Recently, Lindsey Graham passed away at the age of 71 on July 11, 2026. Preliminary information showed that Lindsey Graham passed away via an aortic dissection from cardiovascular disease. In many cases, heart disease can come to people in a silent fashion. There are many people who want to praise him, and others who want to curse him out. What is the truth? The truth is obvious. Lindsey Graham's death was a tragedy, because Graham knew of Trump's bigotry, xenophobia, and disgusting character, but Graham still decided to ally with the MAGA agenda anyway. Back in 2015 and 2016, Graham rightfully called out Trump's bigotry and extremism. Later, Graham became one of Trump's most vociferous supporters from Trump's war in Iran by 2026 and his advocacy of the proposed SAVE Act (which will violate the voting rights of millions of Americans). Lindsey Graham was so extreme in foreign policy matters that he pondered about desiring America to blow parts of Iran off the map. Graham was a fervent imperialist who was a hardliner involving war policy. John McCain opposed Trump, and McCain was a friend to Graham. Yet, Graham supported Trump when Trump used disrespectful comments about McCain, disabled people, black journalists who asked Trump legitimate questions, and people who dissented with his views. Therefore, Lindsey Graham had shown hypocrisy, cowardice, and a sense of desperation to love the MAGA cultic movement by any means necessary. There are those who want to call him every name under the sun. I won't do that, because it is so easy to do that. We are better than that, and it is important to show decorum during this tragic time. I will show in what areas that I disagree with him on. Now, I do agree with Graham on supporting Ukraine as Ukraine has every God given right to use self-defense against Putin's Russian illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine. Anyone who rightfully condemns war crimes in Gaza (against the Palestinian people) but omits Russian war crimes in Ukraine is a hypocrite period. Lindsey Graham's passing is an end of an era, and we must do our part to stand up for justice for all. The cult of Donald Trump must be opposed, and people should have the right to live in a better world than the present or the past. I won't celebrate his death, because I'm not that type of person, and it's inappropriate in my eyes. Yet, his reactionary views harmed tons of people in South Carolina and worldwide. His life should be a lesson and cautionary tale of what we should not do in our lives. We desire all people to wake up, but Graham failed to see the light of truth on many issues. So, Lindsay Graham knew better, and the disappointment I have for him is very clear.
There is more history that should be known about African American women and men in early basketball leagues during the early to mid-20th century. The New York Rens were the first Black-owned fully professional African American basketball team in history. In 1939, they won the first World's Championship of Professional Basketball. They were the first team to win an official world's championship in the sport. New York City is known as the mecca of the sport of basketball in general. There were dozens of African American women's basketball teams throughout the Black Fives Era of basketball. There are many unsung black women players back then too. There was Dora Cole who played basketball in 1910. Dora Cole played for the New York Girls of Harlem, and she married Conrad Norman, who was the team's head coach who was one of the founders of the Alpha Physical Culture Clubs. There were the Spartans Girls of 1910, Helen Smith in 1934, Eva Miller in 1912, and Inez Patterson who played in ca. 1932. There were Kate Bard of 1937, Edith Trice of 1912, and the Golden Arrows team of ca. 1949. The Spartan Girls Athletic Club of Brooklyn, the sister squad to the Smart Set Athletic Club, featured the Harris sisters, Bernadette, Mary, and Genevieve. Edith Trice played for the Younger Set, whose first game was played in late October 1912. The Roamer Girls of Chicago had Isadore Channels and Kate Bard. Helen Smith was a very tall women who played for the Club Store Co-Eds of Chicago. The team of the Jamaica, Long Island Golden Arrows had star players like Louise Woods, Shirley Farnum, and Ruby Perlotte. The games of these early black women teams were reported by the Amsterdam News, the New York Age (both newspapers were based in Harlem), The Defender (from the Chicago's South Side), and the Courier all over Pittsburgh. There were other teams too. New York City, Big East teams, and the Barclays Center continue to celebrate the early African American women basketball teams in the 21st century too.
The modern times since 9/11 has been an acuminate of dynamic historical events. Since September 11, 2001, we have seen things that would be seen as unimaginable in previous generations from CRISP genetic research to the usage of A.I. to create robotic technology. The U.S./NATO attack in Afghanistan by October 2001 changed everything. It was a war that the West created to find and defeat al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Over 20 years later, the Taliban still controls Afghanistan, and Osama bin Laden was killed in a mission in trying to kill him by U.S. military forces. The Iraq War intervention took place in March 2003 under the orders of then President George W. Bush. It was one of the worst foreign policy blunders in history filled with the deception of Iraq having massive amounts of weapons of mass destruction (promoted by Bush Jr., Powell, and the neo-conservatives), the Abu Ghraib scandals, and other events. Even after the Iraqi surge, American forces left Iraq in a high level after the existence of ISIS by the 2010s. The early 2010s saw the Arab Spring where Middle Eastern people tried to stop authoritarian Middle Eastern government which mixed results. The existed of COVID-19 since 2019 saw up to 33.5 million death being the worst pandemic in over 100 years. We face massive recessions since 2008 and during the 2020 COVID-era (this was the largest global recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s). The COVID-19 pandemic was a global health crisis since mid-2023. The 2020s saw an increase in wars globally like the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Gaza war, and now the 2026 Iranian war. This era saw hybrid wars, militarized police in America, the growth of authoritarian movement in the world, and a political polarization that has been at its highest since the 1960s and the American Civil War. We witnessed the rise of more 21st century Presidents like Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Trump. Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election, and now we have Trump in his 2nd and final term of office as President. Trump has shown authoritarian policies from attacking the free press as "enemies of the people," supporting DOGE (that has fired tons of innocent people from federal government jobs without a legitimate reason), supported militarized ICE agents to aggressive detain U.S. citizens (not just undocumented immigrants), ending DEI (or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs that has harmed the human rights of various minority groups, trying to whitewash black history, and pardoned the January 6th terrorists. Trump has allowed the U.S. government to murder people in the Caribbean without due process of the law which is in violation of national and international law. Trump's major One Big Beautiful Bill has cut taxes for the super-rich, cut funding for Medicaid and SNAP (with adding more work requirements for people), and the CBO (or the Congressional Budget Office) says that the bill will increase the budget deficit by $3.4 trillion by 2034 (causing 11.8 million people to lose Medicaid coverage and eliminate SNAP benefits for three million people). One good news is that the Supreme Court ended Trump's birthright citizenship ban plan. Now, the DOJ wants four New York Times journalists to testify in court over leaks in dealing with an Air Force One report. This has nothing to do with classified information. This has to do with Trump and the DOJ attacking the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press in trying to intimidate journalists who disagree with Donald Trump. This is in 2026.
I always remember the events of 9/11 like yesterday. The surreal and ironic thing is that many young adults were born after 9/11. Some young people today never seen the Twin Towers fall on live television before. People like us are one of the few people who experienced 9/11 back almost 25 years ago. It started on a Tuesday morning being a very sunny day in Virginia for me. During that time, I was 17 years old and my 18th birthday was coming up in a few months later in the year of 2001. The start of the day was normal and without controversy. It was during the late Summer near Fall. I was a freshman in college back then. First, I woke up to go to a college level Algebra class. I was in the university early in the morning. It was on a Tuesday, so classes readily end early. After the class was over, I came into the University's library to relax. There was a Yahoo chat that was very popular back then. On that Yahoo Chat, people talked about hijacked planes hitting a building in New York City. I didn't believe that at that time, because I couldn't fathom such a horrible event occurring like that. Such terrible events were only imagined in movies or television shows. So, I had great skepticism. I came home early, and I turned on the television at my house. Immediately, I saw the TV screen from the news showing the fires from the crash and massive damage on the Twin Towers. I saw the emotion of reporters and other journalists. An immediate shock certainly was in my consciousness. I knew that this time represented a new era of human history, and nothing will ever be the same again. It was so serious and bad that schools in Virginia came home early. I ate lunch, and tons of people asked questions about the whole nefarious attacks in the United States of America. The whole atmosphere of the day was filled with sadness and shock. Other people unfortunately did evil by vandalizing mosques and Muslim centers across America. Yet, we believe in religious freedom, not religious bigotry. No one of any creed should have his or her houses of worship harmed or desecrated. No one religion should be blamed for the September 11th attacks, only the terrorists who did such courageous, evil actions. Networks like ABC, NBC, MSNBC, FOX, CNN, etc. have shown nonstop coverage of 9/11 throughout the whole day including the night. I witness the collapse of both Twin Towers live on television. The collapse of Building Number Seven transpired during the afternoon. Many people fought the hijackers on Flight 93, and the airplane crashed as Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Even during the early morning of 9/12, reporters were still on the scene talking about the tragic news. People were in a daze in their faces for weeks after 9/11 too. It took a long time for society in general to break out of the emotional malaise. It took a long time for many human beings to adjust to this new reality.
Back then, many Americans didn't know about Operation Cyclone which was a CIA program to aid, finance, and arm the Afghan mujahideen in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989 in trying to stop the Soviets from being in Afghanistan. Sources show how the CIA funded Haqqani and Hekmatyar (who were key allies of Osama bin Laden. Many CIA agents, journalists, and U.S. government officials deny any direct CIA funding of Osama bin Laden. You have the right to believe them or not). Haqqani had direct cash payments from CIA agents without the mediation of the ISI. Haqqani and his network were involved in the formation and growth of Al-Qaeda. The US worked with the Pakistani ISI to aid the Afghan Mujahideen too. The victims of this horrendous tragedy of 9/11 suffer pain every day. Afterwards, many voices were suppressed if they spoke out against the most egregious policies of the War on Terror like unjust wars, profiling Muslims unjustly, the Patriot Act, and the warrantless spying against American citizens. One example was when MSNBC's Phil Donahue show was on, his show was immediately cut after Phil spoke out publicly against the Iraq War in 2003. I remember watching the Phil Donahue show and Dave Chapelle debating Pat Buchannan (who was the Knight of Malta known for making far right, extremist statements for decades. He was only an aide to Richard Nixon back in the 1970s). Another example was when Jeremy Glick, the son of a 9/11 victim, was cursed out and disrespected by Bill O'Reilly (who was on FOX News. Bill O'Reilly was later fired for allegations of sexual harassment of women. O'Reilly works for Newsnation now in 2026). Jeremy Glick spoke out against the invasion of Afghanistan. The Bush administration reached massive popularity during the immediate aftermath of 9/11 until the events of the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina existed. Also, the news coverage has shown the heroic firefighters and other rescues who saved lives. They risked their lives for others. Many of them passed away, so their memories of almsgiving and courage will always be remembered by all of us. After the events of September 11, 2001, I did embrace the love of civil liberties more thoroughly. After the Great Recession of the late 2000's, I certainly became more progressive on economic issues. Every day of my life, I will always remember 9/11 completely.
Beyonce wanted to grow her wings as a solo artist. She was in the 2001 film Carmen playing Carmen in a hip hop style musical. Robert Townsend directed the film. She made her theatrical film debut playing Foxxy Cleopatra in the movie Austin Powers in Goldmember. Her song of Work It Out in 2002 was the film's soundtrack. Her breakthrough as a solo artist came when she featured on Jay-Z's track "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" from his album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002). The single peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Beyoncé appeared as Jay-Z's girlfriend in the music video for the song, fueling speculation about a relationship. She later shared that they began dating when she was nineteen, after a year and a half of friendship. In May 2003, Beyonce released the song Crazy in Love, the lead single of her debut solo studio album of Dangerously in Love. Crazy in Love changed her life forever. After that song was released, she became a total superstar in R&B music as a solo artist. The song featured Jay-Z and became Beyoncé's first number-one single as a solo artist on the US Billboard Hot 100, topping the chart for eight consecutive weeks. On June 14, 2003, she premiered songs from Dangerously in Love during her first solo concert, which was broadcast as a pay-per-view television special. Released ten days later, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 317,000 copies in its first week. The second single, "Baby Boy", spent nine consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100; "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl" both peaked within the top five. Dangerously in Love earned Beyoncé five awards at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best R&B Song for "Crazy in Love." One of the best-selling albums of the 21st century, Dangerously in Love has sold more than 11 million copies globally. Beyonce was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in 2003. Beyonce would be praised by music icons like Prince, Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle, Toni Braxton, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, etc.
Beyoncé starred alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. in the musical comedy The Fighting Temptations (2003), portraying a single mother and the love interest of Gooding's character. In November 2003, she embarked on the European Dangerously in Love Tour and North American Verizon Ladies First Tour alongside Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys. On February 1, 2004, she performed "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the US, at Super Bowl XXXVIII. In November 2004, Destiny's Child released their final album, titled Destiny Fulfilled. The record peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 spawning the US top-five singles "Lose My Breath" and "Soldier." In 2005, Destiny's Child embarked on a global concert tour titled Destiny Fulfilled... and Lovin' It. The group announced that they were disbanding at the end of the tour. Destiny's Child released their first compilation album, #1's, in October 2005 and were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2006.
Beyoncé released "Déjà Vu" featuring Jay-Z as the lead single from her second studio album, B'Day, in June 2006. The song reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. B'Day was released internationally on September 4, 2006, to coincide with her twenty-fifth birthday. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with 541,000 copies sold in its first week. "Irreplaceable" was released as the second international single. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for ten consecutive weeks, becoming the best-performing chart hit of 2007. B'Day's other singles—"Ring the Alarm", "Get Me Bodied", and "Green Light"—each saw moderate chart success worldwide. At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in 2007, B'Day and its songs received five nominations, winning Best Contemporary R&B Album. For the following year's awards, songs from the album garnered two more nominations, including Record of the Year for "Irreplaceable."
Since its release, B'Day has sold over eight million copies worldwide. With the comedy film The Pink Panther (2006) and its theme song, "Check on It", Beyoncé became the first woman to simultaneously have a number-one film and single in the US. "Check on It" was included on #1's and on the European deluxe version of B'Day, and peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks. Later that year, she starred in the drama film Dreamgirls, a cinematic adaptation of the 1981 Broadway musical, in which she portrayed a pop singer modeled after Diana Ross. Jennifer Hudson was in the movie and had a phenemonial performance in her own right too. In support of B'Day, Beyoncé embarked on the Beyoncé Experience in 2007, her first worldwide concert tour, which visited 97 venues. Simultaneously, the album was re-released with additional tracks, including the single "Beautiful Liar", a duet with Shakira, which peaked at number three in the US. In December 2007, Beyoncé and Jay-Z became engaged. On April 4, 2008, Beyoncé and Jay-Z married in a small, private ceremony; the latter confirmed their marriage in an interview later that year. Their marriage served as a creative inspiration for her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce. Released on November 12, 2008, I Am... Sasha Fierce formally introduced her alter ego Sasha Fierce. A double album, it comprises two discs—I Am... and Sasha Fierce; the former contains slow and midtempo pop and R&B ballads, while the latter focuses on uptempo beats that blend electropop and Europop elements. Selling 482,000 copies in its first week, it debuted atop the Billboard 200, marking Beyoncé's third consecutive US number-one album. I Am... Sasha Fierce included Beyoncé's fifth number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", as well as the UK chart-topping single, "If I Were a Boy "Halo", which peaked at number five in the US, helped Beyoncé attain more top-ten singles on the list than any other woman during the 2000s. Parodied and imitated around the world, the "Single Ladies" music video was described by the Toronto Star as the "first major dance craze" of the Internet age. Single Ladies was a cultural hit among especially women. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the video won three categories, including Video of the Year. "Halo" and "Single Ladies" are both certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Since its release, I Am... Sasha Fierce has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. To promote I Am... Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé embarked on the worldwide I Am... Tour, her second headlining worldwide concert tour; it grossed $119.5 million. Beyoncé starred as blues singer Etta James in the musical biopic Cadillac Records (2008). Her portrayal garnered her an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. In the psychological thriller Obsessed (2009), which co-starred Ali Larter and Idris Elba, Beyoncé played a woman protecting her family from her husband's stalker. The film was critically panned, but Beyoncé's acting saw favorable reception. Obsessed performed strongly at the US box office, earning $68 million on a $20 million budget.
Beyoncé performed "America the Beautiful" at President Barack Obama's 2009 presidential inauguration and "At Last" during the first inaugural dance. At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2010, she received ten nominations—both for I Am... Sasha Fierce and for her work in film soundtracks—tying with Lauryn Hill for most Grammy nominations in a single year by a female artist. Beyoncé won six of those nominations, including Best Contemporary R&B Album for I Am... Sasha Fierce and Song of the Year for "Single Ladies", breaking a record she previously tied in 2004 for the most Grammy Awards won in a single night by a woman artist. In 2010, Beyoncé provided vocals on Lady Gaga's single "Telephone", from the latter's extended play The Fame Monster (2009). It peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Beyonce announced a hiatus from her music career by January 2010. She took a 9-month break to go to European cities, the Great Wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, Australia, English music festivals, and other museum exhibitions and ballet performances. "Eat, Play, Love", a cover story written by Beyoncé for Essence that detailed her career break, won her a writing award from the New York Association of Black Journalists.
Around this time, she miscarried, retrospectively describing it as "the saddest thing" she had endured. Beyoncé returned to the studio and wrote music to cope with the loss. In September 2010, Beyoncé made her runway modelling debut at Tom Ford's Spring/Summer 2011 fashion show. In March 2011, her father Mathew stopped managing her career. A month later, during a photoshoot in Paris for her upcoming album cover, Beyoncé unexpectedly discovered she was pregnant. Beyoncé's fourth studio album, 4, was released on June 24, 2011, in the US and debuted atop the Billboard 200, selling 310,000 copies in its first week. It was her fourth consecutive number-one album in the US. 4 marked Beyoncé’s first project made under her own creative direction following her split from her father. It was also her first album released through her management company, Parkwood Entertainment, and was conceived as a traditional R&B and soul record intended to stand apart from mainstream popular music. The songs "Run the World (Girls)", "Party", "Countdown", "Best Thing I Never Had", and "Love On Top" were released as singles in the US. The latter two peaked at numbers sixteen and twenty, respectively.
On June 26, 2011, Beyoncé became the first solo woman artist in over two decades to headline the main Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival. The performance received praise from critics, with some outlets praising her growth as a live performer. In August 2011, Beyoncé and Jay-Z attended the MTV Video Music Awards, in which the former performed "Love On Top" and revealed her pregnancy. Her announcement contributed to the ceremony becoming the most-watched broadcast in MTV history at the time, drawing 12.4 million viewers. The moment also set a Guinness World Record for the most tweets per second for a single event, with 8,868 tweets per second, and "Beyonce pregnant" became the most Googled phrase during the week of August 29, 2011.
In August 2011, Beyoncé headlined four exclusive shows at New York's Roseland Ballroom titled 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé, performing songs from 4. That month, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America after shipping one million copies to retail stores. In February 2018, 4 made Beyoncé the first woman artist to have three of her albums surpass one billion streams on Spotify. On January 7, 2012, Beyoncé gave birth to her first daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, in New York City. In June 2012, she performed for four nights at Revel Atlantic City's Ovation Hall to celebrate the resort's opening.
In January 2013, Beyoncé performed the national anthem during Obama's second presidential inauguration. In February, she headlined the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show in New Orleans. The performance became the second most tweeted-about moment in history at the time, generating 268,000 tweets per minute. That same month, she co-directed and premiered her feature-length documentary Life Is But a Dream on HBO, which offered an introspective look into both her personal and professional life.
In April 2013, Beyoncé embarked on the Mrs. Carter Show World Tour released a cover of Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" with André 3000 for The Great Gatsby's soundtrack, and in May, voiced Queen Tara in the animated film Epic. On December 13, 2013, she unexpectedly released her fifth studio album, Beyoncé, on the iTunes Store without prior announcement or promotion. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 617,000 copies in its first week. It marked her fifth consecutive US number-one debut, making her the first woman in the chart's history to achieve this milestone with her first five studio albums. The album received widespread critical acclaim, and sold one million digital copies globally within six days—a record for any album on iTunes at the time. The album Beyonce was her first album where she discussed about adult issues on the next level. Musically rooted in electro-R&B, Beyoncé explored darker, more personal themes than her previous work, including bulimia, postnatal depression, and the emotional complexities of marriage and motherhood. As a visual album, the album's music videos were recorded in secrecy to accompany the album's unexpected release. Beyoncé is credited with helping popularize digital releases, as well as surprise and visual album formats; its release influenced the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry to adopt Friday as Global Release Day. The record spawned five singles: "Blow", "XO", "Drunk in Love", "Partition", and "Pretty Hurts." "Drunk in Love" featured Jay-Z and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Beyoncé sold 2.3 million units worldwide by the end of 2013, making it one of the best-selling albums of the year.
At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, Beyoncé received six nominations and won three: Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for "Drunk in Love", and Best Surround Sound Album for Beyoncé. In April 2014, Beyoncé and Jay-Z—known collectively by their stage name the Carters—announced their first co-headlining stadium tour called the On the Run Tour. On August 24, 2014, she received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards and won three additional honors: Best Video with a Social Message and Best Cinematography for "Pretty Hurts", and Best Collaboration for "Drunk in Love." The album was reissued as the Platinum Edition on November 24, 2014, featuring six additional songs.
Plants are classified by their structure, stem type, and life cycle. One major type of plants is called trees. Trees are woody plants with single thick trunk like oak, maple, etc. There are plants called shrubs which are smaller woody plants with multiple stems branching near the ground like rose and lilac. Herbs are small plants with soft, non-woody, green stems like mint, basil, and rosemary. There are climbers and creepers. These are plants with weak steams. Climbers scale vertical supports like grapevine and ivy. Creepers spread horizontally across the ground like watermelon and strawberry. There are tons of other types of plants too. There are perennials. They come back year after year, making them a great choice for a low maintenance garden. They add color, texture, and structure to the space. Some of them are lavender, hosta, daylily, and peony. Annuals are plants that last for only one season. They are perfect for beds, borders, and containers like begonia, cosmos, marigold, and petunia. There are cactus and succulents which are water storing plants that are perfect for low-maintenance gardening. They come in all shapes and sizes. They are snake plants, aloe vera, jade plant, and prickly pear cactus. There are roses like hybrid tea roses, grandiflora roses, floribunda roses, and climbing roses. Vines can soften fences and wall like clematis, wisteria, honeysuckle, and ivy. There are bomboo plants like golden bamboo, black bamboo, and Buddha Belly bamboo. Orchids existed like vanilla, cattleya, and phalaenopsis. Houseplants are mostera, pothos, philodendron, peace lily, and Zz plant. Bulbs store energy underground and burst into bloom each season with various colors. They are daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, dhalias, lily, and gladiolus.
By Timothy
