I'm Back!

I'm back ya'll. I know it's been a while, but I'm back to back to the basics. After a year off, a lot of feedback, life changes, and reflections I've decided this is a must for my community. I won't let these issues in our community rest, until we see a change.

Give me ideas to write about and you'll see my opinion on that subject. Until then, enjoy your day, and remain positive.

Simple Concept on Gun Violence

"It's a simple concept. We need civility across our nation," he said. "What we're seeing are symptoms of a bigger problem. This is a symptom. The problem is not gun laws. The problem is a lack of civility." - Mark Mattioli, whose 6-year-old son James was killed at Sandy Hook. Source

I think this quote says it perfectly. The problem is not the guns, its the culture of violence that we see. Its the culture of our society.We as a nation have fallen from our core values and have taken the greed of money to a new level.

I say this because I feel like money is the motivation for political figures as well as their agenda. Love of Money is said to be the root of all evil, and I agree with that. If you have an agenda to get the most for your buck what will stop you from making your point? Morals? How about the thought that this could back fire?

We no longer have morals. We no longer have "rights". Before it used to be discrimination against those who were of color, but we've broken those walls down and what was next? Discrimination against women. When that was broken down discrimination against other minorities came to light, then after that the hip hop industry. Now what do we stand against? Guns. Not the violent culture that we have contributed to for the last 100 years.

We need to identify that guns aren't the reason the crime rate has gone up, its because people are less conscious to the people whom they are hurting. We have became accustomed to violent movies, video games, and music, no matter what genre. Guns are the tools to carry out these violent fantasies. Movies like Rampage add to these fantasies. Games like Grand Theft Auto contributes to these thoughts.

How can we blame guns for people's actions when what we produce as a society encourages those behaviors. We place high value on jeweled  cars and homes and people who want more seam to only want tighter restrictions on guns. I've notice that many lower class people are saying tighter restrictions for purchasing weapons but that this is a right that the government can not infringe upon, but the higher class people want less restrictions for higher sales margin.

Don't you think that's the problem? The way we address these problems are only affecting the way we plan on committing crimes and not how to reduce crimes. If we spent the same amount of time addressing gun safety and gun violence as we do debating whether certain guns are applicable to the constitution we would have a much SMARTER and SAFER community.

We have seen this in places like Switzerland. The have laws that most men ages 20-30 will under go military training and weapons safety courses. Consequently almost every home is required to have a military style weapon in house. Also lets talk guns and violence. The homicide rate grows there at 1.4% per year with about 9% involving firearms. The homicide rate here grows at 9% per year with 70% involving firearms. Source.

Maybe we need to focus on education and support rather then regulations and court. Maybe we should see that the problem is that we as Americans love violence AND our guns, so we should separate the 2. As the great H. Rap Brown said, " Violence is as American as Apple Pie" We need to address THIS issue before more people get hurt.

Yours TRUUUUUU-ly
Mr. 2900~

Shout Out to Year Up

I want to start off by saying, everyone has their own journey its up to you to go with it and embrace every moment of happiness, pain, sadness, or blankness. It will teach you more about yourself then the journey you have came through. Me, my journey started in the winter of 2010. I have came through the storm and my fight still is yet to be finished. However where I am now I thank God for and I'm embracing every opportunity I get my hands on.

My journey started when I got suspended from school in my senior year over a decision that would change my whole plan on life. The decision I made forced me to change schools and put me in a bunch of legal trouble. I soon ended up in juve and lost all of my football scholarships. I became a statistic, but it was up to me to either keep getting booked or get my life right.

While I was on "vacation" I did a lot of reading and transcending. I had to make decisions on whether to enter the workforce or to pursue an education. I initially tried to get into school but without any federal aid I was unable to. I then had to take a job as a painter in downtown Seattle. While doing that I noticed a group of young adults everyday dressed professionally and I wanted to know what that was about, so I asked what they was doing everyday. They informed me that they were part of a program called Year Up. And not "Europe".

This program was described to me as a "tuition free, post secondary, education and training program that provides low-income young adults, ages 18-24, with a combination of hands-on skill development, college credits, and corporate internships."

To me, this sounded good. I get to still attend school and earn an internship. What I didn't know that this program consists of 2 main phases. The learning and development phase and the internship phase. The learning and development phase consists of tuition-free classes for computer skills with software and hardware as well as 2 classes for business communications and professional skills. These classes will teach you how to behave in a professional environment as well as how to communicate effectively with business men and women. With these taught skills you will be well prepared to enter the workforce as well as your corporate internships with Year Up.

The internship seats vary on where you are in the United States. Where I am in Seattle, we have seats with Microsoft, Am-docs  Big Fish Games, Liberty Mutual and Dream Box Learning, just to name a few. I was lucky enough to earn an internship seat with PopCap Games.

However the journey to get the internship was hard. They have rules to challenge you. Rules like being on time to every class, be accountable for your actions, dress professionally, and just stay on top of your game. Both phases of the programs are about 6 months so this is a commitment.

The best part of the program is that this is all PAID for. Now since this this is a non-profit it doesn't have the capital to pay that well but it does work. And for those people still sleeping all day not doing shit with their lives, this is a great opportunity to get your mind right and EARN your own money. For the first phase you can earn up to $150 a week and for the second phase you can earn up to $200 per week. In addition to this Year Up is nation-wide. With offices in Baltimore, New York, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Miami, DC, Providence (Rhode Island), Seattle, and San Francisco we have helped countless amounts of young adults.

I personally recommend people sign up for this program, because they can help you get a foot in the door in almost any industry. Just how we have internships at technology based companies here in Seattle, the location in New York focuses more on financial internships. Whether you are in college now, or even high school, Year Up can give you the confidence and support you need to succeed in a country where employers want to hire and we have young people out of work. Year Up can close that divide and we are striving everyday to do so.

Since starting in 2001 84% of our Year Up alumni are succeeding. We define succeeding as, after you graduate within 4 months you are in full time school or employed full time at a competitive wage with upward mobility (possible advancement). As for me, I was hired as a Full Time contract Help Desk Analyst. I am succeeding in my eyes and i encourage you all to take that first step.

Year Up may be able to help you, it has helped me. I leave you with this, Don't judge me on my past but where I am now and where I am striving to be. I am making steps to leave a positive legacy and I challenge you all to do the same.

If this sounds appealing to you and you are within those areas go find out if it will work with you. Or if you want to learn more contact me and we can talk about it, or you can read more stories of students success.

Here is the link to their YouTube page to view some more media.

Here is a link to hear some personal stories that you may be able to relate to.

Here is my story.

R.I.P. children of Sandy Hook

There is a lot of speculation about what went down on December 14th, 2012 in NewTown, Connecticut. There are a lot of rumors of it didn't happen or the government is behind the attack. Personally, I believe it was a staged or planned event on our government agenda.

With that being said, I know the shooting took place. There is no doubt in my mind that we lost 27 innocent people that day, 20 of them children. I am truly sorry for the losses that families had to deal with and the grief that their community is dealing with. I am also sorry that your families and tragedy has been exploited to this extent. - Even though this blog is sure to exploit even more. I apologize for this however, I feel like there are things still left unsaid.

I know the killings did take place on that date. I also know that deaths are very real. There is information out there to prove this to you, including a list of victims who were shot dead that morning. There is also the dead bodies and funerals that have taken place.

However knowing this makes me think, what was the motive to kill a bunch of kids, why did the media lie and continue to lie, where are the other kids at this moment, where are the staff, why did we think it was Ryan and he hasn't seen his brother in year, and why haven't we still been able to see a picture of the killer.? All of those questions need answers. And the media is pretty good about getting those answers. Why not for this mass shooting. The media was able to do this with the Theatre shooting, Osama, and even that guy who shot the Arizona senator.

I believe that this was set up to get the attention of Americans and to make us fear guns and what they can do. I believe this because, there was no motive. This was too planned out for their to be no known motive and for him to be covered in armor. We seen this with the Aurora shooting. The shooter was in protective armor for what? I think because he knew he was going into a setting where people may have possession of a concealed firearm. As we seen as the conclusion neared, once he was done he and ready to leave he did not kill himself nor did he shoot at officers. Was this because he wants to go to trial and fight for freedom or because he was then on the other side of the barrel. Who know.

Another reason I believe this was a set up is because there are no REAL accounts of what happened. All of the accounts of the shooting come from people who either weren't at the school when it happened or that same little boy and girl saying "it sounded like someone was kicking the door really hard" and "like cans falling from a shelf"

I've shot an assault rifle before, and it doesn't sound like cans falling it sounds more like a mini boom. I've also shot handguns before. Those may sound like cans falling or doors being kicked but didn't the medical examiner and police confirm that the weapon used for the shooting was the Bushmaster .223. Which brings me to the thought of, how did the medical examiner do an autopsy, come on national TV, and tell us that the bodies were shot with a high velocity long barrel gun, agreeing that it was in fact the bushmaster  then telling us he has extensive knowledge of guns unlike other authorities  then hours later we see, on national TV, that they are pulling the assault rifle out of the trunk of the car. That doesn't add up.

In addition to his miscommunication, it is the medias job to ask these question and gather interviews. Why have we only heard from a few people  Also why haven't we seen any photos or video of any older kids leaving the school or comforted by families? Sandy Hook Elementary teaches kids from k-6 grades yet I haven't heard nor seen not one interview from an older child. The still photo of the 1st graders is the only photo showing an evacuation. Also with older kids in 6th grade aren't they approaching the Facebook phase of their lives? Or at least Myspace? Why haven't ANY of them been interviewed? Or posted about it? Or why don't they have any younger relatives? In each case that a child had a relative the showed a photo of the slain child with younger relatives. Is this because the government knows that the children in the higher grades will speak on what really occurred or was this an early Christmas holiday for them?

Where are the interviews of the surrounding area? In my experience with school lock downs and and school shootings, the media goes door to door asking people if they have seen or heard anything. This did not take place with this shooting.

One last thing that I will point out, how did this neighbor guy find the kids in HIS driveway with a school bus driver, after the shooting took place. First of all WHO was the school bus driver and why was they there with the kids. Where did this driver disappear off to once the neighbor came outside? And how did those kids from Miss Soto's class escape out of the classroom with a dead body, into the hallways were the shooter was apparently  down the road to Gene's house, then finding a bus driver? I thought the school was under lock down, and the police were on the way? Did nobody see 6 little kids running through the halls and down the road? Seams kind of suspect to me.

Lastly, what was the point of staging this horrendous scene? Gun control. I will continue on this topic in future posts. But for now I encourage all of you to do your own research on this matter. Research what was the events that led up to this, and who would benefit from a new gun proposal laws.

Let me know your thoughts on this so I can have a better perspective. Follow up Monday for more about this issue and what we have at stake if new gun control legislation comes to pass. View these videos below for some compelling evidence. You can make you own inferences, this is just my own.

Gang Banging

Gang Banging is a way of life. Its a lifestyle that chooses you and pushes you to your limits. Your limits mentally, as well as physically. Its not something that you just choose to be part of. Its a culture, if you will. You have your family, your beliefs, and a way of making your means. You have your own dialect as well as your own clothing and symbolic entities. When you see people who bang your response shouldn't be run in the other way but learn about the culture and the way of life. Shit, if you look at it our governments are a gang and s are the police. They also wear self identifying clothing and hang with their brother and sisters in the force. If one of there own dies, then all hell breaks lose. Same is with a gang. Only difference is we don't have the credentials. However, if you ask the public about us we do have the credentials to fight back.

Gangs were created to bring unity to urban communities and to help people when they need it. Look at the MOB. They believe in the FAMILY. Everything they do is part of a better scheme to help those around them. Also look at the Bloods and crips. The crips were started to bring awareness to urban communities and the needs that surround them. They were organized to stop the brutality of California police. They were there to earn money for the community, be there when the community needed them, and to fight the harassment of local police. This was perceived as "gang-violence" because the local authorities were soon becoming outnumbered and out gunned. Another way this perception was magnified was because of the growing number of youth involved in these activities, as well as the crack epidemic. This now introduced more violence in the streets and disputes on where to earn your community money.

Which leads me to the Pirus. These people were organized for the sole purpose of bringing the community back together and protecting them from the growing violence of the crip gang. Also the Bloods in New York started the UBN for the prison community to be safe from the Latin Kings. 

Now do you see how us "violent street thugs" work. We work together to bring up the community. We are the people of the lower class and we aren't being heard. We are being moved into poverty stricken areas with the promise of tomorrow. This promise doesn't come from our governments, it comes from our community advocates. Who are they? They are the people who society discriminates against. They are the people who cant get jobs so turn to selling dope to feed their families. They are the people who you call criminals just because they are using what they know to get out of a bad situation. They don't want to rely on the government for anything but are forced to, just to have the basic needs of survival.

In no way am I glorifying the gang life. I am promoting the love and loyalty they bring to a community. I am telling you to just understand where we come from and where we want to be. Also us people who are in situations like these, we need to stop killing each other over street corners that we don't own. We don't own any businesses on that block so why do we keep dying over it? Why do we keep sacrificing our young people? We ALL need to let go when we have friends and family die. I understand first hand the emotions and feelings when we lose someone. I feel that same rampage within and want to do things but I don't. Its part of growing up and being what our last generations wanted, a tighter community.

We don't want destroy in order for success tomorrow but sometimes that is the only necessary way to be hear. We are taking the steps to come out of poverty and criminal lifestyles we just need an opportunity to show our potential. I challenge you to look at people and try to understand where they come from instead of assuming why we do the things we do. 

I leave you with this, don't pass judgement on an individual that you don't know their past. Their past has put them where they are today and tomorrow they may not be the same person. People are a product of their environments so lets make our communities more loyal, more caring, and most importantly more understanding. 

"Me only have one ambition, y'know. I only have one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together - black, white, Chinese, everyone. That's all" - Bob Marley

"Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will" - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Other Side of Life

I'm sitting here thinking about my good friends death, and all I can think about is if it was worth it. I know what you did was your answer out, but I want to know if its worth it now. How do you feel away from mom ddad and your family? I'm not going to get into that ckuz that isn't my place.

I just want to know what its like on the other side of the barrel. I've been there just like other people. So close to doing it but never did. Your death was an eye opener bro. It made me think of myself. It made me think about all the times I put my 357 revolver in my mouth or to my temple. That cold metal shiver going down my spine as I thought about death. The only thing keeping me here was my little brother and the fear of whats on the other side.

Now I see someone who has had the courage to do what I've wanted to do so many times and my only question to him isn't why he did it, but what is it like on the other side. I've seen death all around me throughout my life but no suicides. All of the deaths I've seen have come from natural cause or gang violence. I've come so accustomed to people live being taken from them I forget that people can do it to themselves.

I pray that you're where you want to be and you are looking over us. I commend you for your courage to do what I was so afraid to do. However I still want to know what it's like on the other side of the barrel, I have things I must take care of.

My legacy is not yet complete and I won't stop pushing forward until someone kills me or I'm physically can't press forward. I will never be forget the times I was so close to death but I won't forget my reasons to live. Fred, if you can hear my prayers tell me what it's like.

Is being dead all that its cracked up to be? Lord, I pray that the afterlife is just what you said it would be like, ckuz if it isn't, what's the point of living right?

Death is inevitable. Life is a choice. How you choose to leave this earth is up to you. Me, I'n gunna go down swinging. R.I.P bro.

R.I.P to Freddy E. Buhler

First I want to start by sayin R.I.P to my nigga. He was one of the coolest people I knew. Cool in the sense he can kick it with anybody and still have a good the. Me and him went to high school together at Nathan Hale. We had a couple classes together and one thing about us is we never went. LOL. We would leave and go match blunts or just chill somewhere or go get food. He was a cool dude.

Most of you might know him from his YouTube channel JerkTV. Me personally I thought the videos were funny and he was a little too hype wit the voices. But I did watch all of them.

So when I first heard of your death it was a devastation to me. It still is. Its crazy ckuz you showed no signs of being depressed or none of the shit. And whats also crazy is I had a feeling to call you and match yesterday as I was leaving the dispensary. The only thing that held me back was I thought you were busy getting ready to go to fusion ckuz thats what you told me you were doing earlier this week. Now I'm feeling like that was a sign from God. Ckuz now sitting here today I feel like we would have been able to talk about some shit. But thats the thing about life, it always goes on, never stops. No matter how hard today is theres always tomorrow to look forward to. You were a God believing man so I know you had strength to go on one more day.

So looking on your twitter you said something about being thirsty right before you went on with some other tweets. And then you said something about being alone and all that shit so I went on your lil crushes twitter, Honey Cocaine. And she talking about being single and how she didn't tell anybody to fall in love with her. And looking at the tweets and the post you said on facebook a few weeks back about you in love with her and you'll take a bullet for her, I am praying you didn't do this over a bitch.

Fred bro, you had your own fame and your whole life to look forward to. You had Real friends by your side your entire ride and your family holding your back. I pray that it was really something deep that was bothering but I still will miss you.

Today we lost you physically but you will always be in our hearts and in our minds. I pray that your family can get through this rough time and that God will be with them. I know whatever was bothering you is all over now, and you are in a better place. I won't forget our good times together bro and I'll always remember you.  You're in my prayers bro.