Wednesday, November 01, 2017

The 2017 New York City Terror Attack

Some sad news today is that a person in a truck stuck and killed plus injured people in New York City (in Manhattan) yesterday. People are investigating the situation. The person, who killed innocent people and injured others, is now in custody in the hospital. Many pedestrians and bicyclists have suffered. We all send prayers during this time. Mayor DeBlasio spoke about the tragic incident. He spoke about the strength of New Yorkers and how this tragedy will not deter the spirit of New York. It is a blatant intentional act of cold blooded terrorism. The murderer in NYC is found to be an Uzbek national. He is a 29 years old man named  Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov. He came into America in 2010. Right now, 8 people are dead and 11 people are injured. The event happened blocks from the World Trade Center. The person Saipov was shot in the stomach by the NYPD. He rented the truck from Home Depot in New Jersey. 5 of the victims were from Argentina celebrating their high school reunion. One victim was a Belgian national. Saipov had a paintball and pellet gun with him. It is not clear how religious Saipov was. “Omar Khan, a 17-year-old who said he prays at the mosque five times a day, said he did not remember seeing Saipov,” reports NJ.com. More facts will come out. Right now, Trump and others are exploiting this attack as an excuse for them to promote more militarism and more reactionary policies. To defeat terrorism does require a diversity of things like gathering information, research, and other actions that deter people from going into the nihilistic route. New York City is a strong city and we will survive.

Malcolm X appealed to a lot of people because of his directness. Also, in many of his speeches, he used parables, similes, and lessons in order to gather his audience to understand what he was talking about. His contributions to the freedom struggle are lengthy. He taught us about the value of self defense. He taught us about international pan-African unity being sacrosanct. He talked about equality among the sexes and expressed opposition to the Vietnam War long before the late 1960's. He represented living Black Excellence. Dorothy Dandridge was a legend. She was very beautiful, and she was a strong supporter of the civil rights movement. There is a video from Youtube having her giving a speech in favor of civil rights in Los Angeles. Dr. King was there. Dororthy Dandridge was a legendary actress whose charisma and talent (which she has been blessed with) has inspired present and future actresses too.

Burgess Owens is a coward and a liar. First, black people have protested for justice and opposed police brutality long before the birth of the BET Network. Some of the greatest lovers of America have been black people even when America hasn't shown love back to black people (via Jim Crow, slavery, restriction of rights, etc.). A peaceful kneel has nothing to do with hating a flag and being anti-America. It is about being pro-justice and raising the real issue that police brutality still exists in the world (and police terrorism against people must end). Critique that is legitimate has nothing to with with abhorring patriotism. It is the nativist, bigoted attitudes of Trump supporters which is against democratic principles of social tolerance, egalitarianism, religious tolerance, true equality, the freedom of the press, and human respect. John Kelly is a coward and a liar. He said that the Civil War was caused by a lack of compromise which is a bold faced lie. The Civil War was caused because of slavery, racism, regional disputes, and that act of secession by traitors. Kelly is a neo-Confederate. He glorified Robert E. Lee when Lee was part of the Confederacy , whose documents in states explicitly supported racism and slavery. I have no respect for anyone who glorifies the Confederacy. He said that good existed among both sides of the Civil War, which is a myth. Anyone supporting an evil, white supremacist entity like the Confederacy is not righteous. Therefore, the Trump administration has chosen its side of bigotry, historical revisionism, and Confederate-loving propaganda. Kelly defends Confederate monuments on public lands which funded by our taxpayers. He has no honor as a man. A Confederate monument is equivalent to a statue of a Nazi general.

A long, historic career outlines part of Nia Long's life. Days ago was the time of her Birthday. She is 47 years old. She has played a diversity of roles as a very talented actress. She has spoken out on things and she works in many causes plus charities. She was born in Brooklyn, NYC. She moved into Iowa and then into Los Angeles at the age of 7. In addition to her academic classes, she studied ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics, guitar, and acting. She graduated from Westchester High School in Los Angeles in 1989. She had many early roles like Guiding Light and in the movie Boyz N the Hood (from 1991, which is about the experiences of African Americans in South Central LA). She has been in a myriad of roles in Friday, Soul Food, Love Jones, etc. She has 2 children. Her honesty is incredible and she has great wit. I wish Sister Nia Long more blessings. Recently, it was the Birthday of Sister Eva Marcille. She is now 33 years old. She has been a fashion model, TV host, and actress. She represents the new generation of legendary actresses who carry onward with the tradition of black excellence. She was born in Los Angeles, California. She went into Clark Atlanta University. Later, she was on the show America's Next Top Model. This is where her life went into a new era. She won the competition too and was humble about it. She appeared on many magazines, gained new friends, and shown her confidence to inspire others that life is filled with the principle of overcoming adversity (and it can get better as we get older). She has been on Smallville, Everybody's Hates Chris, and The Game. She has been on the soap opera Young and the Restless playing Tyra Hamilton. She continues to work and she loves her child unconditionally. I wish Sister Eva Marcille a great Birthday.

Today, there is historic and breaking news. Ex-Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos has been charged with lying to the FBI. George has pleaded guilty of lying to the FBI. Papadopoulos tried to set up additional meetings or contacts between people in the Trump campaign and Russians. Manfaort and Rick Gates have been charged with conspiracy against the U.S. Both Manafort and Gates of course deny all charges of conspiracy. The Justice Department indictment on Manafort and Gates contains 12 counts: "conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts." Manafort's bond is set at 10 million dollars and Gates's bond set is set at 5 million dollars. Both individuals of Gates and Manafort are ordered to have home confinement. They are monitored all of the time and they can't leave their homes unless for specialized reasons. Manafort (who has 3 passports) and Gates traveled into Cyprus frequently. Manafort used a fake name registered when he came into China. Manafort's attorney Kevin Downing has called the indictments ridiculous. Manafort and Rick Gates has pleaded not guilty in federal court Monday to all the charges announced earlier Monday. Papadopoulous has cooperated with the FBI. The ultimate allegation is that some Russian hackers infiltrated election procedures during the 2016 election in an illegal fashion. Mueller seems to take his time with the indictments and future indictments could take place in the future. Mueller's team wants to interview White House Communication Director Hope Hicks. More of the truth will come out.

By Timothy

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