Please Stop Defending Jameis Winston

You want to know how sick our world is? A football player who is seemingly on top of the world after he won the Heisman and National Championship can pretty much do whatever he wants and people are going to stand up for him. By letting him play every Saturday, the institution Florida State is knowingly letting him play EVEN THOUGH he has been accused of rape, stolen from a store, yelled obscenities into a crowd of students and has continually been a problem, yet, he is suiting up every week for the Noles. 

You know that little problem the NFL is dealing with, it is because the NCAA and NFL put winning above anything. It seems like nowadays if you can throw a football, hit a home run, make a basket or sink a putt you can pretty much get a way with almost murder(Hernandez and Ray Lewis). These are the only instances I can remember but. . . here is what has happened recently, Hernandez convicted of murder, Jonathan Martin bullying, biogenesis in baseball with Nelson Cruz, A-Rod, Dustin Johnston in golf, Adrian Peterson, Todd Gurley, Ray Rice, Hope Solo, Jameis Winston, Gregg Hardy, Aldon Smith and the list goes on and on. So why does our society and people pay millions upon millions for athletes to basically just rape and pillage it seems like. 

Now, I know they are on a platform so it is in the open and people like you and me do it everyday, but they are being paid MILLIONS to live by a certain code of ethics, they are in a workplace just like you and me. If a normal guy in an office gets caught being arrested for any of this, they are most likely fired and headed to jail. 

I may be biased because Notre Dame is playing FSU this week, but, atleast Notre Dame holds there players to a standard. In the past 2 years, ND best athletes have been suspended/kicked out of school just for academics. Jerian Grant, Everett Golson and now the 5 players this year, the school at least holds these students to a high standard and puts education before a football game. I wish Organizations like the NCAA, NFL, MLB, PGA, US Soccer, NHL, MLS, NWSL and many more held there players to higher expectations. 

The NFL's Approval Rating is Slowly Declining

It is pretty interesting how one season can change everything in the NFL. Last year is seemed like the National Football Association was going to just keep growing and growing, talking about expansion to Europe and more leagues around the world. But, it seems like maybe for now they should just focus on North America and Canada. It seems like the approval rating for the NFL is slowly going down. With the Ray Rice Scandal, Josh Haden problems, Aaron Hernandez killed some people, players suing NFL for head injuries and Jonathon Martin brought a fellow player to the brink of suicidal thoughts. Some league right? Now I am not saying that other leagues are not bad, but, they handle problems correctly.

Honestly right now, if I had a son, I would not let him play football until High School. Maybe, it is just too dangerous, and I feel like a lot more people think that way. Many Americans forget that Football is only popular in America, it will not spread like wildfire other countries, most countries just don't get football.

Per Mark Cuban, I think Football has hit its peak. I think soccer is honestly the sport of the future. It has room to grow and football has hit its peak. With all the problems going on, it just won't continue to grow.

Remember 9/11 for the Future of the United States

There are a lot of dates in history that should be remembered. In my head there are 4 main dates in History that should always be remembered. 1776, the year America won its independece from Great Britain. 1865, the year the South surrendered to the North in the Civil War. 1945, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and the world as we know it would always be changed. September 11th, 2001, a day for my generation which will always be remembered, the first attack on American Soil since the War of 1812. To be blunt, the world caught America with her pants down, not only because of how it happened, but how we reacted afterwards.

Since then, we have been combatting Terror across the world, I do not say Middle East, because it seems like these days you could find terror anywhere. It is difficult to not go to war on a specific group or country. On how difficult that is, for example, that would be like declaring war on the Cartel and all Drug related organizations throughout all Latin and South America. That would be almost impossible, just like it is almost impossible to declare a war on terror. In my mind, we have not come that long since 9/11. The Middle East has never been more on the brink of total chaos and now Russia is making moves again like it did Post WWII. On top of that, their is a crazy guy in Asia-North Korea-who is waiting on the right time to strike. Now how does it feel?

I believe the remembrance of 9/11 everywhere is a good blemish on this nation and always should be a sign to not let our guard down as a country. I am tired of hearing the opinions that people are tired of America being the International Police. Guess what. . .  do you like your freedom? We don't go to war with these groups because its fun, we go to protect our people abroad and our interests abroad? There is a lot more that goes into it then just people fighting people. But, this is about always keeping guard and being anxious, because you never know when that day is. I would rather the U.S. hold the cards then other countries. So remember this day and remember what is ahead. A group ISIL is in the Middle East and making tracts in Iraq and Syria, a civil war is still going on in Syria and Ukraine, Iran is developing a Nuclear Bomb and Russia is invading Sovreign Nations. . . Never Forget

The U.S. Needs and Wants Mass Transportation

Is the United States really developed all the way? Can we get better as a nation? Yes, I really believe there are tons of pressing needs domestically that the United States could improve on and it would make many things easier for the whole world. Right now, our economy is slowly limping along, our infrastructure is about 10 years to old, our influece abroad is slowly losing its power and our leadership has been very weak. I believe one solution that can help all 4 of those things is mass transportation in the United States. Wouldn't it be nice to take a fast speed rail to Columbus or Cleveland in less than an hour for about $20 or maybe a bullet train to Chicago or New York City in about 2 hours for about $40. It would be nice, even a more efficient bus system that connects the whole United States.

This addresses everything. It would boost our economy through creating jobs and revenue. It would really improve our infrastructure and bring us up to par compared to Europe and the Asian Tiger Economies such as Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. It is different, the United States is a lot bigger and tougher to execute a mass transportation system, we are not the size of Japan, and probably mroe rural, but if we do it on a larger scale, then it should be 10x the benefits.

It would take heavy capital and probabaly some Foreign Direct Investment from some other countries. But, everyone thought Eisenhower was crazy when he created highways for the military, but look what it did for the growth of our country. It has lasted us this long and now I believe we need something that will last us another 50-100 years. Canada did something about this around 2008 in the midst of a global financial crisis, they reinvested into their countries infrastructure creating more than 1 million jobs and FDI. They could weather the financial crisis because of the reinvestment into their own country.

I really hope in his last 2 terms, or the next president focuses on infrastructure, because the United States needs it badly. Not only could it help our economy it could really cutdown CO2 emissions and our environment would benefit.

Thats TJ's Take

ISIS Needs to Be Dealth With Now. . . And Syria

ISIS

What is ISIS?

            ISIS is an extremist militant group that is basically running rampant throughout the Middle East, but primarily throughout Iraq and they have been seen in Syria. They are so radical, that they actually split from the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, who was responsible for 9/11. Now, ideology wise I am not to sure, I just know they are pretty crazy and you do not want to take this new group lightly.

            Many of you know them recently because they beheaded an American Journalist and then published it online. I know everyone’s immediate reaction is War, lets go and break these guys down. I agree to an extent, but we are already bombing them like crazy and they care still succeeding.

            Here is the scary part, these aren’t just guys off the street, the leader has a PhD in Islamic Religion. The guy who beheaded the American Journalist had a British accent and they located him to be from London. WTF!? Now, granted, they have Middle East background, but these are people that are born and raised in the West. After they get training, they go back to these Western Countries, which is even scarier. So these radical militants are coming from America, Britain and Germany and they get trained by radical militants and come back. These people do not represent Islam, this is not a Muslim thing and it should not be held against the majority of Muslims, just like every society, there are radicals. But, for some reason these guys are a little bit scarier. They are even getting people from Indonesia, which you wouldn’t think is Middle East, but they are seen as a peaceful Muslim state. Now they are joining in.

           

            Obama should not take this threat lightly. Iraq is not a key state in the Middle East, it is close to Iran but it isn’t too much important. Iraq is not working hard enough to create a political situation to which the ISIS could rise. But, the ISIS has been found fighting in Syria, and if there ever happened to be a power vacuum in Syria and a ISIS member got ahold, they might make Bashar Al’Asaad look like a friend of the West. But, if Obama does commit to Iraq, which I think he should, if he does, he should also commit to Syria because FYI, the journalist was beheaded in Syria. Both present huge problems to the west and peaceful balance to the world. If people are willing to die willingly for this cause, and they have a negative attitude toward us, then why not get involved now instead of when something irrevocable happens.

            Think about this, they are pulling many people from all over the world and sending them back. Boston Marathon is a key example of what could happen if the ISIS sends trained fighters back into the world. I mean they already beheaded a guy on camera for the whole world, I do not think these guys are messing around. I think someone should step in and step in now and not just America, but all countries fighting the War on Terror, including Middle Eastern countries.

Be Afraid, Be Very, Very Afraid-Ebola Fever

   So, I am guessing the past 1-2 months you might of heard of a fatal disease kind of spreading in Western Africa. Well, that is a truthful statement but it also kind of a lie, because Ebola has been spreading in Western Africa for around 5-6 months now. It took 2 American Doctors and one American doctor to die before Western Media picked up on this fatal disease.
  The Definition of Ebola Fever...
"an infectious and generally fatal disease marked by fever and severe internal bleeding, spread through contact with infected body fluids by a filovirus (Ebola virus), whose normal host species is unknown."

That definition of Ebola just kind of scares me thinking about it. Usually to make up a vaccine for something, it helps to know the host or atleast how or where it comes from. Well for this it is 10x scary because they just do not know and it is spreading throughout Western Africa. I know, some people are saying there are tons of onfectious diseases in Africa, why should we care. Well, you should care all the time, however, this one is not curable and the possibility of it spreading and being a contagion is pretty good. So far there has been no travel restricitons, but we could very well see that soon because the disease is deadly and if it becomes a contagion, it will be a huge mess for the whole world. It is happening in rural areas of Africa, but, it could spread to Nigeria and that would be a problem.

With everything going on now in Nigeria, with kidnappings, the terrorist groups and large metropolitcan areas, the odds of spread to other countries outside of Africa is likely. The worst part about it is they have not even started testing yet for a vaccine. Right now, for treatment, they are in ICU with fluids and medicine. But, not everyone in Africa has that luxury, right now the 2 America doctors are in Atlanta heavily quartined and being watched 24/7. They said it could take til 2016 to have a solid vaccination if everything goes great, IF.

It is definitely a scary situation that could spread like wildfire, and without a vaccine or treatment, people are just dying. They may not even know that they have it. The movie contagion is a perfect example of what could happen. I am not saying it will happen, it is unlikely with technology, but this does pose an international threat. It is something that America is taking for granted. Everyone in the world in the science field, should be working on a vaccine. But, right now it just seems like we are praying for some "magic bullets". That isn't how everything works. If this disease makes it into NIgeria, it will quickly become an international crisis. Right now, Nigeria has no healthcare because doctors are on strike, it is like the perfect storm of contagions. More than 70% of the populations of Sierrea Leon, Guinea and Liberia (Foreign Policy)

So educate yourself and wake up
Thats TJ for ya...

"It's Africa's Fault"

Umm, no, not really Obama. I agree with a lot of things Obama is dealing with, but his comments on Africa I really do not agree with. I guess he forgot about the Berlin Conference, which carved up Africa in a big way. They controlled there economy and government for many, many years.

First, the colonization of Africa. The Berlin Conference was in the latter half of the 20th century. It was a conference held in Berlin and only the major European powers were invited to this conference. No African leader was invited to this conference. So basically, Otto Von Bismark carved up places in Africa for England, Netherlands, Portugal and France. So, how can all of Europe just get together and carve up territory that isn't even theirs. So again, it is Africa's fault isn't it.

Also, second, I think the slave trade really influenced the economy and local leaders of Africa. The leaders of Africa on the western coast would basically just take advantage of their political system and trade the majority of their population. They would go into the mainland and capture people for the slave trade. But, it was mainly the demand of the Europeans in the slave trade that really harmed the makeup of the political system. It almost made it impossible to have a political makeup at the time. It would lead to many years of corruption.

Yes, their are many problems for Africa and not all of them are because of Europeans, but colonization and western influences has certainly added to the problems. For Obama to say this, it really is not that big of a deal, but it is also a bit out there. Not everything is Africa's fault, think about the case in South Africa, that problem lasted for many many years and it was because of the Dutch. The problems there are definitely because of the Dutch and it is that way with most of Africa. It is a bit for Obama to say this, Africa has a long road ahead of them in economic recovery and doesn't need sympathy or people pointing the finger. Africa will play a key part in the future of the global political economy.