

yet if there were"White colleges" ..THAT would be a racist college. In the Million Man March, you believed that you were

marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race

and rights,You would call us racists. You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange,

and you're Not afraid to announce it. But when we announce our

white pride ..You call us racists. You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a

white police officer Shoots a black gang member or beats up a black

drug-dealer running From the law and posing a threat to society .. You

call him a racist. I am proud. But, you call me a racist. Why is it that only whites

can be racists?

I thought that this email was very interesting and made a lot of valid points. Why is race still an issue? isn't the USA still a place where you can work hard and be whatever you want to be? I thought Martin Luther King wanted his kids to live in a place where they would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the contend of their character? Why then do we have affirmative action?

Welcome back to me!

2008-03-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I might start blogging again! Obviously, no one is going to be looking at this because I dont have a huge following as of yet. I am really interested in Political discussions dealing with the United States and are role in this vast global economy. I tend to be very opinionated when it comes to what I see as right as wrong but I try to be open to other people's point of views. I am an independent voter and I look at the candidates and not the political parties. I long for the day when are country will get back to doing what is right in the world and not what makes our politicians the most money. I have been reading a very good book lately. It is by Lee Iacocca(The former CEO of Ford and Chrysler and the father of the Mustang muscle car). It is called, "Where have all the Leaders Gone? The book is excellent and I highly recommend it. He has his 9 C's of leadership that he says every leader needs to have. They are:
1. A leader has to show CURIOSITY. He has to listen to people outside of the "Yes, sir" crowd in his inner circle. He has to read voraciously, because the world is a big, complicated place. If a leader never steps outside his comfort zone to hear different ideas, he grows stale. If he doesn't put his beliefs to the test, how does he know he's right? The inability to listen is a form of arrogance. It means either you think you already know it all, or you just don't care.

2. A leader has to be CREATIVE, go out on a limb, be willing to try something different. You know, think outside the box. Leadership is all about managing change -- whether you're leading a company or leading a country. Things change, and you get creative. You adapt.

3. A leader has to COMMUNICATE. I'm not talking about running off at the mouth or spouting sound bites. I'm talking about facing reality and telling the truth.

4. A leader has to be a person of CHARACTER. That means knowing the difference between right and wrong and having the guts to do the right thing. Abraham Lincoln once said, "If you want to test a man's character, give him power."

5. A leader must have COURAGE. I'm talking about balls. (That even goes for female leaders.) Swagger isn't courage. Tough talk isn't courage. Courage is a commitment to sit down at the negotiating table and talk.

6. To be a leader you've got to have CONVICTION -- a fire in your belly. You've got to have passion. You've got to really want to get something done.

7. A leader should have CHARISMA. I'm not talking about being flashy. Charisma is the quality that makes people want to follow you. It's the ability to inspire. People follow a leader because they trust him. That's my definition of charisma.

8. A leader has to be COMPETENT. That seems obvious, doesn't it? You've got to know what you're doing. More important than that, you've got to surround yourself with people who know what they're doing.

9. You can't be a leader if you don't have COMMON SENSE.

THE BIGGEST C IS CRISIS. Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis.

I encourage you all to look for these 9 essential traits when you are deciding who to vote for this year! See you all next post!

Global Warming and Al Gore

2006-12-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

So, I watched the documentary that Al Gore made about Global Warming. It is called, "The Inconvenient Truth." I used to be naive about global warming and brushed it off as a hoax but after seeing that documentary I am thinking differently. Al Gore has never been a favorite of mine but what he has to say is definetely something people need to hear. If you haven't seen the video yet I suggest going out and renting it. The part about the record number of hurricanes and heat waves is the most startling. If we dont do something to combat this problem we are going to screw future generations. The time for alternative energy is now. Wind power and bio fuels is the future. I am sick of depending on other countries for our oil. I am sure that is one of the reasons for this war in Iraq. I just wish the United States would wake up to our own domestic problems and try to fix them. Anyone seen this documentary? Any thoughts?

I knew it was only a matter of time before this happened!

2006-12-12T11:48:00.000-08:00

I knew it was only a matter of time before this happened!

Six USS Frank Cable sailors were medically evacuated to the States over the weekend after a steam line ruptured aboard the Guam-based submarine tender.
Suffering burns on 20 percent to 70 percent of their bodies, the six arrived at the Brooke Army Medical Center’s burn center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, at 3 a.m. local time Sunday, said Nelia Schrum, a spokeswoman from Brooke.
The sailors had been taken from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam to Tripler Medical Center, Hawaii, for stabilization, before being sent on to Brooke for treatment.
As of Monday morning, five of the sailors were medically classified as “very seriously ill,” which is the military’s term for what the civilian medical community calls “critical” condition, Schrum told Stripes by phone.
The sixth sailor was classified as stable, she said.
The “very seriously ill” designation is the most serious of those used by military medical teams when classifying patients. Other terms are “serious,” “critical but stable,” “stable,” “satisfactory,” and “treated and released.”
The use of “VSI” on paperwork allows the military to transport and lodge the family at government expense to be with a patient, Schrum said.
By Monday, most of the critical sailors had family members who were traveling to or already at Brooke, where a Navy liaison had arranged rooms for them, she said.
An earlier news release from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Marianas said eight sailors were performing maintenance operations when a steam line ruptured on the boiler deck of the 28-year-old submarine tender. The sailors’ families were notified of the accident, it said.
A submarine tender is a ship that supports submarines, which cannot carry much in the way of supplies. The Cable is one of two active sub tenders, the other being the USS Emory S. Land, currently stationed off the Italian island of Sardinia.
The steam leak occurred during maintenance operations as the Frank Cable, a 7th Fleet repair ship, was moored at Naval Base Guam. The 28-year-old submarine tender is based at Apra Harbor, Guam.

I always knew that this would eventually happen. After 2 years of pouring my blood and sweat into this dying ship I knew one day something bad would happen. I was sad to hear that my former shipmate and "Cableville" neighbor died. MRFN Jack Valentine was a great Sailor whose life was cut short. The thing that hurts me the most about all of this is that the entire chain of command knew about this crack in the tube. I am sure the Chief Engineer didnt want to stand up to the Captain though. He probably figured it was good enough to get by for a family and friends day cruise. I dont know this Cheng because I left around the time that he got there but there is one thing that I know for sure is that LCDR Sheehan would never have authorized that boiler being lit off. He was a great leader who would fight for his engineers even if it meant standing up to the Captain. Capt. Goff always came across to me as a man who never wanted to listen to anyone but himself. I dont know if that is true or not but that is the impression that I got.
Engineers on the Frank Cable are vastly under appreciated. On the Frank Cable there are passengers and there are Engineers. I spent 2 years patching up the frank Cables electrical systems and doing my best to maintain shore power and providing power for the units along side. All of our equipment was old and needed replaced but we were always told to keep patching it up. We would change fuses daily because loads would be too high because of all the computers on the ship. Did anyone ever think, "Hey, maybe we shouldnt have 20 things plugged in at once?" Nope, no one cared. E-div was always expected to drop what we were doing and change fuses for some useless division. Our Senior Chief was a complete pushover and he always had us doing "hookups" for his boys. I learned a lot working in Electrical Division. I worked with some of the best sailors in the Navy. We all knew that the frank cable sucked but we knew the only way we could get through it is if we stuck together. I learned not to get too excited about anything because in E-div everything changed and we were the ones getting screwed. We were undermanned for the 2 years I was there. Every new electrician it seems would go to R-3, home of the useless Electricians in the Rubber and Plastics shop. What a waste of manpower. I still cant believe the Captain allowed that to continue. Good Electricians who could have been used in Engineering wasting away cutting plastic. What crap! Anyways, stay tuned for more of my ramblings courtesy of the USS Frank Cable. Rest in Peace Valentine.