Friday, March 03, 2017
Friday News
The news today is like watching a movie, but this is real. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been found to have met with a Russian Ambassador. Now, Sessions has recused himself from investigating the questions about Russian officials and the 2016 election. The New York Times have reported that Kushner and Flynn met with the Russian Ambassador at Trump Towers. We know that Sessions omitted his meeting from his confirmation testimony. Some want him or Sessions to do more than rescue himself. Some politicians and others want Sessions to resign. Sessions claims that he doesn't recall specific political discussions during the Russian ambassador meeting, but we know that he met with a Russian ambassador. We desire a true, independent investigation to decipher the whole truth. I believe that Sessions should resign, because of his political views on voting and civil rights. Sessions has reversed an Obama administration decision to phase out private for-profit prisons, now doing a booming business jailing detained immigrants, and withdrew a legal claim by the federal government that a Texas voter ID law was enacted with the intention of discriminating against minority voters and college students.The attorney general in many ways personifies the ultra-right policies of the Trump administration and the congressional Republicans, but many people have not called for Sessions’ ouster over any of these actions. The essence of the anti-Russian campaign is obvious. Certain sections of the intelligence community (using conduits of the NY Times and the Washington Post) are leaking or displaying information about Trump since they want Trump to focus on more military confrontation and agitation against Russia while Trump is desiring more agitation against China and Iran. This is an open disagreement among the oligarchy on how to proceed with foreign policy, but they are unified in the same goal of empowering corporate power at the expense of the power of the people. Trump is still a right wing nationalist extremist. It is true that many Trump allies and officials have contacts with Russian officials. For the record, I reject any military action against Russia, China, or Iran. DeVos' comments are not only disrespectful, but they are based on something that has no basis in history. A large number of HBCUs existed from the Reconstruction era in order to give black people opportunities when many non-black institutions refused to respect racial justice. HBCUs back then and today give black people camaraderie, cultural growth, and many means to grow success from business to STEM fields. Her comments don't happen by happenstance. They are calculated in order to promote the lie that the privatization of all resources in society can somehow end injustice. We know that isn't true since the elimination of all public resources will cripple millions of Americans' opportunities. I believe in the general welfare and I believe in social justice. DeVos is totally unqualified to be the Department of Education since she never taught in any public school and she didn't answer questions succinctly on basic issues of educational concepts. Like usual, we will set the record straight and not let right wing extremists deter us from the mission. The mission is justice. Her father-in-law Rich DeVos, Sr., was the co-founder of the Amway Corporation. Rich DeVos Sr. was a member of the CNP or the Council on National Policy (which supports extremist causes). The corporate oligarchy funds the Trump regime and his allies. We know that her younger brother, Erik Prince, is a known militarist. So, many of the same ones who slander black people give passes to DeVos. Our eyes are on the prize.
So, Bless HBCUs.
In 1967, the NBA faced new competition with the creation of the ABA or the American Basketball Association. So, both leagues had the best players in the country. The NBA landed the most talented college star of that era. His name is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (his previous name was Lew Alcindor). Also, Rick Barry (the NBA’s leading scorer back then) jumped into the ABA along with 4 veteran referees (their names are Norm Drucker, Earl Strom, John Vanak, and Joe Gushue). In 1969, Alan Siegel, who oversaw the design of Jerry Dior's Major League Baseball logo a year prior, created the modern NBA logo inspired by the MLB's. It incorporates the silhouette of the legendary Jerry West based on a photo by Wen Roberts. Although NBA officials denied a particular player as being its influence because, according to Siegel, "They want to institutionalize it rather than individualize it. It's become such a ubiquitous, classic symbol and focal point of their identity and their licensing program that they don't necessarily want to identify it with one player." The iconic logo debuted in 1971 and would remain a fixture of the NBA brand. The ABA was very successful. They signed many major stars during the 1970’s. One was Julius Erving of the Virginia Squires. It allowed teams to sign college undergraduates. The NBA expanded rapidly during this period, one purpose being to tie up the most viable cities. From 1966 to 1974, the NBA grew from nine franchises to 18. In 1970, the Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers) all made their debuts expanding the league to 17. The New Orleans Jazz (now in Utah) came aboard in 1974 bringing the total to 18. Following the 1976 season, the leagues reached a settlement that provided for the addition of four ABA franchises to the NBA, raising the number of franchises in the league at that time to 22. The franchises added were the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and New York Nets (now the Brooklyn Nets). Some of the biggest stars of this era of the 1970's were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Dave Cowens, Julius Erving, Elvin Hayes, Walt Frazier, Moses Malone, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin, Dan Issel, and Pete Maravich. The end of the decade, however, saw declining TV ratings, low attendance and drug-related player issues – both perceived and real – that threatened to derail the NBA.
Basketball increased with popularity still. The NBA added the ABA’s innovative 3 point field goal starting in 1979 to open up the game. During that same year, rookies Larry Bird and Magic Johnson joined the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers respectively. This started a period of significant growth in fan interest in the NBA nationwide and internationally. Both players were some of the greatest players in NBA history. In 1984, they played against each other for the first time in NBA Finals. Magic Johnson and the Lakers during the 1980’s caused the Lakers to get five titles. Bird and the Celtics went on to cause the Celtics to win 3 titles. Also in the early 1980's, the NBA added one more expansion franchise, the Dallas Mavericks, bringing the total to 23 teams. Later on, Larry Bird won the first three three-point shooting contests. Former league commissioner David Stern who took office on February 1, 1984 before retiring February 1, 2014, oversaw the expansion and growth of the NBA to a global institution. The 1984 NBA Draft was one of the most talented drafts in NBA history. The players of the draft during that year included Hakeem Olajuwon, Sam Bowie, Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Charles Barkley, Melvin Turpin, Alvin Robertson, John Stockton, and other players. Scottie Pippen, Dominique Wilkins, and other players of the 1980’s were ahead of their times and excellent in their talent. Michael Jordan entered the league in 1984 with the Chicago Bulls, providing an even more popular star to support growing interest in the league. This resulted in more cities demanding teams of their own. In 1988 and 1989, four cities got their wishes as the Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, and Minnesota Timberwolves made their NBA debuts, bringing the total to 27 teams. In the first year of the 1990's, the Detroit Pistons would win the second of their back-to-back titles, led by Coach Chuck Daly and guard Isiah Thomas. Jordan and Scottie Pippen would lead the Bulls to two three-peats in eight years during the 1991–98 seasons. Hakeem Olajuwon won back-to-back titles with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995. The 1992 Olympic basketball Dream Team, the first to use current NBA stars, featured Michael Jordan as the anchor, along with Bird, Johnson, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Chris Mullin, Charles Barkley, and Christian Laettner. Eleven players on the Dream Team have been inducted individually into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The Dream Team was a great team.
In 1995, the NBA expanded to Canada with the addition of the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Toronto Raptors. In 2001, the Vancouver Grizzlies relocated to Memphis, which left the Raptors as the only Canadian team in the NBA. In 1998, the NBA owners began a lockout which lasted 191 days and was settled on January 18, 1999. As a result of this lockout the 1998–99 NBA season was reduced from 82 to 50 games (61% of a normal season), and the All-Star Game was cancelled. The San Antonio Spurs won their first championship, and first by a former ABA team, by beating the New York Knicks, who were the first, and are the only, eighth seed to ever make it to the NBA Finals. By this time, the modern era of the NBA existed. By the summer of 1998, the breakup of the Chicago Bulls championship roster existed. The Western Conference afterwards dominated the NBA Finals. Since 1998, the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs combined to win the title nine out of 14 seasons. Tim Duncan and David Robinson won the 1999 championship with the Spurs, and Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant started the 2000's with three consecutive championships for the Lakers. The Spurs reclaimed the title in 2003 against the Nets. In 2004, the Lakers returned to the Finals, only to fall in five games to the Detroit Pistons. After the Spurs took home the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy in 2005, the 2006 Finals featured two franchises making their inaugural Finals appearances. The Miami Heat, led by their star shooting guard, Dwyane Wade, and Shaquille O'Neal, who had been traded from the Lakers during the 2004 summer, won the series over the Dallas Mavericks in six after losing the first two games. The Lakers/Spurs dominance continued in 2007 with a four-game sweep by the Spurs over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were led by LeBron James. The 2008 Finals saw a rematch of the league's highest profile rivalry, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, with the Celtics winning, for their 17th championship, thanks to their new big three of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett. In 2009, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers returned to the Finals, this time defeating the Dwight Howard-led Orlando Magic. Bryant won his first Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his 13th season after leading the Lakers to their first NBA championship since the departure of Shaquille O'Neal. The 2010 NBA All-Star Game was held at Cowboys Stadium in front of the largest crowd ever, 108,713. At the end of that season, the Celtics and the Lakers renewed their rivalry from 2008 when they met again in the NBA Finals for a record 12th time. The Lakers won the title by winning Game 7, 83–79.
Before the start of the 2010–11 season the NBA had an exciting summer with one of the most anticipated free agent classes of all time. Two of which signed, and one resigned, with the Miami Heat, leading to a season that was heavily centered on their eventual success or failure at taking home the championship. The Heat, led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, did in fact make the Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, in a rematch for the franchises of the 2006 Finals. The Mavericks, led by Dirk Nowitzki (the eventual NBA Finals MVP), took the series in six games. This was the Mavericks' first title. Veterans Shawn Marion, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, and Peja Stojaković celebrated their first NBA championship. July 1, 2011, at 12:01 am, the NBA announced another lockout. After the first few weeks of the season were canceled, the players and owners ratified a new collective bargaining agreement on December 8, 2011, setting up a shortened 66-game season. Following the shortened season, the Miami Heat made a return to the Finals with the trio of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh against Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden. The Heat went on to defeat the Thunder in five games, capturing their second NBA title in six years. Their success would continue into the following season, which concluded with their victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals. The two teams would meet for a rematch in the following year's Finals, where the Spurs defeated the Heat in five games. Following that series, LeBron James announced that he would return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. James led the Cavaliers to their second Finals appearance, where they fell to the Golden State Warriors in six games. Most recently, in a rematch, the 2016 NBA Finals concluded with the Cavaliers defeating the Warriors in seven games to win their first NBA Championship. Right, Lebron James is the greatest player in the NBA playing right now. He has taken the league into new heights and has shown philanthropy outside of the court too.
By Timothy
Thursday, March 02, 2017
Wednesday, March 01, 2017
Donald Trump's Address to Congress
The Resident in Office Donald Trump gave his first joint session speech in Congress on Tuesday. He outlined the major principals and agendas of his presidency which includes slashing taxes on corporations, scapegoating immigrants, promoting economic nationalist trade policies (which doesn’t work to help workers internationally), and expanding military spending. This speech was different than his inaugural speech. In this new speech, Trump tried to be slick to express his right wing extremist views in traditional avenues of American politics. Ironically, many in CNN praised Trump’s speech when CNN was banned from a closed door session. The mainstream media has been called by Trump as the “enemies of the people.” Some in the corporate media believe in the myth that the speech is about bringing people together and advancing a bipartisan approach. The Trump regime has overt fascist people like Steve Bannon, who is in support of the massive crackdown of millions of undocumented immigrants. The Democratic response came from former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear. He doesn’t hold any elected office. He talked about a defense of the ACA, which must be improved upon and denounced Trump for “ignoring serious threats to our national security from Russia.” Republicans and Democratic politicians disagree on tactics, but there is broad agreement among many of both parties on expanding militarism. Trump wants to end ACA with free market health care policies, and other reactionary policies. The day before his speech, Trump announced plans to increase the military budget by 10 percent, to be paid for by an equal reduction of discretionary social spending.
In his speech, Trump indicated that he would work with Congress to cut these programs, including by turning Medicaid, the insurance program for the poor, into a block grant system, which could be cut by state governments. “We should give our great state governors the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid,” he declared. Trump believes in school choice. His advocacy was of economic nationalism is typical of him. He wants subsidies for US companies to help them penetrate foreign markets, declaring that his administration is “developing historic tax reform that will reduce the tax rate on our companies so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone.” He complained that “when foreign companies ship their products into America, we charge them almost nothing.” Notably, when Trump declared that his administration will make “it easier for companies to do business in the United States, and much harder for companies to leave,” former Democratic presidential nominee Bernie Sanders applauded. Sanders, together with other Democrats, stated his willingness to cooperate with Trump on nationalist economic policies. Cutting corporate taxes, eliminating regulations and refusal to increase the minimum wage is not about promoting American jobs. He believes in the myth of undocumented workers being filled heavily of extreme criminals. This refugee and immigration ban is not based on reality as those nations in the ban have no direct threat to American soil. Toward the end of his speech, Trump recognized the presence of Carryn Owens, the widow of a US Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, who died in a raid in Yemen last month. Ignoring the denunciations of the operation by Owens’ father, Trump described the mission as a “highly successful raid.” Trump’s invocation of this murderous rampage, which led to the killing of 25 Yemeni civilians and eight children, was greeted with the longest standing ovation of the entire speech, from both Democrats and Republicans. Trump claims to promote a stronger infrastructure, and a better society, but doing that requires progressive actions.
It is very obvious that Betsy Devos' comments on HBCUs are not only disrespectful and makes no sense. Her words make a mockery of the real history of HBCUs. Many HBCUs were created during the Reconstruction period in order to give opportunities for black human beings. The creation of HBCUs have nothing to do with the conservative version of "school choice." HBCUs were about promoting growth in the black community, building camaraderie, and involving the building of our institutions in the midst of racial oppression. DeVos' answers to basic questions on education (during her confirmation hearings) were abysmally clear of her lack of knowledge of even basic concepts in dealing with education. The truth will always be existence in the Universe. Rachel is the epitome of a liar. She mocked black people and lied about her heritage. She totally disrespected black women with her myths and she deceived many human beings. Also, she has some nerve to blame black people for her situation. Black people collectively should never be blamed at all for her issues. Regardless of what she has said, there is white privilege. Just because many white folks are poor, doesn't mean that white privilege is nonexistent. It's a fact that many black people are poor too and Rachel doesn't talk about that reality because of obvious reasons. During this Trump regime, many whites are coming out to not only slander black people, but embrace some sick persecution complex when black people for a long time suffered slavery, Jim Crow, the mass incarceration state, peonage, and other atrocities at the hands of an evil system. For the record, black people have no misconception about poverty and suffering. Our ancestors and our people today know all about suffering. We just don't allow the reality of poverty to omit the necessity to fight for racial and economic justice.
We will always remember the legend Marian Anderson. She was a very talented black woman who lived a long life. Her voice involving opera was incredible and her songs moved crowds globally. She was born in Philadelphia in 1897. Her aunt inspired her to pursue a singing career. She sang in the Lincoln Memorial in 1939. She opposed racism and discrimination. She stood up for her right of freedom and human self-expression. She gave benefit concerts for the NAACP and CORE. She also sang in the 1963 March on Washington. She lived to be 96 years old. Her compassion was immeasurable and her contributions are certainly legendary. Rest in Power Sister Marian Anderson.Yesterday was the Birthday of Sister Sasha Smith and her twin Sister Sidra Smith. They were born in Camden, New Jersey. They are now 46. They have been involved in many endeavors throughout their lives. Sasha Smith is known as an actress, model, and comedian. She has been involved in many famous TV shows and movies. Sidra Smith is a producer. She was involved in the documentary Free Angela and All Political Prisoners. Yes, I have seen that documentary before and it outlines the necessity to promote ideological freedom. Both women have done a lot to make the world better. Both are spiritual black women who are unashamed of their faith. Also, it is important to recognize their behind the scenes too. I wish the best for both of them.
Today is the Birthday of Sister Lupita Nyong'o. She is now 34 years old. For years, she has shown the world not only her amazing acting talent, but her magnificent wisdom on many important issues. She has spoken the truth that not only is Black is Beautiful, but that Beauty deals with compassion and a sense of purpose to help our neighbors. She was born in Mexico City and went into the States to study acting. She participated in many films. Also in 2009, she wrote, produced and directed the documentary In My Genes. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the 2013 film 12 Years a Slave (which is about the brutality of antebellum American slavery). Nyong'o made her Broadway debut as a teenage orphan in the critically acclaimed play Eclipsed (2015), where she received a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play nomination for her performance. Lupita Nyong'o has gone worldwide to be involved in helping people in Kenya, America, and in other locations throughout the world. She defends women's rights, animals (like elephants), and the preservation of historic sites. Lupita has supported the arts as well. Her eloquent words, which refutes the evils of racism and colorism, have moved humanity. Lupita Nyong'o is a great, inspirational hero.
She is just getting started and I wish Sister Lupita Nyong'o an excellent birthday.
By Timothy
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