Category Archives: ~ my 2cents …

This is America … time to face the changes needed to reflect words in the Constitution, or are they just words?


 Just another rant …

On January 21st,  we all saw posts on social media cheering for America’s new president and had to respond. 

I admit trump won the Electoral vote, trump did not win the Popular Vote, which is more important to most Americans who believe in one person, one vote.  Obviously,  America seemed stunned at how election 2016 turned out, and though there was talk about the electoral vote and how changes to the caucus, delegate rules, and processes, which have been a subject of debate for years, republicans are feeling themselves and doing little on all levels, least we talk about the number of actual Sessions held in Congress.

Then, in 2024, something wicked this way came, and the words to describe what happened are still hard to find. 

Unfortunately, the electoral process not only gave us trump, but a MAGA Trifecta Congress, that has became what some call “something else” and they still don’t seem to care or be worried or interested in much else other than getting lifetime judges appointed rather than preparing for another cyber attack, infrastructure, climate, fires, natural disasters or keeping the chaos down to a low roar let alone how to improve the caucus and delegate rules. btw, we have had several cases of foreign spies being arrested for federal crimes, yet trumps focus seems to be on clearing out Brown and Black immigrants from America

Ah… to be an American in this era of trump, who started his bid for president by shouting that Obama is not an American?  Yet, if you follow trump’s rise, and I do not use that word loosely,  we are definitely still hearing folks comparing him to Hitler, maybe Mussolini, while seemingly supporting white nationalists and or supremacists as well. Yes, some say he is acting a little like Napoleon, or dreams of being a king, and yes, it is all snarky … but ultimately nouns like authoritarian or a dictator are more likely the goal; none of which is accepted or the norm here in the US of A.  I voted for Hillary, supported her without question, knowing what we had …it was a binary choice.  This man is NOT presidential material, cannot fix our problem, he is NOT our savior, nor does he care about his constituents, who sadly were/are misinformed in my opinion. Apparently, with fear being tossed around like candy, his constituents are all too willing to be pushed and verbally shoved into whatever direction they need to change the balance of white Vs nonwhite America.

However, the changes will appear positive to those in his camp, and given his position of power, the President and #teamtrump can and will do anything they want.   The thing is, our end result seems to be headed in a negative direction.  Why do I say this, any person with so much power should know not to act out with revenge in your mind, he has a reputation, is called a narcissist in all its forms; so what we have had to experience for the last 2 years will not only impact Hillary voters but his constituents who continue to vote against their better interests, and as we witness all the rollbacks of the Obama legacy, his administrations reach will be long and global in ways that will take years to clean up or correct.  In 2017, the news covered his comments at the UN Assembly, tariffs, his SCOTUS nomination, and as we watched the stock market take a dive, the media dodged, danced, and seemingly ignored it, until they couldn’t.

It was impossible to ignore the House of Bush # financial collapse of 2007. We have heard trump disparage people of colour, women,lgbt, and trans people on the regular, and he is now moving to legislate what looks like hate. The trump government stated it was planning on making low-income folks in the US eat from dry goods boxes while taking money from countries that need help to cope with drought, disease, and health care issues that impact children and women, etc.

Do folks on the right even know that $15billion, that’s a billion cuts in spending, includes $7 billion of social services for children?

Speaking of Children, I believe in choice, so the effing idea that women should be punished for making decisions about their own bodies is crazy in itself, but the trump admin has made it impossible for Americans to help women globally with the Reagan gag rule… Women in America are and or have been arrested for miscarriages, and btw these decisions don’t seem to make legal or religious sense when challenged by our rights to privacy under the constitution

Do they know the number of unsafe abortions may certainly increase along with other reproductive issues women have and will most definitely continue, in all probability, end up in a rise in the rate of mortality among women globally?

This man is a failing protectionist, acting like an isolationist while standing with white nationalists, seemingly standing side by side. History speaks to us rejecting this behavior, so you have to wonder, will trump be the thing that serves as a vehicle for women on both sides of the political aisle, and race as a common denominator to vote out asap?! The poll numbers suggest married women voted for trump, but are seeing that this man should not be in power, as his policies make an impact on them and others they know. There are enormous numbers of women marching not just in America but globally.  While trump is only talking to his constituents, this carpetbagger can’t help but make all his speeches about himself. He has stomped on our constitution already, broken what most used to say are American values while republicans wring their hands in joy, their corrupt behavior will show itself as some of our economist suggest could be another ride into another ditch with all the costs created by actions like moving the Israel embassy, repealing ACA just to name two lest we talk about block granting education ending Medicaid and increasing qualifiers reinstating others that restrict health care … this man is NOT the savior but an emperor wannabe though he seems to act as if he was voted in as a king … hopefully, his voters will see the light in time.

People of colour feel that their rights and bodies will now be targets and a literal threat while living as Americans, depending upon which city is most likely to take his comments literally. If or will their social norms make them choose to act above the rule of law, lest we talk about how folks interpret trump’s rhetoric and unfortunately will be spread as often as he goes to a mic or holds rallies for the people to see him, and how far his communication staff is willing to go and say whatever it takes to keep his followers. 

Is it possible, is it apparent that this era of trump needed to happen to America …  As equality, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness seemed to be sliding away …  Hopefully not gone, just a wicked storm before the reboot to a better America …right?

On January 26, 2017, when trump whipped his pen of revenge out and seemingly took America back to the dark ages in just a couple of minutes, then moved on to other acts of hypocrisy on the regular, various people saw the issue. Yet, those same people who voted for him are now the targets.

Our country is NOT moving toward a more perfect union, but I believe we must gain insight, become mindful, analyze all that must get done before any elections; we need to be 2–4 steps ahead of the trump administration.  In 2018, I completely disagreed with a couple of pro-trump bloggers, but one was kind enough to accept opposition comments. I also admitted I understand their point, said as much when we elected Obama and watched as the opposition party in congress pledged to do nothing … So, as bill after bill had some kind of stipulation or nasty pill /rider attached to it; no one addressed stagnant wages, 21st-century living, climate, renewables or jobs and while babies were/still are being killed by guns; infrastructure among other things were all put on hold unless and until republicans could get the trifecta to make change their way. 

Thing is, they have done nothing to improve the status of American lives or social programs like social security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which, btw we all pay into, are at risk in the hands of this government. “Affordable healthcare”  for regular folk is at risk … FACT!  And how ironic is it that Congress enjoys good health care paid for by US taxpayers … yet, women seem to be wearing scarlet letters or the phrase of #preexistingcondition

Today, in the year 2025, it is all at risk of being realigned with dictatorship behavior and demands of what looks like Ethnic Cleansing here in the US of A. I could be wrong, but the new Republicans called MAGA are selling out their constituents for more money and power. I don’t know what to call this new normal by name or description, but American lives will suffer

It feels like he is talking in code… Has anyone in the US thought we would have to deal with a lack of our rights to freedom of speech and or censorship on this level? The government of trump seems to want absolute power over the people, the press, control women, tell scientists that any and all information about climate has to pass a White House review panel before the public sees it, or that a joint government/nonprofit summit can be and have been canceled by a President? This is offensive and should be considered inappropriate autocratic behavior, imo.  The notion of being told to have babies, let alone comply or be punished, is insane. Why is expressing an opinion inappropriate?  We have already seen the media be told to shut their mouths, other countries jail their dissident, and I’m guessing torture works, though it’s against the Geneva Convention.  The idea that he felt comfy saying we should have taken the Iraqi oil or that nukes should be available to all while sidestepping the 1st Amendment is more than concerning… maybe other amendments are at risk as team trump hearkens back to a time when men(white mean) who governed considered themselves to be the only legitimate Americans and suffice it say there weren’t many amendments back then to protect what we now call folks in “protected classes” 

So, I am resisting. I am not naive, but I am counting on enough folks who sat on the sidelines will finally see through the bull before it’s time to use our most powerful weapon against Dictatorship …

Our Legal Right to Vote

Thanks for letting me exercise my 1st amendment rights

Nativegrl77

We are all Freedom Fighters on some level every day… Thursday &some News


The weather has been wicked windy

The latest events have made me wonder if Congress on the State and Federal level and or rhetoric from Republicans and folks who lean right of center will really get the push back or beat back by the Democratic Party after Congress gets back from Easter break because i sure have not heard much from the Democratic Party in general and that is not only disturbing it is offensive to anyone who voted these folks into office. I will say it was good to hear that Leader Reid has decided to hold an up and down vote on the PaulRyan Budget. It should open the eyes of most if not all Republican constituents, well maybe. In a time when millions are unemployed, more layoffs coming and Corporate America is still outsourcing and holding jobs hostage. The Republican Party continues to cut slash and burn American Workers. The party of No, which used to be just a conservative pro-life scary group, is now so extreme that the slogan “taking their country back”, is no longer code but an overt statement from Republican Tea Party members. Obviously, it is about not wanting “his kind” in the White House. The Tea Party wants to Privatize Public Service Jobs, which includes Teachers, Fire Fighters, Police, and others while gutting Social Service programs that help the elderly, women, and children around the country suffering already but are now willing to take the basics away from the middle/lower class.

However, I cannot begin to say how offensive though enlightening it is that they are actually legislating people into poverty. I have to say this has made me wonder what our neighborhoods will look after this nasty group is finished wreaking havoc on us all. We all know the more folks that are out of work the better the chances of fewer or quality services will be available. I ask everyone to just think what having less police, firefighters to help out not just the less fortunate but all those above the poverty line … a fire does not care if you have lots of money. I have to say the light of day on how low a Political Party is willing to go was quite evident with those behind the door deals they made to keep SOME firefighters and police employed. Did they think about this?

The media and certain Politicians say that in times of crisis people separate into cliques. I say our Politicians and Talking heads; “the media” have been doing a great job in forcing the public and or viewer into choosing side’s every day depending on the issue. It is offensive and while the November Midterms was proof of how that manipulation works, clearly a whole lot of buyer’s remorse has set in for the Political Party of No, Tea Party carpetbaggers who said one thing and are doing another. We all probably have family or know people who did March for equal rights, felt compelled, added to and a part of that strength in numbers adage we all hear frequently that i consider so important and speaks volumes when a change is near just over the horizon waiting to happen. This feeling of wanting a better way of life is possibly shared by most is spreading all over the world and while a couple of tyrants have seen the light others continue to participate in overt genocide others shutdown access to the World outside. I get the feeling the Republican Tea Party is a lot like those folks in other countries currently doing all they can to either keep control or take anyone down that happens to be in the way by murdering them …right?. In our case, American voters are demanding freedom but the people with the power have gone rogue without thinking about what the full impact on the lives of the many will be or don’t care and have decided to take that risk and try to usurp the rights of Americans whether it’s done legally, by consensus or not.

We are all Freedom Fighters on some level every day.

 

 

 

 

1812 – Packing & Cracking ~ gerrymander~ a repost and reminder


Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), American statesman
Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), American statesman (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The information below is a historic  timeline regarding the Census and Gerrymandering or Packing & Cracking rules

In December 1975, the Congress passed Public Law (P.L.) 94-171. This law requires the Census Bureau to make special preparations to provide redistricting data to the 50 states no later than April 1 of the year following a census (so April 1, 2011, for the 2010 Census). P.L. 94-171 specifies that within 1 year of Census Day, the Census Bureau must send each state the small-area data the state will need to redraw districts for the state legislature.

P.L. 94-171 sets up a voluntary program between the Census Bureau and those states that wish to receive population tabulations for voting districts and other state-specified geographic areas.

Under this program, those responsible for the legislative apportionment or redistricting of each state may devise a plan identifying the voting districts for which they want the specific tabulations and submit it to the Census Bureau.

Beginning in 2005, the Redistricting Data Office of the Census Bureau met with state officials in 46 states. These meetings explained the timeline and programs available for the 2010 Census, providing states the time to prepare and allocate resources in advance of the census. The states also provided the Census Bureau with valuable feedback on census program planning.

The 2010 Census Redistricting Data Program is a five-phase program. During Phase 1 (2005–2006), the Census Bureau collected state legislative district boundaries and associated updates to tabulate legislative districts. This phase also included an aggressive 2010 Census communications plan, with visits to state capitals, to make sure the states were informed and prepared for the upcoming census.

Phase 2 (2008–2010) consisted of the Voting District/Block Boundary Suggestion Project (VTD/BBSP) in which states received TIGER/Line® shapefiles and the MAF/TIGER Partnership Software (MTPS) to electronically collect voting district boundaries, feature updates, suggested block boundaries, and corrected state legislative district boundaries. Both Phase 1 and Phase 2 are voluntary programs that include a step where the state verifies the submitted data.

Phase 3 constitutes the delivery of the data for the 2010 Census. The Census Bureau will deliver the geographic and data products to the majority and minority leadership in the state legislatures, the governors, and any designated P.L. 94-171 liaisons. Once bipartisan receipt of the data is confirmed, the data will be made available online to the public within 24 hours through the American FactFinder. For this census, the P.L. 94-171 data will include population counts for small areas within each state, as well as housing occupied/vacancy counts.

After the Census Bureau provides the data, the states will begin their redistricting. States are responsible for delineating their own congressional and legislative boundaries and their legislatures. Legislatures, secretaries of state, governors, and/or redistricting commissions carry out the process.  

Go to www.census.gov for the complete article …

For your information, wiki states, “Gerrymandering is effective because of the wasted vote effect.

The Etymology

First printed in March 1812, the political cartoon above was drawn in reaction to the state senate electoral districts drawn by the Massachusetts legislature to favour the Democratic-Republican Party candidates of Governor Elbridge Gerry over the Federalists.

The caricature satirizes the bizarre shape of a district in Essex County, Massachusetts as a dragon-like “monster.”

Federalist newspaper editors and others at the time likened the district shape to a salamander, and the word gerrymander was a blend of that word and Governor Gerry‘s last name.

Resources: www.Census.gov
 and Wiki
 

Do You Look Illegal… first posted in 2012… are things any different in 2023?


Immigration …

Republicans and some conservadems who say they want to help people get back to work, and give small businesses the means to create jobs have once again said one thing while on camera and then voted against the People of the United States. They say a small business needs to be helped because small business creates jobs … but Republicans lie and this is yet another example and now evidence of just what they have in mind for us … as Americans, we should all be outraged but use our voice and our votes to keep Republicans out of office. We need to vote for Politicians who have Americans’ best interests in mind, not …

I don’t believe Immigration is an issue that will bite the backs of any left-leaning politician because immigration has to be dealt with. It has to be comprehensive and, unlike what people on TV seem to want viewers to believe, immigrants, undocumented or not, didn’t just pop up after President Obama was elected. Immigration is the elephant in the room that Politicians on both sides of the aisle have avoided for decades unable to make progress on, the others who along with corporations were more interested in making a buck than solving the massive influx of undocumented people looking for jobs; not all immigrants or those called natural citizens are violent, take jobs away, are crazy or constantly break laws …

Immigration reform will ultimately affect every single person in this country. The notion that every State should be able to make up its own rules, policies, or laws is absurd, not to mention the crap coming from people on the right suggesting that the undocumented or illegals as they call them be rounded up and taken back to their homeland. The comment and the idea are not only offensive; the suggestion about how to pay for the round-up is in itself scary and brings up another time in History when the lives of people who were rounded up and well… we all know what happened, and thought it’s the 21st Century … men and women, called ICE Police, are engaged in rounding up what might be considered Dissidents for both concentration and internment camps.

It is time to ask yourself how many ethnic groups have come to America, been treated poorly, and yes, some succeed while others are still in the shadows, or in concentration camps in the year 2019. In this era of trump, the extreme right or white nationalists noticed the significant browning of America and are now suggesting an en masse round-up and deportation.  I will admit I was definitely offended and surprised that folks in 2010 would suggest using stimulus money to round up people and ship them back to their homeland, but what we heard doesn’t even match up to what we are now experiencing, in this era of trump or 2.o trump!

Is it me, or are these wild, wicked, and stupid comments from people getting on the airwaves, talking seemingly crazy and getting paid $175K to do #ThePeoplesBusiness, sound completely absurd?  The other question is, do most, if not all, long for a time when most Women and folks of colour were not seen or heard ?  They performed duties that the white masta set

Repealing Obamacare cost America at least $70 million with over 50 attempts in 2014, now 63 attempts in 2016 … so, you do the math

A Cruz Government Shutdown cost $24 billion

Benghazi Hearings cost almost $8 million, maybe more!

Email gate cost $82 million or more

The current bills brought to the floor of Congress should give everyone engaged in living in this 21st Century life and the country an opportunity to stop, consider, and debate the obvious ramifications, maybe accept that comprehensive immigration reform needs to be clearly explained and understood. Unfortunately, what the right calls Amnesty. It would be in all of our best interests for those on the right to avoid the notion that all the undocumented or “illegals” are violent and malicious folks doing all kinds of bad things. However, they cannot help themselves though we all know that not all undocumented, “illegals” as they call the undocumented are bad and decades ago, employers decided to look the other way when folks started coming across the border to look for jobs getting the jobs that were paying little or nothing but saved them money.

It is time, to be honest, and deal with the reality of the impact and contributions that undocumented people have on the US economy, because it is big. The idea is not lost on me that the immigration laws republicans want implemented across the country would also have some negative consequences on all folks of colour, women, children, as well as the elderly, by pushing Americans back to a time that we all hoped was nearly gone and stayed in our history books.

However, we have to remind people that we cannot go backward. It was not that long ago when women and people of colour were seen as 3rd class citizens, and servants, and rarely heard from by anyone unless they were forced to do the unthinkable or worse.

Photo is from Getty Images.

August … a month full of historic events


270px-Hurricane_Katrina_Mobile_Alabama_flooded_parking_lot_20050829just another rant …

August~

 remember Katrina … remind folks what happened on the Gulf Coast as the people fled, some were forced out into the streets some died in the Katrina disaster trying to get out safely; while others faced excessive force violence and death

August 1, 1838 – Slavery was abolished in Jamaica. It had been introduced by Spanish settlers 300 years earlier in 1509.

August 2, 1776 – In Philadelphia, most of the 55-56 members of the Continental Congress signed the parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence.

August 3
1936 – Jesse Owens won the first of his four Olympic gold medals.

1943 – Gen. George S. Patton verbally abused and slapped a private. Later, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered him to apologize for the incident.

1981 – U.S. traffic controllers with PATCO, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, went on strike. They were fired just as U.S. President Reagan had warned.

1992 – The U.S. Senate voted to restrict and eventually end the testing of nuclear weapons.

2004 – NASA launched the spacecraft Messenger. The 6 1/2 year journey was planned to arrive at the planet Mercury in March 2011. On April 30, 2015, Messenger crashed into the surface of Mercury after sending back more than 270,000 pictures.

August 4, 1962 – Apartheid opponent Nelson Mandela was arrested by security police in South Africa. He was then tried and sentenced to five years in prison. In 1964, he was placed on trial for sabotage, high treason and conspiracy to overthrow the government and was sentenced to life in prison. A worldwide campaign to free him began in the 1980s and resulted in his release on February 11, 1990, at age 71 after 27 years in prison. In 1993, Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize with South Africa’s President F.W. de Klerk for their peaceful efforts to bring a nonracial democracy to South Africa. In April 1994, black South Africans voted for the first time in an election that brought Mandela the presidency of South Africa.

August 4, 1964 – Three young civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were found murdered and buried in an earthen dam outside Philadelphia, Mississippi. They had disappeared on June 21 after being detained by Neshoba County police on charges of speeding. They were participating in the Mississippi Summer Project organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to increase black voter registration. When their car was found burned on June 23, President Lyndon Johnson ordered the FBI to search for the men.

August 5, 1861 – President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the first Federal income tax, a 3 percent tax on incomes over $800, as an emergency wartime measure during the Civil War. However, the tax was never actually put into effect.

August 6, 1965 – The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Act suspended literacy, knowledge and character tests designed to keep African Americans from voting in the South. It also authorized the appointment of Federal voting examiners and barred discriminatory poll taxes. The Act was renewed by Congress in 1975, 1984 and 1991.

August 6-10, 1787 – The Great Debate occurred during the Constitutional Convention. Outcomes included the establishment of a four-year term of office for the President, granting Congress the right to regulate foreign trade and interstate commerce, and the appointment of a committee to prepare a final draft of the Constitution.

August 9, 1974 – Effective at noon, Richard M. Nixon resigned the presidency as a result of the Watergate scandal. Nixon had appeared on television the night before and announced his decision to the American people. Facing possible impeachment by Congress, he became the only U.S. President ever to resign.

August 10, 1863 – The President meets with abolitionist Frederick Douglass who pushes for full equality for Union ‘Negro troops.’

August 11, 1841Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, spoke before an audience in the North for the first time. During an anti-slavery convention on Nantucket Island, he gave a powerful, emotional account of his life as a slave. He was immediately asked to become a full-time lecturer for the Massachusetts Antislavery Society.

August 11-16, 1965 – Six days of riots began in the Watts area of Los Angeles, triggered by an incident between a white member of the California Highway Patrol and an African American motorist. Thirty-four deaths were reported and more than 3,000 people were arrested. Damage to property was listed at $40 million.

On August 14, 1862, Abraham Lincoln did something unprecedented in presidential history up to that point: he met with a small delegation of black leaders (all free: 5 black clergymen). But the meeting did not auger a decision to give African Americans a voice in government. In essence, Lincoln sought to lobby these men in essence to agree to a divorce. In other words, the President wanted to get black Americans behind his plan to colonize them abroad. –Source http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/lincoln5/1:812?rgn=div1;singlegenre=All;sort=occur;subview=detail;type=simple;view=fulltext;q1=August+14

August 14, 1935 – President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act establishing the system which guarantees pensions to those who retire at age 65. The Social Security system also aids states in providing financial aid to dependent children, the blind and others, as well as administering a system of unemployment insurance.

August 15, 1969 – Woodstock began in a field near Yasgur’s Farm at Bethel, New York. The three-day concert featured 24 rock bands and drew a crowd of more than 300,000 young people. The event came to symbolize the counter-culture movement of the 1960’s.

August 18, 1920 – The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, granting women the right to vote.

August 24-

August 28, 1963 – The March on Washington occurred as over 250,000 persons attended a Civil Rights rally in Washington, D.C., at which Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his now-famous I Have a Dream speech.

    August 28, 1955 The death of Emmett Till

 August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina slams into Gulf Coast

August 30 1967  Thurgood Marshall confirmed as Supreme Court justice

1983 U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford becomes the first African American to travel into space when the space shuttle Challenger

August 31

Resource: http://www.historyplace.com

~Nativegrl77