News on Wednesday

 

The Senate deal has been reached as a means for the political crowd to avoid default. This deal will reopen the government as well. The House Republicans have been so extreme, that their popularity has radically decreased. The Democrats and others in the Senate seem to hammer a deal. The end game has always been austerity. The markets have rallied back today. The compromise is similar to the economic proposals of the Tea Partiers than real economic populists. Ted Cruz said that he will not block the vote. The deal will drastically lower spending. The agreement will be voted on by the House and the Senate. The government shutdown started in October 1, 2013. House Republicans then refused to pass a continuing resolution to finance government operatives unless there was a provision that delayed or defunded the Affordable Care Act or the White House's health care law. This was influenced by the fervor by reactionary activists. Soon, the ACA is mostly left off the table now, except for a verification system. The deal has been worked by numerous human beings like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Senate Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (including numerous female Congresswomen among both parties). By the end of the day, they want the Congress to pass the measure. It was a concession among both sides. They want to sign the law before the deadline. They want to raise the $16.7 trillion debt limit. The Reid and McConnell deal was about to give federal agencies increased flexibility in coping with the effects of across the board cuts. It requires individuals and families seeking subsidies to purchase coverage to verify their incomes before qualifying. There were some dire warnings from the financial world a day after the Fitch credit rating agency said Tuesday it was reviewing its AAA rating on U.S. government debt for possible downgrade. John Chambers, chairman of Standard & Poor’s Sovereign Debt Committee, told “CBS This Morning” on Wednesday that a U.S. government default on its debts would be “much worse than Lehman Brothers,” the investment firm whose 2008 collapse led to the global financial crisis. The deal wants to extend the debt limit into early 2014. It also set a mid-December deadline for bipartisan budget negotiators to report on efforts to reach compromise on longer-term issues like spending cuts. And it likely would require the Obama administration to certify that it can verify the income of people who qualify for federal subsidies for medical insurance under the 2010 health care law. Boehner failed to create a bill that could pass his own chamber, because of the extremists in his own party. The Democrats have once again compromised. When Obama took office in 2009, for example, his first-year budget proposed a total of $1.203 trillion in discretionary spending in 2014--the Senate's continuing resolution proposal is a nearly 18 percent cut. The funding levels in the deal to raise the debt ceiling and restart the government are much closer to Ryan's latest budget proposal, put forward earlier this year, than the Senate's budget plan. This is a victory for the status quo. The working class and the poor still experience austerity. Our living standards are harmed by austerity. Some Republicans who engineered the political standoff in Washington are in threat of losing their seats. It is also important to note that the elite use the Republicans to move the nation slightly more reactionary on fiscal matters. When the GOP issue draconian proposals, the Democrats will still become more reactionary as a means to play ball. It is that the GOP's extremists are energized, their moderate wing is silenced, and the Democrats embrace policies ultimately that are closers to where the reactionaries started out. Both parties follow the interests of Corporate America and Wall Street. The Senate proposal would raise the debt ceiling through February 7 and fund the government through January 15, according to congressional aides. Under its terms, the two parties would agree to a long-term deal on spending and taxation—centering on cuts in Social Security and Medicare and a reduction corporate taxes—by December 13.  Both the House and Senate proposals would keep government funding at levels dictated by sequester budget cuts. Over the weekend, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that as a result of the sequester and other cuts: “Total federal spending has now gone down for two years in a row—the first time that’s happened since the Korean War.” He added that cuts currently in place for 2014 would result in “the most significant spending reduction in modern history.” So, that is the truth. When they do battle with the Republicans again over the federal budget, they'll run in the same direction, because they think they're going the right way.

 

 

 

 

There have been new discoveries about how similar ancient cultures are. This is not surprising since all human beings are related to each other genetically and historically. Many similar religious icons have been found in the ancient civilizations of Africa, the Middle East, Asia, the Americas, and Europe. The same pagan icon is found in the stone Temples of the world like in the Gate of the Sun in Tiahuanaco, Bolivia and in the Temple of Hadrian in Ephesus, Turkey. So, the reality is that ancient cultures worldwide followed similar spiritual systems or the Universal Religion. The same religion icon of a human being holding twin objects in each hand symmetrically in found in ancient Egypt, Sumeria, Crete, Greece, England, Afghanistan, etc. The icon has both arms outstretched in opposite directions in the right and left. It shows a single god or a single goddess holding twin objects. These objects are usually animals or often serpents. Some hold onto vegetation or magical staff. The artwork is always perfectly symmetrical just the icon's pose. So, we see that ancient cultures worldwide were once united in their spiritual beliefs and most likely came from a shared cultural heritage that came from the prehistoric era. Humans existed from a similar cultural framework. Some of the ancients called this existence the Golden Age. In the Stone Age, there was the Master of Animals archetype in the Old World. The ancients knew about sacrifice, life, death, and other religious themes. The win objects are found in history. Some assign to the sun in the right hand and the moon in the left hand. In essence, to the occult crowd the 2 pillars refer to the physical and spiritual side of humans. In the occult, followers believe that man is material and divine (being immortal, eternal, etc.). The union of the body and the soul is one secret of spiritual traditions in the world. In Freemasonry, they have the square and compass in their symbol. That symbol means the merging of the material and spiritual or the masculine and the feminine into generation. One source admits this:  “…the compasses stand for…the spiritual side of man, while the square appertains to the material…” (J. S. Ward, Interpretation of Our Masonic Symbols). I do not believe that man is God. I do believe that man's soul and body has value. I do believe that we should enrich our souls via prayer and almsgiving. I do believe in respecting the Lamb also.

 

 

The man Kevin Jackson is confused and wrong totally. I am sorry. I read his entire article. He has a right to his opinion and I have the right to disagree with his opinion. He is wrong on nearly everything. The reality is that Reagan harmed the communities of black Americans with his Drug War advancement and harm to the poor. He funded fascist regimes overseas and he aided the Taliban with economic aid during the 1980's. Under Reagan, there was a growth of economic inequality and the increase of the deficit rapidly. Then he wants to bow before Reagan. Ronald Reagan used authorities to violate the human rights of the black Panthers. He supported the then apartheid regime of South Africa. Reagan executed policies against the civil rights movement decades ago. Many members of his administration were accused of corruption and illegal activities across the board. I lived during his time and the poor were starving half to death with massive homelessness in America. Most importantly, average annual GDP growth during the Reagan 80s was lower than during the Clinton 90s or the JFK-LBJ 60s! I know that facts are stubborn things. Supposedly he believes in fairness, but he judges a white Republican President as being better than another black President. Middle class growth does not mean total black liberation. To assume that we need a white Republican President as a means to cause black liberation is part of the self-hating mentality of many black reactionaries like Kevin Jackson. A black person has every right to be President as anyone else. The reality is that there is a decrease in the amount of black human beings on welfare since 1990. Since 1991, black teen pregnancy rates have gone down. Since 1970, total black crime rates have gone down. From 1945 to 1975, progressive economic actions have decreased the poverty rate. 1975 started the growth of supply side economics massively in the States. I can show more stats too. Therefore, we know that the Republican party of today is more reactionary than the GOP decades ago on some issues. The Democrats ought not to be worshipped, but the Tea Party has so much extreme rhetoric. He ignores things. He ignores the racist and extreme words from Beck, Limbaugh, Savage, Hannity, and others that agree with most of his ideological viewpoints. He ignores the massive creation of deficits from budget surpluses under the time of the white Republican President George W. Bush. He is a white Republican President that folks like Kevin Jackson want us Brothers and Sisters to ignore. So, bigotry is found across both of the political parties. This does not mean that we should not fight poverty. We have no choice but to find unique ways to fight poverty, lower income inequality, and have justice for humanity. That is our job as human beings. Take money? The Federal Reserve and the politicians have stolen money from the poor and the middle class to send it to the rich & the military industrial complex for decades. That is our money. They stole our money. We earned that money by our work. Getting our money back that has been stolen by the oligarchs and using that money to build our infrastructure (and to fight poverty) is moral. It is just. Some of the super-rich must take adequately sufficient accountability for their own actions period. I will not feel trepidation over that pronouncement at all. That has been going on for centuries and all throughout human history among many oligarchical factions. Therefore, revolutionary solutions are necessary that can give justice to the poor and to the oppressed among the entire human family succinctly. Fundamentally, most of the poor work hard. Some are poor by no fault of their own via sequester, job lost, or other debilitating conditions. Many of the poor suffer issues not because of laziness of they lack going into the next step. Some of the steps have been destroyed in the glass house. We need to rebuild the steps, so that they can walk up in the steps into the roof of the house. The only way that can be achieved is by a comprehensive approach using public and private resources. It must be a revolutionary change in society. Revolutionary changes have worked wonders in history. Also, the majority of black families love their people. The majority of black families work hard and they are strong. The majority of black families love their children. So, that shot is really silly. BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL. BLACK LOVE IS BEAUTIFUL TOO. BLACK UNITY IS REAL, STRONG, AND AGAIN BEAUTIFUL. IT IS ALWAYS RBG FOR LIFE. No one is talking about using government aid alone. Even the most liberal human being knows that the government cannot solve all problems. The government (or we the people) is part of the solution not the total solution. Also, many who have worked hard, are intelligent, and played by the rules suffer greatly. The poor just need opportunities. They only want justice nothing more or less. We should end this war on terror and use our resources to rebuild this nation. That can help the poor to achieve that next step in human liberation. So, we should end discrimination, fight poverty, and use programs of social uplift beyond you are on your own.

 

How is he going to condemn that show when he believes in many of the tenets of the preachers in that show? All of them including TD Jakes love the Prosperity Gospel. TD Jakes may have created his own wealth in some ways, but he got much of his total wealth from his congregation and others via their cash & resources. No human in his position is an island. That prosperity gospel revolves around the lie that being poor is a direct curse from God and anyone who is poor is someone lacking from authentic spirituality. That deceptive gospel dehumanizes the poor and nearly deifies wealth. For true prosperity is moral development and social growth beyond just material abundance. Also, material abundance is never a true sign of spiritual strength or spiritual enlightenment at all. Spiritual strength exists among folks from across the economic spectrum. The reality is that the poor should be respected and many of the most horrendous crimes in world history have been organized and executed by members of the super-rich. The poor believer and the rich believer are equal in the eyes of the Creator. Each human born has great value. We as black people are one irrespective of class or wealth. The Holocaust was funded not by the poor totally, but by the super-rich. The Maafa and international slavery was not organized by the poor directly, but by the super-rich. It is that heresy of the Prosperity Gospel that has commercialized the Gospel in great measure, which is a disgrace. This commercialism is related to the excesses of capitalism (whose most vicious form murdered over one billion human beings since the 16th century). Real religious leaders should be encouraged to question the current economic system, to fight for black liberation, to fight for human civil liberties, to oppose unwarranted spying, to reject imperialism, and to fight for justice for the poor including the oppressed. In the 21st century with the advent of more advanced technological development, we should still fight for great social change in the globe. We must never reject the realities of history. Real spirituality is focusing on the mind, body, soul, and spirit. It is about having a connection with yourself and the Creator. It is about caring for Nature and the environment (as the Great Sister Courtney has outlined). It is about fighting injustice and fighting for truth. It is not about lusting for money and it is not about allying with an establishment that could care less about the interests of the people. Real spirituality deals with Love for God is Love. Faux spirituality is big business, but there are sincere males and sincere females who embrace true spirituality in life for real.  Now, it is important that while we disagree with TD Jakes, we should not disrespect him since he is a human being and he is a Black Man (there are folks who are much worse than Jakes). I will never disparage a Brother or a Sister at all, but I will show dissent though. I fully dissent with the Prosperity Gospel 100%.

 

The Motherland of Africa is extremely special. It is home of my ancestors. Black people have every God given right to love Africa. As a black man, I love Africa with all of my heart, mind, body, and spirit. Africa has great human life and great fauna including flora. The truth is real. The Sister going into Ghana in a story is doing the right thing by helping human beings in Ghana. Many locations in Africa have advanced infrastructure, technology, computerized system, and other glorious amenities of life. So, Africa is not monolithic. The languages of Africa are beautiful. The women of Africa are strong, resilient, and beautiful. The men in Africa are heroic, strong, and brave. In real life, I know a great African business teacher that taught me a lot of economics, so there are tons of Africans that have the backs of African Americans living in the States. The blood of Africa is strong. Black Africans in this pan Africanism spirit is holy and it is just. So, Africans are my Brothers and they are my Sisters. I hold them in high regard and I cherish the Motherland with all of my heart. The truth is that we should continue onward in our fight for liberation. The truth is that black human beings overcame a lot of obstacles. The truth is that black humanity is diverse filled with doctors, scholars, mathematicians, athletes, singers, engineers, lawyers, teachers, and in many other legitimate fields of life. So, the great truth is that inspiration and appreciation of the Motherland I superior to hate and to bigotry. Black Love and Black Unity are forces in the Universe that you can never stop. Black Power is a real goal. I will love my Blackness and black people all over the world.

 

By Timothy