The Shakeup

By Omar Calderon

There has never been an election in history that has focused itsgoal on character assassination.  So much so that as we watch the election unfold somewhere in the back of our minds, we forget it’s an election.  No one is talking about the economy, security,American values, or our dream of America’s future.  The Trump campaign and the Clinton campaign are in full swing as this election comes to a close.  There is no doubt, this one is for the books, thanks in part to Donald Trump.  When he first ran for the presidency 8 months ago he left Americans scratching their heads, and laughing.  Somewhere down the line we weren’t laughinganymore, he has singlehandedly set the tone of this election as an all-out war on the media, women, minorities, and let’s not forget his own republican party.   Did Donald Trump forget he was supposed to win an election? It makes you wonder who is voting for him.  

There is no doubt that the basics of campaigning are lost on the republican candidate known as billionaire Donald Trump and he is dragging his opponent to follow the same suit. Eight months ago no one saw the events that were to come in election 2016, this experience was the farthest thing from anyone’s mind. The concept of reaching out to the people is not a part of his agenda, we have to ask ourselves why?  As I sit and watch on a daily basis the destruction of Donald trump and the republican party, a basic question entered my mind, does Donald trump have friends’ A confidant he can confide in, A piece of human contact that allows us to believe he can bridge the gap between countries, fix the economy, reach out to the young and old and address many of our social issues at home.  I just wonder how can Donald trump possibly can expect Americans to believe he’s our man sitting alone in a room with a laptop tweeting pieces’ vicious hate as his only device for winning the election, as he desperately tries to defend himself against sexual allegations.  There is no doubt he is his own kryptonite, yet there stands Trump alone at the top of his own creation. 

What is it about Donald trump that makes the media, the republican party feel like they are changing the diapers of a baby and don’t know how to do it? There is a certain uncomfortableness with trump and his campaign, it’s a cringing sour lemon campaign where his only weapon is his mouth.  On the other hand, if we look at Hillary Clinton, she is the perfect rival for Trump.  Hillary Clinton has never been well liked by the public, she was seen as pushy, untrustworthy, impersonal and yet America has yet to chastised her for telling lie after lie to the American people, and yet we keep trying to give her as many chances as we can and refuse to let her go.  Bill Clinton’s presidency was based on chances and perhaps that is the magic of the Clinton legacy, the question as to how many chances is a person supposed to get? The answer, asmany chances as a person is willing to take. Somehow the Clintons have the power to get Americans interested enough to be pulled into their own personal fire and we are more than happy to join them.  Maybe Americans sheepishly root for the Clintons because they have just enough knowledge, and personality to sway us and there is something about the Clintons we see in ourselves.  They seem to be the only presidential candidates who have just the right amount of likability to reach all parts of the United States, and America has shown time and time again that we are addicted to the Clintons even though we refuse to admit it.  Perhaps America is addicted to the concept that flawed individuality has a place on the top of the shining hill and the Clintons are a reminder that greatness is an illusion in humanity, while we should strive for greatness, it’s ok to settle once in a while. There is a problem with that philosophy, it takes away from the natural progression of the human being to evolve that’s one reason why we vote, the other is Hope.

It is Americas decision to settle, that has also caused America not to celebrate the fact that she maybe the first female president elected, shame on us.  The reality is, The Clintons have played out their time in politics, perhaps that is Donald Trump’s true political purpose to tell Americans subconsciously of course, it’s time for the Clintons to go, maybe this election needs a narcissistic self-centered, bizarre candidate like Donald Trump to shake up this country and get serious about its candidacies.  There is no doubt this is the saddest election in history, with two candidates who have questionable likability one candidate who has the likability of acactus and the other simply has no morals.  America is thirsty for real change, unfortunately the water is polluted, but we will drink it because we have no choice.  When Donald trump says “What Have you got to lose?” Has anyone ever wondered maybe we already lost?

The Truth About Trump Part 2 (Or The Karma Of Clinton)

As I sit and watch the media report on Donald trump, his campaign is quickly unraveling before our eyes, CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS are all on the attack to report trump’s latest vocal exercise and the results there of. There are too many to mention, his comments on Kahn, not supporting Ryan or McCain, sexual harassment comments, his private war on Muslims and Mexicans, the president stating he is not a fit candidate for the presidency, and let’s not forget telling a woman to get rid of a baby during one of his speeches, the list goes on.  Trump has single handedly turned the election into the Donald trump White House reality show, and the ratings are going through the roof. But what’s the truth about this man, is he really insane or is he a political genius, who seems to anger an educated America who can’t or won’t accept the fact that he has survived all sorts of ridicule and still comes out on top.  Never before in the history of elections has there ever been a need by the American people to see an underdog win no matter what the cost.  In all the hoopla has anyone ever asked themselves why, how is this possible? It could be format, If it’s one thing Donald trump knows how to do its change the name of the game, Trump runs the election like he runs his businesses, it’s not about what you know it’s how you present what you want people to know.  The irony is it’s working.  Even now, no one knows what Donald trump stands for, not completely anyway, he is the first candidate with the ability to get away with not giving us the whole picture. Americans who are against Donald trump, and I’m one of them, See him as an incompetent moron.  As much as I can’t stand him, He maybe a political genius, he doesn’t have any real republican support, his campaign staff are clueless as to how to help put him in a positive light, there’s no supported campaign money for him in the future and yet he keeps on going and going like the energizer bunny, is it possible that his mouth is powerful enough to win him this election?  Everything so far says yes. But why him? Why does it not work for Hillary?  Could it be that Donald trump is frustratingly entertaining? Personally, I can’t bear the thought of him as president but at the same time I can’t help but enjoy the stupidity.  Perhaps that’s difference as much as we see Hillary Clinton as a serious candidate for the presidency, She is simply not likeable in any way, shape or form.  Some us were old enough to remember when she was first lady, she was never funny, it was better not to see on camera with her husband, she could get her hair right, It was a running joke that she wanted the presidency even more than Bill back then, and she single handedly destroyed healthcare for Bill Clinton during his first term and almost cost him his second run remember that? Could it be That this entire election is in some way Karma for Clinton? A slow way to see her bleed is to have her up against Donald Trump, A man who stands for nothing, A man who possibly believes in nothing, an absolute detestable human being who sole purpose in life is to rile people up with hate and make money, so far the American people are saying yes, let’s try that maybe he’s the answer.  Think about it, If McCain, Gingrich or even Ted Cruz were the front runner at this point in time, it would be a very different election, Maybe Clinton would be kicked off the ticket.  Yet here she stands a serious candidate up against A man who reminds us of Morton Downey Jr. with an uncontrollable mouth Remember him? The reality is Clinton Should be annihilating Trump, But she’s not! Even after all these years her inability to be unlikeable seems to get the best of her.  There is no doubt that if she wins this election that aura will follow her into the white house and it will affect her ability to govern.  What does this all mean in the end? We have 2 candidates, one who is completely untrustworthy, unlikeable but possibly qualified and one who is a moronically entertaining.  America Those are the choices, take your pick.

To Conclude,  I see Donald trump as the Houdini of American politics, we all paid our ticket to see his greatest illusion, Unfortunately, we have to wait 96 days to him do more than pull a rabbit out of a hat.  We’ve seen that trick done too many times. As For Hillary Clinton, Just don’t send her any emails we won’t have a problem.

Heroes

Heroes!

The world wants them they are a limited supply

These days the sentence did you hear? Is about as common as what's for dinner? It comes as no surprise. The first time that word was ever in question for me was the day oj simpson drove his white ford bronco running from the law after being accused for the murder of nicole simpson and ronald goldman. before that he was the guy in all those naked gun movies. and a great football player.  We saw what he wanted us to see, a great guy. An all american hero, it wasnt an act, that's who he was.  Then something happened, I call it the snapping point. or maybe the clark kent mode. superman put his cape away, only in this case it was the bad guy. We all have a dark side, but many of us thankfully do not wind up displaying it in public. What is that turns these otherwise normal human beings into public displays of destruction, they go from heroes to parody in the blink of an eye, we stare, we laugh, but only at them not ourselves for putting them so high up on a pedestal, we always say shame on them not on us, we have no appreciation for their past life or what put them there, we just want to see the show, as if we are not satisfied until we see them become a reality show.  We are a species that destroys all that we build, economically, socially, and morally. We can't help it, it's in our DNA. If someone's having a good time it's our job to make sure it doesn't continue.  This is what I don't understand heroes, we need them but we don't believe in them. It's a constant tug of war on the American psyche. The bigger they are the harder we make sure they fall. A great example, Lance 

Armstrong 7 time Tour de France winner we wanted to believe he was a real champion.  He raised millions of dollars for cancer research it had to be true but then the inevitable lie in all 7 Tour de France he was found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs. He snowed the American public, careers were ruined lives were altered Armstrong was a fraud. Mike Tyson, went from being heavyweight champ, to heavyweight chump in less than 10 years, we all watch in anticipation in 1997 when he was banned from boxing for life. We watch him bite the ears of Evander Holyfield 23 years later we find ourselves having sympathy for the also accused rapist in his documentary Tyson. Now, I turn on the tv and the once beloved comedian bill Cosby whose life was a picture perfect family man millions of us considered him father of the year. Underneath he has a closeted a secret he had been fighting for years to he keep hidden for 40 years. A sexual predator praying on the young, using his celebrity and reputation to take advantage of women. Cosby was playing in a different field than the other celebrities that came before him .  He had a well crafted reputation as America's dad and family man that in the eyes of the public the news of his sexual escapades 40 years later came as an unbelievable shock. It was the first time we watched a celebrity fall from grace, so hard because of what represented and how strong of a reputation it was and we all had the same feeling of strong denial. Cosby??? Electric Company, jello pudding Cosby, Cosby show Cosby??? How could this be??? For my generation Cosby was the ultimate dad he's as American as John Wayne, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. By that token, it's safe to say that the destruction of a celebrity just moved up a notch, besting Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and OJ Simpson. Maybe Cosby becomes the landmark celebrity who will make it harder on new celebrities trying to build a career and good reputation. As of now, nothing is as it seems. And it's no longer a media high to be pulled back and forth by people we admire. It's a horrible situation for all of us who are looking for something to believe in, it's a terrible sport.  However, they were once people like you and me, maybe we shouldn't hate the player, so much as the game, maybe we need new rules, speaking of which who's up next, Justin Bieber? If so somebody pop some popcorn, this is gonna be better than Star Wars the force awakens.  Or if you really want a hero watch avengers that was a good movie

The Lost? Or Not Lost Generation "Y"

The lucky fewers and the lost generation “Y” (“Y” Is A PUN)

This country was built on old school values: work hard and prosper.  

I am 46 years old and a product immigrant parents. I am also an early Generation “X”er,  born between 1965 and 1982.  My generation is pretty much coming to an end, but still retains the old school values taught to us two generations before; the lucky few- 1929-1945 and the greatest generation that ever lived (1946-1964).  All three generations could communicate and share values to some extent. The basis of understanding of what make the world go round never left us. Most of my generation grew up, got jobs, had families - pretty much made our mark and moved on.  

Generation “Y”:  A total separate generation. They are far and away from any generation ever produced.  In many ways, they can be admired. They want to build their own world, but what values will they follow?  Justin Bieber? Miley Cyrus?

The values that the last three generations followed are not followed by generation “Y”  (1980 to present). How did this happen?  Who is at fault?  In my opinion, there are many factors: perhaps my generation didn’t pass on the message.  Perhaps technology - in an age of smart phones,  internet  and ipads information is at their fingertips 24 hours a day.  The way they get their information dictates how they see the world. If it's not on social networks, YouTube or Facebook, iPhone, iPad I don't get it, and how many 60-70 year olds do you know even use any of those services or products.  Too bad for them, they are missing a lot of life lessons, in world of techno the information should be vast, instead it's limited to whatever life lessons they can learn from reality shows making what this new generation thinks, feels and understands limited Stupid me, my generation use to look through card catalogues in a place called a library to learn.

It’s safe to say generation “Y” is the “now” generation: they want everything now! They want all the world’s prizes with the least amount of effort. My generation played with that idea but we didn’t live there.  They live in a world of entitlement whether they want to admit it or not.  

I’m sure every generation that has ever existed has said the same thing to the generation that came after them. But never before has there ever been a generation where the world they live in is already built all the worlds have been conquered; in every category everything is theirs just for the taking. Excess is the order of the day. The faster the better.

I was 20 years old when I first got my hands on a portable cd player I thought it was the coolest thing I ever saw and heard. My level of amazement could be compared to Neil Armstrong’s awe of walking on the moon.  Before that we had records. Big black flat plastic round objects that I had to physically put on a machine called a phonograph and physically place a needle on and wait to listen to music. Remember that Gen Xer’s?

Oh! One more thing I had to get my ass to a store to buy one!  Today, we open itunes and get our music by pressing the download button.  Wait a sec! This is the generation of entitlement why pay for it? Lets steal it! Remember Shawn Fanning?  He’s one of the heroes Generation “Y” produced.  He came up with the concept of legally getting something for nothing and hypnotized a generation into believing it was ok to just take music and not pay for it.  See what entitlement thinking will do for you?

There are no shadows of those immigrants that came off  the boat and built this country from nothing;  when Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty stood for something? When give me your tired, your hungry,  your poor was a quest we sought instead of some lyrics to a new song Miley Cyrus came up with.  As each generation moved on, slowly, we forgot the ultimate dream of just having a new job, a new life in the new world. Entering an age of entitlement that, sadly, maybe my generation contributed to.Perhaps to the point where we don’t understand our children.  

What can we do to stop this madness?  We need more time with each other. Remember back when we were children we sat at the dinner table with our parents  and grandparents and told each other stories? At 6pm everyone knew it was time to eat, no television, no Ipads, no ipods no techno of any kind. Just people sitting around at the dinner table laughing, sharing,  discussing, and sometimes arguing…. but - communicating.  

Perhaps the answer for this new generation “Y” is communication.  Even today’s techno entitled whizkid should know that the greatest ipad ever invented is Mom and Dad.  There are no batteries, memories cards, downloading, or even searching. Just asking, listening and soaking up.  If that’s too hard for them, maybe our generation should do a reboot. If we don’t, 80 years values may be lost on generation “Y”. The  Idea of a work ethic will be lost. Perhaps with this simple move we can move the next new generation to really think for themselves. Imagine just by communicating to grandpa they can learn the meaning of life. Maybe there’s information in his head that’s not on the internet.

Which leads me to the final question: what’s generation “Y”’s plan for the future?  Do they have one? Pretty soon the entitlement lifestyle will come to an end. We may soon have to realize that if don’t wake up generation”Y” there will not be a generation”Z”.  Almost all of the lucky “fewers” born in the U.S. are long gone. There are still some out there. They, more than likely, look at these fresh faces of the future, possibly, not as people; but aliens from another planet.  It begs the question?  If I, a 46 year old man feels this way about the future, what do people over 70 think? Or does it matter to them at at all.  They did create the world of values for which my generation will ever be so grateful for.

I’m just sorry I may have had a hand in screwing it up.

How Much Is Too Much?

Excess!!!!!!

As human beings we should consider the idea of excess and greed. How too much ‘want’ can destroy a person. I just watch the movie, “The Wolf of Wall Street”.  Films like this seem to be the trend. They reflect the times in which we live. I notice human beings have a tendency (and its a good one) to step back and take a look at themselves, see what's wrong, and try to fix it.  One problem, however,  that we never seem to fix: human beings are, by nature, hungry creatures, whether we want to admit it or not.  We want more food, more liquor, more drugs more sex, a better job, a prettier wife;  never happy or satisfied with what we have.  

The idea "I can do better" -  why do we say it? Do we say it to ourselves for ourselves? Or do we just want to show off?  Keeping up with the Jones’ has never really been a cultural phenomenon, but a fact since the beginning of time.  Giving in to any one of these excesses obviously has consequences.  No matter how many times we experience it  ourselves, or see it we never seem to grasp the lesson.  Life gives us the options and its up to us to make the choices. Maybe those options presented to us are there for some other purpose.  

Secondly, why has no one ever figured out a way to have those options without the excess?  Why can we not easily just say, “Stop! I'm happy!”.  We are people who can think, we are not animals.  Maybe the idea of excess and greed will stay around until someone figures out how not to fall prey to it; that we

can have our cake and eat it too. Time and again, life lets us see what can happen to us when we give in to our own hunger: Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, and more recently;  Phillip Seymour Hoffman. They lived lives of excess to some degree. Justin Bieber - the perfect victim or maybe he's a victim of an unattentive parent. I don't know.  Already, most of us are thinking, “this kid’s going down”.

Maybe too much success too soon is a drug in and of itself. Maybe its a message telling us we should not have too much…. that there is a point. Maybe those people went past that point and they are a lesson we should learn? I’d like to believe you can live with the Jones’s that have that pool in their backyard, without feeling resentment or wanting to best them by getting a bigger pool.  Even highly educated, people fall prey to their own greed.  Remember Elliot Spitzer, governor of New York?  If he had stayed on track, He may have become president, instead, he fell prey to a prostitution ring and we watched him squirm on TV losing his edge with the American people.  

Now we have  Barack Obama.  Ironically in the world of politics excess and greed seem to take center stage. President Obama is now being viewed on CNN, Fox News as being a man who will not listen.  He is intent on having his own way.  Even at the cost of the American people’s needs, he did says "I Have a Pen, and I have Phone"  Most of us, who don't think much of the political world to begin with, watch all politicians slowly rise and quickly fall.  We do it as if it’s entertainment. We can't wait to see these people fall prey to their own excess, and save  every video of "I'm sorry” and upload it on YouTube for the world to see, just because its better entertainment than ‘Duck Dynasty’ and ‘Toddler's and Tiaras’.  We watch those videos over and over again and laugh. We wait for the next tragedy to be entertainment until they become Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Michael jackson, Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston.  

I'll lose all hope for humanity if we laugh when that happens. So far I'm glad we don't.  I just wish we would learn our lesson.  In The meantime, life goes on. There are more stories to tell; perhaps lessons

we will never learn. Maybe I will never learn!  Maybe we should check YouTube and watch Justin Bieber and Laugh!  Right now, when we watch the news, we see pictures of Bieber smiling as he is arrested for drunkenness, speeding, vandalism and who knows what?  One things for certain: this kid’s got too much!

Right now I’m laughing! I’m sure some of you are too!  But will we be laughing later? Or are we going to reinvent the system?  Or at least say, “Stop!  I'm Happy!”

Right now I look out the window and see a beautiful sunset and a red Ferrari parked outside the neighbor's house,  I like the Ferrari!!!!! Excess! Always Excess!

The good news is I don't own a Ferrari!  But I want one! Dont you!!?? Isn’t Time to watch youtube again?