Introducing my online magazine…

I’ve been busy over the past couple of weeks working to consolidate all of my business ventures. As a result of this endeavor, I am integrating my blog into my online magazine. From now on, you will be able to read my daily editorial in my new online magazine. The magazine also features other news and information as well as free entrepreneurship training.

My goal in life is to help others achieve their dreams and accomplish their goals. For these reasons, I created leadmedianetwork.com, a one stop resource site. The focus of this magazine is entrepreneurship, technology and politics. Entrepreneurs must be informed in these areas to be successful. It is my hope that you will make reading the magazine a part of your daily routine. It is also my hope that you will find the information useful and helpful.

I am not ending my blog, I am simply moving it. Visit the new site (www.leadmedianetwork.com), create your free account and you can begin to enjoy all the good things it has to offer!

Old fashion views on sex are unpopular among Christians?

When did the moral fiber of American change? When did Christians become cowards and back down from defending their beliefs? I look around and see a country that is constantly deteriorating because it has some how lost its moral character. In a country where Lucy and Ricky used to sleep in two separate beds on TV, we now have shows like Desperate House wives where cheating on spouses and multiple sexual partners is glorified. Marriage is viewed as simply another level of dating that people can exit at will if they are “unhappy.” Many people even get married now for “convenience” or to “try it out.” No wonder the divorce rate is over 50%. Other couples are living together, having children and creating lives together, while refusing to get married. If you really want to spend your life together, why not prove it by making the ultimate commitment? Some people look to marry an “experienced” sexual partner and shun the people that wait for their spouses as if they are the ones that have it wrong. Why aren’t Christians providing alternative viewpoints or at least speaking out more against the views that are contrary to Biblical teachings?

Christians used to be respected for the integrity of thier lifestyle, now they are ridiculed for the same reasons. How can you tell them from others when they are living the same way? Pre-marital sex is just as rampant in the church among Christians as it is among secular cultures. What is really going on? We live in a society where over 80% of teenagers are sexually active. Pre marital sex in the church is statistically just as high as in secualur cultures. Children and teenagers are told to wait by hypocrites that are engaging in the same activity at older ages. Our children are falling by the wayside and in the middle of all of it, TV, music and society is teaching them by example that it is OK. Few people are taking a stand against the liberal views on sex in American society. We live in a society where people are comfortable enough to have sex with someone, but afraid to ask about their sexual history because they do not want to “offend” them. We live in a society where people engage in sexual intercourse before even being in a committed relationship. Did I mention this is the age of HIV?

Sex is taken lightly like it is no big deal, and it is no longer viewed as a bond between couples in love. It has merely become a tool of lust. Christians that have traditional views on sex are often ridiculed. Why isn’t any one speaking out about it? Why are churches scared to take a more aggressive approach to encourage traditional views on sex? Why aren’t TV shows displaying the real consequences and circumstances that come along with sex? A “hook up” is not OK. A one-night stand is not OK. Sex before marriage is not OK. Living together before marriage is not OK. Lack luster views on sex are not OK, not just for moral reasons. We live in the world of HIV. Why are old fashion views on sex unpopular even among Christians…that is not OK!

Questions…

Everyone knows that a new year brings about several questions. A new years resolution is really an unanswered question. When you decide to lose weight for the year, you are really asking if you will lose weight for the year. When you set goals for the year, you are really asking if you will reach them. Resolutions are questions and the answers you can find on the inside.

Resolutions can open doors of determination and opportunity, but they have to be more than just statements. I have a lot of unanswered questions for the new year. I also realize that the answers are within me. Will your business be successful in the new year? It depends on how hard you work on it. Will you find love in the new year? It depends on if its in God’s plan for you. Will you get a new job this year? Will you buy a house this year? There are many questions we can answer through are work ethic. Will you lose weight in the new year? It depends on how serious you are to lose weight.

There are some questions that are out of our hands, and there are others we can answer. In life, we must answer the questions we can, and wait for the answers to the ones we can’t. Build on what you can, work towards what you can, and complete the things that are in your control. Be patient and wait for the answers to the questions you cannot control.

Decisions…

Often times we struggle in life with decisions. We battle with our choices, fight against change and somewhere in the middle look at people that have no investment in our future for validation and support. We are exclusively responsible for our decisions in life however, and we must decide if we are willing to stand behind them. It is also our responsibility to be comfortable enough with our tough decisions to hold our heads up high with pride. There are four questions I believe everyone should ask when dealing with tough decisions.

1. Is it in my best interest?

2. Will it alter my life in a positive or negative way?

3. What are going to be the long term effects of the decision?

4. Is it in line with my purpose in life?

For every decision we make, we must understand if it is in our best interest. Will the decision make you happy and add fulfillment to your life? Is the decision going to move your life forward in a positive direction? A lot of decisions that will seemingly make you “happy” will not necessarily progress your life in the right direction. Every decision we make also has a direct effect later in our lives. Sometimes we have to spend our lives recovering from negative decisions, or spend our lives benefiting from a good decision. Our final, most important evaluation must be based on the connection of a particular decision to our purpose in life. If these four questions can be answered and you are comfortable with the answers, you will stand behind every decision. The choice is literally yours to make and yours to stand behind. People are not in charge of our decisions, they are merely critics.

Would you marry again?

I was watching Fox News as I often do, and I was intrigued by a story they were reporting today. In America, marriage is on the decline. I reported months ago on marriage officially no longer being the majority choice for Americans. Divorce is on the rise, 53% of first marriages end in divorce and 60% of second marriages end in divorce. These numbers alone are startling, but a statistic I heard on the news is more startling to me.

Today, Fox News reported that 44% of married women said they would not remarry their husbands! What does this mean? If they had it to do all over again, they would not marry the spouse they have. In addition, the study discovered 75% of women keep secrets from their husbands and over half of them suspect their spouse is cheating. The large portion of the women in the study also admitted to repeated flirting. What is the root of this belief?

I think this type of logic steams from many things…

1. False Expectations-Realistic expectations of spouses can often reduce disappointments in a relationship. Many women and men enter into marriages thinking their spouse is “larger than life.”

2. Lack of Pre-Marital Counseling-Pre-marital counseling can help couples determine if they are marrying the right person. A good session of marriage counseling can bring everything “out in the open.”

3. Lack of commitment-Many people love the idea of marriage, but they do not want the commitment of it…this leads to divorce and a lot of broken hearts.

In a society where marriage is on the decline and divorce is on the rise, it is discouraging the women that are married do not value their spouses enough to marry them again if they could “do it all over again.” Although the men were not polled in this study, I do not think their responses would have been any better. Although a focus group of women were polled, I wonder how many women share the same beliefs that were not polled. I personally believe you should never marry a person unless you believe they are the best person for you that you would marry over and over again because you love them.

The reason I refuse to quit in 2007…

I refuse to quit in ’07 because it makes you become everything but what you are worth,

I will not quit in ’07, because my value is greater on the Earth,

Walking away from destiny only denies what is inside of me,

sent down from Heaven, there is strength and blessings in ’07,

The struggle produces the tension like an orange must change its form to produce juice that can be consumed and provide better nourishment in its squeezed state,

The trial produces the triumph by way of the path that was laid before the foundations of your existence,

Where is your persistence?

To quit is to live in a life walking dead,

you could have climbed higher, achieved greater, produced more,

but you chose to quit instead…

I will not quit in ’07 because its easier,

I am going to look forward, march like a soldier that knows the battle is won,

act like an instrument and produce the music I was designed for,

In my life I want more!

Happy New Year…

I want to wish every one a Happy New Year. I wish you the best, peace and blessings in 2007! You can take this year and use it as a stepping stone to your destiny. Here is a poem that I wrote during one of my toughest moments in 2006. I want to share it with my readers because I feel it can serve as a motivator to achieve everything that you are destined to achieve this year. No matter how hard it gets, don’t quit, no matter how far the dream seems from you, keep walking towards it, no matter what you see in the physical, work towards what you envision for your self in this new year. Anytime it seems like you are being knocked down this year, get back up and keep moving forward!

The Weeble Wobble

Can you have visions without sight?
Can you plan for your success if you don’t write
what is in your mind and find yourself left
behind and stuck in the daily grind of mediocrity?

Can you dream if you don’t believe?
–work hard when your lazy and fight hard
when others think your crazy?

Can you stand up when your knees are sore,
Get back up when life throws you on the floor.

Fight against Hell to prevail,
Run through the fire with disire,
Over the coals to reach that goal,

Will you quit when others don’t see it?
Will you run when it seems it won’t get done,
Give up just before you were about to come up,
act like a lion that thinks he’s a turkey,
And becomes his own worst enemy trying to
devour all the great things that could be…

Can you have visions without sight,
Can you fight in the dark when there seems to be no light,
Reach for the great things that you know can be…
what do you see?
Death or Opportunity?

THE WIRE Pt.3: Are schools more focused on testing instead of meeting the educational, social and disciplinary needs of the students?

Under the Bush administration, education has become a “hot button” issue for politicians, educators, community activists, and school districts.  Although schools had problems and room for improvement before President Bush’s tenure in office, one of his policies has  escalated the problem.  What is this policy? It is called the “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB)  policy.  NCLB has set unbalanced testing standards, ineffective incentive programs, and taken the emphasis away from true teaching by forcing educators to be more focused on statistics.  What is the basic premise of NCLB? The philosophy of this program centers around the belief that increasing requirements for standardized tests will cause a trickle down effect…it is suppose to cause teachers to work harder and students to learn more because of this big test at the end of the year.  Oh, I forgot to mention, it also includes money for the teachers if they have the right percentage of students pass the test.

Are schools more focused on standardized tests than teaching? They are.  When the President of the United States demands statistic based results, it does cause a trickle down effect…not the one he expected. School Boards are pressuring Superintendents for numbers, Superintendents are pressuring principals, principals are pressuring teachers, and teachers are cheating. The X factor is the big pay day that trickles up. The better the teachers’ test results are, the more money all of their bosses get. The amount of money increases as you climb the ladder. It is not about education, it is about money. The test results are not credible, teachers spend the whole year teaching it, and we end up with students that are about to graduate and can not spell their name.

What is the solution? Education should not be based on standardized testing scores at all. If it is, teachers should not be paid for the success rate of thier students. It creates temptation to “fudge”numbers for a big payday. You want to give an incentive, pay them more! The only measure of success in the classroom should be the improvement of the students from the beginning of the school year to the end.  Education must go back to its simplest form….teaching.

THE WIRE Pt. 2: Do a large majority of children get involved in crime out of necessity to survive?

We often her about the drug dealers, street hustlers and members of various gangs, but we rarely get a chance to explore what caused them to head in that direction. Although their actions are not warranted on the streets, their pathways to those actions are often important to understanding why they are involved in their current situations. Their pathway to their lifestyle is critical to understanding how they got to the streets and how to get them off the streets. What circumstances can yield children to a life of crime and violence? What are the core underlying problems in their lives? I believe there are five things that can push a child to a life of crime:

1. Environment- Where a child lives can have a tremendous effect on their access to drugs, gangs, etc.

2. Socio-economic status- Not having enough money for your family is hard and it can tempt children to find “other sources” of income.

3. Lack of programs and social services in their communities- Positive mentoring and educational programs that discourage involvement in the streets are not prevalent enough in urban, inner city communities.

4. Lack of Parents, Single Parents, Bad Parents- Parents play an essential role in the development of children. Not having a strong parental influence is often underrated. This is the second most important factor.

5. Church involvement, church influence- Religion and the “fear of God” is the strongest deterrent to life on the streets. When children understand they are eternally accountable for everything they do, their perspective often changes. This is the most important factor.

These are what I believe to be the core reasons children result to life on the streets. I am not saying these are the only factors, but I do believe they are the most important factors. Although environment and economics has a lot to do with a child’s access to the streets, good parenting, programs, church involvement and mentoring can curve their desire to do so. Will these factors always stop them from getting involved in life on the streets? No. These areas are the strongest in directing their lives though. Some kids realistically go to the streets because that becomes their family, their mentors, their religion, their income, and their survival. We can not assume that every child on the street desired the pathway they are on, we can assume however that someone might not have shown them an alternative.

The Barack Obama scandal: Much ado about nothing…

Barack Obama is often considered as a clean cut, polished, eloquent and charismatic politician. He is viewed as one of the few politicians in America that has managed to campaign and get elected to office without a major scandal. In his few years in office with the Senate, he has managed to become one of the bi partisan leaders garnering prominence in the Democratic party and respect from the Republican party. Due to his reputation as a fair and balanced politician, he is considered to be the most likely Democratic candidate for the presidency. With this prestige comes an equal level of scrutiny. Due to his “squeaky clean” image, things that normally would not garner any media attention are. For instance, questions are being raised about a real estate deal Obama was involved in.

What is the story? Here is what happened according to Slate Magazine (a magazine that I consider to be credible, fair and balanced)

“The Chicago Tribune broke the story back in November. It begins in 2004 with Obama’s $1.9 million book advance for The Audacity of Hope. In June 2005, Obama used the money to purchase a $1.65 million Georgian revival home on Chicago’s South Side—$300,000 less than the asking price. On the very same day, Rezko, a Democratic Party fund-raiser and developer, bought the adjacent empty lot at the asking price from the same owner (the house and the lot were previously owned by the same person). Rezko, who had raised money for Obama and known him since the senator attended Harvard Law School, did not develop the empty lot. In January 2006, he sold a 1,500-square-foot slice of it to Obama for $104,000, a fair sum in that market.”

What is the big deal? People are questioning whether Obama got the property at the reduced price because of Rezko’s purchase of the adjacent lot on the same day. The second question being raised is the second purchase of land back from Rezko in early 2006. Should politicians negotiate deals with members of their campaigns? Probably not. The “scandal” centers around Obama’s level of knowledge of Rezko’s same day purchase. Rezko is being investigated for allegedly trying to obtain “kick backs” from companies seeking state business in Illinois.

What is the real story? This story would not have made it to any front pages if it had not been for Rezko’s shaky history. This is not a story about Obama’s integrity, it is a story about trying to connect the politician to his associate’s integrity. Obama has openly stated that, if anything, it was a “bad judgement call.” I believe Obama for two reasons. He has been open and honest with disclosing all information surrounding the deal, and he has not changed his story at all since the story broke. Consistency and honesty go a long way.

In the future, I think Obama should do what he has vowed in response to this “scandal” and be extra careful about doing deals with campaign fundraisers in the Democratic party. The legality of the deal is not in question because nothing about the deal was illegal. Rezko is the one under investigation, not Obama, however I do think Obama needs to distance himself from this guy. This is a another case of the news media trying to create a story about a politician through association. Should Obama be scrutinized for doing deals with Rezko? Yes, to an extent for his involvement with Rezko to determine the nature of thier relationship, but Rezko is the one in question right now.

Obama has just learned one of the first lessons in political battle, it is not who you know, it is who you are known to be around that can get you in trouble in Washington. At the end of the day, this is “much ado about nothing” and it is being blown out of proportion because there isn’t any other newsworthy scrutiny of Obama’s character. If this would have been Tom Delay, it would have never made the papers.