OK, for some of us 1-800-GOT-JUNK is definitely not the way to go because it's not junk when we're clearing the house. I know this from having moved 4 time in the past few years.
On the other hand, one wants to downsize, but getting a lot of stuff to a charity, or having a curbside pickup isn't an option. People would steal from the boxes I put out.
I have a fairly sizable library of books that I am going to have give up. Toss in that I haver to downsize. And there are definitely treasures in all this. Stuff that could be sold on eBay, but I don't haver the time.
I would love to see a clean out service like 1-800-GOT-JUNK that would try to see this stuff REUSED, not contributed to the trash mountain. And an estate sale isn't always a feasible choice due to time constraints.
So, I suggest setting up a clean out service with a conscience: you try to sell or give to charity what is truly unsalable. Charge a fee At this point I would pay US$500-1000 for a service like this.
You would think I would be in deep mourning about this, but you are wrong.
There hasn't been any truly public media in the US for a long time. Commercials made their way into the public broadcasting long ago in the form of "underwriting". Money owns the narrative, which is why third parties and renegades such as Bernie Sanders got little coverage. The duopoly happily owns the US media.
And US media has long been consolidated in the hands of a few. You didn't need much of a brain to figure out that there were no real dissenting opinion. That was until the internet set it free. Then Speaker's corner came to your computer instead of having to get a soap box in Hyde Park. Of course, the Internet isn't really moerated so anyone can pretty much say anything.
It's nice to have media that are moderated with varied and informed opinions, but the US doesn't have that.
People say that Trump will bring fascism to the US, but the US has never really been a truly liberal democracy. It's had its propaganda, and the US is the best in the world at doing it: see Paul Weber's Propaganda: Nobody Does It Better Than America.
After all, the US Constitution does start with the words "We the people..." despite it having been mostly written in secret!
American propaganda, however, is much cleverer. American propaganda, they patiently explained, relies entirely on emotional appeals. It doesn’t depend on a rational theory that can be disproved: it appeals to things no one can object to.
And the US's most obvious propaganda is called ADVERTISING!
But don't worry, the Internet allows access to all sorts of opinions other than those given on main stream media. And media consolidation may drive more people to those alternatives.
I'm glad to see that more evangelicals are realising that the current state of Israel isn't the "Israel" of scripture. The rest of them need to realise that Israel has been openly destroying ancient and historic Christian churches in Gaza.
I don't know how anyone can feel good about supporting a rogue state like Israel.
And you can try and attack me, but I will speak the truth about how Zionists would have killed Churchill if they had the chance during WWII, They attacked the British despite the Balfoour Declaration, and use assassination as a poltical tool against their allies.
"US Black
history should have a basis in African Cultures such as the Mali Empire
and the Kingdom of Benin (not the modern country)."
And something along the lines of my wanting to be Kosovar to feel European, which sort of relates to the meat of today's post.
Meet the Bozo people!
Yes, there is an African ethnic group called the Bozos. They are part of the larger Mande ethnic group located predominantly along the Niger River in Mali.
And Mali has a long tradition of slavery:
The slave trade in Mali has a long
history, with slavery existing since before the Mali Empire and
continuing through the Trans-Saharan slave trade. Today, an estimated
200,000 people in Mali are still held in forms of servitude, often
linked to descent-based slavery practices that persist in various forms. Slavery in Mali exists today, with as many as 200,000 people held in direct servitude to a master. Since
2006, a movement called Temedt has been active in Mali struggling
against the persistence of slavery and the discrimination associated
with ex-slaves. There were reports that in the Tuareg Rebellion of 2012, ex-slaves were recaptured by their former masters. Moreover, the phenomenon of descent-based slavery still persist in different ethnic groups.
As I said, the issue of reparations is much more complicated than most people realise.
But back to the Bozos! I wonder how many "African Americans" have Bozo in their genetics?
This is gonna make the discussion of the slave trade far more interesting because Africa is like the Balkans in that there are loads of ethnic groups with even more sub-groups like the Mande and the Bozos.
OK, this person makes it very clear about how this process works. I mentioned Danelo Cavalcante in the previous post. He was a murderer who came to the US illegally.
And he killed someone in the US.
To be quite honest, if someone doesn't want to follow the law to become a citizen, then they shouldn't be in the country.
Unless, you want some serious criminals, like Cavalcante, living here.
The US has enough problems it doesn't need to import more.
I have to admit that I think the left should be more inclined toward strong immigration laws, unless of course they want to bankrupt the nation. Or have taxation problems like California.
International law only guarantees a right of entry and exit into a nation for citizens. It's a privilege for everyone else. And it's a good idea to have some sort of background check for citizenship.
Unless you want things like the manhunt for Danelo Cavalcante to become a frequent event. That cost Pennsylvania taxpayers between $3.4 million and $3.5 million. Which only went mostly for overtime and was in addition to normal operating costs and didn't include the help from outside agencies.
Sure, it's fun to laugh at Trump and others who talk about unlawfully present criminal aliens, but it's a different thing when you have to actually deal with the problem.
Emma Lazarus's poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty is not an official policy. In fact, that belief is something I am sure Fox News hosts would have a field day with.
It's nice listening to other voices like the Canadian PM. And knowing what it takes to live and work in Canada (my cousin did it), I would like to see the US protecting its citizens and not the unlawfully present and paying foreigners less than citizens when there isn't full employment for US citizens.
This is Rev. Mather Byles, a Boston Loyalist known for saying “Which is better — to be ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles away or by three thousand tyrants one mile away?” Yes, there were Loyalists in Massachusetts.
And being a tory didn't mean they were adverse to independence, but that they preferred that it come peacefully and thoughtfully. After all, there is a British North America for those who want alternate history: it's called Canada.
The really interesting question would be what would North America be if the "French and Indian War" ("La Conquête") gone the other way?
An aside, an additional stanza sung second was previously part of the standard lyrics to "God Save the Monarch" in the UK:
O Lord our God arise
Scatter his enemies
And make them fall
Confound their politics
Frustrate their knavish tricks
On thee our hopes we fix
God save us all
It fell out of favour with Queen Elizabeth the Second of England (First of Scotland).
But it sums up the current state of US politics very well.
And I'm sure the good reverend is smirking at the current state of affairs up in heaven as the founders look at the nation in horror.
(There's a reason I couldn't participate in a "No Kings" Rally...)
As sacred sites face aggression and our identity stands tested, this message is more than just a speech — it’s a wake-up call for those who claim to follow a deity, or to be spiritual, across the globe. When sacred places fall, it is a warning to every believer that the violence is not just flesh and blood, but it is spiritual.
Christians ignore that ancient churches are being destroyed in this conflict. The most sacred sites of the nativity are being threatened. If those who claim to be religious forget what it means to be holy, then it will forget to be holy itself.
And I call myself an atheist. You religious/spiritual types disgust me.
They didn't want you to have arms to resist, or defend yourself. They wanted you to bear arms in a militia to preserve the system (Art I, Sec. 8, Clause 15 and article III, Sec. iii).
Ever wonder why the story about the war for independence seems incomplete? I mean it goes from Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill to the ratification of the Constitution. It's pretty obvious that the film is missing a lot from the {history} book.
Anyway, one of those poor broke American soldiers was my ancestor (or ancestors) who was (were) in the Pennsylvania line at Morristown. They served because some rich kid bought his way out of militia service.
And remember that according to Franklin, the main reason the Albany Plan of Union proposed in 1754 was
rejected was that “The colonial assemblies and most of the people were
narrowly provincial in outlook, mutually jealous, and suspicious of any
central taxing authority.”
And those clowns thought they could fight a war. Them and what army?
Oh, yeah, the French, the Spanish. and having the war become a world war (look it up).
People need to realise that getting unlawfully present people to do the work is not the answer to immigration. Would people on the left support slavery?
OK, I can get alone with true conservatives since I share some of their values. But the US isn't conservative, or Christian, as David Brooks points out. I agree with him when he says, "A key factor of the educated elite is not that they are pro-conservative, they are anti-left. (@5 :00)". Ths pretty much explains the differences.
One of the main reform which needs to happen before the US can truly see "democracy" (or a republic). I like to quote Julius Nyerere: "The United States is also a one-party state, but with typical American extravagance, they have two of them." On the other hand, there needs to be different parties to avoid the consolidation of power caused by the duopoly.
And the there really isn't a difference between a democracy and a republic:
Well, other than the founders had an unrealistic idea that the Roman republic was somehow stable and democracy was the equivalent of nihilism.
And The US once again proves that its gun problem effects the rest of the world.
The US should have enacted strict gun control had it been serious about the GWOT, but we know that was a joke. And we have defence distributed on top of it all.
I said I am on the outs with most of the "Gun Violence Prevention" crowd lately and David Hogg's ejection from the DNC is yet another glaring example of why. I don't know what he is hoping to do, but it won't get done through the duopoly. The Dems have a habit of talking progressive, but doing nothing significant about it.
Instead, they hope to get people that they can point to and say, "They are progressive" while the rest of the party sits in the malaise that Hogg finally pointed out.
But hoping to get a solution from the parties which are the problem is going to prove fruitless: especially if you are trying to get reform by attacking their standard operating procedure. There's a reason that the primaries are pretty much meaningless.
And what has changed in regard to your pet issue? If anything, it's much easier to buy a gun now than it was when I was your age. And fully automatic weapons are more freely available along with talk of silencers being struck off the NFA list.
Just think of the carnage if the Parkland shooter had one of those!
I could get into how the duopoly uses the "hot button" issues to avoid addressing real problems. After all, I've been pointing out how meaningless Juneteenth is. After all, what is the state of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
Anyway, David, we have a couple of issues in common: political change in the US, in particular election reform, and Firearms Regulation/Second Amendment. I can tell you that you are being overly optimistic if you have any hope in bringing about change within the Democratic Party/Duopoly.
And while making the switch to a third party is something I did myself: you have to commit to getting new parties in the game, which the duopoly have hindered. But that's the only way for change to come about.
This may be more legend, than reality as my previous post pointed out.
The big one: Granger may not have read the proclamation.
Longstanding urban legend places a historic reading of General Order No. 3 at Ashton Villa; but no historical evidence supports this claim.[41] There is no evidence that Granger or any of his troops proclaimed
the Ordinance by reading it aloud. All indications are that copies of
the Ordinance were posted in public places, including the Negro Church
on Broadway, since renamed Reedy Chapel A.M.E. Church.
Secondly, despite the Union victory, Slaves were not freed, as this points out. And to recap this from yesterday:
Although this event commemorates the end of slavery, emancipation for the remaining enslaved population in two Union border states, Delaware and Kentucky, would not come until December 6, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified.[44][c][e]
The federal amendment also put a definitive end to chattel
slavery and indentured servitude in New Jersey, freeing approximately 16
elderly individuals.[f][47][48] Furthermore, thousands of black slaves were not freed until after the Reconstruction Treaties
of late 1866, when the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and
Seminole tribes were forced to sign new treaties that required them to
free their slaves.[49][50]
The freedom of formerly enslaved people in Texas was given state law status in a series of Texas Supreme Court decisions between 1868 and 1874.
OK, the video isn't totally accurate since it doesn't get into the fact that the Emancipation Proclaimation only freed slaves in most of the Confederate Territory, not all of it. That's an important point, which is being left out of this. The video also continues the nonsense about Grainger's General Order. It only gets good when it gets to the truth of the matter: the General Order didn't do a lot for the slaves of Texas.
I would start watching at 4 minutes in.
If the point of this is to commemorate the end of slavery, then there is probably a much better date for that. But has slavery ended if prison labour can be used in a similar way?
from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States
and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this
day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St.
Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James
Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and
Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except
the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the
counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York,
Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and
Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left
precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do
order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said
designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be
free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including
the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain
the freedom of said persons.
Ever wonder where this came from? I mean unless you were listening, this event came out of the blue. OK, I'm going to be lazy and quote Wikipedia, and not even bother to remove the footnotes, just because this whole thing isn't really worth my time.
Texas was the first state to recognize the date by enacted law, in 1980. By 2002, eight states officially recognized Juneteenth[97] and four years later 15 states recognized the holiday.[54] By 2008, just over half of the states recognized Juneteenth in some way.[98] By 2019, 47 states and the District of Columbia recognized Juneteenth,[99] although as of 2020 only Texas had adopted the holiday as a paid holiday for state employees.[100]
In June 2019, Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Wolf recognized Juneteenth as a holiday in the state.[101] In the yearlong aftermath of the murder of George Floyd that occurred on May 25, 2020, nine states designated Juneteenth a paid holiday,[102] including New York, Washington, and Virginia.[103] In 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker
issued a proclamation that the day would be marked as "Juneteenth
Independence Day". This followed the filing of bills by both the House
and Senate to make Juneteenth a state holiday. Baker did not comment on
these bills specifically but promised to grant the observance of
Juneteenth greater importance.[104] On June 16, 2021, Illinois adopted a law changing its ceremonial holiday to a paid state holiday.
So, if you're like me, you didn't notice this "holiday" this year, but I have various reasons which make that an easy thing to do. I can say "Juneteenth Quoi ?" or more like "Juneteenth, quoi c'est bordel?" And most people should be doing that since the 1980s and 1990s, the holiday has been more widely celebrated
among African-American communities and has seen increasing mainstream
attention in the US. In other words, it popped into the consciousness around 120 years after the fact. And it may be more fiction than fact since.
Planters and other slaveholders from eastern states had migrated into
Texas to escape the fighting, and many brought enslaved people with
them, increasing by the thousands the enslaved population in the state
at the end of the Civil War.[9] Although most lived in rural areas, more than 1,000 resided in Galveston or Houston by 1860, with several hundred in other large towns.[37] By 1865, there were an estimated 250,000 enslaved people in Texas.[9][8]
Despite the surrender of Confederate General-in-Chief Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, the western Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi did not formally surrender until June 2.[9] On the morning of June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived on the island of Galveston[38]
to take command of the more than 2,000 federal troops recently landed
in the department of Texas to enforce the emancipation of its enslaved
population and oversee Reconstruction, nullifying all laws passed within Texas during the war by Confederate lawmakers.[38][39]
The order informed all Texans that, in accordance with a Proclamation
from the Executive of the United States, all enslaved people were free:
The people of Texas are informed
that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United
States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of
personal rights and rights of property between former masters and
slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that
between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain
quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed
that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they
will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.[40]
Longstanding urban legend places a historic reading of General Order No. 3 at Ashton Villa; but no historical evidence supports this claim.[41] There is no evidence that Granger or any of his troops proclaimed
the Ordinance by reading it aloud. All indications are that copies of
the Ordinance were posted in public places, including the Negro Church
on Broadway, since renamed Reedy Chapel A.M.E. Church.[42]
On June 21, 2014, the Galveston Historical Foundation and Texas Historical Commission
erected a Juneteenth plaque where the Osterman Building once stood
signifying the location of Major General Granger's Union Headquarters
believed to be where he issued his general orders.[43]
Although this event commemorates the end of slavery, emancipation for the remaining enslaved population in two Union border states, Delaware and Kentucky, would not come until December 6, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified.[44][c][e]
The federal amendment also put a definitive end to chattel
slavery and indentured servitude in New Jersey, freeing approximately 16
elderly individuals.[f][47][48] Furthermore, thousands of black slaves were not freed until after the Reconstruction Treaties
of late 1866, when the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and
Seminole tribes were forced to sign new treaties that required them to
free their slaves.[49][50]
The freedom of formerly enslaved people in Texas was given state law status in a series of Texas Supreme Court decisions between 1868 and 1874.
So, this make be the biggest commemoration of a non-event that ever happened because it wasn't the actual end of slavery in Texas and the General may never have made a speech telling the slaves of a plantation in Galveston that they were free!
And for that matter, there was still slavery despite the Emancipation proclamation!
You weren't crazy if you were wondering why you had never heard of it before 2020,
And you were among a very small group of people if you DID know about this prior to this year.
While
the media tried to make this sound like something which had been around
for a long time, the reality is that the Juneteenth this was
steamrollered over us. Wired points it out in their Why Juneteenth Went Viral.Wired's piece tends toward this being something contemplative, but I do question the interest in Juneteenth, as opposed to Odunde, as being virtue signalling.
It's no coincidence that the movement to celebrate Juneteenth came during the Black Lives Matter
riots (sorry, but more than one city was trashed and these were
counterproductive as fuck. So, fuck you, I'll call them as I see them).
It's more of the meaningless virtue signalling to try and calm the
rioters.
But it was a small group of people who made this a thing as Protocol's How a Group of Creatives made Juneteenth 'spread like wildfire'. Yeah, "creatives" as in advertising types. Not just any advertising types, but ones connected to the social media industry.
I
am trying to break from the surveillance economy,. Not only do they
keep tabs on you, but they try and influence your opinion.
I cried "bullshit" about Russiagate.
I'm crying "bullshit" about the virtue signalling relating to Black Lives Matter.
Nothing significant will come from the past few months. If anything,
those events will make matters worse. I know they increased gun sales.
I am already certain that Trump will be reelected. Even if he isn't, the Democratic candidate isn't onside.
So, what was the point of it all?
I prefer substance to Bullshit, but the bullshit is piling up like the trash on the streets of Philadelphia and NYC.
{OK, Given that Juneteenth isn't really that meaningfull, this was pulled from Wikipedia and a couple of my previous post on the issue. This is a "holiday" that needs to GO AWAY because it's BS].
