Wednesday, December 13, 2023

On Being 40 Years Old Now.


Being forty years old (today in early December of 2023) in near the quarter-century mark of the twenty-first century is very special. I have seen a lot of events in my life. I lived through the eras of Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. Obama, Trump, and Biden. When I was a child, there was the bombing of the New York World Trade Center in 1993, when I was a teenager, there was the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, and when I was 18 years old, the war on terror transpired in 2001. By the time I was 20, the Iraq War was in its infancy in 2003. When I reached 30 years old in 2013, President Barack Obama was already in his second term of office. Older Millennials like me saw worldwide changes from the invention of the iPhone in 2007 in our 20's to the insurrection of the United States Congress when we were in our late 30's. 

Today, it's a day of celebration, reflection, and inspiration. We are not children anymore. We Millennials are increasingly going into middle age with the same vigor in embracing justice and the same spirit of hope plus optimism for the future without naivete. We are survivors as human beings. We survived the Great Recession of the 2000's and early 2010's, we survived Trump's first term, and we survived the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (which began in late 2019 and exploded worldwide by early 2020). The Golden Rule is one lesson in life that rings true. Regardless of who you are, don't embrace vengeance but seek action that constructively benefits other human beings. That is why we are here plainly speaking. We are born to live, to grow, and to always be in league with the fruits of patience, learning wisdom, assisting others, and the improvement of our consciousness in seeking that same human liberation that our ancestors fought for constantly. I am thankful for life and the well wishes on this special day of my life living into a new subsequent decade of my life. I have my political views (of embracing justice for all, of believing in a strong social safety net, and of desiring social justice), and it's clear to see when you see what I type. I'm not ashamed of being me, because you must be you to be real about yourself. Learning about history, culture, geography, music, my genealogy, biology, architecture, and manifold subjects certainly is important in developing a wide scope of how the world works. I am older, but I have the same agility, vigor, and acuity as yesteryear. Fundamentally, I will keep on growing to live and to constantly move in the right direction.


Zelenskyy is visiting Washington, D.C. during ongoing aid negotiations. This is about the battle against freedom against tyranny. Many far-right liars and fake liberal liars glorify Putin as a person of virtue. They hate America so much (it is fine to hate American imperialism, but not to hate all American people) that they desire to ally with the Russian government instead of freedom-loving Ukrainian people who desire justice. The truth is that Putin is an authoritarian dictator. Putin has jailed Russian dissidents who desire freedom in Russia, Putin has lied and said that Ukraine isn't a real nation, Putin's agents have been involved in election interference in 2016 and 2020, and Putin is known to have policies that violate many democratic freedoms including the freedom of the press plus the freedom of religion. Therefore, Putin is a far-right nationalist extremist, not a progressive hero. This aid to Ukraine is similar to the Lend Lease program where Americans funded the Allied powers against Hitler's imperialism. Are there imperfections in Ukraine? Yes, but these imperfections don't justify the Russian illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022. There is no justification for Russian bombs harming apartment buildings and other civilian targets. The end of the conflict means Russian military forces must leave Ukraine, so Ukraine can have their own independence.

There is the defamation trial against Rudy Giuliani. Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea Moss are seeking $43 million for the false claims of fraud. Rudy Giuliani lied about both Georgia election workers saying that they committed fraud which is a crime.  Both Freeman and Moss were victims of harassment, racism, and threats by MAGA extremists. A jury will decide the legal fate of Rudy Giuliani. The opening statements started on Monday. Rudy Giuliani the former New York City mayor and former federal prosecutor lied and said that both women were using USB drives for nefarious purposes (which isn't the case at all). Freeman and Moss's attorney Michael Gottlieb said that both women experienced a massive amount of hateful, racist comments. Guiliani's attorney said that Rudy didn't promote racism or violence. The reality is that Rudy Guiliani has a long history of promoting reactionary politics as mayor and afterward. Giuliani is expected to testify in the trial. Freeman and Moss gave their testimonies to the House January 6th Committee in vivid detail. Our voting rights matter and no MAGA terrorists will scare us.


The Special counsel Jack Smith will go directly to the Supreme Court to resolve whether Trump has immunity from prosecution. This is an interesting move. The Supreme Court can decide on the historic prosecution of the former president. This request is being sent by Jack Smithis to keep the election subversion trial on track, so Trump's legal team can't delay it for a longer period. Smith's team has asked the court to review district Judge's Tanya Chutkan ruling that a former President, Trump, is not immune from the election subversion prosecution case brought in Washington, D.C. There is a tornado outbreak in Tennessee that killed at least 6 human beings. This is part of the cold front coming to the East Coast. These devastating natural disasters are very real. It will take a long time for recovery efforts to rebuild infrastructure. America is filled with very compassionate human beings, so we Americans will rise up to the occasion to express our empathy towards the victims and send supplies to help the hurting people of Tennessee and throughout the nation being victims of terrible storms. Tennessee has issued a state of emergency too.

By Timothy


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