The Ethnic Cleansing of New Orleans 2008: A Requiem - A WordPress Site (rolandsheppard.com)
Pro-God, Pro-Human Life, anti-New World Order, Anti-Nefarious Secret Societies, Pro-Civil Liberties, anti-Torture, anti-National ID Card, Pro-Family, Anti-Neo Conservativism, Pro-Net Neutrality, Pro-Home Schooling, Anti-Voting Fraud, Pro-Good Israelis & Pro-Good Palestinians, Anti-Human Trafficking, Pro-Health Freedom, Anti-Codex Alimentarius, Pro-Action, Anti-Bigotry, Pro-9/11 Justice, Anti-Genocide, and Pro-Gun Control. My name is Timothy and I'm from the state of Virginia.
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Monday, September 30, 2024
New Information on Lives.
Mysteries are being revealed all of the time. I found out that Lydia Ruth Patricia Ricks (b. 1948) is my 4th cousin. We share the same ancestors who were my 6th great grandparents of Winifred Woodson-Bozeman (b. 1791. She was the daughter of Nottoway Native American Nancy Woodson and Micajah Woodson)) and Burwell Williams (who was an African American freeman). Lydia Ruth Patricia Ricks was born to Helen Armentia Owens (1922-1953) and Garland Ricks (1908-1967) on November 10, 1948, in Southampton County, Virginia. Her siblings are Elsie Mae Ricks (b. 1938) and Majorie Lee Ricks (b. 1942). Helen Ownes and Garland Ricks married at Courtland, Virginia on June 1, 1941. Helen Owens passed away at a young age, so Helen, Lydia, and Elsie were raised by foster parents in Newport, Rhode Island. Rhode Island is in the New England region, and these siblings are the first people that I found out that were related to me who lived in Rhode Island for an extended period of time. Lydia Ricks went to Rogers High School, studied at Rhode Island College, studied at Sawyer Business School, and worked at medical facilities in Rhode Island. She is retired and lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. So, Lydia Ricks' parents were Garland Ricks and Helen Owens. The parents of Garland Ricks were Levy Ricks Jr. (b. 1888) and Della Williams Ricks (1889-1917). Della Williams Ricks' parents were Mary L. Williams (1855-1905) and Eddie Drew Kello (1851-1922). Mary L. Williams' parents were John Burwell Williams (b. 1815) and Mary Williams (b. 1832). The parents of John Burwell Williams were Buwell Williams and Winifred Woodson-Bozeman (b. 1791).
The fifth generation of country music was in the 1990s. The 1990s was the decade when most of my childhood existed when I had some of the greatest joys in my life. The 1990s was the start of the post-Cold War era filled with celebrity culture growing, the ascendance of black celebrities into the next level, the modernization of the Internet, and the increase of international globalization. Country music was aided by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Docket 80–90, which led to a significant expansion of FM radio in the 1980s by adding numerous higher-fidelity FM signals to rural and suburban areas. At this point, country music was mainly heard on rural AM radio stations; the expansion of FM was particularly helpful to country music, which migrated to FM from the AM band as AM became overcome by talk radio (the country music stations that stayed on AM developed the classic country format for the AM audience). Country music spread into more by the 1990s. In 1990, Billboard, which had published a country music chart since the 1940s, changed the methodology it used to compile the chart: singles sales were removed from the methodology, and only airplay on country radio determined a song's place on the chart.
By the 1990s, Garth Brooks helped to make country music grow into the next level as a permanent worldwide phenomemon. Garth Brooks was like a rock star with sold-out concerts, tons of fans, and music anthem. He became one of the most successful artists in country music with pop elements too. The RIAA has certified his recordings at a combined (128× platinum), denoting roughly 113 million U.S. shipments. Other artists who experienced success during this time included Clint Black, John Michael Montgomery, Tracy Lawrence, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Travis Tritt, Alan Jackson, and the newly formed duo of Brooks & Dunn. George Strait, whose career began in the 1980s, also continued to have widespread success in this decade and beyond. Toby Keith began his career as a more pop-oriented country singer in the 1990s, evolving into an outlaw persona in the early 2000s with Pull My Chain and its follow-up, Unleashed.
The 1990s saw more women carry the torch of country music too. Even where I am from, during the 1990s, most people in America heard of Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, and LeAnn Rhimes. LeAnn Rhimes was on the show Moesha in 1999 to promote country music as the actress Countess Vaughn is a fan of country music in real life. Other women artists spreading their music during the decade of the 1990s are Patty Loveless, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Deana Carter, Mindy McCready, Pam Tillis, Lorrie Morgan, Shania Twain, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. All of these human beings had released platinum-selling albums in the 1990s. The Chicks became one of the most popular country bands of the 1990s and the early 2000s. Their 1998 debut album Wide Open Spaces went on to become certified 12× platinum while their 1999 album Fly went on to become 10× platinum.
Many people don't know that Shania Twain was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Country music is not based on geography, birthplace, race, or background. It's based on music period. After collaborating with producer and later husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange, she rose to fame with her second studio album, The Woman in Me (1995), which brought her widespread success. It sold over 20 million copies worldwide, spawned eight singles, including "Any Man of Mine" and earned her a Grammy Award. Twain's third studio album, Come On Over (1997), is recognized by Guinness World Records as the biggest-selling studio album by a woman solo artist. It also became the best-selling country album, best-selling album by a Canadian, and one of the world's best-selling albums of all time, selling over 40 million copies worldwide. Come On Over produced twelve singles, including "You're Still the One", "From This Moment On", "That Don't Impress Me Much" and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and earned her four Grammy Awards. In the early-mid-1990s, country western music was influenced by the popularity of line dancing.
The band Hootie and the Blowfish was very popular in the 1990s and beyond too. The band met in Columbia, South Carolina, and formed in 1986. It was started by Darius Rucker and Mark Bryan who were freshmen at the University of South Carolina. Bryan was a guitar player and Rucker was the vocalist. Their mainstream debut album was Cracked Rear View (1994). Released in July 1994, the album's popularity grew after its release, becoming the best-selling album of 1995, and was one of the fastest-selling debut albums of all time. The album was certified platinum in the United States in January 1995, and incrementally rose to 12× platinum by January 1996, and 16× platinum by March 1999. In May 2019, the certification was updated from 16× platinum to 21× platinum.
The album featured four hits, "Hold My Hand" (U.S. No. 10), "Let Her Cry" (U.S. No. 9), "Only Wanna Be with You" (U.S. No. 6), and "Time" (U.S. No. 14). The album's last single, "Drowning", was not as successful as its predecessors, peaking only on the Mainstream Rock chart. In 1995, Hootie & the Blowfish and Bob Dylan reached an out-of-court settlement for the group's unauthorized use of Dylan's lyrics in their song "Only Wanna Be with You." Miami Dolphins' Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino appeared along with several other athletes in the band's video for the song "Only Wanna Be with You." On February 28, 1996, at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards, Hootie & the Blowfish won the Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (for the single "Let Her Cry") and the Grammy for "Best New Artist." The band appeared on MTV Unplugged on the eve of the release of their second album, Fairweather Johnson (1996). The album contained the hit single "Old Man and Me" (U.S. No. 13), and sold four million copies in the United States.
In 1998, the band performed on Frank Wildhorn's concept album of the musical The Civil War. Hootie & the Blowfish released their third studio album, Musical Chairs, on September 15, 1998. It spawned the singles "I Will Wait" and "Only Lonely."
The group covered the 1968 Orpheus hit "Can't Find the Time" for the soundtrack of the Jim Carrey movie Me, Myself & Irene (2000). The song's writer, Bruce Arnold, traded verses with Darius on several occasions when the band played live on the West Coast. The band kept to an extensive touring schedule, including an annual New Year's Eve show at Silverton Las Vegas (formerly known as Boomtown Las Vegas) in Enterprise, Nevada. Recently, Kris Kristofferson passed away at the age of 88 years old. He was an actor and country music star whose politics inspired the world.
Meta Fuller met sociologist W.E.B. DuBois, who became a lifelong friend and confidant. He encouraged Warrick to draw from African and African-American themes in her work. She met French sculptor Auguste Rodin, who encouraged her sculpting. Her real mentor was Henry Ossawa Tanner while learning from Raphaël Collin. It was the "masculinity and primitive power" of her sculptures that drew the French crowds to her work and generated her acclaim. The Paris crowd was astonished that a woman could produce works that depicted such "horror, pain, and sorrow." It was a relief for Warrick that her gender wasn't an inhibitor of how the public reacted to her racially themed pieces, as it would be in the United States. By the end of her time in Paris, she was widely known and had had her works exhibited in many galleries. Samuel Bing, patron of Aubrey Beardsley, Mary Cassatt, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, recognized her abilities by sponsoring a one-woman exhibition including Siegfried Bing's Salon de l'Art Nouveau (Maison de l'Art Nouveau). In 1903, just before Warrick returned to the United States, two of her works, The Wretched and The Impenitent Thief, were exhibited at the Paris Salon.
Meta Fuller came back to Philadelphia in 1903. Warrick was shunned by members of the Philadelphia art scene for racist reasons (she was a black woman) and because they felt that her art was "domestic." Yet, Fuller became the first African American woman to receive a U.S. government commission. For this award, she created a series of tableaux depicting African American historical events for the Jamestown Terecenntial Exposition, being held in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1607. The display had 14 dioramas and 130 painted plaster figures showing the scenes of slaves arriving in Virginia in 1619 and the home lives of black human beings. At the time, it was described as the "Historic Tableaux of the Negroes' Progress." Historian W. Fitzhugh Brundage has described Fuller's tableaux as one that suggested "the expansiveness of black abilities, aspirations and experiences, [presenting] a cogent alternative to white representations of history." Warrick's tableaux were given prominent display in the Negro Building at the Jamestown Tercentennial, where they occupied 15,000 square feet. Each scene consisted of painted plaster figures and extensive painted backdrops. The 14 tableaux depicted the following: the landing of the first slaves at Jamestown; slaves at work in a cotton field; a fugitive slave in hiding; a gathering of the first African Methodist Episcopal Church; a slave defending his owner's home during the Civil War; newly freed slaves building their own home; an independent black farmer, builder and contractor; a black businessman and banker; scenes inside a modern African-American home, church and school; and finally, a college commencement. For her work on the tableaux, Warrick was awarded a gold medal by the directors of the exposition.
Her work of Mary Turner was her esponse to the 1918 lynching of a young, pregnant black woman in Lowndes County, Georgia. Fuller's contemporary, Angelina Weld Grimké, wrote the short story "Goldie" based on this murder. Warrick's activism also spanned into feminist work. She participated in the Women's Peace Party and the Equal Suffrage Movement, but abruptly stopped once she realized that black women were discriminated against in the fight for equal voting rights by some white racist suffragists. She often sold pieces to fund voter registration campaigns in the South. Warrick exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia in 1906. She exhibited there again in 1908. In 1910, a fire at a warehouse in Philadelphia, where she kept tools and stored numerous paintings and sculptures, destroyed her belongings; she lost 16 years' worth of work. Among her oeuvre, only a few early works stored elsewhere were preserved. The losses were emotionally devastating for her.
Fuller exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1920. She created one of her famous works of Ethiopia (known as Ethiopia Awakening also) for America's Making Exhibition in 1921. The event was meant to show immigrants' contributions to American artistic society and culture. The sculpture of Ethiopia being bronze symbolized a new black identity that was emerging through the Harlem Renaissance. It represented the pride of African Americans in African and black heritage and identity. Ethiopia, drawn from Egyptian sculptural concepts, is an academic sculpture of an African woman emerging from a mummy's wrappings, like a chrysalis from a cocoon, represented her statement on black consciousness globally. Fuller made multiple versions of Ethiopia, including a small maquette with the figure's left-hand projecting from its body (now lost) and two full-size bronze casts, one with the left-hand projecting and a second made incorrectly, with the left-hand flush to the figure's side. In 1922, Fuller showed her sculpture work at the Boston Public Library. Her work was included in an exhibition for the Tanner League, held in the studios of Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. The federal commissions kept her employed, but she did not receive as much encouragement in the US as she had in Paris. Fuller continued to exhibit her work until her last show (1961) at Howard University (Washington, D.C.) in 1961.
The 2024 Summer Paralympic Games existed from August 28, 2024, to September 8, 2024. It was opened by French President Emmanuel Macron and closed by President of the International Paralympic Committee Andrew Parsons. The Games had 4,463 athletes with 549 events in 22 sports. These games marked the first time Paris hosted the Summer Paralympics and the second time France hosted the Paralympic Games, following the 1992 Winter Paralympics in Tignes and Albertville. France also hosted the 2024 Summer Olympics. China topped the medal table for the sixth consecutive Paralympics, winning 94 golds and 221 total medals. Great Britain finished second for the tenth time, with 49 golds and 124 total medals. The United States finished third, with 36 golds, and 105 total medals. Additionally, Mauritius, Nepal, and the Refugee Paralympic Team won their first-ever Paralympic medals. The host nation, France, finished eighth with 19 gold and 75 total medals.
By Timothy
Saturday, September 28, 2024
Friday, September 27, 2024
The Helene Storm.
There is Hurricane Helene that came into Florida. It has extreme winds and can cause massive flooding. People can't underestimate storms as even a powerful tropical storm can cause heavy damage. This is a real hurricane, and people must take it seriously. Flood warnings stretch from Florida to North Carolina and parts of Western Virginia. Helene can be as high as a Category 4 storm by landfall. The strongest winds and storm surge is found in the eye of the hurricane. The Gulf Coast has warm waters and with climate change, frequently strong hurricane become more commonplace than generations ago. The Hurricane will go in the Southeast to Macon, Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia, and beyond. Atlanta now has a flash flooding alert. Multiple people have died from the storm of Helene too. Many people had to be rescued from their cars and from their homes by first responders. Over 2 million human beings in America are without power from the destructive power of Helene.
Vice President Kamala Harris met with Zelenskyy at the White House. Kamala Harris said that she wants America to be an ally to Ukraine to supply it with the weapons and inspiration to be free from the illegal, immoral Russian invasion. Zelensky wants an urgent in person plea to Biden and Harris for more support. Trump has criticized the Ukrainian leader Zelensky in many cases. The 2024 Presidential election has far reaching implications involving the war in Ukraine. With Trump as President, Ukraine could lose some or all of its lands to Russia. With Kamala Harris as President, Ukraine will defend itself to the maximum capacity. Kamala Harris recently was interviewed by MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle about her campaign and about Harris once working at McDonalds. Kamala Harris wants to be taken serious in her historical Presidential campaign. Kamala Harris believes in an active foreign policy as isolation doesn't work. We can look at WWII, the Holocaust, and WWI to prove that American isolationism is archaic and outdated in dealing with complex international foreign policy issues. There is a new U.S./Ukraine defense pact on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Italy by June 2024.
There is breaking news of New York City Mayor Eric Adams being indicted by the federal government. Mayor Adams had a rocky start as mayor, and then New York City's crime has declined by 2024. Mayor Adams has denied all allegations and said that he is innocent of all charges. I don't know if Mayor Adams is guilty or innocent, so we have to take due process take its course. If he is innocent, he needs to move on, and if he is guilty, then he must face accountability for his actions. A federal corruption investigation has existed for many months now. Many political leaders like AOC are calling Mayor Adams to resign, because the pressure that he is under is too burdensome to handle his responsibilities as mayor. Mayor Adams is the first mayor indicted by the federal government while being in office. The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan has investigated Mayor Adams' ties to Turkish officials and businessmen plus campaign donations he received.
Eric Adams has been charged with many felonies. Mayor Eric Adams is saying that he is innocent with a group of his supporters in a press conference. He was indicted on September 25, 2024. He is accused of five charges of bribery, conspiracy, fraud, and two counts of soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. The federal government said that the allegations stretch back to 2014 when Adams was a Brooklyn Borough President. Adams is accused of receiving luxury travel and other benefits from people from Turkey, a Turkish government official and Turkish businessman. Adams is accused of pressuring the New York City Fire Department to open a Turkish consular building without a fire inspection. Many New York City political leaders have resigned. Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul wants to wait if she wants to remove him from office, which she has the legal right to do. There are many people who want him to resign. He has the presumption of innocent until he is proven guilty, if he is guilty. I don't know if he is guilty or innocent, but if this situation causes a distraction for him, then Mayor Adams ought to resign to handle his legal affairs.
On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris gave a historic campaign speech on her views on economy and how she will grow the economy with many details. Kamala Harris wants to expose Trump's policies as a detriment to the middle class and the working class. Kamala Harris said that she will remove barriers to economic opportunity and create common sense solutions to help Americans buy a home, start a business, and build wealth. Harris wants first time homebuyers to have a $25,000 in down payment assistance, increasing the small businesses startup tax credit tenfold to $50,000, and a $6,000 child tax credit for the first year of a newborn's life. She said that her plan will invest in strengthening the middle class, engaging in what former President Franklin D. Roosevelt called "bold, persistent experimentation." Harris wants tax cuts for the middle-class families and saying that more than 100 million Americans would get a middle-class tax break. She wants to cut red tape, take on corporate landlords, and invest in building 3 million new homes and rentals for the middle class. She wants a federal ban on grocery price gouging. She wants to invest in innovation and entrepreneurship to cause entrepreneurs to get loans. She wants new investments in biomanufacturing, aerospace, artificial intelligence, and clean energy. Trump is wrong to have a plan for more tariffs on foreign made goods that could provoke a trade war. Kamala Harris is right on investments, but to grow the economy comprehensively, you also need to deal with poverty, the poor, and the homeless, not just the middle class. Still, Kamala Harris' economic views are a lot better than Trump's views on the economy indeed.
By Timothy
Thursday, September 26, 2024
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
New Political News.
Donald Trump is a fascist. He recently said that people who criticize the Supreme Court are doing an illegal act and must be jailed. This is evil. It shows me that anyone supporting Trump is an enemy of democracy, and I don't care who it is. We have the right to dissent as part of the First Amendment. There is no Bill of Rights without the First Amendment starting it up. That means we have the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the right of religious freedom (without the establishment of forcing religion on people against a person's will), and the right to protest. Trump is absolutely clear on what he desires. He has said publicly that he wants to be a dictator on Day one, he wants to abolish the Constitution if he doesn't get his away, and he wants to prosecute many of his political opponents.
Janet Jackson recently made a false comment about Vice President Kamala Harris. She said that Kamala Harris' father is white and just Indian. The truth is that Kamala Harris is Black and Indian. Kamala Harris has publicly said that she is a black woman, and she acknowledges her Indian heritage too. Harris is born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. Janet Jackson has received backlash from many people on social media, but we should correct Janet Jackson respectfully without ad hominem attacks against her. We can agree to disagree on issues without demonization. It is important to reject misinformation, especially in our generation when some want to promote lies instead of the truth. Only one person will be elected President in 2024. It will be either a sexist, narcissist racist, and xenophobe or the Vice President of the United States of America. At the end of the day, we have to keep on fighting for our democracy, doing the right thing, and maintaining our core convictions.
The war in the Middle East has escalated. Israel has attacked Lebanon because it says that Hezbollah has attacked Israel. The problem is the massive civilian deaths caused by Israel and Hezbollah. The massive civilian deaths have nothing to do with the terrorism issue. Israel's massive attack on Lebanon on Monday has killed 492 people. The deaths include 35 children, 58 women, and two medics over a thousand separate airstrikes. This mass killing is more than the intensity of Israel's 2006 invasion of Lebanon, during which 1,000 people were killed during an entire month. This comes after Israel caused communication device to explode all over Lebanon. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, and that is true. Hezbollah has used unjust terror attacks against Israelis for years. Yet, Netanyahu is a far-right extremist who doesn't want a 2-state solution, doesn't stop the massive civilian deaths in Gaza and Lebanon, and is an ally of Donald Trump. How can a Trump ally like Netanyahu ever be an advocate for freedom, justice, and equality in the Middle East? It can't be a reality. Many people have evacuated from Lebanon. Causing over 2 million Palestinians to have lax food, water, sanitation, shelter and healthcare after airstrikes have nothing to do with fighting terrorism. It is about imperialism plain and simple.
Senator Raphael Warnock criticized the embattled North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson as "white supremacy in blackface." Robinson has faced many scandals, and many of his comments and actions were evil and just plain extremist. Even before the scandal with the website, Mark Robinson used a Yiddish slur for black people, believed in the anti-Semitic tropes and stereotypes, said that Hitler murdering Jewish people in the Holocaust was hogwash, desired more killing, and wanted an end to the separation of church and state in public schools (which ironically separation of church and state increases religious freedom). Mark Robinson believes that feminism is watered by the devil and feminists are bad if not worse than racists. He even opposes women breastfeeding their children in public. Robinson also made crude remarks about Michelle Obama, Joy Behar, and Maxine Waters. Mark Robinson is a person who shouldn't be Governor of North Carolina. His vile rhetoric and hypocrisy is clear for anyone to see.
While Haitian migrants have been improving Springfield, Ohio's economy, the racist and xenophobe in Pennsylvania led a hateful rant about sending immigrants back. This rhetoric is embraced by the sellout Tariq Nasheed. Nasheed recently had an X account comment that portrayed Haitians eating a cat sandwich. This is a white racist caricature that black people have been shown for centuries. Tariq should be ashamed himself for believing that Kamala Harris' father is white. Tariq supports Janet Jackson, because Tariq Nasheed wants to promote division in the black community based upon nationality. This person Nasheed invented the FBA cult while trying to distance himself from his black African ancestry. I am a black American and took 2 DNA test documenting my African ancestry. Therefore, these sellouts like Tariq are anti-black and are notorious enemies of freedom and justice for all black people globally.
By Timothy
Monday, September 23, 2024
The end of September News in 2024.
On September 22, 2024, I found out that Justin E. Franklin is my 5th cousin as we are descendants of Zilphy Claud. Her mother is my 4th cousin Julie M. Franklin, and she was born in June 1, 1970 at Amityville, Suffolk, New York. That location is in Long Island. She has other children who are Julian L. Franklin (b. 1997) and Karyn Franklin (b. 2002). Julie M. Franklin's parents were Dr. Alfred Lloyd Franklin Sr. (1927-2005) and Shirley Ann Lowe Franklin (1936-2017). Dr. Alfred Franklin Sr. was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He was a family man and a lover of his wife, Shirley Ann Lowe Franklin. Shirley Ann Lowe Franklin was a matriach of many children. She had children with Maurice Craddock Mabina (1930-1999) whose names are Robin Adair Green Mabina (b. 1957) and Mark Wayne Mabina (b. 1960). Her children with Dr. Alfred Lloyd Franklin Sr. are Alfred L. Franklin (b. 1965) and Julie M. Franklin (b. 1970). The parents of Shirley Ann Lowe Franklin were Joseph Isaac Lowe (1919-1974) and Anna Louise Miles (1920-1999). The parents of Joseph Isaac Lowe were Bishop Charlie Wesley Lowe (1875-1954) and my 1st cousin Louisa A. Sykes (1876-1955). The parents of Louisa A. Sykes were Willis Sykes (b. 1832) and my 4th great grandaunt Lydia Claud (b. 1842). Lydia Claud's mother was Zilphy Claud (1820-1893).
Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 9, 1877. Her parents were Emma (nee Jones) Warrick, an accomplished wig maker and beautician for upper class white women. William H. Warrick was a successful barber and caterer. Her father owned many barber shops, and her mother owned her own beauty salon. Warrick was, in fact, named after Meta Vaux, the daughter of Senator Richard Vaux, one of her mother's customers. Her maternal grandfather, Henry Jones, was a successful caterer in the city. Both of her parents were considered to have influential positions in African-American society. Her family's class status was a special privilege. It gave them many benefits, but even upper middle class black people suffered racism and discrimination back then and today. After an influx of free black people began making a home in Philadelphia, the available jobs were generally physically hard and low-paying. Only a few people could find desirable jobs as ministers, physicians, barbers, teachers, and caterers. During the Reconstruction, due to racism, legalized racial segregation laws, including Jim Crow laws limited the social progress of African Americans into the 20th century. Despite this, Warrick's parents were able to find creative success amongst the "vibrant political, cultural, and economic center" the African-American community of Philadelphia had established. Her parents' success inspired Meta Fuller to have access to many cultural and educational opportunities.
Warrick was trained in art, music, dance, and horseback riding. Warrick's art education and art influences started at home. It was nurtured from her childhood by her older sister Blanche, who studied art and visited the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with her father, who was also interested in sculpture and painting. Her older sister became a beautician like their mother, but she kept clay that Meta was able to use to create art. She was enrolled in 1893 at the Girls' High School in Philadelphia, where she studied art as well as academic courses. Warrick was among the few gifted artists selected from the Philadelphia public schools to study art and design at J. Liberty Tadd's art program at the Philadelphia School of Industrial Art in the early 1890s. Her brother and grandfather entertained and fascinated her with endless horror stories. These influences partly shaped her sculpture, as she eventually developed as an internationally trained artist known as "the sculptor of horrors." Warrick's art career started after one of her high school projects was chosen to be included in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Based upon this work, she won a four-year scholarship to the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (now The University of the Arts College of Art and Design) in 1894. Her gift for sculpture developed.
In an act of independence and nonconformity as an up-and-coming woman artist, Warrick defied traditionally "feminine" themes by sculpting pieces influenced by the gruesome imagery found in the fin de siècle movement of the Symbolist era. At various times, she was a literary sculptor, at others a creator of portrait art - which she studied under Charles Grafly at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Although she said that she could not specialize in African-American types, Fuller became one of the most effective chroniclers of the black experience within the United States. In 1898, she received her Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art diploma and teacher's certificate as well as a scholarship for an additional year of study.
After she graduated in 1899, Warrick traveled to Paris, France, where she studied with Raphael Collin, working on sculpture and anatomy at the Academie Colarossi and drawing at Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Warrick had to deal with racial discrimination at the American Women's Club in Paris, where she was refused lodging although she had made reservations before arriving in the city. African American painter Henry Ossawa Tanner, a family friend, founding lodging for her and gave her a community amongst his groups of friends. Warrick's work grew stronger in Paris, where she studied until 1902. Influenced by the conceptual realism of Auguste Rodin, she became so adept at depicting the spirituality of human suffering that the French press named her "the delicate sculptor of horrors." In 1902, she became the protege of Rodin. Of her plaster sketch entitled Man Eating His Heart, Rodin remarked, "My child, you are a sculptor; you have the sense of form in your fingers." Warrick created many works of art that described the African American experience that were revolutionary. They touched on the complexities of nature, religion, identity, and nation. She is considered part of the Harlem Renaissance, a flourishing in New York of African Americans making art of various genres, literature, plays and poetry. The Danforth Museum, which received a $40,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to safeguard Warrick Fuller's work, states that Fuller is "generally considered one of the first African-American female sculptors of importance."
By the 1980s, country music started to have a shift. More pop influences came into country music. Pop music is a different style that has been beloved and hated by many people in the world. Willie Nelson and Juice Newton each had two songs in the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 in the early eighties: Nelson charted "Always on My Mind" (#5, 1982) and "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" (#5, 1984, a duet with Julio Iglesias), and Newton achieved success with "Queen of Hearts" (#2, 1981) and "Angel of the Morning" (#4, 1981). Four country songs topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1980s: "Lady" by Kenny Rogers, from the late fall of 1980; "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton, "I Love a Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbitt (these two back-to-back at the top in early 1981); and "Islands in the Stream", a duet by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers in 1983, a pop-country crossover hit written by Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees. Newton's "Queen of Hearts" almost reached No. 1, but was kept out of the spot by the pop ballad juggernaut "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie. The move of country music toward neotraditional styles led to a marked decline in country/pop crossovers in the late 1980s, and only one song in that period—Roy Orbison's "You Got It", from 1989—made the top 10 of both the Billboard Hot Country Singles" and Hot 100 charts, due largely to a revival of interest in Orbison after his sudden death.
By the 1980s, the world has changed. Fashion and culture became more eclectic. There was a massive conservative movement in the West from Regan in America to Thacher in the UK. The only song with substantial country airplay to reach number one on the pop charts in the late 1980s was "At This Moment" by Billy Vera and the Beaters, an R&B song with slide guitar embellishment that appeared at number 42 on the country charts from minor crossover airplay. The record-setting, multi-platinum group Alabama was named Artist of the Decade for the 1980s by the Academy of Country Music. Country rock grew, and it mixed rock music and country. It has been around since the 1960s. Bob Dylan and John Welsey Harding had this style along with Gene Clark and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Gram Parsons' work in the early 1970s was acclaimed as one of the pioneers of country rock. This genre would be expressed by Hank Williams Jr., Hank Williams III, Gary Allan, Shania Twain, Brooks & Dunn, Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle, Dolly Parton, Rosanne Cash and Linda Ronstadt moved country further towards rock influence. The 1980 film Urban Cowboy popularized neocountry disco music. This has been shown by many pop starts like Bill Medley (of the Righteous Brothers), "England Dan" Seals (of England Dan and John Ford Coley), Tom Jones, and Merrill Osmond (both alone and with some of his brothers; his younger sister Marie Osmond was already an established country star) all recorded significant country hits in the early 1980s. Sales in record stores rocketed to $250 million in 1981; by 1984, 900 radio stations began programming country or neocountry pop full-time. As with most sudden trends, however, by 1984 sales had dropped below 1979 figures.
There is the truck driving country music. It is a fusion of honky-tonk, country rock, and the Bakersfield sound. Its lyrics discuss about the truck driver's lifestyle as many truck driver drives for days listening to the radio constantly. It has the tempo of country and the emotion of honky-tonk. Many artists in the genre were Dave Dudley, Red Sovine, Dick Curless, Red Simpson, Del Reeves, the Willis Brothers, and Jerry Reed, with C. W. McCall and Cledus Maggard (pseudonyms of Bill Fries and Jay Huguely, respectively) being more humorous entries in the subgenre. Dudley is known as the father of truck driving country. By the mid 1980's, a new generation of country music artists didn't want the more polished country pop sound. They wanted a back-to-basics neotraditionalist country music style. Many of the artists during the latter half of the 1980s drew on traditional honky-tonk, bluegrass, folk, and western swing. Artists who typified this sound included Travis Tritt, Reba McEntire, George Strait, Keith Whitley, Alan Jackson, John Anderson, Patty Loveless, Kathy Mattea, Randy Travis, Dwight Yoakam, Clint Black, Ricky Skaggs, and the Judds. Many of these artists carried over into the 1990's. George Strait is a pioneer of the neotraditionalist movement and has been called the "King of Country." He is one of the bestselling musicians of all time.
By 200 A.D., there was the rival bishop of Rome named Natalius. He later submitted to Bishop Zephyrinus. Later, the persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire accelerated. In 202 A.D., Roman Emperor Severus issued an edict forbidding conversion to Christianity. Abgar, King of Edessa, embraced the Christian fiath in 206 A.D. By 208 A.D., Tertullian wrote that Christ has followers on the far side of the Roman wall in Britain, where Roman legions haven ot yet penetrated. From 218 to 258, Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, cited "Western" NT text-type, claimed Christians were freely forging his letters to discredit him (Ante-Nicene Fathers). In ca. 220, Clement of Alexandria, cited "Alexandrian" NT text-type & Secret Gospel of Mark & Gospel of the Egyptians; wrote "Exhortations to the Greeks"; "Rich Man's Salutation"; "To the Newly Baptized"; (Ante-Nicene Fathers). The controversial and non-canonical Gospel of Judas was found in the Codex Tchacos by 220-340 A.D. Tertullian wrote about the Trinity and wrote it as Trinitas. By 225 A.D., there was the Papyrus 45: 1st Chester Beatty Papyri, Gospels (Caesarean text-type, mixed), Acts (Alexandrian text-type). From 235 to 238, Maximinus Thrax: emperor of Rome, ended Christian schism in Rome by deporting Roman bishop Pontian and Hippolytus to Sardinia, where they soon die. The heretic Mani preaches in Seleucia-Ctseiphon in Iraq. Denis forms a church in Paris by 250. Dionysius is the Patriarch of Alexandria from 248 to 264. By 250, there were the Apostolic Constitutions, Liturgy of St James, Old Roman Symbol, Clementine literature. At the same time, there was Papyrus 72: Bodmer 5-11+, pub. 1959, "Alexandrian" text-type: Nativity of Mary; 3Cor; Odes of Solomon 11; Jude 1-25; Melito's Homily on Passover; Hymn fragment; Apology of Phileas; Ps33,34; 1Pt1:1-5:14; 2Pt1:1-3:18.
Origen believed that Jesus and God is of one substance. There were the Synods of Carthage back then. The person Novatian decreed no forgiveness for sins after baptism. Bishop Stephen I saw a major schism over rebaptizing heretics and apostates. There was the Valerian Massacre in 258 A.D. This was when the Roman emperor issued an edict to execute immediately all Christian Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons, including Bishop Sixtus II, Antipope Novatian, Cyprian of Carthage (CE: Valerian, Schaff's History Vol 2 Chap 2 § 22). THe time of 264–269 saw the Synods of Antioch: condemned Paul of Samosata, Bishop of Antioch, founder of Adoptionism (Jesus was human until Holy Spirit descended at his baptism), also condemned term homoousios adopted at Nicaea. The death of Gregory Thaumaturgus, Christian leader in Pontus, took place in 270 A.D. It was said that when Gregory became "bishop" there were only 17 Christians in Pontus while at his death thirty years later there were only 17 non-Christians. Anthony started the monastic movement in 270 A.D. Mani (prophet), crucified, founder of the dualistic Manichaean sect in Persia in 276. Rural churches grow in northern ITaly. Christianity is no longer exclusively in urban areas. Theonas, bishop of Alexandria lived by the end of the 200's A.D. Maurice from Egypt is killed at Agauno, Switzerland for refusing to sacrifice to pagan divinities. This was in 287 A.D. Christian monasticism was created by Pachomius in the 300's A.D. Bishop Mercellinus of Rome offered pagan sacrifices for Diolcetian. He later repented.
Robert de Clari was a French Knight who was part of the Fourth Crusade. He wrote about his account of that Crusade in a work called Conquest of Constantinople, which he is wrote in about 1216. He wrote that in 1203, he saw an unnamed Nubian King. By 1402, many Ethiopian embassies arrived all over Europe in Spain, France, and Italy. We know of the Afro-Spanish Painter Juan de Pareja in the 17th century of Spain. Beatriz de Palacios was a soldier, nurse, and explorer of African and Spanish descent. Marie-Cessette Dumas was a female slave in the French colony of Saint Domingue. She was the mother of General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the grandmother of novelist Alexandre Dumas, and the great-grandmother of playwright Alexandre Dumas, fils, and has been called a "great matriarch to a saga of distinguished men." Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George(s) (25 December 1745 Р9 June 1799) was a French violinist, conductor, composer and soldier. Moreover, he demonstrated excellence as a fencer, an athlete and an accomplished dancer. His historical significance lies partly in his distinctive background as a biracial free man of color. Bologne was the first classical composer of African descent to attain widespread acclaim in European music. He composed an array of violin concertos, string quartets, sinfonia concertantes, violin duets, sonatas, two symphonies and an assortment of stage works, notably op̩ra comique.
By Timothy
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Saturday, September 21, 2024
Friday, September 20, 2024
Late September 2024 News.
There is a lot of news today. The Federal Reserve will cut interest rates for the first time in four years. This is done to stabilize the economy and try to prevent a recession next year. There has been a higher cost of living in many places in America. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that this decision is not a new pattern. In the Middle East, we know that walkie-talkies were detonated in Lebanon along with other electronic devices like pagers. Dozens of people have died. This represents a new era of the Middle Eastern crisis. Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel have been in conflict with each other for years and decades now. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse a Presidential candidate. The American Federal of Teachers and the United Auto Workers have supported Vice President Kamala Harris. The Justice Department wants more than 100 million from two corporations that owned and operated the container ship that destroyed Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March of 2024. The city of Baltimore has sued 2 companies too.
J. D. Vance is a hypocrite. He said that liberals and Democrats are using divisive rhetoric against Trump. The reality is that Trump has promoted divisive rhetoric. Trump wants to abolish the Constitution if he doesn't get his way. That is fascism. Trump wants a Muslim ban, which is part of fascism. Trump said that he wanted to be a dictator on day one. That is extremism. Trump and Vance believe in the lie that Haitian immigrants are eating cats. Trump wants to deport the Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio when they are legal residents. Trump adviser Stephen Miller wants a massive denaturalization program that can potentially deport millions of legal American citizens (as Miller and Trump oppose birthright citizenship). The far-right and some Hoteps believe in the myth that immigrants collectively are lazy, violent, and seeking to steal our jobs. The truth is that we love our jobs, and immigrants shouldn't be blamed for Jim Crow, economic exploitation, and all racism in the world.
Governor Sarah Huckabee of Arkansas made a disgusting comment about Kamala Harris saying that Harris is not really humble because she doesn't have biological children. The truth is that Kamala Harris is a stepmother and loves her family. Doug Emhoff's ex-wife comes to Vice President Kamala Harris' defense. We live in a time of modern families, and Huckabee abhors the diversity of the human family. It is an old, sick pastime to shame childless people and single people. This personal attack has nothing to do with politics but cruelty and disrespect. Trump allies use of attacks against childless women is the epitome of sexism period. Kamala Harris doesn't need to use ad hominem attacks, because she has tons of policy positions on families, housing, health care, the environment, etc. Sarah Huckabee is an extremist who supports the separation of migrant families and allies with the bigot Donald Trump. Many GOP members even refuse to support federal funding for public school students, but they hypocritically claim to be the party of family values.
There is political news that people need to know. Kamala Harris was the Senate's tie-breaking vote on an $86 billion pension rescue that benefited the Teamsters more than any other union. We know that overdose deaths are plummeting due to Biden making Naloxone available over the counter. We know that only about 29 percent of Americans can afford a home before they're 30, because corporate landlords are buying up single-family homes, inflating the market, and making millions in profit. That is why Rep. Ro Khanna wants to pass his Stop Wall Street Landlords Act to restore homeownership to hardworking people. Some of the biggest drivers of inflation are some massive multinational corporations. Corporate companies are having record profits from rent hikes. That is why the government needs to tackle price gouging from corporations. Many people forget that during Trump's first term, he was provoking violence, lying constantly, cutting taxes for the rich, profiting off the Presidency, messing up the pandemic response, and oversaw a massive recession.
There is a new scandal about Mark Robinson making offensive comments on a website. On this website, he said that he is a black Nazi, he wants to own slaves, and he is a pervert. CNN has heavily reported on this site. He is also accused of being a hypocrite by his comments too. Mark Robinson is the Lt. Governor of North Carolina running for Governor of North Carolina. Mark Robinson denies these comments, but for years, Mark Robinson said tons of offensive nonsense. Trump has said racist and sexist words before too. Mark Robinson said that some people need killing and made sexist comments which are documented. Many Republicans in North Carolina want Mark Robinson to resign. MAGA is a cult. Donald Trump is so sick and perverted that he said that if his daughter wasn't related to him, he would date her. This is degeneracy and many Republicans lecture us on morality, but many of them are the epitome of immoral people. Trump has praised Mark Robinson, and Kamala Harris could win North Carolina.
By Timothy
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Massive News.
There are many children of my 3rd cousin Selena Estell Claude (b. 1953). She is a descendant of Zilphy Claud via her son George Washington Claud (1849-1923). Selena Estell Claude married Elmer Lewis Barnes (b. 1952) in Southampton County, Virginia on August 16, 1975. Their children are my cousins Bobby Lewis Barnes (b. 1978), Dr. Joy Leatrice Barnes (b. 1980), and Cassie Nicole Barnes (b 1986). Dr. Joy Leatrice Barnes Phelps was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and raised in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. She graduated from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. She finished her undergraduate education at North Carolina State University. After graduating summa cum laude with a degree in Biological Sciences, she attended the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. She works as a board-certified Pediatric Dentist. She loves her husband Dr. Maynard Phelps and her four children. She was awarded the Richard C. Pugh Award for scoring in the top 3 percent of all candidates nationwide who took the written pediatric dental certification examination. Bobby Lewis Barnes is married to Rielle C. Montague (b. 1975) and their children are Sabrina Barnes and Joceyln Barnes. Cassie Nicole Barnes is married to Jeffrey Beamon, and their children are Jasmine Beamon and Giselle Beamon.
Some breaking news is that Sean Combs has been arrested by federal agents in New York City. He may face multiple years in prison. Diddy is charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges. The federal indictment represents a three-count indictment against Sean Combs. The federal government is accusing Sean Combs of abusing, threatening, and coercing women to fulfill his desires. The feds are accusing him of promoting a criminal empire to promote crimes like sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice. The indictment from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York charged Combs with three counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted, Sean Combs faces a sentence of up to life in prison. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges in court on Tuesday afternoon. It doesn't look good for Combs, because if the feds have videotape evidence and other witness testimony, then it's game over. Combs is guilty of domestic violence against Cassie caught on tape. Combs is accused of having associates and employees host drug-fueled orgies with victims, and sex workers, which resulted in physical and sexual abuse. Tupac was right all along on the infamous and evil character of Sean Combs. A federal judge refused to grant Combs bail, so he remains in federal detention.
We live in unique times in our history. A lot of people talk about these days as the latter days. We know that Trump continues to travel and campaign stump using Jeffrey Epstein's airplane. We know that a racist far-right Party in Germany won a key election, which is the first time such a party has done this since the Hitler era (as we approach the 80th year anniversary of the end of World War II). We know of the MAGA cultists using threats against the people of Springfield, Ohio over the slander of the Haitian people. This is no quaint time. We have war in multiple continents, and dictator Putin threatening war in the West in overt terms. Therefore, we have to realize the signs of the time. Whether you know what happens in 2028 or in 2030, we have to be prepared now.
NATO's top military officers wants NATO weapons strikes deep inside of Russia. Like always Putin is a dictator, and I believe in Ukraine using self-defense to defend their lands in Ukraine against Russian invasion. Yet, I have been consistent to oppose Ukraine using weapons deep in Russia, and I oppose Ukraine attacking Russia for reasons. One reason is that these acts only prolong the war, these actions in my view have nothing to do with self-defense, and that may cause Putin to attack even NATO nations. Admiral Bob Bauer is the chair of the NATO Military Committee. Bauer made the statement that every nation has the right to attack areas outside of the border of Ukraine. I disagree with Bauer's views of Ukraine attacking deep in Russian territory. U.S. President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will discuss the question of allowing Ukraine to strike inside Russian territory. All Russian people shouldn't be collectively blamed for the unjust invasion of Ukraine, only Putin and his military forces. Putin has threatened to say that Ukraine's use of NATO weapons in Russia will cause NATO to enter a war with Russia. We must not take Putin's bait. We must end this war and have a free Ukraine free from Russian occupation and a free Russia without the dictator Putin.
Some breaking news is that shots were fired near the Florida Golf Course while Trump was playing golf. The FBI said that the suspect is in custody, and the suspect had an attempted assassination against Donald Trump. Likewise, we express dissent through peaceful means not by shooting people. The attempted assassination attempt is the 2nd one against Trump. Like always, it is evil. There is no excuse to try to assassinate Donald Trump. I disagree with Trump on many issues but express my dissent by peaceful voting and by my words. Right now, Donald Trump is safe. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been briefed on the incident. The FBI and local Florida authorities are investigating the shooting. Secret Service agents fired at the suspect according to multiple sources. A local sheriff's office official said that the suspect is under custody. Attorney General Garland was briefed on the Trump security incident too. Questions arise about the response, but it seems like the response by authorities is much better than the 1st assassination attempt against Donald Trump.
By Timothy
Monday, September 16, 2024
Developments in Early September 2024.
There is more information about my 4th cousin Virginia Pearl Ridley Barnwell, born on September 15, 1954, at Southampton County, Virginia. She was once married to Wendell Bernard Barnwell (b. 1953) in 1981 at Pasquotank, North Carolina. Their children are Wendell Bernard Barnwell (b. 1980), Brian B. Barnwell (b. 1981), and Kimberly R. Barnwell (b. 1985). Wendell Jr., Brian, and Kimberly Barnwell are my 5th cousins. Wendell Bernard Barnwell Sr. is currently married to Levia Mason Stovall. We are descendants of Zilphy Claud. Zilphy Claud had a son named George Washington Claud (1849-1923). George Washington Claud had a son named Richard Washington Claud (1874-1945). Richard Washington Claud married Ann Elizabeth Claud (1876-1960) in Virginia on January 26, 1898. Their child was Ralph Elijah Claud (1912-1965). Ralph Elijiah Claud married Gussie Estell Claud. One of their children was Mary Lizzie Claud (1936-2007). Mary Lizzie Claud married Samuel Junior Ridley (1930-2006) in Southampton County, Virginia on October 29, 1953. Their children are Virginia Pearl Ridley (b. 1954), Mary Ellen Ridley (b. 1956), Dennis Lee Ridley Sr. (b. 1960), and Johnnie Lloyd Ridley. I found that many of the Claud family are living in Boston too. Elsie Mead Claude was born in March 11,1949, and she lives in Boston, Massachusetts in the Roxbury area. Her daughter is Kimberly R. Claude who was born in May 1977. Elsie Mead Claud is a descendant of Zilphy Claud via her son George Washington Claud. She is the daughter of Ralph Elijah Claud (1912-1965) and Gussie Estell Claud (1914-1985).
There has been slander against Haitian people in Springfield, Ohio eating cats. This is promoted by far-right people and racists who don't believe in the principle of treating your neighbor as yourself. Not only have there been bomb threats in Springfield, Ohio over this lie, but many Haitian Americans fear more hate crimes, attacks, and even death. This racism and xenophobia are not new among Republicans. Laura Ingraham said that Haitian refugees are part of a Democratic plot to cancel out so-called native-born Americans. Trump and his supporters of demonizing black immigrants and other immigrants of color are part of a key playbook to cause fear and division in society. The mayor of Springfield and the Republican Governor of Ohio debunk the eating local pets lie. This lie promotes the stereotype that we black people are dysfunctional people. Trump and J.D. Vance believe in this racist lie too. Xenophobia was shown by Tariq Nasheed, and Yvette Carnell (who is jealous of the black scholar Jessica Aiwuyor who wrote literature in favor of black liberation globally. Yvette Carnell lied and said that Jessica has no credentials when she has three degrees, including two master's degrees and 20 years of experience), and others should be condemned as well. Therefore, as a black American, I will defend the human rights of Haitian people in America and throughout the world.
It is time to expose the far-right racist Laura Loomer, who is a Trump supporter. Loomer is part of Trump's entourage, and Trump allies with Loomer too. She is an Internet personality, a MAGA activist, and calls herself a "pro-white nationalist" and proud "Islamphobe." So, she is a person who is anti-democracy and anti-diversity. Anyone voting for Trump is a supporter of racism and xenophobia, and I don't care who it is. She was born in Tuscon, Arizona. During the day of the 2016 election (on November 8, 2016), Loomer was part of Project Veritas stunt. She went to a polling station dressed in a burqa and asked for a ballot under the name of Huma Abdein, which is blatantly Islamophobic. She has reported for Infowars, Geller Report, and other far right organizations. Loomer is a criminal by she and others jumping the wall around the California Governor's Mansion in Sacramento. They opposed Governor Gavin Newsom's stance on immigration. Loomer promoted the lie that Haitian immigrants were eating other people's household pets in Springfield, Ohio. Loomer made the racist tweet that if Kamala Harris was elected President, then the White House will smell like curry, and White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center. Trump and Loomer are racists plain and simple. Even Marjorie Taylor Green (a far-right extremist) said that Loomer's remarks about Kamala Harris were racist and appalling. Loomer believes in the lie that the school shootings in February 2018 in Parkland, Florida, and in May 2018 in Santa Fe, Texas were staged. She lied and said that the October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts were a false flag operation created by the Democrats. Loomer is a vicious racist who said that 20,000 Haitians are cannibalistic and promoted the lie that Haitians are eating cats in Springfield, Ohio. She was banned by Twitter and then reinstated by the extremist Elon Musk. In 2019, after the white racist terrorist attack that killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, Loomer wrote that she doesn't care about Christchurch. Loomer is evil. Loomer spoke at the annual conference of white racist publication of American Renaissance. She opposes birthright citizenship. She disrespected Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Kamala Harris, Fani Willis, and Letitia James in racist terms. So, Loomer is a fraud, and Trump supports her. Anyone supporting Loomer and Trump is evil and a sellout to the core.
The 20th century of fashion from 1900 to 2000 has been the most diverse and wide-ranging changing fashion in human history. The fashion of the early 1900s is massively different than the fashion of the 1990s. In a span of 100 years, we saw a light year of change. The early 20th century saw fashion as continuing from the fashion of the late 19th century with Belle Epoque styles, the Art Deco movement, and other images made by Jacques Doucet and Mariano Fortuny. The Roaring Twenties saw women with dresses and short bobs. There were corsets being rejected, and many women wore experimental clothes. There was the flapper look. Coco Chanel back then was a major institution of fashion back then. Many men wore suits, ties, hats, and other clothing. By the World War II era, there was the zoot suit being popular. Claire McCardell, Anne Klein, and Cashin formed a trio of women who made a foundation of American sportswear. The 1950's and early to 1960's saw a more conservative look for men and women. The bikini was in fashion by 1963. We saw new styles in the 1960's like black American cultural images and clothes that spread into the 1970's too. There were Afros, jeans, black leather suits, and other brands. Diverse fashion from the world spread too. By the 1970's, Halston was a popular fashion designer. The 1970's saw suits, unisex clothes, and a retro look at times. The 1980's saw the mullet, spandex, and experimental clothing. We saw Japanese fashion and African Americans setting up more fashion institutions too. We saw diverse supermodels rising up. The rise of new American fashion styles was developed by Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, and Norma Kamali. The 1990s saw minimalism and fashion leaders like Gucci, Gap., Eddie Bauer, F.U.B.U, Tommy Hilfiger, March Jacobs, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, and other people going about selling fashion. By the end of the 1990's, hip hop music and hip-hop culture became hugely influential in fashion from black fashion designers, Nike, and independent black fashion icons who worked hard to create excellent imagery. The 20th century in fashion was hugely revolutionary.
The great myth is that no black lived in Europe before the 1500s. We have scientific and historical evidence of black people living in ancient Greece and ancient Rome. We know that black people did live in the Renaissance period, and the first people into Europe were black people (in many cases having blue eyes). There are tons of works of art from paintings to sculptures showing an African presence in Europe during the 1400's.
Early Christianity from 100 to 313 of the Ante-Nicene era had tons of developments. From 150-150 A.D., apocryphal and non-canonical works spread like the Apocryphon of James, Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Gospel of James, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and Secret Gospel of Mark (Complete Gospels, published by Jesus Seminar). Many of these works are pro-Gnostic as Gnosticism was a heresy created very early in the world. There is the time of Papias (from 110-130 A.D.) writing the "Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord", lost, widely quoted (Apostolic Fathers). By 110 A.D., Ignatius of Antioch writes to the Smyrnaeans that the Christian church is katholikos ("universal"). Polycarp or the bishop of Smyrna wrote the Letter to the Philippians from 110-160 A.D. By 112, Pliny reported on the rapid growth of Christianity in Bithynia. By 120 A.D., the Rabbi Tarfon advocated burning the Gospel. By 125 A.D., 2 Peter was found. It was not accepted into canon until the early 400s, drew upon Epistle of Jude, and the epistle, Pastoral Epistles was written. By 125 A.D., there was the Rylands Library Papyrus P52, oldest extant NT fragment, p. 1935, parts of Jn18:31-33,37-38. From 130-250 A.D., the Christian Apologists were created by many people to oppose the Roman pagan religion. The authors of such works were: Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Apology of Aristides, Theophilus of Antioch, Tatian, Quadratus, Melito of Sardis, Apollinaris Claudius, Marcus Minucius Felix, Arnobius, Epistle to Diognetus. From 132 to 135 A.D., there was the Bar Kohba revolt. That was the final major attempt from Jewish people to liberate themselves from Roman brutal occupation. Thousands of Jewish people died, and it has happened in Jerusalem too. Jerusalem was renamed by the Romas as Aelia Capitolina after the revolt. From 142-145 A.D, Marcion of Sinope: bishop according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, goes to Rome, possibly to buy the bishopric of Rome, upon rejection forms his own church in Rome, later called Marcionism, rejected Old Testament, decreed canon of one Gospel, one Apostolicon (10 Letters of Paul) and one Antithesis which contrasted the Old Testament with the New Testament. Maricon was a heretic as the Old Testament is the New Testament's precedessor and the New Testament reveals the fulfillment of the prophecies and stories from the Old Testament.
The Gospel reached Portugal and Morocco by 150 A.D., the Gnostic Valentinius narrowly lost the election for Biship of Rome at the same time. The Shepherd of Hermas was written in Rome by 150 A.D. There were other Gnostic books written from 150-200 A.D. like Gospel of the Saviour, Gospel of Peter, Oxyrhynchus Gospels, Dialogue of the Saviour. In 155 A.D, the heretic Montanus claimed to be the Counselor of John 14:16. The account called Marytrdom of Polycarp was created in 160 A.D. The Bishop Soter in 166 wrote that the number of Christian has surpassed the Jewish population. By 167 A.D., at the request of Lucius of Britain, missionaries Fuganus (or Phagan) and Duvianus (or Deruvian) were sent by Roman Bishop Eleuterus to convert the Britons to Christianity. In 170 A.D., Dionysius, bishop of Corinth claimed Christians were changing and faking his own letters just as [he knew] they had changed the Gospels (Eusebius' EH 4 c.23 v.12; Ante-Nicene Fathers, v.8). During the same time, Taitain produces "Diatessaron" (Harmony) by blending 4 "Western" text-type Gospels into 1. Symmachus the Ebionite writes new Greek translation of Hebrew Bible. The first Christians reported in Austria is form 174 A.D. There was the persecution in Lyon, France including the martyrdom of Blandina. In 180, the Christian scholar Hegesippus wrote against the Gnostic and Mariconism heresies. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon: combated heresies, cited "Western" Gospel text-type (Ante-Nicene Fathers); second "Primate of the Gauls." From 185-350, there was the Muratorian fragment, 1st extant canon for New Testament after Marcion?, written in Rome by Hippolytus?, excludes Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, 3 John; includes Wisdom of Solomon, Apocalypse of Peter.
Saint Apollonius: used the term catholic about 1 John in 186 A.D. Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria condemned Origen. Bishop of Rome Victor I (189-198) condemned the Eastern churches that continued to observe Easter on Nisan 14 Quartodeciman. Pataenus of Alexandria goes to India in response to an appeal for Christian teachers in 190 A.D. Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus in 196 A.D. Bar Daisan writes of Christians among the Parthians, Bactrians (Kushans), and other peoples in the Persian Empire. Caius, the presbyter of Rome, wrote "Dialogue against Proclus" in Ante-Nicene Fathers, rejected Revelation, said to be by Gnostic Cerinthus. Caius is wrong. The first Christians reported to be in Switzerland and Belgium is found by 200 A.D. Sextus Julius Africanus was an early Christian traveler and historian of 200 A.D. Papyrus 46 was created by 200 A.D. too.
By Timothy
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Friday, September 13, 2024
Moving Forward.
The Harris and Walz team spoke at Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday afternoon. Coming after the debate, the race is still tight. She will hold an event in Greensboro, North Carolina at North Carolina. They will show more ads about the debate. Trump wants to talk about grievances in Tuscon, Arizona. Trump has been bitter and angry at the ABC News debate, because he has been refuted by Kamala Harris in a great way (even the moderators fact-checked Trump). Most Americans view Kamala Harris as the victor in the political debate against Donald Trump. Trump said that he doesn't want to debate Kamala Harris again. Harris wants to debate Trump for a 2nd time. Harris said that Trump has concepts of a plan, but Harris has a real plan in dealing with healthcare. The fact is that a black woman like Kamala Harris will never get away with saying that she has "concepts of a plan." So, we are clear about rejecting inequality, poverty, job cuts, and stagnating wages in many places. Harris has raised 46 million dollars in one day after the debate. Taylor Swift has endorsed Kamala Harris too.
The federal appeals court has denied Trump's request to delay sentencing in the hush money case. Donald Trump wants all of his legal problems to cease to exist. The state judge overseeing the matter already postponed the date. The decision came from a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Trump wanted the New York appeals court to get involved after a federal judge denied his request to move the state case to federal court. While the case was on appeal, New York state Judge Juan Merchan, who oversees the state case, agreed to move Trump's sentencing. Later, it was set after the November Presidential election, in part to avoid the appearance of aiding one political party or another. Trump's lawyers want to challenge Trump's conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records including the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on Presidential immunity this summer. We shall see what the results of this legal situation will be.
There is more information about the debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The debate has a snapshot of the personalities of the thoroughly prepared Kamala Harris and the belligerent and egocentric Donald Trump. Kamala Harris raised a record amount of money, formed his own policy positions, helped to free hostages from Russia, and worked with Biden to promote the massive growth of the economy. Recently, President Biden has used an executive order to cut hearing aid prices massively. Trump talks about across the board tariffs on all nations' imports which is different than Biden's strategic tariffs combines with investments. The truth is that unemployment is near a 50-year low, inflation has slowed, real wages have risen, and the FED could cut interest rates. Regardless of what Trump says, non-U.S. citizens can't vote in federal elections, and it's illegal for babies out of the mother's womb to be killed.
On this time, we commemorate the events of September 11th, 2001, when I was a freshman in college. I was almost 18 years old when it occurred. Today is a solemn time when evil folks used planes to murder almost 3,000 human beings in New York City, the Pentagon (in Arlington, Virginia), and Pennsylvania. Terrorists used planes as weapons to cause destruction and mayhem. Back then and today, people have every right to ask questions about that tragic day. On that day, heroes rose up. There were many firefighters, law enforcement, and volunteers who saved lives, got rid of debris, and show the world how tons of Americans are strong amid tragedy. The nation was inspired in unity to oppose the ideology of murder and extremism. Our democracy was attacked on that day, but it wasn't defeated. We, who are Americans, think about this event constantly. I think about 9/11 every single day of my life. My ancestors helped the human family in many ways like being part of the Union to defeat the Confederacy during the American Civil War, working to defeat fascism in WWII, and working in many diligent deeds to change the world positively. Neo-conservatives from the Bush administration to Brezinski exploited the 9/11 attacks to try to gain the resources of Eurasia and the Middle East. The PNAC document outlined the neoconservative playbook. The Bush administration attacked the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. We know that Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction and had no involvement in the 9/11 attacks. There have been more debates about civil rights and civil liberties since 9/11 too. Back in October of 2001, the Patriot Act was signed into law. Back then and today, I disagree with the Patriot Act on civil liberty issues. There have been more militarized police, hate crimes against Muslims (and other human beings), and activists standing up for democratic values. Many of the first responders involved in saving lives on 9/11 have cancer, and some have passed away from cancer (caused by the dust coming down from collapsed buildings). The world has changed since 9/11 came about 23 years ago. Back in 9/11, I used floppy disks and today, USB files are commonplace. Back then, I had flip phones, and today we have Galaxy cell phones, iPhone 16, and Android cell phones. Back then, AI was never widespread, and today, AI is very powerful and widespread. Back then, Playstation was played and now Playstation 5 has Internet access. We will never forget about 9/11, because it was an attack on the human race in general. We live in very important time when a reactionary person wants to be dictator on Day One. Our democratic rights must be protected. At the end of the day, we believe in a stronger environment, we believe in reparations for black Americans, we want our voting rights protected and strengthened, we desire imperialism gone, and we want xenophobia ended. Our wisdom is sacrosanct coming from the Most High. We salute the legends of time who taught us about love, courage, and heroism. We will survive.
By Timothy
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
The 2024 Presidential Debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Yesterday night an important occurrence. That event was the first 2024 Presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. It was the first time that a black and South Asian woman would be part of a Presidential debate among Republicans and Democrats. This period of time is the end of this 2024 historic election. When people vote, they should think about civil rights, voting rights, the dignity of women, and the importance of maintaining our democracy. If the wrong person is elected, this could be the last Presidential election of our lifetimes. This is not hyperbole. This is the fundamental reality. Debates relate to sometimes entertainment. Yet, debates also focus on historic quotes, the verbal comebacks, policy positions, polling, and the aftermath of the debate. This debate was very personal. I can't sugarcoat that point, because Trump has made racist and sexist attacks against Kamala Harris. Harris was the Attorney General of California, was a Senator, and is Vice President, so Kamala Harris is perfectly qualified to run for President as she has tons of executive and legislative experience. Donald Trump is a habitual liar, a bigot, and a convicted felon, but he can't be underestimated. During this time, most people have set their views on who to vote for in stone. This debate will deal with a minority of voters who will go either way. As for me, I will vote for democracy in November of 2024.
The 2024 Presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris has been finished. The debate started with the economy and the cost of living. Vice President Kamala Harris was asked first about the economy and if the nation was better off now than four years ago. Harris gave an answer about start-off resources to help new homeowners and business owners. She opposes a tariff by calling it a sales tax. Trump denies having a sales tax and desires tariffs to target other nations like China. He said that millions of people (who are migrants and undocumented immigrants) are coming to America to steal jobs from African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and other Americans. He said that migrants are dangerous, and he wants to get them out of America. Harris responded by using a compare and contrast response about what Donald Trump has left America with economic problems, a lax response to the pandemic, and Project 2025. Trump denies having any involvement in Project 2025. Trump is false to assume that his response to the pandemic was great. Trump's response to the pandemic caused economic turmoil while millions of Americans died. Harris said that numerous economic experts prefer her economic plan to Trump's economic plan. What Trump doesn't get is that China may retaliate against American goods if his tariff plan becomes a reality. China won't do nothing about tariff as history has proven. Trump lied and said that Kamala Harris has no plan, is a Marxist, and has policies that would ruin America. Kamala Harris' website and speech detail a cogent plan for what she desires for the future of America. Trump and Kamala Harris debated each other on abortion. Trump wants the abortion issues to return to the states, and Harris wants a national law to codify Roe V. Wade as the law of the land. Trump claims to support IVF. Kamala Harris said that she supported a bipartisan immigration bill that would use resources to fight transnational organizations trafficking drugs. She said that Trump influenced many Republicans to stop the bipartisan immigration issue. Trump forgets that the vast majority of migrants and undocumented immigrants are not rapists, murderers, and eaters of animals (Trump is wrong to say that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating people's pets).
I watched the whole debate, and it is easy to witness that Kamala Harris defeated Donald Trump by just speaking clearly to outline her vision for America and refuting the blatant lies from Trump. Trump said that Kamala Harris wants to take all Americans' guns. That is a lie as Kamala Harris is a gun owner, and she wants reasonable gun regulations to prevent the massive gun shootings from destroying the lives of innocent human beings in vicious ways. Donald Trump used 90 minutes to show lies, hate, and vitriol. Kamala Harris mentioned that she wants America to move forward from the divisiveness from Trump and his agenda. Trump denies supporting Project 2025, but Project 2025 has views that Trump supports (and it was created by at least 140 people who worked for Trump in the past. Trump talks about inflation but inflation is lower now than when he left office. Trump still doesn't have a replacement for the ACA. Ending ACA completely would strip coverage from 20 million Americans and put 130 million people with pre-existing conditions at risk of being charged more or denied coverage. Trump still believes in the myth that the 2020 election was stolen, and he lost more than 60 legal challenges to the 2020 election. Trump claims that crime is going up when violent crime is coming down in 2024. Trump falsely accused Pelosi of turning down an offer of 10,000 National Guard troops. Kamala Harris had shown confidence, gravitas of the issues, and she clearly won the debate. Kamala Harris said that Trump believes that the Ukrainian war will be over within 24 hours because he would just give it up. Kamala Harris was accurate in saying that Trump had coddled dictators and authoritarians like Putin, Xi, Orban, and other individuals. Trump refuses to answer if he wants Ukraine to win. After this debate, the Presidential campaign continues in the divided nation of America. The good news is we have a chance to vote Trump out of office and grow our democracy in 2025 and beyond.
I don't agree with the University of South Carolina allowing far right extremists to have an offensive "roast" of Vice President Kamala Harris. First, the people involved in it are sexists, racists, and far-right extremists who don't care about dissent. They want to exploit politics to promote lies against Kamala Harris. Many of these far-right extremists are jealous of the intellect of a woman of color. The University of South Carolina claims that they defend the right of free speech, but they wouldn't dare allow Holocaust deniers to have a roast session. They wouldn't dare have pro-ISIS people to have a roast session on their campus. So, this is a double standard, and free speech doesn't mean that we take it. Free speech means that we show our disagreement with this sick event. Kamala Harris is used by the media to desire her to be perfect, but some in the media ignore Trump's false statements, his rambling statements, and his evil agenda. So, we must be on our purpose to support democracy.
Some shocking, sad news is that James Earl Jones passed away today at the age of 93 years old. He was an icon of acting who worked in theater, television, and movies for over seven decades. He was born in Arkabutia, Mississippi, and passed away in Pawling, New York. James Earl Jones worked in historic plays like August Wilson's Fences, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Othello, Coriolanus, and King Lear. He earned three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. He is known for his deep baritone voice. Jones loved to work in dramas, thrillers, science fiction, comedies, and other genres of acting. He worked in the Star Wars film series, Coming 2 America, and the Lion King (in 1994 and in 2019). He was a military veteran too. He loves his child unconditionally. Back in 1972, James Earl Jones starred in the film The Man playing the first black President of the United States of America. James Earl Jones stood on the work of Paul Robeson as both men wanted to show diverse, dignified roles on the movie screen. Blackness is diverse, and James Earl Jones showed black genius in enumerable ways.
By Timothy
Monday, September 09, 2024
Early September 2024 Commentaries.
It is important to mention the diverse fashion of the African continent centuries ago. Many geographic and environmental realities influence fashion. Also, there was trade and cultural influences that changed African fashion too. Many parts of Africa suffered the evils of colonalism and imperialism. Before the European colonialism of Africa, pre-colonial Africa had great clothing, fabric, and popular silhouettes. There were tons of handwoven fabrics in Nigeria with advanced patterns from the 13th century. Many Africans back centuries ago wore less clothing because many Africans lived in the Equator. Europeans colonizers and racists tried to use respectability politics to restrict African's fashion freedoms. The kente cloth in Ghana and other parts of Africa have a long history. The kente cloth came from Ghana with a woven textile that have striped patterns and bright colors with many meanings. How much of African dress has been influenced by colonizers and missionaries has been documented by Madeleine Janz's article of "From Kente to colonialism: African fashion over time" found in the Journal of Fashion Studies. By the 17th century and 18th century, Africa had the raffia cloth. It is a type of textile woven from palm leaves and used for garments, bags, and mats.
During the 19th century, there is the African akwete design. Akwete is a decorative cloth with complex weave designs, intricate geometric patterns, and it has vibrant colors. It is usually made into wrappers for women to wear, and it is made by the Igbo women of Nigeria. By the 1800's, the world saw the growth of the red silk dress. Many of them existed by 1869. This dress has a fitted waist, accented by the bustled overskirt with black lace trimming. There are advanced designs on the dress too. There are many colors of the silhouette too. Clothes had more advanced fabrics like silk, satin, taffeta, faille, moire, silk poplin, velvet, etc. Silk dresses of many colors were worn in picnics, birthdays, and other celebrations throughout the 1800's.
There was a revolutionary transformation of fashion indeed. From the 15th century to the end of the 19th century, we saw kente cloths, advanced silk dresses, top hats, and other displays of monumental fashion styles. By the 1800's, there was the American Civil War, the Prussian War, new scientific inventions, and the abolishment of slavery in many countries of the world (from America to Brazil). There were conservative Victorian gowns and elegant Regency attire. The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century saw new technologies and more methods of production causing more dyes to be used on clothes (filled with silk, cotton, etc.). Many women wore high necklines, long sleeves, and full skirts. Some women wore corsets and crinolines. Men had many utilitarian suits, waistcoats, ties, and hats. The three-piece suit was popularized in the 19th century.
There is no mention of country music without mentioning information about Willie Nelson. Willie Nelson grew to be a rebel against an extremely conservative interpretation of how country music should be displayed. Nelson became a great activist on many social causes and follow his own individuality as America culturally always had a libertarian, individual streak. He was one of the many leaders of the outlaw country genre that was formed by the late 1960s to react to the conservative Nashville sound. He was born in the Deep South in Abbott, Texas. Nelson loved music since he was a young child. He wrote his first song when he was seven years old, and he joined his first band when he was ten years old. He toured with the Bohemian Polka during his time in high school. He graduated from high school in 1950. He joined the U.S. Air Force. Later, he attended Baylor University for two years, worked as a disc jockey at radio stations in Texas, and wrote sounds (like Funny How Time Slips Away, Hello Walls, Pretty Paper, and Crazy). He lived in Nashville in 1960. He signed with people and had his first album called And Then I Wrote in 1962. He had success and joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1964. Willie Nelson moved to Austin, Texas in 1972 to escape the corporate side of the music industry. In 1975, Nelson released the outlaw country album of Wanted! The Outlaws with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser. He would make more hits in the 1980's and beyond. He toured the world, and he worked in reggae, blues, jazz, and folk music. He was a fighter for marijuana legalization (which was taboo back in the day. It isn't taboo now). Nelson owns the biodiesel brand of Willie Nelson Biodiesel. He is the honorary chairman of the advisory board of the Texas Music Project, the official music charity of the state of Texas. As an advocate of farmers' rights, Willie Nelson performed for Farm Aid for years. He is an American original being a great guitar player too. Recently, I found out that Willie Nelson called the black country music legend Charlie Pride Super N_____. I don't play that, and Willie Nelson is completely wrong. Pride said it was a term of endearment, but it is not. No human being should be called a racist slur, and I want to make that perfectly clear. Folks would dare call a Muslim, a Jewish person, a Hispanic person, and other people slurs. There is no excuse for the usage of that slur period.
The 2nd era of the history of Christianity lasted from 100 A.D. to 313 A.D. This era saw the peak of the Ante-Nicene era or the massive spread of the Christian church. This time saw some of the greatest persecution of Christians in human history. Back then, many Christians lost jobs, were fed to lions and tigers in the Roman Coliseum, were beaten to death, and suffered other forms of excruciating persecution. Yet, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ remained strong. Ironically, Christianity would outlast the Roman Empire. This era saw the religion of Christianity to be more sophisticated. The powers of the bishops in Alexandria, Jerusalem, Rome, Constantinople, and other cities of the world increased. The New Testament says that a bishop can be married, but heresies came about like banning certain clergy people like bishops from being married. These heresies would be found in Roman Catholicism as time went on. Christianity grew rapidly as written by the scholar Pliny. This second and third generation of Christians after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ wrote apologetics, preached the gospel, and focused on spreading spiritual views. Polycarp wrote intellectual books, and he was the disciple of the Apostle John (according to Irenaeus and Tertullian). The Bar Kohba rebellion, the rise of Constantine, and the nearing of the time of the Nicene Creed existed back then. There were new heresies like Marcion of Sinope, who wanted to reject all of the Old Testament. Cyprian wrote that no man is a bishop of bishops. That means that no bishop (that includes the bishop of Rome) should claim total domination of the whole church. The church is headed by Jesus Christ not any bishop. By 313 A.D., the Edict of Milan existed causing toleration of some Christians. The problem is that religious freedom means all people of any faith, or no faith should not experience persecution (beyond just approved people). Therefore, we saw see the growth of Christianity in this 2nd era of the church.
By the 1980's and the 1990's, country music changed to be even more diverse. Western, rock, and pop elements came into country music. There has been a renaissance of new fans of country music by the 1980's and the 1990's. We know about Willie Nelson and Juice Newton. We know about Kenny Rogers with a duet with Dolly Parton in the song Islands in the Stream. There has been the growth of country rock too that existed since the 1960's. Later, by 1980, there was the style of neo country disco music. This music was popularized in the film Urban Cowboy. There was an increase of pop country crossover artists like Bill Medley (of the Righteous Brothers), England Seals, Tom Jones, and Merrill Osmond. Marie Osmond became a country star too. There were the truck driving country and the neotraditionalist movement. By the 1990's, country music expanded into FM radio more. Back in the day, country music was on AM for the most part. One of the most popular country music artists of the 1990's was Garth Brooks. He had one of the most successful careers in country music. We saw a new school group of country music stars with country and a vibe appearing to younger people like Clint Black, John Michael Montgomery, Cleve Francis, Tracy Lawrence, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Brooks and Dunn, and other people. There has been an increase of women country musicians in the 1980's and the 1990's. Their names are Reba McEntire, Patty Loveless, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Pam Tills, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lorrie Morgan, Shania Twain, and other women who released platinum-selling albums. By the end of the 1990s, the Chicks had their 1998 debut album Wide Open Spaces being 12 times platinum, and their 1999 album Fly went 10 times platinum. So, this era saw country music reach into new heights from Hootie and the Blowfish to LeAnn Rimes. From line dancing to alternative country, country music reached into another level of cultural prominence. Country music is global too being expressed by artists in Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico (and the rest of Latin America), Ireland, the UK, the Middle East, etc.
We appreciate icons of art prodigiously. Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller was a legendary artist who celebrated Afrocentric themes. She worked in the Harlem Renaissance to be an inspiration for future artists. Warrick was not only a painter and sculptor. During the duration of her life, she was a poet, theater designer, and she expressed the diverse experiences of the black American experience. By the turn of the 20th century, she was the black woman sculptor whose work had spread in Paris, America, and throughout the world. She was born in Philadelphia and passed away in Framingham, Massachusetts to be 90 years old. Warrick was the protegee of Auguste Rodin. As one of the greatest artists of all time, she addressed many social issues like lynching (after Mary Turner was brutally lynched by cowardly racists). She experienced racism and sexism. Yet, Meta Fuller outlined genius to prove to the world that black genius can never be extinguished. Black genius will persist forever in the Universe indeed. The legends of art are appreciated by us. We respect the contributions of Lois Mailou Jones, Sargent Claude Johnson, Jacob Lawrence, Archibald Motley, Romare Bearden, and other people who wanted introspection and a love of truth to persist.
We live in a crossroads in our history. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are proposing tax cuts mostly for the super-rich that could cost as much as $10.5 trillion over a decade. That number would exceed the combined budgets of every domestic federal agency. That makes them hypocritical because they claim to be part of the party of "fiscal responsibility." The Biden and Harris administration's investments in manufacturing and infrastructure represent a major change in our society. Their investments in working people have caused economic growth. Now, many businesses are spending money to build manufacturing facilities in America. We know that the lowest-paying major corporations spent about $522 billion on stock buybacks from 2019 to 2023. Buybacks artificially boost share prices and inflate CEO pay. The average workers at these companies are only paid just $34,000 a year. The average CEO was paid $14.7 million. This is why many billionaire oligarchs support Trump; they care about their own financial bottom line. Authoritarians and Big Money historically made a dangerous political alliance (filled with giant monopolies, vast inequality, and political corruption) that has ruined societies.
There is a propaganda film directed by former Russia Today documentary filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova. This documentary challenged the Russian atrocities in Bucha, Ukraine. She tries to sugarcoat the Russian war crimes against Ukrainian lands. She said the lie that Russians aren't committing war crimes. Russian military forces used an illegal preemptive invasion against Ukraine in 2022. Russian military forces bombed schools, apartment buildings, and stores in Ukraine. That constitutes a war crime. Meanwhile, Trump threatens his opponents with prison if he feels that they don't promote an election result that he desires. Trump and Putin are overt fascists. Putin led Russian military forces to round up Ukrainian civilians and executed them. Also, Russian drones have violated NATO airspace in Romania. A Russian drone crashed in Latvia. This is more Russian aggression. Latvia is a NATO member state, and this news is not talked about by many in the media. The MAGA cult can't refute a syllable of this information here. Trump is a habitual liar who praised authoritarians like Orban and Xi. Trump also was found legally liable for raping a woman, his companies were found economically corrupt, and he is a convicted felon.
By Timothy