Saturday, May 04, 2024
Friday, May 03, 2024
Early May 2024 News.
President Biden has talked about the recent protests. He said that dissent must not lead to disorder. He has support for Israel. Biden wants to balance the right to free speech and his desire for "law and order." Biden is right to condemn anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. I agree with Biden that people have the right to protest, but some of the police crackdowns on the protesters are blatantly part of police brutality. Criticism of the Israeli government is not anti-Semitism and the Netanyahu regime is a far-right, pro-Trump regime who seeks to invade Rafah. Even Biden opposes Netanyahu invading Rafah. Many encampments remain in America. The police ended the encampment at UCLA recently. There are over 2,100 arrests during the university protests in total so far. Brown students celebrate after reaching a deal for a vote to have divestment with Israel. There are negotiations between Israel and Hamas. The fundamental truth is that protests have the right to exist, the police must not use brutality, protests shouldn't use unjust violence against innocent life and innocent property, and there must be an immediate ceasefire in the conflict in Gaza (along with the Netanyahu regime held accountable for overt war crimes, Israeli hostages released, and a two-state solution).
Trump criticized the judge in Freeland, Michigan at a MAGA cult rally on Thursday. This attack of the judge is typical of him. A key witness named Keith Davidson, who negotiated the Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal hush money agreements, walked the jury in the Donald Trump hush money trial through the $130,000 Daniels hush money deal. The defense wanted to question Davison's character by questioning his involvement in other celebrity cases. Davidson admitted that he told former Trump attorney Michael Cohen that if Trump lost the 2016 election, Daniels would lose her leverage against him. Digital evidence analyst Douglas Daus testified about the unusual number of contacts and other things he found on Cohen's phone. Davidson said that Cohen was angry over Cohen not brought to the White House after the 2016 election. Daus is expected to resume his testimony later. Judge Juan Merchan held a gag order hearing in the morning to consider four additional allegations against Trump Prosecutors want Trump to be fined $1000 for each alleged violation. The judge has yet to rule on the matter.
Florida Governor DeSantis signed a new law mandating the teaching of the "evils of communism" to children as young as five. I don't agree with Communism per se, but it is not the government's role to teach anyone about opposing communism. People must have the right to agree or disagree with communism in a free and open society. The law doesn't make educators teach children about the evils of fascism, the evils of slavery, or the evils of the Holocaust to kids by the age of five. So, DeSantis is using a double standard because he is a far-right demagogue who wants to brainwash the public to accept his way of life. His way of thinking is rejected by me 100 percent. Anti-communist paranoia historically has been used by the far right to fight the Civil Rights Movement and any movement for equality, freedom, and justice in America. Since 2021, 54 percent of Generation Z people said that they view capitalism negativity. It is no secret that laissez-faire capitalism is a detriment to social progress (as capitalist exploitation contributes to war, poverty, lack of healthcare, growth of climate change, and genocide). Rafael Montalvo, president of Brigade 2506 (who celebrates the fascist dictator Fulgencio Batista. Batista was aided by the CIA and the wicked Mafia) supports DeSantis law like usual. DeSantis banned AP African American history from being taught in Florida. So, DeSantis needs to be voted out of office.
Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested at university campuses across America over the past 24 hours. By Tuesday night, about 300 protesters were arrested at Columbia University and City College of New York. More people were arrested at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was law enforcement moved to disassemble an encampment. Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters clashed on Tuesday night again at UCLA. The protesters used fireworks, poles, and other weapons attacking each other. There were 15 people injured and one hospitalized at UCLA. Classes were canceled on Wednesday to promote safety. Columbia has turned into remote learning for the rest of the semester. Most of the protesters are peaceful people who desire divestment from companies that support Israel, an end to the war in Gaza, and Palestinian liberation.
Trump explained his militaristic plan to deport 15-20 million people. It is impossible to deport 15-20 million people unless fascist, authoritarian tactics are utilized. Trump has said that the terrorists who stormed the U.S. Capitol are "hostages" which is a lie. Trump said the lie that migrants in large numbers are just criminals from other countries. There is no evidence immigrants collectively will drive up crime. Violent crime in general in America has declined in places across America since 2020. Trump wants to use the National Guard to deport almost 20 million undocumented immigrants. This violates Posse Comitatus. The Trump hush money trial continues with the New York DA spotlighting incriminating receipts in the Trump trial.
By Timothy
Thursday, May 02, 2024
Wednesday, May 01, 2024
University Protests and Other News.
The Trump trial continues on Tuesday. The ex-attorney for Daniels and McDougal testified in the Trump trial. The attorney's name is Keith Davidson. He was questioned by prosecutors about the negotiations that led Daniels' tabloid deal and hush money payment. The payment is the center of the case against Trump. Many witnesses took the stand on Tuesday like Michael Cohen's former banker Gary Farro. Farro gave details about paperwork tied to the $130,000 payments to Daniels. Robert Browning testified, and he is the executive director of C-SPAN archives. His testimonial was used to enter videos featuring Trump into evidence. One key lawyers has confirmed Cohen's plan. Also, Trump removed the social media posts that Judge Juan Merchan ruled violated the gag order. Trump has to pay a $9000 fine by the end of the week. The judge said that Trump can be jailed if he violated the order again. Merchan will consider other gag order violations brought by the prosecution in a hearing on Thursday morning.
More than 1,000 protesters in over 60 colleges in America have been arrested. The vast majority of protesters have been peaceful and desire a ceasefire and liberation for the Palestinian people. Likewise, we condemn the minority of protesters using slurs, using objects to destroy windows and tables in Columbia, and who seek destruction instead of freedom for people in the Middle East. Those who commit destruction against innocent property have nothing to do with the freedom of speech and the right to protest. People have the right to protest injustice, but no one has the right to destroy innocent property or threaten people based on race or creed. Criticizing Zionism and criticizing Israeli governmental policy isn't anti-Semitism, but some folks are anti-Semitic and use coded language in trying to spread hate. The terrorism of Hamas and the epidemic of anti-Semitism in America should not be minimized. Recently, a Jewish student was blocked from going to a class in UCLA. To be clear, most college protesters aren't anti-Semitic, but we have to be on the side of opposing bigotry. Also, we should condemn the excessive police response against some protesters that is blatantly police brutality, and we have tons of evidence showing that reality. The only solution is a two-state solution with no occupation, a ceasefire, freeing all Israeli hostages, reparations for Gaza and the West Bank to rebuild Palestinian lands, and full human rights for Israelis and Palestinians.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Monday, April 29, 2024
At the End of April 2024.
Video Games in the 2010's relied on new game consoles, smartphones, and VR devices too. In almost everyone's smartphones, there is a video game or a form of entertainment apps. One of the most popular video games of all time is Minecraft from 2010. This game was built by the Swedish developer Markus Persson. In 2011, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure became the first augmented reality hit by letting players place plastic figures on a Portal of Power to zap characters into the game. In 2013, Disney Infinity joined the ranks of toy video game hybrids. In 2012, the Crowdfunding site Kickstarter gave game creators to raise millions of dollars to produce new and experimental play platforms like the OUYA console and the Oculus Rift. By 2013, more adult mature types of video games existed like Gone Home, The Last of Us and Papers, Please with emotional choices in ethically complex worlds. There are free-to-play systems with games like CrossFire, World of Tanks, etc. Many people use microtransaction payments for in-game items and premium content. In 2015, the online video streaming service of Twitch grew. eSports had 36 million viewers watch The League of Legends World Championship. That rivals and surpassing viewership of some of the most popular athletic events in the world. The Niantic's free to play hit was the game of Pokémon Go. Players have to look for virtual creatures in the game like Pikachu and Horsea. It was very popular during the summer of 2016. In 2017, smartphones and tablets are more popular as gaming platforms. So, Nintendo's Switch exists as a hybrid that merges mobile and console experiences. This innovative system allows players to take hit gams like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and SUper Mario Odyssey with them whereever they go. In 2018, there was the Mircosoft Xbox Adaptive Controller making gaming on Xbox One consoles and Windows 10 PCs more accessible for players with limited moblity. It has 2 large programmable buttons and 10 jacks empower players to connect additional switches, joysticks, and other assistive devices to customize the way they play their favorite games. In 2019, millions of players watch a virtual asteroid destroy the map of Epic Games' massively popular online battle royale game Fortnite. The game earned a a large $2 billion in 2019. Later, there was a new map called Fortnite: Chapter 2. In the year of 2020, we had the start of the global pandemic, starting in November of 2020 and spreading worldwide by early 2021. Many people played games like Crossing: New Horizons, Among Us, and Fall Guys. These games allow people to connect with friends and others via mobile phones, computers, consoles. In 2021, the first video game to win a prestigious Hugo Award for science fiction is called hades. In 2022, The New York Times buys Wordie after the five-letter guessing game goes viral.
The John Brown raid took a lot of planning to create the raid. John Brown rented the Kennedy Farmhouse with a small cabin nearby. This place was 4 miles north of Harpers Ferry in Washington County, Maryland. He took up residence under the name of Isaac Smith. Brown worked with a small group of men for military action. This group grew to include 21 men besides himself. There were 16 white men and five black men. A Northern abolitionist group sent 198 breech-loading .52-caliber Sharps carbines ("Beecher's Bibles"). He ordered from a blacksmith in Connecticut 950 pikes, for use by black people untrained in the use of firearms, as few were. John Brown told curious neighbors that they were tools for mining, which aroused no suspicion as for years the possibility of local mining for metals had been explored. Brown "frequently took home with him parcels of earth, which he pretended to analyze in search of minerals. Often his neighbors would visit him when he was making his chemical experiments and so well did he act his part that he was looked upon as one of profound learning and calculated to be a most useful man to the neighborhood."
The pikes were never used; a few black people in the engine house carried one, but none used it. After the action was over and most of the principals dead or imprisoned, they were sold at high prices as souvenirs. Harriet Tubman had one, and Abby Hopper Gibbons another; the Marines returning to base each had one. When all had been taken or sold, an enterprising mechanic started making and selling new ones. "It is estimated that enough of these have been sold as genuine to supply a large army." Virginian Fire-Eater Edmund Ruffin had them sent to the governors of every slave state, with a label that said "Sample of the favors designed for us by our Northern Brethren." He also carried one around in Washington D.C., showing it to every one he could, "so as to create fear and terror of slave insurrection."
The United States Armory was a large complex of buildings that manufactured small arms for the U.S. Army (1801–1861), with an Arsenal (weapons storehouse) that was thought to contain at the time 100,000 muskets and rifles. However, Brown, who had his own stock of weapons, did not seek to capture those of the Arsenal. John Brown wanted to attract more black American recruits. There was a lack of tons of people supporting this raid. He tried to recruit Frederick Douglass as liaison officer to the slaves in a meeting held (for safety) in an abandoned quarry in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. It was at this meeting that ex-slave "Emperor" Shields Green, rather than return home with Douglass (in whose house Green was living), decided to join with John Brown in his attack on the United States Armory, Green stating to Douglass "I believe I will go with the old man." Douglass declined, indicating to Brown that he believed the raid was a suicide mission. The plan was "an attack on the federal government" that "would array the whole country against us. ...You will never get out alive", he warned. According to Osborne Anderson, "the Old Captain told us, we stood nine chances to one to be killed; but, said the Captain at the same time[,] 'there are moments when men can do more dead than alive.'"
The Kennedy Farmhouse served as "barracks, arsenal, supply depot, mess hall, debate club, and home." It was very crowded, and life there was tedious. Brown was worried about arousing neighbors' suspicions. As a result, the raiders had to stay indoors during the daytime, without much to do but study (Brown recommended Plutarch's Lives), drill, argue politics, discuss religion, and play cards and checkers. Brown's daughter-in-law Martha served as cook and housekeeper. His daughter Annie served as a lookout. She remarked later that these were the most important months of her life. John Brown wanted women at the farm, to prevent suspicions of a large all-male group. The raiders went outside at night to drill and get fresh air. Thunderstorms were welcome since they concealed noise from Brown's neighbors. John Brown didn't plan to make a quick raid and escape to the mountains. He wanted to arm the rebellious slaves to strike terror in the slaveholders in Virginia. Believing that on the first night of action, 200 to 500 slaves would join his line, Brown ridiculed the militia and the regular army that might oppose him. He planned to send agents to nearby plantations, rallying the slaves, and to hold Harpers Ferry for a short time, with the expectation that as many volunteers, white and black, would join him as would form against him. He would then move rapidly southward, sending out armed bands along the way that would free more slaves, obtain food, horses, and hostages, and destroy slaveholders' morale. Brown intended to follow the Appalachian Mountains south into Tennessee and even Alabama, the heart of the South, making forays into the plains on either side.
Hugh Forbes had advanced knowledge of the raid. There were at least 80 people who knew about Brown's planned raid in advance. Brown didn't reveal his total plan to anyone. Hugh Forbes was paid $100 per month to be a drillmaster in a total of $600. Forbes was an English mercenary who served Giuseppe Garibaldi (a revolutionary person) in Italy. Forbes's Manual for the Patriotic Volunteer was found in Brown's papers after the raid. Brown and Forbes argued over strategy and money. Forbes wanted more money so that his family in Europe could join him. Forbes sent threatening letters to Brown's backers in an attempt to get money. Failing in this effort, Forbes traveled to Washington, DC, and met with U.S. Senators William H. Seward and Henry Wilson. He denounced Brown to Seward as a "vicious man" who needed to be restrained but did not disclose any plans for the raid. Forbes partially exposed the plan to Senator Wilson and others. Wilson wrote to Samuel Gridley Howe, a Brown backer, advising him to get Brown's backers to retrieve the weapons intended for use in Kansas. Brown's backers told him that the weapons should not be used "for other purposes, as rumor says they may be." In response to warnings, Brown had to return to Kansas to shore up support and discredit Forbes. Some historians believe that this trip cost Brown valuable time and momentum. Mary Ellen Pleasent donated $30,000 (or 1.1 million dollars in 2023) to help pay for the raid, saying it was "most important and significant act of her life."
One of those who knew was David J. Gue of Springdale, Iowa, where Brown had spent time. Gue was a Quaker who believed that Brown and his men would be killed. Gue decided to warn the government "to protect Brown from the consequences of his own rashness." He sent an anonymous letter to Secretary of War John B. Floyd. Gue wanted Floyd to send soldiers to Harpers Ferry to make Brown to call off his plans. Even though President Buchanan offered a $250 reward for Brown, Floyd did not connect the John Brown of Gue's letter to the John Brown of Pottawatomie, Kansas, fame. He knew that Maryland did not have an armory (Harpers Ferry is in Virginia, today West Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Maryland.) Floyd concluded that the letter writer was a crackpot and disregarded it. He later said that "a scheme of such wickedness and outrage could not be entertained by any citizen of the United States." Brown's second in command John Henry Kagi wrote to a friend on October 15, the day before the attack, that they had heard there was a search warrant for the Kennedy farmhouse, and therefore they had to start eight days sooner than planned. The time was soon to come. The raid started on October 16, 1859, on Sunday.
The historic Department of Justice report on Ferguson was very detailed. The report didn't charge Wilson with murdering Michael Brown. It did give a searing report in criticizing the policing and court practices of Ferguson, Missouri law enforcement authorities. Investigators proved that nearly every aspect of Ferguson's law enforcement system harmed African Americans in a severely disproportionate amount. The report documented racist emails sent by the police and municipal court supervisors. This proved the bias in law enforcement and a system that wanted to use arrest warrants to economically exploit black and poor residents of Ferguson. The report found that 67% of African Americans in Ferguson accounted for 93% of the arrests made from 2012-2014. The report cited a story of a 32-year-old black man playing basketball and unjustly arrested by a police officer. A Ferguson woman parked her car illegally once in 2007. She was fined more than 1,000 dollars and spent 6 days in jail. The report found that the disproportionate number of arrests, tickets, and use of force are from unlawful bias, not crime-related issues. The report found that arrest warrants are heavily used as threats to push for payments and quotas made by the officers. The DOJ report mentioned how officers used a dog to attack an unarmed 14-year-old black teenager and struck him while he was lying on the ground. This teen was waiting for his friends in an abandoned house. The report concluded that in every dog bite incident reported, the person bitten was a black American. There are other parts of the reports documenting the racism, corruption, and economic exploitation from the Ferguson police Department.
Fashion changed massively from 500 to 1500 A.D. during the Middle Ages. After the end of the Roman Empire, the many Chinese dynasties, and the growth of the Mound cultures of America, fashion also changed. People wore more clothes that dealt with the bliaud, which was a dress worn by people. There was the hennin in the 14th and 15th centuries. The hennin is a cone-like hate that looks similar to the spires of the cathedral spire. Tunics were won by businesspeople and the wealthy during the Medieval period too. Many middle-class and poor people wore certain people too. More elaborate pieces of armor were worn too by solders in Europe, Africa, Asia, and in the Middle East (where much of the Crusades existed). By this time of world history, we saw the expansion of the religion of Islam, the spread of the Black Plague, and the Spanish development of culture by many Muslims. There were the ruff and farthingale wore by many human beings during that era of time. In Africa, there were diverse fabrics and fashion filled with gold, hats, and elaborate clothing too.
In 1915, massive developments happened in World War One. In response to a North Sea military blockade that Britain imposed the previous November, on Feb 4, something happened. Germany declared a war zone in the waters around the U.K., beginning a campaign of submarine warfare. This would lead to the May 7 sinking of the British ocean liner Lusitania by a German U-boat. In Europe, Allied forces gained momentum by attacking the Ottoman Empire twice where the Sea of Marmara meets the Aegean Sea. Both the Dardanelles Campaign in February and the Battle of Gallipoli in April proved costly failures. On April 22, the Second Battle of Ypres began. It was during this battle that the Germans first used poison gas. Soon, both sides were engaged in chemical warfare, using chlorine, mustard, and phosgene gasses that injured more than 1 million men by the war's end. Russia, meanwhile, was fighting not just on the battlefield but at home as the government of Tsar Nicholas II faced the threat of internal revolution. That fall, the tsar would take personal control over Russia's army in a last-ditch attempt to shore up his military and domestic power.
By 1916, the two sides were largely stalemated, fortified in mile after mile of trenches. On Feb. 21, German troops launched an offensive that would become the longest and bloodiest of the war. The Battle of Verdun would drag on until December with little in the way of territorial gains on either side. Between 700,000 and 900,000 men died on both sides. Undeterred, British and French troops launched their own offensive in July at the Battle of the Somme. Like Verdun, it would prove a costly campaign for all involved. On July 1 alone, the first day of the campaign, the British lost more than 50,000 troops. In another military first, the Somme conflict also saw the first use of armored tanks in battle. At sea, the German and British navies met in the first and largest naval battle of the war on May 31. The two sides fought to a draw, with Britain enduring the most casualties. In 1917, everything will change.
Although the U.S. was still officially neutral at the start of 1917, that would soon change. In late January, British intelligence officers intercepted the Zimmerman Telegram, a German communique to Mexican officials. In the telegram, Germany tried to entice Mexico into attacking the U.S., offering Texas and other states in return. When the contents of the telegram were revealed, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson broke off diplomatic relations with Germany in early February. On April 6, at Wilson's urging, Congress declared war on Germany, and the U.S. officially entered World War I. On Dec. 7, Congress would also declare war against Austria-Hungary. However, it wouldn't be until the following year that U.S. troops began arriving in numbers large enough to make a difference in the battle. In Russia, roiled by domestic revolution, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on March 15. He and his family would eventually be arrested, detained, and murdered by revolutionaries. That fall, on Nov. 7, the Bolsheviks successfully overthrew the Russian government and quickly withdrew from World War I hostilities.
The United States' entry into World War I proved to be the turning point in 1918. But the first few months didn't seem so promising for Allied troops. With the withdrawal of Russian forces, Germany was able to reinforce the western front and launch an offensive in mid-March. This final German assault would reach its zenith with the Second Battle of the Marne on July 15. Although they inflicted substantial casualties, the Germans could not muster the strength to combat the reinforced Allied troops. A counteroffensive led by the U.S. in August would spell the end of Germany. By November, with morale at home collapsing and troops in retreat, Germany collapsed. On Nov. 9, 1918, German Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and fled the country. Two days later, Germany signed the armistice at Compiegne, France. Fighting ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. In later years, the date would be commemorated in the U.S. first as Armistice Day, and later as Veterans Day. All told, some 11 million military personnel and 7 million civilians died in the conflict.
Las Vegas as a city has a recent history. The settlement of Las Vegas, Nevada was founded in 1905 after the opening of a railroad that linked Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. The stopover attracted some farmers (mostly from Utah) to the area. The freshwater was piped to the settlement. In 1911, the town was incorporated as part of the newly founded Clark County. Urbanization took off in 1931 when work started on the Boulder Dam (now the Hoover Dam), bringing a huge influx of young male workers, for whom theaters and casinos were built, largely by the Mafia. Electricity from the dam also enabled the building of many new hotels along the Strip. The arrival of Howard Hughes in 1966 did much to offset mob influence and helped turn Las Vegas into more of a family tourist center, now classified as a Mega resort.
The name Las Vegas—Spanish for “the meadows”—was given to the area in 1829 by Rafael Rivera, a member of the Spanish explorer Antonio Armijo trading party that was traveling to Los Angeles, and stopped for water there on the Old Spanish Trail from New Mexico. At that time, several parts of the valley contained artesian wells surrounded by extensive green areas. The flows from the wells fed the Las Vegas Wash, which runs to the Colorado River.
The prehistoric landscape of the Las Vegas Valley and most of Southern Nevada was once a marsh with water and vegetation. The rivers that created the marsh eventually went underground, and the marsh receded. The valley then evolved into a parched, arid landscape that only supported the hardiest animals and plants. At some point in the valley's early geologic history, the water resurfaced and flowed into what is now the Colorado River. This created a luxurious plant life, forming a wetland oasis in the Mojave Desert landscape. Evidence of prehistoric life in Las Vegas Valley has been found at the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. An abundance of Late Pleistocene fossils has been discovered from this locality, including Columbian mammoths and Camelops hesternus.
By Timothy
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Friday, April 26, 2024
End of the Month News.
The Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the Trump immunity claim. Trump has no basis for his immunity claim. No President has the right to have unlimited power to do what he or she wants regardless of if he or she is President or not in office. Clarence Thomas shouldn't judge this case as having a conflict of interests via his wife. His wife was involved in the conspiracy to try to steal the 2020 election. Justices Kagan and Jackson made great points that the President has no authoritarian edict to escape accountability if they violate constitutional law. Presidents are not immune from prosecution if that President tries to overthrow the government or commit felonious actions against the American people. In other words, a President can't murder innocent people or rape a person. There are limits to Presidential powers as proven by the separation of powers (there are three co-equal branches of government as outlined by the Constitution). The Supreme Court recently has gutted voting rights, ended affirmative actions in universities, and made other reactionary decisions.
My 3rd cousin Nannie Vivian Williams Rollins was born on February 18, 1936, in Southampton County, Virginia. Her parents were Theodore Lewis Williams (1906-1993) and Ethel Lena Gilliam (1911-2001). He married William Henry Rollins Sr. (1933-2018) in 1958 in New York City. The couple had many children who are: Evelyn Rollins Gaines, Michael Rollins, Sharon M. Rollins, William H. Rolins Jr., and Pamela Rollins. Nannie Vivian Williams's grandfather was Peter Percy Williams (1880-1949). Peter Percy Williams's mother was Adeline Hill (1862-1930). Adaline Hill's parents were Sarah Claud and Tom Hill (1838-1915). Sarah Claud's mother was my 5th great-grandmother Zilphy Claud (1820-1893).
By TImothy
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Late April 2024 News.
Pro-Palestinian protesters are still at Columbia University in New York City. Columbia University has made classes virtual now. There are more protests at the universities of Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, and New York University. The protests come among many controversies. The epidemic of anti-Semitism on college campuses is real, but some want to falsely equate dissent with Israeli governmental policy with anti-Semitism. That is wrong as some of the greatest dissenters of Israeli governmental policy are Jewish people. Also, there is the conflict in Gaza that resulted in the destruction of thousands of Palestinians' lives, the lives of aid workers, and the displacement of over 2 million Palestinians. This reality hasn't stopped the spread of Hamas, and Hamas is wrong for killing and raping Israelis on October 7, 2023. Many of the protesters want divestment, a ceasefire, and an end to the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. Anti-Semitism is deplorable (and many anti-Semitic incidents have existed in many colleges in America. That is wrong period), but the vast majority of the Palestinian advocates on college campuses aren't anti-Semites. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine explicitly condemns hatred and bigotry of Jewish human beings as we all do. Freedom of speech and the right to dissent are democratic values that must be protected not suppressed by university institutions.
Day Five of the Trump criminal trial involving hush money has been concluded. Both the prosecution and the defense issued opening statements. The prosecution accused Donald Trump of being involved in a criminal conspiracy and cover-up. The defense disagrees with that assumption. The first witness testified. He is David Pecker or the ex-publisher of the National Enquirer. He resumed his testimony on Tuesday. Pecker was a central person in the alleged hush money scheme to suppress negative information about Trump before the 2016 election. The judge ruled on Monday that he will allow Trump to be asked about the civil fraud and the E. Jean Carroll verdicts, among other past cases, if he testifies. The judge will decide on issuing Trump a gag order very soon. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told the jurors that Trump was involved in a criminal scheme to try to corrupt the 2016 Presidential election. Defense attorney Todd Blanche said that Trump is innocent, claiming that there was nothing illegal about signing non-disclosure agreements or trying to influence an election. The trial will continue.
One World War II veteran part of the Historic 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion is retired Air Force Major Fannie Griffin McClendon. She now lives in Temple, Arizona. She is now over 100 years old. Being humble is part of her personality. When she was 19 years old, she enlisted in the United States Army. Back then, her work changed the whole world. The Battalion was made up of about 855 black women who went to England and France to fight fascism during World War II. "To be able to be over in Europe and all and see the things that I had studied about over the years – really quite enlightening," McClendon said. The motto of the organization was "no mail, low morale." McClendon was the first woman commander of an all-men squadron with the Strategic Air Command. Her late husband was Roy.
There is more information found about my late 3rd cousin Virginia Dare Bynum (1938-1977). We are descendants of my 5th great-grandmother Zilphy Claud. Her daughter was Sarah Claud. Sarah Claud married Tom Hill, and their daughter was Adeline Hill (1862-1930). Adeline Hill (1897-1946) married Dupie Nehemiah Bynum (1892-1947) on February 2, 1911, in Southampton County, Virginia. Their children are John Henry Bynum (1911-1979), Nello Bynum (1913-1992), Dorothy Bynum (1917-1998), James L. Bynum (b. 1934). Dorothy Bynum had a daughter named Virginia Dare Bynum. Virginia Dare Bynum married Robert Lewis Daye (1932-1987) at Courtland, Virginia on March 3, 1956. Their children are Sterling Laverne Day (b. 1954), Malcolm Eugene Daye (1955-2022), Serita A. Daye (b. 1958), Alton Milford Daye (b. 1959), Kelson Demore Daye (b. 1962), and Robert Nelson Daye. My 5th cousin Serita A. Daye is married to Napoleon Beard.
There is the story of an 81-year-old murderer who killed an innocent black woman, whose name is Loletha Hall, who was an Uber driver. She was shot multiple times by the coward in Ohio. The murderer is named William Brock. In South Charleston, Ohio, on March 25, Brock murdered Loletha Hall with multiple shots. Loletha Hall was begging for her life, and she was shown vicious cruelty. Brock is charged with murder, which carries a penalty of 15 years to life in prison. The police are considering other charges too. Brock pleaded not guilty, but he is guilty as sin. This vicious person shot an innocent black woman in cold blood. So, Brock deserves nothing but a trial and justice.
By Timothy
Monday, April 22, 2024
Historical Facts of Our Times.
By August 9, 2014, the public in Ferguson was outraged at how Mike Brown's body was neglected after his death in the summer heat. Things would develop more. Crowds of people are angry at the police. By August 10, 2024, there was a candlelight vigil in Ferguson. Then, the Ferguson rebellion officially started. It was the first major rebellion on this scale in America since the 1992 rebellion in Los Angeles, California. Some people were protesting Mike Brown's death in the street peacefully. Other people started to smash car windows, carry award food, alcohol, and other items stolen from stores. Some people stood on police cars to taunt officers. I agree with peaceful protest, but I don't agree with violence against innocent people or innocent property (as those actions only hurt the cause of justice and allow the government to enact more suppressive laws. Many people doing violence unjustly are agent provocateurs too). A QuikTrip convenience store on West Florissant Avenue, just blocks from where Brown was shot, was looted and burned. Many businesses were damaged or destroyed. This was the first of many nights of unrest. The peaceful protesters have every right to protest, and many people from the Black Lives Matter movement came to Ferguson, Missouri too. It is important to note that grassroots movements fought for change in Ferguson too. By August 11, 2014, the FBI opened an investigation into Michael Brown's death. Two men said that they saw the shooting and told reporters that Brown had his hands raised when the officer fired repeatedly. During the night of August 11th, the police were in riot gear and fired tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse a crowd of protesters. Many innocent protesters were harmed by tear gas and rubber bullets too. By August 14, 2014, the Missouri State Highway Patrol takes control of security (over the local Ferguson and St. Louis County officers) being the head law enforcement officers after days of the rebellion. This was a turning point when officers had military-style gear like armored vehicles, body armor, and assault rifles. Many law enforcement members had sound weapons too. Photos circulated online show officers pointing their weapons at demonstrators which is inappropriate and unjust. During August 15, 2024, the police identified Darren Wilson as the officer who shot Mike Brown. There was surveillance video released showing Brown grabbing large amounts of cigarillos from behind the counter of the Ferguson Market and pushing a worker who confronted him as he left the convenience store. The police said that Brown took almost $50 worth of cigarillos. The release of the video upset protesters.
By August 16, 2014, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in Ferguson. By August 18, 2014, Governor Nixon called the National Guard to Ferguson to help restore order. He lifted the curfew. By August 20, 2014, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder visited Ferguson to offer assurances about the investigation into Brown's death to meet with investigators and Brown's family. A grand jury begins hearing evidence to determine whether Wilson should be charged. By August 21, 2014, Nixon ordered the National Guard to withdraw from Ferguson. On September 25, 2014, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson released a videotaped apology to Brown's family and attempted to march in solidarity with protesters. The move backfired when Ferguson officers scuffled with demonstrators and arrested one person moments after Jackson joined the group. He places Ferguson police in charge of security in Ferguson, with orders for them to work as a unified command with other departments. On November 18, 2014, Nixon declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard again ahead of a decision from a grand jury. He placed Ferguson police in charge of security in Ferguson, with orders for them to work as a unified command with other departments. On November 24, 2014, St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch announced that the grand jury had decided not to indict Wilson. Protests that were passionate but peaceful earlier in the day turned violent. At least a dozen buildings and multiple police cars are burned, officers are hit by rocks and batteries, and reports of gunfire force some St. Louis-bound flights to be diverted. On November 29, 2014, Wilson announced his resignation from the Ferguson Police Department effective immediately.
One World War II veteran part of the Historic 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion is retired Air Force Major Fannie Griffin McClendon. She now lives in Temple, Arizona. She is now over 100 years old. Being humble is part of her personality. When she was 19 years old, she enlisted in the United States Army. Back then, her work changed the whole world. The Battalion was made up of about 855 black women who went to England and France to fight fascism during World War II. "To be able to be over in Europe and all and see the things that I had studied about over the years – really quite enlightening," McClendon said. The motto of the organization was "no mail, low morale." McClendon was the first woman commander of an all-men squadron with the Strategic Air Command. Her late husband was Roy.
The Supremes featured amazingly talented black women. Diana Ross was very ambitious and eager to show her talents to the world. By January 1961, the Supremes signed with Barry Gordy and Motown. Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and Barbara Martin were in the group by January 15, 1961. Barbara Martin left the group, so The Supremes became a trio. In late 1963, the Supremes ad their first hit When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes. It peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. Diana Ross became the lead singer by the edict of Gordy. In June 1964, while on tour with Dick Clark's Cavalcade of Stars, the group scored their first number-one hit with "Where Did Our Love Go", paving the way for unprecedented success: between August 1964 and May 1967, Ross, Wilson, and Ballard sang on ten number-one hit singles, all of which also made the UK Top 40. The group had also become a hit with audiences both domestically and abroad, going on to become Motown's most successful vocal act throughout the sixties.
Ross began to dominate interviews with the media, answering questions aimed at Ballard or Wilson. She pushed for more pay than her colleagues. In 1965, she began using the name Diana from the mistake on her birth certificate, surprising Ballard and Wilson who had only known her as Diane. Following significant issues with comportment, weight, and alcoholism, Florence Ballard was fired from the Supremes by Gordy in July 1967, hiring Cindy Birdsong from Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles as Ballard's replacement. Gordy renamed the group Diana Ross & the Supremes, making it easier to charge a larger performance fee for a solo star and a backing group, as it did for other renamed Motown groups. I disagree with Berry Gordy for these decisions for many reasons. One is that Florence Ballard was a victim of rape who deserved the opportunity to have compassion and therapy, not to be fired quickly. Also, Florence Ballard should have stayed in the group a lot longer as a means of solidarity. Florence Ballard is an underrated vocalist. The Supremes is about women's empowerment and black talent.
The group appeared as a trio of singing nuns in a 1968 episode of the popular NBC TV series Tarzan. Between their early 1968 single "Forever Came Today" and their final single with Ross, "Someday We'll Be Together", Ross would be the only Supremes member to be featured on many of their recordings, often accompanied by session singers the Andantes or, as in the case of "Someday We'll Be Together", Julia and Maxine Waters and Johnny Bristol. Still, Wilson and Birdsong continued to sing on recordings. Gordy drove Ross relentlessly throughout this period and Ross, due to anxiety arising from Gordy's demands of her, began suffering from anorexia nervosa, according to her autobiography, Secrets of a Sparrow. During a 1967 performance in Boston, Massachusetts, Ross collapsed onstage and had to be hospitalized for exhaustion. In 1968, Ross began to perform as a solo artist on television specials, including the Supremes' own specials such as TCB and G.I.T. on Broadway, The Dinah Shore Show, and a Bob Hope special, among others. In mid-1969, Gordy decided that Ross would depart the group by the end of that year, and Ross began recording her initial solo work that July. One of the first plans for Ross to establish her own solo career was to publicly introduce a new Motown recording act. Though she herself did not claim their discovery, Motown's publicity department credited Ross with having discovered the Jackson 5. Ross would introduce the group during several public events, including The Hollywood Palace. In November, Ross confirmed a split from the Supremes in Billboard. Ross's presumed first solo recording, "Someday We'll Be Together", was eventually released as a Supremes recording and became the group's final number-one hit on the Hot 100. It was also the final number-one Billboard Hot 100 single of the 1960s. Ross made her final appearance with the Supremes at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 14, 1970
World War One started on June 28, 1914, when there was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir of the Austro-Hungarian throne. He was murdered in Sarajevo, along with his wife Sophie Duchess of Hohenberg, by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serbian person who was a member of the group The Black Hand. Princip used a FN 1910 semi-automatic handgun. Princip was part of the student revolutionary group called Young Bosnia. The assassination was a conspiracy with conspirators like Muhamed Mehmedbasic, Vaso Cubrilovic, Nedeljko Cabrinovic, Cvjetko Popovic, and Trifko Grabez including coordinating by Danilo Illic. The political assassination desired to free Bosnia and Herzegovina of Austria-Hungary rule to make a common South Slavic (Yugolsav) state. This situation caused the July Crisis and WWI. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and World WWI was on. Gavrilo Princip was caught, tried for murder and treason, and sent to 20 years in prison. Princip died when he was 23 years old over health issues on April 28, 1918. He had tuberculosis and malnutrition. On July 5, 1914, Austria-Hungary sought German support for a war against Serbia in case of Russian military intervention. German Empire gave assurances of support. By July 23, 1914, there was the beginning of the "Black Week." Austria-Hungary sent an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. The Kingdom of Serbia responded that night, agreeing to most but not all terms of the ultimatum. The Serbian response is seen as satisfactory by the Kaiser, but German diplomats do not pressure Austria to make peace. July 24, 1914, was when the Kingdom of Serbia mobilized expecting Austria to declare war after the refusal of the ultimatum. During the next day, Austria mobilized its military forces. Russia prepares for war in a partial mobilization. By July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary officially declared war on Serbia. There was the Willy–Nicky correspondence. Wilhelm II, German Emperor, and Nicholas II of Russia communicated via telegram on July 29, 1914. Germany sent Russia an ultimatum by July 30, 2024. Sweden promotes neutrality in the war. Russia mobilized for war on July 31, 1914. Then, Germany declared war on Russia and mobilized its forces on August 1, 1914. France mobilized its forces and Italy was neutral during this time. There is the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire signed a secret alliance treaty on August 1, 1914 too. This was the German-Ottoman alliance. Germany invaded Luxembourg on August 2, 1914. There is the first military action on the Western Front at Joncherey. From August 2-26, 1914, Germany besieged and captured fortified Longwy, "the Iron Gate to Paris", near the Luxembourg border, opening France to the mass German invasion. Throughout August 1914, more events happen during WWI. Germany declared war on France. Belgium denied permission for German forces to go through to the French border. Switzerland became neutral and built its defense forces. The war is now between Germany, Russia, and France. Germany invaded Belgium on August 4, 1914, in trying to outflank the French army.
Britain protests against the violation of Belgian neutrality, guaranteed by the Treaty of London (1839), The German Chancellor replies that the treaty is just a chiffon de papier (a scrap of paper). The United Kingdom declares war on Germany, automatically including all dominions, colonies, etc. of the British Empire including Canada, Australia, and British India. America by August 1914 declared neutrality. That will obviously change. Geramny captures the fortresses at Liege, Belgum. There were weapons fired in Melbourne, Australia by Australian troops. Australia attacks German forces in the Pacific. German Steamer SS Pfalz surrenders after being fired on by Fort Nepean, south of Melbourne, Australia. Montenegro declared war on Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire closed the Dardanelles. Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia, the Kingdom of Serbia declared war on Germany, and Spain becomes neutral. There was the Battle of the Frontiers when Germany had a victory against the British Expeditionary Force and France's Fifth Army.
The Battle of Mulhouse was a phase of the Battle of the Frontiers. Montenegro declared war on Germany. The Togoland Campaign started. France declared war on Austria-Hungary on August 11, 1914. The United Kingdom declared war on Austria-Hungary. The Battle of Halen was part of the Battle of Frontiers including the Battle of Lorraine. Germany invaded Belgium again in the Battle of Dinant. Germany came into East Africa. World War I continued with Germany occupying Brussels. Japan declared war on Germany, and the Russian army had a heavy defeat by the Germans in the Battle of Tannenberg. Russia captured Lviv in the Battle of Galicia. From August 27 to November, there was the siege of Tsingtao when the British and Japanese forces capture the German-controlled port of Qingdao in the Republic of China (1912–1949). The UK wins early Naval battles. By the end of 1914, World War I became more global. Germany is invaded in South Africa. Germany used U-boats to attack Allied Forces globally. Japan occupied the Marshall Islands. Ottoman forces bombard the Russian ports of Odessa and Sevastopol. France and the United Kingdom declared war on the Ottoman Empire. Sultan Mehmed VI declared war on the Allies of WWI. At the end of 1914, the war had victories among the Allied Powers and Central Powers. It was fundamentally a stalemate.
The 1990's saw an increase of console wars along with the modern-day World Wide Web Internet system. The Internet has been around since the 1960's (with DAPRA, etc.), but the World Wide Web was invented in 1990. The famous Computer game of Solitaire came about in 1990. Solitaire is still one of the most popular electronic games of all time found in computers, cell phones, and other devices worldwide today. Sonic the Hedgehog of the Sega game system in 1991 has inspired TV shows and movies for generations. Military strategy games were innovated from the 1992 game of Dune II from Westwood Studios. The video game rating system was created after the 1993 game of Mortal Kombat and other games where graphic violence was presented. A new era of the video game era was when Sony released the game system of PlayStation in 1995. It's easy-to-use hand device and simplistic console device made it a huge hit among people of all ages. Back then, it sold for $100 less than Sega Saturn. Nintendo 64 came out in 1996. The controversial video game of Tomb Raider existed in 1996. Critics back then claimed that the video game promoted sexism. In 1997, IBM's supercomputer chess program Deep Blue defeated world champion Gary Kasparov in a match. One of the most popular video games was Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 1998. In 1999, Sony Online Entertainment's Everquest led many users to play in the multiplayer online world of Norrath.
By the 2000's, the video game landscape has changed. There was more online play in dealing with consoles and computers. By the year of 2000, we have the Sims computer games. Will Wright's The Sims try to model real-life people and landscapes. There were simulation games before The Sims, but The Sims became a very potent best-selling computer game. The Sims is still played by tons of people to this very day. In 2001, Microsoft enters the video game market with Xbox. Many love their Halo: Combat Evolved. Later in 2005, there was Xbox 360 with advanced graphics, seamless online play, and millions of fans worldwide. In 2002, the U.S. Army created America's Army video game to gain new recruits and talk with a new generation of electronic gamers. Steam is a PC gaming distribution platform that allows players to download, play, and update games. The 2004 handheld video game Nintendo DS was easy to use and had multiplayer capacities plus a stylus for the touchscreen. Super Mario Kart DS helped with the gaming system too. I remember when Ninetendo Wii came about in 2006 that allow people to have motion sensitive remotes for sports, music, etc. In 2007, Rock Band allows people to use a guitar, microphone, and bass or drums to play music from Harmonix. In 2008, the World of Warcraft was popular in Massively Multiplayer Online games, Farmville was a great mobile game, and Angry Birds are found in iPhone and Facebook.
In our generation, people need to be reminded of the brutality of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery in America. This was part of the Maafa when evil people kidnapped innocent black African men, women, and children and forced them to go into the Americas, Europe, Asia, etc. These human beings were raped, beaten, families split, and forced to do inhumane actions on the ships and plantations. Easily, the Maafa was the worst form of slavery in all of human history. In our generation, many far-right extremists want to sugarcoat the Maafa (like in Florida, Texas, etc.), but we won't do so here. The Maafa lasted from the late 1400's to the 1800's. Afterward, black people in the world are still fighting for justice and human liberation. Slavery still exists in Mauritania, Yemen (with Houthis harming black people), and other places in the world. Most victims of the Maafa came from Western and Central Africa. My DNA ancestry is mostly from Nigeria and the Congo/Angola. Therefore, I know fully about this subject. Many people from Europe, the Middle East, and traitors from Africa were complicit in the Maafa, but the racist Europeans controlled the major functions of the Maafa and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. In America, black people were forced into slavery in brutal terms. Yet, we still rose up in slave revolts to fight back. We were involved in the American Civil War to defeat the evil Confederacy to end overt, legalized slavery. Still, we fight voting rights suppression, book bans, suppression of the rights of minorities, and the MAGA movement. We are on the right side of history, and we shall be victorious in the end.
By Timothy
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Friday, April 19, 2024
Time Going Forward.
The hush money case became more different. There were once five seated jurors in Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial. Two jurors were excused recently. Ultimately 12 New Yorkers and possibly six alternates needed to be selected. There was a panel of 18 potential jurors who were questioned by prosecutors and Trump’s attorneys. Attorneys on both sides want any potential juror dismissed if the person is seen as biased. Judge Juan Merchant said that another batch of 96 jurors would be brought in to be sworn in. One dismissed juror said that former President Donald Trump was scowling at the jury. Now, there were 12 jurors sworn in. The jury is now made up of seven men and five women. The alternate juror is a woman who was also chosen on Thursday. Judge Juan Merchan said that court will resume on Friday morning. Jury selection is expected to continue until about six alternates are seated. Trump said that the court was uncomfortably cold. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for his alleged role in a hush-money scheme before the 2016 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty. Alternate jurors will listen to the entire trial but won't participate in deliberations.
The Supreme Court Code of Conduct says that recusal exists to stop the appearance of impropriety. That is why Justice Clarence Thomas must recuse himself from Trump's presidential immunity case next week. The reason is that his wife Ginni Thomas had an explicit role in trying to overthrow the legal 2020 election. President Biden wants a rule that would sharply limit credit card late fees, saving American families more than 10 billion dollars a year. Many people need credit cards. The House Republicans voted to block the rule on Wednesday. The Republican party doing this shows that they promote corporate interests instead of true economic justice.
There is a new witch hunt in American society found in college campuses nationwide. This witch hunt is trying to suppress pro-Palestinian voices. Like always, I believe in true free speech. That means that pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli voices have the free speech to be expressed on college campuses in America without censorship. Yet, New York City universities stepped up their purging of pro-Palestinian faculty which is cruel and against the exercise of free thought. The appointment of Dr. Abdul Kayum Ahmed, an assistant professor teaching human rights at Columbia would not be renewed. This comes as the John Jay College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, administrators sent notice to Professor Danny Shaw he would be denied reappointments in the summer and in the fall. The expulsion of students at Columbia, the disaffiliation of student clubs, and the banning of protests nationwide represents total fascism not free thought being promoted. Hamas's evil murder and rape of Jewish people in Israel indeed has no justification. Also, indeed, Israeli's forces overt war crimes and mass murder of Palestinian people, the destruction of Gaza infrastructure, denying much of the humanitarian aid in Gaza, displacing more than 2 million human beings, etc. have no justification either. The criminalization of protests is not right. It's evil. Opposing anti-Semitism is a necessity, but supporting human rights of Palestinians is not anti-Semitism. Now, the University of Michigan desires to have a new policy suppressing campus protests too under threat of expulsion and arrest. It is no secret that the FBI and the NYPD are working together to monitor dissent. We know that German police officers raided a pro-Palestinian conference, shutting down the event, and arrested the organizers.
The Senate ends both articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The Democratic-controlled Senate on Wednesday made that reality happen. The trial of the cabinet secretary barely got underway. House Republicans had voted to impeach Mayorkas in February of 2024 over their views on the handling of the southern border by a narrow margin. Mayorkas was the first cabinet secretary to be impeached in almost 150 years. House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing growing threats by MAGA Republicans, because he plans to put a series of foreign aid bills on the floor, including funding for Ukraine. Many Republicans don't agree with any foreign aid, even humanitarian foreign aid to help starving people in the world. Many of them care more for a retrograde ideology than helping their neighbors themselves in the real world. The GOP is so extreme that Mike Johnson is not good enough for them. The Department of Homeland Security and the White House praise the end of the Mayorkas impeachment controversy.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
The Political World.
Corporate profits are at a 70-year high, but many people want to falsely blame all of the inflation in America on stimulus checks. The Justice Department is planning to sue Live Nation/Ticketmaster for running an illegal monopoly over the ticketing industry. The 2024 Presidential campaign of Donald Trump is blatantly reactionary and treasonous. Here are some reasons why. Trump has repeatedly rejected the legitimate outcome of the 2020 presidential election, without any basis in fact. Trump has continuously praised the criminal convicts of the January 6th insurrection. He called them hostages when most of them were convicted of injuring police officers during the attack. Trump has lied and said that any criminal indictments against him are part of a Biden-led conspiracy against him. The truth is that prosecutors and grand juries issued indictments and acted independently by themselves. Trump's 2024 campaign is the extension of his 2020 coup d'etat attempt against American democracy. Trump wants more tax cuts for the rich, gut worker protections, create mass deportations, and establish a new Muslim ban. Biden wants to tax corporations and the wealthy, have universal Pre-K, 12 weeks paid family and medical leave, and expand anti-poverty tax credits. The choice is clear. We should always defend the greatness of our democracy.
Six jurors have been sworn in involving the Trump hush money case. In Manhattan, about one-third of the jury has been seated in the Trump trial. The Constitution requires a speedy trial with an impartial jury. The judge reprimands Trump for Trump visibly and audibly reacting to one of the potential jurors. In other words, Judge Juan Merchan said that he can't intimidate any jurors or potential jurors. Attorney Bragg claimed that Trump wanted to falsify business records for his alleged role in a hush-money scheme before the 2016 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty. So, the prosecution in court must prove intent and cite the New York falsifying business records statute.
Monday, April 15, 2024
Historical Information in April of 2024.
The story of Ferguson deals with the state of Missouri. Missouri is a Midwestern state with a legacy of massive racism and a history of resisting that racism too. For example, there were protests in 1819 over the Missouri Compromise. Walthall M. Moore in 1920 was an elected representative from St. Louis, being the first black American to serve in the Missouri General Assembly. Homer G. Phillips was a champion of civil rights in Missouri. A hospital is named after him in St. Louis. DeVerne Calloway of St. Louis was the first black woman state representative in Missouri's General Assembly on November 6, 1962. Missouri borders Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. It's home to many forests, rivers, minerals, and near the Ozarks. Native Americans created the Mississippian culture with cities and mounds for about 12,000 years in the state of Missouri. European explorers lived in the areas and people of diverse backgrounds. In the Old West, Missouri has been a place where The Pony Express, the Gateway Arch, the Oregon Trial, and other locations existed. Famous people from the state like Mark Twain, Nelly, Sheryl Crow, and Edwin Hubble. Ferguson existed as a city in 1855 by William B. Ferguson ceded 10 acres of land to the Wabash Railroad in exchange for a new depot and gaming rights. Ferguson is a city near St. Louis. Ferguson saw a massive demographic shift. In 1970, 99 percent of the population of Ferguson were made up of white Americans and 1 percent were African Americans. By the 2020 census, we have 71.80 percent of the Ferguson population being African American and 1.19 percent of the population being white Americans.
Michael Orlandus Darrion Brown lived from May 20, 1996, to August 9, 2014. He just graduated from high school eight days before his death. He completed an alternative education program. He was a person with an amateur hip-hop career with his songs on SoundCloud calling himself "Big Mike." He was two days from starting a training program for heating and air conditioning repair at the Vatterett College Technical School. Surveillance video which was publicly released in the 2017 documentary film Stranger Fruit shows Michael Brown walking into Ferguson Market and Liquor at 1:13 a.m., ten-and-a-half hours before he entered the store for the final time. The footage shows Brown handing a young clerk a brown package, believed by the filmmaker to be marijuana, and then receiving an unpurchased package of cigarillos from the store. After the video was rediscovered and made public in 2017, some, including Brown's family, said they believed Brown had left the package there for safekeeping and later returned to retrieve it. The store owner disputed this through an attorney who dismissed claims that the store traded him "cigarillos for pot." The lawyer claimed "[t]he reason he [Brown] gave it back is he was walking out the door with unpaid merchandise and they [the staff] wanted it back." The store's attorney said the video had been in the hands of Brown's family and law enforcement since the initial investigation, and said the video had been edited to remove the portion where the store clerk returned Brown's package to him. Following this, on March 13, 2017, unedited footage from the store was released by the St. Louis County prosecutor to try to settle questions.
At 11:47 pm, Office Wilson responded to a call about a baby with breathing problems. He drove to Glenark Drive in Ferguson, east of Canfield Drive. About three minutes later, and several blocks away, Brown was recorded on camera stealing a box of Swisher Sweets cigars and forcefully shoving a Ferguson Market clerk. At 11:53, a police dispatcher reported "stealing in progress" at the Ferguson Market and described the suspect as a black male wearing a white T-shirt running toward QuikTrip. The suspect was reported as having stolen a box of Swisher cigars. Brown and his friend, Dorian Johnson, left the market at about 11:54 a.m. At 11:57, the dispatch described the suspect as wearing a red St. Louis Cardinals hat, a white T-shirt, yellow socks, and khaki shorts, and that he was accompanied by another male. Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson said that the incident with Brown stealing cigars had "nothing to do" with why Brown was stopped by Wilson before the shooting, and that the reason Brown and Johnson were stopped was because "they were walking down the middle of the street, blocking traffic." At 12:00 p.m., Wilson reported he was back in service and radioed units 25 and 22 to ask if they needed his assistance in searching for the suspects. Seven seconds later, an unidentified officer said the suspects had disappeared. Wilson called for backup at 12:02, saying "[Unit] 21. Put me on Canfield with two. And send me another car."
Initial reports of what happened next differed widely among sources and witnesses, particularly with regard to whether Brown was moving towards Wilson when the shots were fired. Scholars all agree that there was a dispute among Brown and the officer. The debate is whether Mike Brown ran towards the officer or not before Mike Brown's passing. At noon on August 9, Wilson drove up to Brown and Johnson as they were walking in the middle of Canfield Drive and ordered them to move off the street. Wilson continued driving past the two men, but then backed up and stopped close to them. A struggle took place between Brown and Wilson after Brown reached through the window of Wilson's police SUV, a Chevrolet Tahoe. Wilson was armed with a SIG Sauer P229 pistol, which was fired twice during the struggle from inside the vehicle, with one bullet hitting Brown's right hand. Brown and Johnson fled and Johnson hid behind a car. Wilson got out of the vehicle and pursued Brown. At some point, Wilson fired his pistol again, while facing Brown, and hit him with at least six shots, all in the front of his body. Brown was unarmed and died on the street. Less than 90 seconds passed from the time Wilson encountered Brown to the time of Brown's death.
An unidentified officer arrived on the scene and, 73 seconds after Wilson's call, asked where the second suspect was. Thirty-one seconds later, a supervisor was requested by Unit 25. At 12:07 p.m., an officer on scene radioed to dispatch for more units. Also at 12:07, the St. Louis County police were notified and county officers began arriving on scene at around 12:15 p.m. The St. Louis County detectives were notified at 12:43 p.m. and arrived about 1:30 p.m., with the forensic investigator arriving at about 2:30 p.m. Police dispatched 12 units to the scene by 1:00 p.m. with another 12, including two canine units, by 2:00 p.m. Gunshots were recorded in Ferguson police logs at 2:11 p.m., and by the ambulance dispatch again at 2:14 p.m., which led to the response of 20 more units from eight different municipal forces in the next 20 minutes. As the situation deteriorated, the police commanders had investigators seek cover and detectives assisted in crowd control. At 2:45, four canine units arrived on scene, and the SWAT team arrived at 3:20 p.m. The medical examiner began his examination of Brown at approximately 3:30 p.m. and concluded about half an hour later, with Brown's body being cleared to be taken to the morgue. At 4:37 p.m., Brown's body was signed in at the morgue by workers. Michael Brown was fatally shot by Officer Wilson at about 12:02 p.m. The Ferguson Police Department was on the scene within minutes, as were crowds of residents. Many residents were angry at how Michael Brown's body was not removed until hours after the incident seen as demeaning and disrespectful. About 20 minutes after the shooting, the Ferguson police chief turned over the homicide investigation to the St. Louis County Police Department (SLCPD). The arrival of SLCPD detectives took about 70 minutes, as they were occupied with another crime scene 37 minutes away. On arrival at 1:30 p.m., they put up privacy screens around the body. There are two sets of witnesses. One group of witnesses believed that Brown charged Wilson and Wilson killed him. The other groups of witnesses believe in opposing Wilson's story and claim that Wilson killed Brown unjustly like Michael Brown's friend Dorian Johnson. Like always, we must stand for the truth and defend the human dignity of black life at the same time. It is true that the city of Ferguson has had racial, policing, and economic problems for years and decades.
Las Vegas in the West Coast of the United States of America was born amid massive change, economic development, and entertainment. It's the most populous city in Nevada. Beyond the clubs and the centers of money, tons of hard-working class people live in Las Vegas too. Located in Clark County, the city is the second largest city of the Southwest. It is found in the Mojave Desert too. Being a resort city, it's home to boxing events, music events, gambling, shopping, fine dining, nightlife, and other forms of entertainment. It has 641,903 people as of 2020, and its metropolitan area has about 2.2 million people. Las Vegas comes from the Spanish word las vegas meaning the meadows. From people getting married to watching large shows, Las Vegas is a very vibrant location. Its hotels are very numerous, and Las Vegas has a wide ranging infrastructure. It is also a recent, young city. New York City was born over 2 centuries ago. Norfolk, Virginia was born over three centuries ago. Las Vegas was a city during the early 20th century. The population of Las Vegas has rapidly expanded being in about 141 square miles.
The John Brown Raid took place 165 years ago. It was one of the most important events of antebellum America. Back then, millions of black people were in tyranny with slavery. Slavery is no country club. Slavery deals with control, brutality, torture, rape, family splitting, obscene acts on human life, and other abominable crimes having no justification at all. People have God-given right to resist the tyranny of slavery in seeking true freedom. There were many slavery revolts, and John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was one of the final anti-slavery revolts in America before the advent of the American Civil War. We know about John Brown and his total disgust of slavery. Yet, there were other men involved in the cause of the raid too like Shields Green, John Henry Kagi, and other brave people who wanted America to end slavery once and for all. Involving the raid, only 5 men escaped, 11 men were killed, and 7 were captured and later executed (including John Brown). John Brown and other men gave up their lives in heroic sacrifice, so we can type on the computer, go to any place we want, and live life without legalized slavery. Their memories will never be forgotten in our consciousness. We will always acknowledge their heroic sacrifice forever and ever.
The causes of World War One were complex. One major cause of the war was the competing political and military alliances that clashed causing war in Europe and beyond. By the 19th century, many European powers used colonialism, imperialism, rape, and other evils to steal lands in the four corners of the Earth. After the defeat of Napoleon and after the Berlin Conference, this competition continued. The 19th century saw many wars that signaled a prelude to World War One. European leaders want to maintain the balance of power for a time the Concert of Europe. After 1848, Britain grew, there was the Ottoman Empire declining, and other events challenged the Concert of Europe concept. There was the rise of Prussia in German areas with Otto von Bismarck as the leader. The 1866 Austro-Prussian War established Prussian hegemony in German states, while victory in the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War allowed Bismarck to consolidate a German Empire under Prussian leadership. Avenging the defeat of 1871, or revanchism, and recovering the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine became an obsession of French policy and public opinion for the following few years, yet since the 1880s this concern was eclipsed by the conquest of a vast colonial empire, and had disappeared from the programs of all French political parties as utterly unrealistic. The U.K. didn't want Prussia to get too powerful as Prussia had the strongest army in Europe.
To isolate France and avoid a war on two fronts, Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany. After the Russian victory in the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War, the League was dissolved due to Austrian concerns over Russian influence in the Balkans, an area they considered to be of vital strategic interest. Germany and Austria-Hungary then formed the 1879 Dual Alliance, which became the Triple Alliance when Italy joined in 1882. For Bismarck, the purpose of these agreements was to isolate France by ensuring the three Empires resolved any disputes between themselves; when this was threatened in 1880 by British and French attempts to negotiate directly with Russia, he reformed the League in 1881, which was renewed in 1883 and 1885. After the agreement lapsed in 1887, he replaced it with the Reinsurance Treaty, a secret agreement between Germany and Russia to remain neutral if either were attacked by France or Austria-Hungary. Bismarck wanted peace with Russia too. France responded to this by signing the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1894, followed by the 1904 Entente Cordiale with Britain. The Triple Entente was completed by the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention. While these were not formal alliances, by settling long-standing colonial disputes in Asia and Africa, the notion of British entry into any future conflict involving France or Russia became a possibility. British and Russian support for France against Germany during the Agadir Crisis in 1911 reinforced their relationship, increasing Anglo-German estrangement. German industry increased. German industrial strength and production had significantly increased after 1871, driven by the creation of a unified Reich, French indemnity payments, and the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine. Backed by Wilhelm II, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz sought to use this growth in economic power to build a Kaiserliche Marine, or Imperial German Navy, which could compete with the British Royal Navy for naval supremacy.
There were conflicts in the Balkans, because the Ottoman empire declined. In the Balkans, many people wanted nationalism, not empire or monarchies. While Pan-Slavic and Orthodox Russia considered itself the protector of Serbia and other Slav states, they preferred the strategically vital Bosporus straits to be controlled by a weak Ottoman government, rather than an ambitious Slavic power like Bulgaria. Since Russia had its ambitions in northeastern Anatolia, while their clients had overlapping claims in the Balkans, balancing these divided Russian policy-makers and added to regional instability. Austria saw Sebian nationalism as a threat to their empire. Austrian statesmen viewed the Balkans as essential for the continued existence of their Empire and saw Serbian expansion as a direct threat. The 1908–1909 Bosnian Crisis began when Austria annexed the former Ottoman territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which it had occupied since 1878. Timed to coincide with the Bulgarian Declaration of Independence from the Ottoman Empire, this unilateral action was denounced by the European powers but accepted as there was no consensus on how to resolve the situation. Some historians see this as a significant escalation, ending any chance of Austria cooperating with Russia in the Balkans, while also damaging diplomatic relations between Serbia and Italy, both of whom had their expansionist ambitions in the region.
There was the Balkan League with Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Greece. The Great Powers sought to re-assert control through the 1913 Treaty of London, which created an independent Albania while enlarging the territories of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece. However, disputes between the victors sparked the 33-day Second Balkan War, when Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece on 16 June 1913; it was defeated, losing most of Macedonia to Serbia and Greece, and Southern Dobruja to Romania. The result was that even countries that benefited from the Balkan Wars, such as Serbia and Greece, felt cheated of their "rightful gains", while for Austria it demonstrated the apparent indifference with which other powers viewed their concerns, including Germany. This complex mix of resentment, nationalism, and insecurity helps explain why the pre-1914 Balkans became known as the "powder keg of Europe. Then, the Sarajevo assassination ultimately led to World War One with the Triple Alliance treaty being tested.
The second generation of country music existed from the 1930's to the 1940's. Radio was a major way on how country music was shown to the public. There were barn dance shows featuring country music all over the South (they existed as far north as Chicago and as far west as California). The most important was the Grand Ole Opry, aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville and continuing to the present day. During the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or Western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood, many featuring Gene Autry, who was known as the king of the "singing cowboys," and Hank Williams. Bob Wills was another country musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a "hot string band," and who also appeared in Hollywood westerns. His mix of country and jazz, which started out as dance hall music, would become known as Western swing. Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had been played at Carnegie Hall, when Johnny Barfield recorded "Boogie Woogie." Dorothy Dandridge and her friends did Boogie Woogie cowboy music when they were very young.
Diana Ross was born in the Midwestern city of Detroit, Michigan on March 26, 1944. She was the second of six children. Her parents were Ernestine Moten and Fred Ross Sr. Ross grew up with two sisters named Barbara and Rita along with three brothers, Arthur, Fred Jr., and Wilbert (known as Chico). Diana Ross was raised in the Baptist Church. At first, her family were from 635 Belmont St., in the North End section of Detroit, near Highland Park, Michigan, where her neighbor was Smokey Robinson. When Ross was seven, her mother contracted tuberculosis, causing her to become seriously ill. Ross's parents sent their children to live with Ernestine's parents, the Reverend (pastor of Bessemer Baptist Church), and Mrs. William Moton in Bessemer, Alabama. After her mother recovered, she and her siblings returned to Detroit. By the time Diana Ross was 14 years old, in 1958, her family moved into the working-class Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects, settling at St. Antoine Street. Ross attended Cass Technical High School. This location was a four-year college and preparatory magnet school in downtown Detroit. At first, she wanted to be a fashion designer. She took classes in clothing design, millinery, pattern making, and tailoring. During the evenings and on weekends she also took modeling and cosmetology classes (Ross has written that Robinson loaned her the funds required to attend these), and participated in several of the school's extracurricular activities, including its swim team. In 1960, Hudson's downtown Detroit store hired Ross as its first African American bus girl. For extra income, she also provided hairdressing services to her neighbors. Ross graduated from Cass Tech in January 1962. By the time when she was 15 years old, Diana Ross joined the Primettes, the sister group to a male vocal group called the Primes, after she had been brought to the attention of music manager Milton Jenkins by Primes member Paul Williams. Among the other members of the Primettes were Florence Ballard (the first group member hired by Jenkins), Mary Wilson, and Betty McGlown, Williams' then-girlfriend. After the Primettes won a talent competition in 1960 in Windsor, Ontario, A&R executive and songwriter, Robert Bateman invited them to audition for Motown Records.
The Primettes had much success in live performances at sock hops and other events. Diana Ross approached William "Smokey" Robinson, her former neighbor (rumored to also have been her childhood boyfriend) about auditioning for Motown; he insisted that the group audition for him first. Robinson then agreed to bring the Primettes to Motown, on condition that they allow him and his group, the Miracles, to hire the Primettes' guitarist, Marv Tarplin (who had been discovered by Ross) for an upcoming tour. Tarplin ended up playing in Robinson's band(s) for the next 30-plus years. In her autobiography, Secrets of a Sparrow, Ross wrote that she felt that this had been "a fair trade."
The Primettes later auditioned for Motown, before various Motown executives. In Berry Gordy's autobiography, To Be Loved, Gordy recalled that he had been heading to a business meeting when he happened to hear Ross singing "There Goes My Baby", and that Ross's voice "stopped me in my tracks". He approached the group and asked them to perform it again, but, after learning how young they were, Gordy advised them to finish high school before trying to get signed by Motown.
Undeterred, the group began coming to Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. headquarters every day, offering to provide extra help for Motown's recordings, often including hand claps and background vocals. That year, the group recorded two tracks for Lu Pine Records, with Ross singing lead on one of them. During the group's early years, Ross served as its hairstylist, make-up artist, seamstress, and costume designer. In late 1960, having replaced McGlown with Barbara Martin, the Primettes were allowed to record their own songs at Hitsville studio, many written by "Smokey" Robinson, who, by then, was vice president of Motown ("Your Heart Belongs to Me" and "A Breathtaking Guy"). Gordy, too, composed songs for the trio, including "Buttered Popcorn" (featuring Ballard on lead) and "Let Me Go the Right Way". While these songs were regional hits, they were not nationwide successes.
In January 1961, Gordy agreed to sign the group on the condition they change their name. Songwriter and Motown secretary Janie Bradford approached Florence Ballard, the only group member at the studio at the time, to pick out a new name for the group. Ballard chose "Supremes", reportedly, because it was the only name on the list that did not end with "ette". Upon hearing the new name, the other members weren't impressed, with Ross telling Ballard she feared the group would be mistaken for a male vocal group (a male vocal group was, indeed, named the Supremes). Gordy signed the group under their new name on January 15, 1961. The Supremes was born.
By Timothy