Author: empireposts

Much is at stake in the upcoming elections, control of the house of representatives, control of the senate and the most awaited edition : control of the presidency. Empire Posts took an oppotunity we were given very recently to visit and tour some of the buildings that run this country amidst the upcoming election cycle. While in Washington DC area we got the opportunity to pay a visit to Arlington Cementery where we got a reminder of how much our men and women in the armed forces do for us all throughout different time periods all to secure the safety of the union. We also got to see up close the final resting place of 3 Kennedy brothers which included John, Robert and Ted Kennedy and the final resting place of former President William Howard Taft. We also got a look at the famous changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier. A day later Empire Posts were able to get a tour of the U.S Capitol Building through a congressman’s internal office. The tour led us through the capitol rotunda, the old senate floor, and a limited but clear view of the current house and senate floor where some of the most significant legislation has been passed, the true heart of the country and decision maker in terms of economic, crime and educational issues among many others. An outside view of the department of education gave Empire Posts a glimpse of the building where America’s educational system is run. Returning to the intial theme of this article, with the elections coming up a visit to the capitol city reminded us of all of what was at stake this election, control of the legislative and executive branch and indirectly control of these smaller yet equally significanr departments that make up the president’s cabinet, Empire Posts will be there to cover the elections every step of the way.   BELOW ARE PHOTOS EXCLUSIVELY TAKEN BY EMPIRE POSTS IN AREAS WE WERE ALLOWED TO PHOTOGRAPH

Just a few weeks ago America witnessed what had the potential to be a history altering event, Former President Donald Trump was inches away from becoming the first Presidential nominee to ever be assassinated mid election, and the fifth president to ever be assassinated. This event sparked a question within the Empire Posts’ organization : could tragedies and near tragedies like the one that occured a few weeks ago be preventable had the perpetrator recieved mental help through parental and societal means?  While much is still unknown over Thomas Matthew Crooks (the man that tried to assassinate Donald Trump), some information on his parents tells us that they were social workers, while potential mental health problems could be to blame the parents once again come into question : what exactly did they know about their son’s mental health status, if no clear indicators of mental illness where shown then how present were the parents in this person’s life? Could this near tragedy have been avoided if it wasn’t for a lack of concern by the parents?  While this near tragedy is yet to get a difinitive answer, Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter presents a perfect example of the question we are trying to present. Lanza had a troubled upbringing with limited parental supervision and support, particularly after his parent’s divorce. This lack of parental presence and guidance has been cited as a contributing factor in his severe mental health issues and eventual violent actions which resulted in the tragic deaths of 26 people including 20 children. It is quite obvious reading about this person’s life that the right parental guidance could’ve led to him recieving mental help and preventing the nationwide tragedy that occured that day.  As a popular saying goes – “It takes a village”, it takes multiple different people and precisely the right guidance for a decent human being to be raised, when either the school system, a social services system or the guidance and supervision of a parent is cut off then a severe risk is being taken in the upbringing of a child. So, tell us what you think : could the crime rate in this country be reduced with the simple help of social services or parental intervention?

America’s judicial system was mapped out by our founders to be one of total impartiality, a system that can be relied on to settle cases in the correct manner. However, now more than ever in recent history, people are beginning to question how exactly unbaised is the judicial system, not the system itself, but those who run it. Most of these questions have been brought up by the trial of Former President Donald Trump, who was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records which is a felony in New York. Regardless of your opinion about the Former President it is important to take into account some strange circumstances in which the trial was held. One example includes the location, New York and specifically New York City is known to be a heavily Democratic stronghold, therefore it already raises a suspicion about the jury’s possible bias. Another example includes the judge himself, a self described Democrat it is clear that doubt over how exactly impartial this case isn’t exactly unreasonable. A recent talking point that does bring up an interesting question is “if they can do this to a multimillionare who also served as President what could they do to a regular American who might not have the credentials or the money to defend himself?” This case does beg one final question, how hard exactly would it have been for the trial to be held in an impartial state or even just an impartial county in New York with an impartial judge where any rulling against the Former President could be easily respected without any possible ammunition for doubt? The judicial system is supposed to be one that is completely impartial, blind of who you are, however many are questioning how fair exactly was this trial?

On Sunday April 29, 2024, we sent out an Empire Posts representative to a local rally for Independent Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Our media outlet had a goal of interviewing a presidential candidate in 2024 and interview one we did. Our representative reported that after about an hour long speech by Mr Kennedy he took to the photo line where with the press pass in hand he intented on completing Empire Post’s task at hand. Getting to ask Mr Kennedy at least one question.  Our Empire Post representative was granted backstage access thanks to the press pass which allowed them to meet Mr Kennedy. Knowing his views on issues such as vaccines, we decided to ask him a question regarding vaccine mandates in our schools. Across the country, including New York, many families have decided to pull their children out of the school system because of the mandates. Our question for him went as follows  “As a candidate for the presidency, what is your stance on vaccine mandates in our schools, something that has caused many parents to opt their children out of the school system” Mr Kennedy responded by saying the following  “I think the whole thing with Covid, vaccine mandates and the closing of schools should never have happened. Parents should be able to make their own decisions on their children’s health. I am against the mandates, it is hurting our children and our education system and it is against our values.” Stay tuned for more interviews and articles on the Empire Posts website, with elections at the federal and local level kicking off we will have interviews coming soon with many of the candidates in these state and local elections. Our Empire Post representative was able to get ann interview with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

One of the most important avenues to our wellbeing, which is medicine, is facing trouble in the United States with a report by the AAMC written as of March 21st 2024, showing continuing projected physician shortages in the U.S. In addition, the engineering and architectural sector is also facing challenges with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that a third of new engineering roles are unfilled and architecture leaders face a resource shortage with 10 to 20 open positions for every available architect One may be asking, why are we bringing in all these seemingly foreign topics in an article regarding America’s educational system? The answer is simple, Engineering, Architecture, Computer Science, Medicine, it all goes back to core educational subjects including math and science! We’ve all seen the statistics, the United States ranks number 1 in education in the world, however while compared to other countries this may be true, these statistics fail to highlight the large cracks on the surface of a seemingly “high quality” educational system. Research sites that the United States has a number of students from more socio-economically advantaged backgrounds meaning that American students are generally better off compared to their counterparts in the average OECD country. However, the US has many educational problems including but not limited to the following :  Standardized testing – “Critics argue that standardized testing is one of the biggest problems in American education, suggesting that the pressure to produce high test scores leads to a teach-to-the-test approach and reduced focus on non-tested subjects like art and music.”Unequal distribution of school funding – “property taxes are the primary source of funding for public schools but this method disproportionally benefits wealthier communities.” Other problems with our educational system include Overcrowding of classrooms Outdated textbooks and inadequate supplies School safety Disciplinary policies Common Core Teacher salaries Lack of proper funding technological challenges in education Violence in schools     An often overlooked solution to some of the problems listed above which is often used in the special education system is a peer to peer teaching system where younger students excelling in their own class have the option to tutor students of their own age who may not be advancing at the required rate. As I close out this article I will leave you the reader with a few more overlooked solution that could be a step in the right direction for fixing our broken educational system. Homeschooling, an alternative that many choose voluntarily and others in some states, are forced to choose due to vaccine mandates would be a way to alleviate overcrowding and level out the teacher-student ratio. Addressing the lack of adequate funding in the educational system is key to solving our broken education system because higher wages should promote more competent teachers filling the void of vacancies due to low salaries, where would this money come from? We pay taxes on everything, so aside from our property taxes we should have a choice where our taxes go, in this case education.

On June 13th 2019, just a few months prior to the Coronavirus outbreak (that would go on to change the course of the world significantly), the religious exemption to the requirement that children be vaccinated against diseases to attend either public, private or parochial school (for students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade) was removed. The removal of this exemption meant that children attending public, private or parochial school could no longer be exempt from being given vaccines for illnesses such as measles. With that exemption now null and void, a bill to shield the MEDICAL exemption from facing the same fate as the religious exemption has been put forward by New York State Senator Monica Martinez (D-Suffolk County).This bill, formally named (S7168), aims to protect the medical exemption from vaccine mandates by restoring the clear intention of the letter of law. As well as make sure that the medical judgement of a child’s physician prevails ensuring that their decision will not be overridden by school or public health authorities. It is important to note that New York has the lowest rate of medical exemptions of any state with roughly 1 in 1000 students recieving it according to the CDC. S7168 would take school administrators and the NYS and NYC departments of health out of the decision making process placing it wholly under the control of the attending physician. As this article is written, this bill is still active meaning a decision on the bill’s fate has not yet been made, with that in mind we at Empire Post urge anyone living in New York to contact their local State Senator and ask them to vote in favor of bill S7168.