#land trust of north alabama

[fourtccn]

rating every state’s motto

alabama: “audemus jura nostra defendere”, trans. “we dare to defend our rights.” 4/10, not the worst but i don’t think it needs to be said. bit pretentious

alaska: “north to the future.” 7/10, i think it’s cool but i have no clue what it really means. higher points for not being religious (i think)

arizona: “ditat deus”, trans. “God enriches.” 0/10, keep that guy out of it

arkansas: “regnat populus,” trans. “the people rule.” 8/10, simple, love the idea, think it’s a great standing

california: “eureka”, trans. “I have found it.” 1/10, found WHAT???

colorado: “nil sine numine”, trans. “nothing without providence.” 0/10, i had to look up what this means and it is religious again

connecticut: “qui transtulit sustinet”, trans. “he who transplanted sustains.” -1/10, not only is this religious but it’s also not openly religious. pure evil

delaware: “liberty and independence.” 7/10, it’s boring, but it’s something

florida: “in God we trust.” 0/10, come on man

georgia: “wisdom, justice, moderation.” 6/10, sure

hawaii: “ua ma uke ea o ka ‘āina I ka pono,” trans. “the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.” 10/10, yes!!! has something to do with their history!! it’s badass! makes me feel cool as hell to say!!

idaho: “esto perpetua”, trans. “let it be perpetual.” 1/10, it’s not religious and it is historical but i don’t like that it’s connected with the confederacy :/ (quoted from the president of the confederacy btw)

illinois: “state sovereignty, national union.” 0/10, directly associated with states’ rights to choose during the civil war

indiana: “the crossroads of america.” 7/10, i like that it’s more descriptive of the state than the government and it’s really funny to me that they identify like this. it’s like your friend doing something amazing and you going “you couldn’t have gotten there without me driving you to 7/11 that one time”

iowa: “our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.” 6/10, i want to dislike this one because it’s so middle-of-the-road, but it does have some state history behind it (has to do with their fight to become a state) so it gets some points for that

kansas: “ad astra per aspera”, trans. “to the stars through difficulties.” 9/10, cool, connected to what they said about the state in its history, seemingly unreligious. point docked for it going to kansas and therefore being a bit pretentious more than anything

kentucky: “deo graham habeamus”, trans. “let us be grateful to God” AND “united we stand, divided we fall.” 0/10, why do they get TWO??? first one is religious, and the second one is unoriginal. if it were just the second one i would give it the benefit of the doubt but come on

louisiana: “union, justice, and confidence.” 4/10, i don’t think louisiana should be confident about anything but i do appreciate self-love

maine: “dirigo”, trans. “i direct.” 5/10, more than california because it’s slightly less confusing but i really don’t know what they mean by this

maryland: “fatti maschi, parole femmine”, trans. “strong deeds, gentle words.” 9/10, i fucking love this. i know very little of maryland so i’ll let them have this

massachusetts: “ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem”, trans. “by the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.” 8/10, it’s sick as fuck but massachusetts is a bit pretentious just taking this shit from someone else with no reason

michigan: “si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice”, trans. “if you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.” 9/10, this fucks. i love a motto dedicated just to the land. point docked because i do not feel the way this way when in michigan

minnesota: “l’étoile du nord”, trans. “the star of the north.” 7/10, cool that it acknowledges minnesota being the “northstar state” since it’s the northernmost state, but i don’t like that it’s in french. also kind of pretentious of us tbh

mississippi: “virtute et armis”, trans. “by valor and arms.” 2/10, cool if you’re a 7-year-old boy. if it’s based off the motto of lord gray de wilton they should’ve kept it “i trust in virtue not arms”

missouri: there are way too many states. anyway. “salus populi suprema lex esto”, trans. “the welfare of the people is the highest law.” 10/10, period!! i don’t think missouri stands by this tho

montana: “oro y plata”, trans. “gold and silver.” 6/10, i have to give it points for being a physical description of the state and also being historical (big mining state), but they really put all their coins in one bag with this one

nebraska: “equality before the law.” 10/10, apparently reflects nebraska’s “willingness to extend suffrage to black Americans” so it’s good state history and i love what it stands for. keep it up nebraska (i know you won’t)

nevada: “all for our country.” 5/10, really have any historical importance, and it’s a bit vague. what is it that you’re doing for “our country?” what does “all” imply? really think they just threw something together last minute

new hampshire: “live free or die.” 9/10, sick as fuck and grounded in history. iconic is an overused word, but i gotta say this is iconic. metal as hell. point docked because it’s too associated with some weird political standings now

new jersey: “liberty and prosperity.” 6/10, boring as hell but sure. whatever

new mexico: “crescit eundo”, trans. “it grows as it goes.” 9/10, quote taken from a poem which is cool and i love that it makes me think of dick :)

new york: “excelsior!”, trans. “ever upward!” AND “e pluribus unum”, trans. “out of many, one” (as of 2020). 6/10, i was with kinda with them on the first one even though it seems like something they added last minute because i liked the excitement in it but the second one is kind of dumb… yeah, i guess you are one of many. feels like an obvious statement they didn’t need to add on in 2020

north carolina: “esse quam videri”, trans. “to be, rather than to seem.” 4/10, i think it’s okay but i don’t know what it has to do with north carolina

north dakota: “liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable.” 6/10, cool reference to U.S. history but it’s kind of a mouthful and i don’t think i would be able to memorize it

ohio: “with God, all things are possible.” 1/10, one point given because it makes me think of the iasip quote

oklahoma: “labor omnia vincit”, trans. “hard work conquers all things.” 4/10, once again i like that it’s a reference, but i have no clue what oklahoma has to do with this motto

oregon: “alis volat propriis”, trans. “she flies with her own wings.” 7/10, “she” being oregon’s “independent spirit.” i think it’s a sick ass motto but oregon is thinkin of themselves too highly here

pennsylvania: “virtue, liberty, and independence.” 4/10, the lack of originality is getting tiring but i guess it shows some values or something

rhode island: “hope.” 2/10, are you even trying? come on

south carolina: “dum spiro spero”, trans. “while i breathe, i hope.” 6/10, it’s inspiring i guess but i seriously do not understand why this would be associated with south carolina. i swear i’m not an advertising major or anything

south dakota: “under God the people rule.” 0/10, we are OBSESSED with this guy here. WHY do we need states to be associated with religion

tennesse: “agriculture and commerce.” we’re coming to the very simple mottos now. 4/10, i feel it’s redundant but i guess it meant something to them when they made it

texas: “friendship.” 10/10, it’s basic and unoriginal but it’s so fucking funny that i have to give this one to them. i do NOT think of friendship when i think of texas

utah: “industry.” 1/10, what the hell is this? one point for not being religious but what the fuck

vermont: “stella quarta decima fulgeat”, trans. “may the 14th star shine bright” AND “freedom and unity.” 7/10, i like the first one because it directly references vermont but the second one is just unoriginal and sad. why have a motto if it’s gonna be like that

virginia: “sic semper tyrannis”, trans. “thus always to tyrants.” 7/10, sick as hell. three points deducted because it once again has nothing to do with virginia, but it really is a sick ass motto

washington: (unofficial) “al-ki”, trans. “bye and bye.” 10/10, very specifically refers to the history of washington, which was first called “new york alki”

west virginia: “montani semper liberi”, trans. “mountaineers are always free.” 9/10, i want to dislike this because it feels so unrelated, but i love it. i love what you have going on here, west virginia

wisconsin: “forward.” 1/10, seriously?

wyoming: “equal rights.” 9/10, similar to nebraska, this motto came about because wyoming was the first state to grant women the right to vote. apparently this was because granting women the right to vote would make them have enough voting citizens to be granted statehood though, so point deducted for that

[vintageviewmaster]

Brand: View-Master Packet Title: Florida Booklet Title: View-Master Presents Florida Booklet Subtitle: The Peninsula State Date: 1955

Note: When reading the booklet descriptions, please remember that these booklets are old (most are 65+ years old) and the information and history presented in them as factual may be inaccurate, outdated, and in some cases, offensive.

Booklet Introduction Description: Ponce de Leon really missed a bet. He landed near St. Augustine one April in 1513 in search of the legendary Fountain of Youth, then sailed away! During the 1940-1950 decade, 600,000 people from other states moved to Florida convinced that they had found what Ponce de Leon had overlooked. Their fountain of youth consists of basking in the Florida sun acquiring that native tan, sailing and fishing in the warm waters that lap the nation's longest coastline, and sleeping under subtropical stars in a night cooled by the trade winds.

Florida Facts and Figures When Ponce de Leon landed on the Florida coast it was Easter Sunday which in Spanish is Pascua florida, hence "Florida". The State Flower is the Orange Blossom; the State Bird is the Mocking-bird; the Tree is the Cabbage or Sabal Palm; the Song is "The Swanee River" by Stephen Foster; and the Motto is the same as that found on all U. S. coins, "In God We Trust." Almost twice as many vacationers and winter guests visit the state of Florida as live there. The income from the 5 million tourists, $930 million is the state's largest single source of income. A combination of all year sunshine and plentiful rainfall has resulted in Florida's world leadership in oranges. Over half the nation's and a quarter of the world's supply of oranges are grown in the state. Most of the nation's winter vegetables come from Florida truck gardens, and in south Florida tropical fruits are grown - avocado, mango, guava, papaya, litchi fruit, and coconuts. Hotel-keeping must be the state's leading industry, but it also leads the nation in cigar making, sponge harvesting and phosphate mining. The largest cigar factory in the world is in Jacksonville. Every spring, baseball comes to Florida. Twelve of the sixteen major league teams plus 77 minor league teams hold spring training here.

The State and Its People Florida has an area of 58,560 square miles and is 21st in size among the states. It has the longest coastline, 2,077 miles. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, the Florida Straits on the south separates it from Cuba; the Gulf of Mexico washes its western shores; and Alabama and Georgia lie north. Only Delaware and Louisiana lie lower than Florida whose average elevation is 100 feet. The highest point in the state is 325 feet at Iron Mountain upon which is built the famous Bok Singing Tower. The southern tip of the state is Everglade country where the land is so low that it appears as small hummocks or patches of grass growing out of swampy water. Everglades National Park is located here. The 1950 population of Florida was 2,711,305, ranking twentieth among the states. It is the fastest growing state east of the Rockies having increased its popular 46.1% from 1940 to 1950. Famous Floridians include: Osceola, the great Seminole Indian war chief who was never defeated but finally tricked into imprisonment; John Gorrie, of Apalachicola, inventor of mechanical refrigeration; Marjorie Kinnar Rawlings, whose Pulitzer prize novel, The Yearling” dealt with the Florida backwoods; and Joseph W. "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, commander of the China-Burma-India Theater of War.

Highlights of History After discovering Florida, Ponce de Leon landed two shiploads of colonists at Charlotte Harbor in 1521, but constant clashes with the Indians resulted in his death and the abandonment of the colony. Tales of fabulous cities of gold (which were not to spring up until the 20th century) lured other Spanish explorers. Hernando de Soto landed in the Tampa area in 1539 to begin a four year march. Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Captain General of the Spanish treasure fleets, came to Florida in 1565 to found St. Augustine and a line of posts from Tampa Bay to Port Royal, South Carolina. After the British captured Havana, Cuba, in 1763, Spain agreed to trade Florida for the Cuban capital. But after the American Revolution, the British were squeezed in by the new United States and Spanish strongholds to the south. They ceded Florida to Spain from whom the United States bought it in 1819 for $5 million. With the creation of the Florida Territory in 1822 came Indian trouble. The Seven-Year Seminole Wars ending in 1842 cost the lives of 1,500 American soldiers but brought eventual peace paving the way for statehood which was granted on March 3, 1845.

[things-to-do-huntsville-tx]

Residents' Attractions in Huntsville 

Huntsville is a small-town getaway located 70 miles north of Houston, offering a variety of attractions for both locals and visitors. The town's historic downtown provides unique treasures and delicious food, while Oakwood Cemetery is the final resting place of Texas legends, including Sam Houston. The Raven Nest Golf Club, carved through pine trees, offers a challenging 18-hole course that showcases the natural beauty of the Texas Piney Woods. The Sam Houston Memorial Museum offers historical buildings and a museum store, while the Texas Prison Museum houses the Texas State Penitentiary, which has housed generations of Texans. The Blue Lagoon, a Professional Association of Diving Instructors-certified facility, offers scuba diving lessons and a view of the surrounding pine trees. You can do a lot in Huntsville!

Excavating Services in Huntsville

Triple J Land Services is a highly reputable excavation and land-clearing company located in the bustling city of Huntsville, Texas. Its excavating services in Huntsville are the best choice for clients. With an exceptional history spanning over a decade, they pride themselves on providing their clients with top-notch land cleaning services, utilizing only the finest quality equipment available on the market. The team of trained professionals is passionate and committed to delivering tailored solutions that cater to your specific goals, budget, and lifestyle, ensuring that they meet your every need and expectation in a timely, cost-effective, and customer-oriented manner. You can trust them to get the job done safely and efficiently, leaving you with a stunning and functional outdoor area that you can enjoy for years to come. Get a free estimate now by calling (936) 668-2281. 

Sam Houston Memorial Museum

The Sam Houston Memorial Museum in Huntsville, Texas, offers a fascinating experience for visitors to learn about General Sam Houston's life and legacy. The museum features a collection of artifacts and exhibits that tell the story of Houston's life and the history of Texas. Additionally, visitors can take guided tours given by knowledgeable staff and explore rare artifacts like furniture, clothing, weapons, and documents. The museum also hosts special events, such as lectures, concerts, and festivals, to better understand Houston's contributions to Texas history. The museum is also home to the world's tallest statue of an American hero, the Sam Houston Statue, making it a must-see attraction for any visitor to Huntsville.

The state of Texas executed an inmate

Texas has executed an inmate convicted of the drug-related killings of four people over 30 years ago, including a pregnant woman. Arthur Brown Jr., 52, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. Brown was part of a ring that shuttled drugs from Texas to Alabama and had bought drugs from Jose Tovar and his wife, Rachel Tovar. The June 1992 slayings occurred in a Houston home during a drug robbery. The four were tied up and shot in the head. Rachel Tovar and another person were also shot but survived. Brown was the fifth inmate put to death in Texas this year and the ninth in the U.S. Brown was executed as the second of two in Texas this week. Read more. 

Link to maps

Sam Houston Memorial Museum 1836 Sam Houston Ave, Huntsville, TX 77340, United States Head south toward 19th St 33 ft Turn right onto 19th St 0.8 mi Turn right onto N Fwy Service Rd/I-45 Frontage Rd 102 ft Use the left lane to take the ramp onto I-45 N 6.5 mi Take exit 123 for Farm to Market Rd 1696 0.2 mi Turn right onto Pinedale Rd 2.5 mi Triple J Land Services - Dirt Works 407 Pinedale Rd, Huntsville, TX 77320, United States

[uacboo]

“Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises. It seems very safe to me to be surrounded by green growing things and water.” -Pedro Calderon de la Barca

Few plants are blooming on trails right now, but the green can be blinding😉. Keeping an eye out for snakes along the sides of the trails leads to more notice of the beauty on the forest floor. My new frog friends are thriving in their algae filled old cistern. Personal photos, 4/24 and 4/26, 2019. Mountain Mist, Fagan Springs and Old Railroad Bed Trails.

[thewalkingmermaidblog]

Hiking At Wade Mountain, Huntsville, Alabama

Hiking At Wade Mountain, Huntsville, Alabama

Last fall I had decided to do a weekend trip to Huntsville, Alabama to visit my family. During my time there I was determined to do at least one hike that I hadn’t done before. After talking to my little brother Alex, we decided to hike at Wade Mountain. I had never been there before and I was hoping to hike to the top so I can see the sunset.

FUNNY STORY!

Once we arrived to Wade Mountain, we…

[danielaperallon]

"The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness." - John Muir

[cendrillonmedousa]

Active Womyn's Lands

Alabama

Alapine Village

Arizona

Adobeland

Arkansas

Ozark Land Holding Association (OLHA)

Florida

The North Forty/Long Leaf

Pagoda

Sugar Loaf Women's Village

Missouri

Dragon/DW Outpost

Hawk Hill Community Land Trusto

New Mexico

Outland; New Mexico Women's Retreat

Oregon

Cabbage Lane Land Trust

Fly Away Home

Oregon Women's Land Trust

Rainbow's End

Raven Song/Rainbow's Other End

Rootworks

Steppingwoods

We'moon Land/We'Moon Healing Ground (WHO Farm)

Whispering Oaks

Tennessee

Belly Acres

Virginia

Maat Dompim Womyn of Color Land Project

Wisconsin

Daughters of the Earth (DOE)

[scribbling-stiks]

Retrievers - XLIII - Unstable Flights

A loud cheer erupts from below, and Russia's heart skips a beat. America swoops into the air, blood falling from him into the abyss from his foot, which is glowing a light blue.

On his back is a huge set of glowing, bright blue wings. They look like that of a falcon and are around twenty-five or twenty-seven meters wingspan if Russia had to guess. Russia stares up with wide eyes, and his mouth goes dry.

'Beautiful.'

America hoots and folds the wings in. He dives down and snatches Kansas up into the air. Kansas shrieks and clings to America's arms. America soars across and drops Kansas just above the ground. Kansas rolls to a stop and America snatches up New Mexico and Alabama, one under each arm.

America's foot bleeds furiously. Russia's heart sinks further.

'He's losing a lot of blood.'

America starts to get wobbly after getting Mississippi and the Carolinas across. Russia bites his tongue. The thing begins shredding the door, and Russia can hear it as it rips the metal.

'He's hurting himself.'

The door bends, and Russia slams against it.

'But we don't have another choice.'

America grabs North Dakota and Florida and flies them across. He sinks lower and lower. He just barely avoids crashing into a tree.

"I don't think I trust that!" Ukraine screams.

"It's our only chance!" Finland argues.

South Dakota and Alberta have been treacherously flown across. America circles around and tosses Texas and Ohio into the treeline. Russia makes eye contact with Ukraine. Mexico hoots as she's dropped into the trees.

"Go," Russia demands.

The door bows toward them and Finland pushes back. Ukraine runs over to the edge and America swoops down and grabs him. Ukraine yelps and sings wildly. America's flight becomes jerky. The door begins to push apart. Russia cringes.

'It's about to break.'

Finland looks at him and then glances at her gun that lays discarded right in front of the doors. Russia nods. Finland jumps back and Russia rolls out of the way when the creature comes crashing through. Russia looks up to Finland screaming. He freezes.

The creature has her by the upper arm, thrashing around and blood goes everywhere. Then she flies toward the wall and lands with a yelp. Russia runs over and his blood runs cold.

Finland is bleeding profusely from where her right elbow used to be. Russia freezes for a moment when he hears the creature start gnashing its teeth again. He spins to see it jumping up at America, who is slow to react and ascend. Russia charges.

"GET FIN!" Russia shouts, shoulder checking the beast.

America nods sluggishly and grabs her with some difficulty. They looked like a bloody raincloud. The thing rushed at Russia, and he side-steps. It rams into the wall at full force, leaving a dent behind. But it's quick to hop back to its feet. Russia backs up as it stalks toward him.

Rocks slide out from under his feet, and Russia looks back to see cracks of earth that lead to darkness.

'And probably death.'

The thing lunges. Russia backs up out of instinct. His feet leave the ground. Wind rushes through his ears. He flails in panic.

Hands grab him under his shoulders. He's yanked up, and the arms are shaking and unstable.

He opens his eyes to see an approaching sheer cliff of dirt and stone. He readies himself for impact. Then, he's yanked upwards and dropped into the grass. He rolls to a stop. He looks up to find America, only to see him limply falling toward the ground.

"BEAM!"

A deafening crash interrupts him. America falls out of view and Russia chases after him. He follows the bloody trench to America. He's curled on the ground in a growing pool of blood.

"America?!" Russia asks desperately.

Russia pulls America up, and the wings disappear. America looks up with a weak smile.

"Hi, Ruby."

"Oh thank God," Russia mumbles.

Russia pulls America's feet out from under him and gasps. New Mexico shrieks.

Almost a third of his foot is missing, and the shoe itself had been shredded. All the smaller toes, save the one next to the big toe, are gone. The tendons and muscles twitch. The whole thing glows a flickering blue.

Then his heart stops and he jumps up. North Dakota and Florida take his place and begin to cover America's foot in gauze they retrieve from a first aid kid North Dakota had packed. Mexico turns America on his side into a recovery position. Alberta collects pine needles and Ohio drops his jacket over it to create a cushion for the foot.

At least, what's still left of it. Russia swallows back nausea.

"Where's Fin?" Russia demands.

South Carolina looks up from bandaging North Carolina and mutely points. Russia runs out of the tree cover to see Finland writhing, holding the stump that remained of her arm. Texas is standing nearby, holding his belt.

"I need to stop the bleeding!" Texas screams, trying to wrestle Finland.

Russia runs forward and grabs Finland into a bear hug against his chest. At least, he tries. He wraps his arms around her chest and pulls her back to him. Blood soaks his shirt.

"You have to calm down or you're going to bleed to death!" Russia screams into Finland's ear.

Finland stills and Texas jumps over her legs. He grabs her arm.

"I'm puttin' on a tourniquet. I know it's gonna hurt, but I can't have you bleeding out on me."

Texas secures the belt as close to the shoulder joint as he can manage. Finland screams as he tightens it. Russia's heart sinks. He holds tighter.

"We have to get out of plain sight," Russia says.

Texas nods. Texas takes Finland's ankles, and Russia carefully hoists Finland up with her good arm. Finland bits her good hand to muffle her cries of pain. Russia flinches with every single one.

They manage to drag Finland back to America, where Kansas, Ohio, and South Dakota start making a camp of sorts. Mexico is crouching behind America, rubbing his back. America is crying. The tears make Russia's heart shatter.

Alabama and Mississippi run into the area with sticks and twigs and New Mexico arranges rocks to form a firepit.

"Do you have any painkillers in there?" Finland asks.

"No. Sorry," North Dakota replies, her voice sounds strained.

"Oh... okay," Finland mumbles, her head lulling back.

"Hey, don't go to sleep," Ohio says, prodding at her face.

"Okay," Finland replies with a groan, "God, now I need a new arm."

The trees form a canopy above them, but there is enough room on the ground to have a fire. Russia finds himself incredibly grateful for it. Brazil clears the area inside and around the rocks. Ukraine is standing nearby, looking frozen.

America pulls himself against a tree behind him. His eyes light up again. Livid.

"All of you. Here. Now."

Texas walks forward. New Mexico, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina shuffle forward. Brazil and Mexico try to collect more wood. Russia sits next to America.

"Why are you here?" America demands.

"We wanted to help."

"That isn't true," Kansas says, crossing his arms, "and if it is, it's not everything."

Texas looks away.

"I will ask you again. Why are you here?"

"I..."

"Did Dixie let you leave?" America snaps, his magic flashing.

"No! No, he didn't even know."

"You didn't tell him?!"

Texas stares at the ground. America moves his gaze to the others. Alabama shrinks away. Mississippi looks at his feet. North Carolina sits down, and South Carolina helps her down. New Mexico stares next to America's head.

"Whose idea was it?"

"..."

"I asked a question!"

Texas mumbles something, and America tries to stand. Russia jumps up and pulls him back down.

"Beam, you have to sit down."

America growls and falls back. He lays his bandaged foot out in front of him.

"Texas!" America shouts, "come here!"

Texas shuffles forward, his shoulders hunched.

"What the fuck were you thinking? Why did you come here?! Why did you think this was a good idea? YOU WERE TOLD TO STAY HOME FOR A REASON!"

Texas' shoulders shake a little. America doesn't seem to notice.

"And not only did you decide to come here, which was a stupid decision, by the way, but you also dragged your siblings along! Did they even want to come?!"

Texas pauses before shaking his head. Texas takes his hat off and begins twisting it between his hands.

"We were fine! We were okay! And now-"

Russia puts a hand on America's shoulder.

"Meri, please. Calm down."

"Why?!"

"You're going to say something you're going to regret."

America growls.

"Now we-"

"America!" Russia shouts.

"Why won't you let me finish?!"

Russia flinches and his ears fold down.

"It's not his fault."

"It would've gone much better if they just stayed home! We almost died, Russia!"

Russia leans away for a second, his ears pinning back. He looks up to see Texas swiping at his face.

"I'm sorry."

"You should be! You should not have left! You're not okay!"

"Well, I don't want to be useless!" Texas screams.

America flinches back, gasping a little.

"Baby..." America mumbles, regret filling his voice.

"I'm sorry I keep fucking everything up, okay?! I'm just trying to help! I don't- I didn't want anyone to get hurt..."

Sobs escape Texas' mouth. The anger that had filled Russia's chest dissipates.

"I didn't think I'd fuck this up too. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left. I know Dixie is angry. I know you're angry. I'm so sorry."

"Tazzy," America says softly, "I'm not just angry. I'm always worried about you, all of you, and now I find out that you left without letting anyone know. What if you got captured? What if you went missing? What if you died?!"

Texas starts crying. Russia stands up and opens his arms. Texas slowly walks into him and hugs him. Russia could feel Texas hugging him tightly. Russia begins purring, trying to comfort his own swirling emotions and Texas' as well. Texas quiets and shakes.

Alabama and Mississippi hug Russia as well, both teary-eyed. Russia opens his arms and continues purring as loud as he can. America starts crying himself, and Russia's tail puffs up a little.

Mexico pulls America into a side-hug. Finland whines and groans, looking at her nub with confusion. Alberta sits quietly at Ukraine's feet. South Carolina shivers violently against North Carolina. The rest of the states try to start a fire with the driest sticks they could. A cold wind whips through the trees.

'What a mess.'

~

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[imsafiyacharles]

ALABAMA’S AGING BLACK FARMERS UNCERTAIN ABOUT FUTURE AS THEY STRUGGLE TO CREATE LINES OF SUCCESSION

Billy Gibbons intends to die on this land.  

At 70, the bespectacled Black farmer may very well be the last heir to work the family plot; 80  acres of black soil in Browntown, Alabama, an unincorporated community less than 20 miles  north of Prattville. 

Gibbons’ parents pinched and scraped to purchase the acreage for $850 in 1940. They intended  to pass it down to him and his brother; but he died in 1976 after contracting meningitis while  away at military training in Fort Polk, Louisiana. 

“I can remember all of this was woods,” Gibbons said, waving his arm over the crop land that  extended before him. It was a brooding morning that had already spilled rain and left his feet  besieged by shallow pools of muddy water. 

The old farmer wore a faded army jacket and dark cap with worn blue jeans;  occasionally pulling his face mask to the side to expel a portion of the chewing tobacco  occupying his right cheek, before apologizing for the habit. 

“As far as you can see to woods was woods,” he spat.  

The forest was so dense, and the family’s resources so limited, they worked only five acres of  farmland to start. 

“My Daddy, he done all the cleaning with a mule, a ax and a shovel,” said Gibbons.  

They farmed row crops — collards, turnips, mustard greens — and bought a couple head of  cattle. Gibbons had trees pushed off with bulldozers through the years. He now owns about 50  head, which he spreads across the family land and some 170 acres he rents just a mile up the  road. 

With the help of his wife, he hauls most of his vegetables weekly at the Curb Market downtown  where in 1999, he became its first African American vendor. He would serve as president for nine years.

“This is a tradition here, and it’s still standing,” he said.  

But for how long? 

Like so many of the nation’s Black farmers, mostly clustered in the South, the future remains  uncertain. 

In 1920, African Americans accounted for 14% of all U.S. farm operators. That number has  since dwindled to a staggering 1.4% percent. Alabama, the third most populous state for Black  producers, sits at 6%, according to 2017’s agriculture census.

At the turn of the 20th century, Black landowners held 15 million acres. Today, they own 3.4  million, about half a percent of American farmland.  

Black farmers have faced discrimination at every level, struggling against social and financial  barriers to achieve land ownership and the right to operate their farms independently within an  agricultural economy that has long profited from the exploitation of their labor through slavery,  sharecropping and legal loopholes. 

Over decades, many southern Black families lost land due violent intimidation, deceit and  financial hardship. Farmers who sought loans from government agencies to keep their properties  running in lean times or make needed improvements were denied, shortchanged or failed to  receive timely assistance. (The United States Department of Agriculture settled in 1999 the class  action lawsuit Pigford v. Glickman brought by Black farmers alleging more than two decades of  lending discrimination.)  

While the latest agriculture census reported a 5% increase in Black producers between 2012 and  2017 after revisions to its data collection, there was also a 3% decline in Black operated farms.  

“What I hope we don't see is the eventual extinction of the Black farmer,” said Brennan  Washington. He works with limited resource farmers across the South as a Sustainable  Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) liaison at Fort Valley State, a historically Black  land grant college in Georgia. 

In the past, Washington said, a Black farmer with a large acreage may have applied for a USDA  loan to purchase seed, among other necessities, and would find their application lagging. 

“[USDA] would process the paperwork too late for them to get their seed on time. So, they get  their seed in the ground too late, they don’t get a crop, meanwhile they’ve got a lien on that  property that USDA will seize if they can’t get it paid,” he said.  

Further complicating matters is the fact that farmers are aging, and many are finding it  increasingly difficult to get young people to replace them. Nationally, the average age of a farm  owner is 57½ years old; 43% of Black farmers are 65 and older.  

'Farming has shrunk from a mile to 300 feet'  

Browntown is a Black community founded on farming. According to local history, twin brothers  with the surname Brown bought the land that encompasses about a 20-mile radius; it was  parceled among their heirs when they died. Gibbons’ grandmother was a Brown. 

But the promise of higher-wage work, and the perceived freedom from Jim Crow segregation  and racism lured many young Black people north during the Great Migration between 1916 and  1970, away from rural farm towns like these.  

“Most of the farmers had large families and they kids was brought up on the farm. But as years  got by and all these kids grow up, they was rushing to get away from the farm, because the farm was a struggle — still is a struggle,” said Gibbons. 

The figures are dramatic. Between 1940 and 1950, more than 42% of the nonwhite Southern  population vanished. That number rose to 65% for nonwhite youth between the ages of 15 and  19, according to a 2007 SARE report. 

With four biological children and four stepchildren, Gibbons has no shortage of heirs. But their  desire to enter a business they've watched their father struggle to maintain over the years is  lacking, which means the family is currently without a contingency plan. 

Marshall, 58, and Lorenzo Davis, 66, co-own Davis Farms about a mile west of  Gibbons’ property and face a similar consequence. The brothers farm row crops, rotating  varieties of watermelon, field peas, snap beans and other seasonal crops they sell daily at the  Finley Avenue Farmer’s Market in Birmingham. 

As farm operators, the two have found themselves in a position they never intended. Fond  memories of time spent working alongside their father on the farm throughout their youth  persuaded them to keep the business alive after he passed in 2004.  

The brothers farm about 300 acres, half which belongs to the family, and 40 acres the late Davis  bought in 1960. That land is legally split between Lorenzo, Marshall and a third brother,  Andrew, who farms independently. 

Like many operators, the Davis’ maintained full-time jobs to keep their farm going. Lorenzo  retired in 2014 after 33 years as a correctional officer, and Marshall is still currently employed at  a facility in Elmore County. He wakes early most days to put in work at the farm before heading  to the prison for the second shift from 2 to 10 p.m.  

“Twenty years ago, when our father was in operation, we had cows and hogs. At one time, we  were up to 200 acres of field corn,” said Lorenzo.  

By the late-90s they had quit farming cattle. The cost of feed was expensive, and profits were  slim. Bills on a farm add up quickly — seed, fertilizer, fuel, equipment maintenance. Lorenzo  pointed out a 20-year-old tractor they owned that cost them $60,000 to buy brand new; an  equivalent today, he said, would be well over a $100,000. 

“We might eventually have to get back into growing grain because we’re aging now and you can  gather all that with machinery,” Marshall said. “Help is harder to come by now than it was 20  years ago.”  

Like Gibbons, the Davis brothers remain passionate about farming but are struggling to devise a  transition plan. Marshall’s 36-year-old daughter sometimes assists him at the farmer’s market.,  and Lorenzo has a 35-year-old son that has indicated an interest in the operation, but he doesn’t  have much experience and works a good-paying job that his farm income would likely never match.

Without a probated will, farms are vulnerable to becoming  heirs’ property 

Most farm operators are generational, acquiring land as it is handed down through family  members.  

While 65% of white Americans with a high school education report having a will, only 23% of  Black Americans possess one, according to a study reviewed by Texas A&M law scholar  Thomas Mitchell who studies heirs’ property; land owned by multiple people who typically  share a common relative that’s died without leaving a probated will. 

Kara Woods has studied heirs’ property in Macon County as a postdoctoral researcher at  Tuskegee University (TU). The historically Black 1890 land grant school’s research and  extension programs provide agricultural education and support to Black producers; often subject  to the same imposed financial limitations the farmers they serve face (Congress mandated 1890s  because southern land grants they created 28 years prior barred Black students).  

“It really goes down to generations ago when everything was in the family bible,” Woods said.  “You might have the lineage in the family bible, [unofficial] wills in the family bible. People  who were able to get land after becoming free didn’t trust white lawyers because they didn’t  have means to read and write. So, at that point it was safer to keep the land without a will  because you knew the family could always stay on it,” said Woods.  

One of the problems with heir’s property is that it isn’t divided by parcels or acres; it’s split by  percentage. That means that if a family has 50 acres and five heirs, each would be entitled to  10% of the land, not 10 acres. So, the more heirs a property has, the less value each person  holds.  

Because heir’s property is an informal form of ownership that involves multiple people, most  banks refuse to allow the land to be used as collateral in financial lending, and it’s generally  appraised at a lower value than clear title land.  

These properties also rarely qualify for state and federal grant programs that cover everything  from community development, to disaster relief and housing. Without individual ownership,  heir’s property isn’t an effective tool for building generational wealth.  

Before Alabama approved the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, co-drafted  by Mitchell, in 2014, a single heir could force the sale of an entire property through a legal  partition action. Usually the sale would net far less than market value for the land. (The 2018  Farm Bill includes a provision sponsored by former Sen. Doug Jones that would authorize $10  million a year through 2023 to help farmers resolve ownership and address succession issues to  avoid this and other snags.)

Lack of generational leads put Black farmers on the back foot  

Though fourth-generation Black Belt farmer Demetrius Hooks, 47, knows the value of a will,  he’s had a hard time convincing his father, Al Hooks, 72, of the urgency in getting an official  document drawn up.  

Like the Davis’, Demetrius never imagined he'd assume farming as an occupation. He 'd always  helped around on weekends at the Shorter farm, but when he lost his graphic design job at this  newspaper around 2010, he spent more time there. 

The father and son talked it over and decided Demetrius should assume a more official role. A  few years later, he ended up at TU working as a farm internship liaison.  

Demetrius handles sales and marketing for Al Hooks Produce, and his father does most of the  farm work, though the younger Hooks does get his hands dirty every now and again. He has two  siblings who have families of their own, but none work the farm.  

The Hooks grow fruits and vegetables that they sell each weekend at the Macon County  Farmer’s Market and through direct sales via text message to customers who pick up their  “veggie crates” weekly at Demetrius’ home. They hold farm stands at Auburn and Birmingham’s  summer markets, too.  

Through a cooperative partnership facilitated by TU, the Hooks previously sold some produce  items to Walmart. That created a need for an onsite processing plant to wash, refrigerate and  package the vegetables. They were able to secure a $75,000 grant to build the $125,000 site and increase their capability.  

Beyond the need to expand capacity, large retail contracts like these often require special  certifications like GAP (good agricultural practices) that can be time consuming and expensive.  And it can take months to receive payment. 

Demetrius said the business had previously maintained a contract with Whole Foods, supplying  them squash, zucchini, peppers and collard greens for a few years. When Amazon acquired the  company in 2017 subsequent changes were made to their vendor specifications, which coincided  with a cancer diagnosis. They could barely keep up with the requirements.  

For many small Black farms that lack capital to pay certification costs or labor to meet greater  demand, these large contracts remain out of reach.  

The Hooks no longer sell to either large chain and are currently working with smaller regional  retailers like Filet and Vine in Old Cloverdale; though they will again attempt to meet Whole  Foods’ certification requirements now that Demetrius’ cancer is one-year in remission. 

There’s a “gap in business development. It would be nice if everybody started their business at  the same time and you didn’t have years of being locked out of certain opportunities because  you’re Black. Once those blockages and implements of discrimination have been removed it’s  not as if the next day I can easily walk into Whole Foods and be ready to deliver to them,” said  Demetrius. 

“You still have those generational leads. Other businesses that didn’t have those problems have  that benefit of being able to maneuver through those obstacles once they come up.” 

Although nothing has yet been written in ink, Demetrius has expressed to his father his interest  in taking over the farm when he retires. But the matter of a probated will still hangs in the balance.  

“I don't really think I should have a say of how it's done; it's how he wants to do it. But I need  him to come out and tell me,” he said. 

Certifications allow access to wider markets, but can be  costly and limiting 

In recent years, a burgeoning cultural movement has emerged seeking a return to African  American agricultural traditions. Urban farmers, many of them women, have cleared blighted  plots and cleaned up city blocks in an effort to nourish and beautify Black communities that too  often lack access to fresh produce and healthy food options. The trend of “reverse migration,”  first observed in the 1970s, continues as more Black people return to ancestral land in rural  communities across the South.  

“There’s a new awakening that's happening where people who left during the Great Migration  and went to work a job in Detroit or Ohio, they're coming back to Alabama and Georgia and  Mississippi,” said Natilee McGruder, a community land, food and farming systems advocate,  who's currently working to connect local Black farmers with a national seasonal food chain. 

“There are young Black people who are in New York and California who are landless, who want  to farm, who are ‘woofing.’ There are elders connecting with young folks. And there are the  1890s that have always been here to support Black culture, Black community and Black farmers.  There's a complete renaissance that's happening,” said McGruder.  

At 77, Josie Gbadamosi-El Amin, may well be a part of this Black agrarian rebirth. When she began farming 10 years ago, she had no experience. 

With bright eyes and a wide smile, the retired substance abuse counselor described how she fell  in love with Shady Grove Blueberry Patch after a friend clued her in on a “secret” spot where  locals picked berries on a conveniently absent farmer’s Tuskegee property.  

“I had to lock my eyes on the line of trees because it was so overgrown that I was afraid I might  get disoriented, and I better find my way out,” she said. “But I was just enamored by the blueberry bushes. It was just so wonderful. I had never seen anything like it. There was  something about the spirit of this place.”  

She inquired after the land and found a few leads, purchasing the 46-acre farm in 2010. The  move was so left field that her four daughters were concerned she may have hit her head and  corrupted her judgement in a recent slip and fall accident, she recounted; then burst into peals of laughter. 

For the Watts, California native, owning a farm has been an all-consuming experience. So much  to learn and so much to do.  

Gbadamosi-El Amin moved to Tuskegee in 1969 to study sociology at TU. That connection paid  itself forward for the new farm operator. From the agricultural school, she learned that the  acreage she purchased was the former site of a working farm project led by Booker T. Whatley, the “small farm guru” who popularized the pick-your-own harvest method and subscription  buyer’s club model (commonly known today as CSA) before it was widely adopted.  

What looked like a mess of trees, tangled weeds, and overgrown bushes was in fact a model for  sustainable agriculture cultivated by one of the country’s foremost experts on regenerative  farming.  

In exchange for seedlings, Gbadamosi-El Amin got a farmer to bring his tractor and a couple  workers in to help clean up, as well as some Tuskegee students who joined in. The operation still  runs as a “u-pick” service, inviting visitors to gather their own blueberries from the shrubs in late  May through mid-August. The retired counselor also sells jams, dried fruit and blueberry tizanes  — a fragrant, nutrient rich tonic that’s made from the leaves and fruit.  

Education has been at the forefront of her approach. She and her husband work on the farm full time. With the help of extension agents at Tuskegee, Gbadamosi-El Amin has attended  agriculture workshops and is learning how to write grants to apply for farm subsidies  and improvements.  

She regularly invites people interested in learning about agriculture to Shady Grove and even has  allowed some to experiment with growing plants and herbs like turmeric, moringa and hibiscus  on site. Although she uses organic methods, she is hesitant to seek certification, not solely  because of the associated costs and paperwork but because it would likely prevent her from  facilitating the sort of collaborative environment the farm’s ethos is grounded in.  

“Once you get certified then you have to put all kinds of limits on your property. You can’t have  people just wandering in the field to you-pick. You have to really control things. It really begins  to limit the kind of interaction people can have,” she said. “What I wanted for the farm was to be  a place where people could relax and enjoy themselves. That was part of what motivated me.” 

Gbadamosi-El Amin said her daughters have since warmed to the idea of owning a family farm  and have pushed her to create a formal long-term business proposal before they agree to get on  board with any succession plans. 

New federal legislation can help, but advocates face an uphill battle  

In November, Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Kirsten Gillibrand  (D-NY) introduced the Justice for Black Farmers Act, an attempt to address systemic barriers to  success that operators have long faced; and encourage a new generation of young Black farmers  who have the will but lack the capital to get established.  

Among its aims are to reform USDA policies that facilitate discrimination, protect remaining  Black-owned land, financially empower HBCUs to assist socially disadvantaged farmers and  ranchers, and establish a land grant program to support young, landless Black farmers. The bill  would also create an agency mandated to return land to Black farmers previously seized by the  government and create a federal bank to allow easier access to credit for farmers of color.  

On Feb. 15, Democratic senators took that action a step further when they introduced the  Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act, a bill that would provide $4B in direct payments to  these farmers to cover losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as systemic  discrimination. The bill, which has been lauded as historic by the National Black Farmer’s  Association, would also lay out an additional $1 billion to address discriminatory practices at the  USDA. 

It will be an uphill battle to get these measures passed, but either bill would throw a much needed lifeline to farmers. Without them, the future remains as clouded as ever.  

Gibbons, the 70-year-old Browntown man, for his part, is like most farmers, steadfast in his love  and commitment to the livelihood. He was also frank about the farm’s future: there isn't one.  Why counsel his children to leave good-paying jobs for such a risky profession? 

He was brought up on farm life, the children lack his passion, he said; and would likely be  unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices demanded.  

“They couldn’t survive, I don’t think," Gibbons said. "Aggravation. That’s what farming is all  about. I don’t know whether I love it or I’m crazy. It’s in my heart and I have no intention to  quit. I’m just going have to die at it."

Read the story as it ran on montgomeryadvertiser.com here.

[grimdarkandhandsome]

USA State Mottos, Ranked

Epistemic status: Silly post.

Yesterday i realized the 50 states of the US had eclectic and delightful mottos. I’ve ranked them for you from coolest to uncoolest.

1: Ad astra per aspera - Kansas

To the stars through difficulties. This is beautiful and it looks great written out. I am confident Kansas will be the state closest to the stars (after resolving difficulties).

2: Salus populi suprema lex esto - Missouri

Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law. It sounds great, it’s grand, it’s bold, and it’s a wonderful priority.

3: Regnat populus - Arkansas

The people rule. I imagine a time traveler approaching Emperor Nero and saying, ‘I have two words for you....’

4: Labor omnia vincit - Oklahoma

Labor conquers all things. It’s a great attitude towards self-improvement, and i think more phrases should end in omnia vincit.

5: Sic semper tyrannis - Virginia

Thus always to tyrants. The flag clarifies the situation by showing a emperor being stabbed. This is delightfully overaggressive when placed next to Washington’s motto.

6: Excelsior - New York

Ever upward. A nice-sounding word. Definitely sounds like a sword.

7: Esse quam videri - North Carolina

To be, rather than to seem. A pretty cool choice of priority. Not like those videri states with their big gold cufflinks.

8: Dum spiro spero - South Carolina

While I breathe, I hope. A harmonious phrase that celebrates the indefatigable human potential for improvement.

9: Equality before the law - Nebraska

Choosing English instead of a stylish foreign language is a missed opportunity to show off. But this phrase gets better the more you repeat it. I like to imagine that when Nebraskans are cornered by journalists they just bark ‘Equality before the law!’ and close ranks.

10: Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono - Hawaii

The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness. It’s in a local language, it’s very beautiful written out, it outlines a plan to benefit the entire ecosystem, and it’s just generally quite radiant.

11: Alis volat propriis - Oregon

She flies with her own wings. Very cool sentiment. Only marked down because the words don’t look quite as cool as omnia does.

12: Dirigo - Maine

I lead. It’s terse, it’s taut, it’s claiming victory out of nowhere, it’s Maine.

13: Live Free or Die - New Hampshire

Penalty for using boring English, but bonus for being the only state to realize you can append ‘or Die’ to any motto.

14: Audemus jura nostra defendere - Alabama

We dare defend our rights! Bonus for being the only state to realize you can prepend Audemus to any motto.

15: Serit ut alteri saeclo prosit - North Dakota

One sows for the benefit of another age. Yes, i know, it kindof sounds like ‘Search for the altered sequin among the prosaic’, but the meaning is quite cool. Radical long-game altruism.

16: Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice - Michigan

If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you. What??

17: Eureka - California

I have found it. A counterpoint to Maine’s Dirigo, and a geographical counterpoint as well.

18: Equal Rights - Wyoming

A wonderful priority, and charmingly bald phrasing.

19: Alki - Washington

By and by. This is Chinook, apparently. Washington is apparently the opposite of Alabama, who dares to defend.

20: Crescit eundo - New Mexico

It grows as it goes. I don’t like it as much as Ad astra per aspera, but i decided to rank all improvement mottos evenhandedly to avoid bias from the order i read them in.

21: Esto perpetua - Idaho

Let it be perpetual. It is quite verbally beautiful and it captures what we were all thinking - Let Idaho be the same forever!

22: Friendship - Texas

Could be phrased more stylishly, but it really is a rather nice motto.

23: Under God the people rule - South Dakota

I imagine a South Dakotan time traveler in 1300 CE pulling her hair and saying, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s not that hard, how many times to i have to explain the hierarchy?’

24: Montani semper liberi - West Virginia

Mountaineers are always free. Cheeky!

25: Deo gratiam habeamus - Kentucky

Let us be grateful to God. Very resonant words. Less focused on improvement and more remarking on the fact we made it this far.

26: State sovereignty, national union - Illinois

I know it’s confusing, but we put it in the motto and eventually you’ll get used to the concept. What a nerdy motto!

27: Nil sine numine - Colorado

Nothing without Providence. What beautiful and assonant words. A theme of several states is ‘The big thing is totally paramount, but the small thing is also cool just in a secondary sort of way.’

28: Forward - Wisconsin

In its troughs and at new peaks, Wisconsin always wants to do better :)

29: Industry - Utah

I didn’t know that. But it is a cool attitude. They say that most domains of human endeavor require hard work first of all.

30: Wisdom, Justice, Moderation - Georgia

I just think it’s a little boring. But i like prioritizing wisdom.

31: Virtue, liberty, and independence - Pennsylvania

The last two are, like, the same thing.

32: Qui transtulit sustinet - Connecticut

He who transplanted sustains. Apparently this is a phrase from the Vulgate Bible. I’m guessing the Europeans are the ones who transplanted. I like the sonics but i’m not convinced on the sentiment.

33: Fatti maschii, parole femine - Maryland

Strong deeds, gentle words. Note: I found that translation on Wikipedia and i don’t speak Latin so i don’t know if it’s the best one. I think this motto sounds like a humorously awkward compromise and probably seemed offensive from a 1800s-gender perspective as well as from a modern gender perspective.

34: With God, all things are possible - Ohio

Ohions are optimists whereas Coloradons are pessimists.

35: Liberty and prosperity - New Jersey

Tedious ‘list of nice things’ format, but i kindof like looking at New Jersey as a Utopian El Dorado.

36: Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem - Massachusetts

By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty. Sir, can you lower your sword and read me those criteria again?

37: Hope - Rhode Island

Inferior version of Dum spiro spero, but pleasantly minimal.

38: All For Our Country - Nevada

Typical Nevadan slogan, a people known for their radical push for big government and federal power.

39: Agriculture & Commerce - Tennessee

Not really cool enough for a crowd to shout in unison with their hands over their hearts. But at least it celebrates feeding the people i guess.

40: Ditat Deus - Arizona

God enriches. A weird mix of 100% religious and very lukewarm. God is a plus. Never turn down God when you don’t have to pay extra for Him. But the words do sound nice.

41: Stella quarta decima fulgeat - Vermont

May the fourteenth star shine bright. I hope the fourteenth state is a good one. This one has a impressively high style-to-substance ratio.

42: L’etoile du Nord - Minnesota

The star of the North. I’m not that impressed. If Oregon, Texas, and New York had joined in and chosen L’etoile du Ouest, Sud, & Est respectively, then this would have been cool. Pleasantly unique choice of language tho.

43: Virtute et armis - Mississippi

By valor and arms. Suddenly, we are amoral & fighting! Mississippi is apparently the most weapon-themed state.

44: North to the Future - Alaska

It was wise to clarify why North is good. Minnesota would have chosen A star featuring Anchorage.

45: Our liberties we prize & our rights we will maintain - Iowa

I don’t know, it’s just not exciting phrasing. Our lives are of utmost importance, & our safety will be protected. We have wonderful dogs, & we love our cats. Iowa is being maintained. Needs work.

46: Union, justice, confidence - Louisiana

Are these the top 3? Do political attack ads here accuse candidates of being secessionist, lax, and meek?

47: Liberty & Independence - Delaware

Freedom & Self-Direction. Free Will & Autonomy. Adulthood & Unpredictability. Wild & Unleashed.

48: Oro y plata - Montana

Gold & silver. Why should you live in Montana? Cash cash money. Autos deportivos y bling.

49: The Crossroads of America - Indiana

Next.

50: In God We Trust - Florida

Perhaps in Florida, bad things do not happen to good people.

Honorable mentions:

- Justitia Omnibus - Washington DC

Excellent!

- Samoa, Muamua Le Atua - American Samoa

Translation: Samoa, let God be first. (Samoa, imma let you finish...)

- Joannes Est Nomen Ejus - Puerto Rico

Translation: John is his name. Enough said.

(Honestly i changed my mind about the order partway thru typing this but didnt bother to reorder them.)

I think the messy inconsistency of these mottos is fairly beautiful. Despite having no style guide and apparently quite scattered priorities, these 50 governments share open borders and pretty excellent harmony by international standards.

Source: Wikipedia

[uacboo]

Wildflowers on the trails today. Trillium bud and blooms on Anemone americana and Cardamine angustata. I do not know what the last flower is, perhaps @samfordmom2 can identify it. Most of the wildflowers in bloom are drooping and not fully open due to heavy rains and high winds this week.

Personal photos, Wildflower and Old Railroad Bed Trails, Land Trust of North Alabama. 2/21/19

[route22ny]

Essential reading, especially for those who have a warm & fuzzy concept of Dr King that doesn’t extend far past “I Have a Dream”.  I’m putting the entire text in this post, and there’s an mp3 here available for download.  I believe that this is one of Dr King’s most important speeches, certainly worth revisiting on a day we set aside to honor his memory.  It’s also a good time to realize that what was a “dream” in 1963 is still not reality in 2020, which is a tragedy and also a challenge to us all.

Don’t let “Vietnam” fool you into thinking this speech is only about 1960s realities.  If anything the US has since engaged all the more freely in military adventures against people of foreign lands, people of color whose nations don’t threaten America, only American “interests”.  Headlines this very month show us this dynamic in action yet again.

***

“I come to this magnificent house of worship tonight because my conscience leaves me no other choice. I join with you in this meeting because I am in deepest agreement with the aims and work of the organization which has brought us together: Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam. The recent statement of your executive committee are the sentiments of my own heart and I found myself in full accord when I read its opening lines: ‘A time comes when silence is betrayal.' That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.

“The truth of these words is beyond doubt but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on.

“Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. And we must rejoice as well, for surely this is the first time in our nation's history that a significant number of its religious leaders have chosen to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism to the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movement well and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us.

“Over the past two years, as I have moved to break the betrayal of my own silences and to speak from the burnings of my own heart, as I have called for radical departures from the destruction of Vietnam, many persons have questioned me about the wisdom of my path. At the heart of their concerns this query has often loomed large and loud: Why are you speaking about war, Dr. King? Why are you joining the voices of dissent? Peace and civil rights don't mix, they say. Aren't you hurting the cause of your people, they ask? And when I hear them, though I often understand the source of their concern, I am nevertheless greatly saddened, for such questions mean that the inquirers have not really known me, my commitment or my calling. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live.

“In the light of such tragic misunderstandings, I deem it of signal importance to try to state clearly, and I trust concisely, why I believe that the path from Dexter Avenue Baptist Church -- the church in Montgomery, Alabama, where I began my pastorate -- leads clearly to this sanctuary tonight.

“I come to this platform tonight to make a passionate plea to my beloved nation. This speech is not addressed to Hanoi or to the National Liberation Front. It is not addressed to China or to Russia.

“Nor is it an attempt to overlook the ambiguity of the total situation and the need for a collective solution to the tragedy of Vietnam. Neither is it an attempt to make North Vietnam or the National Liberation Front paragons of virtue, nor to overlook the role they can play in a successful resolution of the problem. While they both may have justifiable reason to be suspicious of the good faith of the United States, life and history give eloquent testimony to the fact that conflicts are never resolved without trustful give and take on both sides.

“Tonight, however, I wish not to speak with Hanoi and the NLF, but rather to my fellow Americans, who, with me, bear the greatest responsibility in ending a conflict that has exacted a heavy price on both continents.

The Importance of Vietnam

“Since I am a preacher by trade, I suppose it is not surprising that I have seven major reasons for bringing Vietnam into the field of my moral vision. There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I, and others, have been waging in America. A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor -- both black and white -- through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.

“Perhaps the more tragic recognition of reality took place when it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. It was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and to die in extraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest of the population. We were taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem. So we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools. So we watch them in brutal solidarity burning the huts of a poor village, but we realize that they would never live on the same block in Detroit. I could not be silent in the face of such cruel manipulation of the poor.

“My third reason moves to an even deeper level of awareness, for it grows out of my experience in the ghettos of the North over the last three years -- especially the last three summers. As I have walked among the desperate, rejected and angry young men I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they asked -- and rightly so -- what about Vietnam? They asked if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.

“For those who ask the question, 'Aren't you a civil rights leader?’ and thereby mean to exclude me from the movement for peace, I have this further answer. In 1957 when a group of us formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, we chose as our motto: To save the soul of America. We were convinced that we could not limit our vision to certain rights for black people, but instead affirmed the conviction that America would never be free or saved from itself unless the descendants of its slaves were loosed completely from the shackles they still wear. In a way we were agreeing with Langston Hughes, that black bard of Harlem, who had written earlier:

O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath-- America will be!

“Now, it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war. If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read Vietnam. It can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes of men the world over. So it is that those of us who are yet determined that America will be are led down the path of protest and dissent, working for the health of our land.

“As if the weight of such a commitment to the life and health of America were not enough, another burden of responsibility was placed upon me in 1964; and I cannot forget that the Nobel Prize for Peace was also a commission -- a commission to work harder than I had ever worked before for 'the brotherhood of man.' This is a calling that takes me beyond national allegiances, but even if it were not present I would yet have to live with the meaning of my commitment to the ministry of Jesus Christ. To me the relationship of this ministry to the making of peace is so obvious that I sometimes marvel at those who ask me why I am speaking against the war. Could it be that they do not know that the good news was meant for all men -- for Communist and capitalist, for their children and ours, for black and for white, for revolutionary and conservative? Have they forgotten that my ministry is in obedience to the one who loved his enemies so fully that he died for them? What then can I say to the 'Vietcong’ or to Castro or to Mao as a faithful minister of this one? Can I threaten them with death or must I not share with them my life?

“Finally, as I try to delineate for you and for myself the road that leads from Montgomery to this place I would have offered all that was most valid if I simply said that I must be true to my conviction that I share with all men the calling to be a son of the living God. Beyond the calling of race or nation or creed is this vocation of sonship and brotherhood, and because I believe that the Father is deeply concerned especially for his suffering and helpless and outcast children, I come tonight to speak for them.

“This I believe to be the privilege and the burden of all of us who deem ourselves bound by allegiances and loyalties which are broader and deeper than nationalism and which go beyond our nation's self-defined goals and positions. We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers.

Strange Liberators

“And as I ponder the madness of Vietnam and search within myself for ways to understand and respond to compassion my mind goes constantly to the people of that peninsula. I speak now not of the soldiers of each side, not of the junta in Saigon, but simply of the people who have been living under the curse of war for almost three continuous decades now. I think of them too because it is clear to me that there will be no meaningful solution there until some attempt is made to know them and hear their broken cries.

“They must see Americans as strange liberators. The Vietnamese people proclaimed their own independence in 1945 after a combined French and Japanese occupation, and before the Communist revolution in China. They were led by Ho Chi Minh. Even though they quoted the American Declaration of Independence in their own document of freedom, we refused to recognize them. Instead, we decided to support France in its reconquest of her former colony.

“Our government felt then that the Vietnamese people were not 'ready' for independence, and we again fell victim to the deadly Western arrogance that has poisoned the international atmosphere for so long. With that tragic decision we rejected a revolutionary government seeking self-determination, and a government that had been established not by China (for whom the Vietnamese have no great love) but by clearly indigenous forces that included some Communists. For the peasants this new government meant real land reform, one of the most important needs in their lives.

“For nine years following 1945 we denied the people of Vietnam the right of independence. For nine years we vigorously supported the French in their abortive effort to recolonize Vietnam.

“Before the end of the war we were meeting eighty percent of the French war costs. Even before the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu, they began to despair of the reckless action, but we did not. We encouraged them with our huge financial and military supplies to continue the war even after they had lost the will. Soon we would be paying almost the full costs of this tragic attempt at recolonization.

“After the French were defeated it looked as if independence and land reform would come again through the Geneva agreements. But instead there came the United States, determined that Ho should not unify the temporarily divided nation, and the peasants watched again as we supported one of the most vicious modern dictators -- our chosen man, Premier Diem. The peasants watched and cringed as Diem ruthlessly routed out all opposition, supported their extortionist landlords and refused even to discuss reunification with the north. The peasants watched as all this was presided over by U.S. influence and then by increasing numbers of U.S. troops who came to help quell the insurgency that Diem's methods had aroused. When Diem was overthrown they may have been happy, but the long line of military dictatorships seemed to offer no real change -- especially in terms of their need for land and peace.

“The only change came from America as we increased our troop commitments in support of governments which were singularly corrupt, inept and without popular support. All the while the people read our leaflets and received regular promises of peace and democracy -- and land reform. Now they languish under our bombs and consider us -- not their fellow Vietnamese --the real enemy. They move sadly and apathetically as we herd them off the land of their fathers into concentration camps where minimal social needs are rarely met. They know they must move or be destroyed by our bombs. So they go -- primarily women and children and the aged.

“They watch as we poison their water, as we kill a million acres of their crops. They must weep as the bulldozers roar through their areas preparing to destroy the precious trees. They wander into the hospitals, with at least twenty casualties from American firepower for one 'Vietcong'-inflicted injury. So far we may have killed a million of them -- mostly children. They wander into the towns and see thousands of the children, homeless, without clothes, running in packs on the streets like animals. They see the children, degraded by our soldiers as they beg for food. They see the children selling their sisters to our soldiers, soliciting for their mothers.

“What do the peasants think as we ally ourselves with the landlords and as we refuse to put any action into our many words concerning land reform? What do they think as we test our latest weapons on them, just as the Germans tested out new medicine and new tortures in the concentration camps of Europe? Where are the roots of the independent Vietnam we claim to be building? Is it among these voiceless ones?

“We have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the family and the village. We have destroyed their land and their crops. We have cooperated in the crushing of the nation's only non-Communist revolutionary political force -- the unified Buddhist church. We have supported the enemies of the peasants of Saigon. We have corrupted their women and children and killed their men. What liberators?

“Now there is little left to build on -- save bitterness. Soon the only solid physical foundations remaining will be found at our military bases and in the concrete of the concentration camps we call fortified hamlets. The peasants may well wonder if we plan to build our new Vietnam on such grounds as these? Could we blame them for such thoughts? We must speak for them and raise the questions they cannot raise. These too are our brothers.

“Perhaps the more difficult but no less necessary task is to speak for those who have been designated as our enemies. What of the National Liberation Front -- that strangely anonymous group we call VC or Communists? What must they think of us in America when they realize that we permitted the repression and cruelty of Diem which helped to bring them into being as a resistance group in the south? What do they think of our condoning the violence which led to their own taking up of arms? How can they believe in our integrity when now we speak of 'aggression from the north' as if there were nothing more essential to the war? How can they trust us when now we charge them with violence after the murderous reign of Diem and charge them with violence while we pour every new weapon of death into their land? Surely we must understand their feelings even if we do not condone their actions. Surely we must see that the men we supported pressed them to their violence. Surely we must see that our own computerized plans of destruction simply dwarf their greatest acts.

“How do they judge us when our officials know that their membership is less than twenty-five percent Communist and yet insist on giving them the blanket name? What must they be thinking when they know that we are aware of their control of major sections of Vietnam and yet we appear ready to allow national elections in which this highly organized political parallel government will have no part? They ask how we can speak of free elections when the Saigon press is censored and controlled by the military junta. And they are surely right to wonder what kind of new government we plan to help form without them -- the only party in real touch with the peasants. They question our political goals and they deny the reality of a peace settlement from which they will be excluded. Their questions are frighteningly relevant. Is our nation planning to build on political myth again and then shore it up with the power of new violence?

“Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence when it helps us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.

“So, too, with Hanoi. In the north, where our bombs now pummel the land, and our mines endanger the waterways, we are met by a deep but understandable mistrust. To speak for them is to explain this lack of confidence in Western words, and especially their distrust of American intentions now. In Hanoi are the men who led the nation to independence against the Japanese and the French, the men who sought membership in the French commonwealth and were betrayed by the weakness of Paris and the willfulness of the colonial armies. It was they who led a second struggle against French domination at tremendous costs, and then were persuaded to give up the land they controlled between the thirteenth and seventeenth parallel as a temporary measure at Geneva. After 1954 they watched us conspire with Diem to prevent elections which would have surely brought Ho Chi Minh to power over a united Vietnam, and they realized they had been betrayed again.

“When we ask why they do not leap to negotiate, these things must be remembered. Also it must be clear that the leaders of Hanoi considered the presence of American troops in support of the Diem regime to have been the initial military breach of the Geneva agreements concerning foreign troops, and they remind us that they did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had moved into the tens of thousands.

“Hanoi remembers how our leaders refused to tell us the truth about the earlier North Vietnamese overtures for peace, how the president claimed that none existed when they had clearly been made. Ho Chi Minh has watched as America has spoken of peace and built up its forces, and now he has surely heard of the increasing international rumors of American plans for an invasion of the north. He knows the bombing and shelling and mining we are doing are part of traditional pre-invasion strategy. Perhaps only his sense of humor and of irony can save him when he hears the most powerful nation of the world speaking of aggression as it drops thousands of bombs on a poor weak nation more than eight thousand miles away from its shores.

“At this point I should make it clear that while I have tried in these last few minutes to give a voice to the voiceless on Vietnam and to understand the arguments of those who are called enemy, I am as deeply concerned about our troops there as anything else. For it occurs to me that what we are submitting them to in Vietnam is not simply the brutalizing process that goes on in any war where armies face each other and seek to destroy. We are adding cynicism to the process of death, for they must know after a short period there that none of the things we claim to be fighting for are really involved. Before long they must know that their government has sent them into a struggle among Vietnamese, and the more sophisticated surely realize that we are on the side of the wealthy and the secure while we create hell for the poor.

This Madness Must Cease

“Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.

“This is the message of the great Buddhist leaders of Vietnam. Recently one of them wrote these words:

Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism.

“If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in Vietnam. It will become clear that our minimal expectation is to occupy it as an American colony and men will not refrain from thinking that our maximum hope is to goad China into a war so that we may bomb her nuclear installations. If we do not stop our war against the people of Vietnam immediately the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horribly clumsy and deadly game we have decided to play.

“The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam, that we have been detrimental to the life of the Vietnamese people. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways.

“In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war. I would like to suggest five concrete things that our government should do immediately to begin the long and difficult process of extricating ourselves from this nightmarish conflict:

End all bombing in North and South Vietnam.

Declare a unilateral cease-fire in the hope that such action will create the atmosphere for negotiation.

Take immediate steps to prevent other battlegrounds in Southeast Asia by curtailing our military buildup in Thailand and our interference in Laos.

Realistically accept the fact that the National Liberation Front has substantial support in South Vietnam and must thereby play a role in any meaningful negotiations and in any future Vietnam government.

Set a date that we will remove all foreign troops from Vietnam in accordance with the 1954 Geneva agreement.

“Part of our ongoing commitment might well express itself in an offer to grant asylum to any Vietnamese who fears for his life under a new regime which included the Liberation Front. Then we must make what reparations we can for the damage we have done. We most provide the medical aid that is badly needed, making it available in this country if necessary.

Protesting The War

“Meanwhile we in the churches and synagogues have a continuing task while we urge our government to disengage itself from a disgraceful commitment. We must continue to raise our voices if our nation persists in its perverse ways in Vietnam. We must be prepared to match actions with words by seeking out every creative means of protest possible.

“As we counsel young men concerning military service we must clarify for them our nation's role in Vietnam and challenge them with the alternative of conscientious objection. I am pleased to say that this is the path now being chosen by more than seventy students at my own alma mater, Morehouse College, and I recommend it to all who find the American course in Vietnam a dishonorable and unjust one. Moreover I would encourage all ministers of draft age to give up their ministerial exemptions and seek status as conscientious objectors. These are the times for real choices and not false ones. We are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.

“There is something seductively tempting about stopping there and sending us all off on what in some circles has become a popular crusade against the war in Vietnam. I say we must enter the struggle, but I wish to go on now to say something even more disturbing. The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality we will find ourselves organizing clergy- and laymen-concerned committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy. Such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living God.

“In 1957 a sensitive American official overseas said that it seemed to him that our nation was on the wrong side of a world revolution. During the past ten years we have seen emerge a pattern of suppression which now has justified the presence of U.S. military 'advisers’ in Venezuela. This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counter-revolutionary action of American forces in Guatemala. It tells why American helicopters are being used against guerrillas in Colombia and why American napalm and green beret forces have already been active against rebels in Peru. It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. Five years ago he said, 'Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.’

“Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken -- the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investment.

“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a 'person-oriented’ society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

“A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: 'This is not just.' It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America and say: 'This is not just.' The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just. A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: 'This way of settling differences is not just.' This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of people normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

“America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood.

“This kind of positive revolution of values is our best defense against communism. War is not the answer. Communism will never be defeated by the use of atomic bombs or nuclear weapons. Let us not join those who shout war and through their misguided passions urge the United States to relinquish its participation in the United Nations. These are days which demand wise restraint and calm reasonableness. We must not call everyone a Communist or an appeaser who advocates the seating of Red China in the United Nations and who recognizes that hate and hysteria are not the final answers to the problem of these turbulent days. We must not engage in a negative anti-communism, but rather in a positive thrust for democracy, realizing that our greatest defense against communism is to take offensive action in behalf of justice. We must with positive action seek to remove those conditions of poverty, insecurity and injustice which are the fertile soil in which the seed of communism grows and develops.

The People Are Important

“These are revolutionary times. All over the globe men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression and out of the wombs of a frail world new systems of justice and equality are being born. The shirtless and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before. 'The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.' We in the West must support these revolutions. It is a sad fact that, because of comfort, complacency, a morbid fear of communism, and our proneness to adjust to injustice, the Western nations that initiated so much of the revolutionary spirit of the modern world have now become the arch anti-revolutionaries. This has driven many to feel that only Marxism has the revolutionary spirit. Therefore, communism is a judgement against our failure to make democracy real and follow through on the revolutions we initiated. Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. With this powerful commitment we shall boldly challenge the status quo and unjust mores and thereby speed the day when 'every valley shall be exalted, and every moutain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain.'

“A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.

“This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept -- so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force -- has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John:

Let us love one another; for love is God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. If we love one another God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

“Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. As Arnold Toynbee says : 'Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word.'

“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost opportunity. The 'tide in the affairs of men' does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: 'Too late.' There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. 'The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on...'  We still have a choice today; nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation.

“We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and justice throughout the developing world -- a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.

“Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter -- but beautiful -- struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? Or will there be another message, of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise we must choose in this crucial moment of human history.

“As that noble bard of yesterday, James Russell Lowell, eloquently stated:

Once to every man and nation Comes the moment to decide, In the strife of truth and falsehood, For the good or evil side; Some great cause, God's new Messiah, Off'ring each the bloom or blight, And the choice goes by forever Twixt that darkness and that light.

Though the cause of evil prosper, Yet 'tis truth alone is strong; Though her portion be the scaffold, And upon the throne be wrong: Yet that scaffold sways the future, And behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow Keeping watch above his own.

“And if we will only make the right choice, we will be able to transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of peace. If we will make the right choice, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. If we will but make the right choice, we will be able to speed up the day, all over America and all over the world, when 'justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.’"

[glorifiedsnickersbar]

Farthest North

Chapter 11 - The Second Meeting

Word count: 1260

     The second meeting had ended some time ago, but America was still in his seat. He stared at the empty space where Alaska had stood, dumbfounded. Not only was she one meeting closer to being a Country, but most everyone was agreeing that she should become one. Even U.N. himself mumbled something along the lines of 'thank goodness' when the vote was cast. America had no say, her being his State. This was her decision, and his vote may sway the whole of the congregation. He wanted to scream his say so badly though.

         "Absolutely not! It's a terrible world out here!"

He wanted to keep her safe from those who wanted her out of his protection. North Korea was already creating plans of his own to go against her, having heard something of three military bases already established on her land. 

     His head began to throb, forcing the man to lay it on the cool, polished wood of the desk. He stared at his faint reflection, swearing that he could see his 50 waver to 49, but he blinked, and it was gone. He wondered if this would cause his other States to revolt, claim independence, want out of some sort of unrealized abuse...

He was a good father, right?

He did his best with at least his 49 other States, right?

         "The States!"

     America burst from his seat, running out the door and through empty hallways, dashing down the stairs with his coat flying behind him as he tried to put it back on. He had left the States at home, not wanting to have to deal with vertigo and trying to find each one in their designated lands. The star clad patriot had made it a block from the meeting hall when he heard keys in his pocket, remembering he had driven there... no, bad idea in his state of mind. Instead he used his ring, despite the pounding headache equivalent to a gunshot roaring through his skull.

     Standing on the front porch, America slowly opened his door after unlocking it, peering into the foyer of his mansion. He saw little Virginia staring back.

         "Are you okay?" the young girl questioned, looking at her father curiously, and somewhat skeptically.

         "DAD HELP!"

America jumped as Tennessee latched onto his leg, her little hands like glue as she refused to let go in her panic.

         "What's the matter?" he looked at her with a panicked expression.

         "Texas is making flapjacks again!" she screeched, and the father rolled his eyes.

Oh dear.

         "Just because he burnt the last batch doesn't mean he's going to-"

         "Someone get the fire extinguisher!"

He heard Arkansas holler, and immediately protective father mode was activated as America limped down the hall into the kitchen, finding Texas spluttering on a stool as Georgia tried to fan the smoke out the kitchen window.

         "You guys, what did I say about cooking while I'm not here?" he questioned, "And without your apron?"

The five States look to their feet, even Tennessee as she let go of her father's leg.

     Three others came back into the kitchen, each with a fire extinguisher, freezing once they realized America was home. Mississippi set his tool down, while North and South Carolina held theirs until America sighed, shaking his head.

         "We just wanted to make you feel better..." Arkansas shuffled a foot, "you know... since... little sis is leaving and all."

The rest of them nodded with a whimpering of 'mm-hm', a symphony of apologetic children.

         "You guys-"

         "We found the oranges!" Louisiana, Alabama and Florida came with great big smiles at their victory, only to frown at the sight of the kitchen, and a very amused America.

         "Orange juice, Florida?" He chuckled, and the State nodded with a shrug and bashful smile, "Come here you guys," he opened his arms for a hug from his States, each running to him with big goofy smiles, mostly relieved that they weren't in trouble, "Thanks."

         "Anything for our pops!" Alabama grinned, earning a poke from America as they all giggled.

He wanted to share these moments with Alaska too... 

(*)

~.~

         "Isn't it exciting?" Japan bounced, "One more meeting, and you'll be a full fledged Country!"

Alaska remained sober as she nodded with a small smile, and Germany leaned in his seat to peer at the State.

         "Some-ting zhe matter?" he questioned, ignoring the drunken snoring of a very much so dead to the world Russia.

         "I just... wish I could be as excited as you guys," she gave a melancholic smile, "I feel no pain from it, but America..."

A solemn silence fell on the group, Canada breaking it as he sighed.

         "He'll be fine," the syrup loving Country assured, "in no time at all, we'll have to get a sixth seat so you can join our usual get-togethers."

Alaska's smile widened as she thanked the group, earning a loud and obnoxious 'velcome' from Russia as he looked up for the two seconds it took to say it. The group laughed, and Alaska agreed to take Russia to his house once they finished up their last conversation, Germany giving her a small 'thank you', since he didn't have to return the drunkard to his house once again. 

     Fishing through Russia's pocket, Alaska found his ring, and told him to think of his living room. Not the best tactic but she couldn't use his ring, neither could any other Country. The man sloppily threw it, and Alaska was glad he at least thought of his house, coming up to the front porch as she carried him like a sack of potatoes. She checked the door. Locked. Sighing, Alaska rummaged through her little brother's pockets, failing to find his house keys.

         "If only you were as trusting as Canada," she huffed, knowing he didn't lock his door at all.

         "Dhat's probably my fault."

She froze at the voice of USSR, a familiar, painful sound.

         "Father," she greeted curtly, and he nodded with a soft smile that put her on edge.

         "Best you come in before eidher of you catch cold," he warned, making Alaska huff.

         "Said the Country who always needed an extra parka when you visited."

         "Touche," he tipped his Ushanka, old and somewhat matted.

     Alaska dragged Russia in, setting him on the couch.

         "Risking anodher treasonous act for family?" he questioned with a sly expression, earning a sour one in return.

         "The second meeting was today," she announced, "As of an hour ago I am allowed to meet whomever I please without the possibility of a penalty from my Country."

The Eskimo fixed her parka before turning on her heel to walk out, only to be stopped by the slamming of the front door in her face.

         "Do not dhink I am blind," he growled, "dhese Countries see an innocent State. Have dhey seen your past?"

Alaska trembled, an old fear creeping back up into her spine as it prickled in remembrance of countless broken vodka bottles piercing her skin. She growled, hating this power he has over her while in truth he lost it all.

         "Dhey have seen vhat dhey are villing to see," the woman glared back, pushing her father out of the way before he could block the door completely, "I find Russia vith vun mark on his body," she held up a threatening finger, "I vill kill you myself."

And with that, she stormed off, flipping the hood of her parka over her head to keep out the biting wind that had grown.

--------------------

*These are/were the infamous Confederate States

[sell-land-fast-blog]

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[creepingsharia]

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Muslim Students Association: What Americans Need to Know

A Short History of the Muslim Students’ Association in America 

The first chapter of the MSA was founded way back in 1963 at the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign. It was founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that most Americans would not even be remotely aware of for another half century.

Among the founders of the MSA in America was Hisham Al Talib, a man who would later go on to become a co-founder of the SAAR Foundation, an organization that was dissolved in 2000 when it became the target of an FBI investigation for providing funding to HAMAS, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Al Qaeda.

Another founder of the MSA was Jamal Barzinji, who, in 1991 was also the founder of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia. Dar al-Hijrah is perhaps most famous for being the mosque at which Nidal Malik Hasan (the Fort Hood shooter) worshipped under Anwar al-Awlaki, who later became the head of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (more on Awlaki shortly).

According to a 2008 New York Times report, right from the outset the MSA received its funding and direction from Saudi Arabia. The MSA was a product of the Saudi Wahhabi-run Muslim World League, a Saudi NGO with a history of ties to Jihadist terrorism. In fact, the MSA was the first effort in America by the Saudis to establish Islamic organizations around the world to promote Wahhabi Islam, the strain of Islam that would eventually give birth to Al Qaeda.

In other words, the MSA was founded and established in the USA by what should rightly be considered a hostile foreign power, namely Saudi Arabia.

MSA solicited donations for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, whose assets the U.S. government seized in December 2001 because that organization was giving financial support to the terrorist group Hamas. MSA also has strong ties to the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), a Saudi-based Islamic organization with chapters in 57 countries, including the US chapter, which was founded by Osama Bin Laden’s nephew. WAMY promotes jihad and anti-semitism and has raised funds for HAMAS.

Not only does the MSA have a troubling history, its members and leaders have included more than just a few jihadists:

• On October 22, 2000, Ahmed Shama, president of the UCLA Muslim Students Association, led a crowd of demonstrators at the Israeli consulate in chants of “Death to Israel!” and “Death to the Jews!”

• The University of Southern California MSA invited Taliban ambassador Sayyid Hashimi to speak on campus six months before 9/11.

• In 2003, University of Idaho MSA president Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, who had sought access to a chemical lab containing nuclear material, was ordered deported because he worked for the al Qaeda-tied Islamic Assembly of North America.

• In April 2003, FBI agents, who had secretly videotaped foreign student members of MSA who were illegally engaged in weapons training, raided the apartment of Hassan Alrefae and Jaber Al-Thukair, Arizona State’s MSA president and vice president, respectively.

• In June 2006, Ali Asad Chandia, who had served as president of the Montgomery College (Maryland) MSA in 1998 and 1999, was convicted on terror charges as part of a Northern Virginia jihad network; he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for three separate counts of conspiracy and material support to the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

• Abdurahman Alamoudi, who served as MSA national president in 1982 and 1983, is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for his extensive international terrorist activities, which included fundraising for al Qaeda.

• In February 2010, Aafia Siddiqui – a woman who had been captured in 2008 with explosives, deadly chemicals, and a list of New York City landmarks – was convicted of attempting to murder a U.S. Army captain while she was incarcerated and being interrogated by authorities at a prison in Afghanistan. Described variously as “al-Qaeda’s Mata Hari” and “Lady al-Qaeda,” Siddiqui had previously been a member of the MSA chapter at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied neuroscience.

• Wael Hamza Julaidan, who served as president of the University of Arizona MSA in the mid-1980s, went on to become one of al Qaeda’s co-founders and its logistics chief. In September 2002, the U.S. government listed Julaidan as a specially designated global terrorist, identifying him as a close associate of Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders, and as a director of the Rabita Trust, which had already been designated a terrorist finance entity that supported al-Qaeda.

• University of Idaho MSA president Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, who operated nearly a dozen Arabic-language websites for anti-American, pro-suicide-bombing clerics, was accused by federal authorities of using his academic studies as a cover for terrorist support activities. Al-Hussayen was deported to Saudi Arabia in June 2004 after agreeing to a deal with federal prosecutors.

• In December 2009, Howard University dental student Ramy Zamzam, who had served as the president of MSA’s D.C. Council, was arrested in Pakistan along with four other D.C.-area men (all of whom were also active in MSA). All five were charged with plotting to join the Jaish-e-Muhammed terrorist group with plans to attack U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan; all five were convicted in a Pakistani court in June 2010 and sentenced to at least 10 years in prison.

• Syed Maaz Shah, secretary of the University of Texas-Dallas MSA chapter, was arrested in December 2006, for his involvement in paramilitary training at an Islamic campground, where he was preparing to join the Taliban in order to fight U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Shah was convicted on weapons charges in May 2007.

• Ziyad Khaleel, president of the Columbia College (Missouri) MSA, was a representative of the Islamic Association for Palestine (a Hamas front). He also registered and operated the English-language website for Hamas, and served as al Qaeda’s chief procurement agent in the United States during the 1990s. Among the items Khaleel purchased was a $7,500 satellite phone for Osama bin Laden. That phone, dubbed by intelligence authorities as the “jihad phone,” was used to plan the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings.

• Anwar Al-Awlaki served as president of the Colorado State University MSA in the early 1990s, and as chaplain of the George Washington University MSA in 2001. In Washington, DC, he delivered sermons that were attended by two of the 9/11 hijackers and by Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. In 2002 Alwaki fled the U.S. for Yemen, where he developed ties to al Qaeda and reportedly played a role in the Fort Hood massacre of 2009, the failed Christmas Day underwear-bomber plot of 2009, and the attempted Times Square bombing of 2010.

• Carlos Bledsoe, aka Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, was a member of the MSA as a student at Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN. Bledsoe went on to receive terrorist training at a jihadist training camp in Yemen and returned to the US and murdered US Army Private Andy Long outside a Little Rock, Arkansas recruiting office on June 1, 2009.

• Abu Mansoor al-Amriki, aka Omar Hammami was an American-born member of al Shahab, a Somali Islamic militant group aligned with al Qaeda. Hammami served as president of the MSA chapter at the University of South Alabama.

• Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who would later go on to mastermind the September 11th terrorist attacks as the number 3 man in Al Qaeda, was a member of the MSA chapter at North Carolina A&T in 1986.

Given the history of the MSA right from the point of its founding, and the activities of its members and leaders in recent years in particular, there is every reason to be concerned about the MSA and anyone who was a leader in its ranks.

It is certainly not unreasonable to expect at least an explanation from Abdul El-Sayed of his affiliation with the MSA and disclosing any other Muslim Brotherhood organizations with which he is associated.

[child-of-lightning]

road trip

we’ll start in delaware, and I will love you more and more with each mile. 

you’ll drive first, because I know you’ll insist on starting the trek behind the wheel. you’ll drive, and your hand will be on my thigh or holding my hand, and I’ll watch you and admire your focus. 

our first stop will be in maryland, we’ll pass your hometown and you’ll take me through the back roads like you always do, and then we’ll get to destination number one. we’ll have some good crabs and share the sunset before trekking again, and this time I’ll drive. 

we’ll keep working our way through maryland until we get down to virginia. there, we’ll visit several landmarks and spots, big and little cities, and we’ll pass my college. 

but of course, in between all of these stops and the future stops, we’ll switch drivers, we’ll cook and buy meals, and I’ll get to fall asleep in your arms under the stars when we sleep. 

and we’ll keep trekking. after virginia, we’ll head down to north carolina. we’ll have some delicious southern food and talk to the locals in each town we go through. we’ll buy some postcards and send them to our family, letting them know that we’re having a great time on the trail. 

after north carolina, we’ll head down further to south carolina and check out some historical spots. we’ll stop in fort sumter and laugh remembering our high school american history teacher and all of her stories and antics.

when it gets dark and you’re driving, you’ll look over at me and I’ll be fighting sleep in the passenger seat, and you’ll know by my drooping eyes that I only fall asleep while you drive because I trust you and I know you’ll never let me get hurt.

but when we switch drivers and I continue, we’ll be on our way to georgia. there we’ll eat some delicious peaches and we’ll do some paddling. but we’ll be so excited to get down to florida, that we’ll leave shortly after. 

we’ll leave for florida in the morning. you’ll cook us breakfast in the back of the rv, and we’ll stop just past the florida line to enjoy it. we’ll spend several days in several parts of florida, because we have family there who needs to be updated about our trip so far. we’ll see your family and then my family, and we’ll spend a day at the beach and a day at disney and maybe even more. when we’re there, it will remind us of the trip we took to florida when we were teenagers. 

when we eventually leave florida, we’ll head to the southern part of alabama. we’ll get into even more of the southern life, and visit the uss there. we’ll pass through and work our way to louisiana. we’ll spend some time there, partying whether it’s mardi gras time or not. with any luck, we’ll have forgotten what we even did there by the end of all our celebrations.

but we’ll sober up and get to mississippi after. there, we’ll see some national parks and enjoy the clear southern sky. from there, we’ll go to the music part of tennessee, and we’ll see the museums and stores dedicated to recording and producing music. 

after stops for gas and checking on the rv, which we’ll obviously be doing throughout our entire journey, we’ll venture on to arkansas, pronounce it like “ar-kansas” the entire time because that’s the kind of humor we thrive on, and we’ll see the toltec mounds at a state park (they’re cool!). after that, we’ll drive west to oklahoma, and we’ll see some historical towns.

we’ll get down to texas, and we’ll pass through dallas and san antonio, getting to know some of the people down there while we drive through. we’ll hold hands every time we get out to explore a city or town, and I’ll be shocked that we made it all the way to texas without running into any major problems on the drive!

I will admire you while you admire the landmarks and towns. I will look at your face, curious and smiling, and know that there is no one I would rather spend those weeks/months with, no one else I would rather explore it all with. 

after we finish up in texas, we’ll work our way back up to new mexico. there, we’ll see some national parks and enjoy some delicious food. we’ll go through that state and drive up to colorado, where we’ll stop in colorado springs to see the incredible vastness of the land in pikes peak. it will be just a glimpse of the wonderful hills and mountains we’ll be seeing on the west coast, which will be a lot different from the flat land in our own state. 

we’ll then hike up to wyoming. we’ll see yellowstone, and check out how cool the land is and how different it is from what we’re used to. we’ll go west to idaho, and eat potatoes the entire time. 

I haven’t even mentioned one of the most important parts of all this. the rv will have an aux cord, and we will alternate being DJs through the entire trip. we’ll listen to new music, albums that we’ve loved since we were teenagers, and we’ll introduce each other to new music. singing in the car with you is one of my favorite things to do, and I can’t wait for us to sing in the car across the country. 

we’ll bop our way down to utah. we’ll see some national parks there too, and we’ll drive past the place I took my first very far ski trip. before entering arizona, we could maybe even stand in the four corners. even better, we can kiss, and say we kissed in four states at once. 

we’ll see the grand canyon in arizona. we’ll reminisce on the trips we took with our own families when we were young, and remember the feelings of seeing those breathtaking views for the first time. 

then, we’ll hit the bright lights and excitement of las vegas, nevada. we’ll go zip lining over fremont street and check out all of the clubs and parties we can get into. when we’ve had our fill of the busy city, we’ll head to california. 

there, like florida, we’ll spend several days. we’ll see san francisco, sacramento, and los angeles. we’ll walk the streets they put in all the hollywood movies and we’ll hold hands and we’ll show everyone just how much we really love each other. we’ll have mini existential crises that we’ve already made it all the way across the country! we’ll walk on the california beaches and swim in the clear pacific waters and reminisce on all the beach trips we took in high school and college. we’ll walk the streets looking for famous people, and we’ll go into the most expensive stores and pretend like we can afford all of the things they sell. we’ll hit some high-end clubs if we can get in, and we’ll explore the wilderness during the days. 

but of course, we’ll eventually have to get back on the road to the next state. we’ll ride up to oregon, and admire the beautiful land and how different it is from what we’re used to. we’ll explore, and spend some time in small towns there. we’ll soon work our way up to washington. 

in washington, we’ll go up to seattle, visit the downtown area, the fish market, and get a good meal in town. we’ll check out some ski slopes and see the mountains (mount rainier!) and we’ll visit my family while we’re there. when we have had our fill of the northwest corner, we’ll head back east towards montana. 

there, we’ll there, we’ll see some more national parks and admire the night sky from all the way over there. we’ll eat some different foods and explore all of the land, maybe go on a few hikes. as we’re seeing all of the various landmarks and differences between where we live and where we have gotten to, I will love and admire you for making it this long with me, and for being a much more precious work of art in this world than any of the sights we’ll have seen by now. 

next we’ll head to north dakota. I’ll tell you all about how I once did a middle school project on north dakota, and how I’m the “expert” of the state, even though I secretly don’t remember anything I wrote down. we’ll see fort union trading post and drive the roads with the rv, listening to some good travel music and podcasts.

we’ll shoot south towards south dakota, and make our first stop at mount rushmore! we’ll send mount rushmore postcards to all our family and friends and take pictures imitating the faces of the carved men. we’ll sit and talk politics for a while, and we’ll see badlands national park in honor of the name of halsey’s first album. 

after south dakota, we’ll go down to nebraska, and we’ll investigate some of the older land and great plains historical areas. we’ll see all of the rock formations and be truly living the southern lifestyle- as long as we’re both wearing our big floppy hats. 

after that is minnesota. we will keep alternating drivers and having deep conversations about life. during these drives, we’ll have to keep each other busy, of course. we’ll try to guess the songs that come on shuffle in an album, listen to weird videos, try to alternate singing lyrics in songs and end up in complete laughter, and wave/make faces at the people who pass us on the road. 

in minnesota, we’ll see fort snelling and how busy minneapolis could get. we’ll do some shopping and sightseeing there, and then continue. we’ll then drive to wisconsin. we’ll see some national parks there and check out all of the local shops, scenery, and general lifestyle. 

iowa will be next. there, we will see some art in des moines and explore the capital city. we’ll go into some museums and see the wildlife of the mississippi river. we’ll try some of the food there, and cook some of it ourselves in the rv and have our own fancy dinners within the rv itself. because I don’t see us struggling with finding entertainment in the simplest things- that’s always been something we’re good at. we can have a good time doing anything, as long as we’re with each other. 

then, before we know it, we’ll be in kansas. we’ll listen to songs by the band with the same name, and we’ll drive through while looking at the bigger cities along with the smaller towns, and enjoying some great food and drinks.

we’ll go to missouri next, where we will see the super cool gateway arch and take super basic pictures under it. exploring the towns will also be very fun, and we’ll pick up some souvenirs for those at home.

illinois is next. we will trek over to there, and see abraham lincoln’s house, along with downtown chicago. we’ll keep driving through, and every time you turn the wheel and sing along to the songs I’m playing, I will look at you and think about how much I absolutely adore and admire you. 

we’ll see indiana and all of the art and gardens in the areas there. we’ll keep going, and reach kentucky, and drive north a bit more to ohio. we’ll drive through all of the little towns and try the food delicacies in each of the places. we’ll make a list of our favorites, and compare them when it’s all over. 

we’ll go to michigan, and have some cool views of the great lakes. we’ll then drive up and see the amazing atmosphere of vermont, and admire the smaller, cuter towns. and yes, we will drive through pennsylvania and new york and on the way up, but we will reach them after. 

we’ll check out some places in new hampshire, and then go all the way up to maine! it will all have gone by so fast, we’ll be shocked we’re back on the east coast already. because time always goes by so quickly with you. 

we’ll go to massachusetts, and we’ll see the historical parts of boston, and see some museums in the area. we’ll walk around the city, and the parks within the city, and we’ll feel bittersweet that we’re already almost to where we began. 

next will be rhode island, and we’ll talk and relate with the locals about what it’s like to live in such a small state. 

we’ll visit connecticut after, and see the mark twain house, and compare life in the small eastern states with the large western states. 

we’ll make our next stop in new york. if we aren’t completely out of money, we’ll see a broadway show, but if we are out of money, we’ll just walk the streets of times square and reminisce on our visit to new york as teenagers, and how we love each other just as much and even more now. we’ll take pictures and pop into some stores, and maybe walk all the way down to central park and take a stroll there, too. 

we’ll go to pennsylvania and see the liberty bell, right in the middle of the city, and get some good cheesesteaks. we’ll be so close to being done by then, we’ll be antsy to shower and sleep in something that’s not an rv! but at the same time, we’ll be wishing it wasn’t over so soon. we’ll be so happy and grateful for the memories made across the country. and i know for me, at least, i’ll be wishing and hoping for the same kind of wonderful memories across the world. 

and i will love you more and more with each mile we drive, each step we take, and each memory we make.