Manns Medium

While scanning through my email this morning, I ran across a story titled “ The opioid crisis is creating a fresh hell for America’s employers ” published on July 26, 2017 by the Managing editor at Linkedin Chip Cutter. The more I read this article the clearer it became to me exactly why many people are quietly whispering this concept of “white privilege”.  According to Wikipedia “White privilege is a term for societal privileges that benefit people identified as white in Western countries, beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances “but when confronted by this long definition, fear of discovery and lack of clear justifications leads to denials and refusal to accept such nonsense as fact.  It is my thought then that possibly if we shorten the definition maybe then we could truly bring awareness to this reality which explains why I have chosen to define it as simply the assumption. In the previously m...

It is not often that a single choice can allow a city to effect history.  It is not often that a city can fundamentally change the way all cities are funded.  It is not often that a simple slight change of course could not only alter the way government works but prove an old adage true.  That a rising tide raises all boats and Rockford, IL has an opportunity to make history and forever be remembered as the city that changes the course of human events. It should not come as any surprise to those who are truly paying attention, the  old way of funding government has ran its course.  It was first thought that an idea of funding from the top down was ideal but that soon failed because of the logistics and the true lack of willingness by those at the top.  Some refer to this method as “trickle-down” economics and even though there are still those who think that if we keep trying it, it will work.  There are many that know better. The other option w...

I don’t care how many times I brooch this subject, it still surprises me that so many of us in the black community have yet to wake up and truly smell the coffee.  There are many things that Black America should be proud of and find pride in like the millions of blacks that greatly contributed to the building of this nation but instead of helping to push the positive stories so that our children have more to look forward to than a rap career or on some athletic field, we continue to do nothing about making our rich history a much bigger part of the over-all American History. We hear many screaming racism as if it is the only reason blacks are not treated equally as they should but when those in a position of power and can change the course of this event fail or refuse to step up and stand up we just give them a free pass.  Many of these same people are still pissed at President Obama because they thought his election and re-election would make all others finally recognize...

I find it quite ironic sometimes when people or a group of people tends to blame their circumstances on a few.  Regardless of how true it may be or how perception makes it appear true one thing is for certain.  We jail people for selling drugs on the street but reside in a country that is the biggest supplier of drugs and we claim that government and politicians control the blood flow of a nation when we know that this is not the case and clearly see examples of these very people and entities being controlled by that one group of men/women who cater to or control that one huge slave master we all serve whether we wish to or not.  That slave master is those who created and control the algorithms’ which create and measure all human being s by what we refer to as a credit score.  So let’s take a few minutes to greet our slave masters and take this time to appreciate what we have allowed them to do to us. Now we know that no credit score or any piece of paper can tr...

In an article titled “ Another oil crash is coming, and there may be no recovery ” written by Tom Randall for Bloomberg News, it is reported that “ In the next two years, Tesla and Chevy plan to start selling electric cars with a range of more than 200 miles priced in the $30,000 range. Ford is investing billions, Volkswagen is investing billions, and Nissan and BMW are investing billions. Nearly every major  car maker —as well as Apple and Google—is working on the next generation of plug-in cars.  This is a problem for oil markets. OPEC still contends that electric vehicles will make up just 1 percent of global car sales in 2040. Exxon's forecast is similarly dismissive. The oil price crash that started in 2014 was caused by a glut of unwanted oil, as producers started cranking out about 2 million barrels a day more than the market supported. Nobody saw it coming, despite the massively expanding oil fields across North America. The question is: How soon could electric v...

Since 2009, it has been a comedy of errors on the behalf of the GOP when it came to choosing who would give the Republican response to the White House State of the Union Address that was until a group of, probably men, made the right choice and chose South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.  Now please don’t get it twisted, there are a lot of things I could easily disagree with the GOP on but when you speak frankly about the current situation our nation faces and take full blame for the part you played in making things as they are, you will find me standing right up front to support that effort.  Gov Nikki Haley knocked it out of the park with her response to the State of the Union Address, maybe not in all she said but what she did say was more truth than anyone has ever heard coming from the GOP in years. According to an article titled “ Haley warns against following ‘angriest voices’ in GOP response ” written by Andrew Rafferty but originally appearing on NBCNews.com, it i...

Can anyone remember how some politicians made it a point to bad-mouth China about how they manipulate their currency and the news media going crazy with stories about how China is taking over this country?  How about those who do not have to try very hard to find a microphone, whining about how slow this economy is growing or those who screamed about how Corporate America is hiding money overseas and sending our jobs over there as well?  Well it appears that Wall Street is not the only ones guilty of selling out this country for tax breaks, oil revenues or other personal considerations according to this article titled “ Mayor, Gorman head to China to raise $25M for Rockford hotel ” by Brian Leaf for the Rockford Register Star, our own mayor is using money from the city to travel to China to sell them a piece of Rockford. The article reports that “ Gary Gorman and Larry Morrissey are Shanghai-bound Wednesday to raise $25 million for Gorman & Company's $67 million plan ...

To many, racism is defined as black and white and because it has been accepted in that form for far too long we outwardly wonder why it has been so hard to eradicate.  Simple answer is because our definition of racism is poorly defined and is far from what actually tells the complete story. I was quite appreciative of a video I saw featuring Morgan Freeman who said the words that I have been trying to say for so long.  It will not do it justice to try and repeat those eloquent words here so I direct you to that video found on Essence Magazine’s site titled “ Morgan Freeman Explains the Deeper Issue Behind Racism ”.  You can find it here ( http://www.essence.com/video/morgan-freeman-explains-deeper-issue-behind-racism ).  You owe it to yourself to listen and please have an open mind when you do because so much can be explained by this revelation.  Racism comes in many different forms and not all of it has anything to do with race.  There are whites ...

I have always wonder how a “no nonsense” guy like Eric Holder would step down at the Justice Department especially since he does not have a history of ever running away from a fight and recent run-ins with the Republican Senate and House members would certainly constitute a fight.  Today, I think we may just have our answer. We all know that Democrats as well as Republicans enjoy big money donated by big business in order to win in any election, or that is the perception anyway.  Now having taken their money, they feel obligated to try and return the favor in any way possible while in office so holding them accountable, responsible or their feet to the fire is certainly a lost art and one most avoided by our elected officials.  This is also true of the Obama Administration just like all others before them and that shall follow.  Not many have ever been able to navigate this dark and tricky path but I think the Obama Administration may have just found a way. ...

If anyone is wondering why America seems to be falling behind the rest of the nation’s when it comes to new ideas and fresh technology, wonder no more.  It is as simple and plain as the nose on your face but few have the spine to say it to your face except for me.  I am about to tell you all about yourself America and I warn you now, you might not like what I have to say.  You can ignore this if you wish but I know that you know what I am about to tell you are the truth and only the truth will set us free. The reason America seems to be falling behind is because we have stifled the one and only propeller of forward movement we have as a nation.  We have stifled creativity and innovation.  We do this by making the rules to invent and innovate apply to only those who either have the resources themselves or a rich uncle hidden somewhere in the wood pile.  You have to either know someone with deep pockets, have been born in a family that has deep pockets, ...

I was wondering when big oil was going to launch their fight to convince people that they should demand higher gas prices so that they could get back to making record profits but I did not think a CIA Insider would be used to initiate that effort.  I would have thought some bought-off politician would have been the spark that started the fuse but I guess it goes to show, big oil is not afraid to use whatever and whomever they must to achieve their goals. I get this from reading and article titled “ CIA Insider: “Forget Iran, Iraq, Ukraine, and Syria this is where WWIII will start ” which appears on Keith Fitzgerald’s website Total Wealth Research.com which states “Should the rise of conflicts across the Middle East and Ukraine serve as a warning sign that something much more dangerous is approaching?  According to Jim Rickards, the CIA’s Asymmetric Warfare Advisor, the answer is yes.  In a startling interview he reveals that all 16 U.S. Intelligence Agencies have beg...

It’s funny how so many people have so different reasoning why certain things are happening or have not happened.  I am such a person but instead of using words or ideas expressed to me by others, I use my own personal experience and whether it is not the exact same thing that happens to others, it does give me reason to conjecture and surmise what may later prove to be factual.  Listen to politicians and you will hear that the reason the housing market has not recovered as it should have by now would be because of President Obama, this I now know is a lie.  You will hear Wall Street express to those they carry around in their pockets to convince the public it is because of the Dodd-Frank legislation, this I also know now to be a lie.  The reason that housing has not recovered as it should have is simply the very same reason the economy collapsed in the past, greed, avoidance and selfishness.  Look at AIG, the biggest cause of the economic collapse now pushing r...

Well here we go again America, just when we started to see some excellent signs of recovery, a group of some of the dumbest smart people in the world takes the wheel and aims us right back toward that economic cliff that we was once dangling from only a few short years ago. According to an article from the Associated Press “new U.S. rules aimed at getting banks to take on more of the risk when they package and sell mortgage securities are being relaxed with an eye to spurring broader home lending.  Federal regulators have dropped a key requirement: a 20 percent down payment from the borrower if a bank didn't hold at least 5 percent of the mortgage securities tied to those loans on its books.  The long-delayed final rules unveiled Tuesday by six federal agencies include the less stringent condition that borrowers not carry excessive debt relative to their income.  The rules, proposed in stricter form in 2011, were mandated by the overhaul law enacted in the wake of th...

Contrary to what some would have people believe, the economy has returned and jobs are popping up all over America.  The issue is people are still feeling less than confident because the unemployment numbers are still high but if one was to take a few minutes and compare the unemployment rate now to what is was before the crash of the economy, they may find themselves surprised by the numbers. Take for example, the job that is being done in Rockford, Illinois by those in the government.  Some time ago, we spoke about how FedEx was about to begin construction for its new facility in this area, then we talked about the construction of two new stores (Aldi’s and Sav-A-Lot) which will soon also start construction here.  Now our local TV station WREX is reporting that “Global aircraft service leader AAR Corporation is opening a new maintenance and repair hangar in Rockford that will create up to 500 new jobs over five years. AAR chose Rockford based on its location, cost ...

It never ceases to amaze me how some can love money so much that they are willing to take advantage of anyone and everyone they can to reach their goal of bathing themselves in green.  The worst part is those they set their sights on are normally those who have done them no harm.  Many people say that terrorism is the ability to stop the regular activities of citizens and robbing them of a sense of security.  According to Mr. Curtis L. Coy, Deputy under Secretary for Economic Opportunity, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, his department “has recently been notified of potential fraudulent attempts to contact Veterans using VetSuccess.gov.  These individuals may be operating under company names such as Auto-Desk, Venus Remedies, or Aesculap Implant Systems.  Be aware that these are potential fake inquiries, and you should not communicate with or send any information to these individuals.”  He warns all vete...

Being a political junkie, I was surfing the cable news channels this morning and stopped at MSNBC Jansing & Company.   This segment featured former Republican Governor and Romney supporter John Sununu made news by not only justifying Romney’s comment about not needing more teachers and firefighters because the Wisconsin election told us so but made even bigger news when he admitted that businesses were sitting on over 1 trillion dollars because they were refusing to help this economy unless Romney won. I had hoped that others would have heard this and ran straight to Mr. Sununu and asked him if he meant that business leaders are purposely attempted to wreck this fragile economy for nothing other than political reasons.   I had hoped that professional journalist would be asking business leaders if this is true and if not why are they sitting on that much money and not lending to help create jobs.   They say because the demand is not there but if America has little...

Mitt Romney poses in front of a business and implies that the plant closed under the Obama Administration.   No one in the crowd corrects him or after wards approaches him about it.   It should be said that excuses should be given to no one in the crowd correcting him because it was his crowd and they seem to accept their guy spreading lies and do not appear interested in having a representative who are more truthful.   The media runs straight to their polls and tells us that Mitt Romney is better on the economy than this president.   They say that the economy is the weak point of President Obama’s re-election campaign.   I beg to differ with all these experts especially when I compare both on economic standards. Mitt Romney was Governor of Massachusetts and if past reports are true they ranked 23 rd in job creation.   He ran Bain Capital and if he is credited with creating jobs there, he must also be credited with all of the job losses as well. ...

It appears that every single time, Washington does anything to help ease the pain of the middle class and poor in this country, some egghead or a group of them see this as an opportunity to take advantage and make money on the backs of those who have suffered most in our country.   When are we going to say enough is enough and start hitting back?   When will the middle class and the working poor stop being a victim and start reclaiming our mantle as more than just dollar signs with legs to those who prey on us? Recently, the Obama Administration secured a very large down-payment for those homeowners who have done the right thing and kept up with their mortgage payments even though they were the only ones playing by the rules.   The task force assigned to bring those responsible for this casino creation to justice is still working diligently and for those Americans who did all that they could to keep their homes and their American Dream alive but were victims to th...

It’s been 49 years and I still can hear the laughter, the taunts and sneers of children my age teasing me for being on Welfare.   It didn’t matter that my mother was challenged to raise ten children single-handily or the quite clear fact that I was not able to choice to what family and to what situation I would be born to.   Honestly the memories were only whispers until Newt Gingrich reminded me with his comments of poor children cleaning the school bathrooms and mopping the floors.   The arrogance of those who believed as a child and now as an adult that getting financial help from the government was nothing short of charity and making all those who receive it lazy.   I used to think that way. I had made up my mind that I would never beg the government for help and this also made me quite defiant to asking anyone for help.   As I think back now, I believe that this has served me well.   I’ve paid very close attention when it came to learning somethin...

As a former U.S. Marine, I was very excited to hear that finally all of the Iraq troops were coming home and this president had just delivered on yet another campaign promise.   I was a little dismayed by some of the talk I heard from pundits, reporters, commentators and experts who spoke from many different points of view and many negative.   I felt much better when I realized that they were all speaking from a position of little to no real knowledge of the interior workings that Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines in the past and present have to deal with.   That is the taking of a life.   It’s nothing like the taking of a life in the Civilian World because here you have a chose and there you don’t.   Some reported the view from the White House as one of political means while others saw it as an economic decision.   I see it as a Commander-in-Chief who has been informed and has come to the conclusion that keeping hard-charging individuals cooped up...