Baltimore is a Dump!

And for as long as I can remember, Baltimore has had the reputation of being a "bad neighborhood".  I don't drive by the city often but I can't help but see it from Interstate RT-95 when I'm on my way back from somewhere else. I always take a long look at the place.

And I shudder. Who can imagine living there?

Baltimore Maryland is a perpetual welfare city. According to the national census, Maryland is the country's richest state with a median income of $69,272.00 per person so imagine what that means when you factor in the poorest city in the country! 

Did I mention that the current Mayor of Baltimore, Bernard Young, is a Democrat? I think the last Republican to run the city was in 1967. 

The last Mayor of Baltimore, Catherine Pugh, also a Democrat, was forced to resign due to a corruption scandal involving a children's book she 'wrote" and coerced the city school system to purchase. It wasn't much of a book but it was a hell of a crime.

Maryland also has a Democrat for a Governor, Larry Hogan. I don't much about him since, I really don't pay much attention to the state in general since I would never think of setting foot there for any reason. It's just a name on a map to me. Sorta like say, Suriname, a place that might as well be on the moon. The only time you hear of such places is when bad things happen there. 

Way back in the late 1980s I had a co-worker who was originally from North Carolina but he and his young wife moved to Baltimore, to start their life together. He was not familiar with the place but thought, since they were in their early 20s, that the city was a place they could build a life together.

But there was no work. Neither could get a job. Their money quickly ran out and they applied for public assistance. They were assigned an apartment. When they looked at the place, it was filthy, in a run-down building in a seedy area of the city. But they were stuck and had to make the most of it. The place was roach infested. When they started to clean the place up, he told me, there was a taped up cardboard box in a corner of the room. When he picked it up, the bottom fell out and "about 2000 cockroaches" hit the floor and scattered in all directions. He and his wife shared their first Baltimore freak-out during their eventful but short stay in that building. There was more but you get the picture. 

What that lead to was the two of them frantically calling any relative and extended family member they could recall in the hopes that one of them would let them stay with them for even just a little while. One of them, who worked with me, told them that if they could get there, they could stay with him for as long as it took to get settled. He told me they each packed one bag and went straight to the highway and thumbed the first truck that would take them closer to Massachusetts and farther away from Maryland. 

When the truck driver dropped them off at our towns highway rest-stop on Interstate RT-495, he drove off with their luggage and disappeared into the night. But that incident did not offset the relief they felt for finally getting out of Baltimore. 

Since that time Baltimore has gotten worse. 

Baltimore is a city of stark contrasts, the have's and the have-nots, empty buildings that serve as drug shooting-galleries a block away from a posh neighborhood, poor schools and poor people a block away from good schools and rich neighborhoods. Employment in much of the city is public employment since businesses are reluctant to move in. 

People who live in Baltimore will tell you that there are a lot of great places to go there, museums, restaurants, art centers and other attractions. 

But they will also warn you to be aware of your surroundings when out and not to walk and talk on your cell phone in public since this automatically makes you a target. They will also tell you to simply expect things to be stolen off of your porch and to not leave items visible in your car when you park. They will mention that your home insurance should cover break-ins. Everyone there will acknowledge that the crime rate is very high punctuated by a lot of shootings. 

In 2017, there were a reported 343 murders in Baltimore but the good news is that it dropped in 2018 to 309. 

But that could be anywhere in the country, right? 

Since the Freddy Gray incident, where six Baltimore policemen were put on trial for the negligent homicide of Mr. Gray whom they left unsecured with his hands cuffed behind his back in the police vehicle and who subsequently died as a result of falling against the door handle, arrests have gone down and crime has gone up. 

People there warn you not to come. Don't take my word for it, Google "Moving to Baltimore" and see what that gets you. Oh, there's some fake news out there but you'll know the real stuff when you read it. 

All the money Baltimore gets in Federal Aid doesn't seem to help things. That's because the money isn't there to actually help people, it's good jobs at good wages for the people who dole it all out. Those are the people the money is for.

Nothing seems to get better in Baltimore.  

Blame Military Training For Killer Cops

“It’s more dangerous to be black in America. It’s both more dangerous because of crime, which is the Chicago story but it is more dangerous in that you’re substantially more likely to end up in a situation where police don’t respect you where you could easily get killed. I think sometimes for whites it’s difficult to appreciate how real that is.” – Republican Vice President hopeful, Newt Gingrich

Although not just a “Black thing” since the shooting rampage of the police forces in our nation goes beyond merely shooting black people. But when police are shooting Black people over a broken tail light, you just gotta think it's gotten beyond control.

It doesn't stop with one group of people however since the police are also shooting Whitey as well as Hispanics. In addition the police manage to indiscriminately shoot people in cross-fire situations, wounding many a passerby by irresponsibly discharging their weapons in public during shootings. You don't hear much about that either. 

This willful carnage by our nation’s police force is coming more to the forefront in the “Everybody has a Camera” age. Now we see what we’ve always suspected. Police are just shooting people down for things they have no reason to fire their weapon for. Some of the video that is going around is incredible. Police shooting fleeing women, men just getting out of their car, black people everywhere and now licensed gun owners who have done what they were supposed to and told the officer they were carrying. I have some friends on local police forces sending me videos of shootings that are unbelievable in their cold-bloodedness. A cop doesn’t feel like running after this kid so he just shoots him in the back. No law against a police officer shooting a “fleeing felon” right? And Black, White or Brown, we’re ALL potential fleeing felons and we are ALL potential targets. 

And when did failure to follow a police officer's instructions become a reason to shoot an unarmed person? It used to be a reason to hit you over the head with a flashlight but now it's the excuse all these killers with badges use to justify what they've done. "He didn't follow my instructions so I shot him." Are you fucking kidding me? We should FRY the next cop who uses this for an excuse. 

Neil Young sung in the 1970s of “Soldiers are cutting us down.” Now he can sing about the police in the new century.

And it’s not only been going on for some time but it’s increasing in its frequency and ferocity.

Many Killer Cops Skate

And most of these killers with a badge get away with it. They don’t even lose their jobs! The courts have long looked the other way in the fight for “Justice”. It doesn’t matter if they are wrong or right, they’ll bash your head in and let the courts clear them. The police are operating with impunity these days and only answer for what they do when it’s caught on video. Even then they don’t go to jail.

People are tired of seeing this and black people especially are fed up with the constant “Revolving Door of Justice” when it comes to prosecuting killer cops.

The Role of the Military

As everyone is well aware, the United States has been training and cycling soldiers through the Middle East for decades. Most of these are what they like to call “Citizen Soldiers” those in the Army Reserves or the Air National Guard. These soldiers actually have regular jobs that they work when they are not overseas killing people. Many of these reservists are police officers.

People in the military can and do receive preferential hiring when they leave military service and decide to go into law enforcement either at the local or state level. Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) also tout the numbers of ex-military people they employ. This has gone on for decades now and one thing the U.S. has a large surplus of is military veterans.

So many cops are Vets these days and many have done tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many have done more than one tour in the Middle East. Some have done three.

Soldiers are trained to kill and get it done quickly. Whether you are A SEAL, Special Forces a Marine or an Army Regular, you are taught to focus on the primary objective: Kill the Enemy. Unlike an Army Regular, a Marine is trained to overrun enemy positions and to take casualties. That’s a special and intense focus. Not everyone can be a Marine and not everyone wants to. Ditto for the SEALS.

Improved Kill Ratio

Since the World War II there have been many in depth military studies on why troops shoot too high. These studies were used to try to improve the “Kill Ratio”, the number of bullets fired vs actual hits on the enemy, of U.S. soldiers. Since the American Civil War the top U.S. military commanders have been puzzled as to why troops have always shot too high and had very low kill rates. One psychological reason is that man has a natural aversion to killing another man. Another problem is that the human body goes into a “Stress Mode” when the shooting starts that restricts a person’s ability to shoot effectively, the pulse quickens, the pupils dilate and the body is flooded with hormones. So the military command has worked diligently since then to correct these “problems” and they have succeeded in grand fashion.

New training strategies work to desensitize soldiers to the act of killing and teach them not to feel responsible for their actions. So now when these guys pop in a door and make the decision to shoot, they hit the “target” at a percentage rate never before seen in the world. U.S. soldiers are the most efficient killers on the planet. Still.

It is also believed that this resulting “improvement” in training has also lead to increases in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

These are the people we are supplying to our nations police forces. They are institutionalized, desensitized killers who have had the smell of blood in their nostrils and now they've traded the uniform of the American Armed Services for that of a City or Town police officer. 

What can possibly go wrong?

Police Officers or Soldiers?

A collaboration of sorts has been taking place between the military and local and state police departments. The local forces have acquired an incredible amount of military gear. Laser sites, gas masks, night vision googles, military style bullet proof vests and leggings, armored vehicles, acoustic riot control vehicles, high powered and automatic weapons and military style systems training. All supplied by the Federal Government.

They aren’t just cops anymore, they have become a highly trained select military tactical force right here in every neighborhood. They have all the resources taxpayer money can buy.

So just who do they answer to now?

The Drug War

The War on Drugs and its sister police-state building sister, the Patriot Act, gave law enforcement organizations across the country the power and resources it needed to build up its fighting might. The progress our nation’s police forces have made in their military capabilities is unmistakable and alarming. Over the last decade especially they have greatly grown in strength. Even though the Drug War has crashed and burned the laws and their “kick in the door” attitude remains.

The confiscatory nature of the drug laws saw local and state police raking in millions of dollars from property seizures that still continue today with little media fanfare. The police have taken cash, cares, land and homes that are then sold at auction. Assets and their proceeds the department gets to keep. The police also routinely freeze with the intent of seizing bank assets that would otherwise have served to help the “Accused” with their legal defense because any financial assets are instantly deemed “ill gotten” without having to actually prove it. But that’s ok, they were guilty anyway. Otherwise, why would the police arrest them?

What happens if you protest these actions? You could lose your property too. All that is required is an accusation.

So don’t think for a moment that law enforcement will go along with drug legalization attempts. This is their livelihood we’re talking about.

Obama Not Helping

President Obama has this uncanny knack of saying the wrong thing at exactly the right time. After all this time can anybody think this is an accident? Our racial divide although never really addressed since the 1960s has laid dormant since the late70s has now been brought roaring back by a combination of an advancing militant police force and a race-baiting president. This will benefit no one.

It is no surprise that Mr. Obama will not admit there is a widening racial divide in the U.S. under his administration. One has to wonder if Obama will succeed where Charles Manson had failed in triggering a race war in this country.

Gun Legislation Now Dead

As a good Apparatchik, Comrade Obama has come out with his expected “take guns away, the problem is solved” rhetoric.  This will not happen no matter how many sit-ins occur now in Washington. Congress isn’t going to touch it. Nobody is going to give up their guns while battle lines are being drawn in the city streets. People will only hold them closer than ever before. 

What Now?

Ending the Drug Prohibition will help. The corresponding reduction in a standing police force will help also. The corresponding saving to the beleaguered American taxpayer will boost the economy.

Cutting back the totally corrupt Welfare System will also help. Continuing to subsidize a large group of people has not worked for us. Keeping people poor and stupid has not added wealth to this nation. Learning to make your own way in the world is the most enriching thing a human being can achieve in life. It’s time everyone had that opportunity again. The Welfare system is not doing anybody any favors and continuing to tell a group of people that they can't compete on a level playing field without government help will never get them on base in the game of life. The corresponding savings in taxes can go to drug rehab programs that this nation so sorely lacks.

We should end our wasteful wars that accomplish nothing but spreading violence throughout the world and creates tons of disabled warriors that we can't seem to be able to take care of. We have created a “Chicken or the Egg” cycle of violence that only increases and has not made anyone any safer. The result has been quite the opposite actually. This will also result in a net gain for the American taxpayer.

A rising economy will lift all boats. Ours has been an embarrassing flat-line of failure with the faces of GW Bush and Barak Obama on the IOUs. Putting our money back into our pockets so that we can spend it on the right things will further the nation more than any war or welfare check. 

Doing away with these wasteful influence buying, power-grabbing programs will bring the economy back so if you want a job in this country, you should be able to find one. The failed cycle of economic bribery that has been going on since the 1960s should be brought to an end. 

Or we can become a Police State. 

Take your pick. 

Trump 2016!

I Want Out of Social Security

Here, listen, this is what I propose: The Government can keep everything they've taken  out of my paycheck since I started working at 13 years old. Everything. Keep it all. Just let me out of the program so I can put MY MONEY towards MY RETIREMENT. Is that fair. No, it actually isn't since the Federal Government has taken SO MUCH from me over my working lifetime that I will never ever get that back but perhaps there is an opportunity for me to provide for my retirement with the time I have left if the LET ME OUT of the program.

For too long this has all been a Dog & Pony show for the rubes (ie: taxpayers). For the longest time we have known that there is no TRUST FUND set aside for every working American paying into the plan even though the Federal Government insists repeatedly that there is. The money is actually coming directly out of the paychecks of people working today. There is nothing set “aside”. Today's’ Social Security payments are a direct money transfer from money earned by taxpayers TODAY.

If the program is running a deficit that means that taxes will go up for the people working today to pay the people who are no longer working and are living off of Social Security. How well would this sit with Grandma and Grandpa if they know their kids and grand kids are on the hook for their payments?  But that’s what’s happening .

But it’s not only retirement benefits and it wouldn't be so bad if the payments were only limited to retirees. It’s the SSI, the Supplemental Security Income payments that are given to everyone who says they’re hearing voices when their unemployment benefits run out that is really killing the system. Those payments also come out of the Social Security "Trust". This allows people who have never paid a dime into the Social Security “Plan” to collect benefits from it since they are deemed "Disabled". Does the Federal Government actually check whether these people are disabled or not? Nope! What the hell does the Federal Government care, it’s OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY, right? It's their job to give out the money so that's what they do. It’s all fun and games in “Other People’s Money” land. Just give it away since that’s what their job is, giving money away to people that “need” it.

That is, until the well runs dry. They it’s back to the taxpayer to get more. But what if there isn't any more? What if there are more people drawing from the well than are contributing? Then the whole shit-show hits a snag.

Although most of the time I avoid thinking about it but I sometimes imagine all the money I've earned up until this point in my life that the government has taken. I compare that figure to the fact that the Federal Government has run a $18 Trillion dollar debt. Then I imagine what I could have done with that money that they've taken out of my pocket before it even went into my pocket. The things that could have purchased, the lives I could have enriched. My life would have been better off for it too. Much better. But instead it went elsewhere. Perhaps to fund the many wars we have fought since I was born. Or to fund free abortions. Or to line the pockets of some Congressman or even the President. But where ever it went, I know it wasn't put to as good a use as it would have if I had been able to hold onto it. That's a given. 

I didn't volunteer for this. I was born into this Socialist Boondoggle and I want OUT. It was doomed to fail and with the nameless faceless government not caring enough to look twice at the people they’re giving the benefits away, taxpayers like me are left holding the bag and we can’t get out because the government is holding a gun to our heads. We can’t opt out. But I want out. In fact, I never wanted in. Not from the first day I received a paycheck when I was a kid and wondered why there was so much taken out of my first paycheck. I was told it was taxes to help the less fortunate. But I was less fortunate, I was working since I was in the sixth grade. Who could be more deserving than ME of MY MONEY. I didn't understand and I STILL don’t understand.

But that’s what Social Security is all about. YOU are too STUPID to provide for your own retirement so the government will help you provide for it whether you like it or not. YOU are incapable of providing for yourself into the future. The government knows best how to provide for you. You just have to pay it out to THEM and someday, maybe, they will pay it back to YOU.

The day I got my first paycheck was the day I became a Libertarian. I have always been a libertarian.

It just took that first check to realize it.

Is this any way to run a free country?

No, it isn't. 

New Black Panthers Dumber Than Old Black Panthers

I’m all for an independent Black Nation just as long as they don’t expect me to pay for that too.

This misplaced anger at “America” is unfounded since most working Americans are more concerned with their jobs, families, communities and making ends meet in a volatile economy than about “Keeping the Black Man Down.” It isn't like black people don’t live in our neighborhoods already. It isn't like they don’t own good looking homes, have nice cars and have their kids in public school because they do.

It is not these black folks that anyone in the media and national radical groups care to talk about. This isn't about THEM.

It’s about the urban dwelling black youth which have grown up without fathers and only have mothers who exist on welfare and that have little opportunity and little education. These are the people that matter and it’s true to a certain extent since it is these people who are having a problem adjusting to the prospect of no future. And why wouldn't they?

So they lash out and to help them voice their distress, they have people like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and this new up and coming "leader" Hashim Nzinga. Mr. Nzinga is purportedly is the head of the NEW Black Panthers group and who can only dream of occupying a position of power like Al and Jesse where he can embezzle all the dough he cares to embezzle, screw around with all sorts of women and just get away with it like those two have always seemed to do.

Now that’s living the dream!

But until then Mr. Nzinga is an angry black man and is looking for a target. The problem is, all he has targeted as the enemy right now is AMERICA. Yes, to Mr. Nzinga “America” is the enemy. This at first glance seems rather broad. The American people are a bit preoccupied right now with their own problems. 

But, to look at the situation more closely, what group would currently be in the best position to help solve these systemic social issues in our large American Urban center?

Hmmm, could it be...Democrat Mayors and their administrations? 

I say that Mr. Hashim Nzinga should narrow down his “Hit List” so to speak and attempt to find the real enemy of the black youth.

Perhaps he should start with who is keeping the Welfare State the way it is. A Welfare State that favors single motherhood over two parent families. A Welfare State that does not question the whereabouts of the father or hold anyone responsible for their actions. That’s not what it’s all about, is it?

Or how about who is keeping inner city children stupid and who are the ones who won’t allow a School Voucher program that would get and WAS getting poor and minority children into better schools. That is, before the Teachers Union killed the measure like they did in Washington, DC of all places that could use it the most.  It's not "America" running that show, it's the political Left, the people who call themselves the Democratic Party who are in control of it. It's THEIR call. 

No, Mr. Angry Black Man, you should go after the real enemy of poor minorities everywhere. The real enemy that robs them of opportunity that stifles ambition and instead of providing an even playing field for business to thrive in minority neighborhoods instead gives them Welfare and subsidized housing under their control. The finger-pointing bureaucrats in charge should look in the mirror. But a press release is much easier to do. 

You know, the New Slavery is so different from the Old Slavery. There’s hardly any heavy lifting at all anymore. Now all that is required is that every now and then you get in a van that takes you to the polling station where you vote for the Democratic Mayor. Then you get to keep your housing and your EBT card and all the money you make any other way you can.

And it's not just Baltimore, MD. The same sorry scenario is playing out in New York City, Philadelphia, PA, Worchester, MA, Burlington, VT, Boston, MA, Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA, Camden, NJ, Hartford, CT, Providence, RI, Washington, DC, Chicago, IL...need I say more?Now what do these cities all have in common? A Democrat Mayor perhaps? Yes, these cities have been waging a War on Poverty for decades and decades yet no matter how much money they tax out of the working folks and spread among the "poor", the situation never seems to get any better does it? Now an intelligent person may draw a conclusion concerning this statistic.

So go ahead Mr. Nzinga, go to war with America if you can find it. I’m all for it. Like Huey P. Newton before you in a different age and time, you can go tilting at windmills and never get anywhere and "his people" will never progress. 

Why? 

Because he doesn't know who to fight. 

Baltimore, MD: A City With No Future

I met a couple once years ago that had traveled to Obscurity, MA where I live. They had previously lived in Baltimore. They had left because of the crime, the poverty and lack of jobs. And this was in the 1980s.

They didn't have two nickels to rub together and she was pregnant and the story they told of their treatment at the hands of Baltimore's Social Services Department and the squalid conditions they had to endure made me vow never to set foot in the place. They finally resorted to packing one suitcase each and heading for the highway. They literally stuck out their thumbs on Interstate RT 95 to get out of town and when the trucker who picked them up and drove them to the Massachusetts line dropped them off, he drove off with the rest of their suitcases, which was what was left of their worldly possessions. It's a story you never forget. 

Baltimore was NEVER a good place to live as far as I could tell. Never wanted to go there and I didn’t even like to drive by it on my way to somewhere else. 

Baltimore represents all that is wrong with the welfare state. Like any of the crappy big cities like Philadelphia, PA, Cleveland, OH, Camden, NJ or Washington, DC, they'll give you what you need to survive but that ain’t living. And in order to get the money to fund these respective welfare states, they tax and regulate away real opportunity. Then they wonder why nobody wants to open a business in Baltimore. The money has to come from somewhere. It’s a Socialist Paradox. They take your opportunity and give you welfare and food stamps because, well, you can't find a job but there are no jobs so you quit looking and just take the short money and lump it. 

There are plenty of stupid people in Baltimore. They have voted for the Social Democrats for decades and nothing ever seems to get better and they can’t figure it out. It must mean that they aren't throwing enough money at the problem. It must mean that GOVERNMENT is not doing enough!

Anyone who stays in Baltimore and thinks it’s going to get any better is a FOOL. It hasn't and it won’t. If you stay there the odds are very good you will never get anywhere in life. You have to get your ass out of Baltimore or you will only ever get what the government gives you. You’re a slave to the State. What’s the difference who your Massa is? You still have a Massa!

No opportunity, no future. The government can’t give you a future. They can’t manufacture a job without taking from others with jobs and putting the burden on THEM to support you. Without self-reliance, you can never be free. You own yourself so now what are you going to do with yourself? You going to go loot a chain drug store? That’s your future? You're just waiting for the bullet. 

And it looks like the local police force are all too happy to help you out with that final exit. Yes, it seems that one of the six policemen or perhaps ALL of the six policemen tried to twist poor Freddie Gray’s head off for being, for the most part, a wise guy. It is not up to the police to decide the Mr. Gray’s fate like that, it’s for the courts and all six of them should be arrested and tried. Only in this fashion will the truth come out.  Will it happen? Most likely no, since we still have an unapologetic unaccountable police force and this is starting to lead to some big problems nationally.

But that has nothing to do with why Baltimore is a DUMP.  A dump made worse by recent lawlessness permitted if not condoned by the Leftist Mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who mistakenly believed that by letting these home-grown Hooligans run rampant in the city streets unchecked that it would somehow lessen the damage in the long run. Did you see all those cop cars burning? With all the technology in those cruisers, they must cost $70,000 apiece. Where is the money to replace them going to come from? Oh, they’ll just raise taxes on businesses and property owners so no worries there.

And people are calling the cops and none are coming. If the mayor let’s this sort of mayhem happen when unrest breaks out, who is going to invest in Baltimore? Like we will see in Ferguson, businesses and people will be on the move…out of town.

And it will be a good move. Life is too short to hang around waiting for change that never comes. Better to walk away and seek opportunities elsewhere. Or they can stay and take the short money and waste their lives on a Baltimore street corner, dealing drugs and “Fightin’ the Power”.

Good luck with that.