Monday, October 31, 2022

Making History.

  



By the year of 2000, Serena Williams lost in the fourth round during the Australian Open to Elan Likhovtseva. She failed to defend her titles in Paris and Indian Wells. Yet, she did win the Faber Grand Pix in Germany. Later, Williams missed the French Open because of injury. She returned form injury at the Wimbledon Championships. She lost to Venus Williams in the semifinals, but the pair won the doubles title at hte event. Serena Williams successfully defended her title in Los Angeles, defeating Davenport in the final. She reached the final of the Du Maurier Open where an inuury forced her to retire her match with Hingis. Her defense of the U.S. Open title ended when she lost in the quarterfinals to Davneport. Venus Williams and Serena Williams teamed up to win the gold medal in the doubles at the Sydney Olympics in September of 2000. She end the year winning the Toyota Princess Cup in Japan. Her rank by the end of 2000 was Number 6. By 2001, Serena lost to Martina Hingins in the quarterfinals of the Medibank International in Sydney and the Australian Open in Melbourne. Serena Williams and Venus Williams won the doubles title at the latter tournament, becoming only the fifth doubles tema in history to win all four Grand Slam women's doubles titles during their career. This was a Career Grand Slam. Serena Williams participated in the Pacific Life Open in California, where she defeated Kim Clijsters in the finals. The final was marred by the behavior of the crowd toward Williams and her family. Many crowd members lied and accused the games of being match fixed involving the family. This was after Venus withdrew before their semifinal. Neither Williams nor her sister entered the tournament for 14 years until Serena Williams entered in 2015 as a wildcard (and the top seed). The following week at the Ericsson Open in Miami, Serena Williams lost ot Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals. She lost in the quarterfinals to Capriati at both the French Open and Wimbledon Championships. That was the fourth consecutive Grand SLam tournament at which Serena Williams had exited in the quarterfinals. During the North American hard court season, she lost in the quarterfinals of Los Angeles against Monica Seles, then captured her second title of the year at the Rogers Cup, defeating Capriati in the final. Serena Williams reach the final of the 2001 U.S. Open losing to her sister Venus Williams. That was the first Grand Slam tournament final contested by 2 sisters during the Open Era. At the 2001 Season ending Tour Championship, Williams won the championship by walkover when Davenport withdrew before the start of the final because of a knee injury. Williams finished 2001 at No. 6 for the 2nd straight year.


By early 2002, injury saw Serena Williams to retire from the semifinals at the Medibank International Sydney and later withdraw from the Australian Open. Serena Williams came back from injury to win her first title of the year in 2002 in Scottsdale, Arizona defeating No. 2 Jennifer Capriati, in the final. She then won the Miami Masters for the first time, becoming one of three players in the Open Era to defeat the world's top 3 ranked players at one tournament, after beating No. 3, Martina Hingis, in the quarterfinals, No. 2 Venus in the semifinals, and the top-ranked player, Capriati, in the final. Serena's straight set win over Venus was her second career win over her sister.




Williams played three clay-court tournaments before the 2002 French Open. Her first tournament was at Charleston, where she was the third seed. Williams reached the quarterfinals before losing to Patty Schnyder. She reached her first clay-court final in May, at the Eurocard German Open losing to Justine Henin in a third set tiebreak. Williams went on to win her first clay court title at the Italian Open, defeating Capriati in the semifinals and Henin in the final. This raised her ranking to a new high of No. 3. Williams was the third seed at the French Open at Roland Garros, where she claimed her first title thereby defeating defending champion Capriati in the semifinals and sister Venus in the final to win her second Grand Slam tournament title (and her first in two-and-a-half years). As a result of raising the trophy at Court Philippe Chatrier, Williams rose to a career-high of No. 2, second only to Venus.


At the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, Williams won tennis's oldest championship for the first time in her life, defeating Venus to win a Grand Slam singles title without dropping a set for the first time in her career. This victory earned Williams the world No. 1 ranking for the first time, dethroning her sister and becoming only the third African American woman to hold that ranking. The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at the tournament, the fifth Grand Slam doubles title for the pair. Williams played just one tournament between Wimbledon and the US Open, losing in the quarterfinals of the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles to American Chanda Rubin and ending a 21-match winning streak. The top-seeded player at the US Open, Williams reached the final where, for the third Grand Slam in a row, she defeated her sister to win the title, the second US Open crown of her career. Williams won two consecutive singles titles in the fall, defeating Kim Clijsters to win the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo, and Anastasia Myskina to win the Sparkassen Cup in Leipzig, Germany. She reached the final at the year-end Home Depot Championships at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where she lost to fifth-seeded Clijsters in straight sets, ending an 18-match winning streak. 




Serena Williams finished 2002 with a 56–5 W/L record, eight singles titles, and the No. 1 ranking. She was the first African-American to end a year with that ranking since Althea Gibson in 1958. She was the first woman to win three Grand Slam tournament titles in one years since Hingis in 1997. Her three consecutive Grand Slam titles to close 2002 also made Williams only the third player in tennis history to win the "Surface Slam", three Slam titles on three surfaces in the same calendar year, after Navratilova (1984) and Graf (1993, 1995, 1996). At the 2003 Australian Open, Williams reached the tournament's semifinals for the first time, where she recovered from 5–1 down in the third set and saved two match points before defeating Clijsters. In the final, Serena faced Venus for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament final, defeating her older sister to become the sixth woman in the Open Era to complete a career Grand Slam, alongside Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf. She also became the fifth woman to hold all Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously, joining Maureen Connolly Brinker, Court, Graf, and Navratilova. This feat was dubbed the "Serena Slam" by the press. The Williams sisters won their sixth Grand Slam doubles title together at this event. 


During the spring of 2003, Williams captured the singles titles at the Open Gaz de France and the Sony Ericsson Open. Williams's winning streak came to an end when she lost the final of the Family Circle Cup to Henin, her first loss of the year after 21 wins. She also lost to Mauresmo in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. Despite these losses, Williams was the top seed at the French Open, where she lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Henin, marking Williams's first loss in a Grand Slam tournament since 2001. The match was controversial, as Williams questioned Henin's sportsmanship, and spectators applauded Williams's errors. Williams rebounded from the French Open loss a couple weeks later at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Henin in the semifinals and Venus in the final. This was Williams's second consecutive Wimbledon title and her sixth Grand Slam singles title overall. Wimbledon was Williams's last tournament of 2003; she pulled out of three events in the US and then underwent surgery on the quadriceps tendon in her knee in early August. Williams was initially expected to be out for six to eight weeks. 




After eight months away from the tour, during which time her desire was questioned, Williams began her comeback at the 2004 NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami in March, where she made a triumphant return as she won the title for the third consecutive year. Although ranked No. 7, Williams was seeded second at the French Open, where, after winning four matches, she lost to Capriati in the quarterfinals. That was the first time that Williams had lost before the semifinals at a Grand Slam singles tournament since Wimbledon in 2001. A few weeks later, even though her ranking had dropped to No. 10, Williams was seeded first at Wimbledon. She won six matches en route to the final, where 13th-seeded Maria Sharapova defeated her in straight sets. This loss caused her ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the first time since 1999. Later that summer, Williams reached her third final of the year at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles where she lost to Lindsay Davenport which was her first loss to the American since the 2000 US Open. After missing her national championship in 2003, Williams returned for the 2004 US Open, where she was seeded third despite her No. 11 ranking. She lost in the U.S. Open quarterfinals to Capriati in three sets in controversial fashion. That fall, Williams won her second title of the year, at the China Open, defeating US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Williams's successful season allowed her to qualify for the Tour Championships, held again in Los Angeles. In the round-robin phase of the tournament, Williams defeated Dementieva and Anastasia Myskina and lost to Davenport, but still advanced to the elimination stage. After winning her semifinal, she lost to Sharapova in the final, where she suffered an abdominal injury. Williams finished 2004 ranked No. 7, but did not win a Grand Slam singles tournament for the first season since 2001.


At the 2005 Australian Open, Williams rejected suggestions that she and sister Venus were a declining force in tennis, following Venus's early exit. Williams saved three match points to defeat Sharapova 8–6 in the third of their semifinal. In the final, Williams defeated top seed Davenport to win her second Australian Open and seventh Grand Slam singles title, winning 12 of the last 15 games. The win moved Williams back to No. 2 but stated she was targeting the top spot.



Williams completed just two tournaments between the Australian Open and Wimbledon, losing to Venus in Miami and at Internazionali BNL d'Italia to Francesca Schiavone as Williams suffered a series of retirements and withdraws. A reoccurring ankle injury causing her to miss the French Open. She returned for Wimbledon as the 4th-seeded player, but was defeated in the third round by No. 85, Jill Craybas. At the US Open, Williams lost to her sister Venus in the fourth round. This was the earliest the sisters had met in a Grand Slam tournament since their first meeting, at the 1998 Australian Open. Williams played just one more match that fall, a loss to No. 127 Sun Tiantian at the tournament in Beijing. She failed to qualify for the year-end championship for the first time since 1998 and she finished the year 2005 ranked No. 11, her first time finishing the season outside the top 10 since 1998. 



Williams made her 2006 debut at the Australian Open. Defending the title, Williams lost to Daniela Hantuchová in the third round. After the tournament, she told the press that she was injured, blaming a lack of fitness and a knee injury for keeping her off the court. In her biography, Williams claims that she was actually suffering from depression. She stayed away from pro tennis for six months during the 2006 season. After she had shut herself off from the world for a period, Williams saw a therapist daily. After a chance meeting with a young girl who idolized Williams and believed that she could still win, Williams signed up to play in Cincinnati, her first tournament since Melbourne. Williams had slipped to No. 139, the lowest ranking she had held since 1997. On her return, Williams defeated Myskina and Bethanie Mattek, before losing in the semifinals to Vera Zvonareva. She also reached the semifinals in Los Angeles, losing to Janković in straight sets. At the US Open, Williams needed a wildcard to enter the tournament, as her ranking at the cut-off time was No. 139, outside the automatic 102. Her ranking had improved to 79th by the time the tournament came around. She lost to top-seeded Mauresmo in the fourth round. Following the US Open, she did not play again in 2006, ending the year ranked No. 95, her lowest year-end ranking since 1997.



Williams began 2007 with renewed confidence, stating her intention to return to the top of the rankings, a comment 1987 Wimbledon men's singles champion and commentator Pat Cash branded "deluded".


Williams lost in the quarterfinals of the Hobart International, a warm-up for the Australian Open where Williams was unseeded because of her No. 81 ranking and was widely regarded as not ready by some. She experienced a huge amount of pressure on herself before the tournament, coming from her fans and the press as well as Williams herself about her weight, focus and needing a good showing.


Shortly before her first match, a representative from Nike paid her a visit in the players' lounge, informing her that if she did not perform to her accustomed level, the company might drop her. Williams claimed that Nike's ultimatum meant that she would have to reach the quarterfinals at least.


The distraction from Nike did not distract Williams, as she lost just three games to Mara Santangelo and defeated Anne Kremer in straight sets. By this point, a blister had developed on Williams's foot and she had contracted a cold. In the third round, Williams found herself two points away from going home against Nadia Petrova, but fought back to win in three sets, which was her first win over a top-10 player since defeating Lindsay Davenport in the 2005 Australian Open final. Williams then made it to the final, defeating Janković, Pe'er and Vaidišová. Williams described them as "good players. Strong players. Players who certainly didn't expect an overweight, out-of-shape, has been champion like me to give them a game." Williams also found herself two points from going out against Peer before turning it around. By the time Williams had reached the final, the cold and blister had both left. Previewing the finals, Tracy Austin stated that, although Williams had a great tournament, she believed that the ride was over and that Sharapova would have no trouble with Williams. Williams thought it was mean and unnecessary and used it as motivation along with other criticism. In the final, Williams lost just three games against Maria Sharapova, winning her first title at any tournament since winning the 2005 Australian Open 24 months prior. Williams became the first player since Chris O'Neil to win the title while not being seeded, and claimed her third Australian Open and eighth Grand Slam singles title overall. The win elevated Williams to 14th in the rankings. Williams dedicated the title to her deceased half-sister Yetunde. Her performance in the final was described in the press as "one of the best performances of her career" and "arguably the most powerful display ever seen in women's tennis". In her post-match interview, Williams took a swipe at her critics, stating that she had proved them wrong. Williams won the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami for the fourth time by defeating Justine Henin. Williams had to record a come-from-behind win after being whitewashed in the first set and saving two match points in the second. She played for her country in the Fed Cup for the first time since 2003 in a tie against Belgium, and won her opening match but withdrew from her second, because of a knee injury.


At the French Open, Williams lost in the quarterfinals to Henin. During her fourth round match against Hantuchová at Wimbledon, Williams collapsed from an acute muscle spasm at 5–5 in the second set. After a medical timeout and holding serve to force a tiebreak, rain forced play to be suspended for nearly two hours. When the players returned, Williams won the match in three sets. Williams then lost her quarterfinal match with Henin, whilst suffering from the injuries sustained in the previous round. At the US Open, Williams lost her third consecutive Grand Slam singles quarterfinal to Henin. Williams reached the final of Kremlin Cup, losing to Elena Dementieva. Williams qualified for the WTA Championships, but retired from her first match with Anna Chakvetadze with a knee injury and subsequently withdrew from the event. Williams finished 2007 as No. 7 and the top-ranked American for the first time since 2003.


 



Michael Jordan was part of the 1984 USA Men's Olympic Basketball team. He was the leading scorer with 17.1 points a game. The team's coach was Bob Knight. The Olympic Games in 1984 took place in the city of Los Angeles. Bob Knight has always been controversial because of his tactics as coach of the Indiana Hoosiers. The team was considered to be one of the strongest in U.S.A.'s history at that time, as it featured four of the five 1984 consensus first team All-Americans, in Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Wayman Tisdale, and Sam Perkins. Prior to the Olympics, the team played eight games against NBA All-Star teams including Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre and won all eight. That was shocking to some because those NBA players were already legends and icons. Michael Jordan proved himself to be one of the greats too. Later, the USA Olympic men's basketball team went 8–0 in the Olympic tournament, averaging 95.4 points per game, and holding their opponents to 63.3. Four players averaged double-figures in scoring: Michael Jordan (17.1), Chris Mullin (11.6), Patrick Ewing (11.0) and Steve Alford (10.3). Wayman Tisdale led the team in rebounding (5.9 per game), while Leon Wood led the team in assists (7.9 per game). The 1984 Summer Olympics allowed more people to witness the greatness of Michael Jordan. He led in scoring and inspired the crowds with his speed and athleticism. Many other people on the team like Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin would join Jordan in the future 1992 Dream Team. . Jordan recalled that while this Olympic experience was exciting, it had also been trying because of Knight: "I don't know if I would have done it if I knew what Knight was going to be like." 

 


Michael Jordan was part of the 1984 NBA Draft being one of the best draft classes in NBA History (along with the 1996 Draft Class and the 2003 Draft Class). One of the primary reasons why Jordan was not drafted sooner was because the first two teams were in need of a center. Trail Blazers general manager Stu Inman contended that it was not a matter of drafting a center but more a matter of taking Bowie over Jordan, in part because Portland already had Clyde Drexler, who was a guard with similar skills to Jordan. Citing Bowie's injury-laden college career, ESPN named the Blazers' choice of Bowie as the worst draft pick in North American professional sports history.


Jordan made his NBA debut at Chicago Stadium on October 26, 1984, and scored 16 points. In 2021, a ticket stub from the game sold at auction for $264,000, setting a record for a collectible ticket stub. During his rookie 1984–85 season with the Bulls, Jordan averaged 28.2 ppg on 51.5% shooting, and helped make a team that had won 35% of games in the previous three seasons playoff contenders. He quickly became a fan favorite even in opposing arenas. Roy S. Johnson of The New York Times described him as "the phenomenal rookie of the Bulls" in November, and Jordan appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the heading "A Star Is Born" in December. The fans also voted in Jordan as an All-Star starter during his rookie season. Controversy arose before the 1985 NBA All-Star Game when word surfaced that several veteran players, led by Isiah Thomas, were upset by the amount of attention Jordan was receiving. This led to a so-called "freeze-out" on Jordan, where players refused to pass the ball to him throughout the game. The controversy left Jordan relatively unaffected when he returned to regular season play, and he would go on to be voted the NBA Rookie of the Year. The Bulls finished the season 38–44, and lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in four games in the first round of the playoffs.


An often-cited moment was on August 26, 1985, when Jordan shook the arena during a Nike exhibition game in Trieste, Italy, by shattering the glass of the backboard with a dunk. The moment was filmed and is often referred to worldwide as an important milestone in Jordan's rise. The shoes Jordan wore during the game were auctioned in August 2020 and sold for $615,000, a record for a pair of sneakers.


 







For thousands of years among human history, health always remains an intrinsic study of life. Health is not just about food and exercise. It is about mental health, the growth of communities, addressing economic disparities in many communities, and other poignant or important issues of the world. With the advent of more advanced technologies, the Internet, and newer inventions addressing needs, we have seen an acceleration of the consciousness of the people understanding health information. During the course of the 21st century, new concepts have spread surrounding health. Millions of people in the world (not just in America) are still suffering debilitating conditions from the coronavirus pandemic. The virus has harmed tons of people in the world, and the good news is that less people are getting it as compared to 2 years ago. Now, we see the rise of infants and young children with the flu and RSV. These illnesses should be taken seriously. It is important to note that each person has a different biochemistry. What one form of a health program may work for one person will not work for another people. Also, it is important for people to gain wisdom from their doctors and their medical experts in getting the best advice available in developing an exercise regiment. As for vegans and non-vegans, people should have the right to be vegan or not. Regardless, folks need to be careful and get the healthy foods and healthy water in their systems to improve their lives. Like always, we believe in body positivity. That means that we know that beauty is diverse and not monolithic. There are beautiful people of many sizes and shapes. Not to mention that we will promote healthy living too. People have the right to learn the truth, inspire people, help people, and go about to fulfill their own dreams and aspirations succinctly. 



 



Many people don't know that the city of San Diego has a long Civil Rights Movement spanning over 100 years.  As early as 1917, W.E.B. DuBois traveled to San Diego to promote the Western states involving the NAACP. Many early leaders in the movement were ex-slave and Bethel A.M.E. Church co-founder Solomon Johnson an businessman Edward W. Anderson, the first black person in Southern California to file a racial discrimination lawsuit. Many black people in San Diego were always eager to fight for black freedom. Back in the early 20th century, black people in San Diego weren't allowed to go into certain restuaryants, or drink soda water, or go to the beach in the city. This was said by NAACP branch president Elijah J. Gentry. THe Klan was present in San Diego back then harming black people and Mexican immigrants too. Back in 1923 at OCean Beach, black people had their home burned to the ground as they fled for their lives. They were saved by a policeman. Later, and elderly black woman had her house destroyed by fire after being warned by racists to leave. Edward W. Anderson (1871-1954) filed a lawsuit to promote civil rights in California. Anderson won his 3 case but lost on appeal. Anderson had victories in promoting anti-discrimination policies in San Diego. The Unruh Civil Rights Act helped many people in California. After WWII, civil rights leader fought. Segregated housing existed in San Diego. Dr. Martin Luther King did visit San Diego on March 29, 1964. He worked with San Diego NAACP President Hartwell W. Ragdalse. Dr. King opposed housing discrimination in Western states. By 1964, there was a CORE protest calling for Bank of America to hire black bank tellers. Today, CORE is much more conservative, but back in the 1960's, CORE was a progressive organization. Harold Brown was at the CORE protest. Myrtle Cole has been a person who wanted people to know about San Diego's vast civil rights history too. Today, many positive changes have existed in America, but we have very long way to go. Even in 2022, we have the far right backlash restricting voting rights, hating ethnic studies being taught to students, and the effects of the January 6th insurrection terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol. San Diego didn't create an oversight board of investigating police brutality until the 1980's. In our time, we have to realize that to have freedom, we have to fight for it. We will continue to advance the Dream and advance our rights too. 

 


There has been commercials about testosterone for years now. A lot of people know what it is, and many people don't know what it is. What is testosterone? In laymen's terms, testosterone is a major sex hormone and it's an anabolic steroid in males. In human beings, testosterone plays a key role in the development of of male reproductive tissues like the testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondary sexual characteristics such as increased muscle and bone mass, and the growth of body hair. In addition, testosterone in both sexes is involved in health and well-being, including moods, behaviour, and in the prevention of osteoporosis. Insufficient levels of testosterone in men may lead to abnormalities including frailty and bone loss.



Testosterone is a steroid from the androstane class containing a ketone and a hydroxyl group at positions three and seventeen respectively. It is biosynthesized in several steps from cholesterol and is converted in the liver to inactive metabolites. It exerts its action through binding to and activation of the androgen receptor. In humans and most other vertebrates, testosterone is secreted primarily by the testicles of males (see Biosynthesis) and, to a lesser extent, the ovaries of females. On average, in adult males, levels of testosterone are about seven to eight times as great as in adult females. As the metabolism of testosterone in males is more pronounced, the daily production is about 20 times greater in men. Females are also more sensitive to the hormone.


In addition to its role as a natural hormone, testosterone is used as a medication in the treatment of hypogonadism in men and breast cancer in women. Since testosterone levels decrease as men age, testosterone is sometimes used in older men to counteract this deficiency. It is also used illicitly to enhance physique and performance, for instance in athletes. The World Anti-Doping Agency is listing it as S1 Anabolic agent substance "prohibited at all times".

By Timothy




Friday, October 28, 2022

News.

 

Over 140 years after 7 Black men were lynched, Indiana teen rectifies the injustice (msn.com)



Black Woman Entrepreneur Says She Now Owns A $3.5M Intermodal Container Operation After Leaving Her Teaching Job (msn.com)

Late October 2022 News.

 

Many members of the Democratic Socialists of America including members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus once sent a letter to President Biden to suggest that America must negotiate with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. The war started by an unjust invasion of Ukraine by Russia. We know that NATO isn't perfect and has been involved in militarism for years and decades. Yet, two wrongs don't make a right. NATO is wrong for its errors, and Russia is definitely wrong for its overt war crimes in Ukraine too. Many people in the Progressive Caucus and the DSA withdrew their plan of a negotiated peace by pressure from moderate Democrats. Caucus Chair Pramila Jaypal apologized for causing a distraction of the war effort. The truth is that she shouldn't apologize for wanting peace in Ukraine. We all do. Ukraine has the right to self-defense, but it is infeasible for this war to last forever. At the end of the day, you have to negotiate a settlement that respects Ukraine's sovereignty and make sure that Russia leaves Ukraine's territory without a WWIII scenario. It is important to reject both Russian and U.S. imperialism as both forms of imperialism are immoral, wrong, and evil.


The new UK Prime Minister is the New Conservative leader Rishi Sunak. He is the first nonwhite man to be the UK's Prime Minister which is very historic. He said that he will institute economic stability and confidence in the government's agenda. We shall wee. Sunak supported a multi-hundred billion bailout of the corporations at the outset of the pandemic. Biden supports Sunak's call for further investments in the Ukraine war. Sunak is under pressure from the far right to end post-Brexit trading rules with Northern Ireland, poisoning relations with the EU. When Republicans talk about crime and "law and order," we know this is coded language to scapegoat black people and other persons of color for all crime. The truth is that crime is complex, and crime must be stopped by using multifaceted, diverse, and holistic including comprehensive solutions (without prejudice, bigotry, scapegoating people, and fearmongering). This crime talk from the GOP is a new school version of the Southern Strategy.


We have some economic news coming about in the United States of America. U.S. GDP accelerated at a 2.6 percent pace in the 3rd Quarter. This growth is positive and turns positive. This was better than the estimate of 2.3%. There is a narrowing of the trade deficit and increases in consumer spending and government outlays boosted the number. Consumer spending decelerated, increasing at just a 1.4 percent pace in the quarter, down from 2% in Q2. The U.S. economy has its first period of positive growth for 2022 in the 3rd quarter. This may ease recession fears for now. GDP is the sum of all goods and services produced from July through September. This growth came in part because of the narrowing trade deficit. GDP gains came from increases in consumer spending, nonresidential fixed investment, and government spending. Mortgages for homes are still very high, as it is much more expensive to buy a home now than years ago. 


According to many sources and shown on CNN, many people close to Kanye West said that he had a sick admiration for Hitler. One business executive who worked for Kanye West said that Ye created a hostile work environment along with Kanye being obsessed with Hitler. This individual told CNN that Kanye would praise Hitler and praise the Nazi Party. This same person said that West spoke openly about reading Mein Kampf (which was the 1925 book written by Hitler). Four sources told CNN that West wanted Hitler to be the title for his 2018 album. It was eventually released as Ye. Van Lathan Jr. (a former TMZ employee) confronted West about Kanye saying that slavery was a choice. Lathan said that West made antisemitic comments during their conversation that is not released publicly. Lathan said that Kanye West said that he loves Hitler and the Nazis. Now, Addidas, Balenciaga, and other companies have cut ties with Kanye West. Kanye is no revolutionary. He is no free thinker. He is a self-hating, alt-right, and anti-Semitic sellout that betrayed the legacy of black social activism completely.




Days ago, was the Birthday of the late Mahalia Jackson. She is easily the greatest gospel singer in history. For decades, she not only sang music. She stood up for legitimate social causes like civil rights and helping the poor. Jackson was involved in spreading gospel music worldwide. Mahalia Jackson made about 22 million records during the time of Jim Crow. Mahalia Jackson sang in the Deep South, New York City, Zurich, and other places of the world. She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her grandparents were slaves. The blues and revival music influenced her career. One of her great songs was Move on Up a Little Higher in 1947 selling 2 million copies and being on the number 2 spot on the Billboard charts, both firsts for gospel music. 

Rest in Power Sister Mahalia Jackson.



Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Judge Lynn Toler On Why Relationship Advice Is Her Passion, Her WE tv Reality Series And Biggest Issues in Relationships Today

 Judge Lynn Toler On Why Relationship Advice Is Her Passion, Her WE tv Reality Series And Biggest Issues in Relationships Today (yahoo.com)

Mahalia Jackson.

 Mahalia Jackson - Songs, Death & Civil Rights - Biography

Nearing the End of the Midterms 2022 Elections.

 


Some promote the lie that voting doesn't matter, or this 2022 midterm election doesn't matter. It is obvious that the GOP promotes voter suppression laws, stopping student loan cancellation relief, banning gun control policies, and seeking economically regressive actions like tax cut increases for the super-wealthy. Some GOP people outright believe in the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. Some Republicans are bigots who hate anybody who isn't a white person. Therefore, we know what time it is. Voting matters, because voting helps to make changes to help the poor, the middle class, the oppressed, the homeless, and any human being. These far-right liars talk about crime, but they offer no solutions for crime that involve gun control, intervention programs, public investments in giving people jobs and economic power, and rehabilitation programs in prisons that will reduce crime. They talk about the issues in urban cities, but gentrification, tax cuts for the rich, lax investments, mass incarceration, austerity, and other evils (found in many urban communities) aren't progressive policies. These policies have been done by far-right people and neoliberal moderates for decades.


The only Florida gubernatorial debate between Charlie Crist and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was the only debate between the 2 candidates. It was a debate that talked about Hurricane Ian's response, culture wars, Republicans, abortion, and other political topics. It took place in the Sunrise Theatre in Fort Pierce, Florida. One of the biggest lies of DeSantis is that America's land is not stolen land. It is obvious historically that racists stole America's lands in millions of square miles and caused the genocide of millions of Native Americans. That is a historical fact. DeSantis said that he won't commit to a four-year team which increases the chance that he may run for President in 2024. DeSantis is a liar to say that CRT is about hating America. It's not. CRT is a college-level theory that talks about systemic racial oppression harming American life. Inflation is heavily caused by the corporate profiteers and the use of price gougers of profits and resources.


The Dominion Company is suing FOX News for defamation for promoted election fraud claims. The 1.6 billion dollar defamation suit from Dominion is very serious. Trump has lied that Dominion has used tactics to cheat the 2020 election. Trump falsely accused Dominion to flip votes in favor of Biden. Dominion CEO's said that people used paper to record elections, so recounts can be more efficient. Everyone knows that FOX News is a biased network in favor of Trump and Republicans. We know that many FOX news hosts have so much bias that it is really overt that their mission is to blame liberals and progressives for everything wrong in the world. Dominion said that people's lives have been election denying extremists. Also, Dominion said that FOX News knew that the election fraud claims were fraud, but FOX continued to promote the great lie in public among FOX News hosts and others for weeks. The common myth that many Republicans do is to blame Biden for inflation. That is false, because one man can't control every aspect of the economy. The Republicans are overt in wanting to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Many Republicans refused to believe in negotiating drug prices to make sure that prescription drugs are cheaper. Inflation is caused by the pandemic, supply chain disruption, corporate greed, and other reasons. Inflation is not caused by wages increases as wages are increasing slower. Corporations are raising prices too high causing inflation in American society. Wealthy corporations now have record profits. Federal assistance to those suffering from the pandemic induced recession didn't overheat the economy. The assistance gave people and families means to stay afloat. The Democrats passed policies to try to reduce inflation. Fighting inflation can be stopped by windfall taxes and using policies to decrease the power of economic monopolies.


Days ago was the Birthday of the late Rosa Parks. She was more than a person who refused to seat on the black of the bus. She was a total revolutionary. For decades, she has shown the light of truth to stand up against injustice. Long before the 1950's, she fought racism, and she opposed rape against black women. Rosa Parks was a leader in the NAACP and other civil rights organizations. She fought apartheid in South Africa, supported the Black Panthers, resisted the prison industrial complex, and cited Malcolm X as her personal hero. Rosa Parks was born in the Deep South and lived across America in helping fellow human beings. For the past few years, many deluded people want to minimize her accomplishments. These people are wrong, because Rosa Parks was a real revolutionary for fought for social change long before the 1950's in real life. That is why Rosa Parks is honored by us. She is part of our black American story. She sacrificed her life for us living in the end of 2022. 

Rest in Power Sister Rosa Parks.


By Timothy







Monday, October 24, 2022

The Greats.

  



There are lot of people who changed history and culture for centuries and millennia. He is one human being who changed basketball forever not only with his athleticism and skills on the courts. He is one of the most well-known promoters of business and sports in human history. He is Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan wasn't the first athlete to do what he has done. Yet, he was the first basketball athlete who took his athletic basketball gifts to the next level of prominence that inspired the national and international growth of basketball. Also, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player in NBA history without question. With him playing 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association, Jordan won six NBA Championships with the Chicago Bulls, he was a 14-time NBA All-Star, he won 2 Olympic gold medals, he was a 2-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion, and he won the NBA MVP 5 times. These are just some of his many accomplishments. Like us, Michael Jordan isn't perfect. To accurately describe the story of a human being, you have to honestly talk about the good things that a person did and the mistakes in order for people (especially people in future generations to learn lessons to avoid the pitfalls of life). Michael Jordan's philanthropy has been extensive, and his life documents how powerful fulfilled dreams are. Dreaming is great, and you have to legitimate actions in light to get your dreams accomplished (filled with determination, hard work, kindness to others, courage, and standing up for justice for all). Michael Jordan has been on this Earth for almost 60 years being an inspirational cultural icon. 

 


Serena Williams is the greatest woman tennis player of all time, and she is one of the greatest athletes in human history period. She made massive contributions, and she gave inspiration to current women athletes to accomplish their goals. From being involved in fashion and fighting for pay equity, regardless of sex. Serena Williams has always been on the side of the people. Serena Williams has stood up for people spanning years and decades now. From Compton to Florida, her life stories have been filled with overcoming obstacles and existing in triumph. Her dreams have been fulfilled involving tennis, philanthropy, and other arenas of her own life. Right now, she is forty years old. Legend is an understatement to describe her outstanding tennis career. She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most of any player in the Open Era. She has ranked Number One on 8 times by The Women's Tennis Association between 2002 and 2017. Not to mention that she has many records involving the sport. She was born in Saginaw, Michigan. Serena has the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined among active players. Her sister Venus Williams is an excellent tennis player in her own right too. Her father and her mother inspired her to achieve her goals. Serena Williams is known for being a baseline player with a strong serve and great agility. She once had a serve of 128.6 mph which is the 3rd fastest women's serve in human history. Her professional career started in 1995. In 1999, she defeated No. 1 Hingis to be the 2nd African American woman (after Althea Gibson in 1958) to win a Grand Slam singles tournament. Serena Williams grew more accomplishments in winning the 2003 Australian Open. She made a comeback to be the Number one player in the world in 2013. She won the Australian Open in 2017. She loves her children, her charity work, and her family. Serena Williams is an expert in fashion, supporting Black Lives Matter, etc. She has invested in women's soccer and won 4 gold medals in the Olympics. Both Serena and Venus give honor to the black tennis legends who came before them like: Althea Gibson, Arthur Ashe, Zina Garrison, Chanda Rubin, Lori McNeil, Katrina Adams, Ora Washington, and other unsung legends. Serena Williams represents Black Excellence and the power of human perseverance completely. 


 



Pam Grier was born on May 26, 1949, at Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her parents are Gwendolyn Sylvia Samuels (a homemaker and nurse) and Clarence Ransom Grier Jr. (a mechanic and a technical sergeant of the United States Air Force). She has one sister and one brother. She was raised Catholic and was later baptized as a Methodist. Grier said that she has African American, Latino, Chinese, Filipino, and Cheyenne heritage. Her father had a long military career, so the family moved around the world during her childhood. By the time she was 6 years old, they lived in Swindon in South West England, United Kingdom. Her father worked on an airfore base. Grier was the only black families in town. Pam Grier said that she faced on racism or segregation compared to America. She said that, "They didn’t care that I was black since they hadn’t been raised to hate blacks. Instead they’d been raised to hate Germans... In the U.S., especially in the South, we were never able to get buses to stop for us, we couldn’t eat in certain restaurants, couldn’t use certain bathrooms. Up until 1969, there were department stores in which my father and I weren’t even allowed to try on clothing."


After two years in the UK, the family came back to the United States of America. They settled in Denver, Colorado. Pam Grier spent part of her upbringing on her maternal grandparents' sugar beet farm in rural Wyoming where their ancestors had homesteaded after fleeing west via the Underground Railroad to escape slavery. Grier attended East High School in Denver and appeared in many stage productions. She also participated in beauty contests to raise money for college tuition at Metropolitan State College. In 1967, Pam Grier moved to Los Angeles, California. She worked at the switchboard at American International Pictures (AIP). She is believed to have been discovered by director Jack Hill, who cast her in his women-in-prison films The Big Doll House (1971) and The Big Bird Cage (1972). While under contract at AIP, she became a staple of early 1970s blaxploitation movies, playing big, bold, assertive women. Later, the movie Coffy was released in 1973. Coffy changed the whole world. You can make the case that Pam Grier is the first woman superhero crime fighter in modern American film. The movie of Coffy was about Pam Grier playing Coffy, who is a nurse who seeks justice against drug dealers harming the black community. Coffy was a hit and it had violence, sexual themes, and a lesson about confronting injustice in communities. Pam Grier was the first African American woman to headline an action film. This was part of the Blaxploitation movie genre movement.  In his review of Coffy, critic Roger Ebert praised the film for its believable woman lead. During the 1970's, she played similar roles of a black woman fighting the establishment and drug dealers in society with roles like Foxy Brown in 1974, Sheba, Baby (1975), and Friday Foster (1975). By the 1970's, Pam Grier dated prominent and famous men. 


She met basketball player Ferdinand Lewis (Lew) Alcindor before he became a Muslim; soon after they began dating, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Abdul-Jabbar proposed to Grier but gave her an ultimatum to convert to Islam. He said, "If you don't commit to me today, I'm getting married at 2 this afternoon. She's a converted Muslim, and she's been prepared for me," adding, "once you become Muslim, you might appreciate another wife." Grier declined, so he got married that day. Grier met comedian Freddie Prinze while promoting her film Coffy in 1973. They began a relationship and considered marriage. Prinze wanted her to have his baby, but she was reluctant due to his history of depression and drug addiction. They remained in touch after she left him. She was one of the last people Prinze spoke to before he died in 1977.


Grier met comedian Richard Pryor through her relationship with Prinze, but they did not begin dating until they were both cast in Greased Lightning. She helped Pryor learn to read and tried to help him with his drug addiction. After six months of sobriety, he relapsed. In her memoir, Grier described how her sexual relationship with Pryor caused cocaine to enter her system. Grier confronted Pryor about protecting her health, but he refused to use a condom. Pryor married Deborah McGuire while dating Grier in 1977.


Grier was formerly romantically linked to Jimmie “Big Wheel" Wheeler, a famous boxing promoter, Soul Train host Don Cornelius and basketball player Wilt Chamberlain.


By the end of the 1970's, the game has changed. Blaxploitation films started to end, sci-fi films increased in power, and the country was changing politically plus socially. Pam Grier wanted to play more diverse roles. So, he played a prostitute in Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981) and a witch in Something Wicked this Way Comes (1983). In 1985, Grier made her theatrical debut in Sam Sheppard's Fool for Love at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Grier returned to film as Steven Seagal's detective partner in Above the Law (1988). She had a recurring role in Miami Vice from 1985 to 1989. She had a recurring role in the TV series Crime Story between 1986 and 1988. Grier was diagnosed with stage-four cervical cancer in 1988 and was told she had 18 months to live. Through vigorous treatment, she made a recovery and has been in remission. That was certainly excellent news. 


 


People have wondered now, what has happened to Kanye West? He went from talking about supporting opposition to the policies of George W. Bush involving Katrina to being one of the biggest disappointments in music history. This started with years in the making. From the start, he is one of the most talented musicians and producers of the 21st century. His contribution to music is well known from making albums to producing beats from across genres (especially in hip-hop music). The turning point was when broke off the relationship with his black American fiancé Alexis Phifer and the passing away of his mother. People like to attribute mental health to his antics, but the vast majority of people with mental health issues don't act like Kanye West at all. At the end of the day, Kanye West seeks white acceptance so much (in praising white business leaders on a massive scale without praising black geniuses on an equal footing), that he made irrational statements about life and culture. Kanye West said self-hating, anti-black words like slavery is a choice, George Floyd didn't die by a neck on his neck, white straight men are judged more than any other group of people, glorifying Confederate T-shirts, loving the White Lives Matter T-Shirt, etc. These actions are reflections of a pro-Trump alt right extremist who Kanye West is now. Kanye West (like Charleston White) promote a false conscious exterior (in claiming to be pro-black), when their interior views are filled with far-right anti-Blackness. He said that he wants to go def con 3 against Jewish people without making a distinction between good and evil people found in every ethnic group. Without making those distinctions, Kanye West made an anti-Semitic statement, and he admitted that his comments are anti-Semitic. Kanye West believes that Jewish people run the industry and that they revel in exploitation, terror, and glorification of violence (and disrespect of women) in hip hop. The truth is that one ethnic group doesn't control every aspect of the industry. For example, Lucian Grainge of Universal Music Group is not Jewish. Vincent Bollore of Vivendi is not Jewish. Jeff Bezos is not Jewish. Many heads of corporate power are found in the Pilgrim Society, the Knights of Malta, and other groups that people like Kanye don't talk about. It is clear that we condemn and oppose anti-Semitism, anti-black racism, and any form of bigotry period. There are no excuses for these evils. Therefore, we are clear that Kanye West lost his way, and many of the Kardashians aren't innocent either. Khloe Kardashian never apologized for placing the chains on the necks of black women years ago. The Kardashians have a well-known history to economically and sexually exploit low self-esteem black males in order to gain prestige, profit, and power. Kris Jenner has a known history of cultural appropriation and blackfishing. Today, many people want to distance from Kanye West because of his controversies. Many people are criticizing N.O.R.E. for giving Kanye a platform to speak, but they are silent on Pierce Morgan and Tucker Carlson giving him a platform to speak because of the obvious reason. I don't have to spell it out. N.O.R.E., Morgan, and Carlson should be equally criticized. Kanye West lusted after white privilege so much that he made a voluntary decision to show self-hatred at the expense of his own dignity. It is what it is. You notice that Kanye West doesn't talk about solutions like revolutionary black activism, Pan-African unity, going out to support black musicians to have economic independence, building institutions controlled by black people, and seeking out to advocate for reparations for black Americans. His stances are always about appeasing the interests of far-right white racists. Kanye's actions have nothing to do with Jesus Christ or real Christian teachings, despite his claims. Stereotyping every Jewish person as an exploiter is not Christ-like, going about to dismiss the truth about George Floyd's unjust death is not Christian, and going out allying with the far-right extremist Candace Owens (who agrees with European colonialism, disrespects Native Americans, and lied about George Floyd's passing) is not righteous either. Candace Owens lied and said that current black culture is about gangbanging being cool, lax educational standards, saying the n word, and hatred of exercise. The reality is that real black culture is about education, tolerance, building music, and advancing truth. Owens forgets the unsung black heroes standing up for integrity in the black community for decades and centuries. Black people and black culture are diverse, not monolithic. Owens hypocritically believes that white people are not a monolith, but she believes that black people are monolithic mostly. Owens lied and said that leftists caused the October 2018 mail bombing attempts, she lied saying that Russia created Ukraine. Kanye's lust for white validation is clear for all to see now. Kanye forgets that freedom for black people is more than about words. It's about deeds to advance the black collective in seeking independence and human liberation. 

 

We have a new election year in 2022. Still, polarization consumes American politics. With the record turnout of early voting in Georgia, we already know that voting is a very important action to pursue. As others have conclusively mentioned, voting helps to invest in communities, gives people opportunities to be on school boards, helps to promote fair representation in American locations, and promotes more power in helping to change lives for the better. The 2022 United States elections are one of the most important elections in our lifetimes. The Supreme Court recently passed extreme decisions, we have a strong far-right backlash that threatens democracy as we know it, and we witnessed even innocent voters being arrested in Florida (just like in the Jim Crow era when innocent black people were arrested for just wanting to vote in the South). During this midterm year, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate will be contested. There are 39 state and territorial gubernatorial elections too. States and local elections are abundant. Many GOP election deniers are part of the campaigns during this cycle as well. This will be the first election affected by the redistricting that followed the 2020 Census. What we see now is another crossroad during the middle of the first term of the Presidency of Joe Biden. Even some Democratic candidates want Biden to just serve one term. The GOP primaries saw far right extremists winning them. Donald Trump has toured the nation to promote election denialism, xenophobia, and other forms of nihilistic extremism. President Biden's approval rating is at 45 percent which is steady. The theme of the midterm election is that many still have underestimated the persistence of the far-right movement in harming democracy with election workers being intimidated and quitting (because of them being threatened by cowards). This is an inflection point in history. The issues prominently shown during the 2022 Midterm elections are about democracy, immigration, abortion, the economy, crime, gun control, the Presidency of Joe Biden (in a referendum), the Russian invasion of Ukraine, student loan forgiveness, book banning, the environment, and other issues. Protecting democracy is a huge priority. Without democracy, we won't have basic human rights to flourish in any society. Human equality is the ideal that we believe in. We have to fight for that ideal in an earnest, progressive fashion. We accept the results of any election without violence. Whether we win or lose an election, we build institutions and power to grow our communities, our families, and our nation. That is certainly a true, august point that we accept 100 percent. 


 


In life, there is always hope and the opportunity to be better as human beings. We are fortunate to live in this time and generation to not only live but to grow. Growing means treating people right, helping our neighbors, caring about ideals of justice and truth, and being a light for righteousness. A long time ago, I always wondered about my ancestry beyond my grandparents. I tried to research my family tree at a higher level in 2015 and 2016, but it wasn't very successful. Everything changed in 2018. That year, I went to Ancestry.com to find information about my ancestry. I took many DNA tests from Ancestry.com and from 23 and Me. In that year, I found out more information than I could imagine. I discovered that I was a descendant of both Zilphy Claud and George Perkins. I understood the concept of a haplogroup as it relates to humanity and DNA. From 2018 to the present, I learned about so many of my cousins. I found many of my cousins being found in places from across the world, some are activists, some are teachers, some are celebrities, and others are athletes. Yet, we share the common bond of being part of one single family. Families make the world go around, and I appreciate learning this information at the right time. Like always, learning doesn't stop. Even in 2022, I learned even more information about my relatives found in the four corners of the Earth. 



One of my greatest relatives was Ernest Lee D. Sr. (1935-2015). She lived from June 29, 1935, in Halifax, North Carolina to July 10, 2015, in Cranbury, Middlesex County, New Jersey. He was my paternal 1st cousin. Many of my paternal relatives came from Halifax, North Carolina at Scotland Neck. Later, many of them migrated from North Carolina to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, other places of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and other places in the United States of America. In April 1955, Ernest Lee D. Sr. married Myrna Mae Wilson (1939-2002) at Cranbury Township, Middlesex, New Jersey. Ernest D. Sr. was a great man. He was employed as a truck driver with LTL Services in Dayton, New Jersey for many years. He was a father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, and nephew. He always gave back to his family and his community. His parents were Annie Mae D. (1910-1984) and Herbert Lee (1908-1976). Ernest Lee D. Sr. and Annie Mae Wilson had the following children of: Clifford A. D. (1956-2014), Gwendolyn Merle D., Sandra E. D. (1958-2022), Dorothy L. Bing (b. 1952), Ernest L. D. Jr. (b. 1954), Anthony Q. D, James D. D. (b. 1961), and Carl R. D. (b. 1966). Ernest D. Sr. had 9 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Ernest's wife of Annie Mae Wilson lived to be 62 years old and was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Also, she lived in Cranbury for the majority of her life being a crossing guard at Cranbury Township for many years. Her parents are Carrie and Reginald S. Wilson Dr. Her brother is Reginald S. Wilson Jr. Ernest Lee D. Sr. and Annie Mae Wilson's grandchildren are: Kyndrich Rashad D., Brittany D., Michael D., Regina D., Matthew D., Ernest L. D. III, Danielle Bing, Latoya Bing, and Beanna Bing. 



By Timothy




Friday, October 21, 2022

The Time of Defending Our Democracy.

 

Our democracy is under threat and has been harmed. This election in 2022 is very important. Even now, voters in Florida have been harassed and unjustly arrested for just trying to vote. An increase of criminal threats against voter workers (former and current) has existed in America. These neo-fascists hate democracy so much that they want their toxic, obscene political views to spread. The far-right including many Trump supporters (who know that they can't convince a majority of Americans to support their views) want to use the plan of using redistricting, voter suppression unjust laws, violence like in the U.S. Capitol, and other tactics in trying to undermine democracy once and for all in American society. This far-right menace is the biggest threat to our nation since the American Civil War and I'm not exaggerating. One of my ancestors fought in the U.S. Civil War over 150 years ago, and we know what fascism looks like. Democracy has been harmed in nations run by authoritarian autocrats in Hungary, Brazil, etc. Election deniers don't deserve our support, and they desire no admiration.


Today, many far right people and conservatives lecture us on crime. They forget the nuisance of crime. The vast majority of people on Earth regardless of creed or color oppose violent crimes like rape, murder, assault, etc. People who do those crimes should have a trial and be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Yet, some folks view crime as so monolithic without any distinctions. In other words, you don't punish a murderer equivalent to how you would punish a shoplifter. Both actions are evil, but they are different.  Regardless of what Joe Scarborough (who defends Truman) and Al Sharpton (who allies with corporate capitalist power but wants to mock those who believe in social activism that supports defund the police) have said, many people who promote defund the police (which means reallocating resources to help suffering people) are not "latte liberals" living in ivory towers. Both of them believe in the non-sequitur that if you advocate for social justice overtly (and subscribe to defund the police) then you don't care about human safety in communities. 


Many of grassroots activists are in the streets fighting for justice for years and decades. Therefore, many Republicans lecture us on crime, but they offer no solutions on stopping crime. Crime exists by many factors like proximity, massive access to guns, socioeconomic factors, some people just want to do evil, and other reasons. To stop crime, a holistic approach is needed like gun control measures, investing in communities, strict laws against those who commit the most violent crime, rehabilitation programs in prison (to make sure those who leave prison can have the opportunity to live a better life), mentorships, and other intervention actions to lower crimes. Yet, you don't hear that a lot in the corporate media, because many of them want to push the false narrative that defund the police is the worst slogan in human history. If it wasn't for those who protested for George Floyd (including many people who say defund the police), the policemen who murdered George Floyd would have walked.


There is the story of the Iranian rock climber arriving back in Tehran, Iran after competing without a hijab. In Iran, women are forced to wear a hijab or face severe consequences potentially. Her name is Elnaz Rekabi, and she is 33 years old. She competed in the International Federation of Sport Climbing's Asian Championships in Seoul on Sunday. She wore her headband with her hair in a ponytail while competing spread on social media. People cheered her when she arrived in Tehran early on Wednesday morning. She spoke to the media at the capital's Imam Khomeini International Airport. Many of her supporters in Iran chanted the words of "Elnaz the hero." Right now, in Iran, there are nationwide protests calling for greater freedoms for women after a 22-year-old Iranian woman died in police custody. Her arrest was for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly. We shall see what Iran will become in the future.


Now, we know that Trump knew of voter fraud claims being false. That is why a federal judge on Wednesday ordered the release of emails from John Eastman. John Eastman was a former Trump attorney to House investigators said that communications were made in furtherance of a crime related to Trump's efforts to subvert the 2020 election. Judge David O. Carter wrote that the emails prove that then-President Trump knew that the voter fraud allegation was wrong. Judge Carter already released many of Eastman's emails from January 2021 to the House select committee investigating the U.S. attacks. Carter's findings will increase the power of the committee's investigation into the former President's tactics. The committee argued that a core tenet of Trump's plan to overturn the 2020 election results was to file frivolous lawsuits to delay the certification of the results in key swing states. That action from Trump obviously failed.


By Timothy



Wednesday, October 19, 2022

No to Foreign Military Intervention In Haiti! Yes, to Haitian Self-Determination!

 No to Foreign Military Intervention In Haiti! Yes, to Haitian Self-Determination! | Black Agenda Report

JFK Research.

 The Killing Floor (kennedysandking.com)

The Case Against Nuclear Power: A Primer

 The Case Against Nuclear Power: A Primer - CounterPunch.org

In South Africa, Resistance Rises to the World Bank’s Climate-Killing Mega-Projects

 In South Africa, Resistance Rises to the World Bank’s Climate-Killing Mega-Projects - CounterPunch.org

The Cuban Missile Crisis.

 60 Years of Luck: The Cuban Missile Crisis was a Warning, So Why Did the Nuclear Arms Race Escalate? - CounterPunch.org

Confronting Issues.

 

There is no question that there are pro-Trump networks in parts (not all) of the FBI. The January 6th committee proved pro-Trump people in the Secret Service and in the FBI. That is why many people in those groups expressed empathy for the terrorists who caused the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. There is film footage of Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Steny Hoyer demanding earnestly to get the police and U.S. National Guard to be deployed to stop the violence at the U.S. Capitol. Trump did nothing for years while the U.S. Capitol was defiled in obscene ways, racists waved Confederate plus Neo-Nazi flags, and people screamed to try to hang Mike Pence. The Supreme Court recently rejected Donald Trump's motion to try to get classified documents back. Russia is losing the war in Ukraine, so they are sending 100 missiles. The GOP's agenda is clear. It's a plan to destroy the social safety net using the debt ceiling as an excuse, bigotry, and other fascist policies.


Recent GOP anti-immigration ads are not only racist and xenophobic. These ads are promoted by Stephen Miller, who promoted the false replacement theory. Immigration is a complex issue. The crisis never originated from migrants and immigrants (both documented and undocumented) who seek survival. It started long ago by wealthy corporate power who want to divide people based on immigration status in order to gain profits worldwide. Also, this problem has been facilitated by Western support of authoritarian regimes decades ago causing many people to flee to America for human survival. J.D. Vance knows that these recent anti-immigrant ads are bigoted, but he is a pro-Trump extremist in Ohio. This far-right agenda is a backlash against the George Floyd protests, the taking down of Confederate statues, etc. They want to ban books that tell the truth about American history and ban books that seek to tell people about the diverse members of the human family. This backlash is not new, as it has existed for centuries in America alone. Nothing is new under the sun. Either we believe in egalitarianism and democracy or fascism. Either we believe in human equality or not. Me personality, I believe in egalitarianism, democracy, and human equality plus justice (as the Golden Rule remains true).


Donald Trump made another anti-Semitic statement by criticizing American Jewish people for showing insufficient praise of his policies toward Israel. He said that they need to "get their act together" before "it is too late." This nonsense by Trump is about the Trump promoting the anti-Semitic lie that Jewish people by default must unconditionally support any policy of Israel. The truth is that there are righteous Israelis and righteous Palestinians who don't want permanent war, brutal occupation, or bigotry. They want peace and equality for all Israelis and all Palestinians in the region. These are the people that we should support, not a racist and sexist far-right extremist Donald Trump. American Jewish people don't have dual loyalties. They are patriotic people just like black Americans are very heroic people. It is hypocritical for Trump to lecture Jewish people on their heritage when he supported the election lie (and he provoked racists, anti-Semites, and other extremists to rally plus cause obscene terroristic violence at the Capitol in a failed coup d'état against America). Trump is against democracy, and he has some nerve to lecture any group of people on issues of politics. As Karine Jean-Pierre has said, Trump's comments are blatantly antisemitic and insulting to Jewish people and others.


Kanye West been crossed the line for years. Kanye West lied and said that George Floyd blamed Floyd's death on Fentanyl not the police officer's knee on his neck. West is a liar. The truth is that the officers placed the knee on Floyd's neck to kill George Floyd. West said these words on the Drink Champs show with NORE, and NORE didn't check Kanye West on his illogical comments. The truth about Kanye West is that he is a hypocrite. He claims to be cutting edge and "independent," but many of his views are the same tired anti-black rhetoric shown by white racists for decades and centuries in America. For example, Kanye West supported the evil person Donald Trump, called slavery a choice, and constantly bashes black people who disagree with him (with disrespectful rhetoric, but he won't confront white racism collectively to advocate black liberation). 



Recently, Nury Martinez resigned for making anti-black racist comments about a black child. Nury Martinez resigned for doing that evil action. She was the Los Angeles City Council for the 6th district from 2013 to 2022. The audio involved a conversation with Gil Cedillo, Kevin de Leon, and Ron Herrera. Martinez criticized District Attorney George Gascon. Martinez called fellow council member Mike Bonin’s black adopted child. There is absolutely no justification for Nury Martinez’s evil, racist commentaries (about a black child and the redistricting situation in the area of Los Angeles). Two things are true. There are anti-Black sentiments among some people in the Latino community, and tons of Latino people are not racists. Nury Martinez is completely wrong, and there is a high percentage of Afro-Latinos who are black people too. Some people need to know that. For Los Angeles to heal for real, then we must oppose evil and build up a system of justice. There are protests now, and people are rightfully calling for more LA City Council members to resign after the conversation that was leaked. Therefore, we must confront racism and all injustices to see real justice for all made into a reality.



By Timothy



Monday, October 17, 2022

Paul Robeson.

 "Lifechangers" changing lives in West Philly - The Chess Drum

An Evil Rally.

 Massachusetts Cop Involved in Planning Deadly Charlottesville Rally Might Finally Get The Boot (msn.com)

Trumpism.

MSN

News about Life and History.

 

For years, people know the overt truth about Thanksgiving. In the United States of America, Thanksgiving is a national holiday that takes place on a Thursday in late November. The concept of thanksgiving has existed in religions and ceremonies spanning centuries and thousands of years. There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving thanks to God about living on this Earth, eating food that has been blessed, and going out to do almsgiving to help out the suffering. We live in a unique time in human history with both the expansion of advanced technology and more political polarization too. During this 21st century, we have profound opportunities to learn and to grow in being better human beings. On Thanksgiving, tons of people witness parades, parties, sports games (like American football games being played worldwide), and other forms of celebrations. Also, we know that everything in the world is not right. In America alone, more than 1 million people have passed away from the coronavirus pandemic (and now virus cases have declined in America after a long time). We have Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members being on trial for their role in the terrorist insurrection of January 6th, 2021. Also, there is a massive issue of global warming where even parts of the Mississippi river have dried up with drought being around a massive part of America. Record high temperatures are commonplace worldwide. 


It is transparently clear that the January 6th committee has shown more than enough conclusive evidence that Donald Trump, Oath Keepers, and other far-right extremists worked in an overt conspiracy to try to overthrow the legal 2020 Presidential election. There have been stories of Oath Keepers having links with some Secret Service members during the Trump Presidency. Stewart Rhodes is on trial for his treason against America. The Department of Justice should not only issue subpoenas but charge Donald Trump in a criminal case. The hearings show that Trump made a plan to try to overthrow the election before the election of November 2020 was finished. Trump knew that he lost the election as said by Cassidy Hutchinson in her sworn testimony. Trump knew that his allegations of election fraud were false when he wanted Georgia political leaders to manipulate the results when Georgia was won by Joseph Biden. Trump has been subpoenaed. The panel has less than 3 months to finish its work. The January 6th committee did a great job in exposing how Donald Trump and his reactionary allies tried to overthrow and end American democracy as we know it. We have every God-given right to defend, preserve, and strengthen our democratic institutions. Accountability towards those who harmed the U.S. Capitol and violated democratic freedom must be enacted. Over the course of many months, there is a higher chance of Attorney General Merrick Garland will charge Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of Congress (which are 2 federal crimes). 


We have economic problems in America. This problem existed long before President Joe Biden was President. Some believe in the myth that laissez-faire capitalism is the only solution to lower inflation, reduce interest rates, and increase the credit necessary to grow the American economy. The truth is the opposite in that massive monopoly power, laissez-faire capitalism, and economic oppression contributed to the economic problems in American society in the first place. One example of this monopoly power is that if Kroger merges with Albertsons, it will control Safeway, Ralphs, Smith's, Harris Teeter, Dillons, Fred Meyer, Vons, Jewel-Osco, and Shaw's. This advances oligarchy.  Corporations and the super-wealthy who believe that tax breaks for them will trickle down to everyone else is outlining fiction. We have to disagree with extremists who want to massively cut Social Security and Medicare that people worked for. Some good news is that starting on January 2023, Social Security's monthly benefits will go up by over $140 a month. That increase will help millions of retirees, people with disabilities, veterans, widows, children, and other people who need food, medicine, and housing. 



Now, Thanksgiving which is an American holiday has a long history. Among the thousands of years of human history, many people in the four corners of the Earth celebrated family friends, food, justice, compassion, and the spiritual qualities of togetherness. This is not new. We realize that in 1541, Spanish explorers had their feast on American soil. In 1607, English colonists at Fort St. George assembled for a harvest feast and prayer meeting with the Abenaki Native Americans of Maine. The Thanksgiving that many people talk about involves the New England's Thanksgiving among European settlers and Native Americans during the year of 1621 in the area of Massachusetts. One major part of this history was the Mayflower Compact. To start, we have to look at the time period back then. In America, back then, Native Americans mostly were the inhabitants of the Americas. They had their own languages, creeds, and beautiful complex, diverse culture. For example, the Mayan culture had advanced cities and calendar systems. Large Mound cultures of early America existed too in North America. In Europe, it was a different story. Europe was dominated mostly by religious groups and monarchical rule. Many people in Europe couldn't worship as they please, and many lacked political rights. The dominate religious institution in Europe back then (during the early 17th century) was the Vatican. This was about more than 100 years after the Reformation. The Vatican so exploited indulgences and committed other errors that the Reformation happened. The Vatican institution is wrong to claim that the Pope is the Holy Father, to believe in purgatory, and to believe in the Inquisition (until the Vatican apologized for it), and to enact other forms of corruption. 


Erasmus tried to make reforms in the Roman Catholic Church. Erasmus was a great religious scholar and a prominent intellectual. Martin Luther made his 95 Theses to protest the Roman Catholic Church's policies. The Roman Catholic Church refused to change, and the Reformation existed by 1517. The Vatican created the Counter Reformation (with support by the Jesuits too) to counteract the influence of the Protestant Reformation. Major wars among Protestants and Catholics existed well into the 1600's and beyond in places like Ireland. Obviously, we can agree to disagree on religious matters without being violently disagreeable as religious freedom including the separation of church and state are hallmarks of a progressive society. The fruit of the Jesuit-inspired Counter Reformation is the Ecumenical Movement (which is promoted by the leaders of the Vatican and some Protestant movements to develop compromise on theological matters explicitly). Even some Protestants were wrong to persecute Baptists and Anabaptists centuries ago (because the Baptists and Anabaptists rejected infant baptism. Infant baptism has no basis in scripture or logic as an infant can't make a conscious decision to join a church or religious organization). 



The Thanksgiving story deals with 2 groups of the Pilgrims and the Puritans. It is always important to establish the distinction between the Pilgrims and the Puritans. The Pilgrims came to America first, and the Puritans (who were mostly middle class and sought to reform the Church of England) came to America second. The Pilgrims were very much Separatists, working class, and some were very poor. They wanted to leave the Church of England totally. They formed the Mayflower Compact in 1621 to establish their own religious and political views. They wanted a more democratic model of governance for their adherents. They were in conflict with the English King James I. He believed in the divine right of kings heresy, which is very similar to the Pope falsely claiming divine authority over all believers of God. King James I was right to disagree with many of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. King James I was right to disagree with witchcraft as he wrote literature in opposition to it. His error was that King James I made it his business to persecute Baptists and other separatists who didn't want to submit to the state church. I believe in the separation of church and state. Back then, human beings, who disagreed with state church institutions, were imprisoned or killed during the early 1600's in Europe. To disagree with a government authority back then was equivalent to treason (according to extremists). That is why many Baptists, Puritans, and other Protestant separatists left the UK and came into America. These dissidents made errors too, so that will be shown later. For now, we know that the Anglican Church was nearly identical to the Catholic Church in their ecclesiology.  Also, William Schaw worked with King James VI of Scotland. William Schaw (who was accused of being a suspected Jesuit and holding anti-English views during the 1590’s. We know about the pro-Jesuits zealots involved in the evil Gunpowder terrorist plot in England against King James and his government. The plot was led by Roman Catholic Robert Catesby) who helped to build castles and palaces. 


Robert Catesby's fellow plotters were John and Christopher Wright, Robert and Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy, Guy Fawkes, Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates, John Grant, Ambrose Rookwood, Sir Everard Digby, and Francis Tresham. Fawkes, who had 10 years of military experience fighting in the Spanish Netherlands in the failed suppression of the Dutch Revolt, was given charge of the explosives. Some claim that William Schaw was an important figure in the development of Freemasonry in Scotland (as he was involved in the First and Second Schaw statues). Early Thanksgiving ceremonies were in Virginia by 1607, in Charles City County, Virginia in 1637, and were created by the French plus the Spanish during the 16th century. 




Many Puritans, Baptists, and other separatists wanted religious freedom. They realized that a king in Europe, especially in the UK, having authoritarian powers is antithetical to democratic rights. Now, many of them did the wrong thing in murdering Native Americans and enslaving innocent black Africans. I want to make that perfectly clear. The English Pilgrims was led by William Bradford. They experienced religious persecution in England (they lived in the village of Scrooby near East Retford, Nottinghamshire). By 1607, Archbishop Tobias Matthew raided homes and imprisoned several members of the congregation.  The congregation left England in 1608 and emigrated to the Netherlands, settling first in Amsterdam and then in Leiden. In Leiden, the congregation gained the freedom to worship as they chose, but Dutch society was unfamiliar to them. Scrooby had been an agricultural community, whereas Leiden was a thriving industrial center, and they found the pace of life difficult. The community remained close-knit, but their children began adopting the Dutch language and customs, and some also entered the Dutch Army. They also were still not free from the persecution of the English Crown. English authorities came to Leiden to arrest William Brewster in 1618 after he published comments highly critical of the King of England and the Anglican Church. Brewster escaped arrest, but the events spurred the congregation to move farther from England. They had to pay their debt when they came to America. Using the financing secured from the Merchant Adventurers, the Colonists bought provisions and obtained passage on the Mayflower and the Speedwell. They had intended to leave early in 1620, but they were delayed several months due to difficulties in dealing with the Merchant Adventurers, including several changes in plans for the voyage and in financing. The congregation and the other colonists finally boarded the Speedwell in July 1620 in the Dutch port of Delfshaven. Many people on the Mayflower were Captain Christopher Jones, Captain Reynold, the brutish Myles Standish, Christopher Martin, and other people. The Mayflower and Speedwell ships left by August 23, 1621. The Mayflower departed Plymouth, England on September 6, 1620, with 102 passengers and about 30 crew members in the small, 106 feet (32 m) long ship. William Button died on the voyage. 




 




They landed on November 9, 1620, off the coast of Cape Cod. Before their arrival, many Native Americans died via an epidemic of disease called leptospirosis. This happened when earlier English settlers gave the Native American people disease before the Pilgrims came on shore in America. The Mayflower Compact was created while people were on the ship. It was signed on November 1620. The compact was about them forming their own government while showing allegiance to the Crown of England. The settlers showed allegiance to the king. It was a social contract that settlers would consent to the community's rules to survive and have order. Early on, the Pilgrims struggled to survive. Peregrine White was born being the first child born to the Pilgrims in America by Susanna White. They searched for corn to plant. As early as December 6, in their third expedition, they took the Native Americans' corn and fired upon them in the First Encounter near Eastham, Massachusetts. By December 21, 1620, a brutal winter caused the Pilgrims to suffer at Plymouth. Native Americans literally saved their lives. One such Native American was Samoset. On March 16, 1621, the Pilgrims had more contact with Native peoples. Samoset learned some English from fishermen and trappers in Maine. He said, "Welcome, Englishmen!" The Pilgrims learned of many Natives died of an epidemic. They also knew of a great leader in the region who was the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Also, they learned about Squanto (Tisquantum) who was the sole survivor from Patuxet. Squanto had spent time in Europe and spoke English quite well. Samoset spent the night in Plymouth and agreed to arrange a meeting with some of Massasoit's men. There is the statue today of the sachem Massasoit (Ousamequin).  The sachem or leader of the Wampanoag confederacy. Massasoit means Great Sachem. Squanto has a large importance in history. 





Massasoit and Squanto were apprehensive about the Pilgrims, as several men of his tribe had been killed by English sailors. He also knew that the Pilgrims had taken some corn stores in their landings at Provincetown.   Squanto himself had been abducted in 1614 by English explorer Thomas Hunt and had spent five years in Europe, first as a slave for a group of Spanish monks, then as a freeman in England. He had returned to New England in 1619, acting as a guide to explorer Capt. Robert Gorges, but Massasoit and his men had killed the crew of the ship and had taken Squanto. Samoset returned to Plymouth on March 22 with a delegation from Massasoit that included Squanto; Massasoit joined them shortly after, and he and Governor Carver established a formal treaty of peace after exchanging gifts. This treaty ensured that each people would not bring harm to the other, that Massasoit would send his allies to make peaceful negotiations with Plymouth, and that they would come to each other's aid in a time of war. Many Plymouth settlers died during that winter. 




In November 1621, the surviving Pilgrims and some Native Americans celebrated their First Thanksgiving. The celebration involved the 53 surviving Pilgrims, along with Massasoit and 90 of his men. Three contemporaneous accounts of the event survive: Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford; Mourt's Relation probably written by Edward Winslow; and New England's Memorial by Plymouth Colony Secretary (and Bradford's nephew) Capt. Nathaniel Morton. The celebration lasted three days and featured a feast that included numerous types of waterfowl, wild turkeys and fish procured by the colonists, and five deer brought by the indigenous people. After the departure of Massasoit and his men, Squanto remained in Plymouth to teach the Pilgrims how to survive in New England, such as using dead fish to fertilize the soil. For the first few years of colonial life, the fur trade was the dominant source of income beyond subsistence farming. Colonists were buying furs from Natives and selling them to Europeans. Governor Carver suddenly died shortly after the Mayflower returned to England. William Bradford was elected to replace him and went on to lead the colony through much of its formative years. Many Native Americans came to Plymouth in the middle of 1621 to promise peace. On July 2, a party of Pilgrims led by Edward Winslow (who later became the chief diplomat of the colony) set out to continue negotiations with the chief. The delegation also included Squanto, who acted as a translator. After traveling for several days, they arrived at Massasoit's village of Sowams near Narragansett Bay. After meals and an exchange of gifts, Massasoit agreed to an exclusive trading pact with the Plymouth colonists. Squanto remained behind and traveled throughout the area to establish trading relations with several tribes. By July 1621, the missing boy John Billington almost ended the peace, but the peace existed for a time. The Nausets found him. The Pilgrims reimburse the corn that they unwittingly stolen from them for the return of the boy. 




 




During their dealings with the Nausets over the release of John Billington, the Pilgrims learned of troubles that Massasoit was experiencing. Massasoit, Squanto, and several other Wampanoags had been captured by Corbitant, sachem of the Narragansett tribe. A party of ten men under the leadership of Myles Standish set out to find and execute Corbitant. While hunting for him, they learned that Squanto had escaped and Massasoit was back in power. Standish and his men had injured several Native Americans, so the colonists offered them medical attention in Plymouth. They had failed to capture Corbitant, but the show of force by Standish had garnered respect for the Pilgrims and, as a result, nine of the most powerful sachems in the area signed a treaty in September, including Massasoit and Corbitant, pledging their loyalty to King James.




In my view, the man (including many other people) responsible for the breaking of the treaties, the ruin of tons of Native American lives, and the changing of an era was Myles Standish. He was a murderer and the breaker of the peace in the region. The settlement of Wessaguessett north of Weymouth, Massachusetts was short lived (by colonists from the ship The Sparrow in May 1622). Reports reached Plymouth of a military threat to Wessagussett, and Myles Standish organized a militia to defend them. However, he found that there had been no attack. He (i.e. Myles Standish) therefore decided on a pre-emptive strike, an event which historian Nathaniel Philbrick calls "Standish's raid." He lured two prominent Massachusett military leaders into a house at Wessagussett under the pretense of sharing a meal and making negotiations. Standish and his men then stabbed and killed them. Standish and his men pursued Obtakiest, a local sachem, but he escaped with three prisoners from Wessagussett; he then executed them.  Within a short time, Wessagussett was disbanded, and the survivors were integrated into the town of Plymouth. After Standish's raid, many Native Americans fled the area, and many left their villages. The Pilgrims lost trades in furs.  Standish's raid had disastrous consequences for the colony, as attested by William Bradford in a letter to the Merchant Adventurers: "we had much damaged our trade, for there where we had most skins the Indians are run away from their habitations." The closest Pilgrim ally in the region increased their power who was the Massasoit led Wampanoag tribe. In November 1621, the Fortune ship camp to Plymouth. 




Among the passengers of the Fortune were several of the original Leiden congregation, including William Brewster's son Jonathan, Edward Winslow's brother John, and Philip Delano (the family name was earlier "de la Noye") whose descendants include President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Myles Standish was the military leader of the Plymouth Colony. The Pequot War existed in 1637. The war's roots go back to 1632, when a dispute arose between Dutch fur traders and Plymouth officials over control of the Connecticut River Valley near modern Hartford, Connecticut. Representatives from the Dutch East India Company and Plymouth Colony both had deeds that claimed that they had rightfully purchased the land from the Pequots. A sort of land rush occurred as settlers from Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies tried to beat the Dutch in settling the area; the influx of English settlers also threatened the Pequot. Other confederations in the area sided with the English, including the Narragansetts and Mohegans, who were the traditional enemies of the Pequots. The murder of John Oldham in 1636 was blamed on allies of the Pequots. In April 1637, a raid on a Pequot village by John Endicott led to a retaliatory raid by Pequot warriors on the town of Wethersfield, Connecticut, where some 30 English settlers were killed. This led to a further retaliation, where a raid led by Captain John Underhill and Captain John Mason burned a Pequot village to the ground near modern Mystic, Connecticut, killing hundreds of Pequots. Plymouth Colony had little to do with the actual fighting in the war. 


The 1637 Massacre in Mystic caused at least 700 Native Americans to be murdered by Europeans. Men, women, and children Native Americans were burned alive, and their buildings were destroyed. William Bradford or the Governor of Plymouth praised the massacre in sick terms by the following words: “…Those that escaped the fire were slain with the sword; some hewed to pieces, others run through with their rapiers, so that they were quickly dispatched and very few escaped. It was conceived they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire...horrible was the stink and scent thereof, but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the prayers thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to enclose their enemies in their hands, and give them so speedy a victory over so proud and insulting an enemy."


“This day forth shall be a day of celebration and thanksgiving for subduing the Pequots," read Governor John Winthrop’s proclamation.


In 1637, Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford described the massacre of a community of Pequot people by white settlers:


“Those that scraped the fire were [slain] with the sword; some hewed to [pieces], others [run] [through] with their rapiers, so as they were quickly [dispatched], and very few [escaped]. It was conceived they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the [fire], and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the [stink] and [scent] thereof, but the victory seemed a [sweet] sacrifice, and they gave the prayers thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to [enclose] their [enemies] in their hands, and give them so speedy a victory over so proud and insulting an [enemy]."




You couldn’t make this stuff up. This is real and these massacres against Native Americans are totally evil plus disgusting. Later, Pequots prisoners were executed. Pequot women and children were sold into slavery in the West Indies. The Pequot War killed most of the Pequot peoples. 


Then, the King's Philip's War existed. 




Metacomet was the younger son of Massasoit and the heir of Massasoit's position as sachem of the Pokanoket and supreme leader of the Wampanoag. Known to the English as King Philip, he became sachem upon the sudden death of his older brother Wamsutta, also known as Alexander, in 1662. This war started with more English colonists demanding more land. King Philip didn't want more land taken by the colonists. He wanted to reverse the trend. Of specific concern was the founding of the town of Swansea, which was located only a few miles from the Wampanoag capital at Mount Hope. The General Court of Plymouth began using military force to coerce the sale of Wampanoag land to the settlers of the town. The death of the Native American John Sassamon in 1675 really started the war. Sassamon converted to Christianity. King Philip drifted from his friend Sassamon because of this reason. John was murdered. There is debate whether King Philip's men murdered John or not. A jury convicted some Native peoples of the murder and sentenced them to death.  Both sides committed atrocities against unarmed people. The Native people used guerilla warfare.  Governor Winslow and Plymouth military commander Major William Bradford (son of the late Governor William Bradford) relented and gave Church permission to organize a combined force of English and Native Americans. Later, King Philip was killed by a Pocasset Native American. The English had too many numbers, so King Philip's forces were defeated. Many Native Americans were killed, fled, or shipped as slaves. Most Native American people were exterminated by this time in New England. 


The Pilgrims and the Puritans embraced Calvinistic views. John Calvin invented Calvinism. The imprisonment of Calvin, however, also took place in May 1534. It has been debated why he was imprisoned for. Many authors say that Calvin was imprisoned because of a specific "reason." John Calvin formed a theocratic state in Geneva, Switzerland where many people were executed for theological disagreements. Bernard Cottret, author of Calvin: A Biography, a favorable treatment of Calvin’s life and work, has provided accounts of the torture and execution of heretics (who denied the Trinity. I believe in the Trinity, but I don't agree with killing people who disagree with me on the Trinity) and those who were merely suspected of committing crimes in Geneva.  Calvin died in 1564, apparently despised by the citizens of Geneva. Even the Bible is clear that you don't murder people if he or she disagrees with your theological views.  Jesus taught to ‘turn the other cheek’ instead. None of the Apostles taught murderous action against unbelievers but instead taught the believer to seek them out and present the gospel in love. Dave Hunt wrote a book entitled, "What Love is This?" that refutes many of the doctrines of Calvinism in a compassionate, eloquent fashion. He writes the following from his book: “… my firm disagreement with Calvinism is not over God’s sovereignty, which I fully embrace and to which I submit. The issue is whether God loves all without partiality and desires all to be saved. Unquestionably, Calvinism denies such love; but the Bible, in the clearest language repeatedly declares God’s love to all and His desire that all should be saved and none should be lost.” (pp. 301, 302). JOHN CALVIN TAUGHT THE NOTORIOUS HERESY OF INFANT BAPTISM WHICH HAS NO BASIS IN THE OT AND THE NT. 


 


I recommend his book. Calvin claimed to disagree with Catholicism, but he established his brutal empire like a "Pope" in Geneva.  To this day, many undercover Calvinists would try to infiltrate Baptist churches and other churches in trying to promote their doctrines. The Bible is clear that God wants everyone to wake up. 2 Peter 3:9 mentions that, "The Lord is not slack concerning [His] promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." John 3:16 is ever clear that: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Also, it is important to promote religious freedom. I may disagree with certain religions, but I don't believe in stereotyping, maligning, or dehumanizing people who worship any religion (or those who embrace no religion at all). We can agree to disagree peacefully on spirituality without bigotry and without hatred of one another. We can show our diversity, and our diversity is part of our strength. 




John Two-Hawks, who runs the Native Circle web site, gives a sketch of the facts:




“Thanksgiving' did not begin as a great loving relationship between the pilgrims and the Wampanoag, Pequot and Narragansett people.  In fact, in October of 1621 when the pilgrim survivors of their first winter in Turtle Island sat down to share the first unofficial 'Thanksgiving' meal, the Indians who were there were not even invited!  There was no turkey, squash, cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie.  A few days before this alleged feast took place, a company of 'pilgrims' led by Miles Standish actively sought the head of a local Indian chief, and an 11 foot high wall was erected around the entire Plymouth settlement for the very purpose of keeping Indians out!”




Fifty-five years after the original Thanksgiving Day, the Puritans had destroyed the generous Wampanoag and all other neighboring tribes. The Wampanoag chief King Philip was beheaded. His head was stuck on a pole in Plymouth, where the skull still hung on display 24 years later. Many Puritans were complicit in the slave trade where they oppressed black African people (i.e. Puritan ship owners began a slave-trading business by raiding the coast for Native American people and trading them for black African human beings). Also, scholarship like Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz's "Indigenous People's History of the United States" is ignored in academia and popular culture. The early English colonizers and capitalists wanted to go into America to promote the myth of white spiritual supremacy and to expand their resources. Today, many Native Americans suffer various forms of oppression like diseases, homelessness, dilapidated and vermin-infested housing, substance abuse, inadequate education, unemployment, and police brutality. Likewise, we acknowledge many Native Americans standing up for justice back then and today in 2022. So, we desire true liberation. Therefore, we know the truth. Having empathy towards the indigenous people means that we can never glamorize killers and murderers like many European imperialists were. It is also important to acknowledge the food banks, activists, and other volunteers helping tons of families during this time of the year with food, clothing, love, compassion, and other resources. Their work is never in vain, and they are acknowledged by all of us here. The best way to honor the indigenous people on Thanskgiving is to tell the truth, help the suffering, and fight for justice for all people. 






Learning about my family tree doesn't stop. In the past few days, I found out about more of my distant cousins related to my 5th great grandmother Zilphy Claud (1820-1893). On Ancestry.com, I found out a new person related to me named Talitha Simmons. We share the same ancestor of Zilphy Claud. Zilphy Claud had a son named George Washington Claud (1849-1923), who was my 4th great-granduncle.  He married Martha Velvin-Ferguson (b. 1830), and their children are Lula Claud (1869-1928), Martha Lou Nettie Whitehead (b. 1869), and Richard Washington Claud (1874-1945). George Washington Claud's 2nd wife was Flora Ann Ash (1861-1930) with the children of Hester C. Ash (b. 1890) and Georgia W. Claud (1901-1984). My 1st cousin Richard Washington Claud married Ann Elizabeth Claud (1876-1960) on January 26, 1898, at Virginia. Their children are William F. Claud (1898-1976), Bertha C. Claud (1900-1987), Lizzie Virginia Claud (1903-1928), Callie Lee Claud (b. 1906), Thomas Jefferson Claud (1907-1997), Rosa M. Claud (1909-1985), Eva Claud (b. 1910), Ralph Elijiah Claud (1912-1965), Richard Washington Claud Jr. (1914-1986), and Etta Claud (1919-2016). My 2nd cousin Ralph Elijiah Claud married Gussie Estell Claud (1914-1985) and had the following children of Edna Violer Claud (b. 1934), Mary Lizzie Claud (b. 1936), George Thomas Claud (1938-1958), Lillie M. Claud (b. 1941), Frank B. Claud (b. 1944), Sarah Jane Claud (1945-2022), Katie Lee Claude (b. 1948), Elsie Mead Claud (b. 1949), Selena Estell Claude (b. 1953). Sarah Jane Claud was my 3rd cousin who lived from February 21, 1945, at Capron, Southampton, Virginia to January 29, 2022. She married Jesse Calvin Watson. Sarah Jane Claud's last husband is Reverend Donald Pollard Sr. Mary Jane Claud Pollard was my 3rd cousin who was a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was the 9th of 13 children. Her daughter is Talitha Faye Claude Simmons (b. 1967), who is my 4th cousin. She is married to Joseph Erick Simmons (b. 196) with the child of Ericka Simmons, and her other daughter is Quanisha Lee Claude (b. 1994. Her father is Howard L. Bickley, born in 1960). Sarah Jane Claude Pollard was a faithful member of Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, which is one of the most prominent African American churches in America. She worked in the Norfolk Naval Base, CBN University in the mailroom, One Lift Fitness, and A Touch of Heaven. Her living siblings are Edna Claude and Mary Ridley of Capron, Virginia, Katie Parker of Chesapeake, Virginia, Selena Barnes of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Elsie Claude of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Lillie Whitefield of Norfolk, Virginia, Frank Claude (Delphine) of Norfolk, Virginia, and Lloyd Claude of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Her other grandchild is Quentin Alanza Claude Sr. (b. 1984).


Theodore Ernest Freeman (b. 1982) is also my 5th cousin who is a descendant of Zilphy Claud. Her parents are Earnest Alphonza Freeman (b. 1958) and Allie Elaine Branch (b. 1960). He is married to Jessica Rafaila Torres (b. 1984). The parents of Earnest Alponza Freeman are Raleigh Freeman Jr. (1933-1991) and Genteilia Providence (1939-1984). Earnest's siblings are Glenda Darlene Freeman (1959-2005), Tony Eugene Freeman (b. 1960), and Patricia Anell Freeman (b. 1961. Her first husband was George Washington Blow Jr., and their child is George Eugene Blow. He was born in 1984. Patricia Anell Freeman's daughter is Patrice Lashunda Freeman, being born in 1980). My 4th cousin Glenda Darlene Freeman married Willie Lee Branch on December 1, 1973, in Southampton County, Virginia. Their children are Dewayne Branch, Keith Branch, Leann Branch, and Pamela Branch. Raleigh Freeman Jr.'s siblings are Alfred W. Freeman (b. 1924) Christine Freeman (b. 1928), Ellen Elizabeth Freeman (b. 1931), Hannah M. Freeman (b. 1936), and Joe Willie Freeman (b. 1939). 


My 3rd cousin Raleigh Freeman Jr.'s parents are Raleigh Freeman (b. 1901) and Hattie Bell Freeman (1903-1957). My 2nd cousin Hattie Bell Freeman's parents are James L. Whitehead (b. 1857) and Lula Claud (1869-1928). Hattie Bell Freeman's siblings are George Washington Whitehead (1886-1945), Willie Thomas Whitehead (1890-1931), John Odie Whitehead (1893-1942), Annie Beulah Whitehead (1895-1963), Joe Franklin Whitehead (1898-1979), Bessie Whitehead (1900-1920), No Name Whitehead (b. 1900), Lonnie Whitehead (1907-1978), Martha Whitehead (b. 1909), Mattie Mary Whitehead (1910-1931), and Emmett L. Whitehead (1912-1924). Lula Claud's parents are George Washington Claud (1849-1923) and Martha Velvin-Furgerson (b. 1830). Lula Claud's mother was Zilphy Claud (1820-1893). 


By Timothy