When the Levees Broke

Ever hear of the saying "You will reap what you sow"? Well I think that this is a proper phrase for what is going on now. One levee has been broken in Illinois and people are scrambling to make sure that it does not turn into another New Orleans, Louisiana fiasco.

We all remember that the levees failed because of a sudden outpour of rain from hurricane Katrina. Severe flooding was caused because the ancient and forgotten levees broke under the pressure of thousands of tons of water.

We also remember that these levees have probably been scheduled to repaired but we've been at war so long that we can't take care of our infrastructure, although we are all paying taxes to make sure that these things are taken care of.

Ok, so the Mississippi River, the longest river in the US has some of those same ancient and forgotten about levees. Well they are currently being put to the test to see if they can outstand the ever-changing rages of mother nature. Right now it is looking like mother nature is about have a flawless victory.

I'm going to take a huge leap and suggest that the public and the government do not want anymore criticisms if levees fail horribly along the Mississippi River. There was plenty of consipracy theories circling after Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. So now there are a lot of preventetive measures being taken, mostly sandbags, but if they fail then there will be more flooding.

My question is, How many times do it take for our federal and state taxes to be put to good use. I mean with briges and levees failing it will be a disaster. God forbid if we were to ever fight a war on US soil. I mean people know that these things need to be repaired. How many times a year do we see headlines of the most unsafe bridges to travel on. Way too many especially when they start collasping with people on them.

In either case lives are stake. Whose lives are worth more ours or the soldiers? I think the manpower of the armies are better suited for the protection of the homefront. Misguided money could be put to MUCH BETTER use than war.

Welfare System

I under the assumption that a certain income level, or rather a certain non-income level pushes people to get placed into the government welfare system. Well we all know that income is not the only factor that makes one eligible.

Is the welfare system designed to help those in need or help those filled with greed?
I have come to the conclusion that this system was made for a certain group of people and not for others. I will use myself as an example.

I have custody of my niece. It has been this way for going on over 4 years now. I have a college education. With the degree to prove it. Well during the time that my niece had first come to live with me, she was an infant, I had no childcare. I was not even offered any help. She was just placed with me and I was supposed to survive. Now technically if things were supposed to have been done correctly, I would have gotten help through foster care supplements until I was able to find daycare. Well that did not happen.

So to make a long story short, I had no help for almost six months. And the state left an infant in my care, while I was a full time student. Yes I managed and graduated on time, but I think some help would have been better than none in this given situation. At times I felt like I was being set up to fail because I wasn't getting pointed into any directions for help.

Now I graduated from school and my niece has been in daycare for a little over a year, with a childcare subsidy. But because I graduated from school was about to enter into a graduate program I was told that I could not receive childcare subsidy for working on anything above a bachelor's degree. I mean what kind of bull is this.

Now after I get that little statement I think that the system is set up to help those that can not complete high school, or either the case workers are that jealous because there are some people out there trying to go somewhere and they can't leave their dead end job. I mean if I'm wrong, I'd like to be made aware of it. To tell me that I can't get daycare because I furthering my education sounds fishy.

Let's ad another twist to this. After finding a graduate school to attend and opting to stay out of work for a year, I go to apply for the childcare subsidy once more. This time I am told that if I don't attend a school in the county or work in the county in which I am applying, then I don't qualify. WHAT IN THE WORLD??!?!

So I'm looking for a job and attending graduate school and I still can't catch a break. This is how the systems is broken down; I need childcare to secure work or go to school but I can't get childcare if I don't work or attend school. If this doesn't sound like a rope-a-dope scheme then I don't know what it is.

Child support is one of those lose-lose situations. Many people don't file for child support and if they don't they won't get any help from the absent parent without it and on the other hand there is no guarantee that the person needing the support will get it even if an order is filed. Or the absent parent is automatically labeled a deadbeat parent. I mean I know of some situations in which the child would be better off with the absent parent rather than the one with sole-custody.

I will use a relevant example. Say you have a child and the absent parent sends payments directly to you, but say you are receiving other help from the state, well the state can file for child support against that absent parent without your permission. In this case the state gets paid for the child support cases that are filed. If you ever look at a child support order, the state get an amount every month that a check or wages are gotten from the absent parent.

In my case I'm supposed to be receiving child support, but this is why I am not, the little work first check that I am receiving each month, needs to be paid back. Therefore any child support that I am supposed to get, I will not ever see it because of back pay that is owed. And one month I had my hope up because I got a statement that stated I was to get this set amount outside of what the state had taken, but guess what I didn't see it. I think that either they were playing with my emotions and that was a typo, lost the check, or more likely took the check.

Now in my case I'm supposed to get child support from both parents because both parents are absent and neither are making an effort to take care of their child. But will there ever come a time in which both parents are working in which they can send support my way? It is a shame but I don't think that it will ever happen. Too bad that most people figure that men are the only one's needing to pay child support. But since I am a semi-firm believer in equality I think absent mothers should get the same treatment. But this is because I'm basing this of the last 4 grueling but enlightening years of my life.

F.E.M.A.

It does not help the fact that the people of the Hurricane Katrina were hit by the hurricane; suffered severe flooding, heat, hunger, and poor living conditions; select victims were given opportunities to start over while thousands were crowded into trailers and left to "fend" for themselves. But what tops all of this is the fact that $85 million dollars worth of supplies and food that were designated for the Katrina victims were not given to the people that needed it.

$85 million dollars of supplies that F.E.M.A. was supposed to give the other people hit by Katrina in 2005. It is now 2008. THREE YEARS, THREE and yet no one is getting the help that they so desperately needed. All these supplies and all F.E.M.A does is give it away. What in the world is going on.

Why aren't the Katrina Victims getting these items? It has been three years and now the government is telling the people that are living in the government trailers that they need to leave and find somewhere else to live because the government no longer wants to care for its own people. The conditions have been horrible and they haven't changed. The government has moved out and tried to bury its "untouchables." The Super Dome has long been repaired and people have moved back to rebuild. But the people in this government, sub-standard trailer, have been removed from the public eye. At first glance into these area where the government thought that it was helping, it looks like a third world country.

F.E.M.A spent more than $1 million a year to store these supplies that the people needed. So for 2 years the supplies sat taking up space, not being used for what it was set up for.

Why does F.E.M.A. exist? If this government program does not do the job that it has been set-up to do then why does it exist. It's for people to become rich off of the struggles and pains of others. Some high F.E.M.A director is probably pulling in a six figure income while the ones that should be served get what they need. It is like the rich stealing from the worse than poor.

Maybe some people have been helped by F.E.M.A.'s actions of simply giving away these supplies. I would think that they have been distributed fairly. But this is not true because fair would have been to give to the people that this was set up for: KATRINA VICTIMS.

The government has done things much worse, like dumping these same people and leaving them for dead, and yes we've all seen the pictures and video all over television but nevertheless the government will continue to create worthless causes to fight. We are still fighting in a pointless war aren't we?

The Hogans

So I'm listening to the news and there seems to be this great debate about Nick Hogan and his first few weeks in prison. For all that don't know Nick Hogan, son of Hulk Hogan, is serving times, 8 months, for drunk driving and the severe injuries to his friend that was in the car.

Nick Hogan is known for racing cars, his dad even brought him a pretty fast car right after learning to drive. So in this instance Nick and his buddies have all gotten drunk, and Nick is the driver. They have a terrible accident and his best friend has now been deemed a vegetable.

Nick Hogan's punishment: well 8 months in prison, 5 years parole, and here's the debate: depending on the state laws, Nick Hogan may or may not have a suspended license during his parole. So there is a possibility of him breaking parole given that he might have the possibility of having a parole violation.

Now as mentioned before, Nick Hogan is currently serving his 8 month sentence in juvenile detention. Now some phone conversations between him and his parents have been leaked. Those conversations reveal that Nick Hogan nor his parents are remorseful for the pain that they have caused for the family of his friend.

As some of the conversations reveal, Nick Hogan is looking to have his own reality tv show starting the day of his release, and guess who is going to make this happen, Daddy Hogan. I guess celebrities these days are trying to milk every penny that they can while they can. In my opinion being in jail, drunk driving, and almost killing your friend, is nothing to be proud about.

Another point stressed within those conversations that Nick Hogan had with his mom, stressed the fact that after only being in juvenile detention for only a few days, Nick Hogan tells his mom that he's going crazy. Being in solitary confinement for a few days is driving the poor boy crazy only because he has to THINK for the first time in his life. WOW. So after Hogans began to start smoozing the media Nick is moved to a new cell with two roomates. So now he's much happier being able to talk to more troubled youth his age, when he actually needs to be seeking help for drunk driving.

Do I feel sorry for Nick Hogan? No, not really. The time he's gotten does not fit the crime he's committed. Any other non-celebrity, non-white person would have received 3-5 times more time for the same crime committed.

Democratic Nomination

As I am watching the Democratic Nomination race on television, I can't helped to be annoyed by Hilary Clinton's tactics at the moment. It is obvious that Clinton was not willing to step out of the race after it was apparent that she would not win the party's nomination. Now even with Obama with only seven delegates to go, and 4 hours, 54minutes, and 30seconds and counting Clinton is still not wanting to end the race.

When will be the proper time for her to concede and make sure that a republican will not enter into the office in November. All that she has done so far is to divide the party along the lines of who is a better candidate for running for office. It is apparent that the people and the super-delegates have chosen the best candidate.

Now, even with Obama making history on so many levels within the United States, there is still so much division, so much so that if Clinton drops out, that will make all the Clinton supporters will not support Obama. Therefore by not voting or not showing up to vote for Obama in November, the republicans by default, will win.

Now there has been a hint that Clinton wants to be Obama's running mate. Earlier on in the race, Clinton said that she was not running for the office of vice president. Now at the end of the race, she feels that she has earned a spot as Obama's running mate. What in the world. You don't hear any of the republican candidates running suggest that they earned the vice president spot with McCain.

So even with Obama winning the party's nomination, there will not be much celebration because Clinton plans to take some of that spotlight in her concession as well as her bid for vice president. Seems like this leads Obama between a rock and a hard place; don't choose Clinton and risk losing in November because of a party division, race division, sex division, and any other type of divisions thought possible; or choose Clinton and have his role in the white house viewed upon as a puppet hanging on the strings of the Clinton's. I'm sure this will be a hard decision and I'm sure that all possibilities have been carefully thought out.

History made and overshadowed if there happens to be an Obama/Clinton ticket but die-hard Clinton supporters think that it was only women that helped people of color obtain the rights that they have today. That's hard to swallow when White's looked to people of color for support, labor, etc.

In all honesty I think that people need to get off their high horses and let history take its place, and let change occur, we will all be better off than we have been in the last eight years. We can only go uphill from here.