Early February Updates in the World.

 

Democrats like Senator Blumenthal want a nominal investigation of Elon Musk and DOGE. People want answers from Musk companies on conflicts of interest and unprecedented data heists of Americans' private information. This relates to privacy, payments, tax refunds, and other personal information that Elon Musk can benefit from making more contracts. A breach of this information will cause havoc for America. People want an accounting on how this information is being used. We know about the thousands of people in America protesting the Trump administration's assault on immigrants, other oppressed people, and democratic rights. 1,000 people protest against fascism in Lansing, Michigan. 1,000 people rally in Austin, Texas. Workers and students protest in defense of immigrants in San Jose, California. Washington, D.C. federal workers protest attacks on their jobs. 200 people protest in Annapolis, Maryland. People have every God-given right to stand up against threats against federal workers, against attacks on immigrants, against anti-black racism, and against attacks on foreign aid saving millions of lives worldwide. On Wednesday, thousands of people in all 50 states protested against fascism, wealth inequality, and the corruption of the financial oligarchy. This protest is called the 50501 Movement (50 states, 50 protests, one day). Trump is controlled by billionaire interests obviously, but we are not. We have our own independent thinking and progressive views.

Trump has evicted the former Coast Guard commandant. She had no time to gather her belongings after Trump evicted her from her home. Officer Fagan's staff suffered. She was given 3 hours notice. She was fired for no reason. The DOGE staffer resigned after being caught saying that he wants to repeal the Civil Rights Act and wants an eugenic immigration policy. He resigned because he was caught, and tons of MAGA cultists believe in his racist views in secret. That is why Trump is promoted, because many factions of the establishment are fascist, sexist, xenophobic, and racist. There are new anti-Trump protesters rallying all across in America. Elon Musk, Trump, and other MAGA followers are breaking the law overtly. These protesters want human rights not oligarchy. We reject Trump power grabs. Musk has no constitutional right to gain personal, sensitive information for his personal gain. Trump has no right to seize Gaza and turn it to a resort area. I'm not shocked at Republicans supporting Trump and Musk. Republicans are beholden to the MAGA cult. At the end of the day, we have to stand up for the country not for false ideologies.

The New Attorney General Bondi wants retribution against Trump prosecutors. We shall not be intimidated by threats from Bondi. The truth is that the January 6th insurrectionists were terrorists who were prosecuted by legal warrants and by legal trials. Trump wanted to overturn the 2020 election, and Bondi agrees with the Trump agenda. I don't just blame Trump for this. Trump voters are to be blamed more so, because they are the ones that went along with Trump's cruel, vindictive policies that will harm Americans. Bondi is contradicting her words in her confirming hearing claiming to not show political retribution, but Bondi wants the opposite of what she said to Adam Schiff on the January 15th, 2025, hearing. Trump is so extreme that he wants to jail Liz Cheney for no legitimate reason. Billionaire Elon Musk said that USAID workers sending aid to starving children in the world are "worms" show his wicked character. 

Irv Gotti passed away recently on February 5, 2025. He was just 54 years old. He experienced multiple strokes and had diabetes. People from the hip-hop culture know him as a record producer and record executive. He co-founded the record label The Inc. He helped to popularize hip-hop artists like Jay Z, DMX, and Ja Rule. He worked with Ashanti too as Ashanti now is a legendary artist in her own right. Irv Gotti helped to innovate the sound of hip hop in the 1990s and the 21st century. He was born and raised in Hollis, Queens, NYC along with Ja Rule and Run DMC. He has 2 sisters and a brother. He worked hard in his life and led a life filled with ups and downs. He made errors, and there is no justification for his mistakes. Yet, we learn from our mistakes to realize that life is precious, and life is a gift from God that we can never take for granted. We send empathy to Irv Gotti's family and friends. There are those like 50 Cent who made offensive, gloating, and insensitive comments about Irv Gotti's passing which shows his callous attitude. Likewise, we won't be disrespectful. We will be reflective. His story is also a call for men, including black men, to get our health in order. Many men don't want to get checked out because of ego or machismo, but death doesn't discriminate. Getting tested, eating healthy, drinking water, and getting legitimate medicine along with exercising on a regular basis will save your life and allow you to live much longer than doing nothing. Men, women, and children ought to realize that lesson too, and all people have the right to achieve greatness. 

I send condolences to Irv Gotti's family and friends.

Today is the Birthday of the late Sister Natalie Cole. She was an icon of R&B and pop music. Her legacy was that she perfected the art of vocal expression from high notes to lower registers. She has been a singer, songwriter, and actress for a long time. She is the daughter of iconic singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole and former Duke Ellington Orchestra singer Maria Hawkins Ellington. She was raised in the affluent Hancock Park district of Los Angeles, California. She was born in Los Angeles too. Natalie Cole was exposed to many great singers of jazz, soul, and blues. She sang on her father's 1960 Christmas album The Magic of Christmas and later started performing at age 11. Cole grew up with an older adopted sister, Carole Cole. She had an adopted brother Nat Cole and younger twin sisters Timolin and Casey. Cole was the grandniece of educator Charlotte Hawkins Brown. She was enrolled in Northfield School for Girls, an elite New England preparatory school. She attended The Buckley School, a private school in Sherman Oaks, California, then enrolled in the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She graduated in 1972 from the University of Massachusetts majoring in Child Psychology and minored in German. Natalie Cole grew up listening to Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin. Her first album was Inseparable with the great singles of This Wille Be and Inseparable. The album was released in 1975. She won the Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Natalie Cole made more music with the album Unpredictable with the song I've Got Love on My Mind. Our Love was one of Natalie Cole's greatest songs in 1977 from the album Thankful. By 1979, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She made more albums too. She made the 1991 comeback album of Unforgettable..With Love on Elektra Records. I remember the song Unforgettable in 1991 when I was in elementary school. The album sold more than 7 million copeis in America and won many Grammys like Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance for the top song. She made more jazz records too and more holiday music. She was on the show Big Break and was on the 2001 TV movie Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story (playing herself), which she won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special. She fought hard in her illnesses. She lived to be 65 years old. She passed away on December 31, 2015. Tons of people were at her funeral from Angela Bassett, Denise Nicholas, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, David Foster, Smokey Robinson, Jackee Harry, Freda Payne, etc. She was an icon of music and a living testimony of resiliency who loved her child too.

Rest in Power Sister Natalie Cole.

By Timothy