#douglass brooke homes

[orphancookie69]

Now Attending: Elevate 2024

I usually attend this with my partner every year but this year we had friends and family join us. The event was wonderful as always with some surprises we did not see coming!

The event:

Keystone CPA: tax planning is necessary. Taxes are going to increase. Doing your tax return with your tax preparer is not the same as tax planning. The rules to play are the same for all but the strategies vary by individual.

TNG Update: Bruce Norris spoke, usually one of my favorite parts of these events. The company, The Norris Group, was bought by DBL unlimited and the man that runs it was there to introduce himself. He also has a home building company, home design company, and a lending company. DBL likes the purchase of The Norris Group as an extension of the lending and education.

Networking Break: event has more people than I have ever seen before.

UDirect IRA: A good investment plan is in layers. Invest in main street, not wall street. Retirement accounts are for saving for later. Do your due diligence. Don't be passive about your money if you value it.

Lunch

The Norris Group: Don't go into things with an outcome that you want. Affordability is something you can compare between market cycles. The "moodometer" is a new comparison he added to his arsenal. Charts help to make decisions. The prices of inventory is most likely not changing-inventory needs to move.

Final Q&A Panel: While I love hearing Bruce Norris speak, he is more talking about Florida than California. While I respect that he's there and not here anymore, it's hard to use one to understand the other. There are things like demographics which play into the market that he is not looking at.

Good event, good to see it growing in size. Good mix of people. There did used to be a 1031 company that was on these panels and I miss them as part of this group. But looking forward to next year, would you go next year?

[therecordchanger62279]

THE BEST WRITTEN SONGS OF ALL-TIME

     Because I have zero innate musical ability, the idea that someone can sit down with a musical instrument, and create an original song out of thin air is magic to me. Songwriting is a craft, but it’s inspiration that makes a good song into a great one. There are songwriters who seem able to turn out high quality songs in perpetuity. There are others who write maybe one or two great songs, and are never heard from again. So, I made a list of what I think are the 50 best written songs I’ve ever heard. These are in no particular order. I’ve listed the title followed by the songwriter or songwriters, and in parentheses is the performer I most enjoy hearing do the song – although most of these songs have been recorded countless times by a variety of artists. You can probably find all of these on YouTube or any of the streaming services. Most have lyrics, but some do not. But, it’s hard for me to imagine any of these songs being recorded by anyone with talent, and not retaining the brilliance with which the song was written.

Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy (Eugene Ormandy & The Philadelphia Orchestra)

Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin (Zubin Mehta & The New York Philharmonic, Gary Graffman, piano)

A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke (Sam Cooke)

Coal Miner’s Daughter by Loretta Lynn (Loretta Lynn)

Hello Walls by Willie Nelson (Faron Young)

I Left My Heart In San Francisco by George Cory and Douglass Cross (Tony Bennett)

God Bless The Child by Arthur Herzog, Jr. and Billie Holiday (Billie Holiday)

Eleanor Rigby by Paul McCartney and John Lennon (The Beatles)

Blind Willie McTell by Bob Dylan (Bob Dylan)

A Remark You Made by Wayne Shorter (Weather Report)

She’s Always a Woman by Billy Joel (Billy Joel)

Roll Me Away by Bob Seger (Bob Seger)

Margie’s At the Lincoln Park Inn by Tom T. Hall (Bobby Bare)

Angel From Montgomery by John Prine (Bonnie Raitt and John Prine)

Rainy Night in Georgia by Tony Joe White (Brook Benton)

You Never Can Tell by Chuck Berry (Chuck Berry)

Where or When by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (Dion and The Belmonts)

American Pie by Don McLean (Don McLean)

It Was a Very Good Year by Ervin Drake (Frank Sinatra)

Gentle On My Mind by John Hartford (Glen Campbell)

Early Morning Rain by Gordon Lightfoot (Gordon Lightfoot)

Book of Rules by Harry Johnson and Barry Llewellyn (The Heptones)

Highwayman by Jimmy Webb (The Highwaymen)

American Music by Ian Hunter (Ian Hunter & Mick Ronson)

That’s Entertainment by Paul Weller (The Jam)

Song of Bernadette by Leonard Cohen (Jennifer Warnes)

Jazzman by Carole King and David Palmer (Carole King)

Talking Back to The Night by Steve Winwood and Will Jennings (Steve Winwood)

My Favorite Things by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (John Coltrane)

Don’t It Make You Want to Go Home by Joe South (Joe South)

Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down by Kris Kristofferson (Kris Kristofferson)

Heart Like a Wheel by Anna McGarrigle (Linda Ronstadt)

I Am a Town by Mary-Chapin Carpenter (Mary-Chapin Carpenter)

Footprints by Wayne Shorter (Miles Davis Quintet)

Pleasant Valley Sunday by Gerry Goffin and Carole King (The Monkees)

This Old Town by Jon Vezner and Janis Ian (Nanci Griffith)

Brooklyn Roads by Neil Diamond (Neil Diamond)

Thrasher by Neil Young (Neil Young & Crazy Horse)

Box of Rain by Robert Hunter and Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead)

Is That All There Is? By Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (Peggy Lee)

Louisiana 1927 by Randy Newman (Randy Newman)

King of the Road by Roger Miller (Roger Miller)

America by Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel)

The Sound of Silence by Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel)

Children’s Crusade by Sting (Sting)

My Girl by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White (The Temptations)

Green, Green Grass of Home by Claude “Curly” Putnam, Jr. (Tom Jones)

Downtown Train by Tom Waits (Tom Waits)

The Whole of The Moon by Mike Scott (The Waterboys)

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys by Sharon Vaughn (Willie Nelson)

[padawan-historian]

How do the memories and magic of children disrupt and upRoot the histories we tell ourselves? How do children navigate spaces of oppression and liberation? How do they find joy and hope in places that were not created for them to exist? They live.

(1) Portrait of two young Jackson girls in wrinkled, informal wear. Potentially the descendants of emancipated Virginian Bethany Veney, who authored a narrative of her life in slavery and went on to own three houses in Worcester's Beaver Brook neighborhood (1900)

(2) Three sister dressed in matching outfits (and shoes). The center girl holds a favorite object close, perhaps a record album (1926)

(3) Florence Jones (in white dress with large bow) and a friend swing on a family hammock in Lincoln, Nebraska (1915-1920)

(4) Students at the Harry Prampin School Recital in Harlem (1927)

(5) Washington, D.C. Young boy standing in the doorway of his home on Seaton Road in the northwest section. His leg was cut off by a streetcar while he was playing in the street (1942)

(6) A girl and her dog pose in a New York studio (1921)

(7) Ho-Chunk cousins Carrie Elksit (ENooKah) and Annie Lowe Lincoln (Red Bird) wearing elaborate beaded necklaces and earrings. Carrie (left) was the afroindigenous daughter of Lucie Elk, while Annie (right), was the daughter of King of Thunder in Black River Valley (1940)

(8) Ms. Ruby dons her Pullman maid’s uniform and and poses next to a young girl in Stafford County, Virginia (1904-1918)

(9) Eileen Buckner poses with her grandfather Anthony T. Buckner, who was born enslaved and would go on to be one the most respected merchants in the Charlottesville. Eileen's father, George W. Buckner, would go on to write the New Negro manifesto in 1921

(10) A girl smiles wide as she milks a cow (1934–1956)

(11) A young child plays the phonograph in his family cabin located at the Transylvania Project in Louisiana (1939)

(12) Two brown skinned girls pose in matching dresses near the center of their classroom picture in front of Lincoln High School, Nebraska (around 1919)

(13)  A young sharecropper lays out on his attic bed in New Madrid County, Missouri (1938)

(14) Chris Easterling (left) and George Mashatt learn how to signal when they want the bus to stop in Ann Arbor (June 1975)

(15) A little girl watches the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with her family in New York (1946)

(16) Little ballerinas dance at the Frederick Douglass housing project located in Anacostia, D.C. (1942)

(17) Integrated summer activities at Camp Nathan Hale in Southfields, New York where children learned different skills, like first aid, under the guidance of the Methodist Camp Service (1943)

(18) A young girl smiles at her feline friend; notice the ribbon on the cat's neck (1925)

(19) Children stand in a line to pose during their candy eating competition W.E.B. DuBois' Brownies Book

Sources: Worcester Art Museum, James Van Der Zee Collection, Library of Congress, Harris & Ewing, Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library, National Museum of African American History and Culture

[antebellumite]

What do the Antebellum Guys get at Starbucks? ANSWERED!

TO BE READ IN THAT ANNOYING WATCHMOJO VOICE:

Daniel Webster orders black coffee and secretly drinks alcohol instead!

Henry Clay orders caramel mocha latte with whipped cream and with ice!

John Calhoun orders water!

Robert Hayne orders a pink drink!

William Fessenden orders wine!

Benjamin Brown French buys milk! Just milk.

Charles Sumner buys food and plain coffee!

Stephen Douglas tries to order an espresso, but the employee wisely never delivers it to him!

Thomas Benton buys a manly fruit smoothie.

Nicholas Biddle buys a frappachino, but he spills it all on the floor so he has to buy another one.

Andrew Jackson just eats ground coffee beans.

James K. Polk orders black coffee!

Sarah Polk goes to church! And gets free wine!

Martin Van Buren eats whipped cream. Just whipped cream. Because Democrats are weird.

John Randolph yells at the barista because he is a horrible customer.

John Crittenden orders a latte but with a german-style mug.

Willaim Seward orders a normal coffee. With sugar.

Theodore Frelinghuysen quotes scripture and buys bread.

John Quincy Adams has wisely chosen to go drink boba instead.

John Tyler gets a restraining order on himself for flirting with the barista and making one too many sexual suggestions. This is because John Tyler is a creep.

Preston Brooks also gets a restraining order on himself.

Millard Fillmore buys a cake pop.

So does Abraham Lincoln.

Zachary Taylor orders cinnamon latte!

John C. Breckenridge is kicked out for smoking.

Franklin Pierce buys a dragon drink.

William Harrison doesn't drink anything. He's only here because it's cold outside.

William Harrison is also there to keep an eye on John Tyler.

Abraham Lincoln also has a restraining order on Andrew Jackson.

John C. Fremont and Jesse Fremont buy the entire Starbucks Industry. Thankfully, they only abuse this power to give themselves pumpkin spice lattes year round.

James Buchanan attempts to order but changes his mind over and over again.

The Eatons' don't care what they order, as long as it's aesthetic enough to post onto TikTok and they also use one straw and between the two of them. Weirdos.

Floride Calhoun and the rest of Washington City glare murderously from the outside.

Lucretia Clay forgoes Starbucks and drinks homemade tea!

Rachel Jackson drinks a latte, and watches as her rabid husband scarfs down beans. She uh, might also want to see a doctor.

Meanwhile, Sam Howe, Frederick Douglass, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Wendell Phillips are all sitting at one table eating breakfast.

They are all glaring and being glared at by William Garrison, Theodore Parker, Oliver Wendell Holmes and Julia Howe at another table eating breakfast.

James Henry Hammond is rotting in jail.

Henry Longfellow doesn't drink anything and stays home.

THAT'S ALL FOLKS! ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THESE RESULTS? TELL US IN THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW AND PLEASE LIKE AND SUSCRIBE!

[harvestheart]

LIFE WITHOUT BLACK PEOPLE (author unknown)

A very humorous and revealing story is told about a group of white people who were fed up with African Americans, so they joined together and wished themselves away. They passed through a deep dark tunnel and emerged in sort of a twilight zone where there is an America without Black people. At first these white people breathed a sigh of relief. At last, they said, “No more crime, drugs, violence and welfare. All of the Black s have gone!” Then suddenly, reality set in. The “NEW AMERICA” is not America at all — only a barren land. 1. There are very few crops that have flourished because the nation was built on a slave-supported system. 2. There are no cities with tall skyscrapers because Alexander Miles, a Black man, invented the elevator, and without it, one finds great difficulty reaching higher floors. 3. There are few if any cars because Richard Spikes, a Black man, invented the automatic gearshift, Joseph Gambol, also Black, invented the Super Charge System for Internal Combustion Engines, and Garrett A. Morgan, a Black man, invented the traffic signals. 4. Furthermore, one could not use the rapid transit system because its procurer was the electric trolley, which was invented by another Black man, Albert R. Robinson. 5. Even if there were streets on which cars and a rapid transit system could operate, they were cluttered with paper because an African American, Charles Brooks, invented the street sweeper. 6. There were few if any newspapers, magazines and books because John Love invented the pencil sharpener, William Purveys invented the fountain pen, and Lee Barrage invented the Type Writing Machine and W. A. Love invented the Advanced Printing Press. They were all, you guessed it, Black. 7. Even if Americans could write their letters, articles and books, they would not have been transported by mail because William Barry invented the Postmarking and Canceling Machine, William Purveys invented the Hand Stamp and Philip Downing invented the Letter Drop. 8. The lawns were brown and wilted because Joseph Smith invented the Lawn Sprinkler and John Burr the Lawn Mower. 9. When they entered their homes, they found them to be poorly ventilated and poorly heated. You see, Frederick Jones invented the Air Conditioner and Alice Parker the Heating Furnace. Their homes were also dim. But of course, Lewis Later invented the Electric Lamp, Michael Harvey invented the lantern and Granville T. Woods invented the Automatic Cut off Switch. Their homes were also filthy because Thomas W. Steward invented the Mop and Lloyd P. Ray the Dust Pan. 10. Their children met them at the door -- barefooted, shabby, motley and unkempt. But what could one expect? Jan E. Matzelinger invented the Shoe Lasting Machine, Walter Sammons invented the Comb, Sarah Boone invented the Ironing Board and George T. Samon invented the Clothes Dryer. 11. Finally, they were resigned to at least have dinner amidst all of this turmoil. But here again, the food had spoiled because another Black Man, John Standard invented the refrigerator. Now, isn’t that something? What would this country be like without the contributions of Blacks, as African Americans? Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “by the time we leave for work, Americans have depended on the inventions from the minds of Blacks.” Black history includes more than just slavery, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. Dubois.

[bountyofbeads]

We are African Americans, we are patriots, and we refuse to sit idly by

https://wapo.st/2ZfMStU

We Are African Americans, We Are Patriots, And We Refuse To Sit Idly By

By Clarence J. Fluker, C. Kinder, Jesse Moore and Khalilah M. Harris | Published July 26 at 6:09 PM ET | Washington Post | Posted July 28, 2019

This op-ed is co-signed by 149 African Americans who served in the Obama administration.

This post has been updated.

We’ve heard this before. Go back where you came from. Go back to Africa. And now, “send her back.” Black and brown people in America don’t hear these chants in a vacuum; for many of us, we’ve felt their full force being shouted in our faces, whispered behind our backs, scrawled across lockers, or hurled at us online. They are part of a pattern in our country designed to denigrate us as well as keep us separate and afraid.

As 149 African Americans who served in the last administration, we witnessed firsthand the relentless attacks on the legitimacy of President Barack Obama and his family from our front-row seats to America’s first black presidency. Witnessing racism surge in our country, both during and after Obama’s service and ours, has been a shattering reality, to say the least. But it has also provided jet-fuel for our activism, especially in moments such as these.

We stand with congresswomen Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, as well as all those currently under attack by President Trump, along with his supporters and his enablers, who feel deputized to decide who belongs here — and who does not. There is truly nothing more un-American than calling on fellow citizens to leave our country — by citing their immigrant roots, or ancestry, or their unwillingness to sit in quiet obedience while democracy is being undermined.

We are proud descendants of immigrants, refugees and the enslaved Africans who built this country while enduring the horrors of its original sin. We stand on the soil they tilled, and march in the streets they helped to pave. We are red-blooded Americans, we are patriots, and we have plenty to say about the direction this country is headed. We decry voter suppression. We demand equitable access to health care, housing, quality schools and employment. We welcome new Americans with dignity and open arms. And we will never stop fighting for the overhaul of a criminal-justice system with racist foundations.

We come from Minnesota and Michigan. The Bronx and Baton Rouge. Florida and Philadelphia. Cleveland and the Carolinas. Atlanta and Nevada. Oak-town and the Chi. We understand our role in this democracy, and respect the promise of a nation built by, for and of immigrants. We are part of that tradition, and have the strength to both respect our ancestors from faraway lands and the country we all call home.

Our love of country lives in these demands, and our commitment to use our voices and our energy to build a more perfect union. We refuse to sit idly by as racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia are wielded by the president and any elected official complicit in the poisoning of our democracy. We call on local, state and congressional officials, as well as presidential candidates to articulate their policies and strategies for moving us forward as a strong democracy, through a racial-equity lens that prioritizes people over profit. We will continue to support candidates for local, state and federal office who add more diverse representation to the dialogue and those who understand the importance of such diversity when policymaking here in our country and around the world. We ask all Americans to be a good neighbor by demonstrating anti-racist, environmentally friendly, and inclusive behavior toward everyone in your everyday interactions.

The statesman Frederick Douglass warned, “The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful and virtuous.” This nation has neither grappled with nor healed from the horrors of its origins. It is time to advance that healing process now through our justice, economic, health and political systems.

Expect to hear more from us. We plan to leave this country better than we found it. This is our home.

Saba Abebe, former special assistant, Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, Energy Department

Tsehaynesh Abebe, former adviser, U.S. Agency for International Development

David Adeleye, former policy specialist, White House

Bunmi Akinnusotu, former special assistant, Office of Land and Emergency Management, Environmental Protection Agency

Trista Allen, former senior adviser to the regional administrator, General Services Administration

Maria Anderson, former operations assistant, White House

Karen Andre, former White House liaison, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Caya Lewis Atkins, former counselor for science and public health, Department of Health and Human Services

Roy L. Austin Jr., former deputy assistant to the president, White House Domestic Policy Council

Kevin Bailey, former special assistant, White House; senior policy adviser, Treasury Department

Jumoke Balogun, former adviser to the secretary, Labor Department

Diana Banks, former deputy assistant secretary, Defense Department

Desiree N. Barnes, former adviser to the press secretary, White House

Kevin F. Beckford, former special adviser, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Alaina Beverly, former associate director, Office of Urban Affairs, White House

Saba Bireda, former senior counsel, Office for Civil Rights, Education Department

Vincent H. Bish Jr., former special assistant to the assistant secretary of strategic program management, Department of Health and Human Services

Michael Blake, former director for African American, minority and women business enterprises and county and statewide elected officials, White House

Tenicka Boyd, former special assistant, Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Education Department

Tanya Bradsher, former assistant secretary for public affairs, Department of Homeland Security

Stacey Brayboy, former chief of staff, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Agriculture Department

Allyn Brooks-LaSure, former deputy associate administrator for external affairs, Environmental Protection Agency

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, former director of coverage policy, Office of Health Reform, Department of Health and Human Services

Quincy K. Brown, former senior policy adviser, Office of Science and Technology Policy, White House

Taylor Campbell, former director of correspondence systems innovation, White House

Crystal Carson, former chief of staff to the director of communications, White House

Genger Charles, former general deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Housing, Federal Housing Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Glorie Chiza, former associate director, Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, White House

Sarah Haile Coombs, special assistant, Department of Health and Human Services

Michael Cox, former special assistant to the assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs, Commerce Department

Adria Crutchfield, former director of external affairs, Federal Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Joiselle Cunningham, former special adviser, Office of the Secretary, Education Department

Charlotte Flemmings Curtis, former special adviser for White House initiatives, Corporation for National and Community Service

Kareem Dale, former special assistant to the president for disability policy, White House

Ashlee Davis, former White House liaison, Agriculture Department

Marco A. Davis, former deputy director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics

Russella L. Davis-Rogers, former chief of staff, Office of Strategic Partnerships, Department of Education

Tequia Hicks Delgado, former senior adviser for congressional engagement and legislative relations, Office of Legislative Affairs, White House

Kalisha Dessources Figures, former policy adviser, White House Council on Women and Girls

Leek Deng, former special assistant, Bureau for Global Health, U.S. Agency for International Development

Tene Dolphin, former chief of staff, Economic Development Administration, Commerce Department

Monique Dorsainvil, former deputy chief of staff, Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, White House

Joshua DuBois, former executive director, Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships; former special assistant to the president, White House

Dru Ealons, former director, Office of Public Engagement, Environmental Protection Agency

Rosemary Enobakhare, former deputy associate administrator for public engagement and environmental education, Environmental Protection Agency

Karen Evans, former assistant director and policy adviser, Office of Cabinet Affairs, White House

Clarence J. Fluker, former deputy associate director for national parks and youth engagement, White House Council on Environmental Quality

Heather Foster, former public engagement adviser and director of African American affairs, White House

Kalina Francis, former special adviser, Office of Public Affairs, Treasury Department

Matthew “Van” Buren Freeman, former senior adviser, Minority Business Development Agency, Commerce Department

Cameron French, former deputy assistant secretary for public affairs, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Jocelyn Frye, former deputy assistant to the president and director of policy and special projects for the first lady, White House

Bernard Fulton, former deputy assistant secretary for congressional relations, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Stephanie Gaither, former confidential assistant to the deputy director, Office of Management and Budget, White House

Demetria A. Gallagher, former senior adviser for policy and inclusive innovation, Commerce Department

Lateisha Garrett, former White House liaison, National Endowment for the Humanities

W. Cyrus Garrett, former special adviser to the director of counternarcotics enforcement, Department of Homeland Security

Bishop M. Garrison, former science and technology directorate adviser, Department of Homeland Security

Lisa Gelobter, former chief digital service officer, Education Department

A’shanti F. Gholar, former special assistant to the secretary, Labor Department

Jay R. Gilliam, former special assistant, U.S. Agency for International Development

Artealia Gilliard, former deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy, Transportation Department

Brenda Girton-Mitchell, former director, Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Education Department

Jason Green, former associate counsel and special assistant to the president, White House

Corey Arnez Griffin, former associate director, Peace Corps

Kyla F. Griffith, former special adviser to the secretary, Commerce Department

Simone L. Hardeman-Jones, former deputy assistant secretary, Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs, Education Department

Thamar Harrigan, former senior intergovernmental relations adviser, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Dalen Harris, former director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison, Office of National Drug Control Policy, White House

Khalilah M. Harris, former deputy director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans; former senior adviser, Office of Personnel Management

Adam Hodge, former deputy assistant secretary for public affairs, Treasury Department

Valerie Jarrett, former senior adviser, White House

Will Yemi Jawando, former associate director, Office of Public Engagement, White House

Karine Jean-Pierre, former northeast political director, Office of Political Affairs, White House

A. Jenkins, former director, Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Commerce Department

Adora Jenkins, former press secretary, Justice Department; former deputy associate administrator for external affairs, Environmental Protection Agency

W. Nate Jenkins, former chief of staff and senior adviser to the budget director, Office of Management and Budget, White House

David J. Johns, former executive director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans

Brent Johnson, former special adviser to the secretary, Commerce Department

Broderick Johnson, former White House assistant to the president and Cabinet secretary for My Brother’s Keeper Task Force

Carmen Daniels Jones, former director, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Agriculture Department

Gregory K. Joseph II, former special assistant, Office of the Executive Secretariat, Energy Department

Jamia Jowers, former special assistant, National Security Council

Charmion N. Kinder, former associate, Press Office of the First Lady, White House; former assistant press secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Elise Nelson Leary, former international affairs adviser, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Kimberlyn Leary, former adviser, White House Council on Women and Girls

Daniella Gibbs Léger, former special assistant to the president and director of message events, White House

Georgette Lewis, former policy adviser, Department of Health and Human Services

Kevin Lewis, former director of African American media, White House; former principal deputy director of public affairs, Justice Department

Catherine E. Lhamon, former assistant secretary for civil rights, Education Department

Tiffani Long, former special adviser, Economic Development Administration

Latifa Lyles, former director, Women’s Bureau, Labor Department

Brenda Mallory, former general counsel, White House Council on Environmental Quality

Dominique Mann, former media affairs manager, White House

Shelly Marc, former policy adviser, Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, White House

Tyra A. Mariani, former chief of staff to the deputy secretary, Education Department

Lawrence Mason III, former domestic policy analyst, Office of Presidential Correspondence, White House

Dexter L. McCoy, former special assistant, Office of the Secretary, Education Department

Matthew McGuire, former U.S. executive director, The World Bank Group

Tyrik McKeiver, former senior adviser, State Department

Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, former assistant to the administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development

Solianna Meaza, former special assistant to associate administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development

Mahlet Mesfin, former assistant director for international science and technology, Office of Science and Technology Policy, White House

Ricardo Michel, former director, Center for Transformational Partnerships, U.S. Agency for International Development Global Development Lab

Paul Monteiro, former associate director, Office of Public Engagement, White House

Jesse Moore, former associate director, Office of Public Engagement, White House

Shannon Myricks, former specialist, Office of Management and Administration Information Services, White House

Melanie Newman, former director of public affairs, Justice Department

Fatima Noor, former policy assistant, Domestic Policy Council

Bianca Oden, former deputy chief of staff, Agriculture Department

Funmi Olorunnipa, former ethics counsel, White House Counsel’s Office

Elizabeth Ogunwo, former White House liaison, Peace Corps

[reflectivve]

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ:

Despacito 2 (Feat: Lil Pump, XXX Tentacion, MinecraftAwesomeParodies, Pink Guy, Death Grips, 6ix9ine, 2pac, Joji, Lil Peep, Lil Yatchy, Ameer Vann, Twenty One Pilots, Blank Banshee, Lil Xan, Kuwait Grips, Tyler The Creator, Jaden Smith, Morrisey, Kurt Cobain, Yung Caucasian, DJ Pajamas, Link Wrey, Ice T, Péricles, Lil Gay, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Beyoncé, Eazy E, Pink Floyd, Cal Chuchesta, Ice Cube, BROCKHAMPTON, Odd Future, David Bowie, Elon Musk, Politikz, Yung Thug, Foo Fighters, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, My Chemical Romance, Smash Mouth, DJ Khaled, Imagine Dragons, Bjork, The Notourious B.I.G, Mad Dogg, Garth Brooks, JPEG Mafia, Mozart, Car Seat Headrest, Sex Bob-Omb, Frank Jav Cee, Sandtimer, Skrillex, Ghostemane, Nikki Minaj, Kid Cudi, Metallica, John Lennon and The Plastic Yoko Band, Pogo, AC DC, 2 8 1 4, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Swans, Alexander Hamilton, Jack Douglass, Talking Heads, Arctic Monkeys, Paramore, Iron Maiden, Panic! At The Disco, Nirvana, Avril Lavigne, All Time Low, AJR, Green Day, Deadmau5, Simple Plan, Vanilla Ice, Eminem, The Killers, Drake, Hannah Montana, Vacations, Frank Ocean, Radiohead, Marshmello, Rex Orange County, The Strokes, Kali Uchis, Cardi B, Fall Out Boy, Blink-182, Michael Jackson, Agepê, Jack Johnson, Ninja Sex Party, BTS, Floral Shoppe, Pusha T, Eric Clapton, Pitbull, Will.i.am, Black Eyed Peas, Beastie Boys, Petshop Boys, R.E.M, Tame Impala, Backstreet Boys, The Ink Spots, Kanye West, Dean Martin, Logic, Marty Robbins, KE$HA, G-Eazy, Weezer, Toto, Darude, Shawn Mendes, Maroon Five, Father John Misty, Ed Sheeran, Post Malone, American Hi-Fi, Kendrick Lamar, Dashboard Confession, MUTEMATH, Miley Cyrus, Bob Marley, Nardwuar, King Buzzo, Marvin Gaye, Childish Gambino, Wu Tang Clan, Yellowcard, Leon Noel, Simon and Garfunkel, Elvis Presley, Justin Bieber, Matty B, Playboy Cardi, Dawn, Dawn, Dawn, Johnny Cash, The I.L.Y’s, Helen Forrest, Hank Thompson, Tina Fonda, Prince, Rick James, Frank Sinatra, Lil Uzi Vert, A$AP Mob, Home, The Smiths, Joy Division, Gorillaz, Purity Ring, Beach Boys, Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee)

───────────⚪────── ◄◄⠀▐▐ ⠀►►⠀⠀ ⠀ 𝟸:𝟷𝟾 / 𝟹:𝟻𝟼 ⠀ ───○ 🔊⠀ ᴴᴰ ⚙️ ❐ ⊏⊐

[sotina886]

The history and current situation of racial discrimination in the United States

(This article was written in the cssaur compass school newspaper by the invitation of Brother Zhang) In recent years, with the riots caused by racial friction in Ferguson and Baltimore, the issue of racial discrimination in the United States has once again attracted the attention of people from all over the world. In Luo University, the controversy caused by the racist comments on the anonymous website Yik Yak and Douglass Leadership House has also attracted the attention of all Luo masters and students. (Note: Yik Yak is a social networking site that can comment anonymously within 5 miles. The comments are full of racism. Douglass Leadership House is a community that supports minority students in Luo Da. The school decided to continue to support the organization as a After the student club continued to operate, there were a lot of threatening, violent and racist comments on Yik Yak.) So where does the racial problem in the United States come from? How is the race problem in the United States different from the race problem in Europe?

I remember that I once discussed this issue with a professor in the Department of Political Science of Stony Brook University. He said that discrimination in Europe is based on religion, while discrimination in the United States is mainly based on skin color, that is, race. The former is easier to understand because the composition of European immigrants is mainly Muslims from the Middle East and North Africa. A series of problems caused by immigration have also led to discrimination against Muslims in Europe, especially in Western Europe. The issue of racial discrimination in the United States is relatively complicated and has a long history. This starts with the composition of American immigrants in the 17th and 18th centuries.

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In his book "The American Nations: A History Of Eleven Rival Regional Cultures Of North America", American scholar Colin Woodard divides the cultural composition of North America into eleven regions, and in these eleven regions, The main topics related to the current topic are Yankeedom in the northeast, Tidewater near Maryland and Virginia in the east, and Deep South in the south. These areas are actually the core areas of the United States.

The immigrants in Yankeedom were mainly Protestant extremists in the 18th and 19th centuries, who fled to the Americas due to persecution on the European continent. Similar to today's Islamic extremists, they regard persecution as a test of God, with the ultimate goal of building a "pure Christian paradise", and they regard Native American Indians as "representatives of the devil." Therefore, after these immigrants arrived in the Americas, they began to massacre the American Indians in large numbers. The purpose of killing Indians is roughly equivalent to the jihad carried out by extremist organizations such as ISIS today. But at the same time, in order to build a Christian paradise, Yankeedom advocates giving up part of individual freedoms and rights for the best interests of society. Therefore, in terms of economic policies, we often see that the Northeast is relatively left-leaning, which is why the Northeast The region is the home base of the Democratic Party of the United States. From this we can see that the "discrimination" in the traditional northeastern region is mainly based on religion. However, with the advancement of science and technology, the relative decline of religion in daily life, the rise of liberalism, and the massacre of Indians and other multiple reasons, religious discrimination in the Northeast has basically disappeared, replaced by a relatively liberal one. Economic and social values and support for government macro-control.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the economy of Tidewater and Deep South was mainly based on the cultivation of African slaves, which was also related to the composition of local immigrants. The immigrants in the Tidewater area are mainly the exiled nobles after the British Revolution. These nobles also brought a series of economic and political structures of the feudal lords to Tidewater, but the labor force became slaves bought from Africa instead of farmers. The immigrants of Deep South were mainly British slave owners who came from Barbados to expand their land and production. So they transplanted the slavery economy intact. The political system they yearn for is based on the "classical democracy" of ancient Greece and Rome, that is, democracy is limited to the so-called "free people" and slaves do not enjoy any rights. Therefore, discrimination in the American South is based on race. In fact, until now, the politics of the American South is still in the hands of the local families, the descendants of the original slave owners and exiled aristocrats. In the book "The American Nations", the author uses the Democratic Party's Johnson running for Congress in the 1980s as an example. Johnson lost the election four years ago, and four years later, Johnson won with more than 90% of the votes. The only change after four years was that Johnson made a call to a certain local family.

It can be seen that racial discrimination is actually a long-standing cultural phenomenon in the United States, and its predecessor can be traced back to the 18th century. And this phenomenon, even after the end of the South American War, there is still no essential change after the forced "reform" of the North to the South. This shows the tenacious vitality of this culture. Therefore, it is not easy to completely eradicate racial discrimination in the United States. In fact, the cultural communication view holds that if new immigrants come to a place, no matter how many people they are, they will eventually be assimilated by the local culture, rather than change the local culture. What's more, the two major "superpowers" in the American cultural region, Deep South and Yankeedom, are evenly matched in the federal campaign, and no one can have the absolute upper hand. If you want to change the status quo of racial discrimination in the United States, the role of the federal government is crucial. As long as the deadlock between Yankeedom and Deep South cannot be broken, the federal government will not be able to carry out any substantial cultural and institutional reforms. Therefore, it can be foreseen that the culture of the South of the United States will continue, and the culture of the South is inherited from the culture of slavery in the United States, so it is also conceivable that racial discrimination in the United States will continue for a long time.

There is no doubt that this kind of culture that inherited the slavery economy is not conducive to the development of American society. Studies have shown that the incidence of violence in the Deep South and Tidewater areas in the South is much higher than in Yankeedom and The Midlands. So how can we improve the status quo in the United States? I personally believe that the most fundamental problem is to weaken the influence of the southern family on local and even federal politics. To weaken the influence of aristocratic families, the reform of the American Campaign Contribution Act is fundamental. Why is election bill reform fundamental? You know, the influence of aristocratic families mainly comes from financial support to politicians. Since the Supreme Court of the United States legalized SUPER-PAC, the law basically abolished the upper limit of the amount of funding for politicians by any individual and organization, which directly increased the control of the family’s political power in the United States, because in the current society, television , Radio and even advertising on the Internet are essential to increase the public’s understanding and choice of politicians. After all, how can voters vote for a candidate who has never heard of a name? And all this propaganda, and the operation of the campaign team, require financial support, which is why politicians need the support of the family, and the family and the big capitalists can use this to reach an agreement with the politician to implement the capitalist’s The policy of hope. Take a simple example, such as the investment problem of the public education system. The aristocratic families in the south do not want the government to increase tax rates to support the public education system, because the children of the aristocratic families will go to the so-called "noble schools" instead of public schools. Those who mainly go to public schools are mainly African Americans. The shortage of public school funds has prevented African Americans from receiving a good education, so they can only engage in lower-end jobs. Therefore, the family's control over politics makes them monopolize the right to receive a good education, and receiving a good education directly leads to their monopoly on high-income industries, which further promotes their control over politics, a vicious circle. Therefore, controlling the upper limit of Campaign Finance will indirectly reduce the influence of the family on politics. Only by reducing the family’s control over American politics can it be possible to increase social mobility, which really changes the status quo of African Americans. In fact, basically all European democracies have a ceiling on the amount of campaign donations, and I personally think this is an important reason why European politics is more left-handed than the United States. But it is not easy to change the status quo in the United States. It is bound to be opposed by the current vested interests, and almost all American politicians are the beneficiaries of the election bill. Therefore, how to change the status quo of the American election system is a question worthy of in-depth consideration for every political scholar and student studying American politics.

[profaesthetic]

"A World Without Black People"

Life Without Black People: A very humorous and revealing story is told about a group of white people who were fed up with African Americans, so they joined together and wished themselves away. They passed through a deep dark tunnel and emerged in sort of a twilight zone where there is an America without black people. At first these white people breathed a sigh of relief. 'At last', they said, 'no more crime, drugs, violence and welfare.' All of the blacks have gone! Then suddenly, reality set in. The 'NEW AMERICA' is not America at all - only a barren land. 1. There are very few crops that have flourished because the nation was built on a slave-supported system. 2. There are no cities with tall skyscrapers because Alexander Mils, a black man, invented the elevator, and without it, one finds great difficulty reaching higher floors. 3. There are few if any cars because Richard Spikes, a black man, invented the automatic gearshift, Joseph Gambol, also black, invented the Super Charge System for Internal Combustion Engines, and Garrett A. Morgan, a black man, invented the traffic signals. 4. Furthermore, one could not use the rapid transit system because its procurer was the electric trolley, which was invented by another black man, Albert R. Robinson. 5. Even if there were streets on which cars and a rapid transit system could operate, they were cluttered with paper because an African American, Charles Brooks, invented the street sweeper.. 6. There were few if any newspapers, magazines and books because John Love invented the pencil sharpener, William Purveys invented the fountain pen, and Lee Barrage invented the Type Writing Machine and W. A. Love invented the Advanced Printing Press. They were all, you guessed it, Black. 7. Even if Americans could write their letters, articles and books, they would not have been transported by mail because William Barry invented the Postmarking and Canceling Machine, William Purveys invented the Hand Stamp and Philip Downing invented the Letter Drop. 8. The lawns were brown and wilted because Joseph Smith invented the Lawn Sprinkler and John Burr the Lawn Mower. 9. When they entered their homes, they found them to be poorly ventilated and poorly heated. You see, Frederick Jones invented the Air Conditioner and Alice Parker the Heating Furnace. Their homes were also dim. But of course, Lewis Lattimer later invented the Electric Lamp, Michael Harvey invented the lantern, and Granville T. Woods invented the Automatic Cut off Switch. Their homes were also filthy because Thomas W. Steward invented the Mop and Lloyd P. Ray the Dust Pan. 10. Their children met them at the door - barefooted, shabby, motley and unkempt. But what could one expect? Jan E. Matzelinger invented the Shoe Lasting Machine, Walter Sammons invented the Comb, Sarah Boone invented the Ironing Board, and George T. Samon invented the Clothes Dryer. 11. Finally, they were resigned to at least have dinner amidst all of this turmoil. But here again, the food had spoiled because another Black Man, John Standard invented the refrigerator... Now, isn't that something? What would this country be like without the contributions of Blacks, as African-Americans? Martin Luther King, Jr. said, 'by the time we leave for work, millions of Americans have depended on the inventions from the minds of Blacks.' Black history includes more than just slavery, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther Kinbg, Jr., Malcolm X, and Marcus Garvey & W.E.B. Dubois. -Varina Adele PLEASE SHARE, ABUNDANTLY

[sprinkleofblackness-blog]

Up on the Hill

Today we visited the first free African-American settlement in the country in Easton, MD. This was a very touching visit because I am currently reading a book on gentrification and I saw some of that in the visit. The community was home to relatives of both Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. While the community was integrated, there were clear signs of gentrification and identity erasure. Also, there was almost a clear divide in the upkeep of the gentrified area and the predominately black area. Although over the centuries, the Hill Community saw drugs, violence, and structural violence occur, the community also realizes the rich history they are immersed in. One story that resonated with me was a black woman, Grace Brooks, who in 1792 bought her freedom along with her descendants and bought a house built two years prior (1790). She became a midwife and helped deliver white babies but she also helped fellow black women in her community. She was so well known in the community that when she passed, she was given a full page obituary when white women were not even getting them at this time. There was history literally everywhere you turned. This visit really showed me how interdisciplinary work looks.

As the second week begins, I find myself trying to discover my questions. This journey feels like a puzzle that is slowly revealed in stages. First, I realized what my topic would be (black LGBT experience in Harlem and Baltimore during AIDS crisis) but then I had to figure out my guiding questions. I would consider these a first draft of questions:

1. How did black newspapers portray their experiences? How did this compare to LGBT newspapers or newsletters?

2. How were black LGBT folks impacted by racism within the larger community? 

3. What constituted as a “Safe space” or community support and how did it function?

I’ve collected different sources, but they are mainly journal articles on sexuality and gender. I plan on going to the Enoch Pratt library and the Smithsonian along with several LGBT historical places/societies in the Baltimore area to collect various types of sources. I’m hoping there are some interviews I can watch or read. Finally, I would like to find some evidence of black LGBT members who died from AIDS during that time period and look at their personal lives (did they participate in drag culture, did they go to gay bars, where did they socialize, where did they live, etc). I hope I’m not being too ambitious.

(Side note: it’s interesting when I tell people I know my topic and they assume I’m an outsider looking into the LGBT community because I have a boyfriend... not revealing anything but I think it’s interesting how assumptions on sexuality work)

[yasbxxgie]

4 Feet Tall, in Men’s Clothing, She Was an Artistic Genius in 19th-Century Italy

The idea that in order to succeed an artist must first suffer is one with a long history. In that sense, the life and work of Edmonia Lewis, the first black sculptor to gain an international reputation, is instructive, since art historians have judged that “the obstacles [she] overcame are unparalleled in American art.” She suffered, and yet it did not kill her, or kill her career. In all, Lewis created about 60 unique and highly regarded sculptures.

The precise details of Lewis’ early years are unclear. She was most likely born in 1844 or 1845 near Albany, N.Y., to an African-American father and a mother who was of Native American descent. It is possible that the family, including a half-brother, Samuel, lived briefly in Newark, N.J., but by the age of 9, Lewis was orphaned and adopted by her mother’s aunts into a nomadic Mississauga band of the Ojibwe near Niagara Falls. As a child, she was given the Ojibwe name “Wildfire”; learned to catch and cook her own meals; and made and sold moccasins, baskets and other souvenirs.

In 1859 Lewis’ older brother Samuel, who by then had made a fortune in the California Gold Rush, paid Lewis’ tuition for the ladies preparatory program at Oberlin College in Ohio. Oberlin was one of the few institutions open to blacks at that time.

Lewis’ experiences at Oberlin were shaped by the heightened racial tensions of the early Civil War years. When white housemates accused her of poisoning them with Spanish fly, a local mob, long opposed to Oberlin’s interracialism, beat Lewis’ tiny frame—she was only 4 feet tall—and left her for dead. She recovered, only to face her accusers again in court. The case, however, was dismissed for lack of evidence. The following year, 1863, Lewis was again falsely accused, this time of stealing art supplies, and was expelled from Oberlin.

She then moved to Boston, determined to become an artist, and cultivated links with abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Lydia Maria Child, and others who knew of her from Oberlin. Within a year she had produced her first works—clay-and-plaster medallions and busts of abolitionist and Civil War heroes—and sold more than 100 reproductions of her bust of Robert Gould Shaw, the famed, white colonel of the black 54th Massachusetts Regiment. With the proceeds from sales to patriotic Unionists, the fiercely ambitious—and undeniably self-confident—Lewis financed a trip to Italy, first to Florence and then Rome, which was then regarded as the West’s foremost center for sculpture.

Lewis would produce most of her work in Rome, where there was already a vibrant community of expatriate artists—labeled by the writer Henry James as “that strange sisterhood of American ‘lady sculptors’”—with which she became associated, but she was never fully part of its inner circle. Fiercely independent, Lewis refused to hire assistants, and taught herself to carve marble, work that was both physically and artistically demanding.

By the 1870s her studio had become a fashionable place for American tourists to visit. They were intrigued by the diminutive and charming sculptor, often attired in men’s clothing and wearing a distinctive red cap. As in Boston, she continued to make money from terra-cotta or marble busts of Civil War and abolitionist icons, as well as copies of works from classical antiquity.

She produced her first large-scale marble sculpture, The Freed Woman and Her Child, in 1866. Now lost—along with half of her 60 major works—it was the first work by an African-American sculptor to depict the subject of emancipation. She revisited the theme in Forever Free (1867)—now held by Howard University—which she dedicated to Garrison, and which depicts a man and a woman casting off their slave shackles. Among her other notable works are several sculptures of Hagar, the female slave and concubine of Abraham in the Old Testament, with whose travails Lewis clearly identified. “I have a strong sympathy for all women who have struggled and suffered,” she told a journalist in 1871.

Inspired by her Mississauga upbringing and by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha,” Lewis also created several sculptures depicting Native themes, notably The Old Arrowmaker and His Daughter (also known as The Wooing of Hiawatha), now held by the Smithsonian. She was known for her depictions of American Indians as proud and peaceful, rather than the stereotypical images of half-naked savages.

In the mid-1870s, Lewis took several trips to the United States to exhibit and sell her work. Her most notable visit was in 1876 to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, where she was the only African American whose work was exhibited. Her dramatic, life-size piece The Death of Cleopatra was visited by large crowds and was hailed as the one of the most original and striking exhibits at the exposition. As one artist noted, “The effects of death are represented with such skill as to be absolutely repellent—and it is a question whether a statue of the ghastly characteristics … does not overstep the bounds of legitimate art.”

After exhibiting the piece again in Chicago in 1878, Lewis placed the 2-ton sculpture in storage in the Windy City and returned to Rome. Her masterpiece somehow ended up in a Chicago saloon and for a time served as a monument to an infamous gambler’s dead horse (also named Cleopatra) who was buried at a racetrack in suburban Chicago. It was discovered nearby in the 1980s, abandoned in the storage room of a shopping mall, having been painted over by a local Boy Scout troop. Following a lengthy and difficult $30,000 restoration, it now resides in the Smithsonian.

In the 1880s, Lewis continued to work and make her home in Rome, but her style was no longer in such great demand. The neoclassical tradition of sculpture was by then being eclipsed by the Romantic themes and style of Auguste Rodin and others. Bronze replaced marble as the medium of choice, and Paris overtook Rome as the center of the art world.

Until recently, the final years of Lewis’ life were largely unknown, other than her meeting with Frederick Douglass and his wife in Rome in 1887. But in 2012, historian Marilyn Richardson—an expert on Lewis’ work—located a death notice for Edmonia Lewis, which showed that her final years were spent in London. She died there in September 1907, in her early 60s, and left behind a modest financial estate.

Edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, the African American National Biography was first published by Oxford University Press in an award-winning, eight-volume print edition in 2008; a 12-volume second edition followed in 2012. As of 2015, more than 5,500 separate AANB entries are available online as part of OUP’s African American Studies Center. This biography was adapted from the AANB entry by Lisa Rivo.

Steven J. Niven is executive editor of the Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography, the Dictionary of African Biography, and the African American National Biography at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. He is also the author of Barack Obama: A Pocket Biography of Our 44th President.

Photograph:

Edmonia Lewis circa 1870 (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.)

[samwinchestersleftshoe]

things other than covid-19

Jan-Dec in chronological order

Jan: Australian wildfires. Qassem Suleimani, leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force is killed in a US airstrike. Prince Harry & Meghan Markle step back from royal duties. The US house of representatives vote to sent articles of impeachment(abuse of power and obstruction of Congress) against Trump to the US Senate. Kobe Bryant and his 13 yr old daughter Gianna as well as 7 others perish in a helicopter crash. the UK withdraws from the European Union, making Brexit official(actual separation will occur Dec 31st). 

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Feb: Impeachment shadows Trump’s State of the Union address; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tears up a copy of his speech. The Senate acquits Trump of abuse the power of his office+obstructing Congress’ investigation into his conduct. Actor Kirk Douglass dies at age 103. Trump Fires EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland and National Security Council advisor LT. Col. Alexander Vindman, both whom testified against trump during the impeachment trial. Boy Scouts of America seeks bankruptcy protection under wave of child abuse claims. Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed by a white father and son while jogging in Georgia; the two men are arrested 2 1/2 months later and charged with felony murder+assault. Bob Iger steps down at Walt Disney Co. after 15 yrs on the job; Bob Capek is named new CEO. Former VP Joe Biden wins the South Carolina Democratic primary, reigniting his presidential campaign. 

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March: Pete Buttigieg drops out of the US presidential race. Joe Biden leads the primary with victories in 10 states on Super Tuesday. Former NY mayor Michael Bloomberg drops out of US pres race. MA Sen. Elizabeth Warren drops out of US pres race. Harvey Weinstein is sentenced to 23 yrs in prison for r*pe and sexual assault. Breonna Taylor is shot and killed in her home in Louisville, KY by police serving a narcotics warrant in search of suspected drug dealer. The Dow Jones industrial average falls by 2,997.10, the largest single-day drop ever. PG&E pleads guilty to 84 counts counts of involuntary manslaughter over the 2018 Camp Fire. 

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April: Bernie Sanders drops out of US pres race, paving the way for Joe Biden to win Democratic nomination. 

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May: The US faces invasion of murder hornets which threaten domestic bees. The US Justice Department drops charges against former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Gregory and Travis McMichael are charged with murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in GA. William Bryan, the man who filmed Ahmaud Arbery’s death is charged with murder as well. Minneapolis police officer is filmed while pressing his knee on the neck of George Floyd for 8 minutes, killing him, as three other officers stand by. Video of Floyd’s death go viral; 4 officers are fired the next day. Minneapolis-St. Paul protests over death of George Floyd and racial injustice spread nationwide. Fired Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is charged with third degree murder and manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd; the Minnesota attorney general increases the charge to second degree murder on June 3. Charges against the 3 other officers are filed. A state of emergency is declared in Los Angeles County and city of Los Angeles because of protests over the death of George Floyd and racial injustice. Curfews are declared in Philadelphia and Atlanta. 

June: Trump threatens to deploy US troops to quell protests across the country and subsequently stages a photo-op at St John’s Episcopal Church after federal officers and other lay enforcement personnel forcefully clear peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square in front of the White House. Washington D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser designated a section of 16th street NW as a Black Lives Matter Plaza. Protesters in Seattle declare an “autonomous zone” in the city’s Capitol Hill area. Protests in Atlanta start after the killing of Rayshard Brooks by a police officer in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. The US Supreme Court rules that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate because of a person’s sex, also covers sexual orientation. The Trump administration asks a federal judge to block publication of former national security adviser John Bolton’s memoir, “The Room Where It Happened.” The effort fails. Trump holds his first 2020 campaign rally in months in Tulsa, OK. A lower than expected attendance makes headlines. Following a vote by the state legislature, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signs a bill that retires the official state, flag - the last state flag incorporating the Confederate battle flag in its design.  

July: The FBI arrests Ghislaine Maxwell on charges she helped lure at least three girls to be sexually abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstien. The Supreme Court rejects claims of presidential immunity and rules Trump must release his financial records to prosecutors in NY. CA officials announce that as many as 8k prisoners could be released ahead of schedule in an unprecedented attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19 inside state prisons. Trump commutes the 40-month sentence of his political advisor Roger Stone. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper issues a memorandum to the military on the appropriate display of flags - excluding the Confederate battle flag and essentially banning it. Oregon Atty. Gen. Ellen Rosenblum files suit against the federal government, accusing it of unlawfully detaining protesters in Portland. Trump announces a “surge” of federal officers into Democratic-run cities, following a crackdown on protests in Portland OR. TV personality Regis Philbin dies at 88. Trump suggests the 2020 presidential election be delayed, saying increased voting by mail could lead to fraud. 

Aug: Firefighters continue to battle the Apple fire that burned 20,000 acres in Cherry Valley and surrounding areas of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, destroying one home and prompting evacuations of thousands of others. Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar pleads not guilty to bribery, money laundering and an array f other charges, his first public response to the allegations in the corruption inquiry since prosecutors began, securing guilty pleas from others in the case. As California grapples with a barrage of requests for unemployment benefits amid the pandemic, some state workers processing claims say they are hampered by outdated technology, bureaucratic red tape and a shortage of trained, experienced staff. More than 400,000 people, most without face masks and who don’t follow social distancing guidelines, participate in activities related to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. Joe Biden announces Sen. Kamala Harries of California as his VP running mate, the first WOC to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket. Plans are announced by the US Postal Service(USPS) to remove hundreds of high-volume mail-processing machines from postal facilities across the country. Thunderstorms trigger hundreds of wildfires in California, prompting evacs as a record-breaking heat wave taxes the state’s powergrid. The SCU Lighting Complex fires start, affecting several Bay Area counties. Almost 400, 000 acres are burned, making it the third largest wildfire in Cali history. The August Complex fire starts in Northern Cali; by Sept 9 it becomes the largest fire in Cali history, burning more than 1 million acres. Death Valley hits 130 degrees, thought to be the highest temperature on Earth in nearly a century.  Spurred by concerns that Trump is trying to get rid of the USPS to help him win the re-election, Speaker Nancy Pelosi summons House members back to Washington to pass a bill aimed at rolling back admin cutbacks that could cripple widespread mail-in-voting. The LNU Lightning Complex fires start and last for several weeks, scorching more than 350,000 acres in several wince country counties, including Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Lake and Yolo. NBCUniversal ousts longtime Universal studio executive Ron Meyer after learning he made hush-money payments to a woman to cover up an old affair - a secret that Meyer said snowballed into an extortion plot. Apple becomes first US company to be valued at more than $2 trillion. Former trump advisor Stephen K Bannon is arrested and charged with fraud over a private fundraising campaign to build a border wall. Wildfires ringing the Bay Area and other parts of the state kill at least five people, destroy more than 500 structures and scorch hundreds of square miles as evacs expand. A Sacramento County judge sentences the Golden State Killer, 74-yr-old Joseph James DeAngelo Jr to life without parole for killing 13 people and r*ping 50 in a series of break-ins that terrorized the state for decades. Protests break out in Kenosha, WI after the shooting of 29-yr-old Jacob Blake by a police officer. The RNC is held in Charlotte NC, and Wash. Trump and VP Mike Pence are formally nominated as the GOP’s 2020 pres ticket. Two people are shot and killed during unrest in Kenosha, I; a suspect is arrested. Soon after, prof. athletes start to boycott their sports to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake. Actor Chadwick Boseman dies at age 43 at previously undisclosed battle with colon cancer. 

Sept: Famiy members+activists demand that the LA County Sheriff’s Department release the names of the deputies who shot and killed Dijon Kizzee, a black man, in the South LA neighborhood of Westmont on Aug 31. The El Dorado fire erupts in San Bernardino Country, sparked by pyrotechnics that were part of a gender reveal party. CA sets new record for destruction by wildfires, with 2.1 million acres burning. The temp in Woodland Hills soars to 121 degrees, an all-time high in LA County. Ore. wildfires start amid severe drought and severe winds; by the end of Oct, more than 1 million acres will burn, more than 4,000 homes will be destroyed, and at least 10 people will be killed. More than .5 million people in Ore., more than 10% of the state’s population, are reported to be fleeing wildfires. 2 LA County sheriff’s deputies are shot and critically injured while sitting in their patrol car near the Compton Metro station; the agency’s response to the attack raises alarm among some activists, lawmakers and Sheriff’s Department watchdogs. The confirmed death toll from Cali’s unprecedented wildfires rises to 25 as crews work to stop two dozen major blazes still burning statewide. Long-serving Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87. Trump refuses to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. election. A Kentucky grand jury brings no charges against Louisville police in the killing of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid gone wrong. Trump chooses Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to fill Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat. Several attendees at the nomination ceremony at the White House Rose Garden will later test positive for COVID-19. The New York Times reports on more than 20 yrs worth of Trump’s personal and tax returns; among the revelations: He paid $750 in federal taxes in 2016 and again in 2017. The Glass fire in Northern CA ignites just before 4 a.m. and quickly balloons to 40,000 acres in two days. It burns in Napa and Sonoma counties and is the fourth major fire to hit the region since the Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa in 2017. Deadly clashes break out in Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces. Shouting, insults and misinformation, mostly by Trump, dominate the first presidential debate.

Oct: The Cali Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reports that state wildfires burned nearly 4 million acres, killed 31 people and destroyed more than 8,200 structures. For the first time in Cali history, a ballot will make its way in the mail this week to every registered Cali voter. Eddie Van Halen dies at age 65 after a long battle with cancer. FBI announces that 13 men have been charged in a plot to kidnap Mich Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Armenia and Azerbaijan agree on a cease-fire in the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Rick Jacobs, a top political advisor to LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, says he will “take a leave” from his work with Garcetti amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Less than seven months after Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman launched Quibi to remake the business of short-form video, the nascent streaming service announces it is shutting down.The Senate confirms Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court associate justice on a party-line vote, 52 to 48.

Nov: California largely breezes through election day; nationwide, it’s a different story. After midnight, Trump announces he has won the election and demands that all vote counting stop, alleging voter fraud, but with millions of votes still to be counted, no news organizations declare a presidential winner. Trump continues his attack on the voting system as he joins several lawsuits aiming at stopping vote counts in Pa, Ga and Mich. Cali ballot measure campaign season ends with voters granting companies such as Uber and Lyft the right to keep their drivers as independent contractors but rejecting a plan to expand rent control to more homes and communities.  LA voters upend the political status quo by backing a slate of progressive candidates and measures in the Nov. 3 election. Among the victors is George Gascón, former San Fran district attorney, who defeated L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey. After days of waiting, major news organizations declare that Joe Biden has secured enough electoral college votes to win the presidency. “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, 80, dies following a battle with pancreatic cancer. President Trump uses Twitter to announce that Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has been fired. Hurricane Lota makes landfall in Nicaragua as a Category 4 storm, just two weeks after Hurricane Eta hit, devastating the same areas. Trump escalates his attempts to overturn Biden’s election victory, pushing for judges and Republican state lawmakers and local officials in several battleground states to ignore voters’ verdicts and award him the electoral votes he needs for a second term. Ga Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger certifies President-elect Biden’s win and the results of all the other races in the state. After 2-week standoff, Emily Murphy, General Services Admin head, reverses course and allows President-elect Biden’s team access to required federal resources to start the formal transition process. Trump pardons Michael Flynn, his first national security advisor. Trump says he will leave the White House once Biden is officially declared the winner of the electoral college. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi, Iran’s top nuclear scientist assassinated near Tehran. Raymond Chan, a former senior aide to LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, has been charged with conspiracy, bribery, fraud and lying to FBI agents in the ongoing federal probe into corruption at City Hall, according to court records made public. The pro bono law firm Public Counsel files a lawsuit against the state of Cali, saying it has failed during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide a free and equal education to all students, violating the state Constitution and discriminating against Black, Latino and low-income families.

Dec: Atty. Gen. William Barr says the U.S. Justice Department has uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the 2020 election. The captain of the Conception, the dive boat that caught fire last year off the coast of Santa Barbara, is indicted by a federal grand jury on 34 counts of seaman’s manslaughter. Olympic gold medalist Rafer Johnson, who helped bring the Summer Games to Los Angeles, dies at 86. Universal Music Publishing Group announces it is acquiring Bob Dylan’s entire catalog of songs, which spans 60 years. The Supreme Court rejects a highly unusual lawsuit filed by Tex. that urged the justices to overturn the election result by nullifying President-elect Biden’s victory in four key states: Penn, Mich, Wis and Ga. John le Carre, the author of many bestselling Cold War thrillers, dies at 89. The electoral college confirms Biden’s victory over Trump. The availability of intensive care unit beds throughout Southern Cali hits 0%.

[keencolorking]

The history and current situation of racial discrimination in the United States

(This article was written in the cssaur compass school newspaper by the invitation of Brother Zhang) In recent years, with the riots caused by racial friction in Ferguson and Baltimore, the issue of racial discrimination in the United States has once again attracted the attention of people from all over the world. In Luo University, the controversy caused by the racist comments on the anonymous website Yik Yak and Douglass Leadership House has also attracted the attention of all Luo masters and students. (Note: Yik Yak is a social networking site that can comment anonymously within 5 miles. The comments are full of racism. Douglass Leadership House is a community that supports minority students in Luo Da. The school decided to continue to support the organization as a After the student club continued to operate, there were a lot of threatening, violent and racist comments on Yik Yak.) So where does the racial problem in the United States come from? How is the race problem in the United States different from the race problem in Europe?

I remember that I once discussed this issue with a professor in the Department of Political Science of Stony Brook University. He said that discrimination in Europe is based on religion, while discrimination in the United States is mainly based on skin color, that is, race. The former is easier to understand because the composition of European immigrants is mainly Muslims from the Middle East and North Africa. A series of problems caused by immigration have also led to discrimination against Muslims in Europe, especially in Western Europe. The issue of racial discrimination in the United States is relatively complicated and has a long history. This starts with the composition of American immigrants in the 17th and 18th centuries.

📷

In his book "The American Nations: A History Of Eleven Rival Regional Cultures Of North America", American scholar Colin Woodard divides the cultural composition of North America into eleven regions, and in these eleven regions, The main topics related to the current topic are Yankeedom in the northeast, Tidewater near Maryland and Virginia in the east, and Deep South in the south. These areas are actually the core areas of the United States.

The immigrants in Yankeedom were mainly Protestant extremists in the 18th and 19th centuries, who fled to the Americas due to persecution on the European continent. Similar to today's Islamic extremists, they regard persecution as a test of God, with the ultimate goal of building a "pure Christian paradise", and they regard Native American Indians as "representatives of the devil." Therefore, after these immigrants arrived in the Americas, they began to massacre the American Indians in large numbers. The purpose of killing Indians is roughly equivalent to the jihad carried out by extremist organizations such as ISIS today. But at the same time, in order to build a Christian paradise, Yankeedom advocates giving up part of individual freedoms and rights for the best interests of society. Therefore, in terms of economic policies, we often see that the Northeast is relatively left-leaning, which is why the Northeast The region is the home base of the Democratic Party of the United States. From this we can see that the "discrimination" in the traditional northeastern region is mainly based on religion. However, with the advancement of science and technology, the relative decline of religion in daily life, the rise of liberalism, and the massacre of Indians and other multiple reasons, religious discrimination in the Northeast has basically disappeared, replaced by a relatively liberal one. Economic and social values and support for government macro-control.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the economy of Tidewater and Deep South was mainly based on the cultivation of African slaves, which was also related to the composition of local immigrants. The immigrants in the Tidewater area are mainly the exiled nobles after the British Revolution. These nobles also brought a series of economic and political structures of the feudal lords to Tidewater, but the labor force became slaves bought from Africa instead of farmers. The immigrants of Deep South were mainly British slave owners who came from Barbados to expand their land and production. So they transplanted the slavery economy intact. The political system they yearn for is based on the "classical democracy" of ancient Greece and Rome, that is, democracy is limited to the so-called "free people" and slaves do not enjoy any rights. Therefore, discrimination in the American South is based on race. In fact, until now, the politics of the American South is still in the hands of the local families, the descendants of the original slave owners and exiled aristocrats. In the book "The American Nations", the author uses the Democratic Party's Johnson running for Congress in the 1980s as an example. Johnson lost the election four years ago, and four years later, Johnson won with more than 90% of the votes. The only change after four years was that Johnson made a call to a certain local family.

It can be seen that racial discrimination is actually a long-standing cultural phenomenon in the United States, and its predecessor can be traced back to the 18th century. And this phenomenon, even after the end of the South American War, there is still no essential change after the forced "reform" of the North to the South. This shows the tenacious vitality of this culture. Therefore, it is not easy to completely eradicate racial discrimination in the United States. In fact, the cultural communication view holds that if new immigrants come to a place, no matter how many people they are, they will eventually be assimilated by the local culture, rather than change the local culture. What's more, the two major "superpowers" in the American cultural region, Deep South and Yankeedom, are evenly matched in the federal campaign, and no one can have the absolute upper hand. If you want to change the status quo of racial discrimination in the United States, the role of the federal government is crucial. As long as the deadlock between Yankeedom and Deep South cannot be broken, the federal government will not be able to carry out any substantial cultural and institutional reforms. Therefore, it can be foreseen that the culture of the South of the United States will continue, and the culture of the South is inherited from the culture of slavery in the United States, so it is also conceivable that racial discrimination in the United States will continue for a long time.

There is no doubt that this kind of culture that inherited the slavery economy is not conducive to the development of American society. Studies have shown that the incidence of violence in the Deep South and Tidewater areas in the South is much higher than in Yankeedom and The Midlands. So how can we improve the status quo in the United States? I personally believe that the most fundamental problem is to weaken the influence of the southern family on local and even federal politics. To weaken the influence of aristocratic families, the reform of the American Campaign Contribution Act is fundamental. Why is election bill reform fundamental? You know, the influence of aristocratic families mainly comes from financial support to politicians. Since the Supreme Court of the United States legalized SUPER-PAC, the law basically abolished the upper limit of the amount of funding for politicians by any individual and organization, which directly increased the control of the family’s political power in the United States, because in the current society, television , Radio and even advertising on the Internet are essential to increase the public’s understanding and choice of politicians. After all, how can voters vote for a candidate who has never heard of a name? And all this propaganda, and the operation of the campaign team, require financial support, which is why politicians need the support of the family, and the family and the big capitalists can use this to reach an agreement with the politician to implement the capitalist’s The policy of hope. Take a simple example, such as the investment problem of the public education system. The aristocratic families in the south do not want the government to increase tax rates to support the public education system, because the children of the aristocratic families will go to the so-called "noble schools" instead of public schools. Those who mainly go to public schools are mainly African Americans. The shortage of public school funds has prevented African Americans from receiving a good education, so they can only engage in lower-end jobs. Therefore, the family's control over politics makes them monopolize the right to receive a good education, and receiving a good education directly leads to their monopoly on high-income industries, which further promotes their control over politics, a vicious circle. Therefore, controlling the upper limit of Campaign Finance will indirectly reduce the influence of the family on politics. Only by reducing the family’s control over American politics can it be possible to increase social mobility, which really changes the status quo of African Americans. In fact, basically all European democracies have a ceiling on the amount of campaign donations, and I personally think this is an important reason why European politics is more left-handed than the United States. But it is not easy to change the status quo in the United States. It is bound to be opposed by the current vested interests, and almost all American politicians are the beneficiaries of the election bill. Therefore, how to change the status quo of the American election system is a question worthy of in-depth consideration for every political scholar and student studying American politics.

[sotina886]

The history and current situation of racial discrimination in the United States

(This article was written in the cssaur compass school newspaper by the invitation of Brother Zhang) In recent years, with the riots caused by racial friction in Ferguson and Baltimore, the issue of racial discrimination in the United States has once again attracted the attention of people from all over the world. In Luo University, the controversy caused by the racist comments on the anonymous website Yik Yak and Douglass Leadership House has also attracted the attention of all Luo masters and students. (Note: Yik Yak is a social networking site that can comment anonymously within 5 miles. The comments are full of racism. Douglass Leadership House is a community that supports minority students in Luo Da. The school decided to continue to support the organization as a After the student club continued to operate, there were a lot of threatening, violent and racist comments on Yik Yak.) So where does the racial problem in the United States come from? How is the race problem in the United States different from the race problem in Europe?

I remember that I once discussed this issue with a professor in the Department of Political Science of Stony Brook University. He said that discrimination in Europe is based on religion, while discrimination in the United States is mainly based on skin color, that is, race. The former is easier to understand because the composition of European immigrants is mainly Muslims from the Middle East and North Africa. A series of problems caused by immigration have also led to discrimination against Muslims in Europe, especially in Western Europe. The issue of racial discrimination in the United States is relatively complicated and has a long history. This starts with the composition of American immigrants in the 17th and 18th centuries.

📷

In his book "The American Nations: A History Of Eleven Rival Regional Cultures Of North America", American scholar Colin Woodard divides the cultural composition of North America into eleven regions, and in these eleven regions, The main topics related to the current topic are Yankeedom in the northeast, Tidewater near Maryland and Virginia in the east, and Deep South in the south. These areas are actually the core areas of the United States.

The immigrants in Yankeedom were mainly Protestant extremists in the 18th and 19th centuries, who fled to the Americas due to persecution on the European continent. Similar to today's Islamic extremists, they regard persecution as a test of God, with the ultimate goal of building a "pure Christian paradise", and they regard Native American Indians as "representatives of the devil." Therefore, after these immigrants arrived in the Americas, they began to massacre the American Indians in large numbers. The purpose of killing Indians is roughly equivalent to the jihad carried out by extremist organizations such as ISIS today. But at the same time, in order to build a Christian paradise, Yankeedom advocates giving up part of individual freedoms and rights for the best interests of society. Therefore, in terms of economic policies, we often see that the Northeast is relatively left-leaning, which is why the Northeast The region is the home base of the Democratic Party of the United States. From this we can see that the "discrimination" in the traditional northeastern region is mainly based on religion. However, with the advancement of science and technology, the relative decline of religion in daily life, the rise of liberalism, and the massacre of Indians and other multiple reasons, religious discrimination in the Northeast has basically disappeared, replaced by a relatively liberal one. Economic and social values and support for government macro-control.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the economy of Tidewater and Deep South was mainly based on the cultivation of African slaves, which was also related to the composition of local immigrants. The immigrants in the Tidewater area are mainly the exiled nobles after the British Revolution. These nobles also brought a series of economic and political structures of the feudal lords to Tidewater, but the labor force became slaves bought from Africa instead of farmers. The immigrants of Deep South were mainly British slave owners who came from Barbados to expand their land and production. So they transplanted the slavery economy intact. The political system they yearn for is based on the "classical democracy" of ancient Greece and Rome, that is, democracy is limited to the so-called "free people" and slaves do not enjoy any rights. Therefore, discrimination in the American South is based on race. In fact, until now, the politics of the American South is still in the hands of the local families, the descendants of the original slave owners and exiled aristocrats. In the book "The American Nations", the author uses the Democratic Party's Johnson running for Congress in the 1980s as an example. Johnson lost the election four years ago, and four years later, Johnson won with more than 90% of the votes. The only change after four years was that Johnson made a call to a certain local family.

It can be seen that racial discrimination is actually a long-standing cultural phenomenon in the United States, and its predecessor can be traced back to the 18th century. And this phenomenon, even after the end of the South American War, there is still no essential change after the forced "reform" of the North to the South. This shows the tenacious vitality of this culture. Therefore, it is not easy to completely eradicate racial discrimination in the United States. In fact, the cultural communication view holds that if new immigrants come to a place, no matter how many people they are, they will eventually be assimilated by the local culture, rather than change the local culture. What's more, the two major "superpowers" in the American cultural region, Deep South and Yankeedom, are evenly matched in the federal campaign, and no one can have the absolute upper hand. If you want to change the status quo of racial discrimination in the United States, the role of the federal government is crucial. As long as the deadlock between Yankeedom and Deep South cannot be broken, the federal government will not be able to carry out any substantial cultural and institutional reforms. Therefore, it can be foreseen that the culture of the South of the United States will continue, and the culture of the South is inherited from the culture of slavery in the United States, so it is also conceivable that racial discrimination in the United States will continue for a long time.

There is no doubt that this kind of culture that inherited the slavery economy is not conducive to the development of American society. Studies have shown that the incidence of violence in the Deep South and Tidewater areas in the South is much higher than in Yankeedom and The Midlands. So how can we improve the status quo in the United States? I personally believe that the most fundamental problem is to weaken the influence of the southern family on local and even federal politics. To weaken the influence of aristocratic families, the reform of the American Campaign Contribution Act is fundamental. Why is election bill reform fundamental? You know, the influence of aristocratic families mainly comes from financial support to politicians. Since the Supreme Court of the United States legalized SUPER-PAC, the law basically abolished the upper limit of the amount of funding for politicians by any individual and organization, which directly increased the control of the family’s political power in the United States, because in the current society, television , Radio and even advertising on the Internet are essential to increase the public’s understanding and choice of politicians. After all, how can voters vote for a candidate who has never heard of a name? And all this propaganda, and the operation of the campaign team, require financial support, which is why politicians need the support of the family, and the family and the big capitalists can use this to reach an agreement with the politician to implement the capitalist’s The policy of hope. Take a simple example, such as the investment problem of the public education system. The aristocratic families in the south do not want the government to increase tax rates to support the public education system, because the children of the aristocratic families will go to the so-called "noble schools" instead of public schools. Those who mainly go to public schools are mainly African Americans. The shortage of public school funds has prevented African Americans from receiving a good education, so they can only engage in lower-end jobs. Therefore, the family's control over politics makes them monopolize the right to receive a good education, and receiving a good education directly leads to their monopoly on high-income industries, which further promotes their control over politics, a vicious circle. Therefore, controlling the upper limit of Campaign Finance will indirectly reduce the influence of the family on politics. Only by reducing the family’s control over American politics can it be possible to increase social mobility, which really changes the status quo of African Americans. In fact, basically all European democracies have a ceiling on the amount of campaign donations, and I personally think this is an important reason why European politics is more left-handed than the United States. But it is not easy to change the status quo in the United States. It is bound to be opposed by the current vested interests, and almost all American politicians are the beneficiaries of the election bill. Therefore, how to change the status quo of the American election system is a question worthy of in-depth consideration for every political scholar and student studying American politics.

[sengoku1]

TABC high school basketball rankings

SUGAR LAND, Texas (AP) – High school basketball rankings as compiled by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches for the week of Jan. 22:

BOYS PUBLIC

Class 6A

1. Denton Guyer, 27-1; 2. Austin Westlake, 25-3; 3. Cypress Falls, 22-3; 4. Spring Dekaney, 24-3; 5. South Garland, 25-3; 6. Duncanville, 22-4; 7. DeSoto, 19-6; 8. SA Wagner, 20-5; 9. Allen, 21-4; 10. Houston Sam Houston, 20-3; 11. Lake Travis, 22-5; 12. Cibolo Steele, 23-2; 13. Katy Tompkins, 21-6; 14. Aldine Eisenhower, 21-5; 15. Fort Bend Bush, 21-4; 16. Beaumont West Brook, 22-3; 17. Odessa Permian, 20-3; 18. Schertz Clemens, 20-6; 19. Garland Rowlett, 16-8; 20. Dallas Jesuit, 19-3; 21. Los Fresnos, 24-5; 22. South Grand Prairie, 18-9; 23. North Crowley, 21-5; 24. Klein Forest, 18-5; 25. Killeen Ellison, 24-3.

Class 5A

1. Waxahachie, 20-4; 2. Justin Northwest, 21-5; 3. Mansfield Timberview, 21-5; 4. Port Arthur Memorial, 20-5; 5. Little Elm, 20-6; 6. Prosper, 22-3; 7. Sulphur Springs, 23-3; 8. EP Burges, 23-2; 9. N. Richland Hills Birdville, 20-4; 10. Dallas Wilson, 12-4; 11. Lancaster, 15-10; 12. Alvin Shadow Creek, 16-5; 13. Midlothian, 18-8; 14. CC Veterans Memorial, 24-4; 15. Dallas South Oak Cliff, 16-7; 16. Laredo Nixon, 23-5; 17. Fort Bend Marshall, 20-7; 18. Fort Bend Elkins, 19-11; 19. Humble, 21-8; 20. Austin Lanier, 18-6; 21. Austin LBJ, 18-6; 22. Dallas Kimball, 15-8; 23. SA Alamo Heights, 21-5; 24. EP Eastlake, 21-1; 25. Leander Rouse, 20-6.

Class 4A

1. Center, 24-1; 2. Silsbee, 15-8; 3. Houston Yates, 14-2; 4. Freeport Brazosport, 19-5; 5. Dallas Lincoln, 15-8; 6. Dallas Carter, 21-3; 7. WF Hirschi, 15-6; 8. Lubbock Estacado, 15-5; 9. Abilene Wylie, 22-3; 10. Seminole, 17-6; 11. Midlothian Heritage, 22-6; 12. Argyle, 19-6; 13. Waxahachie Life, 26-6; 14. Boerne, 24-4; 15. CC West Oso, 20-7; 16. Houston North Forest, 10-8; 17. Waco Connally, 17-7; 18. Sour Lake Hardin-Jefferson, 25-7; 19. Athens, 20-2; 20. Krum, 22-5; 21. Dallas Faith Family, 20-9; 22. Wilmer Hutchins, 14-9; 23. Somerset, 19-8; 24. Burkburnett, 15-12; 25. Dallas Roosevelt, 18-9.

Class 3A

1. Jarrell, 19-4; 2. SA Cole, 27-1; 3. Peaster, 18-8; 4. Brock, 26-3; 5. Palestine Westwood, 25-2; 6. Ponder, 23-5; 7. East Chambers, 24-1; 8. Edgewood, 21-2; 9. Pollok Central, 20-6; 10. Nacogdoches Central Heights, 21-7; 11. Bowie, 18-6; 12. Nocona, 21-4; 13. Wall, 21-2; 14. Hitchcock, 15-10; 15. Van Vleck, 11-4; 16. Mount Vernon, 23-1; 17. Kountze, 17-8; 18. Commerce, 14-8; 19. Van Alstyne, 18-9; 20. Holliday, 19-4; 21. Teague, 8-3; 22. Dallas Madison, 6-16; 23. La Marque, 12-11; 24. Newton, 7-3; 25. CC London, 15-11.

Class 2A

1. Thorndale, 21-3; 2. Martins Mill, 22-3; 3. Big Sandy, 15-6; 4. Shelbyville, 21-3; 5. Tenaha, 8-2; 6. Lufkin Pineywoods, 18-6; 7. Muenster, 5-5; 8. San Augustine, 6-3; 9. Cushing, 20-4; 10. Grapeland, 17-7; 11. Dallardsville Big Sandy, 20-7; 12. Stinnett West Texas, 22-2; 13. Neches, 16-9; 14. Port Aransas, 19-10; 15. Snook, 18-6; 16. Clarksville, 14-6; 17. Broaddus, 16-7; 18. SA Lee Academy, 18-0; 19. Celeste, 19-3; 20. Memphis, 21-2; 21. Ivanhoe Rayburn, 18-5; 22. Stratford, 6-1; 23. Sanford-Fritch, 16-4; 24. Iola, 14-6; 25. Forsan, 19-3.

Class 1A

1. Lipan, 25-1; 2. Nazareth, 18-5; 3. Laneville, 18-6; 4. Gail Borden County, 9-2; 5. New Home, 20-3; 6. Slidell, 20-5; 7. Graford, 15-7; 8. Leggett, 25-4; 9. Waelder, 14-4; 10. Moulton, 22-4; 11. Happy, 9-7; 12. Texline, 14-8; 13. Turkey Valley, 10-1; 14. Ropesville, 17-3; 15. Eula, 20-5; 16. Coolidge, 14-2; 17. Bronte, 23-1; 18. Oakwood, 10-10; 19. Ector, 21-6; 20. Martinsville, 18-6; 21. May, 9-5; 22. Meadow, 13-6; 23. Avalon, 16-3; 24. Milford, 5-3; 25. Yantis, 18-3.

BOYS PRIVATE

TAPPS 6A/SPC

1. Tomball Condoria, 32-1; 2. Dallas Bishop Lynch, 26-5; 3. Houston Christian, 24-4; 4. Houston Bellaire Episcopal, 21-3; 5. Plano Prestonwood, 18-7; 6. SA Antonian, 29-6; 7. Dallas St. Mark’s, 15-4; 8. Houston The Village, 18-1; 9. FW Nolan, 15-7; 10. Addison Trinity, 14-11.

TAPPS 5A

1. Cedar Hill Trinity, 21-4; 2. Houston Second Baptist, 21-6; 3. Tyler All Saints Episcopal, 21-3; 4. Houston Westbury Christian, 10-19; 5. SA St. Mary’s Hall, 20-7; 6. FW Southwest Christian, 19-10; 7. SA Cornerstone, 12-10; 8. CC St. John Paul II, 22-7; 9. Frisco Legacy, 14-13; 10. Laredo St. Augustine, 20-14.

TAPPS 4A

1. Arlington Grace Prep, 24-5; 2. Colleyville Covenant, 14-11; 3. The Woodlands Christian, 18-12; 4. Waco Vanguard, 9-9; 5. Waco Reicher, 19-12; 6. Houston St Thomas Episcopal, 6-6; 7. Lubbock Trinity, 15-19; 8. Sugar Land Logos, 11-7; 9. Lubbock Christian, 10-8; 10. Austin Brentwood, 11-15.

Class 3A

1. Dallas Yavneh, 23-0; 2. Kerrville Our Lady of the Hills, 20-3; 3. SA St. Gerard, 18-2; 4. Irving The Highlands, 13-6; 5. Abilene Christian, 18-7; 6. Dallas Covenant, 16-4; 7. Willow Park Trinity, 17-5; 8. Spring Frassati, 14-7; 9. FW Calvary, 17-9; 10. Beaumont Legacy, 12-14.

Class 2A

1. Sherman Texoma Christian, 19-4; 2. Lubbock All-Saints Episcopal, 20-5; 3. Bryan Allen Academy, 16-12; 4. Conroe Covenant, 18-4; 5. Huntsville Alpha Omega, 24-3; 6. New Braunfels Christian, 19-8; 7. FW Bethesda, 16-4; 8. Houston Beren, 12-3; 9. Dallas First Baptist, 10-2; 10. Shiner St. Paul, 12-5.

Class 1A

1. Granbury North Central Texas, 20-2; 2. SA Legacy, 24-1; 3. SA Gateway, 19-8; 4. Irving Faustina, 9-0; 5. Longview Trinity, 13-3; 6. Lubbock Kingdom, 12-9; 7. Spring Founders, 16-9; 8. Athens Christian, 9-5; 9. Fredericksburg Heritage, 11-5; 10. Alamo Macedonian, 12-6.

GIRLS PUBLIC

Class 6A

1. Duncanville, 30-1; 2. Cibolo Steele, 27-3; 3. Richardson, 24-3; 4. Converse Judson, 23-4; 5. Plano, 24-5; 6. DeSoto, 22-3; 7. Cypress Creek, 24-4; 8. Cypress Ranch, 24-5; 9. SA East Central, 24-4; 10. Dallas Skyline, 21-7; 11. Allen, 24-6; 12. Austin Westlake, 23-7; 13. Arlington Bowie, 23-6; 14. Rockwall, 22-6; 15. Waco Midway, 25-4; 16. Pflugerville Henderickson, 24-6; 17. Pflugerville, 26-5; 18. Killeen Ellison, 17-8; 19. Houston Jersey Village, 23-4; 20. McKinney, 21-9; 21. Keller Timber Creek, 24-4; 22. Humble Atascocita, 21-8; 23. Fort Bend Hightower, 22-8; 24. Laredo United, 26-2; 25. League City Clear Springs, 22-7;.

Class 5A

1. Mansfield Timberview, 29-2; 2. Montvieu Barbers Hill, 30-2; 3. Frisco Lone Star, 25-4; 4. Amarillo, 28-2; 5. Canyon, 21-3; 6. Prosper, 24-3; 7. Houston Madison, 15-2; 8. Temple, 22-5; 9. Sulphur Springs, 22-3; 10. Denison, 24-4; 11. Wylie East, 23-5; 12. Leander Rouse, 24-6; 13. Cedar Park, 23-7; 14. FW Boswell, 27-4; 15. Aledo, 22-2; 16. Lubbock Cooper, 26-2; 17. CC Veterans Memorial, 26-4; 18. Lucas Lovejoy, 23-6; 19. CC Flour Bluff, 26-4; 20. Austin High, 23-7; 21. Georgetown, 19-8; 22. Crosby, 23-7; 23. SA Southside, 24-3; 24. Marble Falls, 20-9; 25. Kerrville Tivy, 23-6.

Class 4A

1. Liberty Hill, 26-3; 2. Glen Rose, 27-1; 3. Denver City, 20-5; 4. Levelland, 25-2; 5. Navasota, 29-2; 6. Dallas Lincoln, 25-3; 7. Houston Wheatley, 21-3; 8. Canton, 24-6; 9. Tatum, 23-4; 10. Abilene Wylie, 20-6; 11. Sanger, 25-4; 12. Argyle, 22-7; 13. Gilmer, 24-5; 14. SA Veterans Memorial, 22-9; 15. Brownwood, 25-4; 16. Melissa, 24-3; 17. Bushland, 17-6; 18. Bullard, 25-7; 19. Midlothian Heritage, 23-5; 20. Sour Lake Hardin-Jefferson, 24-5; 21. CC West Oso, 21-5; 22. Lorena, 21-7; 23. Geronimo Navarro, 21-9; 24. Comal Canyon Lake, 22-5; 25. Mexia, 20-7.

Class 3A

1. Canadian, 21-4; 2. Pottsboro, 25-4; 3. Mount Pleasant Chapel Hill, 26-2; 4. Wall, 20-5; 5. Little River Academy, 20-4; 6. Idalou, 23-5; 7. Brock, 23-6; 8. Tuscola Jim Ned, 19-7; 9. Winnsboro, 18-10; 10. Leonard, 22-3; 11. Teague, 24-2; 12. Sunnyvale, 24-3; 13. Shallowater, 22-3; 14. Poth, 19-5; 15. Odem, 24-6; 16. Cisco, 21-4; 17. Mount Vernon, 17-9; 18. Woodville, 27-5; 19. Vanderbilt Industrial, 24-5; 20. Colorado City, 21-6; 21. Hitchcock, 21-6; 22. Grandview, 20-8; 23. Marion, 19-10; 24. Yoakum, 20-6; 25. Marlin, 21-8.

Class 2A

1. Martins Mill, 28-1; 2. La Rue La Poynor, 23-2; 3. Panhandle, 23-3; 4. Windthorst, 24-1; 5. Stratford, 20-4; 6. Hico, 26-1; 7. Tenaha, 22-4; 8. Woden, 23-3; 9. Claude, 22-4; 10. Era, 24-3; 11. Grapeland, 21-7; 12. Vega, 26-3; 13. Archer City, 22-6; 14. Haskell, 26-1; 15. Wellington, 20-6; 16. Campbell, 23-6; 17. Seymour, 20-6; 18. Mason, 25-7; 19. San Saba, 22-7; 20. Lovelady, 22-7; 21. Douglass, 20-3; 22. Snook, 23-2; 23. Thorndale, 20-5; 24. Timpson, 22-7; 25. Gladewater Union Grove, 19-5.

Class 1A

1. Nazareth, 24-3; 2. Garden City, 26-1; 3. Dodd City, 27-1; 4. Moulton, 26-3; 5. Ropesville, 25-0; 6. Huckabay, 20-5; 7. Barksdale Nueces Canyon, 24-4; 8. Rankin, 26-5; 9. McMullen County, 22-2; 10. Roby, 20-6; 11. May, 21-3; 12. Eula, 20-7; 13. Jayton, 21-5; 14. Robert Lee, 20-3; 15. Rocksprings, 18-4; 16. Hermleigh, 20-6; 17. Westbrook, 16-4; 18. New Home, 22-5; 19. Leakey, 17-8; 20. Slocum, 18-9; 21. McLean, 21-3; 22. Abbott, 17-5; 23. Klondike, 16-5; 24. Iredell, 14-3; 25. Cumby Miller Grove, 16-6.

GIRLS PRIVATE

TAPPS 6A/SPC 1

. Houston Kinkaid, 17-2; 2. Dallas Bishop Lynch, 18-7; 3. Plano Prestonwood, 20-7; 4. Houston St. Agnes, 22-7; 5. Houston Christian, 24-6; 6. Dallas Parish Episcopal, 21-4; 7. Tomball Concordia Lutheran, 22-6; 8. SA Incarnate Word, 17-9; 9. Argyle Liberty, 22-7; 10. Houston The Village, 18-6.

TAPPS 5A

1. SA Christian, 22-12; 2. Mesquite Dallas Christian, 13-12; 3. Corpus Christi IWA, 21-8; 4. Cedar Hill Trinity, 18-7; 5. Austin St. Michael’s, 18-6; 6. Houston Second Baptist, 16-12; 7. Tyler Grace Community, 17-6; 8. Grapevine Faith, 16-6; 9. CC John Paul II, 19-10; 10. Tyler All Saints Episcopal, 15-7.

TAPPS 4A 1. FW Lake Country, 24-8; 2. Marble Falls Faith, 20-6; 3. Houston Lutheran North, 9-7; 4. Austin Brentwood Christian, 22-10; 5. Austin Texas For Deaf, 22-5; 6. Lubbock Christian, 24-10; 7. Flower Mound Coram Deo, 20-6; 8. The Woodlands Christian, 15-5; 9. McKinney Christian, 12-8; 10. Lubbock Trinity, 9-19.

Class 3A

1. Beaumont Legacy, 17-8; 2. Temple Central Texas, 18-4; 3. Midland Classical, 14-8; 4. Mission Juan Diego, 16-4; 5. Round Rock Christian, 13-6; 6. Denton Calvary, 14-7; 7. SA Castle Hills, 16-7; 8. SA Keystone, 12-1; 9. Hallettsville Sacred Heart, 7-5; 10. Spring Frassati, 11-5.

Class 2A

1. Austin Waldorf, 19-4; 2. Shiner St. Paul, 13-7; 3. Red Oak Ovilla, 12-2; 4. Lubbock All-Saints, 11-10; 5. Bryan St. Joseph, 13-11; 6. The Woodlands Legacy, 16-5; 7. Bryan Allen Academy, 9-4; 8. Lubbock Southcrest, 11-3; 9. New Braunfels Christian, 12-10; 10. Muenster Sacred Heart, 8-13.

Class 1A

1. Edinburg Harvest, 12-5; 2. SA Legacy, 18-3; 3. DeSoto Canterbury, 10-5; 4. Lubbock Kingdom, 12-8; 5. Wichita Falls Notre Dame, 15-9; 6. Wichita Falls Christ Academy, 12-8; 7. Houston Southwest Christian, 10-2; 8. Waxahachie Prep, 10-2; 9. Longview Trinity, 11-8; 10. El Paso Jesus Chapel, 6-1.

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[lgrim-99]

Life without black people

LIFE WITHOUT BLACK PEOPLE A very humorous and revealing story is told about a group of white people who were fed up with African Americans, so they joined together and wished themselves away. They passed through a deep dark tunnel and emerged in sort of a twilight zone where there is an America without black people. At first these white people breathed a sigh of relief. At last, they said, “No more crime, drugs, violence and welfare. All of the blacks have gone!” Then suddenly, reality set in. The “NEW AMERICA” is not America at all — only a barren land. 1. There are very few crops that have flourished because the nation was built on a slave-supported system. 2. There are no cities with tall skyscrapers because Alexander Mils, a black man, invented the elevator, and without it, one finds great difficulty reaching higher floors. 3. There are few if any cars because Richard Spikes, a black man, invented the automatic gearshift, Joseph Gambol, also black, invented the Super Charge System for Internal Combustion Engines, and Garrett A. Morgan, a black man, invented the traffic signals. 4. Furthermore, one could not use the rapid transit system because its procurer was the electric trolley, which was invented by another black man, Albert R. Robinson. 5. Even if there were streets on which cars and a rapid transit system could operate, they were cluttered with paper because an African American, Charles Brooks, invented the street sweeper. 6. There were few if any newspapers, magazines and books because John Love invented the pencil sharpener, William Purveys invented the fountain pen, and Lee Barrage invented the Type Writing Machine and W. A. Love invented the Advanced Printing Press. They were all, you guessed it, Black. 7. Even if Americans could write their letters, articles and books, they would not have been transported by mail because William Barry invented the Postmarking and Canceling Machine, William Purveys invented the Hand Stamp and Philip Downing invented the Letter Drop. 8. The lawns were brown and wilted because Joseph Smith invented the Lawn Sprinkler and John Burr the Lawn Mower. 9. When they entered their homes, they found them to be poorly ventilated and poorly heated. You see, Frederick Jones invented the Air Conditioner and Alice Parker the Heating Furnace. Their homes were also dim. But of course, Lewis Later invented the Electric Lamp, Michael Harvey invented the lantern and Granville T. Woods invented the Automatic Cut off Switch. Their homes were also filthy because Thomas W. Steward invented the Mop and Lloyd P. Ray the Dust Pan. 10. Their children met them at the door-barefooted, shabby, motley and unkempt. But what could one expect? Jan E. Matzelinger invented the Shoe Lasting Machine, Walter Sammons invented the Comb, Sarah Boone invented the Ironing Board and George T. Samon invented the Clothes Dryer. 11. Finally, they were resigned to at least have dinner amidst all of this turmoil. But here again, the food had spoiled because another Black Man, John Standard invented the refrigerator. Now, isn’t that something? What would this country be like without the contributions of Blacks, as African-Americans? Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “by the time we leave for work, Americans have depended on the inventions from the minds of Blacks.” Black history includes more than just slavery, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. Dubois.