American Blog

Mr. Vass ia the author of several blogs. They can be found at www.mvass.com and www.blackentertainmentblog.com :

I don’t understand Mr. Oliver Stone. While I accept that he is quite good as a director of notable films, such as the recent World Trade Center, I do not accept his world views. I respect that he is outspoken in his views. His convictions are without question the cornerstones of his life. That much can be seen from his movies and his public words.

But I have little compassion or agreement with his latest commentary against the President and the nation. I disagree in saying that the U.S. reaction to the 9/11 attacks was disproportionate. I disagree that America has been set back 10 years. I find fault with is his reasoning that “We did not fight back in the same way that the British fought the IRA or the Spanish government fought the Basques here. Terrorism is a manageable action. It can be lived with.”

We should not respond like the British or the Spanish governments. While hundreds, perhaps thousands have died in those long-term struggles with terrorism there has never been an incident that killed so many at one time besides what occurred on our shores. I do not agree that terrorism is manageable, such an opinion strikes me as appeasement. Such a strategy was employed with Germany and it failed. It is the strategy of those afraid to fight, or incapable to do so, in my mind. And I must wonder if Mr. Stone would feel the same if he was in NYC when the planes struck, or had friends and colleagues and family die, or had to run from the towers themselves. I do not know if any of that applies to Mr. Stone, if it does he is a far different man than I am.

There is no living with terrorism. None of those he mentioned live with terrorism, they live with the consequences of it being a reality. I mean that you can live without a car, or a broken window in your house through a winter, being blind, or having the measles. We all live with the consequences of a bomb killing a school bus of children, car bombs, hijacked planes and other such acts. Not one nation on the face of the planet lives with terrorism, accepting it as if it were part of the course of the day. Each nation fights terrorism, through political and military means, every day as best they can.

Mr. Stone may feel “disgraced” and “ashamed for my country” but I do not. I see no reason to. I may disagree with some of the policies and actions of the nation, but I recognize that America cannot just hide from those fanatics that would see us all dead, including Mr. Stone. I recognize that some efforts of the nation are not what we would have preferred; and it is our obligation to elect leaders on local and higher levels to ensure that future efforts are better. It is the people that must guide our leaders, and we do. Voting, polls, letters and calls to elected officials all done without violence is the means to change any aspect of America.

I would say this to Mr. Stone, I have lived overseas as a civilian. I have seen how life is in other nations, and am thankful to be a United States citizen, even with all the problems our nation has. Our nation gives us many freedoms, one of them being choice. I would say to Mr. Stone, and others who feel as he apparently does, that you are free to leave this nation at any time. If the embarrassment is too great, if you feel we are falling back to far, if “a neo-cabal inside our government hijacked policy” then leave. See what nation will accept you and how you are treated there. And don’t complain about returning as it would be a choice you made, and I wouldn’t want you back if you made it.

This is what I think, what do you think?

Mr. Michael Vass is author of www.mvass.com :

“These are our children and we will benefit by or pay for what they become.” - James Baldwin

Have you ever had the situation where you are reading an article and it mentions a source or quote and you wanted to find out more about it? In the cases where you are doing the reading on the internet, you then search out the information only to be lead to even more items that enthrall you? I have and when this chain of events starts to unfold for me I generally wind up with a very long night and little sleep. And waking tired the next day is worth it for the knowledge I have gained. Today is one of those times.

I was originally just looking for interesting news in entertainment that was focused on Black African Americans and/or Hispanics from a source other than Yahoo News [Yahoo tends to have a good base of news on most subjects] or the Fox News cable network [which is biased I realize]. What I found had little entertainment but intriguing facts. The start of this trail began with an unrelated article from blackamericaweb.com. That lead me to usnews.com, followed by dailyprincetonian.com, thecrimson.com, frostillustrated.com, and ultimately The”>http://www.jbhe.com/”>The Journal for Blacks in Higher Education.

What I found is this. In 2004, the last full year where data is available, 4.4% of the higher education enrollments were Black African American males. That’s 758,400 in total. The number is pitiful, but it gets worse. The percentage of foreign-born black males that have a four-year degree in the nation is 28%, White American males are in excess of 28% with four-year degrees. Though the number was not presented in any of my readings, considering that as a guesstimate 10% of enrolled students fail to attain a degree I shudder to think of the percentage of Black African American males with a 4-year degree. Now get ready. This is the highest number of enrollments ever.

The outlook may improve somewhat in the near-term. In a manner of speaking. Harvard has started the ball rolling in getting universities to eliminate early admissions. Princeton has followed and many more are expected to do the same. Why this is important is that early admissions, especially for top-rated universities, tend to have higher acceptance rates. Harvard accepts around 50% of its class in early admissions, Princeton around one third. At Johns Hopkins 77% of all black early applicants were accepted, in comparison to the 36% of acceptance of all black applicants. Early admissions make a massive difference. The reason being is that most universities require commitments for the early admission. Lower-income students often cannot know what kind of financial aid they can receive, either from the government or the university and thus can have a serious income gap. This often prevents access to early admission. Personally, back in 1986, I know this was the case for me, thus there was no chance at Harvard or equivalent institutions.

So the playing field will even out a bit in the future. Of course I do mean a little bit as less than 10% of the student bodies at Harvard and Princeton are African American. In fact a study done in 2004 by researchers from the University”>http://www.jbhe.com/latest/harvardendsearlyadmission.html”>University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University found that 41% of black students at 28 colleges were immigrants or children of immigrants. By comparison 9% of the entire United States population falls into that same category.

But what does the African American student have to look forward to? When I was in high school, in the Bronx and it was public school, my history book summed up all of African American history as 2 sentences on Egypt, 2 or 3 on Crispus Attucks, and another mentioning that slavery was legal then and will be discussed more in the chapters on the Civil War. That was about it. Perhaps the fact that most of the school books I had were 10 or more years old was a factor [my college-bound physics class had a textbook that was 21 years old, 3 more than me in my senior year] but I think not as my youngest sister (14 years my junior) had a history book that had a total of 2 pages on the subject. So I was interested in taking classes on African American history at my college. Had I gone to Princeton I would have been sorely disappointed. Had I desired to, I could not have majored in African American studies. http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514388″>It has taken Princeton 37 years to create a concentration in the subject.

It’s taken 37 years, and it will still take another 5 to build into a major according to current plans. Some wonder why there is a discrepancy in the highest levels of business, or why the African American middle-class is so small. I think this gives a partial answer to the insensitivities and difficulties of that question. Add to that the fact that in most all colleges and universities the overwhelming numbers of alumni are not African Americans. Recognize that the parents and grand-parents of many students never had the option to go to universities, especially those at the top, Princeton included. For those that could go, we are speaking of a small number of higher income families.

This is why I agree with this statement by University of Illinois professor Walter Benn Michaels, “>http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/52_harvard-blackstudents.html”>“When students and faculty activists struggle for cultural diversity, they are in large part battling over what skin color the rich kids have.”

So lower income African American students (in particular the males) are still waging an uphill battle. Even initiatives such as the Harvard financial aid program that eliminates loans for students that have families with incomes under $60,000 have not prompted an increase above 10% for students of low income families (in which African American students are predominant).

What is to be done about this I ask? If you are a Democrat, there are promises of reforms to education; yet the same promises have been made since before I was in high school. Inner city youth are decidedly worse educated now than at any time prior. Estimates ranges around 70% of African American males are dropping out of high school. Initiatives to improve this percentage have been blocked as cited by Mike”>http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/sayitloud/kane928″>Mike Bowler, former Baltimore Sun education reporter in 1995 “In Detroit a judge declared all-male academies unconstitutional after the National Organization for Women took the district to court. The federal Department of Education killed an experiment in Miami, saying it amounted to gender discrimination. And Philadelphia, school officials canceled a single-sex program that seemed to be paying off in higher school grades and improved attendance after the American Civil Liberties Union complained.” The ACLU and NOW are both strong supporters of the Democratic Party. Republicans have done slightly more, in my opinion, but nothing that would truly stem the tide.

Even with all this one thing is clear to me. This cannot go on. Complaining about the current situation is not an action. To quote what some would call a silly character in a silly fantasy movie “Do or do not, there is no in-between.” [Yoda, Star Wars – The Empire Strikes Back] Allowing things to remain status quo is a death sentence to the minds of the African American youth of this nation. Having compiled this information I am doing something in providing what I have gleaned. That is one part of why I write my posts. The next step is up to the masses.

Higher education is not just an idea for “rich kids” or “white people.” To think so is to delude ones self into a vortex of disappointment and suffering. Knowledge is one of the most powerful tools available to anyone on the planet. Knowledge has allowed me to travel and live in Russia, be a stockbroker, work in investor relations and become the owner of my corporation. I’m not rich, yet, but I can make it and it’s only possible because of what I have learned. Rich is a subjective term though. To live well is a richness, to experience life and cultures from across the globe is attaining richness. To be able to communicate the thoughts in one’s mind to another human being in any format is a form of richness.

Money is a tool to attain the greater riches that life provides, at least to me. Knowledge is a currency that cannot be sold but can be used, invested and profited from. Granting the youth of today and tomorrow the ability to have that currency in the same amount available to any other kid in America is an obligation. I’m not waiting to die to give my nephew an inheritance; I’m helping to give him a currency he will be able to use throughout his life. What are you doing?

This is what I think, what do you think?

Mr. Michael Vass writes for www.mvass.com and www.blackentertainmentblog.com : 

Here is something that I thought was funny. It seems that jocks and sports teams are not the only ones to get involved in pissing matches. In a recent study (published by the American Association of Brain Surgeons) the intelligence of rocket scientists was questioned. Naturally it was suggested that brain surgeons maintained higher intellect. I for one was shocked by such a conclusion. The American Society of Rocket Scientists disputed this finding, of course.

One would expect such pedantic actions to be found on a high school debate team, or perhaps a chess club. But I guess it just shows that those who have mastered the highest levels in science and mathematics are no less normal than Billy Joe Bob down the block. But I wonder how they feel about the statement that the highest levels of Buddhist monks are on the same plane as theoretical physicists. Does that mean a monk is equal or smarter?

On a side note this reminds me of a colleague of mine a few years back. I was an active stockbroker at the time and my friend was discussing a potential stock purchase to a prospective client. The investor was failing to see my friends’ logic for the proposed growth of the stock in question. So my friend gives the classic line, “What’s the problem, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure this out!” The investor paused and then stated evenly, “But I am a rocket scientist.” My buddy didn’t get the account obviously. But that makes me chuckle every time. And it doesn’t work for me with brain surgeon.

Score one for the scientists.

This is what I think, what do you think?

Mr. Michael Vass is author of www.blackentertainmentblog.com and www.mvass.com : 

Perhaps the fact that throughout my life I’ve been accused of being too skinny has made me insensitive to some weight issues in the public domain. Perhaps as a smoker I am sensitive to the government restricting grown adults ability to make their own decisions. And perhaps I dislike the government involved in the actions of citizens on an individual and personal basis. All these things are pertinent in regard to how I feel about the news that Chicago and New York are considering bans on the use of trans fats in cooking.

Let me be clear on what this means. Every McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken would need to make changes in how they cook foods; pie crusts, margarine, doughnuts and many other foods or items used to cook foods would be banned. Does the scope of this start to catch what is involved? Virtually every one of the 24,000 food service businesses in New York City would be affected to some degree.

Now many would say, so what. Others may thing, well that’s a good thing because this is bad for you. The local governments say that this will help to reduce the thousands who die prematurely each year. And I say it’s a tomato. What I mean is that up til the 1800’s the tomato was thought to be a deadly and poisonous fruit. I recall (could not find the exact article, sorry) reading how it too a doctor sitting on the city hall steps eating a basket of tomatoes to change public opinion. [As I remember the story, the fear at the time was that if you ate tomatoes you could go insane or die] More recently eggs have been considered harmful to the diet, and then later ok in moderation. On a more broad scale a couple from California (I could have the wrong state) sued McDonalds because their child was overweight.

The fact is that in each case the science or current belief was completely wrong at one point. It’s not the foods that are dangerous but the misguided thoughts of people. Anything is deadly if misused.

A stick of margarine doesn’t kill you but a couple of vats of it might. McDonalds may not be the best food to eat, but it’s the lack of exercise and eating portions for 5 people every meal that will make you overweight. [I do realize that some people are over weight due to gland disorders, diabetes and other diseases. I’m not speaking to that issue.] Banning this item or another, that is not deadly, will not save lives. That is whatever number those who want to enforce such a ban come up with – fact is that determining the number often quoted is a guess made by presuming lifestyle factors are a cause of ailments leading to death. That’s why the numbers are often quoted as ‘tens of thousands’ because the truth is that they have no clue but it seems that such an answer is probable. It doesn’t hurt that it makes it sound important too.

So my point is why the government should stick its nose into something that really is a matter of personal responsibility. The difference, that they might claim in these deaths, compared to the 50’s is more a matter of social behavior. The importance is that the more government steps in and makes decisions on arbitrary matters that are personal responsibility, the fewer personal responsibilities will be left.

Think it’s silly? So far the government, on different levels, is banning smoking (yet still allows them to be sold), certain forms of marriage, and in some parts of the country the type of sex you have [North Carolina, Massachusetts and others].

Plus it just annoys me.

This is what I think, what do you think?

News is coming out of New York that Junior’s trial may result in a hung jury once again. There should be a 3 strikes and you’re out policy that prevents prosecutors from continuously trying a defendant until they get a guilty verdict. Let’s face it, after 100 attempts, they’ll probably get a guilty verdict.

Junior essentially admitted his life of crime when he endorsed a trial strategy that he gave up his Mafia life. The facts of life have indicated that the Mafia has not been in the business of running farm stands in Iowa over the past 100 years. However, Junior has done the time for his past crimes. For 3 trials, juries have been unable to conclude unanimously that he is guilty of the crimes that have been outlined in the case. In the United States, that’s what it takes to be found guilty in a criminal trial. It should be no secret to anyone that no resources have been spared in the prosecution of Junior.

The time has come to say to Junior, “ Good luck son and stay clean.” Our judicial system has been built on fairness. Guilty people have walked to preserve the fairness and the sanctity of the American Judicial system. There is something unfair about trying a person an unlimited amount of times until you get the verdict that you want. 

It’s time to let Junior walk. Hopefully, we won’t see him again. Batman once said, “Crime doesn’t pay.” It doesn’t.