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Friday, December 31, 2021

A Review of 2021

  

 

It is time to review about what took place in 2021. This year was a combination of victories and massive challenges in the world. This year started by the racist and xenophobic forces causing the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol (when evil people assaulted people, destroyed property, and stole objects). That incident set the precedent of how Republican extremists and overt terrorists have taken over the Republican Party leadership. This year was tough, and President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were inaugurated. This year saw massive vaccinations and a large percentage of Americans who aren't. This time saw crooked cops being convicted for killing innocent unarmed black people, and one vigilante being found not guilty (which was an unjust verdict in my view). This year saw the historic infrastructure law passed by Congress and signed by President Biden. It is one of Biden's greatest achievements. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics took place this year in Tokyo in the midst of COVID-19 protocols. Many athletes made records, performed greatly in an athletic fashion, and made known about the importance of respecting the issue of mental health (like Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, and other human beings). 

With Delta and Omicron variants, the world had to deal with how important science is. Science via vaccinations and other precautions saved tons of lives. Trump not being President anymore in 2021 is certainly great news. 2021 exposed the hypocrisy of the moderates who wanted to blame progressives for everything, but some of them want to disagree with the Build Back Better Plan. We have seen unprecedented political and social upheaval in America and worldwide. Worldwide, the pandemic has harmed tons of people causing over 800,000 American lives. The extremism of the Republican Party never started with Trump. It just that the bigots in the Republican Party have increasingly shown their faces to show who they are. The fight for voting rights and domestic growth of our society continues. Protests in favor of human rights continue. Also, the threats to our democracy are very real in 2021 as we move into 2022.

 

President Biden finally said that he wants an exception for the filibuster to pass federal voting rights legislation. We know what it is happened. We have many states passing voter suppression laws not just restricting who can vote. These laws distort on who can count the votes and damage democratic institutions. We don't have much time here. This is the worst democratic crisis in America since the American Civil War. This is no exaggeration because of many reasons. We have increased hate crimes against black people and other Americans. We have massive gerrymandering increasing the power of pro-Trump Republican extremists. We witness a failed coup d'état against the American government. We have witnessed an insurrection at the Michigan state Capitol. We have the growth of hate groups and far right militias whose goal is to ruin the multiracial democracy of America. So, there should be pressure put on Congress to fight for voting rights. This responsibility is also on the moderates of Manchin and Sinema as most Americans want more protections for voting rights.

 

Breaking news is that the verdict is that Ghislaine Maxwell has been found guilty in the sex trafficking case. Maxwell was convicted of a conspiracy of worked with Epstein to abuse minor children (including trafficking minors too). She could face decades in prison. Also, she faces a perjury trial in the future. After Epstein's death, Maxwell was charged by the federal government. She has been found guilty on 5 out of 6 charges. We know for years that some of the super wealthy and other folks have been involved in heinous abuse of people internationally. The Epstein and Maxwell story shows how important the Golden Rule is. No one should manipulate anyone unjustly, and no human being should experience abuse. 30 witnesses have come forward to tell their stories.

 

Yesterday was the Birthday of Sister Laila Ali, and she is 44 years old. For years, she has been a person with determination, power, and insights. She is a businesswoman who has worked in philanthropy, cooking, and other endeavors too. She was born in Miami Florida. Her parents are Muhammad Ali and Veronica Porche. She earned her business degree from California's Santa Monica College. She owned her own nail salon before she started boxing. She is one of the greatest women boxers of all time. Since she was 18 years old, she started boxing. Her first match was in 1999. Laila Ali faced Joe Frazier's daughter, Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, and George Foreman's daughter, Freeda Foreman. Laila Ali never lost a match. Her last match was in 2007. She loves her husband and children. Also, she is an author. Being a role model for so many people, being a fighter for truth, and living her own life represent her qualities as a human being. I wish Sister Laila Ali more blessings. 

 

By Timothy

 



End of the Year News.

 



Attorney General Garland must do what is right. He must gather the facts and prosecute not only Trump but other reactionaries complicit in the insurrection against the U.S. government at the U.S. Capitol. This isn't something like jaywalking. This is about a group of far-right extremists and racists working together to try to overthrow the government of the United States of America. On that infamous day, people invaded locations, assaulted people, called human beings racist slurs, and mocked the system of democracy all on camera. The January 6th committee is still gathering evidence, and they are focusing on Trump's silent during the Capitol attack. Trump inspired the crowd to try to steal the 2020 election. Many FOX News propagandists even on that day tried to call Trump to make the insurrection stop, but Trump refused to immediately try to stop the chaos at D.C. during that day.


By the end of the year, we are fighting for our democracy on many fronts. One GOP Governor from Arkansas Asa Hutchinson praised President Biden for not politicizing the pandemic virus. Now, over 800,000 Americans have lost their lives due to COVID-19. We know that the omicron variant spreads rapidly. America has a record high for coronavirus cases. The CDC recommends isolation for 5 days for those who are asymptomatic regardless of vaccination status. Many people are having a mental health breaking point, because of 2 years of collective trauma. There is no shame in any human being getting therapy and seeking mental health resources if he or she needs that assistance. We're humans here, and no person is an island. That is why we should normalize conversations about how the virus can cause mental health issues. We live in very historic times as we never experience this level of a spread of a pandemic in over 100 years. Also, to solve this problem must not only be isolation and quarantine. We have to follow the facts. Omicron can spread into millions of more Americans if nothing is done. Our main priority is about improving public health not obsessing with corporate profits. Rapid cases of the virus are found in Los Angeles County rising from 6,509 in December 21 to 11,930 on Saturday, Christmas Day. Ohio hospitals are running out of ICU beds. The good news is that vaccinations can prevent serious illness and death, but we have a long way to go.



The conflict between NATO and Russia continues. NATO wants to expand influence in the East, and Russia has a large military presence in the border of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the U.S. supported ISIS and disregarded international law and previous agreements. He said that the U.S. bombed Iraq, Syria, and Libya in violation of international law. Some of what he is saying is true, but the problem is that Putin is not some paragon of virtue. In Russia, you can't evangelize freely without restrictive regulations. In Russia, media dissidents have been harassed, and the country is dominated by oligarchs. Putin warned that if Western forces continue this path, then he will respond with adequate military technical measures. This is a total threat against Western forces. He wants NATO make agreements on red lines. He wants NATO to stop arming Ukraine and NATO to never accept Ukraine as a member state. US and EU leaders view such demands as unacceptable. Next year in 2022, America and Russia are scheduled to have more negotiations to try to stop a war. NATO is growing its forces in Turkey and Germany. The Putin regime and the ruling oligarchy are not socialist heroes as some "leftists" claim. They existed from the Soviet bureaucracy that promotes capitalist exploitation not human liberation. NATO is an engine of the Western establishment. We know that NATO was wrong to bomb Libya in violation of international law. We know that Putin is wrong for his violating democratic rights against his own people too.

 

 Some sad news is that former Senator Harry Reid passed away at the age of 82 years old. He was born in Nevada. Harry Reid was raised in poverty and became one of the most powerful members of Congress. He helped to inspire Barack Obama to run for president, and he worked to fight for the Affordable Care Act to be passed. The ACA is the law that transformed the health care very greatly. Harry Reid was an American lawyer, U.S. Senator, Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and the 25th Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. Harry Reid also fought for the Dodd-Frank Act that sought to regulate financial transactions, especially at Wall Street. He passed away from pancreatic cancer. He loved his life and his children. People from across the aisle gave their sincere condolences to him. I send condolences to his family and friends.


Some breaking sad news is that John Madden passed away today at the age of 85 years old. He was one of the many people who took sports commentaries involving the NFL to the next level. Recently, a documentary about his life was shown on FOX. John Madden used a tour bus to travel to stadiums in order to covert football games. As the coach for the Oakland Raiders, the players on the team respected him a great deal. John Madden studied football constantly knowing about offense, defense, special teams, plays, and he was a teacher. He loves his family and football completely. He won a Super Bowl Championship for the Oakland Raiders. He popularized the football video game of Madden. I have played the Madden football games for years. There will never be another be a John Madden. Football has been around for over 100 years, and John Madden was always a key leader of the football culture.

 I send condolences to the family and friends of John Madden.

 

By Timothy

 

A Recap of Much of the Biden Administration, etc.

 

The Biden/Harris administration started on January 20, 2021. This came weeks after the worse insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in American history on January 6, 2021 (when terrorists used weapons and other objects to assault police officers, some used racist slurs, and some flown Confederate plus Neo-Nazi flags in the Capitol). The whole area where the inauguration took place was filled with fences and U.S. National Guard troops. The whole vicinity around the Washington Mall and the U.S. Capitol was fully fortified. People wore masks, and Bernie Sanders wore eclectic mittens that became an Internet meme. Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office being the first black woman and Asian woman to be Vice President in American history. It was a very historic occasion. Also, Joe Biden took his oath of office too. President Biden spoke about desiring unity, bipartisanship, and rejecting the lies from white racists. This day was on a National Day of Unity. Parades, celebrations, and a TV primetime special (hosted by a freezing Tom Hanks and other people) showcasing American inspirational themes were in existence on that day of January 20, 2021 too. The day ended with fireworks being displayed near the White House. Immediately, President Biden made many progressive changes in society. He rejoined the Paris Agreement. He allowed America to rejoin the World Health Organization. President Biden used an executive order to revoke the Keystone XL Pipeline permit and another one to stop funding for the border for the border wall along the Mexican border. Biden ended the Trump xenophobic travel ban from Middle East countries. Many of his cabinet members were confirmed early in his first term like Avril Haines for the Director of National Intelligence. The coronavirus was spreading rapidly early in his term with more access to vaccines. The Biden administration created a rapid infrastructure to send vaccines to Americans. The issue is that tons of people either refused to be vaccinated and hospitals in many cases couldn't deal with the large numbers of people in ICUs or in other locations because of the coronavirus symptoms. Press Secretary Jen Psaki have many press briefings. Biden also allowed the Department of Education to extend the pause on federal student loans through September 30, 2021, until he changed it until May of 2022. Vice President Kamala Harris also communicated with many people like the WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. 

 

The Senate confirmed the Lloyd Austin as the Secretary of Defense in a vote of 93-2. Biden signed an executive order to ask agencies to boost food aid and improve the delivery of stimulus checks. He also signed an executive order to increase the minimum wage for federal employees to $15 an hour. Early during the Biden Presidency, President Joe Biden visited British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the French President Emmanuel Marcon. By late January of 2021, President Biden issued travel restrictions on many nations to try to stop the spread of new COVID-19 strains. As we shall we, these strains continued to spread massively regardless of the restrictions. During the midst of the increase of racist anti-Asian hate crimes, President Biden signed an executive order to condemn xenophobia and hate crimes against Asian Americans. President Biden ended The Department of Justice contracts with private prisons due to oppression against African American involving the justice system. This order opposed discrimination involving housing. Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden received their 2nd vaccine shots. By February 2021, the Biden administration negotiated with Republicans to try to pass a coronavirus aid package deal. Pete Buttigieg, as the Secretary of Transportation and Alejandro Mayorkas as the Secretary of Homeland Security work after they are confirmed in February of 2021. Biden supported policies to increase refugee admissions in America. Vice President Kamala Harris sworn in Denis McDonough as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. President Biden spoke with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping. President Biden held a moment of silence outside of the White House to commemorate the 500,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19. More people are confirmed by early March like Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and Chair of the Council of Economic Adviser Cecilia Rouse. One of the great parts of the Biden Administration was when President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law by March 11, 2021, on Thursday. This law helped millions of American in dealing with the pandemic virus. Deb Haaland was confirmed as Secretary of Interior by March 15, 2021 being the first Native American with that cabinet position. 

 

President Joe Biden wants 100 million vaccine shots, and 100 million stimulus checks for all Americans. He said this goal on March 15, 2021. Vice President Kamala Harris sworn in Deb Haaland as the Secretary of the Interior on March 16. Biden and Putin have tensions as Biden called Putin a violent killer. Vice President Kamala Harris sworn in Katherine Tai as the United States Trade Representative. Vice President Kamala Harris also was given the job of dealing with the immigration crisis on the border with Mexico. She led negotiations with Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. By March 31, 2021, President Biden introduced the American Jobs Plan during a speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On that date, President Biden declared March 31 as International Transgender Day of Visibility to deal with outlining more awareness to trans human beings and gender nonconfirming people. By April of 2021, the Biden administration worked hard to promote the infrastructure bill. It would be a tough, long process, but President Biden got the bill into the finish line. By early April, Russia already amassed large troops near eastern Ukraine. President Biden talked with Ukrainian President Volodyrmr Zelensky to talk about Russia and anti-corruption efforts. By April 3, there was an investigation of a car attack at a United States Capitol security checkpoint which William Evans, a Capitol police officer, died. On April 4, 2021, President Biden issued a Presidential proclamation on the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust. By this time of April 2021, Senator Joe Manchin wanted to block President Biden's plan to raise the corporate tax to 28%. Biden told the Department of Justice to draft a red flag law and propose rules on ghost suns and pistol stabilizing braces. President Joe Biden made the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States to study reforming the Supreme Court (possibly proposing increasing the number of justices). President Biden talked with Republicans and Democratic members of Congress to advance the American Jobs Plan. 

 

 

On April 14, President Biden said that he wants to withdrawal all American troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, ending America's longest overt war. Biden was right to want the withdrawal, but he rushed the evacuation causing instability in that region. In retrospect, he should have a withdrawal in specific stages while using plans for better humanitarian efforts. Biden used sanctions on Russia over a cyber attack. On April 20, 2021, President Biden spoke to the nation after Derek Chauvin was rightfully found guilty of the murder of George Floyd. Tons of Americans, including black Americans, celebrated the verdict while realizing that there is a long way to go. President Biden wants federal legislation to have police reform, but to this day, no law is passed. He met with G20 members, and Biden is the first President to recognize the Ottoman genocide of Armenians during WWI. Biden presented the American Families Plan to the Congress. Biden celebrated the 50-year anniversary of Amtrak and send condolences to the 45 victims of the 2021 Meron stampede in Israel. By May 3, 2021, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and President Biden give remarks at Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth, Virginia. He called May 5 the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day. Biden talks about masks, and by this time, new debates exist about mandates involving the virus. On May 15, President Biden talked with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas involving the Gaza situation. President Biden signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. Biden condemned the anti-Jewish hate crimes legitimately in May 24, but he is silent on giving revolutionary comments on the 2021 Israel-Palestine crisis causing deaths on both sides. Biden talked with the family of George Floyd in the White House to promote the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The President gave a speech on the 100th year anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre, he ended oil drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and he ended the Remain in Mexico policy. By June 4, 2021, President Biden recognized the 40th year anniversary of the AIDS Epidemic. Biden and Putin meet at Geneva, Switzerland on June 16. By June 17, 2021, President signed the bill making Juneteenth the eleventh federal holiday. It should have been a holiday a long time ago, but that was great news in world history. On June 23, President Joe Biden talks about his plans to curb gun violence as gun violence and crime has increased nationwide in America by 2021. 

 


During the day of June 25, 2021, Biden held a bilateral meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the White House. ON that same day, President Biden signed a law that designates the Pulse nightclub a National memorial site, on the fifth anniversary of the Orlando nightclub shooting. He orders airstrikes in Syria in retaliation for drone attacks. By June 28, he met with the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the White House. President Biden held a virtual meeting with state governors on June 30. He nominates Amy Gutmann as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. On July 1st, 2021, The President and First Lady Jill Biden visit Surfside, Florida to show condolences to the victims of the Surfside condominium building collapse and their families. President Biden wants to fight for his infrastructure bill and say remarks about job creation figures in June. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to celebrate their victory in the 2020 World Series. They received custom made jerseys from the team with their names plus term numbers. By July 4, the Delta variant account for 25 percent of COVID-19 cases. After 6 months after the U.S. Capitol attack, there was the assassination of President Jovenel Moise of Haiti. The First Lady Martine Moise was wounded. President Biden starts the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan on July 8. It would end by August 31, 2021. Biden signed a proclamation declaring July 16th National Atomic Veterans Day. The President celebrated with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the White House for winning the Super Bowl. America uses a drone strike against Al-Shabaab in Somalis on July 20. Biden signed the Crime Victims Fund Act. Before, Biden was in a town hall in Cincinnati to promote his policies hosted by Don Lemon on CNN. The U.S. Ambassador to the UN was Linda Thomas-Greenfield. On August 3, 2021, Biden wanted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign after an investigation corroborates sexual harassment allegations. To this very day, Cuomo denies some of the allegations. A new Governor is in New York state after his resignation. By August 8, Biden send B-52 bombers to attack the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on August 10 by a vote of 69-31. The Taliban quickly recapture Afghanistan in a shocking fashion in many eyes. Biden faced criticism by the far right and the neo-cons including the neo-liberals about the Afghanistan strategy, but Biden sticked by his decision for the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. President Biden welcomed the Seattle Storm for winning the WNBA championship in 2020, he wanted employers to require vaccinations, and Kamala Harris toured Singapore. Terrorists attack the Hamid Karzi International Airport in Afghanistan. The evacuations continue. Biden met with Israeli Prime Minster Naftli Bennett at the White House.

 

 

The soldiers, who lost their lives in Afghanistan (after the terrorist attack at the airport), have their bodies delivered to Dover Air Base with honors sent by President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The end of the U.S. military involvement of the Afghanistan was by August 31, 2021. The result of this situation will be debated for years and decades. Biden responded to Hurricane Ida. Also, President Biden went to Lousiana to survey the damage from Hurricane Ida. He wanted declassification of the documents related to 9/11 via executive order. Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned with California Governor Gavin Newsome in San Leadnro ahead of the September 14 recall election. He or President Biden spoke with China's leader Xi Jinping. At Ground Zero, on September 11, 2021, Biden, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama attended a memorial commemorating the 20th year anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Biden campaign for California Governor Gavin Newsom in Long Beach. Newsom wins to defeat the recall as he remains Governor of California. By the end of summer, many Haitians were abused by U.S. authorities (there were images of border patrol agents on horseback with reins chasing Haitian migrants in Del Rio, Texas), wildfire spread in America, and Biden created an interagency plan to deal with the effects of frequent extreme heat waves caused by global warming. By the end of the Summer, President Biden dealt with unique challenges domestically and foreign policy wise. 

 

 

After the marriage among Prince Charles and Princess Diana, they had 2 children. Prince William was born on June 21, 1982, and their 2nd son was Harry, born on September 15, 1984. She admitted that she suffered postpartum depression. Diana wanted her children to have a normal childhood. So, she selected their schools, clothing, and planned their outings. She organized her public duties around their timetables. Later, the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana broke down by the late 1980's. People already knew that Charles had an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, and Diana later had an affair with Major James Hewitt. Hewitt was the family's former riding instructor. The reporters in the press reported on the cracks in the marriage. In 1989, Diana was at a birthday party for Camilla's sister, Annabel Elliot, when she confronted Camilla about her and Charles's extramarital affair. These affairs were later exposed in May 1992 with the publication of Andrew Morton's book, Diana: Her True Story. The book, which also revealed Diana's allegedly suicidal unhappiness, caused a media storm. In 1991, James Colthurst had conducted secret interviews with Diana in which she had talked about her marital issues and difficulties. These recordings were later used as a source for Morton's book. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh hosted a meeting between Charles and Diana to cause a reconciliation. It failed. Prince Philip wrote a letter desiring to show his disappointment with Diana and Charles having extramarital affairs. During 1992 and 1993, leaked tapes of telephone conversations reflected negatively on both Charles and Diana. Tape recordings of Diana and James Gilbey were made public in August 1992, and transcripts were published the same month. The article, "Squidgygate", was followed in November 1992 by the leaked "Camillagate" tapes, intimate exchanges between Charles and Camilla, published in the tabloids. In December 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced the couple's "amicable separation" to the House of Commons.

 

Princess Diana said that Charles made her feel inadequate in every way possible. Charles's aunt, Princess Margaret, burned "highly personal" letters that Diana had written to the Queen Mother in 1993. Biographer William Shawcross considered Margaret's action to be "understandable" as she was "protecting her mother and other members of the family", but "regrettable from a historical viewpoint." Diana blamed Camilla and Charles for the affair, but she believed that Charles had other affairs too. She accused Charles of having an affair with Tiggy Lee Bourke, or his personal assistant. 




The divorce among Princess Diana and Prince Charles existed in stages. By the famous December 20, 1995 interview with journalist Martin Bashir of BBC on the show Panorama, everything hit the fan. Princess Diana talked about her own affairs and Charles's affairs. She also expressed doubt about Charles' suitability for kindship. Authors Tina Brown, Sally Bedell Smith, and Sarah Bradford supported Diana's admission in the interview that she had suffered from depression, "rampant bulimia" and had engaged numerous times in the act of self-mutilation; the show's transcript records Diana confirming many of her mental health problems, including that she had "hurt [her] arms and legs." The combination of illnesses from which Diana herself said she suffered resulted in some of her biographers opining that she had borderline personality disorder. After Diana's interview, the marriage was practically over. By December 20, 1995, the Buckingham Palace said that the Queen sent letters to Charles and Diana to advise them to divorce. Princess Diana and Prince Charles negotiated for the divorce by 1996. The decree nisi was granted on July 15, 1996, and the divorce was finalized on August 28, 1996. Anthony Julius represented her in the case. She received a lump sum settlement of £17 million (equivalent to £32,623,216 in 2020) as well as £400,000 per year. The couple signed a confidentiality agreement that prohibited them from discussing the details of the divorce or of their married life. Princess Diana grew to be a very public person. Charles and Diana visited Wales in October 1981. She traveled the world by the early 1980's. The Princess made her inaugural overseas tour in September 1982, to attend the state funeral of Grace, Princess of Monaco. She visited Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1983. Princess Diana traveled into Rome, and she saw President Reagan and First Lady Nancy Regan in the White House in November 1985. Princess Diana toured Japan, Spain, and Indonesia. 

 

In 1988, Charles and Diana visited Thailand and toured Australia for the bicentenary celebrations. In February 1989, she spent a few days in New York as a solo visit, mainly to promote the works of the Welsh National Opera, of which she was a patron. During a tour of Harlem Hospital Center, she made a profound impact on the public by spontaneously hugging a seven-year-old child with AIDS. Back in the day, many people had misconceptions and bigoted attitudes about people with AIDS. Princess Diana made physical contact with AIDS patients. Diana noted: "HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it. What's more, you can share their homes, their workplaces, and their playgrounds and toys."  To Diana's disappointment, the Queen did not support this type of charity work, suggesting she get involved in "something more pleasant." The Queen was wrong in that thinking. In 1989, she opened Landmark Aids Centre in South London. In October 1990, Diana opened Grandma's House, a home for young AIDS patients in Washington, D.C. She was also a patron of the National AIDS Trust. In 1991, she hugged one patient during a visit to the AIDS ward of the Middlesex Hospital, which she had opened in 1987 as the first hospital unit dedicated to this cause in the UK. As the patron of Turning Point, a health and social care organization, Diana visited its project in London for people with HIV/AIDS in 1992. She later established and led fundraising campaigns for AIDS research. In March 1997, Diana visited South Africa, where she met with President Nelson Mandela. On November 2, 2002, Mandela announced that the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund would be teaming up with the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund to help people with AIDS. They had planned the combination of the two charities a few months before her death. Mandela later praised Diana for her efforts surrounding the issue of HIV/AIDS: "When she stroked the limbs of someone with leprosy or sat on the bed of a man with HIV/AIDS and held his hand, she transformed public attitudes and improved the life chances of such people." Diana had used her celebrity status to "fight stigma attached to people living with HIV/AIDS", Mandela said.  In October 2017, the Attitude magazine honored Diana with its Legacy Award for her HIV/AIDS work. Prince Harry accepted the award on behalf of his mother. 

 

In March 1989, she had her second trip to the Arab Gulf States, in which she visited Kuwait and the UAE. Prince Charles and Diana visited Nigeria and Cameroon in March 1990. Princess Diana was political desiring women's development, foreign aid, and an end to land mines. Princess Diana visited Germany in December 1990 to meet with the families of soldiers during the Gulf War. She subsequently travelled to Germany in January 1991 to visit RAF Bruggen, and later wrote an encouraging letter which was published in Soldier, Navy News and RAF News. She was friends with Mother Teresa after they met in Kolkata, India in 1992. She visited the Taj Mahal. Princess Diana visited the National Children's Hospital in Tokyo in 1995. Princess Diana has a long charity of being involved in charity. She made tons of appearances to hospitals, schools, and other locations. She made 191 official engagements in 1988 and 397 in 1991. The Princess Diana developed an intense interest in serious illnesses and health-related matters outside the purview of traditional royal involvement, including AIDS and leprosy. In recognition of her effect as a philanthropist, Stephen Lee, director of the UK Institute of Charity Fundraising Managers, said "Her overall effect on charity is probably more significant than any other person's in the 20th century."

 

 

 

She visited the homeless, the youth, drug addicted people, and the elderly.  From 1984 to 1996, she was president of Barnardo's, a charity founded by Dr. Thomas John Barnardo in 1866 to care for vulnerable children and young people. In 1988, she became patron of the British Red Cross and supported its organizations in other countries such as Australia and Canada. She made several lengthy visits each week to Royal Brompton Hospital, where she worked to comfort seriously ill or dying patients. From 1991 to 1996, she was a patron of Headway, a brain injury association. In 1992, she became the first patron of Chester Childbirth Appeal, a charity she had supported since 1984. The charity, which is named after one of Diana's royal titles, could raise over £1 million with her help. In 1994, she helped her friend Julia Samuel launch the charity Child Bereavement UK which supports children "of military families, those of suicide victims, [and] terminally-ill parents", and became its patron. Prince William later replaced his mother as the charity's royal patron. Princess Diana invested her resources to help the cancer victims, people who are blind, people who are deaf, and a wide spectrum of charities. Princess Diana was one of the greatest philanthropists of the 20th century. In December 1995, Diana received the United Cerebral Palsy Humanitarian of the Year Award in New York City for her philanthropic efforts. In October 1996, for her works on the elderly, she was awarded a gold medal at a health care conference organized by the Pio Manzù Centre in Rimini, Italy. In May 1997, Diana opened the Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts in Leicester, after being asked by her friend Richard Attenborough. In June 1997, some of her dresses and suits were sold at Christie's auction houses in London and New York, and the proceeds that were earned from these events were donated to charities. Her final official engagement was a visit to Northwick Park Hospital, London, on July 21, 1997. She was scheduled to attend a fundraiser at the Osteopathic Centre for Children on September 4, 1997, upon her return from Paris. She fought to have mines gone in Angola by January 1997. She visited First Lady Hillary Clinton by June 1997 to promote a fundraiser to get rid of landmines. By August 7 to 10, 1997, Princess Diana visited Bosnia and Herzegovina with Jerry White and Ken Rutherford of the Landmine Survivors Network. Princess Diana invested her time to fight breast cancer, leprosy, and other illnesses. She visited hospitals in India, Nepal, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria. 

 

 

 

 

It is no question that some in the media harassed and stalked Princess Diana constantly and inappropriate ways constantly. Some of them showed a pregnant Diana in a bikini. The Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) published photographs of Diana taken by gym owner Bryce Taylor. They showed personal images of her. Diana sued, and MGN gave her an apology. After the divorce, Princess Diana lived in Kensington Palace. For a time, she dated the British Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, who she called the "love of her life." Their relationship ended, because Khan was private and couldn't handle the press's scrutiny. Their relationship ended during the summer of 1997. Later, Princess Diana dated Dodi Fayed. Fayed was the son of her summer host Mohamed Al-Fayed. Diana considered taking her sons on a holiday to the Hamptons on Long Island, New York, but security officials had prevented it. After deciding against a trip to Thailand, she accepted Fayed's invitation to join his family in the south of France, where his compound and large security detail would not cause concern to the Royal Protection squad. Mohamed Al-Fayed bought the Jonikal, a 60-metre multimillion-pound yacht on which to entertain Diana and her sons. 

 

 

Today, there is the sad news of the passing of Bishop Desmond Tutu. He was 90 years old. For decades, he has been one of many voices who eloquently and courageously stood up against the evil of apartheid in South Africa. Being a human rights activist, his love of people was clear and his vision for liberation was bold. From being born and raised in poverty (with both Xhosa and Motswana heritage) to meeting with many leaders of the world, his legacy included wide ranging composition. He was the first black African who was the Archbishop of Cape Town. His theological ecclesiology was pro-black and pro-African. Bishop Desmond Tutu loves unconditionally his wife Nomalizo Leah Shenxane and their four children. A man of peace defines his ethos as he desired peaceful, nonviolent protest along with economic pressure to cause South Africa to be free from the evil system of apartheid. He was one of the most progressive spiritual leaders of our age. Being a mediator, he worked for human rights, helped to cause a peaceful transition to allow Nelson Mandela to be the first black President of South Africa in 1994, opposed the Iraq War, and he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Now, Africa and the world is near the quarter mark of the 21st century, and it's our responsibility to be better human beings as that is our destiny.  


Rest in Power Brother Bishop Desmond Tutu.



 

Timothy

Friday News in Late December of 2021.

 

 

The situation of our democracy is real. There should be peaceful action to make real change real. People want the 1965 Voting Rights Act to be fully strengthened (especially after the Supreme Court gutted Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act back in 2013), we want the end to the filibuster, and we want the Build Back Better plan to be passed by Congress. The Build Back Better bill has provisions in it that will help the poor, families, and other human beings in incredible investments. We want anti-racism books to not be banned in our schools. We desire the minimum wage to increase federally to $15 an hour. We want the For the People Act to be passed. We desire protections to immigrants, and the Apache site of Oak Flat maintained. We believe in reparations for black Americans too. We have the rise of authoritarianism in America. We have the greatest crisis of our democracy since the American Civil War. This is not hyperbole or an exaggeration. This is very much real. A far-right coup was almost successful on January 6, 2021. That's why the Golden Rule dictates that living wages, voting rights, health care, a pathway to citizenship for immigrants, and justice for black people remain true concepts for us to embrace.

 

The Civilian Casualty Files document from the New York Times shown information of the thousands of civilians killed by U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. This document showed massive war crimes by Western imperialism. These crimes existed among many administrations, including the Obama and Trump administrations. The lead author of the report is Azmat Khan, an assistant professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She filed a FOIA or a Freedom of Information Act to get the reports of the Pentagon's internal review process. Her investigation found that more than 120 civilians were killed in a single airstrike in July 2016 in the hamlet of Tokhar in northern Syria. We have seen evidence once again how vicious imperialism during the war on terror is not only unjust. It's evil period. 

 

Today, we know that Kim Potter was found guilty in the Daunte Wright shooting. This signified a just verdict involving the unjust killing of a young man. Potter was found guilty of first and 2nd degree manslaughter. The shooting took place in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. In this epidemic of black people being killed by the police, we realize this verdict by the jury as historic. No human has the right to take the life of an innocent human being. Judge Regina Chu denied a request by Potter's defense lawyers to let her go home before sentencing. It has been very emotional for Wright's mother and family to watch their son being slandered by the defense team. Yet, the truth was known that an officer, with tons of years of experience, should know the difference between a gun and a taser. A human life shouldn't be taken lightly. There is only one life to live, and Potter should experience accountability to taking the life of a loved one. It's just that plain to see. There are never any excuses of Potter's deeds. We have a long way to go with voter suppression laws, anti-democratic policies, and attacks on the teaching of real black history in American society too. Like always, Black Lives Always Matter.

 

There are a lot of events doing on involving the January 6th committee. Congressman admitted to calls to Trump on January 6th, 2021. So, Thompson wrote a letter to Congressman Jordan to request a meeting to discuss his communications with Trump (and possibly his associates on and around January 6). Scott Perry was asked by the committee to provide information in the effort to install Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general. Perry denied the request. Roger Stone asserted his 5th Amendment rights (which cites the policy to prevent people from self-incrimination) to refuse to answer questions. This shows some guilt, because an innocent person wouldn't act in this fashion. The committee is learning from the Mueller investigation and finding ways to find the truth. Trump could be indicted by the Justice Department if more evidence comes out in 2022. That is why Trump is trying to stall the committee's procedures.

There are a lot of news today about omicron. Recently, America had 288,579 new COVID-19 cases which is the 2nd highest daily case total ever. There are early studies suggesting that there is a reduced risk of hospitalization when people are infected with omicron compared to Delta. Yet, people should still use precautions, be careful, and take this illness seriously. One study says that there is a 2/3 reduction in the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization as compared with Delta. In America, there are growing cases in many places of America. Some have been in long lines to be tested. These studies are early, and more studies need to be shown plus evaluated to figure out how omicron acts against the populace. We know that omicron spread more than the other variants. We know that more governmental resources are needed to help hospitals which are running out of ICU units. In 2020, the COVID-19 virus was the third leading cause of death in America which is why life expectancy in the USA has declined from 78.8 years to 77 years. In South Africa, cases with omicron have declined. 

 
By Timothy
 


Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Omicron and Other Subjects.

 

 

Yesterday, President Joe Biden have given his important speech about the coronavirus. With all of the changes of society and the pain of people losing their lives from the virus, it is necessary for him to give his words to the American public. Biden gave a speech about the growing omicron variant being the dominant variant in America. Tons of Americans are in lines from Queens, NYC, Washington, D.C., Miami, etc. to get COVID-19 testing. Many media people questioned Biden about how it took so long in a response. Biden said that he didn't see the omicron virus as being as widespread as it was. Biden wanted to give out 500 million virus tests to the American people if they want to get tested. Biden proposed investments in using the military and FEMA to expand health care centers and testing sites. Biden wants vaccine disinformation to end now. Biden said that he is considering lifting the travel ban on southern African countries. Biden seems adamant to defend his response. The question is if the omicron variant will peak soon and come down or if it will last for an extended period of time. Time will tell. What is necessary is for medical investments, resources, and the truth to spread in finally defeating this nefarious virus.

 


Right now, the omicron variant of the COVID-19 has spread extremely rapidly in American society. Moderna said that its booster shot is very powerful against omicron. We see more cases increase in New York City and nationwide. Many Europeans are protesting the new lockdown measures in places like London, Paris, Germany, etc. This is different than last year or even in March 2020, because we have more tools to combat the virus. We have treatment pills to help people from dying. We have vaccinations, booster shots, and other resources. Now, we just need to have the will to achieve our goals. The White House said that the unvaccinated in America face illness and possible death. This new winter pandemic surge means that everybody has to be careful in how they live. Biden just gave his speech on Tuesday to make new measures about combating the virus.

We already know how Joe Manchin would do. Joe Manchin is a liar on the Build Back Better bill plain and simple. He claims that the people of West Virginia oppose the BBB bill. The reality is that the vast majority of West Virginia's residents support expansion of voting rights, childcare, universal pre-K, paid family leave, environmental action on combatting climate change, and resources to help people with dental resources. In fact, 68 percent of West Virginian voters support the BBB. Manchin is a throwback DLC Democrat who rejects revolutionary solutions to solve problems, because he believes in the myth that centrism will liberate us all. Fundamentally, the problem isn't the left here (as progressives were leaders in the movement to impeach Trump). The problem is the far right and the moderates who care more for the status quo than justice for everybody. One man has this power to overthrow a legitimate bill. Also, the progressives did everything right and compromised to allow the infrastructure bill to be law. Now, this person Manchin refused to support another legitimate BBB bill. Manchin lied and said that the BBB bill will radically increase inflation when economic experts say the complete opposite. We have a deficit of public investment. Trickle-down economics doesn't work, and we need an investment to help the American people from the grown up.
 

The words from Joe Manchin refusing to vote for the Build Back Better is not shocking to anyone. He has shown his face. He is the reason why moderates are just as much a hindrance to justice as the far-right extremists. Manchin is silent on people struggling to survive on food stamps, silent on environmental problems worldwide, and silent on how even economic experts have said that the Build Back Better bill won't increase inflation radically. This person Manchin lives in wealthy privilege, is funded by the coal industry, and doesn't care about real change in our society. So, this token "bipartisan" nonsense that he promotes is futile. He claims to support voting rights federal legislation, but he broke his promise on BBB. Rep. Ihan Omar was right to say that he couldn't be trusted anyway. How can you trust him on supporting voting rights federal legislation? Manchin broke his agreement to the American people, not just to the Biden administration.
 
During this time of the year, it is important to be inspirational. After the horrendous tornadoes that spread in the South and the Midwest, unsung heroes have rebuilt locations, feed families, and gave hope to countless human beings. These examples of profound compassion certainly are great blessings to tons of human beings. We know about the constant charities and organizations working all of the time to send coats, food, toys, and other supplies to poorer or suffering families worldwide. These families may lack economic resources, but they never lack soul or human value. This time of the year reminds us that there are tons of things that are priceless like love, family, community, integrity, almsgiving, and compassion. These principles are what all of us should live by greatly. 

 
By Timothy
 
 
 

History and Culture shown in Late December of 2021.

  

The 19th President of the United States of America was Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893). He was the first President to have office as President after Reconstruction. He served in the Union Army and the House of Representatives before he assumed the office of Presidency. He was born in Delaware, Ohio to Rutherford Hayes Jr. and Sophia Birchard. His father died early. His mother, Sophia, led the family. Hayes was close to Sophia's younger brother Sardis (or Hayes's uncle). His ancestors came from Scotland who came to Connecticut in 1625. His great grandfather, Ezekiel Hayes was a militia captain in Connecticut during the American Revolutionary War. His mother's ancestors migrated to Vermont for a time. Hayes attended common schools in Delaware, Ohio and enrolled in 1836 at the Methodist Norwalk Seminary in Norwalk, Ohio. At the Webb School, he learned Latin and ancient Greek. He attended Kenyon College in Gambier in 1838. He had a fun time there. He joined many student societies and later was interested in Whig politics. Some of his classmates were Stanley Matthews and John Celivergos Zachos. Hayes graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with highest honors in 1842 plus addressed the class as its valedictorian. Hayes studied law in Columbus, Ohio, and then he studied at Harvard Law School in 1843. He graduated with a LL.B, and he was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1845. Hayes opened his own law officer in Lower Sandusky (now Fremont). He gradually gained more clients and represented his uncle Sardis in a real estate litigation. He was ill in 1843. He visited family in New England. Hayes moved into Cincinnati. By 1850, Rutherford B. Hayes opened his own law office with John W. Herron, a lawyer from Chillicothe. He joined Cincinnati Literary Society, the Odd Fellows Club, and attended the Episcopal Church in Cincinnati yet not being a member. 

 

Hayes would later marry Lucy Webb. They were engaged in 1851 and married on December 30, 1852, at Lucy's mother's house. They gave birth to many children. Lucy and Hayes would be abolitionists. Hayes also defended slaves who had escaped and were accused under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Cincinnati was a free city across the Ohio River from Kentucky, which was a slave state back then. Hayes was a stanch abolitionist, so he worked on the behalf of black people who escaped slavery. The Republicans took note of this. The Civil War came. Hayes at first wanted the Union to let the Confederates go. Ohio voted for Lincoln in 1860. Cincinnati voters turned against the Republican Party after secession. Many don't know that many people from Cincinnati came from the South. Many voted for the Democrats and for the bigoted Know-Nothings. Hayes was gone from the city solicitor's office by being voted out. Hayes worked in a law and joined Union forces after the Confederates illegally bombed on Fort Sumter in 1861. Rutherford B. Hayes was promoted to major of the 23rd Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His friend and college classmate Stanley Matthews was appointed lieutenant colonel. Hayes trained for battle. Hayes's regiment fought Confederates at the Battle of South Mountain. Hayes and his brigade later fought at the Shenandoah Valley for the Valley Campaigns of 1864. Hayes and his forces pushed the rebels southward. Hayes had a victory at Fisher's Hill on September 22 and one more at Cedar Creek on October 19. Hayes was promoted to brigadier general and major general. Hayes was praised by General Ulyssess S. Grant. Hayes visited Washington D.C. and observed the Grand Review of the Armies. He and the 23rd Ohio returned to their home state. After the Civil War, Hayes won the U.S. House of Representatives election. He voted as a moderate Republican, but he voted with Radical Republicans on some issues.

 

Hayes voted for the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States of Constitution. The bill passed both houses of Congress in June 1866. Hayes wanted black freed people to have legal protections along with the South being restored to the Union. Andrew Johnson wanted to readmit seceded states quickly without laws to protect black people in the South. Hayes disagreed with Johnson on that point. Hayes worked to help pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866. He later ran and won the election to be Governor of Ohio. He was a Republican Governor with a Democratic legislature, so he was limited in what he wanted to do. His political views were more moderate than the Republican platform, but he agreed with the proposed amendment to the Ohio state constitution that would guarantee suffrage to black male Ohioans. The amendment failed to pass by his opponent Allen G. Thurman. Governor Hayes supported the creation of a school for deaf people and a reform school for girls. He supported the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. Hayes ran for governor again to promote equal rights for black people in Ohio. Hayes associated his Democratic opponent George H. Pendleton with Confederate sympathies and disunion. Hayes won reelection, and Republican took the legislature. So, Ohio ratified the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution. That gave black men suffrage or voting rights. His 2nd term was better. Suffrage expanded. There was a state Agricultural and Mechanical College (to be Ohio State University). He wanted state taxes to be reduced and reform the state prison system. He retired from politics temporary in 1872. He paid off his debts during the Panic of 1873 and became Governor a third time. He ran for President in 1786. Hayes campaigned on civil service reform. There was a debate on who won the election. So, Hayes compromised to win the election in exchange for federal troops to leave the South. This allowed Democrats to control Southern states politically and extend Jim Crow apartheid for nearly 100 years afterward. Rutherford B. Hayes was inaugurated on March 4, 1877. Hayes wanted a gold standard and civil service reform. The Democrats never considered him the real President because of the electoral commission that allowed him to be President. Hayes supported Reconstruction policies, but he wanted to end Reconstruction immediately. The problem was that Reconstruction wasn't given enough time to grant black people full equality and justice. The racist backlash didn't end from the neo-Confederates. The Democratic Congress prevent Hayes to defend the rights of black people in the South. Hayes failed to get the South to accept legal racial equality and allow Congress to send funds to enforce civil rights laws. By this time, the Klan, the Red Shirts, and other terrorist groups harmed black people in America. Hayes wanted federal office workers to not make campaign contributions in party politics. 

 

By 1880, Hayes quickly forced Secretary of the Navy Richard W. Thompson to resign after Thompson accepted a $25,000 salary for a nominal job offered by French engineer Ferdinande de Lesseps to promote a French canal in Panama. The Great Railroad Strike in 1877 was about workers seeking just pay. Some protests were peaceful, and others involved riots. Federal troops came to break up a strike against a private company. Hayes deal with silver coins, greenbacks, and foreign policy. He worked with Mexico to stop bandits crossing into Texas. Hayes opposed the racist Chinese Exclusion Act of 1879 (which wanted to ban any Chinese person to immigrant into America). It was passed after Hayes had left office. Hayes was wrong to promote a policy of making Native Americans to assimilate into white culture. Hayes believed that this would cause peace among Native peoples and whites, but Native Americans deserve their own independent autonomy on their own terms. Wars against Native Americans continued like the surrender of Chief Joseph in Montana (and William T. Sherman ordered Native Americans to Indian Territory in Kansas). There was the Nez Perce war and the White River War. Hayes opposed alcohol, so he banned alcohol in the White House. Hayes didn't want to run for re-election. He consulted the future President James A. Garfield on many issues. Hayes invested in educational charities after his Presidency. He worked at the Ohio State University at the Board of Trustees. In 1889, Hayes gave a speech to encourage black students to apply for scholarships from the Slater Fund, one of the charities with which he was affiliated. One such student was W.E.B. DuBois who received a scholarship in 1892. Hayes wanted better prison conditions. He wrote in his diary about economic inequality and how it is wrong to see the disparity of the rich and the poor. Hayes mourned his wife's death. He loved his children and grandchildren. Hayes also in 1890 chaired the Lake Mohonk Conference on the Negro Question. This was a group of reformers to talk about racial issues at upstate New York. He later died of a heart attack at his home on January 17, 1893, at the age of 70. His last words were, "I know that I'm going where Lucy is." Hayes's body is interred in Oakwood Cemetery. Rutherford B. Hayes' legacy is not known to many people. He was not like Andrew Johnson who rejected any equality. He was not a radical Republican. Yet, he did many positive things for Ohio and for the nation. He was not perfect, and Hayes genuinely sought to help the lives of many Americans. He supported voting rights for black people, and he endorsed civil service reform. Rutherford B. Hayes remains a transitional President who saw the end of one era and the start of a new American era of history.  

 

 

This era of Presidents (from the mid to late 1800's) saw some of the most important developments in the history of the United States of America. They saw a nation that was from half the nation being enslaved to legal slavery being abolished in American society. They saw a nation filled with more decentralized state power to a nation with a higher level of federal government involvement. One of the products of the American Civil War was the increase of the role of the federal government in the lives of the American people. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution were all about growing the power of the federal government to expand rights to human beings. Progress was made in many areas of life. Yet, there was a very long way to go. Racial pogroms existed against black Americans, the Gilded Age started to harm the rights of workers, and we see the rights of women being suppressed too. The Presidents, during this time, didn't do enough to treat Native Americans with dignity and respect. Reconstruction was a glorious development in human history, but the white racist reactionary backlash ruined its chances to grow into revolutionary change for black people. That is why the Black Codes and Jim Crow apartheid flourished after the end of Reconstruction. The end of this era saw more immigration in America, the continuation of the Guided Age, the growth of Western imperialism, and a prelude to WWI. America changed in many directions. America's legacy is always a mixture of progress and the bigoted backlash against progressive changed merged together. That is why we earnest fight for America to reach its highest potential in what America ought to be (which is a land for justice for all without exceptions). The next era of Presidents will not only see war and global imperial expansion. It would also see new social and civil rights movements (like by Mary McLeod Bethune, W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Mary Terrell, Trotter, etc.) that would combat injustices and seek real change too. 

 

 

One of the greatest spiritual lessons in the world is to reject occult, inspired nefarious secret societies. One occult inspired group is called Freemasonry. Men join it who are 21 years old or older. The issues with Freemasonry is that its Blue Lodge members are taught deceptions until they reach higher degrees (as proven by 33rd Degree Freemason Albert Pike in his Morals and Dogma book), it claims to have the Light to led people into enlightenment (when the Bible is clear that Jesus Christ is the Light of the World), and Masonry accepts numerous false doctrines (like calling a grown man Worshipful Master, some Masons promoting human godhood which is a heresy, and praising false gods in their rituals plus their own Masonic literature). The Masonic term of God is the GOATU or the Grand Architect of the Universe. God is more than an architect but the Creator. An architect can design structures, but he or she doesn't create them. Some of the modern versions of the Bible demote God from Maker to architect. One of the biggest lessons about spirituality is not to accept holidays that contradict truth. One example is Christmas. In the near future in 2022, I will write about Christmas' true meaning in more detail. Yet, it is clear that Christmas is not required to be celebrated by us. It is not the Lord Jesus Christ's birthday and it's not of God. The word Christmas has the world mass, and the mass is not scriptural. The mass is the perversion of the true symbolic Christian communion. Also, we remember Jesus Christ by the Lord's Supper as found in Luke 22:19. While December 25 was the date in the Roman imperial calendar to have pagan sun worship, the celebration of Christmas didn't have a direct role from the Invictus Sol holiday according to some scholars. Some scholars disagree and mention that the winter solstice is a full season where witches do ritual worship of Nature. What is true is that the Christmas trees, wreaths, the yule log, mistletoe, Santa Claus, etc. either came from paganism or are not related to OT or NT traditions. Santa Claus is a myth. Jeremiah 10:2-5 is clear that: "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen... For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good." Romans 12:2 is clear that we can't be bounded under peer pressure to be politically correct on Christmas: "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:2). We have to separate from pagan, unscriptural celebrations with courage. There is no scriptural evidence of the Apostles celebrating Christ's birth or celebrating Christmas. So, Christmas is not of God. Also, on December 25 or on any day, it is fine to rest, to help our neighbors, to enact charity, to help the poor, and to show honor to our family and friends. That's fine. You can do these things without glorifying Christmas. Also, we are clear to reject adultery, harassment, bigotry, murder, abuse, and promiscuity. These evils cause ruination of relationships among men and women, hurt children, and results in a total ruination of the soul.  

  

Centuries ago, many spiritual leaders were persecuted by authorities because of their views on infant baptism. Anabaptist leaders Conrad Grebel (1498-1526), Felix Manz, and George Cajacob were opposed to infant baptism. They wanted to create a church filled with baptized believers with the Lord's Supper as a memorial meal. Zwingli of Switzerland didn't like this as back in the day, both Protestants and Catholics believe in infant baptism. Authorities in Zurich, Switzerland wanted all infants baptized within 8 days of birth or be banished form the city. Grebel opposed the decree since they obeyed the Word of the living God instead of an unjust law. Cajacob was baptized upon confession of his faith in Christ, and he baptized others by immersion. Grebel and Manz were sent to prison. By December of 1527, Felix Manz, Jacob Falk, and Henry Reiman was murdered by the state via drowning for opposing infant baptism. In Germany, Baptist pastor Hans Denk was driven out of a city in 1527. Hans Denk lived in Strasbourg, Germany. Denk was banished from Osiander and lived in Augsburg where he was baptized by Anabaptist preacher Hubmaier. Rhegius persecuted Denk out of Augsburg too. King Edward VI of England persecuted both Protestants and Baptists. In America, there was a law that threatened severe punishments against Anabaptists. In that year of 1644, Thomas Painter was whipped for denying infant baptism. On June 4, 1768, several Baptists were arrested in Spotsylvania, Virginia and imprisoned. Among these were John Waller, Lewis Craig, and James Childs. They spent almost six weeks in prison because of their religious views. 

 

  

 

For thousands of years, music has been around to deal with human emotions in many ways. Some want to hate all music, and other people believe every form of music must be embraced without critique. We reject those extreme views. There is always a difference between inspirational, righteous music, and music that seeks to glorify evil. That distinction should always be emphasized. After all of these years of me living on this Earth, I do love and appreciate great music. Music helps my mind to be more creative to write, to read more information, and to analyze how the world works more thoroughly. The music from Mahalia Jackson inspires my soul. The music from Arrested Development inspires the growth of our social consciousness. Songs from the Clark Sisters definitely are legendary. We certainly realize that people can grow and be better, and that is presented by the music from many artists like Lecrae. Jordan Sparks has shown some of the most powerful messages about love, caring, and integrity in our generation. Love for music doesn't mean that we have no responsibilities in life. We do have the responsibility in life to treat people right, to be better, and have a sense of purpose to see that we are more than molecules and cells. We have a mind, soul, spirit, and a valuable intellect that can touch souls in a positive direction. Undeniable, the sounds of great music are priceless examples of glorious forms of enriching power. 

  

For a long time, gospel music has been involved in a myriad of capacities. It has been expressed by people by many folks of every color to praise God, to be inspired for the journey of life, and to experience joy. We live in unique times in world history. We face many viruses, political strife, and a future dealing with numerous issues. Yet, one constant deals with the power of gospel music. Back in the day, gospel music was limited in certain churches. Today, we see massive stadiums hosting gospel concerts in America, Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia, Oceania, and other places of the world. Not to mention that it is important to make known that gospel is not just an individual affair with singers. It's a collective culture. Gospel culture deals with churches, managers, songwriters, engineers, pastors, and the music in general. It's a culture that has great influence in movies and documentaries. Songs from Mahalia Jackson, the Jubliee Singers, and Albertine Walker represent old school legends. Now, we have new school artists like Kirk Franklin, the Winans, Hezekiah Walker, Yolanda Adams, Victory Brinker, Elevation Worship, Tamela Mann, and other people represent the new generation of artists who sing about praising God too. Life is never easy. The common misconception is that every gospel singer is 100 percent perfect. The reality is that gospel artists are humans like us with the same emotions, thoughts, and influences just like any other person. They shouldn't be disrespected or treated less than human. Therefore, gospel music always has a great place on the hearts of tons of people worldwide. At the end of the day, you can show what's real without showing sincere love. Selah and Amen. 

  


 

 

Black people were in France for a long time. After 1632, many black people came into France from Martinique and Guadeloupe. Many black people were slaves in France and in the colonies of France. Many black people learned trades. Black people fought back too. The Police Des Noirs in 1777 forced all black people in France to be registered. By the late 1700's, black people fought for independence in Haiti. Black people won, and Haiti was born as the first black Republic in North America by 1804. Boukman, Toussiant, and other human beings led the Haitian Revolution. France abolished slavery in 1794, but Napoleon allowed it back in 1804. Black anti-slavery leaders in France were Adzee Louisy, Lois T. Hoat, and Mondesir Richard. In 1834, the Revue Des Colones was published being the first literary journal devoted to black culture being founded by Cyril Charles Bissette. Slavery is abolished in France by 1848. Tirailleurs Senegalais was created by Louis Faidherbe. The Harlem Hell Fighters or the 369th Infantry Regiment was awarded the French Croix de Guerre in 1919. Aime Cesaire fought for black liberation too in his activism and literature. By 1946, only 50 black people served as deputies or senators. In 1919, W.E.B. DuBois organized the Pan-African Congress in Paris. There were the Nadal Sisters there and the publication of Revue Du Monde Noir, which was part of the Negritude Movement (that promoted Blackness). Josephine Baker was a famous black American woman who lived in France for decades. During WWII, about a quarter of a million African American troops took part in the liberation of Paris. Felix Eboue was buried in the Pantheon highest honor for a French human being. One bill outlawed racial discrimination in 1972. Harlem Desir formed the SOS Racisme to fight racism in France. In 1998, France won the World Cup with Lilian Thuram at the helm. In 2005 and 2007, rebellions occurred in France over racism, police brutality, and economic oppression. Afro-French groups fighting for justice also include the Council Representative of Black Associations (CRAN), Au Dela Des Mots (Beyond the Worlds), and Devoir De Memoire (To Have Memory). Well known Afro-French human beings include: Lassana Diarra, Riner, Myriam Soumare, Isabelle Giordano, Christiane Taubira, Patrice Evra, and Laura Flessel. 

  

Afro-Spanish people have come from Nigeria, Senegal, Equitorial Guinea, the Dominican Republic, and other places. Many Arabic people live in Spain too. Spain always had black people living in it. During the days of Carthaginian colonists and the Roman Empire, black people have lived in the Iberian Peninsula. By 720, A.D., Iberia was under Islamic control. Cordoba was one capital of the Islamic empire. During that time, many Christians, Jewish people, and Muslims walked in the streets without war. There were black slaves from Africa and even white slaves from France and Slavic regions. Abu'l-Hasian Ali ibn Nafi or Ziryab (798-857) promoted toothpaste and deodorant. He wore seasonable clothing and different hairstyles. Ziryab, according to scholars, could be either Persian, Kurdish, or Black African. Ishraq as-Suaida was a black woman who was an expert of grammar and prosody. From the Castilian Kingdom to the mid 1700's, there were about 100,000 black people in Spain. There were many black people in Spanish colonies of the Americas. Black people in Spain faced massive discrimination. Black slaves in the 1400's and 1500's were in Valencia, Seville, Barcellona, and Jaen. Black people were also persecution during the Inquisition. Black people fought back by joining in confraternities. Juan Latino was a black Spanish scholar and author of Austriad. Juane de Pareja was a famous Afro-Spanish painter. Black music like zamba grew. It would be in 1870 when slavery would end in Spain. Groups like the High Council of Black Communities (Alto Consejo de las Comunidades Negras) and the BIBS (Barcelona International Black Sisters that help black women networking in Barcelona) fight for black freedom in Spain. Antionette Torres Soler and Lucia Asue Mbomio Rubio are 2 black Afro-Spanish women who created the digital magazine called Afrofeminas to promote the rights of women of African descent. Judi Oshowole has worked in Barcelona too to endorse freedom for black people in Spain. 

 

By Timothy

 


 

Lessons of Information.

  

The January 6 committee has subpoenaed the retired colonel James P. Waldron after he shared election fraud Power Point presentation. This PowerPoint wasn't immediately dismissed by the Trump administration. It was embraced and taken seriously by Trump members. This event, among other, document once again that the Trump administration is one of the worst administrations in American history. Brad Pascdale is also cooperating with the committee. Six GOP loyalists tried to keep Trump in power. Waldron was a retired Army colonel who spread the lie that election fraud existed in a widespread fashion during the 2020 election. Right now, we are in the evidence phase of gathering the facts. If criminal prosecution comes about, it will come later. Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (of Mississippi) said that members of Congress found a document plotting the overthrow a nationwide election. There are text messages exposing how evil people wanted to end democracy as we know it. On November 9, 2020, Meadows and other Trump insiders wanted to promote an alternative group of electors to change the election results. That is treason plain and simple.


We live in unique times. One old lie made by far-right Republicans and Hoteps is that since leaders of both major parties are imperfect, therefore any liberal policy is not beneficial to black people. We can refute that lie by looking at history and other facts. The reality is that the prison industrial complex, redlining, voting suppression laws, the War on Drugs, police brutality, defunding schools, imperialism, and other evil policies are not progressive policies. These are far right reactionary policies. Therefore, these GOP hypocrites want to lecture us black people on which political philosophy is best, but their destructive policies (that I've mentioned previously) have damaged many black people's lives for decades. We still have to have our independent thinking as we shouldn't worship either party. Even Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said that we shouldn't unconditionally support any political party. Believing in a clean environment is progressive, wanting universal health care is progressive, believing in reparations for African Americans is progressive, and standing up for justice for all is definitely progressive. That is why it is commonsense for me, as a black man, to believe in progressive principles.


 

Recently, Bell Hooks passed away yesterday on December 15, 2021. For decades, she has been a researcher and expert scholar of social issues and the issues found in feminism. She has been a professor, activist, and author. Hopkinsville, KY is the city of her birth. Dr. Bell Hooks earned her PhD. from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her gift was that she eloquently evaluated how intersectional forces of oppression are involving humanity. She wrote about race, capitalism, gender, class, and oppression. What is interesting is that she wrote books not only on feminism, but he wrote literature on black men as she wanted to inspire black men to reach our highest aspirations (while rejecting toxic influences, patriarchal extremism, and other evils). At the Bell Hooks Institute at Berea College (in Berea, Kentucky), her legacy is profoundly strong. From working class roots to lecturing thousands of people worldwide, Bell Hooks represents black intellectual power in full display. By 2018, she was inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.

 

Rapheal Warnock gave a speech on voting rights. The necessity for federal legislation involving voting rights must be made in existence. That is why Warnock wants the Senate rules to be changed as it relates to the filibuster in order for real federal voting rights to be made law of the land. Right now, we have a crisis of voting rights. Now, the 1965 Voting Rights Act has been gutted of Section 5. Now, we have new state policies infiltrating election boards with extremists. We have Georgia and Texas including other states with draconian anti-voting rights laws that ban giving people snacks, limiting voting times, and going about to make voting difficult in general. This threat is about voter suppression, ruining who can count votes, and other evils impacting our democracy. It is hypocritical for some to want to change the filibuster rules to protect the full faith and credit of American government (to raise the debt ceiling), but these same people refuse to change it involving one of the greatest human rights in the Universe, which is the right to vote.

 

 

Yesterday was the Birthday of Sister Lalah Hathaway, and she is 53 years old. Like father, like daughter describes her life. She is her own woman whose songwriting, singing, producing, and all-around love of music is incredible. Lalah was born to express herself musically as she is the daughter of one of the greatest musicians in history, Donny Hathaway. Chicago is the city of his birth. Lalah Hathaway worked in R&B music, soul, and gospel. In 1990, her debut self-titled album existed. By 1994, she released the album called A Moment. The album of The Song Lives On was shown in 1999 when she worked with Joe Sample. Outrun the Sky was her fourth album in 2004. Forever, For Always, For Love is one of her classic songs. Throughout her life, Lalah collaborated with legends like Mary J. Blige, The Winans, etc. She sang background and writes plus produces music. Hathaway was featured on Donald Lawrence's debut solo album called I Speak Life. Hathaway signed with Stax as a powerful institution of soul music. By 2009, she performed on BET in January before an audience. She worked in jazz festivals for years like in New Orleans, Columbia, Maryland, and other locations. By December 2009, she won the Song of the Year award in the SoulTracks Readers' Choice Award with her duet with singer Eric Roberson on "Dealing." Hathaway earned her first Grammy for the 2013 Best R&B Performance for "Something" with Snarky Puppy. Her band has a keyboardist, guitarist, and drummer. Hathaway works with the Circle of Promise to help breast cancer, especially in the African American community. She is a living legend in our culture.  I wish Sister Lalah Hathaway more blessings. 

 

By Timothy

 


Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Weather and Political News.

 

 

The House finds Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress. Meadows refuses to submit more testimony to the January 6 committee. Later, this contempt verdict will be sent to the Department of Justice to decide on whether Meadows will be charged officially with contempt or not. Mark Meadows was a high-level member of the Trump administration. We know what Trump all is about. Trump provoked a mob to invade the U.S. Capitol as part of Trump's coup d'état attempt to overthrow a legal election. The insurrection caused mayhem, blood, and a threat to the essence of the American government in plain view. The January 6th committee is getting more powerful with more than 300 witnesses having shown their testimonies and evidence. Many GOP lawmakers sent texts to Meadows on 1/6 to implore him to stop the disaster. Even some from FOX News wanted Trump to stop the violence on that day. Afterwards, many in FOX and many Republicans sugarcoated the violence of the insurrection. That is why we will always continue to defend the principles of democracy wholeheartedly.

 

New reports are showing that Meadows worked with Trump and his supporters to try to overthrow the 2020 election unjustly. That is why tonight, the Congress tried Meadows (who is a congressman) of contempt for refusing to answer questions to the January 6th committee. Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sent an email (on January 5th, 2021) saying that the National Guard would be present to protect pro Trump people in the lead up to the U.S. Capitol insurrection. Meadows said that he has executive privilege to refuse to give his testimony. One election denier and ex-Army colonels shared a January 6 PowerPoint and met with Meadows and others. The Meadows documents show a complex effort to try to overthrow the 2020 election. This is treason without question, and Mark Meadows is one of the most reactionary, traitorous people in American history (for believing in a lie and trying to overturn a Presidential election). That is why democracy being preserved is an eternal goal of ours. We have the right and responsibility to uphold and strengthen democracy completely.

 

The tornadoes' destruction refuted laissez faire capitalism once again. It proves that conservative economic policies don't work to help suffering human beings. Rand Paul hypocritically refuses to want the federal government to fund disaster victims in other places in America, but he wants the federal government to give money to Kentucky. I'm consistent, because I believe in federal government spending to help the victims of the natural disaster tornado disasters in America. Many of the workers at Amazon and the Mayfield factory has economic travails. The Mayfield factors had just $8 an hour and mandatory overtime. One worker, who is the 21-year-old named McKayla Emery, said to NBC News that if people left, they would more likely be fired. These conditions are why OSHA is having an investigation into the Amazon location of building codes and safety procedures.

 

We have a lot of news going on in the world. In America alone, about 800,000 lives have been lost as a product of COVID-19. That is why I find it strange that Time gave the Person of the Year award to Elon Musk who said that no new cases of the virus would exist by the end of April 2020. Elon Musk also illegally threatened to take away stock options if employees unionized, and he had 43 workers' rights violations filed against his company since 2010. There is a breakthrough pill that helps to fight COVID too. The moderates have proven themselves to be the real extremists. Joe Manchin opposes expanding Medicare to cover dental care when a quarter of West Virginians (who are 65 or older) have no natural teeth. Manchin certainly has ideological extremism to advocate such a bad stance. These moderate hypocrites like Manchin (who has taken over $1.5 million this year from donors who are opposed from the Build Back Better bill) and Sinema lecture us on the cost on the Build Back Better bill, but they say nothing on the $768 billion sent to the military. Economic experts have already mentioned that issues of inflation and debt are addressed by the bill too.

 

The tornado disasters are widespread in the South and the Midwest. One Amazon factory in Edwardsville, Illinois was destroyed. Another candle manufacturing plant in Mayfield, Kentucky was also damaged heavily. Many tornadoes harmed 6 states. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear was emotional when he spoke of the lost of human lives. He said that the tornado disaster in Kentucky was the worst in the state's history. One tornado was traveling more than 220 miles.

 

By Timothy

 


 


Monday, December 13, 2021

President Grant.

 

 

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States of America. He lived from April 27, 1822 to July 23, 1885. He was a much better President than Andrew Johnson. In recent years, more people realize not only his imperfections but of his support for new Reconstruction laws that fought against oppression that black Americans faced during the late 19th century. He was a military General who helped the Union forces to defeat the Confederacy. He created the Justice Department and worked with Radical Republicans to fight to protect African Americans during Reconstruction. He was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio. His parents were Jesse Root Grant and Hannah Simpson Grant. His ancestors came from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 via the Mary and John ship. Grant's great grandfather fought in the French and Indian War, and his grandfather, Noah, served in the American Revolution at Bunker hill. Noah settled in Pennsylvania and later married Rachel Kelley, the daughter of an Irish pioneer. Ulysses' father, Jesse, was a Whig Party member and a strident abolitionist. Jesse Grant moved to Point Pleasant in 1820, and he worked as a foreman in a tannery. He married Hannah on June 24, 1821. Hannah came from Presbyterian immigrants from Ballygawley in County Tyrone, Ireland. Ulysses had many brothers and sisters. He lived in Georgetown, Ohio. He started school at the age of 4. Horse riding was his gift too. Ulysses S. Grant prayed privately and never joined any denomination of a church. Ulysess S. Grant went into West Point at New York state.  He graduated from West Point too. Grant had friends in the Academy like Frederick Tracy Dent and James Longstreet. He graduated on June 30, 1843.Grant married Julia and had 4 children. Grant's father opposed Dent's family owning slaves, so he didn't attend the wedding. Grant remained in the army. When the Mexican-American war existed, Grant was a military leader in the U.S. Army. The war broke out in 1846. 

 

 

 

During that war, he was actively involved. His unit came into Louisiana as being part of the Army of Observation under Major General Zachary Taylor. The Battle of Palo Alto was the time when Grant saw combat for the first time on May 8,1846. Grant wanted combat. He led a charge at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma. He could ride a horse well. Polk, wary of Taylor's growing popularity, divided his forces, sending some troops (including Grant's unit) to form a new army under Major General Winfield Scott. Traveling by sea, Scott's army landed at Veracruz and advanced toward Mexico City. The army met the Mexican forces at the battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec outside Mexico City. For his bravery at Molino del Rey, Grant was brevetted first lieutenant on September 30. At San Cosmé, Grant directed his men to drag a disassembled howitzer into a church steeple, then reassembled it and bombarded nearby Mexican troops. His bravery and initiative earned him his brevet promotion to captain. On September 14, 1847, Scott's army marched into the city; Mexico ceded the vast territory, including California, to the U.S. on February 2, 1848.  Grant studied the tactics and strategies of Scott and Taylor. Grant admitted in writing that the Mexican war was morally unjust and that the territorial gains were designed to expand slavery, stating, "I was bitterly opposed to the measure ... and to this day, regard the war which resulted as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation." He opined that the Civil War was divine punishment on the U.S. for its aggression against Mexico. During the war, Grant discovered his "moral courage" and began to consider a career in the army. 

 

 After the war, Grant worked in the Madison Barracks in upstate New York. He worked at a quartermaster job in Detroit. Grant worked everywhere from California, Panama, and to Oregon Territory. He was in civilian life in 1854 when he was 32 years old. Grant experienced poverty and even did the wrong by acquiring a slave. He felt guilt and freed the slave by manumission (in a deed) in March 1859. He worked in the real estate business with Julia's cousin Harry Boggs in St. Louis. Grant voted for Democrat James Buchanan, because he was afraid that Republican John C. Fremont would use his anti-slavery position that would lead to be southern secession. Grant considered Fremont to be a shameless self-promoter.  For the 1860 election, he could not vote because he was not yet a legal resident of Illinois, but he favored Democrat Stephen A. Douglas over the eventual winner, Abraham Lincoln, and Lincoln over the Southern Democrat, John C. Breckinridge. He was torn between his increasingly anti-slavery views and the fact that his wife remained a staunch Democrat. The American Civil War started on April 12, 1861 when Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Grant was shocked. On April 15, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers. 

 

Grant was inspired by his father's attorney John Aaron Rawlins to fight the Confederacy. Grant went up the military ranks and fought in Missouri. On November 2, 1861, Lincoln removed Frémont from command, freeing Grant to attack Confederate soldiers encamped in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. On November 5, Grant, along with Brigadier General John A. McClernand, landed 2,500 men at Hunter's Point, and on November 7 engaged the Confederates at the Battle of Belmont. The Union army took the camp, but the reinforced Confederates under Brigadier Generals Frank Cheatham and Gideon J. Pillow forced a chaotic Union retreat. Grant had won the first major victory for the Union, capturing Floyd's entire rebel army of more than 12,000. Halleck was angry that Grant had acted without his authorization and complained to McClellan, accusing Grant of "neglect and inefficiency". On March 3, Halleck sent a telegram to Washington complaining that he had no communication with Grant for a week. Three days later, Halleck followed up with a postscript claiming "word has just reached me that ... Grant has resumed his bad habits (of drinking)." Lincoln, regardless, promoted Grant to major general of volunteers and the Northern press treated Grant as a hero. Playing off his initials, they took to calling him "Unconditional Surrender Grant." In November, after Lincoln's preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, Grant ordered units under his command to incorporate former slaves into the Union Army, giving them clothes, shelter, and wages for their services. Grant held western Tennessee with almost 40,000 men. The Union got Vicksburg later on cutting the Confederacy in two on the Mississippi river. On December 17, 1862, Grant was wrong to issue the General Order No. 11 got banned many Jewish people from his Union Army military district. Lincoln rescinded the order on January 17, 1863. General Ulyssess S. Grant continued to have more successful campaigns in defeating the Confederacy. In 1865, he finally saw Robert E. Lee, and Lee surrendered (at the Appomattox Court House). Grant allowed Lee's men to keep their horses. The war was over. By May 26, 1865, Kirby Smith's Texas army surrendered marking the end of the American Civil War. 


  

On April 14, 1865, five days after Grant's victory at Appomattox, he attended a cabinet meeting in Washington. Lincoln invited him and his wife to Ford's Theater, but they declined, for upon his wife Julia's urging, they had plans to travel to Philadelphia. In a conspiracy that also targeted top cabinet members in one last effort to topple the Union, Lincoln was fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth at the theater and died the next morning. Many, including Grant himself, thought that he had been a target in the plot, and during the subsequent trial, the government tried to prove that Grant had been stalked by Booth's conspirator Michael O'Laughlen. Andrew Johnson was President. Ulysses S. Grant was a commanding general from 1865 to 1869. He enforced Reconstruction policies in former Confederate states and supervised the Native American wars in the western Plains. Grant saved Robert E. Lee's life from being executed for treason. Grant wanted the Freedmen's Bureau to exist. Grant and Johnson broke down their political relationship over accusations of lying and corruption among both people. Grant became very popular among Radical Republicans. When the Republican Party met at the 1868 Republican National Convention in Chicago, the delegates unanimously nominated Grant for president and Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax for vice president. Back then, many Republicans promoted equal civil and political rights to all and African American enfranchisement or voting rights. The Democrats, having abandoned Johnson, nominated former governor Horatio Seymour of New York for president and Francis P. Blair of Missouri for vice president. The Democrats wanted no suffrage for black Americans and complete restoration of former Confederate states to the Union. 

 

 

 

Grant's 1862 General Order No. 11 became an issue during the presidential campaign; he sought to distance himself from the order, saying "I have no prejudice against sect or race, but want each individual to be judged by his own merit." The Democrats and their Klan supporters focused mainly on ending Reconstruction, intimidating blacks and Republicans, and returning control of the South to the white Democrats and the planter class, alienating War Democrats in the North. An example was the murder of Republican Congressman James M. Hinds in Arkansas by a Klansman in October 1868, as Hinds campaigned for Grant. Grant won the popular vote by 300,000 votes out of 5,716,082 votes cast, receiving an Electoral College landslide of 214 votes to Seymour's 80. Seymour received a majority of white voters, but Grant was aided by 500,000 votes cast by blacks, winning him 52.7 percent of the popular vote. He lost Louisiana and Georgia, primarily due to Ku Klux Klan violence against African-American voters. At the age of 46, Grant was the youngest president yet elected, and the first president after the nation had outlawed slavery. President Ulysses S. Grant was President from 1868 to 1877. On March 4, 1869, Grant was sworn in as the eighteenth President of the United States by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. In his inaugural address, Grant urged the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, while large numbers of African Americans attended his inauguration. He also urged that bonds issued during the Civil War should be paid in gold and called for "proper treatment" of Native Americans and encouraged their "civilization and ultimate citizenship." 

 

 

 

Many of his cabinet picks were praised and criticized. Washburne resigned. In March 1872, Grant signed legislation that established Yellowstone National Park, the first national park. Grant was sympathetic to women's rights; including support of female suffrage, saying he wanted "equal rights to all citizens."  He appointed Edward S. Salomon territorial governor of Washington, the first time an American Jewish man occupied a governor's seat. Grant was sympathetic to the plight of persecuted Jewish people. In November 1869, reports surfaced of the Russian Czar Alexander II punishing 2,000 Jewish families for smuggling by expelling them to the interior of the country. In response, Grant publicly supported the Jewish American B'nai B'rith petition against the Czar. In December 1869, Grant appointed a Jewish journalist as Consul to Romania, to protect Jewish people from "severe oppression." Grant wanted to limit religious indoctrination in public school, but his amendment proposal failed in Congress. In October 1871, under the Morrill Act, Grant prosecuted hundreds of Utah Mormon polygamists, including Mormon leader Brigham Young. Grant was a much more progressive President on civil rights than Presidents before him. 

 

On March 18, 1869, Grant signed into law equal rights for blacks, to serve on juries and hold office, in Washington D.C., and in 1870 he signed into law the Naturalization Act that gave foreign blacks citizenship. During his first term, Reconstruction took precedence. Republicans controlled most Southern states, propped up by Republican-controlled Congress, northern money, and southern military occupation. Grant advocated the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment that said states could not disenfranchise African Americans. Within a year, the three remaining states—Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas—adopted the new amendment—and were admitted to Congress. Grant put military pressure on Georgia to reinstate its black legislators and adopt the new amendment. Georgia complied, and on February 24, 1871, its Senators were seated in Congress, with all the former Confederate states represented, the Union was completely restored under Grant. Under Grant, for the first time in American history, Black-American males served in the United States Congress, all from the Southern states. President Grant used the Congress and the Justice Department to prosecute the Klan for acts of violence against black people (via three Enforcement Acts). These laws crushed the Klan temporarily. Grant's Attorney General Amos T. Akerman fought the Klan. The Klan was gone for a time, and many African Americans were voted into the South. By Grant's 2nd term, the North retreated from Reconstruction. Southern conservative whites called the Redeemers formed armed groups like the Red Shirts and the White League to overturn Republican rule (via violent, intimidation, and voter fraud including racism).  Grant ended the Brooks–Baxter War, bringing Reconstruction in Arkansas to a peaceful conclusion. He sent troops to New Orleans in the wake of the Colfax massacre and disputes over the election of Governor William Pitt Kellogg. Grant recalled Sheridan and most of the federal troops from Louisiana. Grant signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, but it was not readily enforced. The Great Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction forever. It caused the Democrats to break their promises and continue Jim Crow apartheid. Grant was wrong to desire Native Americans to embrace white culture via assimilation without accepting their own culture. Wars existed and Major General Oliver Otis Howard negotiated peace with Apache leader Cochise. Life is no fairly tale. The Native Americans were victims of an overt genocide campaign via the Great Sioux War, the Battle of Little Big Horn, and the Black Hills Gold Rush. Many U.S. forces intentionally killed bison to harm Native American people. Grant failed to annex the Dominican Republic as part of his Monroe Doctrine agenda. Grant won his 2nd term, because of the federal prosecution of the Klan, a strong economy, debt reduction, lower tariffs, and tax reductions. 

 

 

Financial corruption and the Panic of 1873 ended the Grant Presidency. After leaving the White House, Grant said he "was never so happy in my life". The Grants left Washington for New York, to attend the birth of their daughter Nellie's child, staying at Hamilton Fish's residence. Calling themselves "waifs", the Grants toured Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, and Galena, without a clear idea of where they would live afterward. Grant toured the world. He worked with the Hayes administration. Grant mourned the assassination of Garfield. Ulyssess S. Grant wrote his memoirs before his death in 1885. He was 63 years old.  The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant was a critical and commercial success. Julia Grant received about $450,000 in royalties (equivalent to $13,000,000 in 2020). People mourned his passing nationwide. Grant's body was laid to rest in Riverside Park, first in a temporary tomb, and then—twelve years later, on April 17, 1897—in the General Grant National Memorial, also known as "Grant's Tomb", the largest mausoleum in North America. Ulysses S. Grant's greatest accomplishment was his promotion of laws to advance equality for black Americans. He made the error of his treatment of Native Americans and not getting a handling of financial corruption during his 2nd term. Ulysses S. Grant was a Union General who legitimate fought to end the Confederacy once and for all. His legacy will be debated for years to come, but he remains a prominent figure of world history indeed. 

  

By Timothy