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Hope everyone is safe during this active time. No rioting or protests here, although one is apparently planned for tomorrow. Stay safe, whether bunkered down at home or making your voice heard in the streets. 2020 is going down in the history books for sure.
Something definitely feels different. Our demonstrations were downtown and I'm still isolating so there's nothing going on that I'm concerned about. Yet. Seriously, when the book about this presidency is written, it's going to have so many volumes that I doubt most can afford the whole collection. To be honest, I'll take as few reminders as I can get.
Stay safe, everybody.
Attachment 17487Quote:
Originally Posted by RanRan79
Nobody rioting here in Hermosa Beach. But I hear sirens every once in a while. Probably ambulances picking up Covid-19 pneumonia patients.
America is out of order right now. Protect your self...
here in Cle last night, they tore UP downtown....bashed in windows of many businesses, a lot of which were JUST starting to open back up, and even went over to the Justice Center [[main "cop house") and busted LOTS of car windows...
My BIL is a CO there, and his co-workers told him that the protesters were coming for his truck, so he threw his keys out the window and they moved his truck for him before it got trashed...he was lucky - others weren't...Also inmates could be heard shouting from the inside as the city burned outside...He said the place is trashed considerably...
There's now a curfew for downtown from 12 noon til 8 a.m. tomorrow, so residents and business owners ONLY can come in and get cleaned up...
The people who are responsible for the damage don't even LIVE here - heard tell that most are from out of state...
Don't understand why there's a need to "shit where you eat", especially in the midst of a pandemic when folk should be at HOME or social distancing....now you can't get basic necessities cuz the stores are trashed or just gone completely...
And it's not just black folk doing the damage either....Don't be fooled....Protests were going just fine until some decided to break away and do their own thing....
Reminds me of living thru the Hough Riots back in the late 60's....
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms is the only person I've heard that is making sense about
what's really going on in this country right now....She said this is NOT the way to go this is
chaos. People are destroying their own lives, destroying their children's futures. There is
an idiot on Lee Bailey's eurweb.com talking about though he knows rioting won't stop
racism or police brutality he's enjoying the hell out it...WTF,man? I have a niece starting
college this year. Her life is just beginning...What the....I remember the riots of the 60's..
I don't know we'll recover from this...then there's the not over yet pandemic....
Attachment 17490
There's a protest at Santa Monica Beach now, and anarchists have come there, and caused police to shoot rubber bullets. It remains to be seen whether they will break up when the curfew starts.
We're under a curfew now. Looks like drama is kicking up downtown. This is crazy.
Is anyone surprised that this has happened? Of course not,I don't need to give a history lesson here because most here know it as it's known that this won't be the last case of a Blackman dying at the hands of a White cop,and let me say something here about rioting,I lived through the riots of[68]and the Black community NEVER RECOVERED,do I condone rioting-NO..do I understand the real reasons behind them,Yes I DO,I'm not talking about the folks planted to i insite trouble,folks riot because they're hurt and angry which is basically a form of temper tandrum on a much larger scale,which is like someone mistreating you to the point where you throw something or punch a wall,corporate America has to understand that minorities are not gonna sit calmly holding hands and singing-We Shall Overcome..folks are hurt and fed up..THINK ABOUT IT!!
Hello people! Just checking in to see if everyone is OK. Around here police cars and stations were vandalized and several stores in Scottsdale were vandalized and looted. If you didn't go into those areas you'd never know anything was going on.
I believe I already had a mild case of COVID back in January and have been feeling good since. Been working the whole time.
I want to wish everyone here, even those who have me on their sh- list, that they and their loved ones stay healthy and safe.
I got around to watching the David Ruffin unsung on YouTube. I have to find that album by David, Dennis, and Eddie. I never heard the whole thing.
I also notice there are no politics up in here anymore. That could be a good thing.
Later
It's crazy, Jai. I'm trying to tell folks that this is only about George Floyd insomuch as his murder touched off the situation. This could have [[or should have) happened about 200 hashtags ago. Nothing changes and people are upset. Seeing cops callously murder a brother on video is why people are freaking out, as if we haven't [[a) been seeing it for a decade now, or [[b) been telling people that there are pigs who treat us differently since Reconstruction.Quote:
Originally Posted by arr&bee
I hate to see the damage and violence but I understand it. And the cops don't realize that the stuff they're doing [[tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets) to the peaceful protesters is only making the situation worse. Especially with your boy, President Plump tear gasing and shooting rubber bullets at people so he can hold up a Bible in front of a church.
I can understand if they're using force against people causing harm. But I'm seeing them use it against people who are following their instructions locally and across the country. SMH. Makes me wonder why so many people hate us when we're the ones who have been under a knee for 400 years.
soulster,good to hear from you,glad that you are feeling better...as you can see i'm still typing in caps[smile]but i'm ok thank goodness..we are living in crazy times but we'll be ok..stay strong and keep playing that good soul music!Quote:
Originally Posted by soulster
Jerry,we have a mad man in power which is very dangerous,what I saw yesterday took me back to the days when dogs and waterhoses were turned on peaceful civil right activist,we seem to be going backwards,the federal government needs an enema and hopefully it will start in November.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
Glad your feeling better Soulster.Quote:
Originally Posted by soulster
Peaceful Protesters Dispersed With Tear Gas So Trump Could POSE at a Church with a bible in his hand. Hes never read a bible in his lying assed life.
“He did not pray,” said Mariann E. Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington. “He did not mention George Floyd, he did not mention the agony of people who have been subjected to this kind of horrific expression of racism and white supremacy for hundreds of years.” Hes a POS and must go this NOVEMBER> Vote Him OUT.
Listen up folks....the pen is mightier than the sword. VOTE!Quote:
Originally Posted by Roberta75
Couldn't agree more brotha.Quote:
Originally Posted by arr&bee
Hey Soulster! Glad to see you back in action. You have been noticeably absent. Glad you got over your illness without a problem. I had an uncle die of the virus at the start of April, so know you are blessed.Quote:
Originally Posted by soulster
Jerry did you see the cop in San Jose who was caught on tape antagonizing the protesters, calling a woman a bitch, seemingly itching to get into some kind of skirmish with the protesters? He's on desk duty now, I think. His superior says he was wrong but believes the cop is a good guy.*eye roll* City councilman says the cop shouldn't be fired. At what point will these law enforcement departments and city leaders get to the point where they understand how serious it is to have police officers in complete control of their emotions and fully understand the need for trust between LEO and the public? All this shit going on and they're still saying shit like "he's a good boy".Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
And y'all's president...
I was overwhelmingly sure that come November I was voting 3rd party. No way in hell was Trump getting my vote, and Biden is basically Trump lite and the democratic party is full of repubs masquerading as dems, and idiots in addition. I figure to let my vote speak for the policies I want in place as an American, and neither Trump nor Biden are standing on those platforms, currently. Maybe it's the emotion of everything going on right now, but I finally have to accept that Trump has disgusted me so much over the past few days that voting for Biden just makes some kind of sick sense. I've always rooted for Trump's exit, but I wasn't willing to sale my "soul" by casting a vote for someone I don't want as president. I did that with Hillary, because I figured she was the lesser of the two evils, but I felt slimy just the same as I cast my vote. I didn't want an evil candidate in the running. I didn't want to compromise on my principles this time around. But it looks like come November, I'll fall in line and cast my vote for...sorry, gotta push the vomit back down my throat...Biden. If nothing else, it will at least be satisfying to see that antiChrist, racist, xenophobe, moron exiting the White House and the position of POTUS. I'll be completely done with the dems after that. Never again will I even be remotely invested in whatever they are doing as it is not a party for the people. But I'll attend the dem party in November. If Trump is booted out, I'll close the place down. Tear the dance floor up. Be the last one they drag out the place. Bet.
In my opinion, Black people don't have the option of not voting or even voting third party unless the third party candidate has a chance of winning. If there is a lesser of two evils, it's the difference between a president who is indifferent to our well-being vs one who will leave Puerto Rico in the dark for three years, place children in detention camps, separate families and send the parents overseas, refuse refuge to people fleeing war and hardship, deny Muslims entry into the country, make policy decisions based on his own financial interests, encourage police to abuse suspects, refuse Congressional oversight, blackmail foreign leaders into helping them, conspire with hostile governments to steal elections, place white nationalists in policy-making positions and threatening martial law instead of using his office to deescalate tensions. Oh, and scoff in the face of 108,000 dead and counting.
Clinton was a rotten candidate. Joe Biden is even worse. Hell if I'm sitting out or voting for somebody else symbolically so that I can say that I didn't vote for Biden. He's trash. He's an older, feeble minded, more jaded and corrupt version of Hillary Clinton. And he's full of sh*t. But Trump is literally an existential threat. For as much as I loathe a Biden presidency [[and really hate the DNC leadership), Trump has already made us watch reruns of the Civil Rights Movement and I'm at the age where I realize that I'm never going to see a version of America that's even as good as the one we had three years ago, let alone one where there's anything close to a fair and equitable society.
Oh naw, I had the option. At some point the dems, and to whatever extent that it matters, the repubs too, have to stop treating certain voters as if they got us on lock. I was on lock a couple years ago. I'm a bit older and wiser now. How much longer can either of those parties maintain control? Aside from the destruction we've seen over the last week, it has been invigorating to see so many people across the country taking to the streets and saying very loudly and clearly: enough is enough. I always wished we would see that in regards to our politicians. We're votes to them, nothing more. They get in and do what they want instead of doing what we want them to do. We don't vote for them to simply have jobs. We vote for them to be our voice in law and policy making. If they refuse to listen- and so many of them seem to do- that means they're not afraid of us. And the dems are not afraid of us.
The repubs are more afraid of their base because so much of their base [[not all, of course) is made up of loons who will do whatever they feel they need to do in order to keep the coloreds in line and in their places, even if it means voting against policy that would benefit them. I believe had Trump run third party, electorate-ly speaking, he may have still beaten Hillary, because the people who voted for him would have still voted for him and what he was talking. The white evangelical community would have stomped for him. I can imagine that prospect scared the shit out of the repubs. The dems were afraid of Bernie for sure, but Bernie was never going to run for president third party, thus leaving himself open to the party shenanigans that eventually did him in. And the dems knew that. Despite the cries, not just from progressives, but everyone, that we need and want real change, the dems continued to push for the success of candidates who were ready to continue the same ole same ole agenda. That's a party who doesn't care about the people. And after November, I'm out.
If the Green Party ever got it's shit together I'd vote Green, but while their platform is most like my ideas for this nation, they don't seem to have it together. I have never been so interested in politics until Bernie Sanders' platform. I got so invested that I considered preparing myself for a future run in gov't because for the first time [[since I've been paying attention) someone was actually talking about policy that would make regular folks' lives better. I thought I could do that too. And then at some point reality sets in and I realize I might become an embarrassment to the African American community every time I popped somebody in the mouth at some volatile city council meeting or cussed somebody out on the House floor. Not a good look and the American people deserve better. So it's not for me. But neither are the dems. Certainly not the repubs. I need a party to make some waves. There was a political life before either party existed. There's has to be hope for the emergence of another viable party, right? Or am I being naive?
Can the democrat and/or republican parties maintain power for a never ending future? And if not, at which point do we say "okay, time to do something different"? Because if we never do that, then nothing ever changes. And we need some changes.
Sorry for the long post, folks. I have a tendency to type out my thoughts and not know when to stop. Perhaps another reason not to run for political office.:cool:
RanRan79,you're right on point,but you know as well as I do that ain't much gonna change,we must remember that at one time the Democratic motto was-the party of the white man so there you go,but we as Blacks have voted this way since[FDR]who by the way was no friend of Blacks either but had a level headed wife,fast forward to JFK who was no racist but didn't know Blacks but knew that things weren't right but was taken out before he could actually effect change,RFK was gonna change some things but the luminatti wasn't having it and he was silenced,so here we are today between Biden and trump who wants to be monarch,so as you say we gotta take the lesser of two evils.
I hear ya AB. It just sucks to feel so powerless. Somebody is dictating to us instead of the other way around. But as much as I hate the idea of Biden in office, I have to remind myself that point for point Biden would make the better president. The one we have now is devoid of love and care for anyone and anything except power. And that's frightening.
Attachment 17494
The Republicans dance on our graves, and The Democrats toss the people a few [[mostly bare) bones. Trump is a childlike, selfish, power-hungry egotist, who clearly cares only for his own condition, and helps the rich cronies that run him. He acts like he wants to do away with or ignore all laws that would stop him from having complete power over The USA. He has already broken several laws. He's acting the way Adolf Hitler acted before he declared a false "national emergency", and suspended the rule of law and government structure, and had a bill signed to allow him to rule by decree, and inaugurated a dictatorship. I fully expect him to refuse to leave the office of president, if he loses the election, claiming that The Covid-19 Pandemic is a dire emergency [[after having termed it no more dangerous than a "flu", which will go away soon like magic, for its whole existence, so far).
Unfortunately, EVERYONE HAS to vote for the lesser of two evils [[Democrats), because they are not so mean and unfeeling for the general population as The Republicans. As to the problem of entrenched, systematic, racism, that will START to be eroded a little because of the "In-The World's Face video" of Mr. Floyd's murder, which is so graphic of the inhumanity of The US' racist culture, and embarrassment in front of the rest of the nations, and the unforgetability of it, so that the average American can't really hide from it anymore. That will get the ball rolling, with, AT LEAST, the passing of new laws that will make police, and, I hope, all public servants, even The President, be subject to being responsible for his or her actions. There will be no more special immunity from being subject to performing his/her duties within the law, and there will be OUTSIDE entities watching over these departments, and performing investigations of any suspected wrongdoing, instead of the current system in which they perform their own inside investigations and "police" themselves. THAT will, at least make the racist policemen think twice about trying to take out their frustrations on random African Americans. As far as getting rid of the discrimination in all phases of daily life, I'm afraid that won't happen until the Back and Brown communities form maybe 60% of The US' population [[maybe 15-20 years from now) AND they've already formed a tight coalition [[voting block), in which almost every voting age person votes, and they vote as a solid block, and throw their votes towards the party who will accept their demands for specific legislation and public social and economics-improvement programmes. That WILL work after a party makes promises, gets the Black & Brown vote, wins the national and state elections, and fails to deliver on their promises, and The Black-Brown block throws its votes to the opposite party in the next election, and the 2 parties then see that they CAN'T be in power without fulfilling their promises.
So there IS help on the way. So, first, we have to hope that there are enough decent White Americans who will vote for The Democrats, and help push for changes in the laws relating to accountability of public servants, and also will elect people who will try to push through programmes that will help improve the lives of the lower 2/3 of the population, instead of lining the pockets of the billionaires, and multi-multi millionaires.
It's sad. With two parties and 400+ congressional seats, there is no representative government on the federal level anymore. It used to be that a socially liberal/economically moderate Dem could craft a bill with a economically moderate/socially conservative Republican. They found the areas that they agreed on and worked for the good of the country. Now, if you work across the aisle, you get primaried. So voting for the Democrats is analogous to voting for Pelosi/Schumer and voting for the Republicans is de facto voting for McConnell/McCarthy. Without at least a heavily represented third party, which would force government by coalition, this republic is dead. No hyperbole intended.Quote:
Originally Posted by RanRan79
Also, the Dems' shenanigans in their primaries have me jaded. I'll hold my nose and vote for the lesser of two evils but I hate my choices.
My hands are clean,my heart is so pure the world is sick,i am the cure..a trump speech,no..power--the temptations.
I hope President Bunker Bitch sees this.
The Cult of Personality by Living ColourQuote:
Originally Posted by arr&bee
Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I've been everything you want to be
I'm the cult of personality
Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the cult of personality
Neon lights, a Nobel Prize
Then a mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your T.V.
I'm the cult of personality
I exploit you still you love me
I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the cult of personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi
I'm the cult of personality
Absolutely prophetic lyrics by Living Colour.
Don't matter if the dems running and eventually winning aren't much interested in improving the lives of the 99 percent. But I agree, there does seem to be the smell of change in the air. Time will tell if it's a sweet smell or a rotten one.Quote:
Originally Posted by robb_k
All sad but true Jerry.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
I haven't heard this in year . I was a kid so I didn't pay attention to lyrics the way I do as an adult. Such a powerful song. Now I gotta go play it and listen with adult ears.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
I pray to God its a sweet one. There has to be change and just this time with all of the global attention it hopefull is gonna happen. �� �� �� �� ��Quote:
Originally Posted by RanRan79