Camden High Panthers. WHY WE MATTER

I am reaching out to you all this way because we are too many to touch individually. It is an honor to be the elected President of the only Official Camden High Alumni Association. CHSAACNJ we are the 501c3 organization for CHS. We have members and scores of Alumni all over the planet. Before you all put on your purple and gold, please pause. Pause and say a prayer for all of us no matter where we may be. Remember why you wear the Purple and Gold. Remember what it means to you and all of us who earned the right to wear it.  We matter. Our lives matter. Think about why #ICantBreathe. We don’t matter to those trying to take our spirit, our pride, and our history. We don’t matter to those trying to sell our school, our city, and all that we have become. The PANTHER of Camden High enables OUR athletes and scholars to do incredible things in the face of insurmountable obstacles, extreme poverty, and hardship. It is Panther Pride. Panther Pride does not sell out family.

I posted that I was escorted by Metro Police from the Chris Christie press Conference at Camden High but I did not have the chance to tell you the entire story. Here it is. In 2001 Camden High was allocated by the NJ SDA 440 MILLION dollars to be renovated. The money was paid out but not a single contract for materials was awarded.  In 2006 another 100 million was allocated by then Gov. Corzine to do work on Camden High. When Christie entered office he took the $100 million back. Telling residents if we wanted the money we should ask Corzine for it. When I learned of this I asked for an audit during official both State Senate and Assembly meetings for our 440 MILLION dollars. I also have asked for an AUDIT of NJ SDA Funds. The Fund which started in the billions is now down to 500 million with NO accountability.

Christie then comes back to CAMDEN HIGH with the announcement of gift of 50 Million dollars. No how would you feel if someone took ALL your money and then gave you back change. Would you celebrate them? Would you call them a hero? Well that is exactly what happened on the day they put me out. Assemblyman Whip Wilson, without our permission, tried to make Christie an Honorary Member of the CAMDEN HIGH ALUMNI ASSICIATION.

With the President of the only OFFICIAL CAMDEN HIGH ALUMNI ASSOCIATION escorted out by metro police before Christie enters the building, the announcement and gift presentations went off without a single question.  I posted the pic I took as I was being forced to leave. I was told I could not stay as it was an invitation only event.  I responded that I figured our invitation got lost or that there was a mistake in not inviting the PRESIDENT of Camden High’s Alumni Association or a legitimate representative. I requested that the person in charge be notified of our presence and that the error be corrected.  That is when I was specifically told to leave and the Metro Police were to ensure I was off the premises.
It makes us ask who are actually the friends of Camden High? Our accolades are press worthy but our plight is not as OUR kids go without books and OUR Special needs Kids are not supported.

For generations which are longer than our entire lifespan, Camden High has been a symbol of hope, excellence, and perseverance. We PANTHERS are family.  It is deeply offensive that some of our own alumni are taking part in selling our Castle on the Hill. We know what makes us Panthers. Just for old time sake I will state a few. No matter what you were when you entered those doors upon graduation you became a PANTHER. When you wore OUR name in OUR house on OUR floors and fields you were a PANTHER.  When you fought beside us you were a PANTHER, Some people became Panthers for a moment those who graduated became Panthers for LIFE. WE ARE FAMILY.

To OUR Teachers, those who taught us PANTHER PRIDE We are what we are because of you. I will always have ONE PANTHER Principle mother, Mrs. Cream.  What we learned was to RESPECT The High, The teachers, The principle, and Our selves. It was and still is a matter of respect.

So what do we do? What Can WE DO? Alumni I am asking you all to remember this day. Write my name on your refrigerators and place my name on a piece of paper in your Bibles. Make a reminder NEVER to vote for Dana or Whip or Christie EVER again. Camden HIGH, The Castle On The Hill is not for sale.  We are what stands in their way. Look at our banners, scoring records trophies, and the light in the eyes of a REAL PANTHER.

Lastly I ask you all to pray for Dajuan Wagner as he is working out again. When you see him, just nod. He knows what that means. Panther Pride does not die it grows in the hearts of those with whom we share it. #ICantbreathe Hands up for Camden High and the City of Camden. We are family forever.

Why #ICantBreathe

Why #ICantBreathe

The impact of one person who bounces and throws a ball through a hoop for a living is NOT why I can’t breathe. Since when does the amount of people who recognize your face make something important?  The President of the free world and responsible for enforcement of law for the nation of the United States with a simple change of wardrobe and removal of security could be subject to police violence on any night.

The lack of ethics and the violation of constitutional rights are why #ICantBreathe. It is why we have the hash tag. This is not new. The plight, the injustice, the system that established our current dilemma is not new.  We know that it was some law enforcement that permitted the selling, beating, rapping, and destroying of souls. it was some officers and officials that wore the sheets that hung the people that wanted to just breathe.  They just wanted to live life like the other people they saw living in peace.  It was the same peace that they read of in the BIBLE and was read to them from the BIBLE. Simply wanting to read the words for themselves was a crime. Yet it was authority that hung them from trees for a glance, a word of defiance, a word of freedom. It was Judges who did nothing, Prosecutors who did nothing and Governors who did nothing. 

Nothing is being done by them today.  It is the people who are in the streets. We have come a long way in silence just trying to breathe.  Yet we have had to hold our breath anytime we are told to do so in fear of the established authority that can be very unforgiving.

Some encounter judges that take offense to a poor person not having hired a lawyer and appearing humbly before them. Many plea bargain cases just to make them go away, because encountering swift injustice seems far more seems likely. We cannot control who breaks the law.  This is about how the law and injustice breaks people. The suffocation of injustice is why #ICantBreathe. 

The requirement for investigation should merely be a complaint has been made. The definition of an investigation is check, look into, and search for facts. The identity of the lawbreaker should be as immaterial as success in court is to a poor man today. Without a good lawyer one has no chance. We know what is right and have been complaining.  Our complaints have made it to the White House. It is what has been done to us that made us ask for help.  The world sits back and waits to see what is going to be done. We hold our breath, but our breath is taken from us by those sworn to protect us. It seems being in charge means being in charge of who is considered a criminal.

The worst thing about a corrupt official is the person uses money entrusted to them by voters to harm them. their own public provided salaries are not enough. The dysfunction of Congress is financed by the people. Big business’ earnings are from the pockets of consumers.  

In NJ we have a BIG problem.  It is every tax payer bearing the burden of loss of our pensions, school taxes, and property investment by the irresponsible in office.  Those who have done nothing to stop the waste, fraud, and abuse of NJ wealth which has taken decades to build, are guilty. There are people sitting in office who sit in fear and greed instead of ethics. Soon it will all be gone because the people will no longer be able to afford the giving away of billions to a small network of connected friends.

#IcantBreathe because it costs too much. It is costing us everything by continuously electing those who look the other way. #iCantBreathe because in trying to educate and motivate others to stand up on one day a year (election day) requires almost all our air.

Know that when all the air of ethics, justice, and seeing ourselves in others leaves the room, all of us will know why #ICantBreathe. Those outside the room are the selfish people who trapped the public in the room. Outside the room is all the air one could possibly need. There are those who believe the public is not entitled to it. The air of freedom only applies to them and their friends.  The problem with that type of friendship is the willingness to share keeps getting smaller.  Once a mind conceives people as expendable there is nothing stopping them from working to become that last one standing. They see the last one standing as the last one breathing.  We who declare #ICantBreathe it is because air is being taken … not because there is no air.  It’s merely someone had decided the air which does exists does not exist for US. 

https://twitter.com/hashtag/ICantBreathe?src=tren

While WE were sleeping....

Experts all conclude that sleep is one of the most beneficial practices required by the human body.  One might examine what keeps us from sleep or awake. I have pondered that question and have followed the logic to slightly different application.

I can speak for myself when it comes to the subject of sleep.  I have mastered the power nap, the pass out from exhaustion, the bored slumber, and the call of just being lazy.  All of these have a prerequisite that creates the condition of sleep, with the best of them being a good Thanksgiving Day meal.

My point is, sleep and the absence of it is conditional.  Supply the condition and humans tend to react.  After service of 25 years I know a little about sleep deprivation.  I also know a little about truncation of sleep time. I can get by on four hours for extended periods of time. I can stay up for 48 hours if I must. Physically comfort is abandoned when exhaustion takes over. The body demands sleep at some point. Many times sleep is a matter of being comfortable and relaxed.

I look at the world we live in and wonder why and how people can be asleep. People are losing jobs not because companies are closing. Jobs are being lost because company heads want bigger profits.  Public education is not under attack for any reason but profit.   

Wall Street and Wall Street wannabes have figured out that EDUCATION is the last pot of money they can raid.  The same dreams and faulty financing that took the equity out of all our homes and almost collapsed the entire financial system is headed to your school district. WHY are WE SLEEP? Do you remember what the US economy was when The President first got in office?  The US was on the verge of collapse. Are WE full from some meal, dog tired, or just trained to stay sleep.  Are WE hypnotized or in love? What has US so asleep that we keep losing OUR OPPORTUNITY to STOP THEM? 

Voting is important. It always has been and always will be.  It is why they spend so much money to keep their favorites in office. They trick US into thinking we don’t matter… because to them WE DON’T. They trick US into believing the ads when every other day we know we don’t have super powers and neither do they.  The one day of the year we do have super powers is ELECTION DAY.  In one day we can fire all of them. It is what they FEAR. It is why they want us ASLEEP. I remain UNCOMFORTABLE the entire time I am a public servant because as long as one constituent is uncomfortable there is a concern on which to work. It is an honor to serve. It is MY pleasure to be of service.

They have mastered what it takes to put people to sleep.  WE have to master how to wake people up. They have control of the images we see and sounds we hear. They do not control what you find when you look.  They do not control how hard you fight, how long your fight, or who you decide to stand with.  Those choices are yours, and yours alone. I ask that you be awake. Stay awake. This does not end in NOVEMBER.  Freedom is something that must be guarded, watched over and protected. We cannot fall asleep on guard duty and we can no longer expect the few vigilant warriors to shoulder this fight alone. Student debt is OUR biggest threat as our young were sold empty dreams of success. They keep raising interest rates on students and the cost of tuition. My daughter’s out of pocket dorm expenses when from $5 to $300 in a single year and they are still climbing.

Public schools budgets have deficits that are always equal to the money they pay charter schools as the charters get their money first at a funding rate of over 96%.  No public school budget that has charter schools in their district has ever received 100% of total funding.  In fact here is what  the numbers say, according to

http://www.politifact.com/new-jersey/statements/2013/nov/10/chris-christie/chris-christie-tells-teacher-school-funding-highes/ “… Christie’s proposed fiscal year 2014 budget called for nearly $9 billion in education funding, about $1 billion more than the previous year. Under that spending plan, state aid to schools increased $97 million. While no district saw a state aid decrease, many either received an increase of $1 or their funding stayed the same as the previous year.”

NO ONE in the STATE house will ask where the money is going or how much much money has gone that same route without accountability. I have asked and got no response. I have asked the Majority Assembly Committee of Education. Yes my questions are a part of official hearings recorded on education. I have asked about the SDA money that is supposed to be in the BILLIONS that has just disappeared. I have awakened from the nightmare to find the world asleep. 

The realities of NJ taxes, corruption, and cronyism keep me awake. The reality of misappropriation keeps me awake. The injustice keeps me awake. I realize that to keep this covered up they HAVE TO WIN. They have to spend millions to cover up the BILLIONS that are missing.   

Please do not go to sleep on November 4^th until you have VOTED. Be exhausted with what they are doing to ALL OF US. Be irritable and cranky until you VOTE. For those of US honored with votes from our people, WE will serve ALL THE PEOPLE. Those who have taken the people for granted will continue to do so.  VOTES matter. WE MATTER. DOES anybody hear me? Are you still asleep?

Got any change ?

We often hear the expectation of change while executing the same actions defines insanity. We replicate actions to prove as scientist that something works, or produces a predictable outcome. Sometime we only need to look at the cycle to see patterns emerge.

Corruption and greed are predictable.  Thomas Jefferson said, “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” Making money from the purchasing power of the poor is what the super-rich have always done.  The poor are eternal consumers who have yet to understand it is their dollars that make the system operate. It is not the corporate boxes that sustain the stadium it is the diehard fans filling those seats. Why complain about ticket prices? All Fans have to do is stay home for one season and everyone will get to enjoy the teams we love because those teams will realize that they need US. The extra man on the field is our wallets.  Maybe then athletes will realize they actually PLAY a Sport for a living.

This dynamic plays out also in the two-party system with BIG donors on the Republican side and the illusion of the Democrats being on the side of the poor.  We are flooded with requests of how our 5, 10, 15 dollars are supposed to help make a change while NO change is occurring.  Those politicians who keep these request coming NEED the people to BELIEVE that they are making a difference. Why is a President who can never serve another term still asking for your hard earned dollars? It is for his party.  It is for those same candidates who are ignoring you on the local level as they feel entitled to progress to the federal level.

We hear both sides fighting for control of the Senate and Congress when NONE of them have done anything but make the poor more poor.  Today I sat in NJ Assembly Chambers and listened to speeches about why a law needs to be passed to let VOTING members of NJ houses know how much money the STATE of NJ has BEFORE it votes on a budget.  WHY does that have to be made law?  NONE of us writes a check from our own accounts without knowing our account balance.  NJ Legislators have done it, continue to do it.  They are beyond any mathematical foundation of accounting. It is why NJ schools are underfunded, pension money is GONE, and the STATE of NJ is insolvent. There is NO accountability.   

Why would any of us think we can write checks because we still have checks? THAT IS FRAUD. Banks have made billions from check fees from people who don’t have the money in their accounts and have prosecuted many for the same.  Why do we keep electing NJ Legislators who do the same?  If you consider your vote like your hard earned cash, not a stretch because the two are inextricably linked, you will stop giving.  You will drive down the price of an election. It is your money. You should be able to determine how it is spent.

We saw today on our trip to the HOUSE they no longer want or allow public comment.  In Fact they did not even come past us while we waited to speak to them BEFORE voting concerning our issue. Tune into my next post to hear those issues, the Bill, and our objections and the outcome.

Accountable ?

During the 2012 Presidential election The Democratic Party raised $1072 Million dollars and spent $985.7 Million. The Republicans spent $992.0 Million and raised $992.0 Million The site on the provided link site breaks down money and where it came from http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/campaign-finance  As election costs climb we have already reached a tipping point.  Many feel our government is for sale. In NJ it may be truer than legally and ethically allowed.

The numbers show that not just anyone can become an elected official as local races are being impacted by money. External special interest money in NJ climbed to record highs last year spending ..."a record $37.8 million to influence New Jersey's races and ballot initiatives — more than twice the $14.9 million special-interest groups spent four years ago, figures released show."  According to article in USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/31/new-jersey-election-record-outside-spending-chris-christie/3323955/

One has to ask where the election boundaries are drawn? Each state is to have its own authority but does not remain free from the influence of outside money. Who is really represented on the highest levels of state government? After years of dominance families in NJ are dominated by powerful families merely handing down offices like family heirlooms.  One does not have to shake the political family tree that hard to find former political office holders.  Most Christie appointees have been lifelong friends or worked with him before. One may wonder where is the accountability in NJ when they all share the same secrets.

This is a problem when full disclosure is demanded by law but only surfaces we some brave soul reveals it in an article or expose' which is forced into obscurity.  This obscurity is being combated by the internet and voters can see for themselves who is who and who knows who. Are we a society that has lapsed into the name game, money game, and the game of covering each other’s secrets?

For so long the two party system has had us all picking a side. We have been divided into red and blue while the American people get the purple whelps from the mismanagement, and lack of accountability concerning tax dollars, bonds, appropriations, and foreign aid.  We have our own issues as we see in social media truths not covered in the main media markets.  Yellow journalism displays the images driven by the money that has purchased them. The terms bailout and subsidies are not what they used to be, as recently they just mean taxpayer dollars given to those who invested the most in campaigns.

One has to wonder how in NJ a second round of Sandy money reached our shores without proper accountability of the first. One has to wonder how it is legal to underfund a pension system. It is also fascinating that there is not one single effort by the NJ legislation to make it law that pensions be properly funded. This past week it took ZERO debate to push the Urban Hope Act past  NJ Senate.  Maybe that is because the public was not allowed to voice its concerns. There is no law properly funding public schools to date.  However, there is legislation to ensure charter schools take their money right off the top of public school funding.  There is no law to make them return funds for the students they return back to public schools.

This is my first blog.  I am sure there will be critics, naysayers and grammatical critics. It matters little.  What matters most is that WE have a voice. As moves are being made to control the internet we need to be aware that big money and those used to having it will not just surrender their control. Our calls for accountability are not being heard. In NJ Christie runs things and he does not mind telling voters that he will do whatever he pleases.... when he pleases.  

The last time I checked that was bullying. According to Diane D’Amico Education Writer... http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/school-districts-say-state-s-anti-bullying-law-costs-at/article_8474d72c-6989-11e1-b18d-0019bb2963f4.html

"More than 200 school districts in the state are spending more than $2 million this year to implement the state’s new anti-bullying law, according to survey results released Thursday by the New Jersey School Boards Association.

That’s twice what the state Legislature and Gov. Chris Christie agreed Wednesday to put into a state Bullying Prevention Fund, and raises questions about whether, even with the new money, the law might still be considered unconstitutional under the State Mandate/State Pay provision."

I guess when you are big enough you can take people's money and spend it right in front of them and have the audacity to get angry when they complain. You can also get away with making them spend their money on you.  The NJ Legislators all pounced when they smelled blood during Bridge-gate, but then let Christie spend $6 million of our tax dollars to defend himself.  One day all bullies get theirs. It is a shame that those WE pay and entrust to stop them are not.